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Angry And Stunned Democrats Blame Joe Biden's Closest Advisers Shielding Public From Full Extent Of President's Decline; Democratic Senators Meet With Joe Biden Campaign Staff As Pressure Builds On President To Exit Race; Vice President Kamala Harris Stumps In North Carolina Amid Biden Campaign Crisis. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired July 11, 2024 - 14:00   ET

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

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[14:00:38]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Under pressure. The president hours away from his first news conference since the debate and on the line, potentially his party support. What we know about where Democrats stand on an important day.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: Plus, Donald Trump claims he has no idea who is behind the Project 2025 controversial policy plan, but a CNN investigation paints a very different picture.

Now, the former president is actually deeply tied to the ultra- conservative proposal.

SANCHEZ: And a potentially deadly combination in Texas, more than a million people without power amid rising feet. We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here in CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

Thanks so much for joining us. We begin this hour with brand new reporting just into CNN about how President Biden's closest advisors may have been shielding the public from the full extent of the president's decline.

DEAN: This news coming just hours of course before the president is set to give a major news conference to wrap up the NATO Summit here in Washington D.C.

Our correspondents are covering all of the latest developments and we start with CNN's Kayla Tausche who's at the NATO summit.

Kayla, tell us more about this new reporting you have.

KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Jessica, we spoke with dozens of Democratic strategist, aides, officials across the Biden administration and across the party at large and there was one consistent theme, and that was widespread anger and sadness at seeing the president's decline on full display on the debate stage two weeks ago after what they chalked up to careful choreography among the president's closest advisors to shield him from public view over the last year, or potentially before that.

Now, Democrats here in the U.S. tell CNN that when they tried to raise concerns about Biden's age, they were dismissed or worse. And overseas officials tell us that when Biden attended events on the world stage, he appeared exhausted, sometimes needing scheduled downtime or a (AUDIO GAP) in response to our (AUDIO GAP)

DEAN: All right.

SANCHEZ: Looks like we're having some technical issues there with Kayla Tausche, signal will of course get back to her if we get that fixed, then we'll get you the latest reporting on President Biden.

We want to get the perspective from Capitol Hill now with CNN Chief Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju.

Manu, some very important developments this afternoon. You have this meeting between Biden campaign officials and Democratic senators. What are you hearing from that meeting?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, in fact, it's still going on.

There have been some senators who have left, we've gotten some early indication about the meeting. We do understand that they presented some polling, try to show that there's actually a path to victory for Joe Biden, despite the polling that has gone really in the opposite direction that Democrats want in the aftermath of that debate debacle of President Biden in about two weeks ago, but they're trying to make the case and in assuage the concerns of those very nervous Democrats, that there is no path according to as many of them who privately fear that this is going in the wrong direction.

And ultimately, Donald Trump will win again in November, it could cost them both the Senate and the United States House. The purpose of this meeting was to essentially allay those fears and try to tamp down those growing calls for Biden to step aside.

There are now 10 House Democrats who have called for him to do so one, Senate Democrat, we'll see others ultimately join the ranks as well, but we caught up with one of them. One senator who just left the meeting moments ago, Senator Maggie Hassan in North New -- of New Hampshire and asked her about how this meeting went.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: How much concern was there in the room about Biden's campaign?

SEN. MAGGIE HASSAN (D-NH): Look what we focused on, we got a really strong presentation from the Biden's campaign team. We focused on the importance of defeating Donald Trump.

RAJU: Was there any suggestion he may leave the race?

HASSAN: We talked about what our thinking was about how best to proceed with the reelection of Joe Biden and making sure we defeat Donald Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: So, right there, you heard from one of Biden's allies in the Senate Democratic Caucus, who still supports Biden staying atop the ticket, suggesting perhaps that there was not much discussion about whether or not there was -- that Biden should step aside.

We'll get a better readout when we talked to more members about whether how much back and forth there really was about Joe Biden's future as a candidate for the presidency in this election cycle.

[14:05:09]

Because I can tell you, in talking to Democrats in the House and the Senate, there is still a belief that Joe Biden may ultimately decide to step aside given the outcry, the growing concerns, the fears that the Joe Biden candidacy could -- what could mean for their party come November and then potentially could change his thinking.

