CNN Newsroom Aired July 21, 2024 - 20:00 ET THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. [20:00:30] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News. ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: And good evening. On an unprecedented night in both American politics and history, Vice President Harris tonight working the phone, rallying Democratic lawmakers, donors, even potential Democratic opponents for her impromptu presidential campaign, as Republican and the Trump campaign have begun to redirect their attack lines after President abruptly ended his candidacy this afternoon. Something no sitting president has done so late in the election cycle in American history. JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Truly a stunning decision, Anderson, one that brings to mind President Lyndon Johnson's sudden exit from the 1968 presidential campaign, or so I've read. President Biden's decision comes after weeks of defections by congressional Democrats and donors following what is largely considered one of, if not the worst presidential debate performance in the history of these United States and one that made concerns over his cognitive abilities and fitness for office a seemingly insurmountable hurdle to win a second term. Quoting President Biden's announcement today, quote, "It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your president, and while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term," unquote. COOPER: President Biden, who says he will finish his term, intends to address the nation later this week, but already he's endorsed his successor saying in his note, he said, "My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my vice president and it's been the best decision I've made. Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats, it's time to come together and beat Trump. Let's do this." TAPPER: Now, shortly after that statement, Vice President Harris announced her intention to run for president, quote, "I am honored to have the president's endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination." She later added, quote, "I will do everything in my power to unite the Democratic Party, and unite our nation to defeat Donald Trump and his extreme Project 2025 agenda," unquote. And already you can see by the FEC statement, the campaign has officially changed its name from Biden for President to Harris for President. Should she win the Democratic nomination, she would become the first black woman and Asian American to lead a major party ticket in the United States. COOPER: But of course first she must win the nomination. The Democratic National Convention begins just four weeks from tomorrow. Many Democrats, including the leaders of the Congressional Black Caucus and Hispanic Caucuses already have endorsed her. TAPPER: Yet, of course, there are still calls for an open process to replace President Biden with one Democratically ally, Senator Joe Manchin, independent of West Virginia, saying he's considering throwing his hat into the ring, placing Democrats in an unprecedented landscape where there is no map, only deadlines. We're going to start our coverage this evening with our own M.J. Lee, who is outside the White House right now. M.J., what more are you learning tonight about how President Biden arrived at this decision to make this announcement earlier today? M.J. LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, the president was so resistant on the calls for him to drop out until he suddenly wasn't. We are learning that that moment came within the last 24 hours or so that it was really Saturday night that he approached that decision and gave the green light to two of his closest aides, Mike Donilon and Steve Ricchetti, to begin drafting that letter to the American public. This was a decision, Jake, that was so closely held that even the senior most advisers close to the president didn't know until moments before that letter went out and Kamala Harris, the vice president, didn't find out about the president's decision until today. Something else that I'm learning is that medical issues were not a factor in his decision. I'm told by a senior White House official that he's had no major medical exams. He's of course been seen daily by his doctor just to get check-ups on his COVID condition. But the reason I want to clarify this is because as recently as this week, the president suggested in an interview that only a new medical condition could potentially sway him to drop out of the 2024 race. But again, that was not a factor, I am told. But of course, Jake, the reason that we are here in the first place is because of the serious concerns about the president's health after that disastrous debate performance as you were talking about really raised so many concerns across the party about his ability and his fitness to serve. And at the end of the day, what we are learning more than three weeks later is that he was unable to overcome what the American public saw for those 90 plus minutes on the debate stage. TAPPER: M.J., do you have any idea when President Biden is planning on addressing the nation? He said he would do it this week, I think. [20:05:05] LEE: Yes, in that letter, he said that he would be speaking to the nation later this week. But at this moment in time, the team around him, they really have no idea when exactly that will be because he is still isolating in Rehoboth recovering from COVID. So the setting of that speech, we have no idea. We don't know whether it could be a speech plus a press conference where he takes questions. It is remarkable, though, Jake, that the president of the United States has dropped out just three and a half months out from election day but we have yet to see him and we don't know yet when we will next see him either. TAPPER: He separately endorsed Vice President Harris and it does seem as though many members of the House and Senate are rallying to Vice President Harris. Do they think -- do Democrats in the White House behind you think that there will actually be a competition for the nomination, a serious one, or do they think that his endorsement of her, the president's endorsement of her, essentially will cause the party to coalesce around her? LEE: Yes. You know, the president really didn't wait long after sending out that letter announcing his decision to then separately fully throw his support behind the vice president. Clearly, this is a president that wanted to quickly put his thumb on the scale, tried to get the party to coalesce around his vice president and avoid a chaotic process, an open primary, an open convention basically and a mini-Democratic primary to repeat itself. It is just too early to know exactly how much of a difference that will make. But what we do know is that the vice president has been busy, furiously making phone calls, reaching out to Democratic leaders all afternoon to try to round up that support and make sure that she comes across as the person that is leading the party. One thing, Jake, just to note quickly is that, you know, we've also just been discussing this idea of the president back in 2020 having run as the bridge and the transition candidate, will now, as of this afternoon, we finally have the 81-year-old president trying to successfully now pass that torch on to his 59-year-old vice president. We just don't know whether he is going to be successful in helping that effort. TAPPER: All right. M.J. Lee, thanks so much. Anderson? COOPER: Jake, I'm joined now by Eva McKend with more on Vice President Harris' efforts to secure the nomination. So what have you learned so far about Harris' current level of support within the Democratic Party? EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: You know, Anderson, there is fierce support for her among key Democratic coalitions and this really comes at a time when Democrats need this boost. These are the voices I have been listening to most closely the last couple of weeks, groups like Black Voters Matter, Higher Heights, other organizers, because they are so core to the get-out-the-vote strategy and have a true pulse of how voters are feeling on the ground. They've been quietly organizing for weeks to ensure that if President Biden stepped aside, Harris would be well-positioned to lead the ticket and they've been doing this without appearing as if they or by extension her were angling to force Biden out. Tonight they tell me they expect the full Democratic apparatus to get behind her or Democrats will lose this election. So some warning shots there, Anderson. They're going to hold a call later this evening. COOPER: I've heard from a number of donors over the last two or three weeks who warned of -- or said that they didn't want there to be a coronation of Vice President Harris. They wanted others to, you know, throw their hats in the ring as well. What are you hearing from the groups you've been talking to, the people you've been talking to? Do they want, I mean, do they want her to go unchallenged? MCKEND: You know, Anderson, certainly there has been that anxiety among some corners of the Democratic Party, but these organizers really have very little appetite for a contested convention because in their view that would just prolong the chaos. They think Vice President Harris really is well-suited and meets this moment, and want to move on with her. COOPER: Eva McKend, thanks so much. Joining me now is a longtime ally and friend of President Biden, South Carolina Congressman Jim Clyburn, who's already endorsed Vice President Harris for the Democratic presidential nomination. Congressman Clyburn, thank you for being with us. Just this morning you reiterated your support for President Biden's candidacy. You said Democrats should look for ways to coalesce around him. Obviously you were instrumental in his victory the first time around. Were you surprised by his decision to drop out? REP. JIM CLYBURN (D-SC): Well, thank you very much for having me. No, I was not surprised at all. This morning when I made that statement I made it and followed it closely. I was saying that if he's -- were to change his mind I would change mine. But I've been saying now for several weeks that if for any reason, President Biden were to decide not to run, I thought that the Vice President Harris should be our choice. [20:10:02] And that's who I would be supporting. And that's -- I said that this morning, last night. And I stand by that. He decided not the run and so I've decided to support Vice President Harris. COOPER: And you have endorsed Harris already today. You've also previously warned your party about trying to bypass Harris for a different candidate. How concerned are you tonight about that possibility? Do you see anybody on the horizon who you think might try to run? CLYBURN: Well, you know, I also said that our rules committee, the Democratic National Committee Rules Committee, put together a process and they must have had something like this in mind because the process spells out what you do if you wish to run for the presidency. And in this instance, all you need to do is gather some hand signatures, no more than 50, from a single state and you can have your name placed in nomination. Go to work and do that within the next few hours, next few days, and you may have your name placed into nomination and then start working the phones like everybody else. Now, that is the process that's in place. So when I hear people calling for a new truncated process, this rules committee put that in place from the beginning. And so if people were to just pause a little bit, took a look at the rules, it's there, laid out for anybody to see and anybody can participate in. COOPER: Well, as you mentioned, sources tell my colleague Jake Tapper that West Virginia senator who is now an independent, Joe Manchin, is considering re-registering as a Democrat running for president. What's your thinking on that? CLYBURN: Well, he is free to do that, and I suspect that Vice President Harris will welcome him into the contest. And that's as it should be. It also so happens that he preceded me on Jake Tapper's show this morning, saying something just the opposite. So I guess times change even in short order. And people's minds were changed as well. In fact, he spoke this morning, he had no interest in running for president. COOPER: Congressman Clyburn, some black voters have expressed to CNN that they're not confident or not sure that the nation would vote for a woman of color to be president. And what do you say to that concern? CLYBURN: Well, you know, you're never confident as to what the voters would do under any set of circumstances. I am confident of this as well. You will never know until you get into the contest and you run the race. But to sit on the sidelines and say, I'm not sure. My dad cautioned me against that from a little child. You get into the contest and run the race. I remember when I got elected to Congress a lot of people discouraged me from running because I had run for other officers and had lost. And one friend said to me, you've lost three races. Three strikes and you're out. And that's the baseball rule. You don't live your life by baseball rules. And so, you can't not say I can't if you've never tried. So we get in here. You make the best case. I do think she's the best candidate, best prepared candidate at this particular juncture. I think the American people will see that in her, and they will compare her to the alternative. Just as Joe Biden often asked people to do with him and Donald Trump, she gets that opportunity. And I do believe that when the American people see her stacked up against Donald Trump and his 2025 Project, and what he has in store for the American people, she is going to win this race and she is going to win it with massive support, not just from other Democrats across the board and independents. I've already seen it. I don't know if it's true or not. I'm very leery about the stuff I see online. That some PAC associated with Nikki Haley just endorsed her. I don't know if that's true or not but I would not be surprised and I think you'll see a lot of that taking place between now and election day. COOPER: Do you have any thoughts on who she should select as a vice president, as a running mate? And also, do you think she should name that person relatively soon before the convention? CLYBURN: Well, I don't know as to what the timeframe ought to be. But I know there are a lot of people out there. [20:15:02] As Manchin said this morning, he likes the governor of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro. I like him, too. Andy Beshear of Kentucky, I don't know Beshear as well as I knew his father before him. This is my 84th birthday, so I've been around for a long time. And so I remember Beshear's father and I know who he is. I don't know him very well. But I also know Roy Cooper up in North Carolina who is a two-term governor in North Carolina. North Carolina is a swing state, whether we call it that or not, Obamacare, the first time, lawsuit the second time. Joe Biden came within three or four percentage votes of candidate this time, So North Carolina brings about 15 electoral votes. It would be a very good contest for us if you had Roy Cooper on the ticket. So you've got a great proper governance and there are also business people whose names I've heard, who might be looked upon as that as well. She'll go through her process. She'll vet these candidates and she'll make a decision and I'm going to support her decision whoever it might be. COOPER: Congressman Clyburn, I appreciate your time. Thank you. CLYBURN: Well, thank you very much for having. COOPER: Jake? TAPPER: Thanks, Anderson. Let's bring in the political panel here in D.C. Jamie Gangel, Karen Finney, Kate Bedingfield, Audie Cornish, David Chalian, and Shermichael Singleton. We dragged them all here on this Sunday evening to talk about this momentous day in American politics. Kate Bedingfield, former communications director for the White House under President Joe Biden. You left about, what, a year and a half ago? KATE BEDINGFIELD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. March of 2023. TAPPER: OK. Your reaction, I mean, this is a, well, you tell me. What's this day like for you? BEDINGFIELD: Yes. Well, it's an emotional day. It's as proud as -- I can only speak for myself, as proud as I am that he made this decision, which I know was excruciating and hard for him, but I think was incredibly selfless, it's still -- it's emotional. I mean, this is somebody who has achieved an incredible legislative records, made enormous progress on things that, you know, the country has been trying to make headway on for many, many years. And Joe Biden was somebody who was able to do that as president and as somebody who worked for him, I am enormously proud of that. I know the people who were working for him in the White House are proud of what they've been able to achieve in these now almost four years and I think it's also -- we should also acknowledge the campaign staff in Wilmington who have been going through an excruciating three weeks here. You know, on every campaign, look, I've worked on campaigns for 20 years. On every campaign you're going to have bad moments. You're going to have moments where you're up and down, where you feel like you have to send your staff out to really, you know, to really fight the fight in a tough moment. I don't know that any moment politically has been harder than the last three weeks the Biden campaign has been through. And so, you know, for the people who kept their heads down and were doing the work in Wilmington, I know this is an incredibly emotional and difficult day, but I do think that President Biden will be remembered fondly for it. I do think it's an incredibly selfless thing that he did. And I think it's frankly rare in politics to see somebody, you know, put their own self-interest aside and say, I don't think this is what's best for the country anymore. And I think he should get some credit for that. TAPPER: David Chalian, we see a lot of Democrats rallying around Kamala Harris to a degree that I was not expecting because there are people who a year ago before President Biden announced that he was going to run for reelection, were ready. I'm talking about Governor Newsom. I'm talking about Pete Buttigieg. I'm talking about Amy Klobuchar and on and on. Gretchen Whitmer. And already Newsom and Buttigieg have endorsed Vice President Harris. To what degree do you think the party is just going to essentially coalesce around her even though Senator Manchin is talking about re- registering as a Democrat and running? Do you think there's actually going to be a competition as Pelosi and Obama want there to be an open competition? DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes, I think it's unclear how much like President Obama really wants there to be a fully robust, open competition or wants there to be some ability for everyone to have the chance to buy into the outcome. I think those are two different things. And I -- and to your question, Jake, to a great extent, I think this is quickly coalescing around her. It's not just the names of the people, AFT, that teachers' union, SEIU, you have Congressional Black Caucus, Congressional Hispanic Caucus, who have certain state delegations from South Carolina to Tennessee already. It's like each sort of faction and building block of the Democratic coalition is starting to emerge here in addition to all the names you mentioned, and Roy Cooper and Josh Shapiro, I'll add to that, as well as potential people that were mentioned as somebody that could throw their hat into this ring, Mark Kelly, and they're backing her. And I think that is significant. [20:20:06] Now I am not terribly surprised by it. In my conversations with people over the last three weeks there has been this sense inside the Democratic National Committee and Democratic circles of people who were all going to convene in Chicago in a few weeks, that this was going to be an extraordinarily difficult thing not to go to Harris given the structural advantage, the demographics, her history-making nature of her candidacy. This was going to be an extraordinary difficult thing not to move. That signal was Joe Biden endorsing her within a half an hour of him getting out of this race and that meant that as much conversation that may have happened around this, that started cutting off that oxygen pretty quickly. KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Can I just mention, though, that there has been a lot of work going on very quietly behind the scenes out of respect for Joe Biden to get us to a place where it would not be -- it would not take long, it would be within hours, not days that you would see donors coming forward and different parts of the Democratic Party coalition to normalize the idea that not only is she the sitting vice president, and as David mentioned, the logistical considerations, the financial considerations, you know, history- making, yes. But so many other considerations, even ahead of that. Not to mention Joe Biden said he wanted a governing partner. She's been a governing partner and the best way to prepare for the job is to be the vice president and she has been Joe Biden's vice president through COVID, through ups and downs, through getting the Infrastructure Bill done. So she's tested and vetted in a way that no one else has been or will be. CHALIAN: But, Karen, what do you make of what Jake was saying, the argument that it may look like a coronation and not a process. And is there a concern about that? FINNEY: Look, I think that's part of why it's so important that she is working the phones, calling the delegates, calling different, you know, groups, different parts of the Democratic Party coalition to ask for their support. And that in her statement, she made it very clear. I want to earn your support and win. And look, as we know so the Rules Committee can meet within 48 hours of Joe Biden dropping out. They will meet, they will determine what process goes forward. It may be that the delegates do a round of voting that is still virtual and she wins on that first round. It may be that it has to go to a couple of rounds. They may suggest some sort of process that is open, although I think, you know, open, but, you know, with some organizations, so it's not a free-for-all because I think people are also very excited about the idea of coalescing around her. Let's, again, she's been doing the job for three and a half years and people supported the Biden-Harris ticket when those 14 million who voted in the primary and so -- you know, but people are excited to get to the convention, honor Joe Biden, and prepare to get behind her and win, TAPPER: And Jamie, what is it about the importance of what Karen just laid out here, the importance of all these endorsements coming before we could even get to air this evening? Adam Schiff, the congressman who is running for Senate from California, Governor Newsom of California. And I think five or six governors have already endorsed her. This is -- it's pretty much a groundswell of support among, although we still have yet to hear from Leader Schumer, Leader Jeffries, and Nancy Pelosi. JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: So let me add one more to that list. The speed of the endorsement from former President Bill Clinton and from former secretary Hillary Clinton was I don't think an accident and I think it was very well-timed. I think they were prepared for this moment. And so you had someone other than President Biden endorsing her and then you saw -- I'm not saying these other people wouldn't have followed, but it was a big endorsement to get very, very quickly. I also think it's interesting that three of the four names of possible VP candidates, if she is the nominee, that have been floated have also endorsed her. We've seen Arizona Senator Mark Kelly got up there very quickly. Senator -- Governor Roy Cooper of North Carolina, Governor Josh Shapiro. TAPPER: Let's show the Shapiro tweet if we can, Jamie. I will -- he wrote, I will do everything I can to help elect Kamala Harris as the 47th president of the United States. Josh Shapiro, the governor of one of the three must-win states. The blue wall of the battleground states, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin must win for Kamala Harris should she be the nominee. GANGEL: And now they're I'm told to informally polling delegates to make sure that people who were committed to Biden-Harris are now committed to Harris X. TAPPER: White man. GANGEL: Whatever, white man. Exactly, which it does -- TAPPER: But those are the names being floated. GANGEL: Wait -- this is -- right. It's -- FINNEY: Right. GANGEL: But I do think that this does two things. It helps get more endorsements. TAPPER: Yes. [20:25:01] GANGEL: It makes -- it's good for PR. But also, we are four weeks from a convention. They have to get organized. I spoke to the person who's in charge of sort of getting videos together. Those profiles. And I said, you know, how's it going, and the source said the mission is this -- the message is the same. But we're waiting for who to profile. TAPPER: Yes. So, Audie, something I suspect we're going to hear a lot from the Republicans is borders are Kamala Harris, borders are Kamala Harris. She was never actually designated borders are, she had a select part of the border portfolio having to do with South and Central American countries. But she is going to be saddled with that, which is one of President Biden and now Vice President Harris' biggest policy vulnerabilities. AUDIE CORNISH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, I think for Democrats, you know, when you think of money, momentum, message, they're excited to coalesce around one, right? And really focus. With Republicans you're hearing a kind of scattershot amount of things. There's the immigration czar thing, there's some nasty things about her as a person, which have always been floating around her in that media ecosystem in particular about her background in California. There's this kind of flip-flopping of she's a law and order Democrat and so some people don't like that, and other people who say she's soft on crime because she participated in supporting, you know, bail reform or something like that during Black Lives Matters. So you're seeing a swirl of things as people realize, OK, it could be her. We're going to just start throwing things at the wall and see what sticks. I can tell you. Hearing from some like black female voters in swing states, what they are preparing for is vicious basically. They're preparing to not necessarily be her super fan, but to understand that as a proxy for black women in the public space, we're going to hear a lot of really kind of sexist misogynist and also just the vague sense of you're just kind of not right for the job. We don't know why, there's just something I don't like about you, which I think for some women feels very familiar. TAPPER: Yes. CORNISH: So even though she might not have the constituency within the black community, that people would assume given barrage Obama -- TAPPER: No. Biden was more popular at the black community or is. CORNISH: Every four years, yes, he was. That's when he came around. But I think for her in this moment, there are going to be people who are going to be protective of a woman of color in this space, not to mention that Indian Americans are the fastest growing and most sort of growing powerful group of Asian voters and country. TAPPER: Yes. So, Shermichael, does what happened today make it easier for President Trump to win in November or tougher? SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I mean, I think it's going to be more challenging. All right? To Audie's point, I assume black women, at least a cohort of black women will be excited about the vice president. I assume some young voters will be excited about the vice president. But from the Republican perspective, and I was just messaging with someone on Trump's campaign, a senior adviser, she can't run away from Joe Biden's policies. She can't run away from his four years on the economy and inflation, which is still a top issue for most Americans. She can't run away from the issue of immigration. That's still a top issue for a significant percent of Americans. And there is a very valid question, politically speaking, of how will the vice president will perform with swing voters? How well can the vice president perform with some of those moderate-leaning Republicans? It's one thing to support President Biden. It's a whole another thing to support his vice presidential running mate, and she hasn't been tested yet to see if whether or not she performs well. But I will just say as quickly, Jake, congratulations to the vice president. She will be the nominee, and this will be an incredibly historic moment for her. She's just a step away from the politics. In that regard I'm very proud of her, but to get back into the mix of politics, let's have that exchange of ideas. TAPPER: I will grant you that moment of humanity, Shermichael. (LAUGHTER) TAPPER: You are permitted to be a person, you're permitted to be a person for 30 seconds. Thank you, everyone. Coming up next, Senator Elizabeth Warren on why she thinks Vice President Harris is the right candidate to take on and defeat Donald Trump in November. We're going to squeeze in a quick break. We'll be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) [20:33:40] TAPPER: There has been an outpouring of praise from Democratic leaders as well as some international leaders for both President Biden's time in office and the political legacy he leaves behind, perhaps none more important to him than this Instagram message posted by his wife of 47 years, First Lady Jill Biden. It shows the president's statement announcing his withdrawal and above it on the left, a double pink heart emoji. Joining us now to discuss Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. Senator, what was your reaction when you heard President Biden's announcement today, which I assume you learned the same way the rest of us did because he tweeted it? SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA): I did. You know, I was reminded he has been a transformative president. You look back at his time in office and here's a man who has completely centered working families at the heart of everything he does, and that's how we end up with $35 insulin and seniors now having a $2,000 cap on what they spend on medications. Five million people have seen their student loan debt canceled. Going after junk fees and these giant corporations that are gouging people at the grocery store and at the gas pump. Biggest climate package in the history of the world paid for by a 15 percent minimum corporate tax on these billionaire corporations. [20:35:06] So he's got amazing accomplishments. Truly transformative. But today is about what Joe Biden did. He gave America a lesson in patriotism. Donald Trump thinks that to be a leader, it's all about himself and preening in front of the cameras and everyone has to bow down to him. Joe Biden reminded us that true patriotism, true leadership is putting the people of the United States of America first. And that's what this president has done. I admire that. TAPPER: You were quick to endorse Vice President Harris for the Democratic presidential nomination. We know she's been making calls all day, shoring up support among delegates and superdelegates such as yourself. Have you spoken with her? WARREN: I don't talk about private conversations, but let me do say this about Kamala. She is someone who is ready to step up, to bring our party together, to take on Donald Trump toe to toe, and to win in November. She's ready for that. TAPPER: If she does end up at the top of the ticket, whom might you want her to consider as her running mate? WARREN: You know, I actually want to hear this from the vice president herself. Let her figure out what she wants to sort through this because Joe Biden treated Vice President Harris like a partner, with real respect, someone that he had a working relationship with and that he could count on and that he could say to the people of the United States of America, you vote for Joe Biden and if needed, we have a vice president who is ready to step up. Vice President Harris, as our nominee for president, needs to be able to do the same thing. She needs to have someone she feels right about and I have a lot of confidence in her judgment. I'm sure we'll talk about it more over the next several days. But at this moment it's really about the vice president getting out there and working it. She has said she wants to earn this nomination and I think she's going to be terrific at it. TAPPER: Do you think a competitive process -- I know it's only three weeks until the Democratic convention, but do you think a competitive process in any way could be good for her should she end up being the nominee? WARREN: You know, I'll put it this way. I think it is competitive by definition. She's out there making those phone calls. She's saying, here's what I've got to offer and do remember, for me, I have known Kamala for nearly 15 years now, right after the crash in 2008, when Kamala was the attorney general for California and I was setting up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. We were shoulder to shoulder to push back on the giant banks that were cheating homeowners. As vice president Kamala Harris has been out there leading the charge to restore Roe versus Wade and protection for women to make their own health care decisions all across this country, and besides, when the guy on the other side is a convicted felon and a jury has found that he engaged in sexual assault, that former prosecutor, Kamala Harris, is going to be the right person to hold Donald Trump accountable. I think she's got it. She's ready to go. She can bring us together. She can take it to Donald Trump and she can win. TAPPER: She ran against you and President Biden for president in 2020. Her campaign did not make it very far. Yours lasted months longer than hers. Are you sure that she's ready for this challenge? WARREN: Look, she has been vice president for three and a half years now. She's been on the frontlines. She is now battle-tested and ready to go. I don't have any doubts about Kamala Harris' ability to win and more importantly, I don't have any doubts about Kamala Harris' abilities to govern as president of our United States of America. TAPPER: Senator Elizabeth Warren, from the great Commonwealth of Massachusetts. A pleasure. Thank you so much for joining me. COOPER: Just after the Biden-Trump debate here on CNN last month, I had this exchange with Vice President Harris. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Yes, there was a slow start, but it was a strong finish and what became very clear through the course of the night is that Joe Biden is fighting on behalf of the American people on substance, on policy, on performance. [20:40:09] Joe Biden is extraordinarily strong and that cannot be debated. COOPER: But, I'm sorry, on substance and policy and performance tonight, I mean, he -- the president's performance tonight clearly was disappointing for his supporters. CNN is reporting Democratic lawmakers watching the debate were worried about the president's performance. One said it was a disaster, another called it a train wreck. Those are Democrats especially worried that Biden did not punch back on Trump's lies. HARRIS: Listen, people can debate on style points, but ultimately, this election and who is the president of the United States has to be about substance, and the contrast is clear. (END VIDEO CLIP) COOPER: And we have certainly come very far since then. Joining me now Abby Phillip, David Axelrod, Kaitlan Collins, also Van Jones, Alyssa Farah Griffin, and Jamal Simmons. David, you've been vocal that President Biden needed to step aside and talk about this historic moment. DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: You know, Anderson, it was interesting. I was flying to New York and I got a text saying he's out and the letter was sent to me, and my first impulse was to feel profound sadness. I mean, this is the guy that I worked closely with in the White House, within four, and who I think is -- had just this spectacular career over half a century. He's done things as vice president that I think history will appreciate far more than he was appreciated during this campaign. But my concern and this dates back to a year and a half ago was that it's hard to persuade people that you should be president until you're closer to 90 than 80. That's just a very hard lift. And the job itself and anyone who's worked in the White House know, looking across at Alyssa there and Jamal knows this, that is -- you are there, too, Van, briefly before they -- before the right routed you out of the place but -- (LAUGHTER) VAN JONES, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I rose above it, sir. AXELROD: But anyway, but it is such a hard job. I had the office next to the president. And I mean, I was exhausted every day and I didn't have to deal with half of what he had, a quarter of what he had to deal with. And every decision is consequential and has, you know, grave implications for people's lives or livelihoods. And it comes at all times of day or night, seven days a week. That is an inhuman burden. And so he was asking a lot of himself to handle that and run for president -- for reelection for president. And the stakes were so large as he said. So, you know, I'm glad that he has reached this decision. I think it was a really selfless decision. The timing maybe wasn't the best for him but it does change this campaign in a profound way. And I think that the people who are most unhappy tonight are sitting over in the Trump headquarters. COOPER: Well, Kaitlan, you spoke to former president Trump right after President Biden made this decision. What did you say? KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR, THE SOURCE: It's probably one of the worst days that the Trump campaign has experienced as far as challenges since that debate happened, and I mean, they haven't acknowledged that publicly, but they were worried about this very scenario. Trump was paying close attention during the RNC last week, asking people, is Biden going to get out, is this really going to happen, as those calls continue to grow. I spoke to him minutes after Biden posted the letter and he called him the worst president in U.S. history. So that's how he believes he'll be remembered. It's obviously not a surprise. And he also told me that he thinks he can defeat Vice President Harris and I pointed out, you know, she's not the nominee yet. And what does this mean for your campaign? He said he believes he can defeat her very well, maybe her as the nominee based on what we're seeing tonight, we don't know yet, but they have been prepared to run against President Biden. After that debate in Atlanta they felt that was going to be a pretty easy prospect and they were kind of, you know, measuring the drapes already and riding a high, you could feel it at the Republican convention last week. This has injected so much uncertainty in that just because they don't know what the numbers look like with Harris? Yes, they're familiar with her. Yes, they have oppo on her. If it is her, you know, it's not clear what a debate between the two of them will look like. It's not clear -- COOPER: If there was a debate. COLLINS: If there is a debate, they're already -- Trump is saying that they should change the moderators for the next scheduled debate. And he's also complaining saying that they have to start from ground zero basically on what this campaign is going to look like. ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSNIGHT WITH ABBY PHILLIP: And I talked to Jason Miller, the Trump senior adviser, he said there will be a debate, but there they are talking about changing moderators. Trump floated FOX News. I think that's a sign that they know that they have to do something a little bit different. I mean, they can't go into a debate with Vice President Harris if she becomes the nominee in the same way that they would have gone into it with Joe Biden. And that is really at the heart of why so many Democrats felt like something, anything needed to be done. [20:45:04] They see the path here to go at Trump, but they did not see a candidate in President Biden who could execute that plan. And that's deeply problematic. I think on top of that, we all have been reporting for days, weeks now, the swing-state polling was cratering. And there are a lot of reports now about what that really look like in the campaign's realization of that. But it's a crucial importance whether or not the vice president can reverse that trend because the hole that they are in now is pretty significant. JAMAL SIMMONS, FORMER COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR FOR VP KAMALA HARRIS: Anderson, you know, I want to get it on this because the reality show President Donald Trump has got to understand this better than just about anybody else. His RNC convention was a split-screen. It was him sitting there and what was happening on stage. And then the Democratic dramatic process. And if you have a president who believes that some attention is better than no attention Democrats have been getting a lot of attention and a dramatic process for the last few weeks. And now we've got a brand new candidate, kind of pushed out on the scene, not the same old guy. We didn't end up with the one that everybody thought we were going to have. So we've got this new person who's going to come out. And I think from just a show running perspective, he's got to know he's got his back up against the wall and they've got to do something to change the narrative. COOPER: Alyssa, I mean, how do you think it's impacting his campaign? ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: The reality is, Trump world has been overconfident. I frankly think the selection of J.D Vance signaled an overconfidence, not choosing somebody who'd bring in some independents and moderates more of a doubling down. This is an X factor that yes, they're ready for it in the case that she's a known quantity. But this short runway actually favors her. The one thing I would predict is this. I think this will get incredibly ugly. You have the issues of race, you have the issues of gender when you have Kamala Harris involved, and I could see a world in which they push, they go way too far in some of those issues and can massively, massively alienate moderate voters. JONES: Something is happening out there. Energy. Energy. $30 million raised already for ActBlue. Jotaka Eaddy, one of the great African- American power houses behind the scene. Her Win with Black Women Sunday call crashed today because so many people were trying to get on that call. There's also something happening on TikTok. Trump owned Twitter. I think Kamala Harris is going to own TikTok. Young people are remixing her dancing. They're remixing some of her moments that -- we have found like, oh, this is cringy. Young people love it. They're putting they not like us under those TikTok memes. They're putting -- get information. Something is happening terms of energy. And I think that would scare the jeepers out of the Trump campaign. The Trump campaign is scared tonight because something is happening now outside of their calculations, outside their control. This thing could go outside of the control of the campaign. It could be a real movement here. AXELROD: Well, it's always been the case that you had two, you know, unpopular, essentially an incumbent and a quasi-incumbent or a former incumbent each trying to make the other the focus of the race, and Biden has been the focus of the race particularly since the debate. That shifts now, and that's not a good scenario for Trump. COOPER: For Trump. For Trump. COLLINS: And look at what Nikki Haley said in January, the first party to retire its 80-year-old candidate is going to win the election. Well, the Democrat Party has become that. AXELROD: She's asked to revised that tonight. PHILLIP: She was criticized for saying that by some people, but I will say that the voters have been speaking about this for a long time, and they've been backing that up from the beginning. SIMMONS: I mean, David, because were this so often changed beats more of the same in almost every election where that goes up. COOPER: All right. Ahead, John King joins us from Pennsylvania, a battleground state with a governor who has floated, been floated as a potential Harris running mate should she get the nomination. We'll be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) [20:52:52] COOPER: A historic decision, President Biden dropping out of the 2024 race and endorsing his vice president, Kamala Harris, to replace him. Want to go to John King, who's in a crucial battleground state of Pennsylvania tonight. So, John, I mean, immediately after the debate, you raised the possibility of this happening. What are you hearing from Democrats in Pennsylvania and your sources around the country? JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's really fascinating, Anderson. I'm so looking forward tomorrow to seeing a bunch of our voters face to face, but we've been texting and emailing with them all day long. I remember about five months ago we did a piece not far from here with a bunch of older voters, Democrats, most of whom said they thought President Biden was OK enough for the job. Well, the debate changed their mind. We were about to talk to them again tomorrow, and most of them were going to say, Mr. President, please get out. Now that that has happened, we've been checking in with them and most of them are gratified. They're grateful for the press president to make his decision. And most of them think Kamala Harris is the right choice. A couple still want to watch it play out. But, Anderson, here's a flip side. Remember we also had some Nikki Haley voters in the Pennsylvania suburbs here who don't want to vote for Donald Trump, but weren't sure they could. Some said they never could vote for Joe Biden. We're getting a lot of hook about Kamala Harris when we talked to them so that they don't think she's up to the job. So we'll watch how this shakes out. Democrats do seem to be happy. But the middle, if you will, still has questions about the profile, the identity, the issues perspective of the vice president. COOPER: So Pennsylvania's Governor Josh Shapiro has been discussed as one of Harris' potential running mates. He also endorsed her tonight. In your view, what are the pros and cons for putting him on the ticket? KING: Well, he's certainly under consideration. I know that from key Harris allies. He's a first-term governor. He's Jewish. There could be some risks in putting him on the ticket, but certainly some of our voters here in Pennsylvania said, hey, we like Governor Shapiro, I'll give him a look. Also told, though, Anderson, that some other governors, Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona, are on the list of the Harris team. One Harris ally told me today they hope to get her within a few days assuming her path to the nomination continues to look good, and it does tonight, but we still have some question marks. They hope to get her a list. They say within several days to a week of four or five names for her to pick from. COOPER: And what do you think is going to be the most frequent line of attack against her if she is the nominee? KING: Immigration, immigration and immigration. The Trump campaign already wanted to run on immigration. Republicans have always overexaggerated exactly what her job was at the border, but Biden did give her a job to work with Mexico and the Central American countries to try to address the root causes of migration. [20:55:07] And we all know the border crossing numbers have soared. So it's pretty T ball for the Republicans to say, Joe Biden, put Kamala Harris in front of the border, and she failed. So that is one of the things. Her campaign team knows this. She wants to focus on black voters, on abortion rights, on women voters, on essentially using her prosecutor skills to go after Donald Trump but they know she has some weaknesses and that's one they're going to have to work on. Watch, immigration ads will come to a TV quite soon if she continues on her path to the nomination. COOPER: All right. John King, thanks so much. Ahead in the next hour of our special coverage, the Trump campaign's playbooks is going to have to be rewritten now that his opponent will not be President Biden. Plus what the poll suggests about which Democratic candidate would be the toughest challenger for the Republican presidential nominee. We'll be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) CNN Newsroom Aired July 21, 2024 - 21:00 ET THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. [21:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK) ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News. ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, "CNN NEWSROOM": Three days after the Republicans wrapped up their nominations for President and Vice President, a stunning move by Democrats. President Biden has withdrawn from the race after dozens of congressional Democrats publicly oppose his candidacy in the weeks after that incredibly poor debate performance, renewed questions about his fitness for office. JAKE TAPPER, HOST, "CNN NEWSROOM": President Biden has endorsed his Vice President Kamala Harris, quoting President Biden now, quote, "My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President, and it's been the best decision I've made. Today. I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats, it's time to come together and beat Trump. Let's do this." unquote. COOPER: Also tonight, Harris is rapidly securing endorsements from top Democratic officials, lawmakers, even potential opponents for the nomination. Moments ago, all 50 Democratic Party state chairs signaled their support, as did Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who had warned against a Biden exit just days ago. We want to start this hour's coverage with Priscilla Alvarez in Delaware, travelling with President Biden this evening. So, what more are you learning about what was behind the President's decision? PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, the President had remained defiant really only until the last 48 hours. What we are learning that played out behind the scenes is the President, who while self-isolating at his residence in Delaware, was also reflecting on the last several weeks. The President on Saturday had summoned his senior advisors to his Rehoboth Beach home, where they huddled and assessed the polling and also what Democratic lawmakers had been saying. And it was during that time, were told, that the President was starting to come to the decision that he was going to drop out of the race. He also, we're told, consulted with his family. Of course, they have been influential in almost every decision the President has made over the course of his long political career. And then it was on Sunday, as his top brass on the morning shows were saying that he was in the race and he wasn't going anywhere, while in the early afternoon hours, the President notifying senior White House and senior campaign teams that he had in fact decided to drop out of the race, and then just minutes after, putting out that letter to -- publicly, saying that he was not going to seek reelection. Now importantly, shortly after he did so, he also put his entire support behind Vice President Kamala Harris, saying that he is endorsing her to be the Democratic nominee, and urging the party to come together, particularly after a divisive last several weeks. Now, the Vice President herself, sources tell me, did not know until today that this was going to be the President's decision. The two spoke multiple times over the course of the day. And now, it is full steam ahead for the Vice President, who up until this point was fiercely defending the President and completely behind him. Aides told me multiple times that the two, there was no daylight between the two, as she was hitting the campaign trail. But now, today, she was working the phones, trying to get these endorsements, as she tries to secure the Democratic nomination. So, it has been a pivotal, remarkable day for this campaign. And really, Anderson, it shook White House officials and campaign officials who up until earlier today really thought the President was not -- wasn't going anywhere and that he was going to stay in this presidential race. So, certainly, a lot of people still absorbing this news as they prepare to put Vice President Kamala Harris to lead the party's ticket. COOPER: All right. Priscilla Alvarez, thanks very much. Jake. TAPPER: Thanks, Anderson. Joining us now, Connecticut Democratic Senator Chris Murphy. Senator, thanks for joining us. So, earlier today, you said President Biden will go down in history as quote "one of the most consequential presidents in our nation's history." Were you surprised by his decision to exit the race, and did you find out the same way the rest of us did by his posting on social media? SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): I did. My sense is that there was really no heads up to senators, not likely to governors. This was the first I heard of it. I was not shocked. Obviously, I had the sense that the President was spending time while he convalesced with COVID to make a decision. But, it is still extraordinary. Right? This is a President who has a remarkable record of achievement. I worked most closely with him on the first anti-gun violence bill in 30 years, would have never gotten done without him. He had a path to win, but he judged that Kamala Harris had a better path. And in the end, he decided to put his country first. You saw this tremendous outpouring of support for Kamala in the weeks -- excuse me, in the minutes and hours after Biden's decision. I think there are cynics out there who might think, well, that was staged. That was all set up. Not true. As I said, all of us learned about the President's decision at the same time. Most of us endorsed Kamala within minutes or hours because we know -- because we just think that ultimately she is the best candidate and she is going to make a remarkable President. [21:05:00] TAPPER: You say you're enthusiastically supporting your friend Vice President Harris to be the nominee. Why do you think she is the best choice for Democrats to defeat former President Trump? As you know, there are some in the Democratic Party who think it should be some sort of open process, whether it's a meeting, an open convention, or mini primaries or whatever, that there should be some sort of competition, and some people feel like there might be better candidates in terms of their ability to beat President Trump. MURPHY: Yeah. I don't think there is a better candidate. But, I certainly welcome competition. I think you see right now a lot of both leadership and grassroots support, record amounts of grassroots donations to the Vice President today. I think she is the best candidate for this simple reason. She marries together both past and future. We should run on Joe Biden's record. Right? It's Joe Biden and Kamala Harris's record. It's an economy that's humming, a country that's recovered from COVID. America's reputation has been healed around the world. That's not to say there aren't still challenges, but it's a record we should run and she can do that. But, she also represents this bridge to the future. She, is the next generation. She is going to be the first woman President, a woman on the ticket in a moment when women's rights are under assault, a prosecutor running against a felon. She can run on the Biden-Harris record. She can be a bridge to the future. She has got a unique contrast with Trump. To many of us, it just made sense that she was the best candidate, and given that we only have four months. Let's get the fight. Let's get to it. TAPPER: She says -- Vice President Harris says her intention is to earn and win the Democratic presidential nomination. What does that process look like? The convention is about three weeks away. MURPHY: I think you'll know whether there is any viable challenge to her in the next 24 to 48 hours. Obviously, this has been a pretty organic outpouring of support for her, as I said, not coordinated because nobody including her knew about the President's decision until this morning or when he made it. But, listen, if there is a viable challenge to her, well, then let's have the discussion. I'm never an anathema to having an intra-party fight. I think often that will make the candidates stronger. It may not happen here because people seem right now to be pretty enthusiastic for the reasons I stated about Vice President Harris. TAPPER: Who do you think she should consider for her Vice President? Do you think it'd be -- it's important that it'd be somebody from a battleground state, such as Josh Shapiro from Pennsylvania, it needed to be somebody who maybe is a little bit perceived, at least a little bit -- as a little bit more moderate, like Governor Cooper from North Carolina, Governor Beshear from Kentucky? What's your thoughts on that? MURPHY: I have absolutely no advice for her. I think right now she is drinking from a firehose. She is standing up a campaign. She is potentially fighting for the nomination. She is thinking about who might be her vice presidential running mate. All the names you mentioned would be fantastic. I guess my only advice to her is the advice you'd probably give to any person picking a running mate, just choose somebody you're confident, can be President of the United States. I think, really, you're going to have these two incredibly strong figures on top of the ticket, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. I think that 99.7 percent of voters' decisions are going to be based upon those two candidates, not the vice presidential candidates. TAPPER: One of the big lines of attack we've heard from the Trump campaign just in the last few hours is that Vice President Harris, in their construct, helped enable the cover-up of the condition that President Biden is in, leading to his stepping down. What is the Democratic response to that? MURPHY: So, I've been in rooms with President Biden. I've talked to him on the phone. I saw a President who is still able to command and lead this country. And my sense is the President is not stepping down because he doesn't think he can do the job. He is stepping down because he has looked at data and he thinks that the most important thing is beating Donald Trump. And rightly or wrongly, he looks at that information and thinks that Kamala Harris is the strongest candidate. So, I think Republicans are grasping today, right? They have these preset narratives they were going to use against Kamala that she is the immigration czar, that she is part of this alleged cover-up. I think it's all just a little bit of desperation from Republicans today, knowing that there is a ton of growing grassroots enthusiasm that they probably didn't expect for Kamala Harris, as the Republicans were planning or at least hoping that this was going to be a big messy internal fight. Well, it turns out people were pretty excited about Kamala Harris, and it may not end up being a big fight. [21:10:00] TAPPER: Senator Chris Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, thanks so much, sir. Appreciate it MURPHY: Thank you. TAPPER: Anderson. COOPER: I'm joined again by our team of reporters and White House veterans. I mean, Van, you heard Senator Murphy talking about his endorsement for Vice President Harris. I mean, do you think it's her nomination to lose? Because the idea of -- there is some concern about a messy, a number of candidates, but there is also those who think that could actually provide some energy and would make if it ends up being Vice President Harris make her an even better nominee. VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: There is going to be some process, and I think that's good. But, right now, it is for us to lose, because first of all, she has got a whip operation, second to none. All this past week, some of the best people in American politics, I want anybody's name out there have been calling people online, talking to delegates, talking to people on air, saying, listen, if this ball goes to Kamala Harris, she deserves a shot. And so, who has a whip operation like that? Nobody. Can you put one together that quickly? Maybe. But, she is definitely in the lead. I also think Republicans are about to have a little bit of a wake-up call. A lot of times, people get in these kind of circles and these echo chambers. They start believing the stuff that they say. And they think that just because they don't like Kamala Harris and they see her a certain way, the whole world is going to feel that way. But, there is a whole bunch of people who are just now googling Kamala Harris, just now trying to figure out what this is about. There is an opportunity on both sides to shape her. And so, I think that -- I think Republicans are in trouble, because the little boogie person that they believe it is Kamala Harris is not necessarily what other people are going to see over in a couple of weeks. ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR: To Van's fans point about the whip operation, I was just texting with a Democratic lawmaker, who came out and said Biden should leave the race. He has already heard from the Vice President today. We'll hear from that person tonight. I think this is a methodical process. They didn't come up with this just on the fly. They've been preparing quietly for what she would have to do if she needed to bring this party together. And we're seeing that in motion tonight. I think that the other data points that I noted tonight, the Biden- Harris -- formerly Biden-Harris, now Harris Campaign Finance Chair, just tweeted out, he has never seen the kind of love and outpouring of money -- COOPER: Yeah. PHILLIP: -- that he has seen tonight. That's not just act blue. The campaign is reaping the benefits of energy. They've needed that really desperately. COOPER: Yeah. PHILLIP: They are getting that now, and that's not for nothing. There is a lot of work to do in the battleground states. But, the number one job for Joe Biden, just to begin to claw back from the hole that he is in. If you really look at the numbers, it's getting the party back together, just getting most of the people who voted for him last time back on board. The Democrats need to do that in order to be back in the game. COOPER: And Kaitlan, you have some new reporting on how President Biden came to this decision. KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR, THE SOURCE: Well, I mean, I think the two biggest announcements he made today, one, he is getting out of the race, but getting behind her. That has changed the trajectory of what the last six hours have looked like since he has dropped that letter. And what we were told is that, as of yesterday morning, he was still telling people full steam ahead with the campaign. That started to shift Saturday, as he was meeting with a top advisor, Steve Ricchetti, one of the closest of close advisors that Biden has. He called Mike Donilon, another other close advisor, summoned him to his Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, house, and then had a few others on hand. And it was Saturday afternoon, I'm told, that he started to come to the decision that he was going to get out of the 2024 race. He made a few calls to other -- his chief-of-staff, Jeff Zients, other top advisors of his, and then he had a family meeting, which I think, if you know, Biden, that is exactly what he is going to do, and he is weighing a decision. Certainly, one is critical and is personal as this one. But, I'm told he didn't come to the final decision to leave this race until today, and that was when he phoned Vice President Harris and let her know that it was an official decision. So, when you talk about what this effort looks like, she hasn't had all that long to really wrap her head around the fact that she is now potentially going to be the Democratic nominee and that people are getting behind her. And so, when we talk about this, it's going really quickly. DAVID AXELROD, FORMER SENIOR ADVISOR TO PRES. OBAMA: You could see the trajectory of this thing, and there is no doubt that any of us who have been around politics knows. They have been quietly planning for this exigency for a while. What's impressive is how they've -- COOPER: When you say that, you mean the people around the President or the Vice President? AXELROD: Around the VP and her supporters, I think. Without being disrespectful for the President, they put things in place so that when this moment came they could move. And the thing that's been impressive in this first six hours, as you say, is the number of people who are touted as prospective opponents who have endorsed her. There is only really one major figure out there, J.B. Pritzker, the governor of Illinois. I'm sure we'll hear from him soon one way or another. But, you have to say, and I wouldn't have said this six hours ago, I mean, this could turn out to be the process. [21:15:00] Part of the process is, can you marshal support -- COLLINS: Yeah. AXELROD: -- and she is doing. Now, the bigger project is, can you marshal support among voters and how you present yourself? That is harder to plan for. They haven't had a lot of time to do that and do that kind of planning, and they're going to have to do it on the fly. So, that's going to be a big challenge. But, I think, tonight, you have to say she is well on her way to completing the first task, which is becoming the nominee. ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, in the -- JONES: If you want to -- go head. GRIFFIN: -- the biggest knock-on Kamala Harris as the potential replacement was that she is too left wing and that she couldn't -- she wouldn't really do well with moderates and with independents. And I think that if it ends up being her, this is where the question of a Vice President is going to be so important for her. If she can bring in someone from a swing state, a governor, somebody who has won statewide, like a Josh Shapiro, like a Mark Kelly, that could soften her with some of these voters who are disillusioned with both candidates. They weren't comfortable with Biden. They're certainly not comfortable with Trump. There is a way for her to do this. And I think that what she brings to this that has so been lacking is the biggest frustration was -- with Biden for Trump opponents was he couldn't litigate the case against Donald Trump, why he is unfit, what his next agenda would look like, and it was very backward-looking. She is going to have to defend her time with Joe Biden, but she can prosecute that case and talk about a forward-looking vision and a next generation. JAMAL SIMMONS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Donald Trump started out this year, we all started out this year thinking that there were going to be all these trials that were going to happen in the course of the year, and then we'd have him facing these prosecutors in state after state after state, right? And then, he didn't have to face any of those prosecutors, except for the one in New York. Now, he is going to have to face a prosecutor on the largest stage in America, right, and this prosecutor is coming for him, I imagine she is going to be coming for him every single day. And if they do have a debate, Donald Trump sitting across from a prosecutor with 34 felony convictions and then some more pending, I imagine this is going to be a very tough time for this particular President to have to navigate that kind of an environment. AXELROD: Whoever said this is a chance for each of them to define -- for her to define herself, and they're going to try and define her too, this is the battle right now, who can define Kamala Harris in the short term. And you can see that the Trump campaign, once they're secure that she is going to be the nominee, is going to unload with a lot of paid media. PHILLIP: They already are. AXELROD: They are going to get all their surrogates out there, and they're going to try and define her. So, it's important for them to be prepared for that and to push back. And the goal has to always be, yes, to find her but to find her in the context of the contrast with Donald Trump in front of people. COOPER: One of -- SIMMONS: Well, I'll finish with this. One of the other things that thinking about the vice presidential selection, the person who I've heard people talk about a little bit more is Mark Kelly, one, obviously, when you say Senator Mark Kelly, the next sentence has to be jet fighter pilot, astronaut, but you can kind of stop talking about him, right? They define -- that's a -- those are two words or three words that define him in a way that -- every other one of the candidates, you have to give a little bit more information about, why Shapiro or why the governor of North Carolina? You don't have to do that. The other part is, obviously, Arizona, you can have a governor who can appoint the replacement. But then, lastly, you get Gabby Giffords as part of the process. And when Gabby Giffords joins that ticket, all of them standing on stage together, I think it's a powerful message. And this moment, we're thinking maybe about political attacks and gun violence. No. She is a way for the Democrats to have a conversation about what this really means through the eyes of somebody who is working to prevent other people from facing those problems versus Donald Trump, who always is focused on himself and the way he is suffering. JONES: I got this. Gabby was shot. She -- you're talking about Gabby Giffords -- SIMMONS: Right. JONES: -- someone who'd survived being shot, and said the gun violence issue is an important issue. COOPER: How much for her -- for -- if it is Harris to vice presidential selection, I mean, how much is it about a swing state play, and how much is it about reaching out to moderates to the -- AXELROD: Well, those two things are not mutually exclusive. In fact, I think they're very much related. When you think of the people who are at the top of that list, Governor Shapiro of Pennsylvania, and Pennsylvania is a absolute must -- the must-win state, he also is a very, very articulate and moderate who has had great reach into some of these small towns and rural communities that Democrats have had a hard time reaching. Mark Kelly is a moderate, who has a strong profile on border issues -- COOPER: Right. AXELROD: -- coming from that state, and is also an expert on national security issues. COOPER: Congressman Clyburn had said, just in passing, possibly a business person as well, I should have followed up with him on that. But, I mean, who -- PHILLIP: Well -- COOPER: -- is there somebody out there? PHILLIP: -- I'm not sure about the business profile, although that's an interesting idea, and I think it could be a smart one. But, I will say, I mean, the two names that I hear the most from people around Vice President Harris and Democrats who know what they're talking about are Roy Cooper and Mark Kelly. Those are the two that I think that -- even though there is a lot of chatter about Josh Shapiro, I think, by -- far and away, Roy Cooper in North Carolina who is a term- limited governor. [21:20:00] He has a profile I think that kind of balances her out. And also, Mark Kelly, who she has a personal relationship with. Those two rise to the top of the list. I'm usually a skeptic about vice presidential nominee, partners, even making a difference at all. But, I think in this case, it actually might have played a huge role -- COLLINS: Yeah. PHILLIP: -- in how she is perceived. COLLINS: And just to note, we have just confirmed from a source that Governor Whitmer was on a "Harris for President" campaign call in her state already today, speaking of the dynamics that they are going to be watching him what's at play in these very powerful figures in their party. SIMMONS: And if there is any risk -- last, if there is any risk of her losing men, which I think there are people in the campaign worried about, first woman President, a woman of color, sending somebody like Mark Kelly, who is a fighter pilot and an astronaut, is a way to go after some of these men, black, Latino and white. That might be worthwhile. COOPER: Jake, back to you. TAPPER: Thanks, Anderson. I'm joined now by former presidential candidate and Democratic National Committee Chairman, Howard Dean, also CNN contributor Elaine Kamarck, a DNC Rules Committee Member who literally wrote the book on the presidential nominating process. It's called "Primary Politics: Everything You Need to Know about How America Nominates Its Presidential Candidates." Let's send that puppy up there on the Amazon rankings. Governor Dean, as the former DNC chair, what's going to happen next, and what's the path of least resistance for Democrats? HOWARD DEAN, (D) FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, & FORMER DNC CHAIRMAN: It's already happening much to my astonishment. Apparently, this afternoon, this evening, all 50 state chairs endorsed Kamala Harris. So, I mean, this idea that there is going to be a mini primary is just not going to happen. And there is a lot of reasons it might make you feel better if it happened. But all -- as you all pointed out, all the principal players have already decided they're going to support Kamala Harris. So, at this point, I'm going to defer to Elaine, because she knows far more about the rules than I do, and they've probably changed a bit in 20 years. But, at this point, from a political point of view, it hasn't even been 24 hours, and I think this thing is getting pretty close to being locked up. TAPPER: Yeah, it's interesting. A few hours ago, I was reporting that the other possible candidates were kind of keeping their powder dry to see how much the Democratic Party coalesced around Harris. And since then, they've almost all, to a person, almost all of them have coalesced, joined the coalescing. Elaine, I want to get you reaction to something Congressman Dean Phillips said on CNN tonight. Take a listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. DEAN PHILLIPS (D-MN): We should host four town halls around the country, do a straw poll now of the 4,000 convention delegates, Democratic delegates. Vice President Harris should be automatically invited, and then three of the other top vote-getters to do a series of four town halls, introduce themselves to our delegates, to the country. It will legitimize her candidacy. It will energize the base of Democrats in this whole country and will also, in the words of Jim Clyburn, afford the opportunity to vet a likely vice presidential candidate. (END VIDEO CLIP) TAPPER: So, let's assume that other potential nominees include Senator Joe Manchin, who re-registers as a Democrat, and Congressman Phillips, and maybe one or two others, do you think that would theoretically work? ELAINE KAMARCK, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: No. No. It's not going to work. Look, this is a decision that is in the hand of 4,000 and some odd delegates. And in all of the discussion that's taken place in the last three weeks since the debate, everybody seems to have forgotten that they're the deciders. OK? There is -- obviously, President Obama has to say and the senators etc. They're the deciders. And one thing to realize about them, they're all chosen for the fact that they were loyal -- very loyal to Joe Biden. I bet you that most of them or a large proportion of them have actually met Kamala Harris, because let's face it, one of the things vice presidents do is they go out and they tend to the party faithful. This notion that somehow somebody is going to pick out of the sky some people to run against somebody else, when none of the major candidates talked about for 2028 and talked about for Vice President, none of them are running. So, just to have a sort of mix of candidates for the sake of having a mix of candidates doesn't do anybody any good, including Harris. TAPPER: Governor Dean, you told my colleague Abby Phillip last Thursday that you would theoretically support a ticket with Vice President Harris and North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper. Cooper just endorsed her. Do you still feel as though that is the Democrats' best shot to keep the White House as of right now? DEAN: I think all three of the people that you all have discussed are very, very good candidates for all of the reasons that you've discussed. My thinking is that we're a little behind in Pennsylvania. North Carolina is winnable. Obama was the last one to win it. But, I think it's the next swing state, and of all the people who could do that, Roy Cooper has been a terrifically popular governor in a state that's had a pretty corrupt Republican legislature. [21:25:00] So, he knows how to play the game. He is incredibly popular in a state that elects Republicans. And they haven't have a governor's race where there is a right-wing lunatic running for governor against their attorney general, Josh Stein. So, right, this should be a very good year for Democrats in North Carolina. I would -- obviously, Pennsylvania has four more electoral votes than North Carolina does. But, if you have to make that trade, you only lose four votes. Look, all three of these candidates are terrific for all the reasons you've said. And this is not up to me. I'm still in shock over Biden resigning. I'm sorry, he did. I think it had to happen. This is an honorable guy. And I have said long before he resigned that I believe that he has the best domestic policy record of any President since Lyndon Johnson in his first term. I mean, what he has accomplished is absolutely unbelievable, especially in the face of a hostile Congress because of his long history in Congress. So, I -- this is the right thing to do. I feel terribly sorry for the Bidens because I can't imagine -- having lost one of these races myself, I can't have -- imagine having lost it, having served a term as President for a completely undeserved matter -- manner. But, here we are. It's going to be Kamala, and let's just get it over as painlessly as possible. I'm perfectly willing to listen to crackpot ideas that Dean filled Saturday. He was so smart. He never would have got -- he would have gotten more than 62 votes in New Hampshire or whatever he got. But, let's -- the dice are rolled already. If you got all 50 state shares, not all of whom agree with each other backing this, this election is over. TAPPER: Elaine -- DEAN: And now we've got to focus on the real enemy, the party of hate and anger, which is the Republicans, and I think Kamala Harris is going to do a really good job on that. TAPPER: -- Elaine, what do you foresee as the biggest obstacle for Democrats in the coming days and weeks? KAMARCK: I think they've got to get their act together behind Kamala Harris, pure and simple. Look, what has happened here is literally we've run out of time. Maybe way back in maybe April, if this had happened in April, maybe we could have had a mini primary. Maybe some other candidates would have gotten in. We are less than a month away from the Democratic convention. And remember that Kamala Harris has happened -- has done one thing that none of the others have. She has been vetted on a national stage. We know everything there is to know about Kamala Harris. There is no surprises. Not only does she know the issues, because she has been serving in the White House, she can talk to you about what our arms situation is in the Ukrainian battlefield. OK? None of the other candidates can do that. They're all smart. I'm sure they could read a briefing book. But, she is ready. And again, if this -- if there were a couple months, maybe we could have had a bunch of other people in the field. There is no time. We have run out of time. TAPPER: Elaine -- KAMARCK: And I think it's time to get behind Kamala. DEAN: One of the possibilities, if they have already endorsed Harris, who can run? KAMARCK: Yeah. Nobody is going to run. Yeah. (CROSSTALK) TAPPER: Elaine Kamarck and Howard Dean, thanks to both of you. Appreciate it. Coming up next, the former President's reaction to the current President dropping out of the 2024 race and what he is saying about the next plan debate. Plus, John Berman is going to take a look at how voters view potential non-Biden matchups. That's coming up. (COMMERCAL BREAK) [21:30:00] (COMMERCAL BREAK) COOPER: We are learning some new information. A source tells CNN, a potential vice presidential candidate for the Democrats, and North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper spoke briefly with Vice President Harris. The source says, quote, "The governor expressed his support for her to be the nominee." The call comes as we're also seeing Republican attacks on Vice President Kamala Harris. They came almost immediately after President Biden announced his exit from the presidential race and his endorsement of her candidacy. The RNC said in a statement, I quote, "Not only would Harris be a disaster in the White House, but she also helped Biden cover up his declining health while in office, which destroys her credibility." John Berman joins us now for more on a potential Harris-Trump matchup. So, how does Harris compare to Biden in pulling against Trump? JOHN BERMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Better, better? The question is, is it good enough? Anderson, up here, we have the 2020 election results, the popular vote. Joe Biden won by about four and a half points. The latest CNN Poll of Polls, which is the average of all the polling over the last few weeks, Biden trailed Trump by four points. That's a big swing, from up four and a half to down four. As for Kamala Harris, the Vice President is actually only trailing Donald Trump by one point right now, so, better than President Biden is doing, not obviously as good as Biden did in 2020. And in case you're wondering how Harris compares to some other possible candidates who have been mentioned really before tonight because many people have taken their names out, this is that. There are poll -- our CNN poll about three weeks ago, which was a long time now, lots happened, Biden trailed Trump by six, Harris trailed Trump by two. But, you can see, her number, 45, better than either Biden's or some of the other people we tested like Pete Buttigieg, Gavin Newsom, or Gretchen Whitmer. Now, obviously, elections are not national popularity contests. It's state by state. And when you dig into the states, it tells a little bit of an interesting story. I want to look at Virginia. Now, Virginia, you might say hasn't been a swing state in a while since before Barack Obama. Joe Biden won it by 10 points here. But lately, things have been pretty close. If you look at the latest poll out of Virginia, the New York Times/Siena poll, no clear leader. Biden up by two. That's nowhere near the 10 points he won by. It tested Kamala Harris also in Virginia, the Times did. She was leading Donald Trump by four, no clear leader, but you can see, doing better than Donald Trump. [21:35:00] Why? I mean, why was she doing better than Biden against Trump? Well, it might be an issue of gender here. Joe Biden, you can see, leading among women in Virginia by 16 points. Democrats need to beat Republicans by a lot among women. Kamala Harris in that same poll, leading Donald Trump among women by 26 points -- or 23 points. That's a bigger gap. She is able to expand that lead among women, and the men sort of split about the same, Trump leaning Biden by 14 here, 16 among men there, Anderson. You can see maybe reason for hope among Democrats that Kamala Harris could do well among women. COOPER: What impact could some of the potential running mates possibly have on the electoral map? BERMAN: It's really interesting. Let me clear out the screen here. And we talk about the possible names being mentioned right now. Our Jamie Gangel and others have reported that some of the leading candidates right now include Governor Andy Beshear of Kentucky, Roy Cooper, governor of North Carolina, Mark Kelly, Senator in Arizona, and Josh Shapiro, the governor of Pennsylvania. I'm going to move them down here, because what's interesting about these folks is many of them live in pretty interesting places, if you're trying to build an electoral map victory. Josh Shapiro, the popular governor of Pennsylvania, look at Pennsylvania. That's a state Joe Biden won by just over a point last time. Can be Josh Shapiro help expand that lead? That's something that could be exciting for Democrats. Same story for Mark Kelly in Arizona here, a state that Biden won by less than a point last time, maybe Kelly on the ticket makes Arizona easier for a potential presidential candidate Kamala Harris. Now, North Carolina is interesting. North Carolina is -- was the closest state that Joe Biden lost to Donald Trump. Would Roy Cooper, the retiring governor in North Carolina, let Democrats go on offense in a state that Republicans had been winning? That might be attractive. Now, one face on this list right here, not like the others, and that's Andy Beshear, the governor of Kentucky. Kentucky is the state that Donald Trump just crushed Joe Biden last time, 25 points. So, if you're picking Andy Beshear in Kentucky, you're not doing it for electoral math. You're doing it for other reasons there. COOPER: John Berman, thanks so much. Jake, back to you. TAPPER: All right. Let's discuss with my panel. And Dana, we're getting some brand new reporting about the hours before President Biden made his decision and the data that his top aides showed him. Tell us more about that. DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: So interesting. This is from our colleague, Phil Mattingly, who is reporting that the two closest allies and aides, almost like family to Joe Biden, you probably agree, Mike Donilon and Steve Ricchetti, were with the President in -- on Saturday, and gave him information that basically showed that there was no path to winning presidency. TAPPER: Like not -- not just an error on zero. BASH: Like non-existent -- TAPPER: Yeah. BASH: -- is the word, basically non-existent. That's the quote from Phil's reporting here. And he says that it wasn't just a single poll number, but that it was the overall sort of collapsing of support, not just among the Democratic members, governors, House members, senators that were coming in one after another after another, but the underlying support also with the voters, which is what makes the most sense. First of all, this was the straw that broke the camel's back, obviously. But, it's also interesting if you put it up against the reporting that we had just a day or two earlier, which was, despite the fact that you had all of this incoming to these two individuals but also to others in the Biden orbit about all kinds of data showing that the House will be gone. No chance of taking it back. The Senate will be gone. And it's almost impossible for President Biden to win the White House. The President himself, I was told explicitly, did not believe that data. Something changed on Saturday when he had, according to Phil's reporting, when he had different data presented to him, and he believed it. TAPPER: Bakari Sellers, you've been working the phones as a proud Democrat. What are you hearing about the coalescing around Vice President Harris? Is this race basically over? BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I don't know if it's over, but we're doing the work necessary, which means that the first thing before you're coronated or crowned the nominee as you have to with these delegates, and you saw what happened in Tennessee. You're seeing what's happened in Louisiana, South Carolina, etc. TAPPER: No. Tell us what is happening? SELLERS: So, what happens is, I mean, like, earlier today, I was on the phone with Chokwe Lumumba, who is the mayor of Mississippi -- with Frank Scott -- who is the mayor of Jackson, Mississippi, Frank Scott, who is the mayor of Little Rock, Randall Woodfin, mayor of Birmingham. I mean, you get all of these people together and you're like, look, we need to go out and get these delegates. Helena Moreno, the City Council person down in New Orleans, or Nikki Fried, who is the state party chair in Florida. [21:40:00] And so, anyone who wants to challenge Kamala Harris is going to have to have an infrastructure in place to be able to whip these delegates and go do that. And on a broader scheme, just to kind of piggyback on what -- on the statement that you just mentioned, I think that you can see what Kamala Harris represents in terms of the historical nature. What we have to do now is sell her as someone who is battle-worn and battle- tested and won those battles. We have to be able to articulate that she was a DA, an attorney general, where there is a question about crime in communities today. We have to talk about her leadership on bringing us out of COVID and all the things and develop her in Joe Biden's agenda and successes. And I think she is someone who can actually energize his base and bring those things out. And our job is to kind of make sure that we bring that energy, because as David probably will tell you, there is going to be a question about things like, what happens with white voters? Joe Biden overperformed with white voters compared to other Democrats. How do we pick that up? And Kamala and the team are now thinking about what that looks like. BASH: Can I just add one thing, because what we're seeing happened so fast is what you're talking about, effectively the grassroots, the delegates, the people who matter, who are going to not only vote for her for the nomination, but also do the work for her. That's happening, thanks to people like you and others who have been longtime supporters of Kamala Harris. And in the meantime, yes, we're seeing a lot of House members, governors, senators coming out very, very quickly, saying that they support her for the nomination. Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries, the -- Chuck Schumer, the Senate Majority Leader, Hakeem Jeffries, the House Democratic Leader, are intentionally pulling back, not that they don't want her, but they're intentionally pulling back because they don't want it to look like a coronation. They want it to look like a groundswell from the grassroots, and they feel that if they put their thumb on the scale right now, it will be maybe overkill. TAPPER: So, Kate Bedingfield, this is from the leading pro-Trump super PAC. They've already announced plans to run their first attack ad against Vice President Harris in battleground states. Here is some of that. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kamala was in on it. She covered up Joe's obvious mental decline. KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our President is in good shape and good health, tireless, vibrant, and I have no doubt about the strength of the work that we have got. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But, Kamala knew Joe couldn't do the job. So, she did it. Look what she got done. A border invasion, runaway inflation, the American dream dead. (END VIDEO CLIP) TAPPER: What do you think? KATE BEDINGFIELD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think this is more of a bank-shot argument if Joe Biden is not the nominee. I mean, I think, look, signaled they're going to do this. There is no question, and we saw on some of the polling that presumably was moving members over the last week that voters were saying, I don't know if I trust you when you vouch that Joe Biden is healthy. So, I think, no question they're going to go at this line of attack. I think it's -- it becomes a bank shot when Joe Biden is not the nominee. I also think we have to remember, we have to get back to the fundamentals of this race. Donald Trump himself is also an incredibly unpopular nominee. And by potentially Vice President Harris becoming the nominee, you remove the single biggest challenge that Democrats had in taking Trump on directly, which was this notion that voters thought that Biden was too old, and you've kind of -- you take that off the table. The Republicans can continue to argue this on the margins. But, in Kamala Harris, you're going to have somebody who is going to be able to take the case directly to Trump, and remind people what the swing voters were going to determine the outcome of this election, what they don't like about Donald Trump. So, I think, look, they're going to keep making this argument. To me, it is not as powerful with Joe Biden not at the top of the ticket. TAPPER: Shermichael, do you think -- I've heard a lot of Democrats say that this decision changes the focus and puts it back on Donald Trump, Joe Biden stepping down, Kamala Harris becoming the nominee, presumably, and Donald Trump is now the oldest presidential -- SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST, & CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah. Sure. TAPPER: -- candidate -- nominee in the history of the United States. And though, certainly people not asking the same questions about him that they were asking about President Biden, he also is not who he was 10 years ago, 15 years ago. SINGLETON: I mean, that's an interesting question. I mean, I'm a strategist. So, I look at the data. I look at the numbers. In 2020, Donald Trump won suburban voters by four points. However, 55 percent of Joe Biden's coalition were suburban voters. However, it was younger voters, African American voters, Latino voters that really helped push him over the threshold. So, if I'm looking at that underperformance by Trump with Biden, but the likelihood that Harris will potentially underperform unlike Biden with suburban voters, I see potential for Donald Trump there. I also beg the question of how well will Kamala Harris perform with younger men, particularly younger men of color? I think that's going to be a real question for Democrats. If I'm Trump, I'm strategically focused on that group as well. [21:45:00] So, I do think quantitatively speaking here, Jake, there are some groups that as a strategist I would absolutely put all of my focus on in terms of penetrating to move where I think there is real movement potentially for Donald Trump. SELLERS: Can I just respond to that briefly? Because I do think that people are going to come and do punditry and question Kamala Harris's ability to woo black men and Hispanic men to her coalition. And what you're seeing her do is put black men at the forefront of whatever campaign may be. There is a call going on right now with over 1,000 black men on zoom, over 3,000 black women. And what she is trying to do is say, I hear you. But, even more importantly, that ad that you just showed, Jake, and one of the reasons that that ad is not going to resonate is it's a problem that both Donald Trump and Joe Biden had together, which is that they both tended to look backwards. That ad is talking about Joe Biden's age, Joe Biden's failures, the things that Joe Biden was unable to do. One of the things Kamala Harris has to do when you go big in a campaign like this is make sure that you're forward looking and saying, look, it's not about what this country was or what it is, but it's about what this country can be. Donald Trump cannot do that because he is a prisoner of his age. Kamala Harris can. (CROSSTALK) BEDINGFIELD: Can I just say quickly, it's not just messaging. The Trump campaign now has to pivot presumably all of their modeling, their data. I mean, there are other elements to campaigning. It's not just messaging. They were planning to run against Joe Biden. Now, it's a different ballgame. (CROSSTALK) TAPPER: We're out of time. But, I don't know what our plans are for the next hour, but I'm not going anywhere. Thanks, everyone. Coming up next, Biden's decision to not run for reelection feels unprecedented. But, Doris Kearns Goodwin is going to join us next to explain how Lyndon Johnson faced a similar-ish decision in 1968, and what the historical consequences of LBJ not running for reelection were. Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) [21:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK) COOPER: And our breaking news, President Biden dropping out of the 2024 race, endorsing his Vice President Kamala Harris. Here is how the historic moment is being captured on the new cover of Time magazine. It shows her literally stepping into frame as President Biden steps out. We're going to get some perspective now from Pulitzer prize-winning presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin. Her latest book is "An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s." So, Doris, as always, on remarkable days, we turn to you. What went through your mind when you heard about President Biden's announcement? DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN, & AUTHOR, "AN UNFINISHED LOVE STORY: A PERSONAL HISTORY OF THE 1960S": I think the first thing that went through my mind is having lived with presidents for the last half century, I know that this is one of the hardest decisions they could possibly make. I mean, every President wants their administration to be endorsed. They want to finish the job. It's what Abraham Lincoln said in 1864, it mattered even more to him, he said, to win the second election than the first because it would show that people cared about what he had done. And like Biden said over and over again, I want to finish the job. But, I guess what also went through my head was the thought that he was particularly hard for President Biden, because he has always come back from these tough situations before. We've seen it time and time again. And he must have believed in these last three weeks for part of that time, I've done it before, I can do it again, until what I guess will come out more and more in these days ahead. My guess is that the reports that came in from the congressman who talked about what their constituents were feeling in the field, that the perception of age and health is something you can't come back with by will, by hard work, and by your whole history of resilience. It's just there. And once that became part of it, then he was able to make the decision that it was better to concentrate on the presidency, as he said, and then focus on that, and allow the campaign to go forward. And I would guess, if anything, he is feeling a great sense of relief tonight. The tensions must have been enormous. As I know, they were for LBJ. And when that decision is finally made, then the anger, the sense of betrayal, what am I going to do, it's over, and then you're going to get accolades, as I suspect we're already seeing for him, and he can bask in that and rightly in these days ahead. COOPER: You worked with LBJ. I mean, you knew him well, obviously. Talk about the decision that he made and the impact that it had on him. GOODWIN: I think it was the hardest decision he ever had to make. I mean, he was a man, like Biden, whose entire life had been in politics. It was said that his decision to withdraw was almost like political suicide for somebody for whom that was their whole life. But, he felt he had to do so. In his case what it was, was the Tet Offensive had occurred at the end of January and it really taken away the notion that the war could be won by more and more troops going away. So, he knew that he had to somehow wind the war down. But, the only way that could be believed is if you were not a candidate for President. And also, unlike Biden, he was still running for election, but he was in a contest, and with McCarthy and Bobby Kennedy, and he was not doing well in that contest. Anyway, he comes to the speech performance that night and thunderstruck was the nation because they were not expecting this. He started talking about winding down the war. He started talking about going to the peace table. And then he said, with our sons in faraway fields and the challenges at home, I don't want to devote a single day of my life to other than the presidential duties, the same thing that President Biden talked about in his letter. And then what happened is, the next day, he goes out on the field. People are clapping for him. The anger that they had felt to him was dissipated. Every review, every editorial said he had put principle about politics, that he had been selfless. In his 37 years, he'd never done anything like this. And he said three days later, when the North Vietnamese agreed to come to the bargaining table, that it was the happiest he had ever been. So, it all seemed great. But then what happens is that fate intervened. He was ready to go to Hawaii to talk to the generals over there and begin the peace talks, negotiations. And then he gets a message the night he was prepared to go, the whole White House plane is filled with aides (ph), etc., that Martin Luther King had been shot. And then everything seemed to change after that, riots in the cities. Bobby Kennedy killed two months later, the war continuing on, and then that crazy Democratic Convention in 1968. But, I think this echoes for President Biden and what he is going to receive in these next days ahead, relief and accolades. COOPER: Lyndon Johnson's popularity soared after he made that announcement. GOODWIN: Exactly. So, in fact, his support was only like 36 percent, 35 percent at the time before the announcement, much like President Biden's. It went up from 56 percent disapproval to 56 percent approval in several matters of days. [21:55:00] So, it showed that the people were longing for a change. They were longing for somebody to be a leader and take control of the situation and seemingly moving forward for the benefit of the country. And I suspect we're going to see that in these days ahead as well. COOPER: What do you think President Biden's legacy will be as opposed to what it might have been if he had stayed in the race and lost? GOODWIN: I think if he had stayed in the race and lost a lot of that legacy, even though it's concrete, would have been hurt, because people would have felt that he was doing it for his own reasons rather than for the country, even if he believed that he was the best person that could win the race. But now, as it is, even though fate may intervene again, we have no idea whether or not whoever comes forward, if it is Vice President Harris, who she may lose in their own right, but at least it won't be him who loses it. And the interesting thing for, I think, President Biden is some of his legacy is already being talked about. I mean, historians, they start talking about it right away. In the last presidential poll this year, they brought him up to number 14, which is like one third of the President -- the top one third of the presidents. So, he knows that. I mean, other presidents don't know that until much later, when President Carter lost that reelection campaign. He was so sad about the fact that, I can't finish what I was trying to do. Same with Bush 41. He said he was afraid he'd be an asterick in history because he couldn't finish what he had wanted to do. And he worried that he'd let down his supporters. Both of them thankfully lived long enough to see that they were held in great esteem by their countrymen. Biden already knows that. So, I think he'll be able to go to sleep tonight knowing that and knowing the relief that I think Lyndon Johnson felt. COOPER: Doris Kearns Goodwin, thank you so much. GOODWIN: Thank you. COOPER: It's great to have you on. Ahead, two big factors that forced the President's decision, endorsements and donations, and now President Biden dropping out and getting behind Kamala Harris is now changing both, when our special coverage continues. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) CNN Newsroom Aired July 21, 2024 - 22:00 ET THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. [22:01:24] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News. JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight, Vice President Harris appears to be consolidating many of the Democratic Party's factions and leaders behind her candidacy for president of the United States just hours after President Biden shocked the political world with his sudden announcement that he would not in fact seek a second term. All 50 Democratic Party state chairs have signaled their support for the vice president as have a number of potential opponents, potential ones, for the Democratic presidential nomination. And moments ago, the Democratically aligned PAC ActBlue said today has been their biggest fundraising day of the 2024 cycle. They say grassroot supporters have raised $46.7 million for Vice President Harris' presidential campaign. The vice president tonight says in a statement, quote, "I am honored to have the president's endorsement in my intention is to earn and win this nomination." She also said, quote, "I will do everything in my power to unite the Democratic Party and unite our nation to defeat Donald Trump and his extreme Project 2025 agenda." ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Biden's exit from the race comes almost four weeks exactly before the Democrats' national convention begins and after Biden had suffered dozens of defections from Democratic congressional lawmakers unhappy with his debate performance and persistent concerns about his ability to serve another four years in office. Our Phil Mattingly reported a short time ago that a source says two of Biden's closest advisers presented him data on Saturday that showed him a path to victory was, quote, "basically non-existent." TAPPER: We start tonight with Massachusetts Democratic Congressman Seth Moulton, who had called for President Biden to exit the race. Congressman Moulton, thanks for joining us. You endorsed Vice President Harris this afternoon. How does this nomination process play out in an ideal scenario? And who is your favorite to be her running mate? REP. SETH MOULTON (D-MA): Well, we don't know exactly how it's going to play out. A lot of people are calling for an open process. I think that's fine. I think that Vice President Harris is going to earn and win this nomination as she said. It doesn't mean it's going to be a coronation. I think that's good for the Democratic Party, but it's amazing how much support she's already consolidated. She has tremendous resources. She can tap into all the campaign infrastructure that the president already has on the ground across the country. And she has the experience of shadowing him for four years in the White House. She's clearly the most ready to take up the reins here and ensure that we have a good chance of winning this election. TAPPER: The Republican speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, wrote in a statement, quote, "As second in command and a completely inept the border czar, Harris has been a gleeful accomplice, not only in the destruction of American sovereignty, security and prosperity, but also in the largest political cover-up in U.S. history she has known for as long as anyone of President Biden's incapacity to serve." It is clear that Republicans are going to pounce on both Harris' record on immigration. But what do you make of this cover-up line of attack, which was also highlighted today by the Republican National Committee and vice presidential nominee, J.D. Vance? You yourself have said publicly that when you saw President Biden at Normandy a few weeks ago, he didn't seem to recognize who you were. MOULTON: Well, look, I think there are some questions that people will ask here, but if this is the best argument that they can come up with against the vice president, it shows that Republicans are already on the defensive here, that they're concerned. They clearly wanted to run against Biden. They now have a nominee or a potential nominee at least who brings tremendous energy, courage, vision, and the experience of a career prosecutor to run to prosecute this case against Donald Trump. I think Donald Trump is in for a real run for his money. [22:05:02] As soon as they see Vice President Harris on the debate stage they're going to be very concerned. And she also has this amazing position of being able to embrace the best parts of the president's legacy, like the CHIPS and Science Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that Republicans across the country are praising, even though many of them voted against that of course, while also having the freedom to distance herself from policies where she might have disagreed with President Biden. That's a great position to be in. And as she unfolds her platform in the coming days, I think you're going to see she's in a very strong position to prosecute this case against Donald Trump. TAPPER: Given what you described in your piece in the "Boston Globe" about President Biden not recognizing you, given accounts from people like George Clooney who say that when he saw President Biden in Los Angeles in June, it was the same person that everybody else saw on the debate stage, given the debate performance, given other accounts of President Biden seeming to have cognitive issues, do you have any doubts about his ability to finish out the remainder of his term? MOULTON: From everything we've seen today, Jake, he's able to make the decisions that he needs to make as commander-in-chief. I think this is a legitimate question. I'm not going to deny that this is a legitimate question, but I have confidence in the president today to continue doing his job as president of the United States. TAPPER: All right. Congressman Seth Moulton. Thank you so much for your time. Good to see you. MOULTON: Good to see you, Jake. COOPER: We're joined now by our Jeff Zeleny for more on Harris' candidacy. So what are you hearing from Democratic sources about President Biden's decision and what it means for Vice President Harris? JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, Vice President Harris began the day as Joe Biden's running mate. She's ending the day looking for one of her own. And that really ends this extraordinary bookend of American politics that upended this presidential campaign. But it's been extraordinary to watch hour by hour by hour. Since President Biden offered his endorsement, other Democratic endorsements also kept coming through. Let's take a look at just a few of those. It started with former president Bill Clinton and Secretary Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, of course, the former secretary of state and Democratic presidential nominee back in '04, Pete Buttigieg, Senator Patty Murray, some 25 senators, more than 60 House members. But perhaps more importantly of all some of her rivals are people who thought that would be their rivals also offered their endorsement. Gavin Newsom, for example, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, the list goes on and on. But really the extraordinary support also is extending out to the state delegations. 50 chairs, all Democratic chairs have endorsed her on a phone call. The Tennessee delegation endorsed her. I spoke with the Tennessee chair earlier and he said he believes it's important to show the country that the Democratic Party is unified around someone, but particularly the one -- the people we are looking at tonight are potential running mates. We know that North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper is someone who has a relationship with Vice President Harris. They served as attorney generals together. Those two spoke on the phone earlier today. Also, Governor Josh Shapiro, of course, of Pennsylvania, Mark Kelly of Arizona. Certainly he has a strong life story. Governor Gretchen Whitmer is the only person on the screen there who has not offered her endorsement yet of the Harris campaign. However, she did speak on a staff call in Michigan and she said it's all time to get in behind the Harris campaign. So even as all this was going on, it is now called a Harris for President campaign, literally the name on the door has changed. So, Anderson, it's been an extraordinary day, but as we near an end to it she's coalesced so much support. There is still time, of course, for other Democrats to throw their names in, but that looks like an increasingly closing window here for the idea of an open convention. COOPER: Yes, I mean, let's talk about that time. I mean, how soon would other Democratic candidates have to declare in order to be competitive for the vice president? ZELENY: Look, it's a bit of a moving target here. This virtual roll call that we've been talking about so much is likely to happen between August 1st and August 7th. That is the window. So by then, someone would have to do the work that the vice president has been doing all day long, so we will see if anyone sort of raises their hand here, but the number of people who would do that, it really is diminishing. So as this week goes along, most Democrats were speaking with things that she will have it wrapped up. Former president Barack Obama is one of the Democrats, Nancy Pelosi as well. They have not endorsed her, but I am told that is more to make this look like an open process, that competitive process that she needs to sort of win people over. And an aide to former president Obama tells me tonight that he's going to play the same role he played in the 2020 primary campaign. Just sort of wait and be a unifying factor should he need to be after all this process. Anderson, but we cannot state enough how much work that the vice president has done throughout the day. Of course this contingency plan has been put into place -- Anderson. COOPER: Yes. Jeff Zeleny, thanks very much. [22:10:02] I'm joined once again by our reporters and political analysts. Also joining me, Anthony Scaramucci, White House communications director briefly under former -- the former president. Anthony, first of all, what's your reaction to this -- the remarkable events today? And do you think moderate Republicans, independents would be on board with Kamala Harris' candidacy? ANTHONY SCARAMUCCI, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: I mean, my first reaction is a little bit of sadness for President Biden, given his long tenure and career, and then my second reaction is he's a very faithful patriot and public servant, and I would call on other public servants which would include people like Governor Romney, even some of the generals like General Kelly and others to think about the sacrifice that President Biden just made, and to recognize the danger of a return of a Donald Trump presidency. And I think he led here in a way that will be long remembered. And there are a group of people that know the danger of Donald Trump. They need to speak out now. The same way Joe Biden made this sacrifice on behalf of the American people, these other public servants and political leaders need to do the same thing. Those are the thoughts that I have. And of course, the independents will coalesce around the vice president. Remember, there are 14 states now, Anderson, that you can no longer have reproductive freedom in and I think this is a very big danger for the Republican Party. I think they've miscalculated this. And there's a big opportunity here for Vice President Harris to take a mantle of leadership for the Democrats and beat Donald Trump in November. COOPER: And Kaitlan, obviously the Trump campaign wanted, it seems, President Biden to be the candidate. What is their next move? KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR, THE SOURCE: They're going to be watching closely. I mean, we're seeing tonight the forces that are kind of coalescing behind Vice President Harris. It's still not 100 percent that she is going to be the nominee, but they're already looking -- and if you look at what campaign aides to Donald Trump and his allies are posting on Twitter, they're already finding everything that she said in Democratic debates in the 2020 Democratic primary. Anything that she said, any moments from her first year in office as vice president, they're resurrecting all of that. So I do think it is kind of a known quantity of what it is that they're going to try to use against her. What did she say about fracking? What did she say about electric vehicles? All of these other issues they're going to be pulling all of that, but they're also watching really closely to see what this means. What do the numbers look like when you actually can see polling? There's been a hypothetical polling of what a head-to-head matchup with Donald Trump would look like. But if that becomes a reality and she's the nominee, what does that look like? And I thought when Hillary Clinton came out and got behind Harris as the nominee earlier, she is a woman who knows what it's like to run against Donald Trump for the presidency, to be on that debate stage with him, and so I thought that was notable as well because that's a question of what that dynamic looks like for Donald Trump. He knows how to run against Joe Biden. He already did it in 2020. He was preparing to do it now and after that debate thought it would go well. It's an open question of what it would be like to have him against Vice President Harris. COOPER: Yes, go ahead. JAMAL SIMMONS, FORMER COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR FOR VP KAMALA HARRIS: Because, you know, one thing is very interesting, we have spent three and a half years talking about what Kaitlan just mentioned of people talking about Kamala Harris' foibles or any flaws she may have had in the speech or what her laugh is like. I think we're just not used to hearing women laugh who are in power. But we hear all these questions about her. Here's the thing. No one has spent $1 defending Kamala Harris, that's the Democratic Party. We've never had a promotional add about Kamala Harris as a Democratic Party. And yet, she is in the margin of error with Donald Trump on many of these polls. I think there's a lot of room to grow for the vice president to get more popular once people actually start a concerted effort to defend her, which we haven't really seen yet. VAN JONES, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think, look, there are three contests that are happening right now. There's a contest to who's going to be nominated by the Democratic Party. Right now it looks like Kamala Harris is running away with it. Right now she's a steamroller. Somebody might be able to stop her, not clear. If the contest who's going to be number two, a lot of the people who we thought were going to be challenging her for number one might be actually going for number two. Number three, there's a contest to define Kamala Harris and I think that Republicans are going to -- are in for a surprise because we're seeing energy now that is shocking to a lot of people. Before it was going to be the old man versus the con man. That was the frame. Now it's going to be the prosecutor versus the prosecuted. That's going to be the frame. And I don't think they're ready. There are 19,000 women on a phone call right now. Jotaka Eaddy's organization, Win with Black Women, has 19,000 women tonight. Nobody saw that coming. And it's not going to be just black folks. You also have young people. You can't just win with just black folks and young folks, but they matter. The mere fact that some of the TikTok upsurge is happening right now, people remixing Kamala Harris' dance moves, taking her statements and remixing it with they not like us. There's something happening as a volcano and I think it's because when you think you're going to lose and you spent three weeks miserable, sad, upset, imagining what it's going to be like to have Donald Trump president. [22:15:07] And you have a tiny crack of hope, it just explodes and you're right now you're seeing an explosion. ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSNIGHT WITH ABBY PHILLIP: Yes. I think it's -- DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: These things are so -- presidential campaigns or so interesting because the dynamics can shift, you know, in ways that you never anticipate very, very quickly. We left Milwaukee on Friday, they had, you know, this was quite a week. The president escaped death. He had this convention that was well-produced and, you know, it looks like they've got their act together. They're unified and so on. And this thing is -- you know, feels like it's over. And then, and now, you know, just listening to you, Van, I'm like I expect there'll be a parade outside. (LAUGHTER) JONES: I'll lead it. (CROSSTALK) AXELROD: Right. I mean, we should, but it also should be a reflection to us -- JONES: Invitation tomorrow as well. AXELROD: That we really don't know what's going to happen from here but what we do know is that this is now a race and it wasn't yesterday. JONES: Somebody shook up the soda bottle in sometimes. ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, and I think -- I'm pretty frankly stunned by this Democrats coalescing like how quickly this happened and this whip operation and that she's very likely going to go uncontested. And because it's the short window, it's really through three months and a week until election day. I think that you're going to see a lot of these people that she's, you know, vetting as vice president or senators who've come out and endorse her. They're going to be deploying them to swing states. One of my frustrations with the Biden campaign is they had surrogates but the operation wasn't strong. This feels like Democrats being like all hands on deck. AXELROD: All hands on deck. GRIFFIN: Behind our person. Every tall in the party is going to go out and make the case and they finally have something forward looking to talk about, which is a young, vibrant candidate. PHILLIP: This is going to be a big test of whether or not the Trump campaign is really about Biden's policies, or whether it's about Joe Biden being old. And I think there's actually a lot of evidence in the data that suggests that Biden's age, his fitness for office has been the major dragging force of his approval rating for the last couple of years now and so, you know, there is something that changes the race about that, even though they want to run on the same record, they want to say Kamala Harris is Joe Biden, same record. She's a completely different person and that does different things to the base. It's going to do different things to moderate voters, and, you know, talking to Democrats obviously, we've been talking about her options for, you know, the second person on the ticket, but there's a lot of consensus even among progressives. It's actually kind of hilarious to me, liberals, very left-wing people are like, OK, she needs a moderate white guy -- (LAUGHTER) PHILLIP: People or Democrats are kind of wildly pragmatic in this moment because -- JONES: That's how we got Joe. PHILLIP: -- they are so desperate for something that changes the dynamic of this race and allows it and to have a shot at beating Trump. AXELROD: Give me a skunk at the garden party moment. Just as an admonition. First of all, yes, you're absolutely right. The age issue was the issue that drove a lot, but the way the message worked was he is too old, he is not in command and things are out of control, and under that heading came inflation, came the border, came, you know, their depiction of crime, despite whatever the crime statistics actually are, but, you know, crime in the cities. Those issues are still going to be potent. They may rotate them in some way. And so she has to be prepared for how she's going to deal with those issues. The second thing is what I've said throughout this night, which is, you know, Barack Obama used to say when we were running, I am proudly of the black community, but I'm not limited to it. And I'm running to be president of the whole country. You know, I've heard people who are advocating for the vice president tonight and sometimes in the context of very narrow kind of parameters, you know, and she needs and she can get more votes than simply the base and that's where their focus should be because I think it's going to be easier in certain ways to rally the base than it is to get the additional votes they need. COOPER: Anthony -- SIMMONS: Yes, but one issue we haven't mentioned is -- Anthony has got to go -- is abortion. And I do think David brings up all these other issues around the economy and immigration and whatever. But in 2022, that was the issue of abortion, that was the issue, abortion, and then freedom and democracy that really moved voters in the last midterm. And I think people are still banking on those issues moving again this year. COOPER: And Anthony, what do you think Vice President Harris' biggest vulnerabilities are as a candidate? SCARAMUCCI: The number one thing they're going to prey on is the immigration issues. They think she owns that but up against that is their wanting to deport 15 million people. [22:20:02] Once that reality sets in for the American people, those communities are not going to want that, but I think it's the immigration issue but think of the positive here for one second, Anderson. She has Joe Biden's record to run on and it is a very good record. He has onshore manufacturing. He's building bridges, roads, and tunnels around the country. We even have microprocessor factories being built in the country. The economy is healing and growing. And it's the most powerful economy in the world right now. And she is very bright and very articulate and she can energetically tell that story in all of those swing states. COOPER: And Kaitlan, CNN is learning that the Trump campaign, they've been researching DNC rules and bylaws. Do you know to what effect? COLLINS: Well, they were worried that they find themselves in this scenario. I mean, it's a shock to everyone that this actually happened I think even though you could see that drumbeat building, but they were looking out to be prepared for this. This was something they were watching closely when they were at their own convention. We've seen how they've changed their own rules to benefit Donald Trump. And one thing if you noticed, if you paid attention to the other speeches, they weren't all aired in primetime last week at the Republican convention, but they started hours before that. Harris was brought up so many times in people's speeches. Peter Navarro, other allies of Donald Trump's, a lot of them mispronounced her name, probably intentionally, which is something you often see a lot of her detractors do on other outlets. And I think that they were preparing for this moment, kind of laying the groundwork of what this could look like if this moment did arrive, where it was clear that potentially people would get behind her. I think people a week ago thought there would be more of a competitive race to take the nominee than what we're seeing play out seven hours since Biden announced he's not going to be in the race. I will note one other thing, though, is Harris is going to be leaning on these top Democratic allies, the ones that have been having these very blunt conversations with President Biden. I'm told tonight that Senator Schumer and Harris plan to meet soon. Obviously, they had a conversation earlier. All of those moments will be critical into what the next few weeks look like for her. PHILLIP: On the Trump campaign and their concern about the DNC rules, one of the things that they've been looking at is whether or not they would have grounds to challenge a change at the top of the Democratic ticket. I'm not a lawyer, but at this stage, it's early enough that Democrats seem well within their rights to do that. But I don't think we can take off the table an attempt at any number of lawsuits, legal challenges, all kinds of things. They might just throw spaghetti at the wall to try to