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White House Dismisses Concerns on Joe Biden's Neurological Health; Ukraine Centers NATO Summit in Washington; Beryl Weakens as it Approaches Texas; House Democrats to Tackle Joe Biden's Presidential Fate; Indian PM's visit to Moscow Focuses on India-Russia Relations; Djokovic Advances to Wimbledon Quarterfinals. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired July 09, 2024 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead, an unusual move from U.S. President Joe Biden's doctor as the White House attempts to quell fears surrounding the president's neurological health.

And all eyes on the U.S. president as the NATO summit kicks off in Washington today with support for Ukraine and its path to membership top of the agenda.

While in Ukraine, a day of deadly strikes with Russia launching attacks across the country, leaving dozens dead and reducing part of a children's hospital to rubble.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Appreciate you joining us. Well President Joe Biden's physician is trying to calm fears about the commander-in-chief's neurological health after reports that a Parkinson's disease specialist has visited the White House eight times in the past year.

Dr. Kevin O'Connor released a letter late Monday saying many military personnel who serve at the White House experience neurological issues and a neurologist visits regularly. O'Connor says the president has not seen a neurologist outside of his annual physical.

Mr. Biden faces a key test today when the Congressional Democratic Caucus meets for the first time since his debate with Donald Trump. The president is trying to silence calls for him to end his re- election bid.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: I've gone over the country for several reasons. One, to make sure my instinct was right about the party still wanting me to be the nominee. And all the data, all the data shows that the average Democrat out there who voted, 14 million of them that voted for me, still want me to be the nominee, number one. Number two, the idea that Donald Trump is, has gained in any substantial way, has his argument to why he should be president is anywhere convincing than it was two weeks or three weeks ago. It's just not there.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

CHURCH: More now from CNN's senior White House correspondent, MJ Lee.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MJ LEE, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A defiant President Biden going on offense.

BIDEN: We're not going anywhere. I am not going anywhere.

LEE (voice-over): The president increasingly under siege after his disastrous debate performance last month, calling in live to MSNBC amid the furious speculation and criticism about his age and fitness for office.

BIDEN: I wouldn't be running if I didn't absolutely believe that I am the best candidate to beat Donald Trump in 2024. We had a Democratic nominating process where the voters spoke clearly.

LEE (voice-over): Biden asked about one particular statement he made last week that alarmed and angered many Democrats.

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, "THIS WEEK" ANCHOR: And if you stay in and Trump is elected and everything you're warning about comes to pass, how will you feel in January?

BIDEN: I feel as long as I gave it my all and I did the goodest jobs I know I can do. That's what this is about.

LEE (voice-over): The president playing cleanup, making clear losing is not an option.

JOE SCARBOROUGH, "MORNING JOE" HOST: What would you say to those who are concerned by that answer?

BIDEN: It's not an option and I'm not lost. I haven't lost. I beat him last time. I'll beat him this time.

LEE (voice-over): But new questions about the president's health dogging the White House after the "New York Times" reported that an expert on Parkinson's disease from Walter Reed had visited the White House eight times in eight months. CNN confirming that the neurologist met earlier this year at the White House with the president's physician. The White House refusing to say if that specialist was consulting about the president.

UNKNOWN: That's a very basic direct question. KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Wait, wait, wait,

wait, wait, wait, wait, hold on, hold on, wait, wait, wait, wait a second. Wait.

UNKNOWN: -- eight times or at least once in regards to the president specifically.

JEAN-PIERRE: Wait. Hold on a second.

UNKNOWN: You should be able to answer by this point.

JEAN-PIERRE: Wait, no, no, no, no, no, no. Wait a minute, calm Ed, please. A little respect here, please. So every year around the president's physical examination, he sees a neurologist. That's three times, right?

LEE (voice-over): This as the Biden campaign and its top surrogates are trying to calm the nerves of voters, lawmakers and donors.

[03:05:01]

JILL BIDEN, U.S. FIRST LADY: For all the talk out there about this race, Joe has made it clear that he's all in.

