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Biden's Uncertain Future Set To Overshadow NATO Summit; Top Democratic Leaders Build Pressure On Biden To Bow Out; Hakeem Jeffries To Bring Democrats' Concerns To Biden About His Campaign. Aired 1- 1:30p ET

Aired July 11, 2024 - 13:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: A public and private battle among Democrats over the fate of President Biden. Behind closed doors the Biden campaign making its case to Democrats as they weigh their support for him. While out in the open, we're finally hearing from the top Democrat in the House. And on the biggest stage possible. We're just hours away from hearing from Biden directly in a news conference.

The fate of President Biden is hanging over this critical NATO Summit, the 75th anniversary of the alliance in Washington, world leaders grilled about his political future as they negotiate over how to support Ukraine and its fight against Russia. We are expecting to hear from Biden this hour as he meets with Ukraine's president.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And a first since the pandemic prices are actually falling. It's a big boost to American consumers and potentially a political gift to President Biden. We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to CNN News Central.

SANCHEZ: So right now, top Biden campaign officials are on Capitol Hill meeting with Senate Democrats trying to calm fears and tamp down growing pressure for the President to end his bid for a second term.

This comes just hours before what could be one of the most consequential moments of Joe Biden's political career at 6:30 p.m. Eastern, he's set to hold a solo press conference to wrap up the NATO summit that's been taking place this week here in the nation's capital.

DEAN: It will be the President's first solo news conference since November. It's a big chance to convince skeptical voters and members of his own party who are pretty skeptical that he's fit for a second term.

And today New polling by ABC News, The Washington Post and Ipsos shows a majority of Democratic voters believe that Biden should step aside. Just moments ago House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, during his weekly press conference, said his members are continuing to talk about this behind the scenes and talk about Biden's future. Listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): We have engaged in a process of talking to each other. Those conversations have been candid, comprehensive, and clear eyed. And they continue until that process has concluded. I'm not going to address what any outside stakeholders may have to say about this matter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Conversations ongoing. We begin with CNN congressional correspondent Lauren Fox. Lauren, we just heard that clip from the Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries at his weekly press conference, you're outside where Biden officials are currently meeting with Senate Democrats on the other side of the Capitol. What are you hearing this afternoon?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, really a full court press today as skeptical Democrats are waiting to hear the campaign plan from Biden's team. Inside this meeting, many Democrats who are entering didn't want to talk to the press. They continued to walk into this gathering, saying that they just wanted to listen at this point, although there were a few members who stopped including Senator Michael Bennet, who's told us earlier this week on CNN, that he was concerned that Biden may not be able to beat Trump.

And in fact, Trump may be able to beat Biden in a landslide. He said that, you know, he is not going to prejudge the message from these campaign officials. I pressed him on if there's anything they could say, to change his mind about the trajectory of this race right now. And he said he just wanted to listen to what they had to say.

Now, obviously, what senators say leaving this meeting is going to be very critical for the President. They're very careful, though, we should note because they know that this press conference tonight is an important moment for the President. Many of them want to give him space want to give him time they respect the president. They want to make sure that he has every opportunity to prove that he's up to the job.

But it's interesting because Senator Richard Blumenthal actually told us as he was going in, this isn't something that they may be able to decide in a single day. They need to continue seeing him out on the campaign trail. Continue seeing him interacting with voters, answering questions from reporters and talking to the public about his message and his campaign.

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Obviously, Jeffries has a very difficult task ahead. Members of his own party are very divided. I talked to two of them today, here they are.

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REP. HALEY STEVENS (D-MI): Things are going really well in Michigan, we've been working our tails off since the beginning of the year. And our President, our nominee, our guy who is in this to win this for us, is sleeves rolled up doing what he's done in Michigan for the last six months.

REP. EARL BLUMENAUER (D-OR): His agenda for the next six months is overwhelming. And that's his legacy beyond trying to protect democracy. I think he would be better served to be able to concentrate on that the country would be better off. And I think there are lots of choices to be able to step in and pick up the reins.