muck up the works on this one. I -- in a conversation with a top Trump campaign official to ask about this and the answer was, we're not going to talk about that, but we are going to keep all of our options. This is something that they have a plan for as well, but the timing of this I think works out best in Democrats' favor. If they can get this locked up before that August 1st to 7th window, it will allow them to be well within their own rules to establish a nominee, to have the delegates vote, and to go into their convention knowing what that looks like. And the challenges, if there are any, would be frivolous. AXELROD: Can I just say a word about this? I've heard the speaker of the House and others in the last 24 hours talk about what an affront to democracy it would be if Biden were taken off the ballot and the disenfranchisement of voters. (LAUGHTER) AXELROD: This is a weird argument for them as they're defending what happened on January 6th. I think I would stay away from it if I were them. COOPER: I want to thank everybody. Money talks and big in bucks. Democratic donors have had a lot to say now that Biden is out of the 2024 race. Pamela Brown on the money moves being made after the president's endorsement of Vice President Harris. That's next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) [22:26:20] COOPER: Just to demonstrate how Democrats are coalescing around a potential Harris for President campaign, the Biden-Harris campaign story is now listing various Kamala merchandise under its "What's New" section, including T-shirts, stickers, and a mug featuring a picture of a young Kamala Harris. Pamela Brown joins us now with more of tonight's breaking news. So what have you been hearing from donors -- Pamela. PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Well, I've been speaking to several donors along with my colleague Jamie Gangel, and what the sense is from speaking to them is that money is now rolling in. One donor told us tonight I'm going to go in big. The sense we got from several donors, some of them were big ticket donors, others were on the smaller side. Also fundraisers we spoke to. Was that there had been a lot of hesitation after the debate. People were holding their money. They even withheld money that they had already pledged. And now they are essentially opening up their purses again with this news about Joe Biden stepping aside in the presidential race and his endorsement of Kamala Harris. And they are putting money behind Kamala Harris right now. Now, it is important to note as well the strategy behind this, Anderson. A lot of the people we spoke to admitted that, yes, it is important to in these early hours raise a lot of money for Kamala Harris to send the signal that she should be atop the ticket. We did speak to some though, who are uneasy about this saying, look, there should be a more competitive process that should play out here, but, you know, there's still going to donate. So there is that dynamic at play. But the bottom line is that the Biden-Harris campaign formally amended their filings with the FEC to declare her as a candidate for president. And as she remains on the ticket, she could assume the war chest from the campaign by the end of June, it was $96 million, and what you're seeing here is just a reinvigoration from these donors and people who would stop their fundraising plans for July and August. Those are back on as well. So certainly a new energy today. COOPER: And what about small-dollar donors? BROWN: Yes, that is really important to note. We are hearing from small-dollar donors, from ActBlue, which of course gets donations from those small donations, $5, $10. They got $27.5 million in the first five hours of Harris' presidential campaign. Then, get this, Anderson, just two hours later ActBlue said $46.7 million donations have rolled in. That is an increase of $19 million in a two-hour span. To help drive this, you're also seeing members of Congress like Adam Schiff send out fundraising e-mails, pushing those grassroots voters to ActBlue. But certainly that is also sending a very strong message here of the support among not just the big ticket donors, but the small ticket donors as well behind Kamala Harris in these early hours, Anderson. COOPER: Pamela, thanks so much. TAPPER: All right. Let's discuss with our panel. Bakari, let's start with Pamela Brown's new reporting. Are you surprised at how much money is coming in so quickly? No? BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Not at all. One of the things Kamala Harris has always been from district attorney to attorney general, a United States senator, to candidate for president of the United States was a great fundraiser. Yesterday when they were in -- I forget where they were. It was one of the rich parts of the country. Cape Cod, I think it was. I think that's where it was. Like Martha's Vineyard to Cape Cod is somewhere -- DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: (INAUDIBLE), on Saturday. SELLERS: Yes, but we don't really travel much from South Carolina, but shoutout to all those folks up there. They were supposed to raise $1 million, but they raised $2 yesterday. She and Secretary Buttigieg. And so, you know, and it's also energy. I mean, grassroots donors. I just had one of my good friends, Janicia (INAUDIBLE), text me. She's a Delta, but she's a part of the Divine Nine. She's like I just contributed. Now, tell me how to get tickets to the DNC. I mean, it's just a new energy for the past four weeks. We just get, you know, our ass busted and head kicked in. Democrats, it's just not a whole lot to be excited about. [22:30:03] We always find ourselves fighting and fighting and trying to tell a message and talk about Project 2025. But whenever that happens, you know, just the headwinds we were facing and those of us out there who really wanted to stand with Joe Biden, it just -- it was a difficult job because of the headwinds we were facing. Those headwinds are not there anymore. And so now we get to envelope ourselves and do what something Joe Biden said he wanted done, which is finish the job. And I think Kamala Harris is going to be able to do that and raise the money to do it. TAPPER: OK. Yet more evidence that we're living in a simulation, Vice President Harris is going to speak tomorrow at the White House. She'll be honoring the NCAA championship teams. Like if we thought this was being written by Aaron Sorkin. I assume you think we're going to hear something that might be related to her running for president? CHALIAN: I would imagine, although she's doing an official event, so I wouldn't expect it to be like a real campaign speech and I think she wants to give President Biden the space to talk to the American people about his decision beyond the letter that he sent today to step down from this race. But she's -- what do you want to say, Bakari? SELLERS: No, I was saying it was already on the president's schedule. She's just stepping in as vice president. CHALIAN: Yes, yes, exactly. He's not going to be there because he's still convalescing from one more day in Rehoboth. TAPPER: I said we're living in a simulation. CHALIAN: Yes, yes. But yes, I would imagine, obviously, we're going to pay a lot more attention to this NCAA event than we ever thought we were going to be paying attention tomorrow. I see now our colleague Betsy Klein notes that they've re-branded the rapid response social media operation under now Kamala HQ they're calling it instead of Biden-Harris HQ. So all the mechanics, all that infrastructure that we've talked about, about why it logistically is, this is the path of least resistance. We're seeing that come to fruition. I also think, Jake, in addition, we talked about all her potential opponents that may have thrown their hat in the ring, that aren't endorsing her. We've talked about the union groups that have certain coalition groups and it's also interesting me, just watch the vulnerable incumbent senators who were up for reelection this year. You know, Bob Casey in Pennsylvania, Sherrod Brown in Ohio, just within these first few hours getting out there and making it clear that they are also with Kamala Harris, even though they are part of the reason Biden made this move, right? They were assessing what does this do to my chances on the ballot. And yet they're coming in in support of her. DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, I said to you earlier that for Kamala Harris and her team, it's really like creating the plane while you fly it but maybe not so much because there has been some quiet a modeling of the plane, just to keep the analogy going as the, as it has been more and more clear over the past couple of weeks, that president Biden is -- would be likely to get out, although I obviously they kept changing. SIMMONS: I didn't think it was likely. BASH: I was just going to say it was a roller coaster of sorts. One day was yes, the other day it was no. SIMMONS: I thought he was going to stay in the race. I really did. BASH: Well -- SIMMONS: I was wrong. BASH: Well, let me say that, I mean, you can speak to this, but the preparation has obviously paid off because he just kind of take a step back and this is sort of where it was going with my point, the fact that we all not only woke up this morning, you had a great show on "STATE OF THE UNION" with all this great news and all of this incoming and nobody including apparently the vice president of the United States knew that this was going to happen until like 1:00 this afternoon Eastern Time. And the fact that here we are nine hours later and all of this has happened, which is not just her work, but also the energy, the change on a dime inside the Democratic Party, from woe is me and I can't believe this, to energy is exactly what Democrats wanted and I do think, I mean, I haven't had a chance to say this. It is a testament to your former boss and the fact that this is not an easy thing to do. It was hard to get him there. He clearly was not -- understandably was not happy about the way that many of his colleagues and people who did support him more publicly pressuring him but he got there and this feels like a completely different race. CHALIAN: Well, Dana, we now have to see if that energy that you're talking about inside the Democratic Party translates broadly to the general election electorate and does this change up, actually change the game of this race. BASH: You're right but you know, you know better than anybody. It has to start with the energy from right there. CHALIAN: Sure. BASH: And if the energy isn't there with from within, it almost doesn't matter what the suburban swing voter is going to do. If you don't have the base, who's going to get out there if they'd rather just sit home. (CROSSTALK) TAPPER: Kate, what's your understanding of how, just as a former staffer who still has friends that work in the White House, what's your understanding of how difficult this was and is your -- is your understanding the same as what Phil Mattingly reported that ultimately Ricchetti and Donilon, his two longest time maids, longest serving aides, I think since the 1980s, right? [22:35:10] KATE BEDINGFIELD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: True for Mike. Yes. TAPPER: Yes. Came and just like presented him with data, didn't say you have to drop out, but it's just data saying there's no path. It's done. And basically, he was confronted with, you're not going to be president in January 2025. It's just a question of how you're not going to be president in January 2025. BEDINGFIELD: Yes. Look, this was an excruciating period of time. This three weeks was excruciating for Joe Biden, for the people who work for him I think, you know, in my mind that actually just further underscores how significant it is that he made this decision and, you know, to Dana's point, I mean, energy. We have seen energy, you know, kind of regenerate in the party tonight, which I think, again, only goes to show you that he, you know, he really -- he did make a selfless decision here. You know, there's nobody that he -- nobody's political acumen that he trusts more than Mike Donilon and Steve Ricchetti. I mean, Mike Donilon has really -- has been with him since 1981 and has been with him through every single up and down of his political career. And so you know, having worked for him at times when, you know, he was in a political valley and looking to Mike and Steve and others for advice, I think I imagine that what happened that finally kind of had him reckon with this was Mike saying to him, you know, I don't see a path here. And I think, look, I think that's a testament to the fact that Biden has people around him who he trusts, who care about him. You know, I don't think we should take it lightly that he ultimately got to this place because I just think this was an incredibly hard decision and you can't -- I mean, here's the other thing about polling, right? I mean, this is kind of, we've talked about this over the course of these three weeks. I mean, you know, you can't look at a poll and say definitively you will not be successful three and a half months from now. TAPPER: Right. BEDINGFIELD: You can absolutely say, you know, your coalition of support is eroding, the key voters you need to get there aren't going to get there. But you can't look at a head to head and say definitively you cannot win this race in three and a half -- BASH: Which is why I was told that he was telling some of his closest advisers, look back. At this point, Bill Clinton was third behind Ross Perot and George H.W. Bush. BEDINGFIELD: And that's a reasonable, you know, that's a reasonable thing to do if you're looking at the data. But, again, I would just say, I really -- I think that reflects well on the president that he was able to accept and get to this place and recognize that he didn't have the best shot to defeat Donald Trump because he believes that Donald Trump cannot be president of the United States again. TAPPER: It is certainly a contrast with how Donald Trump reacted when he actually lost an election in 2020. SELLERS: That's right. One of the things I was going to say is David Chalian and Dana always bring up good points, but I think they brought up the central point of where we go from here, which is that this plane is being built as you said in the air, and we have that energy within the party and it's something that Axe talks to me about all the time. Just how to be a better elected official, how to see the world of politics, how to be a better public servant, is how do you go out there and pull more people into your orbit. And one of the things I would say to Kamala Harris or whenever I have an opportunity to speak with her again is this campaign has to throw all caution to the wind. This campaign has to be big. It has to be magnanimous. That means that in one day you have to go talk to white women in the suburbs of Philadelphia. That same day, you have to have a town hall with black men in Detroit. You also have to go eat cheese curds in Milwaukee, right? You have to be able to do those things that some people were concerned about whether or not Joe Biden could actually do. Hit this stop, hit this stop, hit this stop, meet these people because at the end of the day, what is going to sell Kamala Harris is they're going to -- they're going to say she was a ho, they're going to talk about her laughter. They're going to talk about her being black. They're going to say -- BEDINGFIELD: They're going to intentionally mispronounce her name. SELLERS: Oh, and I hate that. Oh, my god, I hate that. That is so disrespectful. BEDINGFIELD: I don't think I understand that. SELLERS: I don't know. Smart people in it. They're going to say she's not born here. I mean, I hope the American public has really set on seeing what the underbelly of America, I don't want to just castigate the Republican Party, looks like. She's going to have to be strong in the face of that and do something that Democrats do not do well. We sometimes find ourselves in this ivory tower. Kamala Harris has to destroy that ivory tower and meet voters where they are. SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I mean, look, let's look at the Real Clear Politics poll average. Unfavorable, 52.3 percent for the vice president. 38.1 percent favorability. That is a problem beyond the Democratic base. We know that this election will not be won with just the base alone. You are to your point going to have to reach beyond and move some of those swing voters. We have talked a little bit about some of the Nikki Haley voters. John King was talking about some of those voters who've said, we aren't comfortable necessarily of voting for Vice President Harris. We don't think that she's up to the job. Can she maintain that same coalition from 2020 that gave President Biden the 81,000 vote difference across four states that led him to the White House? And that's a very serious mathematical strategic question to ask that Democrats are going to have to figure out. [22:40:01] SELLERS: That's a good point. That's a good point. And it's also the burden of being vice president, right? Because as vice president of the United States, I mean that job is just difficult because you don't get to chart your own course. The messaging you get for the day is not what Kamala Harris feels in our heart that day and, you know, just naturally her gut, but it's what the president wants you to do. And she's been extremely loyal. But my pushback to you, Shermichael, and when people get an opportunity to know her, she's going to have to overcome a lot of those things that women in politics have to overcome, right? Because she's been D.A., she's been attorney general. She's been United States senator and she's been the first female who's been vice president of the United States of America. And if I put that on the table and you still want to choose somebody who went bankrupt all these times, who had Trumps steaks, who had a non-profit or for profit college, et cetera, et cetera, and was a TV star then that is one thing. But she has to be able to make that case and show people the full body of who she is, and I (INAUDIBLE). SINGLETON: No, I think that's a fair point. I'm not going to go to the litany -- TAPPER: Just to defend Shermichael, he has never defended Trump steaks. SINGLETON: I'm not going to go through the litany -- SELLERS: But he does have Trump sneakers. (CROSSTALK) SELLERS: Did you buy those Trump sneakers? SINGLETON: No, I like a nicer sneakers. (LAUGHTER) SINGLETON: No offense to the former president. I'm not going to go through the litany of things that you just mentioned. But again, Bakari, we cannot I suppose ignore that consistent data that showcases some of the issues for the former vice president. And I want to be sensitive of the moment because this is a big moment for -- or current vice president, right. This is a big moment for her. I don't want to take that away, but I'm a strategist. And I have to be honest and look at the data, and the data showcases this is not a shoo-in for her. TAPPER: Nope. SINGLETON: But then it does showcase that there are some huge hurdles for Vice President Harris that she's going to have to overcome. SELLERS: You're echoing that. I've had a lot of black folk call me today and a lot of women call me today, and say, well, if Hillary Clinton can't do it, then nobody can do it. They're not going to elect a black person. They're not going to elect a black woman. And my response has always been you know, we have to believe in the things that are unseen. That's what makes this country great. And I believe she's going to have to tap into that and it's going to take a lot of luck. It's going to take a lot of quality campaigning, but we have to give it -- SINGLETON: We all have dreams but that doesn't mean that dream will become a reality. TAPPER: Thank you, everyone. More on how the Republican playbook for winning back the White House could change now that President Biden has decided not to run in 2024. Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) [22:41:28] TAPPER: As we have been reporting more Democrats are backing Vice President Kamala Harris after President Biden's exit from the 2024 race. That includes Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat of New York, a former top Biden supporter. And the big question now is how will team Trump shift with the president no longer seeking reelection? Let's bring in two of our political commentators on the left and the right. Paul Begala and David Urban. Paul, let me start with you and let me start by playing something that AOC posted on social media before President Biden's shocking announcement earlier today. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTES (D-NY): Huge amount of these folks in these rooms that I see that are pushing for President Biden to not be the nominee also are not interested in seeing the vice president being the nominee. (END VIDEO CLIP) TAPPER: Now AOC this evening has endorsed Vice President Harris. There has been a wave of Democrats rallying behind her. There are some notable Democrats who have not yet come out in support of Vice President Harris. Do you think that she, Vice President Harris, is the best Democrat to take on Trump? PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I do. I do. Because she's a prosecutor. If Mr. Trump wants to know what's coming, Google the tape of when she was Senator Harris and she took on Bill Barr, then Trump's attorney general. Brilliant lawyer, Bill Barr is. And she carved him up in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Absolutely carved him up. Right now, I guarantee you, Donald Trump doesn't know whether to scratch his watch or wind his butt. OK. He has no idea what's about to come. This woman is going to put him on trial and she's already got the frame. You know, I first met her she was a local prosecutor in California running for attorney general. And she had this great stump. She used to say, my proudest moment is when I walk into a courtroom and I look at that judge and I say, your honor, Kamala Harris, for the people. Well, there's her slogan and she's going to say Trump is for himself. I'm for the people. Trump is for himself. And I'm serious, she's just going to -- she's going to tear into him and I just can't -- as a Democrat cannot wait and this is why I think you're seeing so much enthusiasm. TAPPER: David Urban, I want to play something that was said by former Republican presidential candidate, Governor Nikki Haley, in January. Take a listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) NIKKI HALEY (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The first party to retire its 80-year-old candidate is going to be the party that wins this election. (END VIDEO CLIP) TAPPER: Is she right? DAVID URBAN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No, she's wrong, and listen, Jake, you'll remember, if Paul wants to talk about going watch the tape and watching how Vice President Kamala Harris is going to do during debate, why don't you remind him, Jake, because you were the moderator of how Tulsi Gabbard dismembered, literally dismembered the now vice president in your debate and I think that was the end of her career as a presidential candidate. So, Paul, you may want to go back and look at some other tapes. Also, Jake, as you know, and Paul knows this, too. In the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania is an energy state. Might as well be Texas. And the vice president is vocally and vociferously opposed to fracking. She said, I will do everything in my power to stop fracking. And in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, you might as well you hate the Steelers and despise the Eagles because it is about the same. You're not going to be able to run, Bob Casey is not going to be able to run, down-ballot. She's going to have to either have epiphany and change her position on fracking or get some religion someplace else. TAPPER: Paul Begala, we heard from House Speaker Mike Johnson -- BEGALA: Fracking. We're talking about fracking? TAPPER: Well, at least it's a policy issue. BEGALA: That's hilarious. TAPPER: Paul, it's a policy issue. Speaker Johnson today said the Republicans are likely -- URBAN: And it's real. TAPPER: Yes. Likely to file legal challenges if President Biden should exit the race. Biden hasn't been formally nominated. Do potential legal challenges concern you at all? [22:50:07] BEGALA: No. The party has had these rules for decades, maybe even over a century. This is how parties pick their nominees. And it tells you something that the Republicans want to run to the courts now. It tells you first they believed that the courts are rigged and they may be right about that. I don't know. But also tells you that they're scared. See, this is the thing. You can always tell, Zell Miller, one of my mentors, used to say, a hit dog will holler. OK. When they're squealing like this, it's because they're scared. If they weren't worried about Kamala whipping their guy, they'd be saying, well, we welcome her to the race and we wish her the best and the sort of thing that sort of people used to say when politics was a little more of a genteel sport. They're really, really worried and I don't diminish the fracking issue, but it's not a top of mind issue. You know what is? Kamala Harris is going to turn to Trump into Mr. Vance, Senator Vance, his running mate, and say, you're soft on Putin but hell on women. OK. I'm going to take on Vladimir Putin and stand up to him. And I'm going to defend America's women who you're attacking. And I just think that's a hell of a thing for somebody so dynamic and a woman like Kamala Harris to be able to say. TAPPER: David, does this make this -- does what happened today make it tougher, easier, or the same for Donald Trump to win in November? URBAN: Listen, I think it's about -- it's a little -- it's the same, right, Jake. Listen, I will give it the enthusiasm and energy. You know, Bakari was right, you know, before there was no, the party was flat, people were dejected. Now look, there's a glimmer of hope. It reminds me of that, the line in "Dumb and Dumber." So you're saying I got a chance, there still a chance, right? Like that's where the party is right now. And Paul, listen. I know you haven't run a race in Pennsylvania in a long time, but come on back to the state and see fracking is a big deal, buddy. It's a big deal. It is a deal breaker. It cost Hillary the election. So unless Kamala Harris changes her stripes, she's not going to win the commonwealth and neither is Bob Casey if he hopes his wagon door. TAPPER: All right. David and Paul, thank you so much. Anderson? COOPER: In the last hour, presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin reminded us that Lyndon B. Johnson was the last president to drop out of a reelection race. The year was 1968. Doris told me that Johnson felt, quote, "relief and accolades" after his decision and the same might be for President Biden. Goodwin also talked with our Randi Kaye about Johnson's surprise announcement. Here's her report. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) LYNDON B. JOHNSON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I do not believe that I should devote an hour or a day of my time to any personal partisan causes. RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 56 years ago, President Lyndon B. Johnson suddenly ended his campaign as Joe Biden did today. JOHNSON: I shall not seek and I will not accept the nomination of my party for another term as your president. KAYE: That stunning announcement during what was billed as a speech about Vietnam shocked the country. DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: When he withdrew from the race, he talked about the fact that he just wanted to use those remaining months for presidential duties, hoping to bring the war in Vietnam to a close rather than campaigning. And the response was extraordinary. KAYE: At the time there was widespread disappointment in Johnson's handling of the Vietnam War, and his approval ratings were down. Like with Joe Biden, there were concerns about LBJ's health and there were doubts he could win a second term. GOODWIN: He'd done something for an ambition for the country rather than himself. That in all of his 37 years, he had never sacrificed himself this way. KAYE: After Johnson withdrew, Vice President Hubert Humphrey announced his candidacy. Senator Robert F. Kennedy of New York was also in the running for the nomination but wouldn't survive the primary season. After declaring victory in the California primary in June 1968, Kennedy was assassinated in Los Angeles at the Ambassador Hotel. GOODWIN: Bobby Kennedy was killed and then that summer they go to the Democratic convention with the war still going on. Chaos reigns. KAYE: The 1968 Democratic convention, which also happened to be in Chicago like this year's convention, followed not only the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, but also Martin Luther King. The country was in turmoil and protests have broken out over the Vietnam War. Chicago Mayor Richard Daley called up the National Guard to protect the convention arena and put thousands of Chicago police on 12-hour shifts. There were also tense moments on the convention floor among competing sets of delegates pushing to be seated. Even some of the media was roughed up, including CBS's Dan Rather, while trying to talk with anchor Walter Cronkite from the convention floor. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Water as you can see -- UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know what's going on, but this -- these are security people apparently around Dan obviously getting roughed up. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happened is a Georgia delegate at least they had a Georgia delegates sign on was being hauled out of the hall. We tried to talk to him to see why, who he was and what the situation was. [22:55:03] And at that instant the security people, well, as you could see, put me on the deck. I didn't do very well. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think we've got a bunch of thugs here, Dan. If I may be permitted to say so. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, mind you, Walter, I'm all right. It's all in a day's work. KAYE: In the end, Hubert Humphrey won enough support from delegates to become the nominee. But after all the upheaval in the party, it wasn't in the cards for Democrats that year. Republican Richard Nixon ultimately defeated Humphrey to become the 37th president. (END VIDEOTAPE) COOPER: And Randi joins me now. Did LBJ gave his aides much notice that he was going to drop out of the race? KAYE: Well, Anderson, back in 1968, President Johnson had actually prepared two versions of that very famous speech, one that included his withdrawal from the race and one that did not. So actually nobody really knew which way he was going to go, including his Vice President Hubert Humphrey. But years later, one of his former aides wrote in a memoir that even earlier that day, the day of the speech, Johnson still didn't know if he was actually going to end his campaign. In fact, according to the book, Johnson had said, I won't know whether I'm going to do this until I get to the last line of my speech. So apparently, Anderson, he figured it out just before he got to that last line and he did pull out. But it didn't end so well for his vice president at the time. COOPER: Yes. Randi, thanks so much. The news continues with Laura Coates next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) CNN Newsroom Aired July 21, 2024 - 23:00 ET THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) [23:00:42] LAURA COATES, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening, I'm Laura Coates in Washington, D.C. as we continue covering the breaking news of this very historic day in America. And we are indeed witnessing history. I mean, period, full stop. When we talk about the possibility of it happening, people were tripping over themselves to tell you the world about what was going on behind closed doors, weren't they? And it wasn't clear whether Democrats wouldn't take yes or no for an answer from Biden. But tonight, it's official. President Joe Biden bowing out of the 2024 race, but he didn't stop there with that announcement or leave any room to wonder whether he truly believed in his running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris. He immediately gave a ringing endorsement of her to replace him, saying, quote, "Democrats, it's time to come together and beat Trump. Let's do this." And do this, the donors did. The floodgates opening tonight with all the fundraisers. Democrats raising, get this, more than $46 million and counting in small dollar donations in just the hours since the announcement. I'm going to get right to CNN Correspondent Priscilla Alvarez. She's been in Rehoboth with the President of the United States. Priscilla, what more are you learning about the President's decision and how all of this unfolded today? PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Laura, it has been a remarkable day that has now shaken the 2024 presidential election. The President, up until this weekend, was defiant that he was staying in the presidential race, including his top brass taking to the airwaves today to say he wasn't going anywhere. But as the President was self-isolating in his Delaware residence after his positive COVID diagnosis, he was also reflecting. We're now learning that on Saturday evening, he summoned his top advisers to his Rehoboth Beach home where they huddled and they assessed the polling and what Democratic lawmakers had been saying over the last several weeks as they were calling for him to step aside. And it was during those moments that the President began to come to the decision that he was going to drop out of the presidential race, then came today. And the President deciding to tell a wider team, the senior White House and campaign team that he had indeed come to that decision that he was going to drop out of the race. He told them a minute before posting that letter publicly that he was no longer going to seek re-election. So this really was a remarkable moment and one that came together quite quickly after what has been weeks of the campaign trying to face these headwinds from Democratic lawmakers, allies, donors, who said the President just wasn't up to the task to go up against former President Donald Trump. Now, of course, after the President released that letter, he also said that he was going to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris and urge the Democratic Party to come together and support her. Now, sources also tell me that the Vice President did not learn about the President's decision until today. And over the course of the day, they spoke multiple times. The Vice President then having to work the phones herself. She has been calling members of Congress, civil rights leaders, as well as governors to try to get their endorsements. One of those endorsements being from Congressional Hispanic Caucus. I'm told she called the chair saying that she wanted to earn the nomination and have their support. And that is indeed what she got today. Now, the first time we're going to see the Vice President since this announcement will be tomorrow when she celebrates the NCAA Championships at the White House. The President is still self-isolating. The White House doctor says he's doing better but he is still behind closed doors here in Delaware. COATES: So, we've heard, obviously, and read this really political Dear John letter, Priscilla, when will we actually hear from President Biden? You hearing anything about that? ALVAREZ: The White House has not yet said when exactly the President is going to address the nation. As you mentioned in that letter, the President makes a note to say that he is going to address the nation. We have been asking for when that speech is expected to happen. [23:05:08] It is still unclear. Of course, the President has been recovering from COVID. And while we have been getting routine updates from the White House doctor, that he is starting to feel better and that his symptoms, according to the doctor today, have improved significantly. It's still very unclear when he's going to return to the White House and when he's going to address the nation. But there is no doubt that there will be a lot of eyeballs on that speech because today, while making a seismic shift in his campaign, we still have not seen or heard from the President directly outside of that letter. Laura? COATES: Priscilla, thank you so much. I want to continue the conversation now with CNN Contributor and Author of "Joe Biden: The Life, The Run, and What Matters Now," Evan Osnos, CNN political commentators, Ashley Allison, Bakari Sellers, Maria Cardona, and former Republican Congressman Joe Walsh. A full panel because a really, really big moment. Evan, let me go to you first because, you know, we've heard a lot about what may have gone into this decision. Certainly, President Biden is not immune to the conversations. He knows what's been going on. We're told he'd been huddling with his two closest advisers early as yesterday, and they showed him that there was no path to victory. Look, knowing Biden as you do, how excruciating do you think the last three weeks, let alone 48 hours have been for him? EVAN OSNOS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: You know, you have to think about, Laura, what it takes to decide to run for president. You have to believe that you can and not only that, but you must be the president, which is just especially grueling under the last three weeks in which, in effect, his own party, the party to which he's devoted his professional life, was telling him this period is coming to an end. And I -- you know, in the last few days, you heard signs of him digging in, as people said, you know, this was bringing out the Irish in him. But the reality was when he was faced with the cold, hard facts of his political path from the two people who he truly does trust with his political life, Mike Donilon and Steve Ricchetti. It was inescapable. And -- but I can tell you that really, even today when he was breaking the news on a Zoom call with members of the White House staff, it was stunning for some people. For some, it was felt like a bitter defeat for others. It felt like a relief. And I think for everybody, it felt like the next phase has already begun. COATES: Do you know when he broke that news on the Zoom call, what was his demeanor like? OSNOS: It was somber. He read his letter word for word. You know, he really wasn't ready yet to do the pep talk, which he will need to do. I mean, the next step in the process for, is for him to try to bring people together behind Kamala Harris, who he has endorsed. But that was not the mood he was in today. As somebody said to me who was on the call, you could see that he has been wrestling with this. After all, he's been down with COVID. It's the comedy. It is really a rare moment, Laura. It's one of those rare moments in American politics that comes around only occasionally when you see somebody do the big hard thing, which is putting themselves ultimately behind the country and the party. And I think at a time when it's pretty dispiriting in American politics, that's something to take note of, even as we begin to think about the political calculations. COATES: I mean, it's been decades, Truman, LBJ, now Biden, who will have his own place in history as somebody who did not seek re-election in this contest. We bring in Ashley here because, look, you are a Biden-Harris 2020 alum. And I have been dying to know what was your reaction because we've had this conversation about -- you know, everyone's been talking around and about Biden. What was your reaction that he actually bowed out of this race and then a full throated endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris? ASHLEY ALLISON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, in full transparency, I was taking a nap when it happened. And my mom came in and said, he's out. But first before I do that, I want to say thank you to Joe Biden. I worked for him to get him re-elected as vice president. I worked for him when he was vice president, and I worked to help get him elected in transition into the White House. And so when the stories are written about what leadership looks like, Joe Biden's name will be first in line. So thank you for what you have done for America, for black people, and for the world writ large. So two things happened. You know, Bakari deals with a lot of the elected officials and I work with some more movement groups and organizing groups. First, the text was he's out. And then a couple of minutes later, it was he endorsed Kamala. And my phone went wild. I'm excuse, excuse me, the future president of the United States. It went wild and people were excited. I'm talking about leaders that run some of the largest grassroots organizations in the moment. And I was in Ohio earlier today celebrating my Aunt Gwynn (ph) 70th birthday. Happy birthday, Aunt Gwynn (ph). And had to rush back here. And in the moment, I was having a conversation with my mom, and she reminded me when Barack Obama was running in 2008. And as a older black person who was afraid for the first black president of the United States, I said, mom, he can win if people like you support him. And she reminded me. [23:10:05] And so for the last couple of weeks post-debate, she's been saying, what do we do? Well, at 10:59 tonight, she texts me for the first time she got on the wind with black women call where 34 black women are organizing for Kamala -- BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Thousand. ALLISON: -- 34,000. SELLERS: I think you forgot the -- ALLISON: I've never been good at math. SELLERS: That was just -- it's only 34. ALLISON: I've never been good at math. Don't hold it against me. But no, 34,000 black women are in formation who helped get her elected in 2020, who helped get Ketanji Brown Jackson's seat secured on the Supreme Court, and will help elect the first black president -- female black president in the United States. So, there are people who read polls. And then there are people who read people. And in a moment like this, the polls are not going to be able to harness what is actually happening in our communities and our culture. And it's not going to be an easy fight, but it's a fight folks are ready to have. COATES: I mean, Bakari, momentum is on her side in the way that she's describing right now. But there are those who are still