LEE (voice-over): The president calling into a meeting of donors on Monday pledging to attack Trump much more aggressively in their next debate and in a new letter to Democratic lawmakers, Biden refusing to back down, writing that he is firmly committed to staying in this race, to running this race to the end and to beating Donald Trump.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: While some Democrats are calling for him to exit the race for the White House, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus says, quote, We stand with President Biden. The Congressional Black Caucus met virtually with Mr. Biden late Monday. And here's what the group's chairman told CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. STEVEN HORSFORD (D-NV), CHAIRMAN, CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS: What I find interesting is the issue is more around ageism and ableism and not what this president, President Biden, has done. His age didn't keep him from lifting 50 percent of children out of poverty. His age did not prevent him from passing a bipartisan infrastructure law.

His age didn't prevent him from passing the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act in order to keep our communities safe from gun violence. It is his experience and his civility because he actually cares about the American people, while Donald Trump only cares about himself or the billionaires and big corporations that he wants to give tax cuts to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Joining me now, Dr. Scott Miscovich is a family physician and president of Premier Medical Group USA. Good to have you with us.

DR. SCOTT MISCOVIOCH, FAMILY PHYSICIAN AND PRESIDENT, PREMIER MEDICAL GROUP USA: Thank you, Rosemary. Good to be here.

CHURCH: So, late Monday, President Joe Biden's physician, Dr. Kevin O'Connor, released a letter responding to reports that a Parkinson's disease specialist visited the White House eight times in the past year. Dr. O'Connor saying it was to see military personnel who serve at the White House. What's your reaction to the unusual step by Mr. Biden's doctor taking to release this late Monday night?

MISCOVICH: It's interesting. I think it's an attempt to be kind of open and to show that there are things going on. Now, the physician that was sent to the White House, he is actually a movement disorder physician. That's a specific fellowship training that looks at different types of movement disorders, which one of the most common ones that we all know is Parkinson's disease, but it can include many others, as he alluded to in his letter.

But the other thing that people need to know, you go through standard neurologic training, a full residency, and then that is a sub- specialty that they'll get extra training in. So he still is a broad general neurologist that is capable of doing neurologic evaluation at any level.

CHURCH: I Appreciate that clarification. And Dr. O'Connor says that the president hasn't seen a neurologist outside of his annual physical. Does that make sense to you, given the president's age?

MISCOVICH: Unfortunately, it really doesn't. I looked at the letter released from Dr. O'Connor and it goes through it and makes some specific mentions of what was found in his neurologic exam.

A couple of things kind of surprised me, like a reference to multiple sclerosis. That is totally off scale in an 81-year-old. That's between 20 and 40, very rare even over the age of 60.

It talks about a type of lateral sclerosis, which, you know, is more slowly progressive, is also very odd.

So it makes references to movement issues. I think that's an issue that people have always been talking about, thinking that the president possibly has Parkinson's disease.

I've observed him many times since this is going on and watch for it since my brain is clinical. And he doesn't quite have all the Parkinsonian kind of symptoms. One thing that anybody that understands Parkinson's will understand that it's almost kind of easy to diagnose because in the early phases, they'll get what's called a pill rolling tremor. And it's about that fast. And it's with those two fingers. And he has not demonstrated that. And that's one of the earlier phases.

Then it's followed by the shuffling gait and the near falling. So he should be very well capable of diagnosing that with the type of specialist that he is. So from my perspective, I think we need to do a lot more. CHURCH: So what happens during a typical neurological exam? What kinds

of tests would President Biden have undergone?

[03:09:59]

MISCOVICH: When I read that letter, and again, I'm only basing it off the letter not seeing an exam that looks like he performed the standard exam that's going on in doctor's offices, whether it's a neurologist or family physician or an internist across the world where, you know, you tap your fingers, you move your hands back-and- forth looking for movement disorders. You put warmth on the leg, you put cold on the leg, you do little pin pricks up and down the arms. You test the strength of the muscles, both flexing and extending all over.

But that's what that looked like. It's just a real basic exam.

As you note, there was no mention whatsoever of a cognitive exam, which is, you know, something that we all do when we have families coming in and saying, oh, they're a little bit forgetful. There's a whole other avenue of what happens in that type of testing.

CHURCH: And Dr. O'Connor has publicly released President Biden's physical exam findings. What have they shown or perhaps not shown that gives you any pause and how do they compare to the medical information that Donald Trump and his doctors released while he was in office?

MISCOVICH: Well, you know, I think it's been standard once you're in the White House that you do have, as Dr. O'Connor showed, that he was seen by multiple specialists and had multiple types of evaluations, which were all fairly standard.