We'll see what he says at this all important news conference tonight, how he performs, how he answers the questions about his future, because there are a lot of members here, a lot of people around the world, of course, but particularly here in the Capital whose fates are tied to the president, and who want to know what exactly he has to do.

So, they will get a sense of that as well. But also interesting in this meeting today, guys, there were two Democratic senators who did not attend this meeting. Those Senators Jon Tester and Senator Sherrod Brown, they're two of the most vulnerable Democrats in Congress. They actually had a meeting earlier this week when they predicted that Joe Biden would actually lose in November. They did not attend this meeting today. They said they had conflicts and the like, and they went into their way and now they're on their way to the airport without hearing the Biden campaign's pitch about why they think Biden could win.

DEAN: Right, Manu Raju on the Hill for us. Thanks to you and Kayla Tausche.

And we're being told we have new sound -- a new soundbite from Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. I want to listen to what he had to say. He'd said earlier that he wanted Biden visors to show evidence that Biden can win. Here's what he just said moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): From what you heard from Biden campaign staffers today, some of my concerns are laid, some others have been deepened.

I need more of the kind of analytics that show the path to success. More important than my concerns are the questions that have been raised by the American people that Donald Trump is an existential threat. Joe Biden has to go to the American people, not just in one meeting,

one press conference, one speech, but consistently and constantly. Tonight will be important. The press conference will be potentially a turning point. But it has to be more than one just -- more than just one press conference.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Like, does he just hang out there with people having concerns until November?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: All right, Senator Blumenthal there outside of that meeting where Biden campaign officials are meeting with Senate Democrats who clearly some remain skeptical. We've heard from some that say they feel better but Senator Richard Blumenthal not the only one who has expressed deep concern over -- if President Biden can win and what that means for the presidency and also down ballot.

So, joining us to discuss is CNN Global Affairs analyst Kimberly Dozier, former Biden White House Director of Message Planning, Meghan Hays. And we should note that Meghan is also a consultant for the Democratic National Convention coming up this summer.

Also joining us, CNN Political and National Security Analyst David Sanger. He is the author of the new book, New Cold Wars: China's Rise, Russia's Invasion, and America's Struggle to Defend the West.

Great to have you all here. I want to get back to the Hill in a second. But Kim, let's start first with you with where we started this segment, which was at the NATO summit, and all of these global leaders here in Washington, D.C. This is where Biden will speak later today.

What are you hearing from European officials as they look in at our domestic politics and what's happening with the president?

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, look, they're trying to keep the focus on Ukraine, and NATO leaders are meeting with the Ukrainian president this afternoon to discuss what aid they have given thus far.

But every single European official I've run across, has first tried to grill me about whether or not Biden is going to pull out of the race, but then express their concerns and said they're hearing from their capitals, that if the presidency goes to a second Trump administration, they're going to see perhaps not a pullout from NATO, but reduced participation and instability that likes of which Russia has in the past taken advantage of and they're all worried about that.

SANCHEZ: But David, I want to go to you because something that the Finnish president said struck me. Earlier today, he was asked about President Biden, whether he has any concerns. And he said no, that he interacts with Biden on a regular basis, and he says he has absolutely no concerns about his capacity. You heard different, you published some reporting about European

leaders when Biden was visiting with them during the D-Day anniversary, who said that they saw lapses and confusion in the president.

What do you make of what's being said now by folks like the Finnish president versus what you heard from those other officials?

[14:10:01]

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, I don't think it's surprising, Boris, that we're seeing these somewhat conflicting reports because the president seems to have good days and bad. We saw a bad one during the debate. We saw a very strong performance during his speech at the opening of NATO on Tuesday night, which he delivered in a very strong voice. And, of course he was -- he was working from a teleprompter. So, it's not the kind of informal give and take that you'll see tonight at the -- at the press conference.

I've heard both from leaders and the Finnish president is fairly new, he's only been in office a few months. The ones who have been in office the longest tell me that they don't see the same Joe Biden that they saw, say in 2021 at his first summit meetings, NATO meetings and so forth, or even when the war began in 2022.

That isn't to say that they are nervous about whether he can handle the job now, they say their worry is, what will this look like in two years or three years from now?

But given the choice, most of the Europeans tell me they would far prefer Joe Biden with his long record of backing up NATO than Donald Trump with a long record of trying to dis disassemble NATO.