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FOX: And you see there two very different views from two different members of the Democratic caucus. And that just underscores how difficult this is for a leader Jeffries at this moment. He told us earlier today, told a group of reporters that he is going to continue listening to his members. And when he has finished talking to every single one, he's going to convene a member of his leadership team and make a decision on the path forward. Jessica.

SANCHEZ: Lauren Fox live outside that critical meeting. Thank you so much. Let's get the White House perspective now with CNN's MJ Lee, who's there for us. MJ, you and your colleagues have some reporting on the mood behind the scenes. What are you hearing from your sources?

MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, of course, there's certainly been a lot of confusion and anger and sadness inside the White House across the administration, the campaign and across the Democratic Party, more broadly, since the President's really halting and shocking debate performance.

My colleagues and I have spoken over the course of the last two weeks to dozens of democratic sources, including I should note senior Democrats who have spent real time with the President and in some cases have known the president for years. And what has been striking is that none of them had ever seen this version of President Biden that we all saw on the debate stage that was so off altering, and days, and plenty of officials that we spoke with said look, of course, we've known that the President has age. He is certainly not the same person that we know from say a year ago.

But what they had said and that was so noteworthy is that they said they couldn't have possibly known about the full extent of the President's decline. And what many of them blame at this point is this apparatus and daily operation that is built around the President that is so painfully choreographed, and stage managed, they said that is designed to prevent the president from being often out in these unscripted settings for an extended period of time. And that really what that meant was that only a small circle of inner circle of advisors and perhaps family members could have known about sort of this full picture of the President's condition.

Just one example of that is in our story is that according to two sources, before cabinet meetings that the President attends, cabinet officials will submit their questions and talking points, key talking points and bullet points that they plan to present to the president in these closed door meetings.

This is how one source described that they said the entire display is kind of an act, they would come and say, hey, the President is going to call on you about 25 minutes in and ask this question, what are the bullet points that you'll respond with?

Now, the White House's defense has been that that is standard practice for any administration. They said, in a setting like this, you never want the president to be not aware of what is going to be discussed. They want to also just be mindful of the President's time. But we also spoke with sources from the Obama years who said in the cabinet meetings for former President Barack Obama, those were never this meticulously scripted.

Now, more broadly, in response to our story and our reporting, the White House really defended the breadth of the President's travels, his engagements with the press, and certainly his record over the last three and a half years and provided comments from senior officials defending the President as being a sharp and engage and White House spokesperson Andrew Bates also said this as a part of his response. He said, Joe Biden has always said that it is fair for reporters to ask about his age, and as always confidently shown his values his agenda, intelligence and determined determination to the American people.

Well, in just a few hours, we are of course about to see that play out the President taking questions from reporters, and we certainly expect many of those questions will be at precisely about these issues.

DEAN: All right, MJ Lee with that new reporting. Thank you so much for that. Let's go now to CNNs Kayla Tausche, who's at the NATO Summit here in Washington. Kayla, all eyes turnout of this press conference this evening at NATO.

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What are you learning about how the President is preparing for his solo press conference?

KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Jessica, we got a glimpse of the President just a few minutes ago when he held a bilateral meeting with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Each leader spoke President Biden briefly he appeared steely, and serious as he pledged continued support for Ukraine and a desire to end the war as quickly as possible.

The president according to the pool, ignoring a question that was shouted from reporters about the future of his candidacy, and whether he would answer those calls to step aside. But of course, that is the backdrop for this entire summit, an event that was supposed to celebrate the achievements that President Biden has set are a hallmark of his presidency of uniting and expanding this 75-year old alliance and standing up to aggression overseas.

Now, the questions are about the President's own fitness and his capacity to continue serving in this leadership role in the United States and on the world stage. To that end, there have been many public proclamations of support for the president from his national security adviser Jake Sullivan, who said that the President simply had a bad night at the debate and said that world leaders had a drumbeat of praise for him here at the summit.

The Finnish President, in particular, saying that after seeing the President this week, he has no doubts about his capacity. And then there is the campaign, which is coming out in response to many critics who have said if there is a path for President Biden to win reelection than the campaign needs to disclose exactly what that is in the campaign to that effect, putting out a memo on that very topic that says, that said that it was essentially a margin of error race in key battleground states, we maintain multiple pathways to 270 electoral votes.