naysayers who are going to look at this and, number one, point out the space between he's out and the next text that he endorsed her and collective breaths being held. The other part what people saying, well, hold on a second. I mean, this is a coronation. This is not a competitive process. What do you say to those people? SELLERS: Well, it's open primary, that's about over, OK? I mean, and part of that is because of the work that the Kamala Harris was able to do today, the campaign. You know, many of us have been, you know, making sure that people know that we stand with Joe Biden. But if he makes the personal decision that he doesn't want to run, then we have to be able to galvanize behind her pretty quickly. And that was executed pretty flawlessly. So that's first. Second, we can see that the history that Kamala Harris represents, right? We can see that she will be the first African-American woman and all those other things. What -- and that energy will come. What we have to do, though, is go out and build these coalitions of other voters and bring them into the fold. COATES: I mean, this 47 -- almost $47 million, we're seeing -- SELLERS: I mean, it's going up from that to, that ain't nothing to shake a stick at. But I think where we were for the past three weeks are talking about issues that was incoming or headwinds and we weren't able to delve into a contrast. And so now, for example, you're going to have Kamala Harris who believes that women should have the right to do with their bodies as they please between a decision of their doctor, whoever they pray to in their family, whereas Donald Trump is somebody who put three justices on the Supreme Court that overturned Roe v. Wade. You're going to be able to talk about Project 2025 in the fact that Kamala Harris is running against now, who is the oldest person to ever seek the office of president of the United States. And so, you know, Donald Trump is a vessel for white grievance. And he looks in the past often. Joe Biden actually had a nostalgia for the past. And so he oftentimes looked in the past too. Now you have a campaign and you have Kamala Harris who I'm echoing to anyone who will listen, you don't really have to mention Donald Trump's name that often because we can see the contrast. But you have to be able to articulate a vision for the future. And I think she'll be able to do that clearly. And their first ad, Trump's first ad tonight was about what did she know? When did she know? What about yesterday and Joe Biden? It wasn't even about a future under Donald Trump. We have to focus and tell people what America will look like under Kamala Harris. And then she has to get outside of D.C., something she's been doing, and she has to go to these suburbs, these excerpts and someplace that Democrats don't like to go, which bothers me. They got to go to rural America and talk to these rural voters, and they got to tell them what they can do for them. COATES: You know, on that point, that is what Former President Trump thinks that J.D. Vance can do for him, to talk about the Rust Belt in rural America. There was a lot of talk about this split screen before about J.D. Vance and Vice President Kamala Harris. Now we're seeing it's a very different split screen to Bakari's point. But by him bowing out right now, does this really propel Vice President Kamala Harris? I know the delegates are coming in saying that they're going to be behind her. Is he putting her now in the best position to win? MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think absolutely he is. And we've talked so much about what President Biden's legacy will be and everyone who was trying to get him to bow out kept focusing on his legacy and that it's so historic and everything he's done for the country. I think this will be one of them. He certainly, you know, put the Black woman, first black woman on the Supreme Court. We always talk about that. Obviously chose the first black woman to be VP. And now he is going to be part of the reason why she becomes president of the United States. That's not to take away anything from what she has done herself, because her road to here has also been incredibly historic. And so, yes, I think he has absolutely put her in a position to do that. But I want to mention sort of on the same track of where Ashley and Bakari were going about what this means, what she means, to the people of this country. [23:15:04] The night that Donald Trump gave his speech, it was so dark and so offensive to so many communities, Latino communities, immigrant communities. I got texts from a lot of my immigrant friends saying, Donald Trump just put a target on my family's back because of all of the lies that he was telling about immigrants. Kamala Harris, the next president of the United States, will be able to take that target and turn it around and use it as a shield. Because she has been part and parcel of what President Biden and she have put in place to expand legal pathways for mixed families to become citizens. So many immigrants that have been here for years without papers. She has been part of that. She was also part of reuniting families that Donald Trump had made orphans and had ripped apart. She was a part of that. So much of what she has done and will continue to do will be part and parcel of why so many families in this country will be supporting her. COATES: I do wonder whether they will lead with immigration because that's been the Achilles heel of so many successive and consecutive presidential candidates going back decades at this point in time. And she was heavily criticized at the beginning of her own administration about this very point. But I hear your point -- CARDONA: She can turn this around. COATES: She -- well that's the point. CARDONA: She can absolutely turn this around because of all the reasons I told you. And, by the way, people should know that today, illegal crossings are lower than they were when Donald Trump left office. And that has got to be something that we repeat over and over and over again. So this really horrendous lie that they're going to use as attacking her as the borders are, is just not going to work. COATES: You know, I am curious, because one thing I keep seeing online and everywhere, when this news of her getting this endorsement and now officially, likely being the Democratic nominee saved something drastic from happening is this idea of a debate between Trump and Kamala Harris, the prosecutor against the convicted felon. The idea -- many people remember then Senator Kamala Harris when she would be this unbelievable firecracker who would stick it to everyone, who would come into her hearing, who dared not to answer the questions that she laid before them. And you have to wonder about how this will play up. And actually Joe, she was asked once about what it would be like to debate Donald Trump, who, by the way, right now, is saying that there might not -- this isn't fair to even debate her. Listen to what she said. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's very important that anyone who presents themselves as a leader and wants to be a leader will speak like a leader, and that means speaking with integrity. It means speaking truth. It means speaking -- (APPLAUSE) HARRIS: -- and speaking in a way that expresses and indicates some level of interest and concern in people other than oneself. And -- (APPLAUSE) HARRIS: And so right there we will see a great contrast. (END VIDEO CLIP) COATES: That was 2019 obviously, when she was first running for president. How do you think that matchup will look now? FORMER REP. JOE WALSH (R), ILLINOIS: I don't know that there'll be a matchup because I don't know that Trump will want to debate her. COATES: You think he might not? WALSH: Oh, I absolutely think he might not. This needs to be said, though, to what Ashley said. Joe Biden did something today that Donald Trump is humanly incapable of doing. He put his country first. I don't think -- Laura, I don't think the Trump campaign is going to know how to deal with Kamala Harris. I really don't. They built the entire campaign to go after Biden. Trump struggles with women, strong women. He's going to have a hard time with Kamala Harris. And I would be very surprised if Trump got up on a debate stage with her. SELLERS: Can I -- COATES: Evan -- oh -- SELLERS: Oh I'm sorry. COATES: I have one question with -- SELLERS: Oh I forgot we had Evan. Hi, Evan. COATES: I know. I don't want to -- Evan, we don't -- we want to bring you in, that's -- and I'm going to go to Bakari. SELLERS: Sipping on Camel milk (ph). COATES: He's probably at this point in time. Evan, let me ask you, how often you think we're going to see Biden on this campaign trail now? OSNOS: Yes, well, that's the thing about this. You know, it's -- you now have this interesting situation where you have more principles available on the Democratic side than you have on the Republican side. You have Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, eventually her running mate, Barack Obama, perhaps Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton. You have a huge number of people who are, in a sense, now putting a shoulder to the wheel. It's a very different situation than -- if you can remember the lineup on the Republican side in the night of the actual nomination when you had -- let's face it, not exactly, Hulk Hogan with a distinguished record in office. So look, this is going to become a much -- as Joe was saying, I think it's going to be a much harder case for the Trump campaign to improvise, figure out how it is that they're going to change the entire message that they've been running on. And, look, this is a fact that Joe Biden just did something that Americans on some basic level, whether they agree with his policies or not, they will admire the fact that he put himself behind the interests of the country, behind the interests of even his party. And, you know, it's worth pausing and recognizing that. [23:20:04] COATES: Got the lawyer in me has to play devil's advocate, Bakari. Because I'm seeing a lot of people who are on the other side of the aisle from Joe Biden suggesting that it wasn't magnanimous. But this is some part of a coup or cover up. What do you say to them? SELLERS: First of all, my advice would be something my mom always says, which is that the devil don't need no advocates. He's been doing just fine, OK? You know, I think that people will see the process. And one of the things Kamala Harris said in her statements was that she wanted to earn it. And she's been making more phone calls today than she's probably made as vice president in her tenure. I mean, just dialing, dialing, talking to people, whether or not it's thank you. I want to earn your support. But Evan actually brought up a really good point. And this is something that I'm going to hone in on for the next 3.5 months because we can talk about the history of Kamala Harris. But there has to be something -- it has to be a plus, a value added to win this election. And one of the things I've been thinking about is that the Tucker Carlson's of the world, many of our colleagues on Fox News, they've been sowing fear since January of 2009 when Barack Obama got elected. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. SELLERS: And this type of fear has been palpable, and it's very divisive. And so when you see a convention where you have -- I think the biggest dichotomy is that you have like Amber Rose and a bunch of black elected officials from the Republican Party on Monday, and then on Thursday, you have Hulk Hogan who got fired from WWE for saying the word nigger. And all in between, it is nothing but fear and cultivating that fear. Kamala Harris, one of the things she has to do when she's talking about Donald Trump, particularly when you're going into not just my kids and not just our communities, but to these white folk. COATES: Yes. SELLERS: You got to be able to talk to these white folk and say, look, I am a candidate of hope. Now we don't have to go hope and change all Barack Obama, although if we could do it, if it works, do it again. But she has to envelop her message in that the future under me as a white person who farms corn, or a white person who is on the labor lines in Michigan, or is somebody who was in Arizona who is on Medicaid trying to make ends meet, this election is about hope. You don't have to be scared every day of somebody who looks like Maria, right? You don't have to be scared of somebody whose last name is Cardona, right? Bakari Sellers is not a threat to you. COATES: That's right. SELLERS: Right? But what we can do is if we find some unifying bond together, then we can build this country on hope, not fear. And that's the difference. We don't have to talk about the rapist and the felon and all this other stuff. We know who Donald Trump is. Kamala Harris has to define herself as the candidate of hope. ALLISON: She can do that. She can absolutely do that. It is not us against them. SELLERS: Correct. ALLISON: It is America against Donald Trump that quite honestly. And -- WALSH: Which you're right, Bakari. She has to say we're better than what what -- ALLISON: Yes. WALSH: We're better that and that. ALLISON: Yes. We can turn the page in our country -- WALSH: Yes. ALLISON: -- to a brighter day -- WALSH: Yes, we're better. ALLISON: -- and that is not under Donald Trump. COATES: I'll be so curious to see what message is conveyed the way it is and the timeline we're talking about seems like it's pretty short to be able to convince -- convey and demonstrate one's identity. Everyone stay with me right here. I'm going to take a short break. But when I come back, I'll be joined by a Democratic Congresswoman, Barbara Lee. What does she think of her fellow Californian leading the top of the ticket? And does she think America is ready to do what it has never done before? Put a woman in the White House. We'll talk about it next on this Sunday night. Well, you're in the CNN Newsroom. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) [23:28:11] COATES: Well, you know, since Biden's decision not to seek re- election, we're talking hours ago at this point, there has been a significant push for Democrats to rally around Vice President Kamala Harris as the party's nominee. But the big question everyone's asking in the days to come is, will the Democrats fall in line behind her? Well Congresswoman Barbara Lee of California joins us now. Congresswoman, thank you so much for joining us this evening. I am dying to know what you make of President Joe Biden's decision not to seek re-election any longer. REP. BARBARA LEE (D), CALIFORNIA: Well, thanks so much for having me this evening. First of all, I think, you know, President Biden put country over self. And I think it's -- we need to take a moment today, especially to thank him, owe him a debt of gratitude for what he has done in throughout his life as the 30, 40, 50-year public servant in the elected office, but also as president and vice president. I mean, he is a transformational president. Not everyone agreed with everything he did, but I could tell you one thing, life is much better for so many people. I mean, just think $35 capping insulin, 15 million jobs, the largest and boldest climate policy ever. And he focused on racial equity and economic equity and justice, reproductive freedom. I mean, there was so many initiatives and the policies that he championed that may or may not have been popular. But I can tell you one thing, he worked for the people. And we really need to take this moment and say, thank you, Mr. President, we owe you a debt of gratitude. COATES: He certainly will be defined as the public servant that I know that he hopes to be and is and has remained. And this is a moment of such significance. [23:30:00] Congresswoman, to think that he now falls behind two prior presidents not seeking re-election, just likes of Truman and LBJ, obviously for very different reasons. But he not only said he was not going to seek re-election, he gave a full-throated endorsement of his vice president, Kamala Harris. Are you going to endorse her? REP. BARBARA LEE (D), CALIFORNIA: I already endorsed her, Laura. I endorsed her when she ran for president, actually, the first time. I think I was the first member of Congress to endorse her then. And she's ready. She's experienced. She's been in the White House three and a half years. And she knows what she's doing, and she cares about people. She cares about young people. She cares about people who haven't been seen. She cares about the middle class. You know, she cares about making sure that our democracy is protected. Here we have a convicted felon who's trying to destroy our democracy. Vice President Kamala Harris is a prosecutor. I mean, look at the comparison there. Here you have someone who's trying to establish a dictatorship, who's a pathological liar. Here we have a woman of integrity, someone who is experienced, someone who's ready, someone who can hit the ground running, and someone that I hope the party -- and I believe that the party will unify around and move forward and make sure we connect with voters and make sure that we win. It's not going to be easy. We all have to do our part. COATES: Excuse me, I didn't want to talk over you, Congresswoman. My apologies. LEE: That's OK. COATES: But, you know, the numbers, the donations that are coming in, I mean, the -- since the announcement, you've got the progressive fundraising group, ActBlue, said that they have raised $46.7 million. And these are just in the hours since Joe Biden withdrew. They are saying this is the largest fundraising day of the 2024 cycle. This says a lot about enthusiasm where there has been a gap before. But then there are some who are using the word coronation. They're saying, is this the way to do this? Should there be a contested convention? People are certainly rallying around her in the donation, and certainly delegates seem to be attempting to commit their own delegates to her. Do you think that there will be the unification around her in the days going forward to avoid a contested convention? LEE: First of all, Laura, I'm a member of the DNC, and we have a process and we have rules. And I can guarantee you, we are following the processes and the rules. And we are, look, naturally counting delegates. There are those of us who've endorsed her who want her to be the nominee. She's ready. She's prepared. But we have to do the work. And I tell you, people are excited about her becoming the nominee and the DNC, and the processes will be adhered to -- there's no coronation going on. I mean, come on. We have a short amount of time to do this. We have to connect with the voters, and we have to make sure that we beat Donald Trump. And so, as a member of the DNC, I know all of us are adhering to the rules and the processes and will move forward accordingly. COATES: You know, many black women across this country, dare I say globe, have seen a similar pattern play out, where somebody has earned their position and earned the seat that they are in, even if they had to drag a chair to that particular table. And then there are those who will question whether they ought to be there. She is in, frankly, going to be in line for a number of very extraordinary vitriol. A woman in politics you well know, a black woman in politics you know even better. How do you think the electorate, and frankly, her opponent now, Donald Trump, is going to approach her? LEE: Laura, you know I know. COATES: I know you do. LEE: I've been in the elected office 26 years in Congress, seven and a half in the legislature, worked for a member of Congress as its top staff person for 11 years. And so, the challenges are there. But quite frankly, I know that, as Dr. Maya Angelou said, and still we rise. This is about unifying everyone. It's about connecting with the voters. No one is going into this looking at it through rose-colored glasses. Vice President Kamala Harris is prepared and she's ready. And she's a woman of color. She's a black woman. She's a Southeast Asian woman whose mother was from India, who's raised in a multicultural environment, who understands people of other cultures, who understands the world in which we live, who understands foreign policy and national security issues. She's ready. She's prepared. And people have to, you know, understanding the barriers and challenges that black women constantly face. We have to fight through those. We have to push through those. And those of us, and I hope everyone, is ready to do this. And I was on the call for a while, 34,000 35,000 black women tonight. I mean, people are ready. [23:35:01] You know, black women lead. And we know how to form alliances because we know that Vice President Kamala Harris fights for everyone. She sees those who are poor. You know, I work on issues around poverty. Poverty is endemic in so many communities and low-income and poor white communities and disproportionately impacted in communities of color. Lifting people out of poverty, child tax credit, children's poverty, hunger, all those issues cross -- cut across lines. So I think she can speak to constituencies all across the country, especially in those states where she has to win because she connects with people, she cares about people, and she sees people. And we have to just fight hard. We don't have a lot of time, but we're going to do it. COATES: Well, there's less than, what, a month in the DNC, about 107 days until the election. There's a lot of time that can pass. I'll be very curious to see how she is reintroduced to the electorate now as possibly top of that ticket. LEE: Remember Shirley Chisholm. Remember Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman to run for president in 1972. That's how I got involved in politics. That's why I registered to vote. And she went to that convention, and she was a major, major player at that convention and paved the way for this day. And so we cannot let the legacy of Shirley Chisholm be disappointed in this moment. And so we've got a lot of work to do, but we're going to do it. COATES: Congresswoman Barbara Lee, and to all the women who've had to drag a chair to their own table, thank you so much. LEE: Thank you so much. Nice being with you. COATES: Well, a CNN poll of polls average finds that Kamala Harris is, in fact, neck and neck with Donald Trump, within the margin of error, I should add, in a hypothetical matchup between the two. I mean, it's only been a few hours since there was actually the announcement that she would possibly be the person to do that. And there are these six polls connected by CNN in June. It includes a CBS/YouGov poll taken after the assassination attempt on Trump. Well, joining us now is Pollster and Communications Strategist Frank Luntz. Thank you for being here. Frank, I mean, listen, we were talking like two days ago about the potential of whether Biden would stay in the race or not. Now here we are, just like 48 hours later, and the entire landscape has changed. But voters have been saying that they did not want a 2020 rematch, right? Well, they're not going to get one this time. How does this decision impact it? FRANK LUNTZ, POLLSTER AND COMMUNICATION STRATEGIST: First off, landscape, you even changed sets. COATES: I did. LUNTZ: So I'm looking behind you. One minute we're looking at these colorful dots, and now we're looking at the White House. COATES: Every now and then I got to change it up, you know? LUNTZ: This does open it up. We have only 4 percent who are undecided between Trump and Biden. Now, as you look at those numbers, the undecideds have increased. The states that matter are still the same states -- Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan. The voter equation to actually get to that -- to those states, has changed. Republicans are still doing surprisingly well among working class voters. People who live paycheck to paycheck. But clearly the African- American vote is going to increase. The female votes can increase. For Harris, if I were advising her, I'd say focus on women 18 to 34. That Biden was not doing well among them because he didn't relate to them. And they couldn't relate to him. They can absolutely relate to her. That's her advantage. Her disadvantage is being in charge of immigration. And you're going to hear that the Democrats are going to say that's an unfair charge. But it was her responsibility. COATES: Well, it's an unfair charge. Obviously, just to make the point fine, successive presidential administrations have not been able to, quote, unquote, "solve" the problem of immigration. But voters see things very differently at times. LUNTZ: And that's what's key. And I recognize the congresswoman's passion and intensity. And that's something that did not exist during the Biden campaign. And we're going to see a lot of that. But in the end, it's not their passion. It's what voters learn. So the question then becomes, can you name a specific success of this vice president? And she does care. I agree with that. I understand that. But her caring is different than the voters knowing that she cares. In the end, it's not what she says. It's what they hear that matters. And she's got a way to go to defeat Donald Trump. He's got a very high negative. So does she. He's got a lot of people that will not consider voting for him. So does she. In the end, it's going to be the double haters once again, who don't like Donald Trump's persona, who question whether she's ready for the job. And both of them are relevant and legitimate. And it's going to be important for people like me not to put my finger on the scale, but to acknowledge what's really there. With him, it's his persona and some of his policies. With her, it's some of her policies rather than her persona. And you know what Trump's going to do. [23:40:05] All these ads of her laughing at interviews or her not knowing her brief. And for her, she's going to show Trump at his most anti-female responses and his most angry responses. I believe this will be the most negative campaign that we've ever witnessed. And I am convinced that we're going to have a different turnout ratio than we would have had under Joe Biden. She's a better candidate, and Donald Trump needs to take her seriously. But she's still got a way to go to prove that she's ready for this job. COATES: Let me ask you. First of all, I always kind of chuckle for some reason. There is something so offensive about a powerful woman laughing. I'll never quite understand why, but it offends so many people compared to a man. But then you've got this idea before today. You and I, you were talking about different people who possibly would be a contender against Trump. And some of the names included New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, Maryland's Governor Wes Moore, former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu. It is an endorsement by Biden, though, for his vice president, Kamala Harris. Are any of these people now, in terms of a partnership of running mates, would that elevate her opportunities and chances? LUNTZ: And I'd be looking at someone. I think the most likely vice presidential nominee is the governor of Pennsylvania. COATES: Josh Shapiro, really? LUNTZ: Yes, because he's -- this is a different situation. If she's the nominee, he makes perfect sense. COATES: Why? LUNTZ: Because that brings Pennsylvania. Josh Shapiro is popular in this state. That's one of the three states. And he understands the industrial Midwest, just as J.D. -- COATES: Vance. LUNTZ: -- J.D. Vance, thank you. And that's what's going to matter most. These three states, working class voters, people with paycheck to paycheck, people who feel ignored, forgotten and left behind. And it's going to be which one, either Trump or Harris, can better connect themselves personally to the struggles that these people are having. And it's real. 25 percent of them do live paycheck to paycheck. And it's unclear. I can't tell you as a pollster who's going to win this. I could have told you this three days ago, two days ago. I'm now as befuddled as everyone else, but I can promise you that the person who wins those three states is the person who is absolutely elected. And that working class paycheck to paycheck voter is the one who's going to make the difference. COATES: I had to tell you something very energizing about the idea of not being able to predict the results in a democracy. That's certainly what it's supposed to be about. Frank Luntz, thank you so much. More of this unprecedented evening in American history when we come back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) [23:47:22] COATES: I am back here with my panel. Look, we just heard from Frank Luntz, who told us that polling for the undecided vote has increased today, making Trump no longer the clear leader. So, Bakari, I wonder, do you think it's going to be addressed by the Trump campaign? BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. And I think they'll throw everything against the wall, whether it is the underbelly of what this country is or whether or not it's trying to hang immigration around her neck. It can be a number of those things. And again, I mean, we win -- Democrats win on issues, right? We lose culture wars repeatedly, like that is just something we don't do. It's not our thing. You know, our former first lady said when they go low, we go high. I'm from South Carolina. That means when they go low, we go to hell. But everybody doesn't necessarily like take that mantra, right? And so what we have to do and I believe what the Vice President will do is be able to do some of the -- like tomorrow, for example, it's a simple thing. One of the most popular person in the country is going to be the head coach of Florida State women's soccer team, right? Because that's going to be her first act as -- while the President is recovering from COVID and people are going to want to see what she looks like behind that podium, et cetera, et cetera, she has to accept that and then again, meet voters where they are. COATES: Can she do that in a -- I mean, you know this is going to be brutal. We're not going to pull any punches here. You heard Frank Luntz saying this could be the most and the ugliest political race of our times, which is saying a lot. We've seen a lot of ugly in the days -- in the past. Can -- what should she be doing to get ahead of it, around it or through it? MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think that she expects it. I think this is nothing new to her. As an A.G. and as a senator, the races that she -- not just the races that she had to go through to get there, but the issues that she dealt with as AG, those are not pretty. The issues that AGs deal with every single day, those are not pretty. So she knows what the underbelly of this country is and she knows that it is going to rear its ugly head. So she's very prepared for that. And the other thing is meeting voters where they are, she already has done that. Let's remember the 2022 red wave. A big reason why it didn't happen is because Vice President Kamala Harris went out and met voters where they are. She went to black universities, Latino universities, white universities, talked to all these communities about the reproductive issue. That is why Roe v. Wade was the one reason, a huge reason why Democrats did so well in 2022. COATES: I mean, Shermichael, Donald Trump's campaign is going to have to thread a kind of needle. SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, yes. [23:50:03] COATES: There is a real risk of alienating people the harder you go in a campaign. And I know that's probably what they're accustomed to and trying to hit below a political belt. Does it pose a different risk for them now that it's Kamala potentially? SINGLETON: I think it does. She's a woman of color. She's going to be the first woman of color to be the nominee of a major party. There's just no way around that. COATES: And she's a qualified incumbent. It's formidable, right? SINGLETON: I would be lying if I tried to ignore that fact. I think from the Republican perspective, you're going to hit hard on the economic front. You're going to talk a lot about inflation and say, look, Joe Biden's inflation is Kamala Harris's inflation. Joe Biden immigration failures or Kamala Harris immigration failures. You're going to look at the foreign policy issues, you're going to say those are also at Kamala Harris's doorstep as well because she was with the President rather along the way. I hope we stick to that message and focus on swing voters, focus on suburbanites with that targeting. Will there be some who may go beyond that? Probably. But I hope we just stay away from some of the points that Bakari was alluding to in terms of some of the worst instincts of our past because that doesn't benefit anybody. I think it's a great thing that there is now going to be a competitive person on the Democratic side. Republicans have an opportunity to continue to run a competitive campaign and make the case for why Trump should be reelected. COATES: Evan, let me get to you here, because there's a lot of talk now. Before it was who was going to be the running mate of Donald Trump. Now it's who will be the running mate potentially of Kamala Harris. What names are you hearing? Because we're hearing names like Pennsylvania Governor Shapiro, Kentucky Governor Beshear. Who do you think? EVAN OSNOS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, there's also Roy Cooper of North Carolina in the mix. You know what's a notable fact about all of those people is that they do represent a new generation of politics. And one of the things you heard Frank Luntz say a moment ago was that it's about partly, about voters between 18 and 34 who, let's face it, all of us have had the experience over the last couple of months of talking to young voters who are completely checked out. At the end of today or the last 24 hours, they're not checked out anymore. They're going to decide whether they ultimately are going to be inspired by Kamala Harris and who she runs with. But they are checked in at the moment. And, you know, depending on how you measure it, there's about 5 million Gen Z and millennial voters in the cities in swing states who are tremendously important. And all of a sudden, they were in a race they didn't care about. They're going to care about this race now. COATES: So what do you think, Ashley? I mean, the lean in, J.D. -- it was going to be a J.D. Vance-Kamala Harris debate. That's no more. Do you think that Trump is likely to debate Kamala Harris, number one, or will he do a kind of proxy campaign ad to try to minimize her instead? ASHLEY ALLISON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: OK, so it was supposed to be a J.D. Vance and Kamala Harris debate, but J.D. Vance had yet to accept the invitation. We have an urban dictionary word called shooketh. And I believe Donald Trump is shooketh to debate. SELLERS: You got to explain it. ALLISON: Google. We all got Google. Google means he's scared. He ain't ready. You kept saying she was an AG, and all I kept hearing is she a G. Like, Kamala Harris will go and -- COATES: Yes. ALLISON: -- go toe to toe, 10 toes down with Donald Trump. COATES: Yes. ALLISON: She will prosecute the case just like she did against Brett Kavanaugh in his Supreme Court confirmation hearing. And I think that is what young people. When I think about building the coalition that we built in 2020, that was my job. And when she -- when the Vice President got tapped in that moment, then senator, man, she was on the phone every day almost with me. Like, what are we doing for young people? What are we doing for Latinos? What are we doing for AAPI? What are we doing for rural voters? She understands the people where they are, and she wants to go and communicate. She doesn't want to be in her ivory tower. But Donald Trump is shooketh. SELLERS: I want to point out something, particularly about the three women who are on this panel tonight, because regardless of how good of a lawyer you are or the experience you have or the fact that you've been around politics and know the ins and outs of it, people always look at you three and ask, do you belong here? Right? It doesn't matter what you're doing. As a woman in this country, do you belong here? And so one of the first questions Kamala Harris is going to have to answer, and I want to be very sensitive to what Shermichael said because it is a legitimate point. When you talk about the polling and all of those things, people should hear his point, is that voters want to believe, not the ones we're talking about, not the ones who are on the calls we're talking about tonight, but the voters who don't feel their heart palpitate when you say Kamala Harris' name. She's been caricatured so much. She's Vice President, so inherently you don't know her task. She has to be able to show that she can do the job. Now, is that fair? No. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. SELLERS: But we know that going into it. COATES: Yes. SELLERS: Right? And so -- CARDONA: And so does she. SELLERS: And so for all of those in the -- all those individuals who are like apostles of hope, like that's what you have to be when you work. ALLISON: That's right. SELLERS: Yes. You've got to go out and be an apostle of hope. For all those individuals who are apostles of hope in trying to answer those questions, you can't start with the history because we all know that. You've got to start with the fact that she is battle scarred, battle tested. [23:55:07] She knows the job of president. She can do the job of president. She's the only person who's been there, done that -- ALLISON: Right. SELLERS: -- and she can do it. ALLISON: Can I add one more thing, though? Yes. I think this will excite the base, and you need that. You need your base to be with you to get you to a winning point. But in 2020, we also had Republicans for Biden. Today, there was a tweet we need to verify, but that the Nikki Haley pack endorsed -- COATES: Yes, I saw that. ALLISON: -- the double haters. CARDONA: Yes. ALLISON: I'm talking to Never Trumpers. I talked to Never Trumpers after the debate, and I said, so what are we going to do? And they're like, LFG, and I'm not going to say that on -- SELLERS: They don't get fired tonight -- ALLISON: Google LFG. But that's the text that I'm getting. SELLERS: All right, Laura, go to commercial. COATES: I'm just going to say this -- ALLISON: I said the acronym. COATES: OK, I'm just going to say this. Impostor syndrome does not live at this table. SELLERS: That's true. COATES: You belong -- ALLISON: That's the word. COATES: -- you belong, you belong, you belong -- CARDONA: Yes. COATES: -- and I know I do. SELLERS: Yes. COATES: Evan, Ashley, Bakari, Maria, Shermichael, who all belong, thank you so much. Look, it's nearly Monday morning on the East Coast of the United States, and the presidential race here has been turned on its head. Another hour of our breaking news right after this short break. Don't be shooketh. Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) CNN Newsroom Aired July 22, 2024 - 00:00 ET THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news. [00:00:54] LAURA COATES, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening, everyone. I'm Laura Coates in Washington, D.C. A pivotal, unprecedented night in America. Three weeks ago, there was the consequential presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. It's hard to believe it's only three weeks ago, but it was, in fact, three weeks ago. And now the sitting president dropping out of the race for the White House and, in short order, then turning around and endorsing his vice president, Kamala Harris. Well, tonight, Democrats starting to rally around Harris as she, quote, "intends to earn and win the nomination." Democrats greeting Biden's exit with an avalanche of cash to the tune of more than 46 million bucks and counting, energized by even the prospect of a Harris top-of-the-ticket campaign. I want to bring in CNN White House correspondent Priscilla Alvarez. She's in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, with the president of the United States. Priscilla, what have you learned about how this seismic -- and I do mean seismic -- announcement even came to pass after weeks of defiance? PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, ultimately, the last 48 hours were pivotal. The president is self-isolating in his Delaware residence here because of his positive COVID diagnosis. And it was during that time that he was also deliberating and reflecting. We're now learning that the president, on Saturday evening, huddled with his senior advisers, who were here in Rehoboth Beach, and they assessed the polling. They talked about what Democratic lawmakers had been pleading the president to do, which was to step aside. And it was during that time that the president was starting to come to the decision that he was going to drop out of the race. He also, of course, consulted with his family. They have always been pivotal in almost all of his decisions over the course of his political career. But then today was ultimately the day that the president decided to announce that he was going to drop out of the race. And this was so tightly held that it was only one minute before the president published his letter publicly that he was on the line with the senior White House and senior campaign officials to advise them -- or sorry, to notify them that he was going to withdraw. And of course, this shook the political world as the president announced that he was not going to seek reelection. And then shortly thereafter said that he was going to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris and urged the Democratic Party to get in line and to support her. Now, sources also tell me that the vice president didn't know about this decision until today. That's when she was informed by the president that he was going to step aside from the presidential election -- for the presidential race. And then they spoke multiple times over the course of the day. And Vice President Kamala Harris has since then been making multiple calls to Democratic officials over the course of the day to try to earn their endorsement. Now we should also note, Laura, that in that letter from the president, he said that he was going to address the nation. We're still trying to get clarity on when exactly that is. Of course, the president is still recovering from COVID. The White House doctor has provided routine updates to say that he is improving, that his symptoms are improving, but we still don't know when or where the president wants to address the nation. The White House putting out his guidance this week, which doesn't shed any light in terms of what his schedule is going to look like as he is in recovery. But certainly, that is going to be a speech that all eyes will be on as the president tries to seek some sort of unity in his party, which for weeks now, has been completely divided on whether or not he was the best candidate for them in this divisive election year. COATES: Priscilla Alvarez, great reporting. Please keep us informed. Also, joining me now are CNN political analysts and commentators. We've got Ashley Allison, Ron Brownstein, and Scott Jennings. So much is happening right now. It's almost like news through the firehose again. Let me begin with you here, Ashley, because it was probably an incredibly hard decision. I mean, Biden's biographer, Evan Osnos, told us just in the last hour that some White House staffers felt the news was a, quote, "bitter defeat." For others, it's like a kind of -- a relief. I wonder how you felt when you heard that news. ASHLEY ALLISON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, look, I mean, Joe Biden has been an excellent president. He still has six more months to serve. And I put up posts on Instagram. I said, "Run through the tape, Joe. Finish strong." You still have executive power to do executive orders, to continue to forgive student loan debt, which is such an important issue for so many young Americans and people my age suffering with that debt. Of course, it was a hard decision. Joe Biden believed he could get the job done. But he talked to some of his closest advisers and family and came to the conclusion that it's not about him. It's about our country. It's about our party. Unlike his former opponent, Donald Trump, who continue -- who had lost in 2020, continues to be the party nominee, continued to put candidates up in the midterms that lose. So yes, it was a terribly hard decision for Joe Biden, because he cares what happens to this country, but he also did something extremely historical in passing the torch to Kamala Harris, his vice president. And I think history will remember him well. COATES: I mean, Ron, I -- one word I keep hearing tonight has been "energy." It's a jolt. It's a -- you know, it's an adrenaline rush. All of these things are all being described. How will the energy, though, translate into the general electorate? Is it going to be a flash in the pan or sustained? RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: No, I think for Democrats, there will be much more energy than there would have been sticking with Biden. I mean, no one in the Democratic Party believes that Kamala Harris is a sure thing. There are lots of questions about whether she can beat Trump any more than Biden could. But I think Democrats felt a certain amount of, you know, inevitability to the Biden situation. They have -- they have the airwaves to themselves this year, Laura, in the swing states, almost completely, almost unrebutted, spending tens of millions of dollars. And Biden's approval rating in those states was no better now than it is nationally, which suggests that there are an awful lot of voters who are basically -- who are basically done with him and had tuned him out. At least with Harris, you get a chance to reset the race, creates a new contrast. Suddenly, Donald Trump is the -- is the older guy. And I think the -- the version I've heard from -- from many Democratic strategists and pollsters and consultants is that, yes, her floor might be lower. We don't know how good she will be. She was not a great candidate in 2020. But her ceiling is almost certainly higher. And that was a risk that seemed, I think, to most Democrats, worth taking at this point. COATES: I mean, she's got four more years of experience, as well, and now the incumbency aspect of it is going to factor in. And there is the name recognition as the vice president. And I do wonder if the notions of electability become moot, compared to the conversations four years ago. But Scott, let me bring you in here, because the Trump campaign has been preparing for weeks for the possibility of running against someone who is not President Joe Biden, although in Milwaukee, Biden was the focus. How does this moment change the race for the Republicans? SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, they're prepared for Harris, because I think the Republicans assumed all along that, if Biden jumped out of the race, that the Democrats would have no choice but to go for Harris, even though she has limitations along the lines of what Ron just described. They're already out with an ad tonight, basically saying all the Biden stuff that you don't like is the Harris stuff that you don't like. She's been right there by his side during the inflation crisis, during the border crisis. And on top of that, she has to answer for her own role in the coverup of Joe Biden's condition. I do have to address -- and actually I love you (ph). COATES: Well, hold on, Scott. When you say the coverup. JENNINGS: But the idea -- COATES, I don't want to cut you off. I want you to finish your point. But I do want to understand what you mean by her role in the coverup. You mean the -- the accusation that somehow, she was aware of some infirmity? Or that going forward, she was aware of something different? What do you mean? JENNINGS: I mean, I assume you've read all the articles about how this White House spent years trying to hide from the public just how bad Joe Biden had gotten. And I mean, she's right there. She was on TV every week, saying he's sharp. He's strong. Behind closed doors, he's as sharp as a tack, the best we've ever seen. I mean, I'm sorry, but she was in on this. And it's obviously not true. Otherwise, Joe Biden would be -- wouldn't be dropping out of this race. Actually, by the way, asking Joe Biden to -- COATES: But Scott, let me ask you -- JENNINGS: Hold on. COATES: -- wouldn't you -- wouldn't you also suggest? Oh, wait. You can -- you can hold on. Hold on one second. We can all hold, but it will be after I speak. Scott, on this point, what -- what is the difference? And I'm asking how they're going to be able to market this point. What's the difference? Why wouldn't they be accusations against, say Speaker of the House Johnson or anyone who's met with President Biden over the past several months or the year; suggest that they, too, were knowledgeable about what you are intimating? [00:10:09] How do you, as strategist, and how do you to the electorate make that distinguishing feature so that you're only targeting what she would know, versus any member of Congress? JENNINGS: Yes. I mean, what -- you know, why should we expect Kamala Harris to know anything, right? She's only the vice president of the United States, who's been sent out time and again for months and years to tell us how sharp and -- as a tack that that Joe Biden is. Look, this -- the reporting on this is clear. Every major media news outlet in this country is now deeply reporting on all the steps that were taken to try to hide from the public what was going on with Joe Biden. And you've got a litany of people from this White House, from the Congress, and the top-ranking Democrat who was part of this litany going out into the public and lying to us about how he is was Kamala Harris. So, I suspect what they're going to say is not only is she in on all of the policy deficiencies you're mad about, she was also in on the lying. And that's going to call into question her credibility. That's -- that's my point. And I think it'll be an easy point for them to make. COATES: Well, it'll be a nice turn from the -- was it, "I'm in it for Joe Biden" to then "She was in it." That's, I'm sure, the next T-shirt we're going to be actually seeing at this point in time. But I am curious how the electorate will view this, Ashley, because you know, there will be ample opportunity to criticize both of these candidates going forward and whoever it is she may pick, should she get the nomination as her running mate, as well. And the questions are swirling that -- that Scott has mentioned. What does the Harris ticket need to do to address the points that Scott is raising? ALLISON: Well, there's no cover up. Joe Biden has decided to step out of this race, because his close advisers told him that there is not a path to victory. And so, rather than making it about himself, he is saying I understand the threat that Donald Trump poses to our democracy. And if I can't beat him, I'm going to give a pathway for someone else to -- to beat him. I think in terms of the record, look, the narrative around the border -- Maria Cardona, our colleague, just was saying that border crossings, illegal border crossings are lower now under Joe Biden and Kamala Harris than they were under Donald Trump. So, we can have a conversation about immigration. Also, what I will say is -- is that when the Biden-Harris administration put forth a bill that a very conservative Lankford from, I believe, Nebraska -- COATES: Oklahoma. ALLISON: Oklahoma. Thank you. It's late. Put forth and said here's a pathway; it was a conservative supported bill. It was probably going to get through the House and the Senate. Donald Trump said, No, because I want to play politics. So, we can go tit-for-tat for who did this and who did that. But when it comes to people, particularly Kamala Harris, saying to middle -- middle-class workers in the -- in the Beltway -- or in the Midwest, in the Sun Belt, I have a plan for you that protects union jobs, that creates a pathway to the middle class, that gives you childcare. We have a plan. Donald Trump does not. COATES: Let me ask you, Ron, bring you in here, because I am curious. One, how -- how voters, you think, might be seeing these two different arguments that literally are optically on the left and right of you right now on the screen. But also, you've got somebody who was a bit of a thorn in the side of Democrats throughout the tenure that he has been a senator. I'm talking about Senator Joe Manchin, who was once a Democrat; now is an independent. And there are sources close to him saying that tonight, he is considering re-registering as a Democrat and maybe throwing his hat into the ring. What do you make of that possibility? BROWNSTEIN: Well, first, let me -- let me talk about what we've been discussing. I agree. Harris will have the same vulnerabilities on policy as Biden does, particularly about inflation and the border. The voters who are discontented with Biden's record on that won't be any happier with her on those issues. The big difference is that, unlike Biden, who really has not had the capacity to drive an offensive message, Harris will have the ability to, I think, more effectively articulate what is the Democrats' best argument against Trump: that he represents a threat to Americans' rights and values and democracy itself. That's been her job since Dobbs. She has spent two years pushing back against what the Supreme Court has been doing, what red states have been doing. If you look at her answer at the Essence Fest about the Supreme Court immunity decision and compare it to Biden's response at the White House a couple of days later, it gives you a perfect encapsulation of why Democrats think she can be more effective at prosecuting their best argument against Trump. Don't forget, Biden was already trailing Trump by ten or 15 points on who voters trusted to handle the economy. That meant Democrats are going to have to convince millions of people who think Trump is better for their bottom line to vote against him anyway. [00:15:06] And Harris is just much more skilled than Biden is at this point at delivering the argument that represents their best chance to do that. As for Manchin, you know, I mean, it's fine. It's not -- I don't think it's going to be a hugely relevant factor. I mean, there are -- there is an audience in the Democratic Party. There are Democrats -- consultants, voters, strategists, donors -- who worry about Harris's ability to beat Trump. And someone is going to, you know, speak to that audience. But it is not, I think, in any -- the candidates who might actually threaten her, someone like Gavin Newsom or Gretchen Whitmer, they're not running against her. I think there's -- going to consolidate around her very fast. And -- and Manchin will be, as you described him, and as he often was in the last few years, more of a gadfly and a thorn in the side of Democrats than someone really capable of setting the direction for the party. If he wants. COATES: I know we have to go, but I want to hear from you quickly, Scott, on this point. I know you guys are coming back. Does Harris's ascension to the top of the ticket make the Senator J.D. Vance selection a better or worse idea? JENNINGS: I -- I don't know how to do that algebra yet, actually. I guess maybe some of it will depend on -- on who Harris ends up choosing for vice president. I did -- I did want to comment on one thing Ron said about her, you know, sort of going out and trying to make the case about democracy. I do think this hurts Democratic arguments on democracy. I mean, Joe Biden got millions of votes in the primary. He's now effectively been overthrown by a handful of elites and rich people. Now, Harris is going to end up with a nomination through what they're calling a process, but it's obviously rigged. So, the party of democracy is now disenfranchising millions of Democrats and handing the nomination, through a process set up by elites, to someone who did not earn it. I do think this is -- this makes, makes it a little more complicated to go out and say you're the party of democracy when you sort of operate in your party in a very undemocratic way. COATES: I'll be curious -- ALLISON: To be clear, Kamala Harris was on the ballot. BROWNSTEIN: Are you comparing -- ALLISON: To be clear, these folks, 14 million voted for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. COATES: Ron, I couldn't hear you. What did you say, quickly? BROWNSTEIN: I'm saying, you can't really compare what's happening now to what happened -- what Trump did after the 2020 election culminating in January 6. I mean, that's -- I mean, that's really kind of specious. COATES: But you know what? We'll leave it as a cliffhanger for now and see if Scott has a response to that specious claim. Everyone, thank you. Stay with me here right now. And shortly after Biden announced he's out of the 2024 campaign, the head of the NAACP thanked the president for his service but seemed to stop short of endorsing Kamala Harris in that moment. NAACP president Derrick Johnson joins me next. I'm Laura Coates in Washington, D.C., and you're in the CNN NEWSROOM. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) [00:22:26] COATES: Well, the impact of black voters, especially women black voters, cannot be overstated in their importance on Democratic politics. Ask any strategist you know. In the past few weeks, many black lawmakers have come to Joe Biden's defense as other Democrats called for him to exit the race. Well, joining us now is the president and CEO of the NAACP, Derrick Johnson. I'm so glad that you're here this evening. Welcome. I wonder what you make of this stunning announcement. DERRICK JOHNSON, PRESIDENT AND CEO, NAACP: Well, it's good to see the president put country above personal interests. We are in a serious crisis concerning our democracy. And for an individual to have enough character to say, you know, there's a better option here. I'm willing to step back to ensure this democracy survive is something that is to be commended. COATES: You know, in the NAACP statement that followed the announcement of Biden stepping down from seeking reelection, it stopped short of endorsing specifically Vice President Kamala Harris, saying, quote, "While today's news requires a discussion, we cannot be distracted. Our focus must remain on the policies that presidential candidates stand for, not their political performances or personalities," end quote. I do wonder what policies do you think the vice president would need to get behind in order for your organization to endorse her? JOHNSON: Well, first of all, at the NAACP, we don't endorse candidates or political party. We focus -- we focus on policy priorities. And so, candidates who support the right of workers to collectively bargain; the ability of federal employees to be -- have civil service protections; the need for more individuals to be provided student loan debt cancellations; the -- the rights of citizens to have equal protection under the laws. Those are the things that we care about. Fortunately, the vice president, who is a member of the NAACP, also support those issues, but we don't zero in on individuals. We -- we focus on public policy. And we're going to advocate for voters to focus on the things that would improve the quality of their life, stabilize this democracy, and grow opportunities for our young people. COATES: You know, people are looking at weeks away from the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. The last time it was in Chicago was at an era in our history that was particularly tumultuous following assassinations, turmoil in the streets, Vietnam. You could just name what was going on. Civil rights, a whole number of issues. And the laundry list could ensue right now. [00:25:09] But I do look at this moment of history. How do you think black voters should view where we are right now, where a major party may, in fact, end up nominating the first black woman to be president? JOHNSON: I need African Americans need to focus on what would be in our long-term interests. I think 1968 is a great example for us to not forget. I think it was Jackie Robinson, who served as a member of the NAACP board at the time, who gave a warning that President Nixon would be devastating to the efforts that was achieved by African Americans at that time. And he was absolutely correct. You think about it. He was a Republican saying this individual will not stand up for the policy priorities that we had just achieved in terms of voting rights and Fair Housing Act and civil rights. And he was absolutely right. And so, we need to take a page out of that history and really zero in on what are the public policies that we are concerned about, and make sure Project 2025 don't eradicate all the gains we've made over the last 60 years. COATES: Does that mean the focus from the NAACP is on the policy priorities, above all else? If there were other candidates who sought to throw their name into the ring and become a potential nominee who had similar policy platforms that the NAACP aligned with, you'd be open to an open convention? JOHNSON: Well, we are open to whatever the process the political party decides to go through. And when the party process is over, we're looking at November. November's our goal. We are actively engaged in the formation of public policy that improves the quality of life for African Americans, not the partisan conversation that will bring forth the candidates. In this two-party systems, one political party has decided their candidate. We are waiting for the other political party to decide their candidate. And then from there, we would evaluate what are the policy priorities that those candidates are evaluating? We can say that what we are hearing out -- from -- coming from the Heritage Foundation and Project 2025 is damning, at best. And any candidate who support the policies that is coming out of those -- that recommendations, that's what's concerning to us. Because it will redefine the role of government, subvert democracy, and minimize the voices of so many Americans across the country. COATES: Derrick Johnson, thank you so much for joining me this evening. JOHNSON: Thank you. COATES: Well, Kamala Harris, the vice president of the United States, is already fundraising tonight for her campaign, and is going to start vetting some vice-presidential picks pretty soon. So, who is who, and who should be on a short list? My panel comes back after a short break. Stay with me. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) [00:3233]: COATES: Well, we're just learning that the Democratic convention rules committee is going to meet on Wednesday. Why? To agree on rules for picking a new nominee now, of course, that President Biden's announced that he will not run for reelection. Our panel back with us: Ashley Allison, Ron Brownstein, and Scott Jennings. Scott, let me begin with you here, because Trump immediately attacked Harris after the announcement today, and he emphasized her ties to Biden. Is that the main vehicle by which the Trump camp is going to focus? JENNINGS: Absolutely. I mean, Harris is obviously a well-known figure, but obviously, the focus of the entire campaign has been on Biden, his approval rating, whether he's fit for the job. So now you've got to look at Harris. And the easiest argument for them to make is she's -- she's his right-hand person. You know, she's the one who's been helping formulate the policies that gave you inflation. He appointed her the border czar. It's the -- it's the simplest and easiest way for them to transfer the campaign they were already winning onto this new Democratic nominee. COATES: I mean, Ron, President Trump, he seemed to think that Harris will be easier to beat than Biden. Of course, the focus 'til now has been on Biden. Is he right about those potential claims? BROWNSTEIN: Yes, well, I feel along with Scott, I mean, those are the vulnerabilities, right? She has the policy vulnerabilities that Biden does. What she has, though, is a potential to make more of the administration's assets and Democratic arguments than Biden seemed to be capable of doing at this point. Look, Harris has (AUDIO GAP) -- to help alleviate Biden's biggest electoral weakness, which is his declining support, relative to 2020, among younger and non-white voters, especially men. But -- and that -- and that could serve her well. I mean, she could generate more turnout and improve margins among groups that had grown disillusioned with Biden. The risk is that she could squander, to some extent, what has been Biden's greatest electoral asset, which is that he has held his support among older and blue-collar whites to a surprising extent, amid all of his other troubles. And that's going to be the calculus here. I mean, the Kamala coalition, as I call it, is going to be different than the Biden coalition. It'll be a little more like the Obama coalition, in that it's going to depend on improvements among younger and non-white voters, college-educated white women, where the Democrats can probably squeeze out a few points, to offset what is likely to be at least some retreat among the blue-collar and older whites that Biden brought back, relative to Hillary in 2016. [00:35:07] COATES: I mean, this -- Ashley, this is right up your alley in your wheelhouse. And all the way -- by the way, she's also the founder of the Watering Hole Media Company, as well. You should look it up, everyone. But Kamala Harris will likely be the first black woman to lead a major party ticket. And this is how she responded back in 2019 about the historic nature of her then presidential candidacy. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: I do want to take a moment to acknowledge the historic nature of your candidacy. There have only been a handful of black women who have ever sought the presidency. And if you win, you would be the first black female president in the history of this nation. What does that mean to you? KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, listen, in every position that I've held -- when I was district attorney, I was elected as the first woman of the city and county. I was the first woman of color in the entire state of California. When I ran for attorney general, and when I was elected, it was as the first woman ever, and as the first person of color ever. And, you know, frankly, Jake, my mother used to have a saying. And she would say to me, commonly you may be the first to do many things, but make sure you're not the last. And so, you know, that's how I think about those kinds of things. And it is about, certainly -- breaking barriers is something that is very important. And in my experience, given what I've shared with you, I will also say to you that I have seen fathers bring their sons up to me and say, she is the first, in a way that is to also speak to those sons about the fact that they should not ever be burdened by what has been. And they should see what can be. And I think that's really the most important takeaway, which is that, with each barrier that we break, it is saying to all of us don't be burdened by what has been. See what can be, and strive for that. (END VIDEO CLIP) COATES: Ashley, I wonder if this will be a major part of the campaign, because obviously, her historical significance is there. Also, the fact that she's been four years a vice president and his listed her qualifications, as well. That will be a part of it, as well. But what will be the driving force, do you think, behind the campaign? ALLISON: Look, in a moment like this, I think of Shirley Chisholm. I think of Geraldine Ferraro. I think of Hillary Clinton. They didn't ascend to the vice presidency or the presidency, but they were the first in many aspects, and they certainly were not the last. And so, I appreciate what the vice president's mother shared with her, because there is a sense of hope and possibility of what this country can do when folks are given the opportunity. I want to say that, when vice president or then-senator was selected to be the vice president, she went through a rigorous vetting process. She was the attorney general for the second largest Department of Justice in the country, second to the Department of Justice that the attorney general sits at. She was on the Judiciary Committee where -- going over important Supreme Court confirmations. She has the credentials. She also happens to be a black woman. And so, she is not in this position because she is a black woman, but she does have -- happen to be a black woman. And so, I think that all of those things put together will be really important. Who she picks as her vice president, folks always say V.P.s don't matter. I don't necessarily agree with that. But I think people will look to see, is she going to do like a Donald Trump and pick a MAGA person like J.D. Vance, who was anti-abortion, and who won't actually say the election results of the 2020 elections are fair and accurate? Or is she going to look for someone, maybe from a battleground state? Maybe somebody from a different racial background than her and say, I can bring America -- America together. Look at this ticket. This is what America is, and you all are a part of it. And you're a part of this story that we're -- we continue to write in this great country. COATES: I'm curious to see how the debates are going to go, Scott. I'd like you to weigh in on this. Is -- is Trump going to debate Harris? She -- he's already sort of making a bit of a stink about the outlet he will be on. JENNINGS: Yes, great question. I don't know. I mean, I think if Biden had stayed in, there was no chance Trump was going to debate Biden again. And I guess what the campaign will have to decide is whether, you know, there's any benefit to doing this. I mean, Harris, you know, the high watermark of her short-lived campaign for president that you were previewing a minute ago was when she had a debate and effectively implied that Joe Biden was a racist on the stage. That was the high watermark. So, I don't know if they consider her to be a good debater or a bad debater. I'm not sure how they view it. But strategically, I'm sure they're mulling that over right now. They've got a few weeks to decide that, I think. COATES: Ron, what's your take? BROWNSTEIN: Well, I think, you know, for -- you know, obviously, for Harris, part of getting on the stage with Trump would be to just be on the stage with Trump and establish the credibility of doing that. Plus, the sheer physical contrast. Suddenly, Donald Trump is the old guy in this race. And you know, it's been so overshadowed by the widespread doubts about Biden's capacity that we forget that, consistently, roughly half the country is saying in polls, they don't think Trump has the mental acuity either to be president. Physical? Yes. Mental, a lot more doubts, given some of the, you know, meandering and strange comments at his rallies and confusing, you know, Haley and Pelosi and so forth. [00:40:26] So, I think that, you know, for Trump, there is risk in the debate. As I said, Harris has the same vulnerabilities on policy as Biden. What she does have is a greater capacity -- I think many Democrats believe for good reason -- to kind of make the Democratic arguments that -- that can hurt Trump. And I thought Scott was going to say, you know, the -- the big highlight of her political career, arguably, in Washington, leaving aside the presidential race, was her questioning of Brett Kavanaugh at those hearings. And so that could be an effective forum for her. And we'll see whether Trump is willing to give her that chance. COATES: We will see. Everyone, thank you so much. I appreciate your time this evening and your insight. The big question is, so what are we to make of this time in American politics? Up next, two of the country's brightest political and presidential historians join me to talk about it, in a moment. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) [00:45:59] COATES: There are now only four weeks to go until the Democratic convention and just over 100 days to the election day. But tonight, the Democratic ticket is undecided. On a day that will be remembered in history as when President Biden said that he put the nation first in his decision not to seek reelection. Joining us now is CNN political analyst Juliann Zelizer, and CNN presidential historian Tim Naftali. Glad to have both of you here. Let me begin with my alma mater, Professor Juliann from Princeton. Let me ask you this question. At 78 years old, Donald Trump now becomes the oldest nominee in U.S. history. How significant is this shift, considering all that we have talked about for months now about that -- that contest? JULIANN ZELIZER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Very significant. I mean, it changes the terms of the debate, where now former President Trump is the old candidate. And those questions will surround him. And at the same time, it's also a generational difference. Whoever the nominee is -- and it's looking like Vice President Harris -- it will reflect one party that is pushing forward with new ideas and new issues and new faces, compared to the top of the ticket with the GOP, which is still the politics, in some ways, of yesteryear. So, it gives Democrats an opportunity to be the bridge to tomorrow, as Bill Clinton used to argue in 1996. COATES: I mean, Tim, now you've got the name and -- it's Truman, it's LBJ, and now it's Biden. Put this into perspective for how significant this is that a person is not seeking reelection when he could have. TIM NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Well, as you just said, we've had instances where presidents -- incumbent presidents who could have run for reelection decided not to. But in the cases of both Truman and LBJ, they did it on their own terms. They decided on their own that they wouldn't run again. And they decided when to tell the world that they weren't running again. Yes, there were, in both cases, Democrats who were seeking to challenge the president, but the leadership of the Democratic Party wasn't pushing those presidents out. Nor was there a whispering campaign that made clear there was a coalescing of most Democrats around the idea that the incumbent president shouldn't run again. That's what makes what happened today so extraordinary. The other thing that's important to keep in mind is the decisions made by Truman and LBJ happened in March of the election year, not just a few weeks before the nominating convention, where the incumbent president already had more than enough votes to be renominated. And that's what puts President Trump [SIC] -- President Biden's decision in real context. President Biden didn't want to make the decision he made today. President Biden realized he had to make it. And what a contrast to former President Trump, who held onto power even when it would come at a cost to dividing the country. Today, President Biden decided not to inflict that cost on the country but to inflict the cost on himself, because this must have been personally a very difficult decision. COATES: I mean, Juliann, to that point, you know, it's almost a tale of two perspectives on democracy. We know that both candidates, with Biden and Trump, they both thought they were each an existential threat to democracy. There are those who are now talking about either a coronation or a confirmation of the person that Biden has now endorsed, Vice President Kamala Harris. Is this a sign of a healthy democracy? ZELIZER: Yes, I think it is. I think that point that Tim made about how President Biden has acted reflects something good about the democracy. To see a leader who can be selfless at some level and to sacrifice themselves politically for the good of party and, in his mind, for the good of the country, that's what we're looking for. It's the kind of virtue you want. [00:50:04] And parties have the ability -- they have the right, and they have the rules to make a shift like this. You know, back in the era of the party conventions, the point was the primaries and caucuses weren't the mechanism that we used. There are rules in place. If the candidate resigns or if the delegates haven't voted yet, which they have not, to switch who's at top. So, I don't think this is a coronation. It's within the rights of the party. And again, primary and caucus voters voted for a Biden-Harris ticket. Biden has voluntarily, even if not happily, stepped down. So, I think this can be totally legitimate. And there is no comparison with January 6. That was about attacking the election system. This is about a party changing their choice. COATES: Tim, you want to weigh in on that point, as well. What do you say? NAFTALI: What I say is that we have witnessed yet another unprecedented moment. My -- this -- this whole season has been a test of our democracy and our republic. We have seen yet another unprecedented moment with a very human element to it. In the end, President Biden had the power and the authority to stay atop the ticket. There was no system by which he could be removed. This was not a story of impeachment or removal. He hadn't done anything wrong. He'd just gotten old. And he came to the conclusion that our country would be best served by his standing aside. What is incredibly interesting and important -- and I know Julian knows about this, too -- is that in 1968, when Lyndon Johnson stepped aside, he didn't endorse his vice president until after the convention. Indeed, Lyndon Johnson held out a sliver of hope that he might be re- nominated at that convention by draft. In this case, what we're seeing is a coalition -- a coalescing of support for Vice President Harris very quickly, not simply because the president endorsed her, but because leading Democrats see her as the correct standard bearer at this moment. So, we're not in a 1968 situation. We're in a unique 2024 situation. COATES: Well, either way, gentlemen, something tells me we're not in Kansas anymore. Julian Zelizer, Tim Naftali, thank you to you both. NAFTALI: Thank you. ZELIZER: Thank you, Laura. COATES: Well, the decision by President Biden to exit the presidential race is making headlines all around the world. We'll show you the very latest when CNN NEWSROOM continues after this very short break. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) [00:56:37] COATES: International leaders are also speaking out about Joe Biden's decision to leave the 2024 presidential race. CNN's Kristie Lu Stout joins me now. Kristie, what are you hearing? KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT/ANCHOR: Laura, well, across the world and here in Asia, people have been hanging onto every single detail about the election. And world leaders are responding, especially allies, who say that they respect President Biden's decision to drop out of the race. In fact, this is what we heard from the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, who took to X to say this. Let's bring it up for you. He said, quote, "My friend Joe Biden has achieved a lot for his country, for Europe, for the world. Thanks to him, transatlantic cooperation is close, NATO is strong, and the USA is a good and reliable partner for us. His decision not to run again deserves respect," unquote. And from the U.K., we heard this from the relatively new British prime minister, who said, quote, "I respect President Biden's decision. I look forward to us working together during the remainder of his presidency." We also heard from Ukraine and its president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who issued a lengthy post on the social platform X, saying that "Ukraine is grateful to President Biden for his unwavering support for Ukraine's fight for freedom. Many strong decisions have been made in recent years, and they will be remembered as bold steps taken by Biden in response to challenging times. And we respect today's tough, but strong decision." Look, under President Biden, the U.S. has bolstered ties with allies around the world, also here in Asia to counter a rising China. And as such, allies here in the region have also weighed in, including the Australian prime minister, who calls Biden a, quote, "incredibly decent, honorable man of integrity." On social media, we heard this from Anthony Albanese. He said, "Thank you for your leadership. Thank you for your ongoing service." He also adds that "The Australia-U.S. alliance has never been stronger with our shared commitment to democratic values, international security, economic prosperity, and climate action for this and future generations." Albanese also called Kamala Harris a good friend. Now, South Korea and Japan, they said that they don't wish to comment on domestic politics in the U.S. But they also emphasized the need to work with the U.S. And we also in the last half-hour, heard from the president of the Philippines, who called Biden's decision a demonstration of genuine statesmanship. Now the U.S. says it stands with the Philippines, especially now as tensions grow with China over the South China Sea. And Laura, we are still waiting for a response from China later in the day. Back to you. COATES: How is Kamala Harris perceived internationally and in Asia? I know they're not coming on domestic politics, but is there a perception of the vice president there? STOUT: You know, Laura, it's interesting. I mean, obviously, she's not as well-known as President Biden. But also, she has not had a massive international portfolio. But she is of South Asian descent. She has made multiple trips to Asia as vice president. And her job has been to reaffirm, or rather reinforce Biden's message and to reiterate America's commitment to the Asia-Pacific region, especially in light of a rising China. Back to you, Laura. COATES: Kristie Lu Stout, Thank you so much. And before we go so, a quick mention of some new endorsements for Kamala Harris tonight. These include North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper; New York Governor Kathy Hochul; California Governor Gavin Newsom; Maine Governor Janet Mills; New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy; Pennsylvania's governor, Josh Shapiro, who may be on Harris's V.P. list; and senators Tammy Baldwin, Laphonza Butler, Bob Casey, and many more. This list keeps growing. [01:00:12] Thank you for joining me this evening. I'm Laura Coates. And make sure to join me again tomorrow night, 11 p.m. Eastern, for "LAURA COATES LIVE." CNN's special coverage of history, President Biden's monumental decision to leave the 2024 race, continues right now. CNN Newsroom Aired July 22, 2024 - 01:00 ET THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. [00:00:32] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News. MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a warm welcome to our viewers joining us all around the world. I'm Michael Holmes. Appreciate your company. Well, one story dominating all others this hour a seismic shift in the race for the White House after President Joe Biden's stunning decision to end his campaign. The move following increasing pressure from inside Mr. Biden's own party to step aside in the weeks following his dismal performance in the presidential debate. A source says plans for President Biden to exit the race was set into motion Saturday night and finalized on Sunday. We've learned that information given to Biden by his closest advisors underscored that the path to victory was basically non-existent. In a letter posted to his official account on "X." Mr. Biden said, quote, "It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President. And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term," unquote. The President went on to offer his full support and endorsement for Vice President Kamala Harris to be the democratic nominee this November. And he urged Democrats to unite behind her. In her own statement, Harris thanked Mr. Biden for his extraordinary leadership as she put it and decades of service to the country. She went on to say she was, quote, "honored to have the President's endorsement." And that it was her intention to, quoting again, "earn and win this nomination." Now in the hours since the announcement, we've seen an outpouring of support for the Vice President including from donors who say they're reinvigorated and ready to put their money behind Harris. And already we've seen donations pour in. ActBlue says, "small donors have helped raise more than $46 million since Harris launched her campaign." That's in a matter of hours. The group says it is the biggest fundraising day of the 2024 cycle. CNN's Jeff Zeleny is following all the developments. He has the latest for us from Washington. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: The Vice President Kamala Harris receiving support from across the democratic party for her to replace President Biden on the democratic ticket. In the wake of that bombshell announcement on Sunday, the Vice President moving quickly reaching out to senators, other lawmakers, state officials as well, asking them for her support. Now, she said in a statement that she intends to fight for this nomination. It certainly is not a done deal. However, the breadth of governors and senators and House members, including some governors who could be on her shortlist for a running mate, like potentially Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper. The list goes on all through their names to support her candidacy, as did California Governor Gavin Newsom. Of course, he is a longtime potential rival of hers, but he certainly said he supports Harris. So state delegations also weighing in from Tennessee, from South Carolina. So time is running short for her to choose a running mate. It's a compressed primary schedule, if you will. The voting for her, if she becomes the nominee and a running mate, would be between August 1st and August 7th. So around two weeks or so to get this worked out. Now, there is no question there is still a bit of time for some Democrat to step forward in challenging her. But on Sunday evening, there is no question that Democrats are rallying behind her. This has been a contingency plan in the works, and she set it into motion with President Biden's decision. Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Washington. (END VIDEOTAPE) HOLMES: Donald Trump, perhaps predictably slamming Joe Biden on social media, posting this Sunday, quote, "Crooked Joe Biden was not fit to run for president and is certainly not fit to serve and never was. He only attained the position of president by lies, fake news and not leaving his basement." Trump goes on to say, quote, "All those around him, including his doctor and the media, knew he wasn't capable of being president and he wasn't." Well, joining me now from Los Angeles is CNN Senior Political Analyst Ron Brownstein. He is also a Senior Editor at "The Atlantic." Good to see you, Ron. Well, what a day. I mean, so -- so Biden endorsing Harris, but does that make her a lock to replace him? Even she's saying she's going to have to earn and win the nomination. [01:05:09] You've got senior -- a couple of senior party figures like Barack Obama, not straight out endorsing her. Some others want an open process. Is there a battle ahead for the job or not likely? RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I think unlikely. Let history record 12:41 a.m. Eastern this morning, the first press release from the Harris for president campaign landed in people's inboxes, including mine. And it was a formidable list of governors and senators who have endorsed her. I mean, Democratic Party has just gone through a very traumatic episode of nudging aside a President who they respect, who they think has been more successful than many expected, but whom, you know, the vast majority of them had come to believe cannot win and did not feel comfortable about renominating him for four more years. After going through all of that, it's just hard to imagine there is the stomach for a full-fledged second fight to bypass her, especially with the candidates who might have the best chance and be considered the most viable alternatives, like Gretchen Whitmer and Gavin Newsom already indicating they won't run against Vice President Harris. HOLMES: Yeah. What -- what are her chances, do you think, against Trump, you know, versus Biden's chances? BROWNSTEIN: Well, I think, you know, the most common phrase I've heard is lower ceiling, higher floor, right? You know, with -- with Biden, opinions were pretty much set. His approval rating has been stuck at 40% or below for over a year. Two-thirds or more of people have said they think he's too old to do the job for another four years. Really telling was that all year they have been on the air virtually unrebutted in all of the swing states. And he was trailing, still trailing after all of that, still trailing Trump. And his approval rating was no better than it was nationally. Harris offers the opportunity for a burst of energy. She can deliver the Democratic case against Trump more vigorously and more cogently. Obviously, she's going to unlock a lot of fundraising. If you look at it demographically, she has the potential to improve upon Biden's biggest problem, which is that he's eroded since 2020 among younger and nonwhite voters. But she does risk some retreat among what has been, I think, his most surprising asset, which is that even amid all of his other problems, his vote is held up among older and blue-collar whites. Can she put the Sun Belt swing states back in play? North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada. If not, she will have the same narrow path that he does going through Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. And those states don't seem to be intrinsically easier for her than they were for Biden. HOLMES: So how do you expect Republicans to pivot their strategy now? I mean, it certainly throws a spanner in the messaging of Biden's age and mental acuity. Now he's not the candidate anymore. Kamala Harris is 20 years younger than Trump. BROWNSTEIN: Yeah. Yeah. Suddenly she -- you know, suddenly he's the old guy. HOLMES: Yeah. BROWNSTEIN: You know, we haven't really paid much attention to it because of all the concerns about Biden's capacity. But roughly half of voters consistently say they doubt Trump has the mental acuity to be president himself. They don't doubt his physical strength. But like in a CBS poll just last week, 50% were saying, you know -- and when they watch things like him confusing Nikki Haley and Nancy Pelosi and all the strange tangents at -- at his events. Look, I think Harris has to carry all the same crosses that Biden did in terms of voter discontent on their record about inflation. And they're also going to try to -- with their roots in San Francisco and California as some kind of woke liberal. The reality is, I think, you know, I've talked to a number of people who have studied her image with voters. And the answer is, is that it's surprisingly unformed. It's really pretty shallow, even though she's been in office for three and a half years. And that means we're in a race -- HOLMES: Yeah. BROWNSTEIN: -- to see whether Republicans can tag her with the negative images they want or the Democrats can put some of the positives that they want there, particularly her work defending rights centered on abortion. HOLMES: And -- and how important is who she picks as her running mate? And who do you think, you know, a good candidate for that? We're looking at a blue wall governor. BROWNSTEIN: Yeah, I mean, that like the most, you know, the most traditional thing to do would be to balance the ticket with a white male elected official from a key swing state. And, you know, that list would probably be centered on Josh Shapiro, the governor of Pennsylvania. Mark Kelly, the senator from Arizona. Roy Cooper, the governor of North Carolina. With Shapiro having the edge because Pennsylvania is the most indispensable of those three. The other option is what Clinton did when he picked Al Gore in 1992. Instead of having the ticket balanced with an older Washington hand, he picked -- he doubled down. He picked someone who was a reflection of him, a younger centrist baby boomer. And the analogy here would be to pick Gretchen Whitmer to create a high risk, potentially high reward all female ticket, which would certainly generate a lot of excitement, you know, carries obvious risks. But she also would help to bring a key swing state across the former blue wall of Michigan. [01:10:20] So that really are the two paths. Balance the ticket or double down. Most people think she'll balance the ticket. If she does, I think Shapiro is the -- would be the front runner. But there's a lot of interest in the party in kind of taking the leap. You know, you can't leap halfway across a chasm, right, Michael. HOLMES: Yeah. BROWNSTEIN: And by going from Biden to Harris, Democrats have already taken a leap from kind of the safe shore. And that would argue for really just kind of doubling down on the -- on the strategy and going to -- going to Whitmer. HOLMES: Now, that would be something Whitmer, that -- that -- that would be something to women that would be making history all over the place there. Ron, always -- you've had a busy day again. Every time I talk to you, something's happening. Thanks, Ron. Appreciate it. Ron Brownstein. BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me, Michael. HOLMES: Now, while Barack and Michelle Obama, as we just said, haven't officially endorsed Kamala Harris as of yet, they did release a statement praising Joe Biden, calling him a patriot of the highest order. I want to read some of it to you now. They say, "We will be navigating uncharted waters in the days ahead. But I have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges." And Senator Chris Coons, a close ally of Biden, agrees. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. CHRIS COONS, (D-DE): I think today we should focus on Joe Biden's incredible legacy of service to our nation, his selflessness, his accomplishments in his decades in the Senate, leading the Judiciary Committee and Foreign Relations Committee as vice president and now leading the Biden Harris administration. It bears repeating that together, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and the majority in the Senate and House managed to put into law earth-shaking, historic pieces of legislation. (END VIDEO CLIP) HOLMES: CNN Senior Political Commentator Van Jones joins me now. He's also a former Obama administration official. It's been a busy day for you, Van. It's been a difficult day for a lot of Democrats who wanted Joe Biden to continue on. And I know for you, I was watching you early in the day. It's been particularly poignant. You described it as like taking the car keys from your grandpa. And then when you get them, you just cry. I think that's what you said. How difficult would this decision have been for Joe Biden? VAN JONES, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, first of all, toughest decision you can ever make. You know, most of us don't get anywhere near to that level of power. And you can't imagine the amount of selflessness, the amount of courage. His coalition was falling apart around him. That's true. But if he had decided to soldier on, he had the delegates, he could have stayed in it as a nominee. This is one of the most selfless acts, one of the most courageous acts. And it's heartbreaking. I personally know the guy. He picked me out of the puppy pile. I was nobody. I was just a young activist. He saw something in me and gave me an opportunity to be a part of the first black presidential administration ever. And I love the guy. But he just was not going to be able to prevail against Donald Trump. And he did the right thing. HOLMES: Yeah. Do you expect Kamala Harris to be the new candidate? I mean, there's talk on some levels of having some sort of open process, open the selection, that anointing a successor is risky. Can you see any of that happening or more likely a push for unity? JONES: Listen, she is wrapping this thing up quickly. She and her supporters are demonstrating a level of political skill and prowess that is really breathtaking. We have a big, big party. We have rules to make rules on top of our rules, which are wrapped up in rules. It's a very bureaucratic party. She is rolling through this party like rolling thunder. And that level of political acumen is something I think a lot of people, including myself, have been stunned by. But she has all 50 state chairs already. She's got 25 senators already. She has the Clintons already. She has Joe Biden already. The only people standing back now -- most of her rivals have already endorsed her. The only people standing back, the Obamas are standing back. Pelosi is standing back. Some of the Democratic leadership is standing back. But it's not like they've endorsed someone else. And no one has yet raised their hand or their pinky to say they want to stop Kamala Harris. So she's gone from being a quite marginal figure in the Biden administration to being a juggernaut in 12 hours. HOLMES: Yeah. And how do you think she will do against Donald Trump if she is the nominee? And it looks that way, of course. This is a massive moment for the party, if not the country as well. Do you think she will do well? [01:15:12] JONES: Look, if you had asked me a month ago, what if you put Kamala Harris up against Donald Trump? I'd say, well, what if you put a stick of butter up against a chainsaw? I would have said that Donald Trump was just going to destroy her. I mean, he's a phenomenon. And, you know, a month ago, she was not a particularly popular or beloved figure, even in her own party, with very low polling numbers and attached to an unpopular administration. What I've seen this past 12 hours has shown me something, which is that I think for Democrats, we spent three weeks sitting outside the ICU, which is where people are very, very sick in our American hospitals, looking at American democracy. It was a death watch. And for three weeks, we thought Donald Trump was going to be president of the United States. And it scared Americans. It scared Democrats. It scared progressives. And so, suddenly, to have just a gasp of hope, one little heartbeat of hope, and suddenly you're seeing a huge surge of energy and support for Kamala Harris. There was a phone call for Black women, a win with Black women, that was supposed to have 1,000 people on it. 34,000 people got on the phone call to support Kamala Harris. That's just unheard of. ActBlue raised $50 million today. There is just a surge of energy behind her. Now, does that translate beyond the base? What does that mean in the swing states? I don't know. But I'm watching a rocket take off that nobody saw coming. And how far that rocket goes, I don't know. But if I were Donald Trump, I'd be very, very nervous. HOLMES: Yeah, and to that point, Republicans, you know, they have their Harris talking points well formed, their criticism of her they have for some time. But does that hurt her or perhaps help her? I mean, most of those talking points are well known. So there's few surprises. She's well vetted. Is it fair to say that? JONES: Kamala Harris has a much lower potential floor than Joe Biden. You kind of know what the Joe Biden voter kind of looks like. But she's got a much potential, much higher ceiling in that all the bad stuff about Kamala Harris you already know. You already know that she sometimes laughs in a weird way. You already know that she was assigned the border and didn't do a great job. You already know the bad stuff. But there's good stuff that you've never heard about Kamala Harris. People have worked for her. There's never been an ad put out saying, here's all the good stuff that Kamala Harris has done. Here's a role that she was playing behind the scenes when it comes to foreign policy, when it comes to national security. And there's a way they reintroduce her in a way that's sort of like now it can be told. She was doing this behind the scenes. She's doing that behind the scenes. And the Trump administration is going to have a hard time figuring out what to do with all this new good news about Kamala Harris. The Trump campaign is not happy tonight. The reason that they did not make a big deal, they never ran any ads against Joe Biden showing his debate performance, his debate debacle, was because they were afraid of pushing him out of the race. They wanted to run against Joe Biden. They wanted to run against an impaired older man. They did not want to have to run against a young, vigorous woman who is a prosecutor, who knows how to throw a punch, who knows how to take a punch, who can go all over this country, who can excite a grassroots base. They didn't want this. They pretend they've got the answers, but the answers that they have answer a caricature and not a candidate. Now they've got to deal with a candidate. HOLMES: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that whole age thing is flipped on its head now. She's 20 years younger than Trump. So it's going to be interesting to see how that plays out. Van, you've had a heck of a day. I really appreciate you making the time, Van Jones. JONES: Honored to be here. Thank you so much. HOLMES: Well, support for Kamala Harris starting to pour in, as we were just discussing. But she's working hard behind the scenes to secure as many endorsements as possible. Our breaking news coverage continues after a quick break. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) [01:21:25] HOLMES: All right, more details on our top story this hour. U.S. President Joe Biden officially ending his reelection campaign just hours ago and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris to succeed him. And now top Democratic Party officials are analyzing the impact Harris might have down ticket on other candidates if she does become the party's nominee. Several Democrats telling CNN she could help reenergize the base, especially the young and minority voters. A source saying Vice President Harris is already working the phones, calling lawmakers and delegates to shore up support for her candidacy. She had a list of about 200 calls to make on Sunday alone, including with the heads of the Congressional Black Caucus and Hispanic Caucus. Several Democratic leaders are already speaking out in support of Kamala Harris. That includes Congressman Ted Lieu from her home state of California. He became the first member of the House Democratic leadership to endorse Vice President Harris, writing on "X" that he's honored to back her again after endorsing her in the 2020 race. Another California lawmaker, Congressman Eric Swalwell, told CNN earlier that Harris is the right candidate to take on Donald Trump. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. ERIC SWALWELL (D-CA): I fully support Kamala Harris. And in fact, she's been trained by the best. Joe Biden was a vice president himself. And so she probably had the best mentor to work under. And she's tough. She's smart. She's real. And she's everything that we need as we go up against somebody who would take away every freedom. You know, Trump's Project 2025 would end abortion, force people into marriages. It would ban books and just be an all-out assault on our freedoms. And this Vice President, as I said, she's tough. She's real. She's smart. And she's got what it takes. (END VIDEO CLIP) HOLMES: Publicly, Donald Trump's team has said they hope Harris is the Democratic nominee. But privately, there is said to be concern about facing her or any other potential candidate other than Joe Biden. Trump's co-campaign managers issuing this statement on Sunday, quote, "Kamala Harris is just as much of a joke as Biden is. Harris will be even worse for the people of our nation than Joe Biden. Harris has been the enabler in chief for Crooked Joe this entire time. They own each other's records. There is no distance between the two." Now, Dan Morain has covered Kamala Harris for decades. He is, in fact, the author of a biography on Harris, "Kamala's Way: An American Life." You see it there on your screen. He joins me now from Davis, California. As we said, Dan, you've studied her for years, literally wrote the book. What will Democrats be wanting the public, the voters to know about who Harris is and how qualified she is for the presidency? DAN MORAIN, AUTHOR, "KAMALA'S WAY": Well, you know, she -- she is a formidable candidate. She ran for president in 2019 and for the 2020 Democratic nomination she didn't do well. But I covered her running for California attorney general in 2010 and reelection in 2014 and U.S. Senate in '20. And she can be a very good candidate. I moderated her one debate when she ran for attorney general the first time against a formidable opponent, a guy who was the district attorney and the chief prosecutor in Los Angeles County, obviously the largest county in California. He should have won. [01:25:14] It was his -- his race to lose. She did really well in that debate. I covered the debate that she had when she ran for U.S. Senate. She's very good on her feet. Now I know that the -- the people have been critical of her as vice president. It's not the Kamala Harris I came to cover in California. HOLMES: On the flip side, then, what are Republicans going to pull not just from her time as VP, but her time in California as electoral ammunition? I mean, given your history of covering her, what political potholes does her early career have? MORAIN: Well, you know, there are all sorts of things I suppose you can bring up about Kamala Harris, her background. I mean, certainly she'll be portrayed as a California liberal who's out of touch with the rest of the country. But, you know, this is a woman who became a prosecutor and spent a lot of years in the courtroom putting criminals away. And her people committed serious crimes. You know, one crime were domestic violence where a guy scalped his girlfriend. I mean, good God. She spent a lot of time going after sex traffickers. That's the sort of thing that is kind of hard to attack. Now, she opposed the death penalty that was used against her when she ran for attorney general in 2010. And it was a very close race. I mean she -- you know, in fact, the night of the election night, the Republican, the LA DA, Steve Cooley, proclaimed that he had won. She ended up winning because of the late vote count that always happens in California. HOLMES: Right. MORAIN: I would say the death penalty really has a resonance today that it did 20, 30 years ago. HOLMES: All right. Of course, she would be -- you know, were she to win, she'd be the first woman African-American, Asian-American president in U.S. history. How important is her own heritage to her and, you know, her identity and how that's shaped her views? MORAIN: Well, you know, the book is called "Kamala's Way: An American Life," but really it could be called "The California Life" because she is a person who really -- I think, really only could have come from California. Her parents, her mom was an immigrant from -- from India. Her father, an immigrant from Jamaica. They met at -- that most California of institutions, the University of California at Berkeley. Got married. She was born in 1964, which is a year of real change in California and resistance to change. So she is a daughter of California. She is a product of California, multicultural. Her parents were very liberal. So it was somewhat surprising that she would become a prosecutor, but that's what she became. HOLMES: What will be her mindset, do you think? Is she -- from your reading of her, your knowledge of her, is she ready for the moment? MORAIN: Well, you know, that's kind of the Harry Truman question, isn't it? So Harry Truman was Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Vice President. Nobody thought he was much of anything back then. And Harry Truman became president and became one of the most consequential presidents in America. So we don't know. We're not going to know unless she becomes president what kind of job she will do. I do know, though, that -- that people who have underestimated Kamala Harris, and they long have underestimated her. I mean, I've heard all this stuff about, you know, she laughs. Oh, my God, she laughs. She dances. Oh, my God. She dances. You know, people who underestimate Kamala Harris end up losing. So, you know, she can be formidable, formidable person. HOLMES: Yeah. Fascinating. The book is "Kamala's Way: An American Life." Dan Morain is the author. I really appreciate you making the time. Thank you. MORAIN: Thank you. HOLMES: Well, reactions to President Biden's historic announcement pouring in from the Republican Party. When we come back, I'll speak with a longtime GOP strategist on where the party will go from here. We'll be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) [01:32:26] MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM with me, Michael Holmes. And thanks for doing so. We continue to follow the breaking news in the U.S. President Joe Biden shocking the country and completely reshaping the race for the White House with his announcement that he will not seek reelection. He says he is throwing his full support behind his vice president, Kamala Harris for the election this November. The White House adamant that President Biden will finish his term in office, even though some Republicans argue if he's not fit to run again, then he should resign now even though his reasons for not running has nothing to do with mental acuity. They're about poll numbers. The Republican National Committee the wasting no time slamming Democrats, calling them a party in decline and disarray. Here is the Republican U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson reacting to President Biden's decision. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I mean, Joe Biden was chosen after a long small "d" democratic process by 14 million people emerging through that primary. It will be very interesting to see if the so-called party of democracy -- the Democrats -- go into a backroom somewhere and switch it out and put someone else at the top of the ticket. I mean, I think they've got legal hurdles in some of these states. (END VIDEO CLIP) HOLMES: Democrats rejecting that argument outright. CNN's Priscilla Alvarez has more from Delaware now where President Biden is still at home recovering from COVID after that stunning announcement. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Joe Biden on Sunday announcing that he is dropping out of the presidential race in what has been a remarkable development that will shake up the 2024 presidential election. The president, up until this point, along with his top brass had remained defiant. He was going to stay in the race despite multiple calls from Democratic lawmakers, allies and donors, that he should drop out of the race. But while self-isolating at his Delaware residence as he was recovering from COVID, he was also reflecting and deliberating. On Saturday evening, he summoned his top advisors to his Rehoboth home where they assessed the polling and discussed among themselves what Democratic lawmakers and allies had been saying. And the president also consulted his family who have always been influential in any decision that he makes over the course of his political career. [01:34:44] ALVAREZ: Then on Sunday the president deciding to step out of the race and notifying his senior White House and campaign teams of the decision only minutes before putting out a letter to the public saying that while he was proud of his record and will continue to fulfill his duties as president, he will not seek reelection. Only moments after that, the president endorsing his Vice President Kamala Harris to be the Democratic nominee and urging the party to come together. Now sources tell CNN that the vice president did not know about the president's decision until Sunday, then the two spoke multiple times over the course of the day. And now it has been a moment for the vice president to try to gain momentum as she called multiple Democratic lawmakers, governors, civil rights leaders, among others to get their endorsements, oftentimes telling them in their phone calls that she wants to earn the nomination and wants their support. Now, the outstanding questions remain as to what this will look like and what the process will look like over the next few weeks when we're only on the cusps of the Democratic National Convention. And then two when the president will address the nation. He has been recovering from COVID and the White House doctor said, his symptoms are improving significantly. In his letter, he said he would address the public but when he will do that remains to be seen. Priscilla Alvarez, CNN -- traveling with the president. (END VIDEOTAPE) HOLMES: So what happens next? Well, we've learned the Democratic Convention Rules Committee is set to meet Wednesday to discuss the framework for the nomination. Current Democratic Party rules suggest there are several steps that need to be taken to formally nominate the next candidate. First, potential nominees will need to gain signatures from hundreds of delegates and be recognized as candidates. Next, more than 3,900 individual delegates and 747 superdelegates would be called upon to select the nominee. The superdelegates may or may not take part in the first round of voting. If no candidate gets a majority voting continues in rounds. When all the delegates are involved, the majority of the total delegate votes will win the nomination. U.S. voters reacting to the news that President Biden has left the 2024 race and endorsed Kamala Harris for the nomination. Here's what people in Los Angeles were saying. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SUSAN ROSALES, LOS ANGELES RESIDENT: For me, it wasn't really unexpected because clearly there were all kinds of grumblings within the Democratic Party. And I think he probably was listening to a lot of different people and made an informed decision. And I think he's right. IVY BURTON, SANTA MONICA RESIDENT: I was so happy when I heard it because I just don't think that he's up to it. So I was really excited to see that. But I'm a little worried that she can't win. JEFF ADELMAN, LOS ANGELES RESIDENT: I personally would vote for Kamala. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why? ADELMAN: I think she's has the experience, the knowledge. It would be great to see a female and a black woman as president. The country hasn't, you know, kind of elected one yet? I think she has everything that would make for a great president. (END VIDEO CLIP) HOLMES: Trump's running mate, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance says Harris lied about Biden's mental state, without evidence. He posted this on X quote, "Joe Biden has been the worst president in my lifetime, and Kamala Harris has been right there with him every step of the way. Over the last four years, she co-signed Biden's open border and green scam policies that drove up the cost of housing and groceries. She owns all of these failures and she lied for nearly four years about Biden's mental capacity, saddling the nation with a president who can't do the job." He goes on to say, "President Trump and I are ready to save America whoever's at the top of the Democratic ticket. Bring it on." Well, here to give us some insight into the GOP'S reaction is Mike Madrid. He's a longtime Republican strategist and co-founder of The Lincoln Project. It's good to see you. I mean, how does this change Republican strategy going forward? They already have well-rehearsed lines of attack for Kamala Harris. But how might they have to pivot their messaging? Because most people know that stuff. MIKE MADRID, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Yes. That's exactly right. But also, keep in mind, I mean, there's been a lot of really good reporting from folks who have made it clear that Susan Wiles (ph) and Mr. LaCivita, the two co-campaign managers for the Trump campaign have been focused entirely on Biden to this point. This pivot is not just as easy as coming up some new slogans and a couple of new attack lines. The entire frame of the campaign has to make an adjustment. So it's going to be significant. It's going to be serious. I think you're seeing some of the reaction from the candidate from former president Trump that you just outlined here. This is very much a reset. This is going to be a much more challenging race than they anticipated. [01:39:44] MADRID: Candidly, I think the pick of J.D. Vance would not be happening now, if they knew -- if they knew earlier that President Biden would be stepping down. So again, a lot of considerations to go with 105 days left in this campaign. HOLMES: That's interesting. Now as we were just saying, Republicans have seized on the chaos as you might expect. I mean saying that, you know, if the president is unable to run as a candidate now, he should step down as president when in fact he's almost certainly stepping down over polling and not mental acuity. But is that argument rightly or wrongly likely to get any traction? What do you see as the tactics? MADRID: No that's a great question. And it gets goes to the point earlier this is a campaign -- the Trump campaign is kind of floundering for a message right now. So it's immediately going to go into an attack mode as it should, as a professional advisor I'd be doing the same thing. The challenge is, they don't have anything that's going to stick. So the next line of messaging you'll hear will be something like Kamala Harris knew, trying to hide the fact that Biden wasn't mentally capable to be president. These are not going to be relevant for where voters have been saying they want to go. That doesn't mean the Trump campaign can't get its footing later. But for the moment it's clear, they were caught very, flat-footed by this decision. I think complete -- completely caught by surprise. HOLMES: For the Democrats, I mean, is there time for the new candidate, whether it's Kamala Harris or someone else to get -- you know, to get ahead of steam over the next hundred days. MADRID: Well, that's a great question too. And again, this is historic, not only in the type of change, but at the time of the change. We've never had a nominee selected by a major party this late in the process. And again, she hasn't been formally pick yet or nominated, but it seems all but -- all but certain at this point. There is -- well, there does remain some upside for Kamala Harris. There's also very significant potential downsides. I think the elation that Democrats are starting to feel right now is really more a result of finally getting out of this three-week, almost month-long cycle of negative daily news for their nominee, and realizing that you know, the change we're not going to have to live with this anymore. But that doesn't mean that there aren't very significant challenges facing Kamala Harris' campaign if she's the nominee. HOLMES: Yes. Yes. Relief isn't -- I mean, Mike, I take your point. I mean, age has been such an issue in this election. Joe Biden, too old, but Donald Trump's nearly 80-years-old. Harris isn't even 60 yet. So that argument is being turned upside down. Does that aspect have an impact? Trump's the old one. MADRID: I think it's -- yes, it's a great question too. And I think it does. I'm going to tell you why. The entire predicate of the Trump campaign was to talk about an older, senile, slowing, aging man. They've spent tens of millions of dollars driving that narrative. Now, they have to own that same brand. They've been actually -- well, I think woke up today or will wake up tomorrow and realize everything that we've been doing to damage Biden now hurts us far more than the candidate we're likely to face. So yes, it's a good question and yes, it will have an impact. And yes, it will be used by the Democrats to attack Trump and I think probably to great effect. HOLMES: Yes. that's the, you know (ph) card in a way. You co-founded The Lincoln Project, which was started by moderate Republicans appalled by Donald Trump, generally speaking, and have done some really biting advertisements about Donald Trump. Can you see more of those in the near future? MADRID: Yes. No question. Just getting started. And again, there's a whole range of new attack lines that can be used. Again, that's what I was kind of smiling a little bit to great effect. I think you've got to see that being used quite a bit, not just because it is an effective message that was being used obviously to great effect when it was Joe Biden. But now Donald Trump now is the oldest nominee ever in history running for presidency of the United States. So yes, you're going to see a lot of those attack lines coming from various groups. HOLMES: Well, they're always interesting to see, I must say. Mike Madrid, a former -- co-founder of The Lincoln Project. Really appreciate you taking the time tonight. MADRID: Thanks for having me. HOLMES: Cheers. Well, our breaking news coverage continues after the break. We'll have more on how leaders around the world are reacting to President Joe Biden's exit from the 2024 presidential race. [01:44:02] (COMMERCIAL BREAK) HOLMES: All right. More on our breaking news coverage this hour. U.S. President Joe Biden ending his reelection bid and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris to succeed him. And reaction from world leaders has been pouring in after Mr. Bidens historic announcement. Let's go now live to Hong Kong where CNN's Kristie Lu Stout joins me. Good to see you, my friend. How are world leaders reacting to this news? KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Michael, there have been messages of support for the U.S. President Joe Biden. These messages have been pouring in after his stunning announcement that is he is exiting the presidential race and endorsing Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee. We heard from the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who took to X to thank Biden and to say that the U.S. is a reliable partner, while also adding this. Let's bring it up for you on Twitter -- rather X. He says, quote, "His decision not to run again deserves respect." We also heard from the British Prime Minister, who also says he respects Biden's decision. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukraine respects Biden's tough and strong decision. Zelenskyy also added this. Let's bring up his social media post for you saying, quote, "Ukraine is grateful to President Biden for his unwavering support for Ukraine's fight for freedom." Look, under President Joe Biden, the United States has strengthened ties with allies around the world in Europe, but also here in Asia to counter a rising China. And as such, U.S. allies here in the region they have been weighing in, including the prime minister of Australia, who calls Biden, quote, "an honorable man of integrity". And he had more words to say. Watch this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ANTHONY ALBANESE, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: President Biden deserves today I think to be recognized for once again not putting himself forward first, but giving his first consideration to doing what he believes is in the interests of the United States of America as his -- as he has done his whole public life. And I pay tribute to him today. (END VIDEO CLIP) STOUT: We also heard from other regional allies in the Asia-Pacific region, including South Korea and Japan. They said that they did not want to comment on domestic politics in the U.S. But these governments emphasize the need to work with the U.S. Also, in the last hour or so, we heard from the president of the Philippines who says Biden's decision is a quote "demonstration of genuine statesmanship," while also adding this on social media, quote, this is what we heard from Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos, Jr. "We thank him for his constant and unwavering support for the Philippines in a delicate and difficult time." Of course tensions continue to simmer between Manila and Beijing over China, its assertions of sovereignty and claims in the South China Sea. The United States has said that it stands with the Philippines. And Michael, we are still awaiting response from China later in the day. Back to you. HOLMES: Yes. So how is Kamala Harris perceived internationally and particularly where you are in Asia. STOUT: Yes, you know, she is not as well-known obviously as Joe Biden. She has not had a huge international portfolio as vice president, or earlier during her work as a prosecutor. I mean, she is partly of South Asian descent. She has made as you so as vice president multiple trips here to the Asia-Pacific region. [01:49:42] STOUT: And her job has been to reinforce Biden's message on alliance- building and to reiterate America's commitment to the Asia-Pacific region especially in light of a rising China, a China that has been flexing its muscles economically and militarily. Also wanted to add that earlier today, when he was reacting to the news of Biden's decision, the Australian Prime Minister Albanese called Kamala Harris, a quote, "good friend of Australia". Back to you. HOLMES: Yes. Fascinating. Kristie, good to see you. Kristie Lu Stout there in Hong Kong for us. STOUT: Thank you. Now the Independent presidential candidate, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. praised President Biden's decision to drop out of the race and called on the Democratic Party to hold an open process to nominate his replacement. Here's what he had to say. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., INDEPENDENT PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I want to begin by commending President Biden for a career in public service, a long, long career and representing and serving our country and for his handling of the many difficulties and challenges, personal challenges and tragedy that he suffered during his life with so much admirable conduct. (END VIDEO CLIP) HOLMES: Kennedy, a former Democrat, followed up with criticisms suggesting the nominating process had become elitist and unfair and implying that was why he quit the party. He went on to blast both parties for being captured by corporate interests rather than representing the American public. So what will the nomination process look like? A look at what it'll take to choose Joe Biden's replacement on the Democratic ballot. Our breaking news coverage continues after the break. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) REP. DEBBIE DINGELL (D-MI): It's Democrats that we have to unite each other coming out of the Democratic National Convention behind our ticket. Because we do know who the Republican nominee and his vice president are. It's on all of us to unite and make sure that we are campaigning hard. To make sure we know and get elected the person that we have to get elected so that women still have the right to choose, so that we don't have people in office that think January 6 was ok. And I could go through a long list of issues you will hear about between now and November. (END VIDEO CLIP) HOLMES: Congresswoman Debbie Dingell there urging Democrats to come together hours after U.S. President Joe Biden announced he was dropping his reelection bid and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris to be the Democratic nominee for president. The announcement came after weeks of pressure from fellow Democrats that started after Biden's dismal debate performance against Donald Trump. Mr. Biden says he believes it is in the best interest of his party and the country for him to stand down. In a follow up post, he praised Harris and urged Democrats to unite behind her. Meanwhile, Donald Trump, perhaps bizarrely accusing the Democratic Party of fraud. He posted this on his Truth Social account, quote "So we are forced to spend time and money on fighting Crooked Joe Biden. He polls badly after having a terrible debate and quits the race. Now, we have to start all over again." [01:54:42] HOLMES: "Shouldn't the Republican Party be reimbursed for fraud in that everybody around Joe, including his doctors and the fake news media, knew he was not capable of running for or being president. Just asking." Well, Harris is pledging to quote, "earn and win" the Democratic nomination for president, but it might not be quite that simple. Brian Todd looks now at what it will take to replace Biden on the ticket at this late stage. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The process for replacing Joe Biden as the Democratic candidate is uncertain and somewhat messy. It's likely too late for voters to have a chance to weigh in. LARRY SABATO, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: The primaries are over, the caucuses are over, you can't redo the primaries or caucuses. You can't elect new delegates. The Democratic Convention attention scheduled to begin August 19th could be a free-for-all or at least be full of intrigue (ph). Names of replacements could be put forward and the roughly 3,900 Democratic delegates from across the country could decide who to vote for as the nominee. SABATO: Oh, it's up to the delegates. In the end, it's up to them. TODD: President Biden won almost all of those 3,900 delegates in the primaries. But does he have control over who they support if he's out of the race? ZOLAN KANNO-YOUNGS, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": It's not like Joe Biden can say, ok, I'm stepping down. All of you delegates have signed on for me have to now support this other candidate. But that's not how it works. Those delegates would essentially be free to move in the way they want. TODD: Like the days of old, backroom deals and lobbying could prevail at the convention as potential nominees tried to convince the delegates to get behind them. In the end, how many of the 3,900 delegates would a candidate have to win at the convention to get the nomination? ELAINE KAMARCK, MEMBER, DNC RULES AND BYLAWS COMMITTEE: Ultimately, they would have to convince somewhat somewhere in the neighborhood of 2,000-plus Democratic delegates to vote for them on a roll call vote. Todd: There are also additional so-called superdelegates, About 700 of them comprised of party insiders and elected officials who could also be allowed to join in the voting. It all means a late start for any candidate including in the money race. If Vice President Kamala Harris won the nomination, she would presumably be able to use Biden's campaign war chest because her name is on all the filings. but any other candidate may have to raise their own money. Brian Todd, CNN -- Washington. (END VIDEOTAPE) HOLMES: Thanks for watching CNN NEWSROOM, spending part of your day with me. I'm Michael Holmes. My friend and colleague Rosemary Church, picks it up. Our coverage coming up. [01:57:13] (COMMERCIAL BREAK) CNN Newsroom Aired July 22, 2024 - 02:00 ET THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. [02:00:00] ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN HOST: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world and to everyone streaming us on CNN Max. I'm Rosemary Church. US Vice President Kamala Harris is seeing a swift surge of support as she moves to secure the Democratic presidential nomination after Joe Biden announced he would bow out of the race. The stunning decision follows weeks of increasing pressure from inside President Biden's own party for him to step aside. We have learned that information given to him by his closest advisers on Saturday underscored the path to victory was basically non-existent. In a letter posted on X, Mr. Biden said, and I'm quoting here, "It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your president. And while it has been my intention to seek re-election, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term." Well, the president went on to offer his full support and endorsement for Harris. In her own statement, Harris thanked Mr. Biden for his extraordinary leadership. She went on to say she was honored to have his endorsement and that it was her intention to, quote, "earn and win this nomination." Meanwhile, President Joe Biden is winning praise from his fellow Democrats for stepping aside in the race. While former President Barack Obama has not endorsed Kamala Harris as of yet, he and his wife, Michelle, did release a statement in full support of Joe Biden, calling him a patriot of the highest order. It says, in part, "We will be navigating uncharted waters in the days ahead, but I have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges." Former President Bill Clinton and former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton thanked Joe Biden for standing up for America. Both say they are honored to join the president in endorsing Kamala Harris. Well, other Democrats are not ready to give their full support to Harris yet, including the first congressional member to urge Mr. Biden to withdraw from the race. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. LLOYD DOGGET (D-TX): It's a historic day and President Biden made a courageous decision that Donald Trump could never make, and that is to put country over ego. And as a result of his decision, we have a much better opportunity to prevent Donald Trump and his gang from taking over our government and maybe never giving it back. WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: So you were pleased he stepped aside today? DOGGETT: I was pleased, but I recognized, just like a decision President Johnson had to make decades ago under different circumstances, what a painful and difficult decision this was. And so I respect him and his decision-making process. I'm just pleased that we can now get on with it and have a better opportunity to prevent Trump and his gang from taking over our government. BLITZER: Are you ready to endorse Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee? DOGGETT: Not yet. BLITZER: Why not? DOGGETT: I think she would be an excellent nominee for us. But from the very moment that I asked President Biden to step aside almost three weeks ago, I made the point that we need a fair, open and democratic process and we still need that. I think that's basically what President Obama, what earlier Speaker Pelosi were calling for. No disrespect to Vice President Harris, but this doesn't have to be decided within minutes or hours of President Biden's decision. We need to engage the whole country. We need to be hearing from voters across the country. And this shouldn't be strictly a Washington inside deal. (END VIDEO CLIP) CHURCH: Meantime, Donald Trump is slamming President Joe Biden on social media. He posted this on Sunday, "Crooked Joe Biden was not fit to run for president and is certainly not fit to serve and never was." Publicly, Trump's team says they hope Harris is the Democratic nominee. But privately, there's apparently concern about facing her or any other potential candidate. Meanwhile, Trump allies are already launching attack ads criticizing Harris. Trump super PAC MAGA Inc. released this ad on social media on Sunday. It claims Harris covered up Biden's mental state. The group says it plans to air the ad in battleground states. [02:10:00] While many Republican lawmakers are criticizing President Joe Biden's decision, House Speaker Mike Johnson posted this to social media, "If Joe Biden is not fit to run for president, he is not fit to serve as president. He must resign the office immediately. Having invalidated the votes of more than 14 million Americans who selected Joe Biden to be the Democrat nominee for president, the self-proclaimed party of democracy has proven exactly the opposite." Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said the Democratic Party is quote, "trying to upend the expressed will of the American people in primary elections. Senator Mitt Romney had a different take. He said he respects Joe Biden and that the president made the right decision. Well, joining me now to discuss all these developments, CNN political commentator and Democratic strategist Maria Cardona, who is standing by in Washington, and in New York Republican strategist and fundraiser Noelle Nickpour. She's also the author of "Branding America: What Does Your Brand Say About You?" Welcome to you both. MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Thanks, Rosemary. NOELLE NIKPOUR, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST & FUNDRAISER: Thank you. CHURCH: So we are at this historic moment. Joe Biden ending his reelection campaign, offering his full support and endorsement for Kamala Harris to be the new nominee. Now we're seeing an urgent effort underway among Democrats to rally support behind Harris and lock in delegates and lawmakers with a viable running mate before next month's convention. So the main calculation being, of course, which team can beat Donald Trump? Maria, how critical is it that the Democrats will lock this in now to avoid a messy open convention in August and what comes next? CARDONA: I think that we will definitely avoid a messy open convention during our convention. I think that Vice President Kamala Harris is doing exactly what she needs to do. She has called over a thousand delegates just today to reach out to them, to talk to them about how excited she is to earn and win their support. That's what she wants to do. That's what she said when she first heard about the president stepping aside and endorsing her full-throatedly. So she is working for this. And anyone else who wants to throw their hat in the ring is welcome to do so as well. They have to do the same kind of hard work that she is reaching out to the delegates, talking to them about why they think they would be the best person to do it. But as of now, Rosemary, no one else has put their hat in the ring. And for the most part, frankly, for everyone who Democratic Party leaders have mentioned as possibilities to be the ones to take over and compete for the nomination, most of them have come out to wholeheartedly support and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris. So from here on out, what the DNC is going to do and the Rules and Bylaws Committee of the DNC, who are the ones who put together how this process is going to work, of which I am a member, we'll be putting out in the coming days, a process by which this -- the process for the nomination? It's going to be open; it's going to be fair; it's going to be transparent; it's going to be public. We will be posting how that is going to happen. Our meetings are public, we're going to have a meeting on Wednesday to talk about how to move forward with our process. And I am very confident that we will get to the convention as a strong, unified party behind our Democratic nominee and the nominee for vice president, and we will go on to beat Donald Trump and J.D. Vance in November. CHURCH: Noelle, Donald Trump is already ramping up attacks on Kamala Harris. He is calling for the next debate to be held on Fox instead of ABC as originally planned. Many are saying these signals he's afraid to debate Harris. Your response to that and how his campaign strategy will shift its attack to Harris from Biden? NIKPOUR: Well, I think Donald Trump is chomping at the bit to debate her. And I think one of the reasons for that is because he is doing this to go ahead and engage where the support is going to come from, because right now the biggest issues that are polling are between the economy and immigration. And right now, think that with Kamala Harris, as let's just say she would be the presumed nominee so far, I mean, Maria's right, nobody else has come out, come forth yet. [02:10:00] And so if you look at that, it's going to put women's issues back on the table. And if you'll remember, in the midterms, 2022, the Republicans lost steam over that one issue with women's rights. So this is bringing it back into play full center. And if you will look the first five hours that Kamala Harris was introduced saying that she was going to get the, you know, be the nominee. fundraising from I think Act Blue raised $27 million and some political activists, David Hogue, a youthful political activist, within one hour raised a $100,000 from young voters. So I think that the Republicans, the Trump campaign, the super PACs, I think that they are looking at this and that's why they have attack ads ready to go full force. And as you know, Donald Trump is -- got a lot of bravado and he is going to get out there and go ahead and tackle it by saying let's do this debate, I'm ready for the debate. I want to do it on Fox News because that's where the base is and I think that he is showing strength in doing that because that is his brand. That is his shtick. And that is how that he's been able to monopolize and raise money on this, Rosemary. CHURCH: Yeah, I mean, he's looking for a friendly environment, isn't he, away from ABC onto Fox. NIKPOUR: Yeah. CHURCH: So, Maria, Kamala Harris says she will earn and win the nomination, but will others challenge her? We are hearing Joe Manchin may do so. Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear has congratulated her, but not yet endorsed her. He's going on morning television. We'll hear what he has to say. Harris will need to decide which of her potential challenges would be the best running mate. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro endorsed her Sunday, as did North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper and Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, along with many others. It's pouring in. So who would be the best choice as her running mate, do you think? CARDONA: Well, that, I think, is going to be the next, right, $60 million question, Rosemary. That's what's going to be very exciting about the next several weeks because that's what we will find out. I think, for the most part people believe that because she will be the first black woman of Asian descent, South Asian descent, daughter of immigrants who will be vying for the highest office in the land, pretty much people believe that her running mate needs to be a white man, because we all know that this is the greatest country in the world, but there is still a lot of racism, a lot of sexism, a lot of misogyny. And I think that will absolutely rear its ugly head in this election. And there's frankly a lot of swing voters that might not be comfortable with somebody that looks like VP Kamala Harris. But I do want to mention something about what you said, Rosemary, about Donald Trump and debating the VP. I do think that he is very concerned about this. I do think that the Trump campaign has no idea how to run against her. They have privately said that they were very concerned that this exact thing was going to happen. They've actually raised now -- the vice president has actually raised $70 million from grassroots donors from across the country. So that shows you that this really has injected a level of energy that the Democratic Party frankly needed moving forward. And Noelle is right. The issue of reproductive rights, which is something that really energized the Democratic Party and Democratic Party candidates and Democratic Party issues in the 2022 election so much so that we never saw a red wave that everyone predicted and all the polls predicted. I think that there is something very similar will happen this time around. And the Republicans have no idea still to this day how to deal with that issue and that's going to be front and center in this election moving into November. CHURCH: Yeah, we are seeing this -- the money and support just pouring in aren't we. So Noelle, a CNN poll of polls average of recent polls testing Vice President Kamala Harris against former President Donald Trump shows a close race with no clear leader. Trump holding 48 percent support in the average of six recent polls testing the match up, while Harris holds 47 percent. All of these polls were conducted after the CNN presidential debate in late June. Just one was after the assassination attempt on Donald Trump. So how worried would the Republicans be by these numbers? I mean, look how close this is. [02:14:56] NIKPOUR: Definitely. It puts the race in play. I mean, you've got to admit when Biden was running, with all the difficulty surrounding that race, the Republicans really thought this is an easy cakewalk, because not only was it an easy cakewalk, but you had Democrats basically saying get out of the race. So with Kamala Harris, if she is the nominee, this puts an entire different race at hand. So what was looking like a cakewalk for the Republicans will turn into a real race. And you've got to remember that there's a lot of unknowns. So we don't know who her VP pick is going to be. We don't know who J.D. Vance is going to have to debate. We do not know. There are a lot of unknowns here. What I am looking for, though, being a fundraiser, a Republican fundraiser, I am looking for the small dollar donor, because that signals momentum. And you saw that with Barack Obama. He had a lot of small dollar donors, and you saw that with Donald Trump. I want to see if Kamala Harris is the nominee. I want to see if she is going to be able to capture that momentum vote, because that tells me those small dollar donors, Rosemary, those are votes. Because if somebody gives you $10 and $25 and $100, that's a lot for them, and they're going to back it up with a vote. CHURCH: A lot happening. Maria Cardona, Noelle Nikpour, thank you to you both for joining us. Appreciate it. CARDONA: Thanks, Rosemary. CHURCH: And still to come, we are learning more about how Kamala Harris handled weeks of calls for President Biden to drop out of the 2024 race, plus what voters are saying about the announcement. Back with that and more in just a moment. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNKNOWN: We love Joe Biden, and I think he's done a tremendous, selfless act for the greater good of the country. I think it was time and he passed the torch, and he passed the torch to the right person. (END VIDEO CLIP) (COMMERCIAL BREAK) [02:20:00] CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. More details now on our top story this hour. U.S. President Joe Biden officially ending his re-election campaign just hours ago, endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris to succeed him. But despite growing calls for Mr. Biden to step down in recent weeks, sources say Harris and her aides tried to show a united front. The Vice President has staunchly defended Biden on the campaign trail, even raising more than $2 million at a fundraiser on Saturday. Now, Harris is focusing on her own potential candidacy. A source says she's already working the phones, calling lawmakers and delegates to shore up support. She had a list of about 200 calls to make on Sunday alone, including with the heads of the Congressional Black Caucus and Hispanic Caucus. Well, several prominent Democrats are already speaking out in support of Kamala Harris, praising her record as a vice president and senator and calling her a genuine leader. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE): I have confidence, as does our president in Vice President Harris. I served with her in the Senate. I've seen what a difference she has made as vice president, ensuring that we get 200, more than 200 federal judges seated who are among the highest qualified, most diverse judges in our history. She has fought hard for freedoms and for rights of Americans, and she is a genuine leader. And I'm glad that President Biden has endorsed her today and made it clear the direction that he intends to take as the most respected senior leader in our party this fall. REP. ERIC SWALWELL (D-CA): We can finish the work that Joe Biden has done to restore our democracy and build our economy, or we can turn the greatest country in the world over to a felon, judged rapist, six- time bankrupt businessman who sent his friends to violently storm the last office from which he was fired. To me, the choice isn't hard, and it's pretty clear that Kamala Harris would be the best one to inherit that work. JARED POLLS, GOVERNOR OF COLORADO: I personally am backing Kamala Harris. I think she's ready day one. She's the vice president. She's ready to take on the responsibility of leadership. She has the energy. She's a vision of Colorado's future. Let me say something else, as the father of a 10-year-old girl, I couldn't be more excited to have the opportunity to elect a woman as president of the United States. (END VIDEO CLIP) CHURCH: Benjamin Radd is a political scientist at UCLA, and he joins us now from Los Angeles. Appreciate you being with us. BENJAMIN RADD, POLITICAL SCIENTIST, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES: Thank you for having me. CHURCH: So Kamala Harris and her team moved very quickly in the midst of this historic moment, making hundreds of urgent calls to rally support behind her, from delegates to lawmakers to donors. How important is it for Harris to lock in her nomination, along with a running mate, and avoid an open convention next month? And can she do this, do you think? RADD: Well, if what the voters are looking for and what the party is looking for is the person who is best positioned to continue the Biden agenda, then Harris makes a perfect choice and is the right pick for this. She, obviously, being Joe Biden's vice president, most familiar with his policies, has been side-by-side with him as he's gone through the last few years with both the ups and downs that Biden has had to deal with. So she's best positioned to execute and continue the Biden legacy, if you will. And so it remains to be seen, however, if she can convince any holdouts who might be preferring an open primary or some other options, whether or not she is up to the task. But if it's a continuation that the voters are looking for, she seems to make the most logical sense. CHURCH: And of course, we usually say the running mate doesn't matter and plays a very small role in the political calculation. But that's not the case in this situation, is it? Harris needs to stave off a vote against her next month by selecting one of her potential challengers as a running mate. Who do you think would be her best choice? [02:25:07] RADD: Well, that's indeed an issue and there are several reasons for this. There's, number one, she served a brief term in the Senate and doesn't have any national experience beyond that Senate term. She also doesn't have any foreign policy experience that would really lend credibility and shore up the need there, in contrast with President Biden, who has had extensive foreign policy experience given his years on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and having been around Washington for this long. So she will have to look for somebody who can both provide the experience on the national level that she currently lacks, aside from her tenure as Vice President, coupled with maybe somebody who has some foreign policy bona fides and can demonstrate the ability to help lead the government on matters critical to foreign policy. As of right now, it appears those candidates might be one of several governors whose names have been floated out, especially those from either red states or swing states. They seem to be the most likely. But again, we could all be surprised just as we were with today's timing. CHURCH: Yeah, and of course, as you're speaking to us, we're looking at some of those possibilities just next to you there on the television. So Donald Trump's running mate, J.D. Vance and House Speaker Mike Johnson are both calling for Joe Biden to resign his office immediately. They say if he's not fit to run for president, then he's not fit to serve as president. What do you say to that? And what's the process and precedent for this going forward? RADD: Well, there absolutely isn't. It's obvious an attempt at deflection from what they were very unprepared for, which was the sudden decision by Joe Biden to not run for re-election. Essentially, what Joe Biden is signaling and what his supporters have signaled is that he absolutely has the capacity, the mental acuity, the cognitive ability to complete his term. The question wasn't whether or not he would be able to act or function as president. The question was whether or not he could overcome doubts from voters, donors and others that were important to his nomination to secure re-election. And so they're very two different jobs, running for the office and then maintaining the office itself and the responsibilities within it. They do overlap, but they are not the same. And so I think this can be dismissed as an attempt to again deflect from all of a sudden, the sudden change in the race. CHURCH: And of course, it has to be said that President Joe Biden made a tough and historic decision Sunday to step aside and anoint his VP, Kamala Harris, as his replacement. What legacy does he leave behind? RADD: Well, it's an impressive legacy on several fronts, given where the United States was four years ago, coming out of the COVID crisis, facing all kinds of domestic and international issues. He seems to have handled the domestic issues extremely well by all accounts, especially relative to where his predecessor had left the office. However, where his legacy will be a bit more mixed, will be on foreign policy. Despite the U.S. steadfast support for Ukraine, which many in the country, many in Congress supported and think that served the president effectively well, especially when it came to strengthening and expanding NATO, the withdrawal from Afghanistan is something that will be criticized for years to come. And then there's still the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict and the fact that there's been no ceasefire and release of hostages yet, and whether or not President Biden could have or should have done more to bring about a conclusion to that conflict. CHURCH: Benjamin Radd in Los Angeles, many thanks for joining us and sharing your analysis. Appreciate it. RADD: Thank you. CHURCH: Well, perhaps the most pressing question the Harris campaign will face in the coming days, as we've been discussing, who will she pick to be her running mate? Details on the possible candidates when we come back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) [02:32:51] ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: A warm welcome back, as we continue to monitor the latest developments following U.S. President Joe Biden's shocking decision to not seek reelection this November. Vice President Kamala Harris wasted no time garnering support for her newly minted presidential campaign. So far, CNN has identified at more than 500 endorsements for Harris in just a matter of hours, including former President Bill Clinton and former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. But as the dust settles, big questions remain including who might be Harris's running mate if she is formally chosen as the nominee, as well as how the Democratic Party will proceed from here. The Democratic convention rules committee says it will meet on Wednesday to discuss the framework for the nomination. And even though a growing number of Democrat s have urged President Biden to exit the race, his announcements still evoked strong feelings of sadness and loss among his supporters. CNN senior political commentator Van Jones described his reaction. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) VAN JONES, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Joe Biden's body may not be as strong as it used to be as language skills may not be as sharp as they used to be, his heart is as big as ever. His heart is as big and its true and a strong, and this is -- this is the difference between a politician in a leader. He made a selfless decision and people are heartbroken even people who are pushing for this to happen. It's kind of like when, when your -- when your grandpa, you got to take the keys and everybody, you got take his keys, got to take his keys, you got to -- and he's fighting and he's fighting everybody, so frustrated. Then you finally get the keys back. And then you just cry because this is somebody that you love. This is somebody that you care about. This is somebody who was there for. This is somebody you wouldn't be here without him and you had to take something from him. Now, this is not -- look, this -- politics is politics but this is a human moment for one of the great humans in America. This is a huge moment for him, for his family, for all of us who love him, for all of us who want him to get across the finish line. [02:35:01] But if you're a young person watching this, this is leadership. This is patriotism. This is what it means to put the country first and put the party first and put the cost first. When your arm gets tired, you let somebody else finished pitch in the game. That's what Joe Biden has done, and he's done that for all of us. And so I just wanted to say I don't know who's going to be the VP, the non-VP. I don't know anything about politics. I just know that I loved this man. I care about this man. It was painful every day to sit up here and talk about him like he's just some problem for the party. Wait until we get to the convention. You're going to see people crying standing, screaming, cheering. He may not get a chance to talk for ten minutes. We finally got a chance to put our arms around this guy. He did the right thing for this country. He did the right thing for this party. All of us are going to be in this situation someday. I hope that we take a moment to honor this man and to love this man. I love Joe Biden. I appreciate what he he's done and a lot of people are heartbroken today. Even if it's the right thing, it's still just horrible. (END VIDEO CLIP) CHURCH: A lot of Democrats feeling the same way. Joining me now is U.S. presidential historian Allan Lichtman, whose predictions system the Keys to the White House has correctly predicted the outcomes of all U.S. presidential election since 1984. He joins us now. So, Allan, thank you so much for being with us. You have previously said the Democrats need to stick with President Joe Biden, or lose all the benefits of an incumbent. So what are your thoughts now that he has dropped out of the race and endorse Kamala Harris as his replacement? ALLAN LICHTMAN, U.S. PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Yes. This move by President Biden has profound significance for my 13 keys to the White House system, which gauges the strength and performance of the White House party. And the way it works, if six or more keys turned against the incumbents, they are predicted losers. Otherwise, they are predicted winners. As you mentioned, as President Joe Biden ticked off the incumbency key, and because he was essentially uncontested for the nomination, the contest key as well that meant of the remaining 11 keys, six would have to fall to predict the Democrats defeat. Now with Biden stepping down, they obviously lost the incumbency key. But if the party is smart and grows a spine, they should unite entirely behind Vice President Harris, because that would preserve the contest key and that would mean five keys would still have to fall to predict the Democrats defeat. It would also avoid a situation of an open seat and a party contest. Under those conditions, the White House party has never been reelected even once from 1,900 to the present, whereas if you have an incumbent, but not a contest, the White House party has a decent chance of being re-elected. Examples include Herbert Hoover in 1928 and George H.W. Bush in 1988. So they can retain half of the two keys that Biden held, right? CHURCH: Right, and we are seeing this incredible amount of support behind Kamala Harris. She is making urgent calls to get all the support she needs behind from delegates, donors, and lawmakers, and those endorsements continued to grow. She's also looking for a running mate and will likely choose one of her potential challengers. Who is best positioned do you think to join her on the ticket, to take on Donald Trump and J.D. Vance? So, what -- what are the numbers tell you, Josh Shapiro, Roy Cooper, Mark Kelly, or someone else? LICHTMAN: I think those are all very good choices is, also Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who has been touted as a possible vice presidential nominee. That will be extraordinary to have two women on the ticket. Just imagine that, particularly at a time when women's rights as a central issue in this election. There's also Governor Andy Beshear of Kentucky, who want a very strong victory in a solidly red state, would appeal to a lot of rural voters that might otherwise be inclined to support Donald Trump. But here's where the key stand on this because I don't want vice presidential pick. Right now, assuming that Harris is the consensus nominee, the Democrats are down three keys. The mandate key because of U.S. House losses in 2022, the incumbent charisma key because Harris is not an FDR, and of course, the incumbency key. There are four shaky, undecided keys, third party social unrest, and foreign/military failure and success, assuming Harris gets the consensus nomination, three of those four keys would have to fall to predict the Democrats' defeat. [02:40:09] If the Democrats do something foolish and have a big nomination fight, that only two of those keys would have to fall to predict their defeat. So they really need to get smart and do the right thing. CHURCH: So how critical is it then the Democrats avoid a messy open convention contests next month. And where do you see Joe Manchin playing into all of this after saying that he will run again as a Democrat, possibly he's considering it, and perhaps run against Kamala Harris. It's critical that the Democrats don't lose another key and bring themselves one key closer to a predicted defeat. Joe Manchin has been a thorn in the side of the Democratic Party for some time. But he always threatens to do certain things threatening to perhaps to leave the party and become a Republican, threatening to run as an independent, now he seems to be threatening to run for the Democratic nomination. But he's never carried out any of those threats and I don't think he'll do it this time. And even if he does, I don't think he'll get anywhere near the support among Democrats to undermine a consensus behind Harris. CHURCH: All right. We will keep watching and see what happens in the hours ahead. Allan Lichtman joining us there, many thanks. Always appreciate your analysis. LICHTMAN: Thank you. CHURCH: And our breaking news coverage continues after a short break. We will have more on how leaders around the world are reacting to President Joe Biden's exit from the 2024 race. Back with that and more in just a moment. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHURCH: Leaders around the world are reacting to the news that Joe Biden has dropped out of the 2024 race. [02:45:00] German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says, my friend Joe Biden, has achieved a lot for his country, for Europe, for the world. Thanks to him, transatlantic cooperation is close. NATO is strong and the USA is a good and reliable partner for us. His decision not to run again deserves respect. And CNN's Nada Bashir joins us live from London. So, Nada, what other reaction is coming out of Europe and, of course, the Middle East to this historic news and how will it impact Benjamin Netanyahu's upcoming meeting with President Biden? NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: Of course, foreign policy has been a huge preoccupation for President Biden during his time in office, particularly, of course, when it comes to conflicts in both Ukraine and Gaza. We've heard from the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He issued a statement thanking President Biden, saying that Ukraine is grateful to Biden for his unwavering support for Ukraine's fight for freedom, at which along with strong bipartisan support in the United States has been and continues to be critical and matters there perhaps to the future president of the United States as they continues to be questions or NATO's commitment to support for Ukraine. We've also had from the prime minister here in the United Kingdom, Keir Starmer and somebody who hasn't been in office alongside Biden for a very long time, but issued a statement on X formerly known as Twitter saying: I respect Biden's decision and I look forward to us working together during the remainder of his presidency. I know that as he has done throughout his remarkable career, he will have made this his decision based on what he believes is best for the American people. Now, have seen statements coming out of Israel as well. Of course, the war in Gaza has been a huge focus for the United States when it comes to foreign policy. And, of course, the response to the October 7 attacks against the state of Israel. We've heard from the Israeli President Isaac Herzog. He also issued a statement yesterday extending his heartfelt thanks to the U.S. president for his friendship and steadfast support for the Israeli people over his decades-long career. The Israeli minister of defense, Yoav Gallant, also expressed his thanks to President Biden for his support over the course of the war, saying, thank you, President Joe Biden for your unwavering support for Israel over the years, your steadfast backing, especially during the war, has been invaluable. We are grateful for your leadership and friendship. Now of course, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been expected to meet with the U.S. president on Tuesday, he was exposed to give remarks to Congress on Wednesday, as well. Those talks are still expected to go ahead, but it remains to be seen what, of course, the focus will be perhaps we might see him meeting with other Democratic officials as well, but that will of course, remain to be seen on Tuesday and Wednesday. CHURCH: All right. Our thanks to Nada Bashir joining us live from London. As U.S. Democrats look ahead to a November election without Joe Biden, we look back at how the 1968 election played out after President Lyndon Johnson dropped his bid for reelection. Our breaking news coverage continues in just a moment. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) [02:52:03] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't feel that I can say he should leave or he should stay. I am still a little bit on the fence myself, but I admire the man who's dedicated 50 years of his life to our country. (END VIDEO CLIP) CHURCH: It has been 56 years since a U.S. president dropped out of a reelection race. That was Lyndon Johnson. The year was 1968. The country was embroiled in the Vietnam War and only one state primary had taken place. But this time, the Democratic primaries have all taken place. And Election Day is less than four months away. Randi Kaye looks at how things played out back then. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) LYNDON B. JOHNSON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I do not believe that I should devote an hour or a day of my time to any personal partisan causes. RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Fifty-six years ago, President Lyndon B. Johnson suddenly ended his campaign as Joe Biden did today. JOHNSON: I shall not seek and I will not accept the nomination of my party for another term as your president. KAYE: That stunning announcement during what was billed as a speech about Vietnam shocked the country. DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: When he withdrew from the race, he talked about the fact that he just wanted to use those remaining months for presidential duties, hoping to bring the war in Vietnam to a close rather than campaigning, and the response was extraordinary. KAYE: At the time there was widespread disappointment in Johnson's handling of the Vietnam War and his approval ratings were down. Like with Joe Biden, there were concerns about LBJ's health and there were doubts could win a second term. GOODWIN: He'd done something for an ambition for the country rather than himself, that in all of his 37 years, he had never sacrificed himself this way. KAYE: After Johnson withdrew, Vice President Hubert Humphrey announced his candidacy. Senator Robert F. Kennedy of New York was also in the running for the nomination, but wouldn't survive the primary season. After declaring victory in the California primary in June 1968, Kennedy was assassinated in Los Angeles at the Ambassador Hotel. GOODWIN: Bobby Kennedy was killed and then that summer, they go to the Democratic convention with the war is still going on. Chaos reigns. KAYE: The 1968 Democratic convention, which also happened to be in Chicago like this years convention followed not only the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, but also Martin Luther King. The country was in turmoil and protests have broken out over the Vietnam War. Chicago Mayor Richard Daley called up the National Guard to protect the convention arena and put thousands of Chicago police on 12 hour shifts. There were also tense moments on the convention floor among competing sets of delegates pushing to be seated. Even some of the media was roughed up, including CBS's Dan Rather, while trying to talk with anchor Walter Cronkite from the convention floor. DAN RATHER, CBS NEWS: Walter, as you can see -- WALTER CRONKITE, CBS NEWS ANCHOR: I don't know what's going on, but this -- these are security people apparently around Dan obviously getting rough up. RATHER: What happened is a Georgia delegate, at least out of Georgia delegate sign-on was being hauled out of the hall. We tried to talk to him to see why, who he was and what the situation was, and at that instant, the security people -- well, as you could say, put me on the deck. I didn't do very well. CRONKITE: I think we've got a bunch of thugs here, Dan, if I maybe promoter to say so. RATHER: Well, I'm all right. It's all in day's work. KAYE: In the end, Hubert Humphrey won enough support from delegates to become the nominee. But after all the upheaval in the party, it wasn't in the cards for Democrats that year. Republican Richard Nixon ultimately defeated Humphrey to become the 37th president. (END VIDEOTAPE) CHURCH: Our special thanks to Randi Kaye for that report. I want to thank you, too, for your company this hour. I'm Rosemary Church. I'll be back with more CNN NEWSROOM and, of course, this big story in just a moment.