DEAN: And Meghan, let's talk a little bit about the politics of this and the president, we have this brand new reporting from our colleagues, the Democrats -- some Democrats are blaming the president's closest advisors for shielding them from the full extent of his decline.

One official describing the meetings as, "an act." Now you worked in the White House until 2022, just so everyone has the timeline set straight. Did you experience any sort of bubble? Help give us context around how this president is handled?

MEGHAN HAYS, FORMER BIDEN WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS OFFICIAL: Look, the West Wing is a very small place, there's not a lot of room to hide, he walks around the West Wing every single day, he would come into the where the communications team sits on a daily basis. He's regularly out meeting with advisers, he has prep, he does a lot of things moving around campus.

So, the fact that people are hiding him is a little bit of a misnomer. Are they probably doing things to help him, you know, they started taking the small stairs in the airplanes and the big stairs? Are they probably doing stuff like that? Sure, absolutely. But that is because the man is 81 years old. That's not because he

can't handle the job or he's not in control of the job.

So, I think that there's a little bit of -- of a little, you know, misnomer of what's happening here. I do think people are probably angry because they didn't realize maybe they didn't -- we're not expecting the Joe Biden that they saw at the debate. I don't think anybody was. I wasn't, you weren't. No one was expecting that.

The Joe Biden I know, it's the Joe Biden that showed up in North Carolina the next day. So, I just -- you know, I understand why people are shocked and upset by that. But I think that blaming the advisors is probably misplaced blame.

SANCHEZ: Let's pause for a moment because we have some brand new reporting in from Katie Rogers of The New York Times, she's actually on the phone with us. Katie, walk us through this new reporting.

KATIE ROGERS, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Hi, thanks for having me. So, we have reporting that some longtime aides, -- longtime aides and advisors to the president who have in recent days become convinced that he should step aside from the campaign have been talking amongst themselves about ways to persuade him that he should end it. And that is according to a few people briefed on these discussions.

They have said in order to make a case to the president. And to be clear, there is no indication that the president has been kept abreast of these conversations or has been briefed on them. But these aides have said in order to make the case, they have to convince him that he cannot win against former President Trump. They'd have to persuade him that another candidate, namely Vice President Harris could beat Trump. And then they would have to assure the president that should he step aside, the process to choose another candidate would be orderly, and not devolve into chaos within the Democratic Party.

DEAN: And Katie, is there any indication or do you all get any sense that he's -- would be open to this, that these group of advisers believe that this could actually break through to the president who has said he's made his decision, despite the fact that Democratic leadership keeps saying he needs to make a decision?

ROGERS: So, people that are, you know, within this group, and within this sort of circle of advisers believe that in order to even make this case to him, they would have to present, you know, data, facts and figures that show him, you know, convince him of, you know, number one, he couldn't be Trump. Number two, you know, somebody like Harris could, and my understanding and reporting of the president and his inner circle, and I think it's important to know that there's a distinction between these groups right now.

The president in his inner circle remain very convinced that he is the one he's the candidate and he can beat Trump.

[14:15:01] SANCHEZ: And Katie, one of the aspects to the reporting that I found notable is that the president actually told folks before the debate that he believed he had a better shot of winning a second term than Vice President Kamala Harris. He apparently believes that he has a better chance than any other Democrat of winning, and that apparently informs this decision to stay in the race.

But that's notable given that these allies are trying to find a way to convince him to hand her the nomination, right?

ROGERS: You know, I think that he very strongly believes and has believed, you're right, you know, according to our reporting, that he is the one who can beat Trump. And that means that there is belief he has told people that Harris could not.

You know, I think that right now, these people that are talking and having these discussions are, you know, focused on the first obstacle, which would be the hardest, which would be to convince him that he does not have the fuel, I guess, you know, to beat Trump in November.

DEAN: Katie, thank you so much. Stay with us. I do want to turn to Meghan because again, you know, the -- puts you on the spot a little bit. But, you do know this world really well. And Katie even just mentioned, there is a distinction that needs to be made between as they're listening, Biden advisors in the inner circle.

And those -- if I'm understanding it right, aren't necessarily the same group of people.

HAYS: That's correct. I think that there's a group of people that everyone has read about, that have been -- that have prepped him for the debate and then have been around for a very long time. Steve Ricchetti, Mike Donilon, those folks who have been around him for 20 plus years.