Right now winning the blue wall, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, is the clearest pathway, although the campaign does acknowledge a deterioration in the polling, specifically that many Democratic voters or voters who are identified as Democrats have moved to undecided. But the campaign suggested they could win those back.

But that's coming as there are widespread concerns that perhaps many in the President's base or in the independent voters are too far gone and that they can't unsee what they saw on the debate stage. That's what we've heard from many lawmakers when they've been asked, can you hear anything from President Biden at this press conference that could change your mind? Many of those Democratic lawmakers who have already turned have told CNN? No.

DEAN: All right, Kayla Tausche with that reporting from the NATO Summit here in Washington, DC, thanks so much, and President Biden's every word and how he says it will be under intense scrutiny when he holds that news conference later this evening.

With us now CNN political director, David Chalian. David, it goes without saying the President is under enormous pressure. We heard from the House Democratic Leader says these conversations are not over. They're still ongoing about whether he should be the nominee or not. And we just heard Kayla's reporting from some Democrats that say there's nothing he can do tonight to change their mind.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, I think to some extent, that is true. And what I'm hearing from Democrats as well, just that he can have a flawless press conference, that's not going to erase the concerns that he is in a position to defeat Donald Trump, which many Democrats believe he is not believe what 50 million Americans tuned in and saw that debate is not recoverable. And it's -- that is the sentiment that is creating all this panic inside Democratic circles with members with donors, and the like.

I understand the Biden operation is trying to shut that down. But as you noted, Jessica, the fact that the Democratic Leader in the House, he's not saying shut this down. He's saying this is an ongoing conversation. Nancy Pelosi is saying, this is a decision that Joe Biden still needs to make, despite him saying he's made his decision. Those are senior Democratic leaders in the party telling the President they're not done discussing this yet. SANCHEZ: One of the factors in the initial reporting about Biden

deciding to stay in that might sway him had to do with polling, and we actually got a new poll from ABC News in The Washington Post. And it shows that Trump and Biden at least nationally, are in a pretty close race well with us.

CHALIAN: Doesn't get closer than that.

DEAN: Yes, that's it.

SANCHEZ: So how do you read that poll in light of other polls in the in the context that we're getting that in battleground states there's some slippage?

CHALIAN: Well, first of all, it is true that I think in the totality of the national polling, if you compare pre-debate to post-debate, you can see this when we average polls together in our poll of polls, there is a bit of difference. There has been some slippage even nationally, if you average all the polls together for Biden pre- debate.

Look here, our current poll polls now 49 percent for Donald Trump, 45 percent for Joe Biden. It was a little closer than that. I think it was two points spread on a four point spread. But so a little bit of slippage for Biden nationally when you average polls together.

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Certainly what we're hearing out of battleground states and in competitive House districts, not just in an in Senate races is a concern about the President's numbers. And that's what Democrats are expressing the White House that 46, 46 in today's poll, that is what Joe Biden in his team, we're going to point to saying, guys, this has not changed the top line. It's the numbers underneath that though, in that poll, that they're not likely to tout. Two-thirds, two-thirds of Americans say he needs to step down as the candidate, a majority of Biden supporters in that poll, a majority of Biden supporters in that poll say he should step down to not be the nominee, 54 percent. 62 percent of Democrats and democratic leaners feel that way.

So that that you're not going to hear the Biden campaign tout. They're just going to tell at the top line number.

DEAN: And so, so many people have been calling on the campaign to say, OK, show us the way to 270 show us the way you win. And we now have this memo obtained by our colleagues, Betsy Klein and Arlette Saenz that says they are going to go through Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania that that's the way they went, no surprise, right, like, but I thought more interestingly, that they said they in this memo, they note that there's no one else no indication that anyone else would outperform the president versus Trump.

That seems to kind of be the push and pull here to is that Democrats don't have some silver bullet alternative right now.

