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Interview With Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA); President Biden Pushing Forward in Campaign. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired July 12, 2024 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:22]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: President Biden back on the trail and moving forward. After last night's news conference, he's heading to a critical swing state, Michigan, a must-win in November, as he fights off Democrats who say he must step aside.

Plus, in Texas, rising temps and rising tempers, hundreds of thousands making do without power or water, a heat wave making this a miserable summer for many, as this historically hot season is also proving incredibly dangerous.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: And a dramatic rescue after a beachgoer is swept out to sea in a floating ring. A tanker comes to her rescue 50 miles offshore.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SANCHEZ: So, any minute now, President Biden will leave the White House for the battleground state of Michigan, as he's pushing forward with his campaign, despite increasing calls for him to quit the race. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries met privately with the president last night to discuss concerns about Biden's viability at the top of the ticket.

But CNN is learning that Jeffries did not offer Biden his endorsement in that meeting.

DEAN: Right now, 18 congressional lawmakers are publicly saying President Biden should step aside. And as Biden tries to salvage his campaign, sources telling CNN he will meet virtually today with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

Our correspondents are covering all the latest developments.

We begin with CNN's White House correspondent, Arlette Saenz, who's live in Detroit, where the president is headed for a campaign event later tonight.

Arlette, he had his big news conference last night. How's his team feeling today?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, President Biden said that he's just going to keep moving in this campaign, and that is what he is doing today as he's set to arrive here in the battleground state of Michigan.

The president really hoping to try to convince voters that he is up for a second term, but also trying to prevent any other further Democratic descent, as many lawmakers have called for the president to step aside in this race.

Now, the Biden team really viewed that press conference as a success, and it was hoping that it would perhaps stop some of the bleeding of support that they have seen in recent days. There hasn't been a flood of Democratic defections so far during the day, but President Biden really is trying to come here to Michigan to make his case directly to voters.

Now, the president will be joined here in Michigan with some of the state's elected officials, including the lieutenant governor, Garlin Gilchrist, Congresswoman Haley Stevens and Debbie Dingell also among those joining them.

But it's also worth noting that one of the Democrats who has called for President Biden to step aside is Hillary Scholten of Michigan, suggesting some of the pressure he could face in this state. Now, for President Biden's part, he really wants to try to turn the focus back to Donald Trump.

Aides say that he's expected to really drill in on Project 2025, that conservative blueprint that the campaign has tried to tie to Donald Trump, but, also, the president will have to try to ease some of the concerns within his own caucus and from voters following his debate performance from two weeks ago.

Now, Biden's advisers are well aware of some of the angst within their party. They have heard and received this feedback from Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill. And in a staff call last night, the campaign's chair acknowledged the difficulty of the past few weeks.

She told her staffers -- according to a source familiar with the call, she told her staffers that it's been hard, very bad, and bad effing weeks. But she went on to say, she tried to rally the staff that they do believe that he can win. She said: "It's not just that we feel like we can win. We have a plan to get there."

Of course, the Biden campaign thinks that part of their plan to get here -- get there is the battleground state of Michigan. The campaign has said that the most direct pathway to President Biden's victory in November would be those so-called blue wall states, states like Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

The campaign also outlining that the president will be making travel next week to Texas and Nevada, all to show that he can handle this schedule and show voters that he's up for a second term in office at a time when there are serious concerns within his party about the path forward.

SANCHEZ: Even as he acknowledged last night that he has to pace himself, saying that his staff is constantly adding things to his schedule. Arlette Saenz, thank you so much.

Let's get perspective now from Capitol Hill with CNN's Lauren Fox.

Lauren, back to that private meeting between House minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and President Biden. What more are you learning from that meeting regarding how Jeffries approached the president?

[13:05:00]

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, this is obviously a very high-profile, very important moment for Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

He has been hearing and taking calls from his members over the course of the last two weeks. In fact, yesterday on Capitol Hill, he told reporters that he wanted to have conversations one-on-one with every single member of the Democratic Party, and that, at that moment, he would then convene his leadership team to discuss the path forward.

Obviously, the timing of this discussion, happening yesterday after the press conference is noteworthy, but we are learning from a letter that he sent to his colleagues this morning -- quote -- "On behalf of the House Democratic Caucus, I requested and graciously was granted a private meeting with President Joe Biden. That meeting occurred yesterday evening. In my conversation with President Biden, I directly expressed the full breadth of insight, heartfelt perspectives and conclusions about the path forward that the caucus has shared in our recent time together."

Obviously, that word there conclusions is a very interesting one in part, because, as Democrats have met on Capitol Hill in smaller groups and as a caucus on Tuesday morning, they really hadn't come to a consensus. They hadn't come to an agreement. They weren't united necessarily about the path forward.