And then there's an another ring of people out who are still in the White House, senior people who are leading policy and the -- you know, those are also people who -- you know, if you've worked in the White House to be considered senior staff, but they're not necessarily the ones that are in Biden's ear right now. They're not the ones making these political decisions.

DEAN: And who does he listen to?

HAYS: From my experience, I think that Steve and Anita and, you know, Mike Donilon, and also his family, I think Hunter and Dr. Biden are extremely important. I think his sister Val is really important in this.

So, I think that is really who he is going to and those who have been his confidants for his entire political career for the most part.

And I just said, you know, it's not that he doesn't respect all the policy advisors in the White House, but they are in a different category, I think, than these people over. SANCHEZ: Kim, to tie this back to what we're watching today, the 75th anniversary summit of NATO. How do you think this is perceived by world leaders, not only our allies, but also adversaries like Vladimir Putin, and President Xi of China?

DOZIER: It has totally stolen the victory out of this moment that Biden has managed to grow the size of NATO, that he has rallied this years long support for Ukraine, billions of dollars. Sure, Ukraine is not happy. It didn't get all the things that wanted out of this summit, but it has gotten another year of promises of aid. And it's gotten a lot of the anti-aircraft, anti-missile type defense that it needs to protect its infrastructure, etcetera. But that's not what we're talking about.

Instead, everyone's focused on, is Biden going to be the nominee? Or is he going to take this step to -- step down?

And let's play this out, if he does decide, OK, I'm not going to run. He's a lame duck president for the rest of his presidency.

And I've already heard, especially from former Republican officials, dark warnings of October surprises by Iran or another country like that, that they might try to stage a type of attack to take advantage of a weakened U.S.

So, that's the kind of rumor and fear that a step like this could feed. And so, surely, that's also going into Biden's calculation.

DEAN: And David, so now we turn to this evening and this press conference that's going to take place after they wrap up this NATO Summit. We've heard from some Democrats that say nothing that he can do will change their mind. We've heard from others that say, wait and see what he -- what he does. Give us the context before we go of what to watch for and kind of what's at stake tonight.

SANGER: Sure, well, I think there'll be two or three elements to it. First, I suspect the president's going to open it up by describing what he did during a very complex NATO Summit that involved more than three dozen leaders, those of Europe invited leaders from the Pacific.

And that's all about creating the aura that, look, he brought NATO back together after the Ukraine war. He has strengthened it and he's managed to -- manage this summit as the host, which is, you know, takes a fair bit of work, so it's got a political advantage to him.

The second is we're all going to be looking at him for whether or not he holds the thread of the arguments, answers the questions, answers questions about his health, maybe whether or not he agrees to further testing. So far, the White House has said, none is necessary.

[14:20:01]

And then I think the third that we're looking for is sort of the level of his defiance to those in the party who are saying that he should step aside. Until now, that's been, you know, pretty strong. If there is any

opening that he leaves, that he could make a decision that he would be open to Vice president Harris or another person stepping in. If it looked like they could defeat Donald Trump, then that would, you know, change the game. I don't think he'll say that, because once he says it, then you're on the slope to his stepping aside.

SANCHEZ: David, Meghan, Kim, appreciate the conversation. Thanks so much for being with us.

Still ahead this hour on CNN NEWS CENTRAL. We're going to dig deeper into the most recent polling, some Democrats are warning there's no way that Joe Biden can win in November based on the data they're seeing.

DEAN: Plus, anger, frustration and fear in Texas, as more than a million people face triple digit temperatures without power. And a shocking new study finds nearly half of adult cancer deaths in the U.S. could be prevented. This story and more ahead on this hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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[14:25:25]

SANCHEZ: Vice President Kamala Harris is rallying voters in Greensboro, North Carolina, that state is only voted Democratic twice in the last 13 presidential elections. But President Biden got really close to a win in 2020.

Let's break down where polling stands with CNN Senior Data Reporter Harry Enten. Harry, let's dig into North Carolina and some other key states.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Yes, you know, you mentioned North Carolina, the Democrats want to play there, Joe Biden wants to play there.

So, North Carolina is a sort of pinkish state as I might going to put it. You know, back in 2016, Donald Trump carried the state by four points over Hillary Clinton, you mentioned last time back in 2020, close race there, one point.