CHALIAN: And interesting about them saying there's no evidence because we're now learning from the New York Times, that they're actually looking to see if there might be evidence as they are testing Kamala Harris's strength against Donald Trump versus Joe Biden's strength against Donald Trump. You saw our poll last week shows her performing a bit better against Trump within the margin of error. But performing a bit better than Joe Biden is.

I mean, here's the reality. Before the debate, Joe Biden's path to 270 was Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. And that was really the clearest path because we had already sort of assessed that Georgia was starting to lean away, Nevada was starting to lean away. These other Arizona is starting to lean away.

And so that was the case before the debate, guys. He was already in a position that he had to sweep that so called blue wall. That's only gotten harder since the debate in those states. And the fact that the campaign is trying to sell the Senate Democrats today or publicly with this memo saying that is still our path doesn't acknowledge the reality that that path became tougher. And I think what they have to convince Democrats of that it's still truly a viable path.

SANCHEZ: It also became tougher, in part because we're now seeing states that weren't as competitive for Biden suddenly become competitive to places like Virginia.

CHALIAN: Yes, or Minnesota or New Hampshire or possibly New Mexico. We are hearing from Democrats in those states that think those states that still lean blue, but just got tougher providing which means they may have to spend more money. We'll see. If the map expands against Joe Biden's favor, that also is problematic.

SANCHEZ: David Chalian, always great to get the perspective. Thanks so much.

Up next, we're going to speak with one of the lawmakers asking President Biden to step aside what he's hearing from fellow Democrats ahead of today's press conference.

DEAN: And another good sign in the country's fight against inflation what it means for you. That's ahead on CNN New Central.

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SANCHEZ: Minutes ago, the leader of Democrats in the House said that talks are ongoing about the future of President Joe Biden's nomination. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries also addressed the concern over the impact President Biden could have on other Democrats on the ballot in November.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you worried that Biden is a liability for your most vulnerable numbers?

JEFFRIES: No. House Democrats will win back control of the House of Representatives on November 5 and vacate the extreme MAGA Republican majority as long as we are able to clearly communicate our agenda.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Still, some top House Democrats like Congressman Mike Quigley say there's nothing the president can do to change their mind. And that includes whatever Biden may do at his solo news conference in just a few hours from the NATO Summit.

Let's discuss with Democratic Congressman Adam Smith of Washington, who's among those calling for President Biden to step aside and end his bid for the White House. A Congressman, thanks so much for being with us.

Is there anything that President Biden can do at this point, to change your position to change your mind?

REP. ADAM SMITH (D-WA): No, I mean, because he can't undo the debate, the 90 minutes of that debate. And you can't undo the response that came after the debate that, frankly, did little to quell the fears about Biden's ability to effectively communicate the message, and also to transparently explain any concerns about his health.

Those issues are baked in at this point. And it's simply my belief that another candidate would give us a much better chance to win because of that.

SANCHEZ: Do you agree with leader Jeffries that Biden at the top of the ticket is not going to have a discernible impact on those most vulnerable House members in swing districts?

SMITH: Hard to see how he wouldn't? You know, I think there's a couple of issues there. One, of course, is you know, he's our ticket. And typically, you know, that if the top of the ticket isn't good, that hurts down ballot. And the other problem we have is, and it's something that I would urge my colleagues who don't think that Joe Biden should step aside, let's come up with a message. OK, because walking out and saying, well, he's running. So what are you going to do? That's not a strong message.

And let me tell you, my position is we should have a different nominee, and I'm going to hold that position until Joe Biden or whoever is officially the nominee. But if Joe Biden is officially the nominee, I'm going to come out and say, I'm supporting Joe Biden, and I'm certain about Joe Biden because he's the best candidate in this race, his policies everything's going to do, am I concerned about his health? Yes I am concerned about his health.

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I know right now he can do the job. If we get to a point a year from now, when he can't, there's a process in place for fixing that. But I'm going to support him because I think his policies are better. And because I think Donald Trump is an existential threat to this country, you know, but if all of these people out there who think that Joe Biden is not our best candidate, just sort of shrug and go, and what are you going to do? That's not going to fly. SANCHEZ: Congressman, I'm curious about where you think this discussion is going? In part, because you just said that, if he becomes officially the nominee, you would support him. But it sounds like you still believe that his mind can be changed. The White House has given no indication of that.