In fact, in the minutes and hours after Biden's press conference last night, there have been several Democrats, including the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Representative Himes, who came out saying that they thought it was time for Biden to step aside. We don't have a ton of detail about what happened inside the room, but our colleague Jeff Zeleny saying in his own reporting that during that meeting yesterday, one of the things that happened was Jeffries did not offer an explicit endorsement of the president -- Boris, Jessica.

DEAN: All right, Lauren Fox on Capitol Hill, of course, thanks so much for that.

And speak of the devil.

(LAUGHTER)

DEAN: CNN chief national correspondent Jeff Zeleny is right here to talk about that reporting with us.

Jeff, you do have some additional reporting about the Hakeem Jeffries- President Biden meeting. What did you learn?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Look, as Lauren was reading the letter there, a very vague letter in some respects, but talking to people close to the situation, they say that was sort of by design.

One thing not mentioned in the letter and indeed not mentioned in that meeting was any talk of an endorsement. And that is sort of one of the things. We're doing a lot of really reading the tea leaves and parsing words this week, but there was no sense -- he used the word clear-eyed and a candid conversation, but no sense that this is your decision and if you decide to go ahead, which the president said he's doing, that we will be with you.

So, clearly, I'm sure history will offer an interesting recounting of that meeting, but it's the first meeting that we know of where a Democratic leader went directly to the White House. It was a meeting that would have taken place about after 9:30 p.m.

So just imagine just the moment of that, but there was no talk of an endorsement and nothing mentioned in that. But we do know the president is meeting with other members of the CHC, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, today, the New Democratic Coalition, the moderates, if you will, so clearly doing more outreach.

But the bottom line here is that press conference did not do it the White House hoped, which would be stop some of the bleeding.

DEAN: Yes, it's like so much of this is reading between the lines and what is not said.

ZELENY: Right.

SANCHEZ: Oh, yes, you can read a lot in a letter that doesn't really say much, right?

ZELENY: Right.

SANCHEZ: Notably, as the president was getting that feedback from Leader Jeffries, you had some reporting about behind-the-scenes conversations between former President Barack Obama and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and they have expressed some skepticism about President Biden's chances.

ZELENY: They have. They have expressed skepticism privately with allies they have spoken to, we are told, about just the idea of President Biden being able to defeat Donald Trump in November.

If that is the chief objective of the Democratic Party, is that still possible? These are two sort of party elders, if you will. And in all of our reporting, my colleague Isaac Dovere and I, we're learning that a lot of Democrats are looking to them to sort of step in and do something. Won't you sort of do something here?

Of course, they're -- it's complicated. Speaker Pelosi has a very long relationship with President Biden. She helped him enact his agenda. Of course, former President Obama has a long relationship with him as well.

But neither one of them feel that they can push him in one direction or the other. They have to give him space to make that decision. But, also, parsing some of the words from that news conference last night, there was a question near the very end that a lot of Democrats are mentioning to me this morning when he was asked, when the president was asked, do you still believe you're the best person to win?

He said yes, but he didn't say he was the only person who could win. He said it's difficult to start a campaign from scratch. But he also said -- asked if he would reconsider, he said not unless they came back here and so there's no way you can win. And then he said, they haven't done that. Polls haven't shown that.

[13:10:02]

But that is the one thing, that Democrats who believe it's time for an urgent change are pointing to polls and really specific information from these swing states. If he's shown that, that could sort of change the calculation, but Michigan at the center of it all. It's leaning Republican in our battleground map.

He cannot win reelection without winning Michigan.

SANCHEZ: At the center, literally, geographically of that blue wall.

ZELENY: Literally.

SANCHEZ: Jeff Zeleny, always great to get your reporting. Thanks so much.

ZELENY: You bet.

SANCHEZ: Let's get some perspective now with national political correspondent for Axios Alex Thompson.

Alex, great to be with you.

Let's start with your new reporting about this third all-staff call that the Biden campaign had yesterday. It was the third one that was held since last week. They're trying to right the ship. What did you hear from your sources about how it went down?

ALEX THOMPSON, NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, AXIOS: Absolutely.

So, I obtained audio of this call from someone that was on it. And, essentially, campaign chair Jen O'Malley Dillon, who ran his reelect in 2020, is really just trying to rally the troops and get them to stop panicking.

She said that -- she acknowledged that it was very, very, very bad two weeks. She also threw in a bunch of colorful language along there that I can't say on here. And she really tried to just try to convince the team that there is still a path to victory. The fact is that the Biden campaign, one of the bigger problems by the hands beyond just members of his party trying to call on him to withdraw, is that members of his own staff feel demoralized, feel a little bit disillusioned, in part because they feel senior staff didn't -- was not completely candid with them when it came to the limitations that came with Joe Biden's age.