But again, what I would say is right now the question that the country and the world have is cognitive function as what's happening. I think we know he's a little stiff. He's allowed to be stiffer at his age, at 81, and that's fine. And so whether it's a physical therapist or someone else, that's fine.

But as your colleague and our colleague, Sanjay Gupta, did an amazing job when he did his special on cognitive function that he performed on himself to see if he had delays.

The science on the brain and cognitive decline, whether it's Alzheimer's or just general cognitive decline, has really, really expanded over the last five years. We can find out so much information, but it entails things like specialized MRI scans, spinal taps, looking for beta amyloid plaque or tau plaque, as well as other tests.

And then the cognitive tests now, instead of just doing the standard, what we call mini mental status exam, which has been the standard for a long time, where you just take a test and draw a clock and things, is now computerized.

And it is so accurate. And it is so much more useful to really determine where people stand cognitively. So I really think that that would be something everyone would be interested in.

CHURCH: Yeah, indeed. Dr. Scott Miscovich, many thanks for joining us. I Appreciate it.

MISCOVICH: Thank you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: The political uncertainty in Washington will be looming over this week's summit, which kicks off Tuesday evening in the U.S. Capitol. The leaders of NATO's 32 member countries, along with other E.U. heads of state and NATO's partner countries, will be marking the 75th anniversary of the world's largest security alliance.

But any celebratory mood will be clouded not just by the questions surrounding the future of the U.S. presidency, but also the resurgence of right-wing populism in parts of Europe, and of course, Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine, which is raging right on NATO's doorstep.

The White House, though, is eager to shut down any suggestion that President Biden will have to reassure NATO allies over his fitness to lead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KIRBY, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL SPOKESPERSON: I think the question presupposes the notion that they need to be reassured of American leadership and President Biden's commitment. And I don't believe that's the case. We're not picking up any signs of that from our allies at all. Quite the contrary. The conversations that we're having with them in advance, they're excited about this summit, they're excited about the possibilities and the things that we're going to be doing together, specifically to help Ukraine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Indeed, helping Ukraine is high on NATO's agenda this week, and the alliance believes Ukraine's path to membership is irreversible. That word is in a draft text of NATO's joint communique, according to three sources familiar with the document.

One of them is a U.S. official who says the White House approves of that language as long as the document demands Ukraine continue its work on democratic reforms. Now, this could signal an end to the long- running debate about Ukraine's future membership and send a strong message to both Kyiv and Moscow.

Well the U.N. Security Council will hold a special meeting Tuesday to discuss Russia's deadly attack on a children's hospital in Kyiv. It was part of a series of brutal daytime air assaults on targets across Ukraine during the morning rush hour.

[03:15:00]

President Volodymyr Zelensky says dozens of men, women and children were killed, 170 others injured. Among the victims, at least two killed and 16 wounded at the children's hospital in Kyiv.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Beyond any doubt, we are going to rebuild everything that these Russian terrorists have destroyed. And beyond any doubt, we are going to answer these savages from Russia. Everybody that was injured will get all the help they need and will pledge to work on bringing Russia to justice for the terror and Putin for his orders to carry out these strikes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Clare Sebastian joins me now live from London. So Clare, what is the latest on these deadly strikes across Ukraine, including that children's hospital in Kyiv?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Good morning, Rosemary. We understand that search and rescue operations are still ongoing at three different sites in Kyiv. Don't forget, this wasn't just about the hospital. Multiple other locations were affected. You can see live pictures of those operations happening right now.

In terms of the hospital, we understand that 600 patients were evacuated, according to the health minister of Ukraine. We don't know exactly where they were evacuated to. And of the two people killed at the hospital, one was a doctor, the other a relative of a patient there. Children were said to be among the injured there.

In addition, the death toll did climb. In the early hours of the morning, we heard of an additional death. A boy was found under the rubble in a location in the same district as the hospital. We understand a residential building in that district was also hit. There was also another medical facility that was hit in Kyiv, a maternity clinic, where nine people were reported dead.

So, 27 reportedly killed in the capital alone, and another 10 in Kryvyi Rih, which is in sort of central-southern Ukraine, which happens to be the hometown of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. They have declared a day of mourning in that town.