SMITH: Look, I don't know, I believe his mind can be changed, but more strongly, I believe we need a different nominee. And I just -- I can't in good conscience, not try to work for that until it's no longer possible.

Now, I've seen, you know, what the leader said about, you know, we're going to discuss the issue, we're going to have an ongoing conversation. I know, Speaker Pelosi has a similar view, and maybe they'll have that conversation.

But sadly, look, from the moment Joe Biden walked off that debate stage almost well, two weeks ago now, there was only one thing to do. But team Biden decided not to do it. They decided to hunker down and go forward. And, you know, I don't know what information could be provided to them. Because part of the problem is everybody's got a poll these days. You know, you can pick your favorite polls, like a Rorschach test.

I mean, I don't think there's any question that when you have two- thirds of the country, saying that he shouldn't run when you have a majority of Democrats, saying that he shouldn't run in polls that the White House is touting as being a positive. I don't know, I've been doing politics for a long time. To me, that seems like a problem.

SANCHEZ: So if you referenced that nationwide poll done by ABC News and the Washington Post, nationally, it shows him tied with Donald Trump. You don't see that as an argument to keep him at the top of the ticket?

SMITH: A whole bunch of other polls show worse and the overall consensus within the polling, you can think you got to understand about polls. I don't know how ABC did their methodology. And the thing is, they don't care. All right, they're just trying to put a poll on the news. Their jobs aren't dependent upon it. It's not like a member of Congress running.

The thing that needed to happen is an honest, full on poll needs to be done. But again, the Biden team decided that didn't want to do that. They were going to hunker down and say whatever they had to say, to protect them before. They weren't going to give us an honest sort of, well, let's see, you know, they're going to fight and they're going to spin and spread whatever news they can to try to stay in this thing, as opposed to doing what I think they should have done, which Hakeem said, honestly assess where we're at, and make the best choice for the party in the country.

SANCHEZ: It sounds congressmen like folks at the White House have also exerted a degree of pressure on certain Democrats. And I'm specifically referencing some reporting that's recently been put on the last hour or so by CNN, a top Democrat, saying that the President's closest advisors have responded to any criticism or concerns expressed about the president, including his age and fitness, by saying that everyone who expresses any level of suspicion or contrary views, they call everyone and beat the S out of them and say, stay on message.

I'm wondering since you were one of the 11 or so members that have come out, asking President Biden to step aside, have you gotten a call from the White House or from other Democrats that have tried to sway you to keep your concerns private?

SMITH: What's kind of funny. I called them as I documented, you know, the day after the debate, I called them and like, I gave him 11 days. I didn't want to do this. All right. I wanted them to get the right decision themselves. And I've spoken to several people, the White House, people in the campaign, nobody has affirmatively called me and said anything but understand that's part of the strategy.

They targeted different parts of the caucus to shore up their support. And they didn't think of me as being gettable, if you will, for reasons that I'm really not going to get into. But, yes, I mean, they worked it from that angle, like I said, from the day that debate got done, instead of saying, OK, what's best for the party, you know, what's best for the country going forward, they said, we're going to defend Joe Biden. We're going to make sure that he stays the nominee, no matter what.

And now, thus far they've done a reasonably effective job of that. But if you have to expend that much energy at this point in the campaign, just to keep Democrats on board, and keep in mind, it's not just us elected officials. It's your grassroots Democrats all across the country who are concerned, a majority of them, they have proven team Biden that they can hold on to the top part here, but can they win? I have serious doubts, and that's why I'm still saying this.

SANCHEZ: And Congressman, do you think President Biden's legacy would be tarnished if he doesn't step aside? And then Democrats lose? Not only the White House but the Senate and don't grab control of the House?

SMITH: Yes. But without any question.

SANCHEZ: Congressman Adam Smith, we have to leave the conversation there. Appreciate you coming on to share your perspective.

SMITH: Thank you.