And they felt shocked watching the debate, as shocked as a lot of other people did.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

And, Alex, part of that call, I understand that O'Malley went over certain poll numbers and she indicated to them that specifically North Carolina had become a target, right?

THOMPSON: Absolutely. And that was in regards to the blue wall. And she basically was saying the blue wall is not the only strategy, that it is still possible because she felt very -- quote -- "bullish" on North Carolina.

Now, I can tell you, back in 2020, the campaign was also bullish on North Carolina until very, very late in the race. And then they surged many of those resources from North Carolina to Georgia, which they ultimately carried.

Now they are trying to go back. The effort to turn North Carolina blue has been one of over a decade. It did go blue for Barack Obama. But she is basically trying to show the campaign that there is a path forward and, if they get a lot of bad polling in the blue wall states, there still is another path to victory.

SANCHEZ: Yes, that's an important point.

So former Speaker Nancy Pelosi talked about this discussion over Biden's future culminating once the NATO Summit wrapped up. What have you heard about where it's likely headed next?

THOMPSON: Well, I think you're going to see more congressional leaders speak to Joe Biden.

I can tell you that members of Congress have been incredibly frustrated over the last two weeks because they feel like they haven't been able to get in touch with Joe Biden. And Joe Biden has not called that many, only about two dozen, maybe a little bit more. That was as of late last week, only about two dozen.

And I think a lot of members of Congress who want reassurance, that don't want to call on him to stand aside are trying to get in touch and have been very, very frustrated. I think that is part of the reason why the Hakeem Jeffries went up to the White House to convey sort of the range of those opinions, because they feel like the White House has not been completely responsive.

I expect that a lot more of that is going to go on in the next few days. You also have Joe Biden is going to sit for another interview. He's going to do events in swing states next week. And the microscope is going to be on him pretty tight.

SANCHEZ: Yes, I'm wondering if you have heard from sources about this reporting that former President Obama and Pelosi have spoken privately about the future of Biden's campaign and that they have expressed concerns over his ability to win reelection.

Have they shared any thoughts on what that means?

THOMPSON: Well, the tricky thing for both of them is that neither of them want Joe Biden to dig in further.

And that's sort of the problem that all Democrats are facing, even ones that want to get him out. There's a risk that Joe Biden could actually dig in deeper. And that's particularly true with Barack Obama.

I was talking to a former Biden aide pretty recently, and they said Obama already pushed Joe Biden out of one presidential race back in 2015. You don't get to do that again. And, now, Joe -- Barack Obama does not see it that way. His team doesn't see it that way.

[13:15:03]

But I can tell you that Joe Biden's team sees it that way, that they felt that Obama and his staff sort of selected Hillary Clinton over him. And that's part of the tricky dynamics. If you -- if Joe Biden and his team think that Barack Obama is trying to get him out of this race, it could actually sort of make them more determined to stay in.

SANCHEZ: A tricky dynamic, indeed. Alex Thompson, thanks so much for joining us.

Still ahead: Our next guest says hard, cold decisions need to be made about the future of the 2024 campaign. We're going to see what Democratic Congressman Gerry Connolly has to say, as the president insists he is still running, that decision, to President Biden, has been made.

Plus, frustration and anger building in Texas, more than a million people still without power days after getting hit with Hurricane Beryl. Now a warning that a dozen hospitals in Houston are in a state of internal disaster.

DEAN: And Donald Trump is asking the judge in his hush money trial to overturn his conviction, all of it because of the Supreme Court's ruling on presidential immunity.

Does he have a case?

Stay with CNN.

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[13:20:22]

DEAN: The congressman whom the president credits for helping him win the White House in 2020 is weighing in on Joe Biden's future.

Representative Jim Clyburn of South Carolina said conversations about replacing the president should stop. But Clyburn did not fully shut the door on Biden potentially exiting the race, pointing out the president has room to change his mind.

Here's Clyburn this morning on "Today."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: Should the conversation about the president getting out of this race, should that conversation continue?

REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D-SC): No, it shouldn't. Let Joe Biden continue to make his own decisions about his future. He's earned that right, and I am going to give him that much respect.

If he decides to change his mind later on, then we will respond to that. We have until the 19th of August to open our convention.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Joining us now, Democratic Congressman Gerry Connolly of Virginia. He sits on the Foreign Affairs and Oversight committees.

Congressman, great to have you on. Thanks for making time to be here with us.

We just heard from Congressman Clyburn there saying that the conversations should end. There are now 18 Democrats calling for another nominee. Do you think these public declarations that Biden should step aside are hurting the Democrats?

REP. GERRY CONNOLLY (D-VA): Well, I think there may be an inevitable part of the process, in part because the White House was so slow in its outreach effort after the debate.