My current estimate, though, is that Donald Trump has a clear advantage there at this particular point of six points. And this is part of a larger pattern that we're seeing sort of in the battleground states so we can break it down by the Sunbelt in the Great Lakes, North Carolina sort of close to that, Sun Belt, right.

Look, Nevada, Georgia, Arizona, look at all these very clear advantages for Donald Trump five, five, six points.

You go over to the Great Lakes. This is where Joe Biden's campaign believes that they can play ball.

At this particular point, post-debate, we are seeing Trump advantages, but look at how they're smaller. They're significantly smaller than what we're seeing in the Sunbelt. Pennsylvania, three points. Wisconsin, two points. Michigan basically a tossup of one point.

And here's the key thing, Boris, if Joe Biden carries Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, he can lose Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina, and he will get to get this exactly 270 electoral votes if he carries the other states, and of course, Nebraska, second congressional district, which he did last time around.

SANCHEZ: The exact amount that he would need to become president.

ENTEN: Exactly.

SANCHEZ: That's why it's the blue wants, they need to win that.

There is talk of some states that historically in recent history have not been as competitive suddenly becoming competitive. Walk us through those.

ENTEN: Yes. So, I'll give you two examples. Because this is pre-debate polling from 2024. And look at these 2020 results. New York, this is a blue state. One was -- I don't think there's a Republican who's carried that in my lifetime or certainly not when I was more than a year old.

Look at this. Joe Biden won this state by 23 points. Look at this polling, though that came out pre debate. It was Biden just by eight points. I wouldn't be surprised if that state is even closer now.

Or how about in Virginia? Right. A state that Joe Biden easily won last time around by 10 points, pre-debate, the race there was tied. I wouldn't be surprised if we see some posts of a polling that actually has Joe Biden behind in Virginia, who would have ever thought we'd see that.

But the fact is, when we're looking at these states, New York, Virginia, Minnesota, New Hampshire states that Joe Biden easily carried last time around. Now all of a sudden, the Donald Trump campaign thinks that they can put in a play.

And you know what, based upon this data pre-debate, I believe they absolutely can.

SANCHEZ: Virginia, at least you have a popular Republican governor, somebody that's been talked about as a dark horse vice presidential pick for Trump. So, we'll see there.

Harry, I got to ask you about this. New New York Times reporting apparently the Biden campaign is testing Kamala Harris as the top of the Democratic ticket going head to head with Donald Trump. We don't have their numbers just yet. They may leak eventually. But what have you seen in the data to give us an indication of where that might be headed.

ENTEN: Leaky campaigns leak, so I wouldn't be surprised if we, in fact, do see some of that. But this is just public polling. And what we see is it's absolutely

true that the vice president is polling better against Donald Trump than Joe Biden is. Look, overall, what do we see? We see versus Biden. We see that Donald Trump's ahead by three points. But against Harris, this is nationally, we see a tie.

Why is it? It's the center of the electorate, you know, elections are won or lost by the center of electorate.

Independents. Among Independents, Donald Trump leads Joe Biden by six points. But among Independents, the vice president is the head by a point over Donald Trump.

So, she does better in the center of the electorate. She does better overall. The fact is, Boris, given all the polling we're seeing, I'm not quite sure Democrats can do worse than Joe Biden's doing. So, it may just be worth a shot.

Of course, that's going to be up to the president himself whether or not he wants to step aside.

SANCHEZ: Yes, that's the most important point. We should also note, this is an average of polls. It's not just one set of data, it's a broad set --

ENTEN: This is an average -- this is an average of polls we've seen in more than just one poll. The fact is, is that the vice president is running stronger than Joe Biden is, not by a lot. But elections these days are won right by these small small margins.

SANCHEZ: The margins.

ENTEN: And she's doing slightly better in the middle. And that may be just enough, of course, we'll have to wait and see. No guarantees in politics or in life.

SANCHEZ: Appreciate you walking into the numbers. Harry, thanks so much. Jessica?

DEAN: Let's turn now to a Democrat who represents North Carolina Congressman Wiley Nickel.

Congressman, thanks so much for joining us this afternoon. I know you're not seeking reelection. When you announced that decision last year, you said you'd "Be working to elect North Carolina Democrats up and down the ballot in this election year 2024." I'm curious if you think President Biden is the best person at the top of the ticket for that?

REP. WILEY NICKEL (D-NC): You know, Jessica, Joe Biden is our Democratic nominee. We're going to do everything we can to make sure --