Many of us, including me, got on very early urging them strongly to reach out to rank-and-file members in the House especially, because there are so many of us. Otherwise, what you risked was the atomization of the House, each individual kind of on his or her own looking at their situation, making their judgment, and acting accordingly.

What did you think was going to happen if you weren't reaching out to them and communicating with them? So, I'm not surprised. And despite Mr. Clyburn's importuning to stop, I don't know that you're going to be able to stop this process.

People are still processing, and they're going to make informed, as best the lights given them, decisions about what they think is best for the country, best for the party, and best for them.

DEAN: And so, on one hand, what you're saying and what we're hearing from a lot of people, including Clyburn and others, this is an ongoing conversation, it's not over yet, even though the president says he has made his decision.

We know that the House Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries, met with President Biden in person last night, and he says he conveyed the thoughts, the feelings of your colleagues that he has taken in and listened to this week. But he intentionally did not offer an explicit endorsement, but he did say he discussed with Biden conclusions about the path forward.

I'm curious if you know what those conclusions are, because, at this point, it still seems like this is not sewn up. What is the conclusion?

CONNOLLY: I think -- well, I don't think there's just one conclusion. I think, probably, Leader Jeffries presented to the White House the broad array of opinions in our caucus, including some unpleasant truths and opinions and judgments.

And I'm sure that had to be hard to hear, but, to Leader Jeffries' credit, he tried to make sure that all of the views contained in our caucus were heard by the White House and by the president himself. I think that's just an essential thing right now.

Watching President Biden last night during the press conference, which I thought he had command of issues, and I thought he was clearly well- informed, I think he came across as kind and thoughtful. He stumbled again. And that just reminds everybody that, is there not a deeper problem here?

But, ultimately, the question is, who's going to beat Donald Trump and can you function effectively over the next four years? It's not about the last four years. It's about the next four years.

DEAN: So, Congressman, if you could wave a magic wand -- and you just asked the question, who's going to beat Donald Trump? Who do you think that person is?

CONNOLLY: I think we're still assessing that, right?

So we're -- all of us are getting data. Some of us are polling in our own respective districts or states. There's national polling. And that's been a mixed bag since the debate. So, somewhat surprisingly right, it's a very tight race nationwide, according to several national polls.

[13:25:11]

But when you look at battleground states, there has been deterioration. That's very alarming, because, ultimately, we elect the president with the Electoral College, not on a popular vote.

DEAN: And how long do you think you have, you all have to make this decision?

I know Clyburn was talking about the convention, which starts August 19. But time is ticking.

CONNOLLY: Yes, I don't think we have until August 19. That's when the convention begins.

We're not going to face mass chaos in Chicago on the first day of the convention. So this has to be resolved, hopefully one way or the other, long before that. So I think that window is really a very narrow one, and it's narrowing by the day.

DEAN: A week? Two weeks?

CONNOLLY: I'm not arbitrarily going to put a time frame on it, but we certainly don't have a month to try to resolve this.

And, unfortunately politics is not a very sentimental business, so some hard judgments and hard choices are going to have to be made.

DEAN: All right, Congressman Gerry Connolly, thank you so much. We appreciate it.

CONNOLLY: My pleasure.

SANCHEZ: We want to give you a heads-up that, a bit later today, on "THE LEAD," newly elected U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is going one-on-one with CNN's Jake Tapper.

Starmer is the latest in a series of world leaders who've been asked whether President Biden is too old to campaign and govern effectively. Here's what he had to say about the president's mental acuity and fitness for a second term.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: So I know you told the BBC that President Biden was in really good form during your meeting.

Obviously, we're hearing lots of different accounts from people who have had meetings with the president, and 51 million Americans watching that debate two weeks ago saw something different than really good form. If you were to witness a concerning development, would you say something?

KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Yes, of course.

But, I mean, I yesterday spent 45 minutes with the president. We had spoken on the phone, as you can imagine, but this was an opportunity to discuss a number of issues. We were billed for 45 minutes. We probably went on for the best part of an hour, covered a lot of ground.

And he was in good form. And it was also a really good opportunity for me, as the new prime minister of the United Kingdom just literally in week one, to speak to the president about the special relationship, which matters to him, matters to me, and, of course, to make absolutely clear our unshakable support for NATO, to be here at the NATO Summit.

So it was a good session, covered a lot of ground, strategic stuff as well. And, obviously, we have had two days of the council now, with actually a very successful outcome, President Zelenskyy saying this is a success. And so I do think he deserves credit for that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: You can watch the entire interview on "THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER" airing today at 4:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

Still ahead: Folks are reeling in Houston, hundreds of thousands of people there enduring another scorching day without electricity days after Hurricane Beryl thrashed through the Lone Star State. We're going to take you live to Houston in just moments.

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