Now, President Zelenskyy had promised a powerful response to this on Monday. And we don't know if the two are connected, but certainly Russia says that it has dealt with a very large-scale drone attack overnight, some 38 drones attacking five different regions, an electrical substation, an oil depot said to be on fire in one region. So, that is something to note there.

In terms of Zelenskyy and what he will be hoping for from the NATO summit today, I think he is looking very seriously for an increase in ambition, an increase in age from his allies, and not just when it comes to air defense. He wants to see restrictions lifted when it comes to Ukraine using Western-donated weapons to hit inside Russia, more restrictions that would allow them to hit weapons, storages, missile sites, things like that, to help avoid attacks like this happening again.

John Kirby, the White House national security spokesperson, was asked about this yesterday in a briefing on Monday, and he said at this point the policy hasn't changed, but the White House is trailing several major announcements at this NATO summit.

CHURCH: Alright. Our thanks to Clare Sebastian joining us live from London with that report.

Still to come, Beryl batters Texas. The hurricane is now a tropical depression, but it's still doing a lot of damage in parts of the United States.

Plus, Israel's new military operation in Gaza City and its impact on Palestinians there. Do stay with us for that.

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[03:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Welcome back everyone. What was Hurricane Beryl has now weakened to a tropical depression and is moving through the United States. But conditions are still dangerous. Tornadoes, heavy rain and flash flooding are expected as the system heads north this week. At least five storm-related deaths have been reported from Beryl in the U.S. so far.

CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam is in Texas where the storm made landfall early Monday and has more on the damage it's caused.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST (voice-over): Deadly Hurricane Beryl, making landfall along the Gulf Coast, battering Texas with hurricane force winds whipping up to 94 miles per hour, rising waters leading to dramatic rescues in Houston.

Surging wind and rainfall, flooding roadways, blowing down trees and slamming residents along its path, including this woman in Jamaica Beach, Texas.

UNKNOWN: I looked up and my roof was gone. Stuff started flying off the walls, hanging around the house.

VAN DAM (voice-over): In Houston, shortly after landfall, hurricane force wind gusts up to 84 miles per hour, causing roofs to collapse. And heavy rain, more than a month's worth in one day.

UNKNOWN: All that rain came down and things say, boom, it fell right on my neck.

VAN DAM (voice-over): The rain and storm surge leading to dangerous roads.

RICHARD SMITH, HOUSTON INTERIM DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS: It's important for everyone to remember the primary drainage mechanism throughout the city is our streets, for better or worse. VAN DAM (voice-over): The National Weather Service warning people to

stay off of high-rise balconies and away from windows as the eye of the storm passes through.

UNKNOWN: We've had hours and hours and hours of extremely high winds, high water. We've got tree limbs, a tremendous amount of debris that's on the road, waters covering the roadways.

VAN DAM (voice-over): The high winds canceling flights across Texas, at one point knocking out power for almost three million people throughout the state, straining an already stretched power grid overwhelmed by extreme weather.

VAN DAM: Here in Houston, the floodwaters have receded, but going forward, the millions of people without power are going to struggle in the building heat in the coming days.

CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam, Houston, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And those power outages in Texas, Derek just mentioned, currently top 2.3 million, according to the tracking website, poweroutage.us. The concern for many there is the heat index, how heat feels to the body when you add in the high humidity.

[03:25:05]

In Houston, for example, the heat index these next two days will be around 105 degrees Fahrenheit, that is 40 degrees Celsius. CNN meteorologist Chad Myers has more on that, as well as the continued threat from Beryl.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We still have gusty winds even at this hour, winds across parts of Arkansas into Missouri. And then later on today, this rain is going to run right on through Indiana, Illinois, and then on up to Windsor, Ontario. By the time we get to this point tomorrow, heavy rainfall, two to four inches of rain, spreading itself out, not 12 inches all in one spot. That's the good news.

We did get some gusty winds. These are the wind gusts, Freeport, Texas, 97. Now, if that was a sustained wind, that would be in a category two hurricane, but it was not sustained. It was a gust, and that just doesn't count. So 97 was the highest gust that we could find on the map.

The problem is we still have millions of people right now without power, millions of customers without power. And we're going to have a heat index today of over 100 degrees, so certainly in the 41, 42 degrees Celsius range, and not a fan to even blow the air around. It's going to be a dangerous day across parts of South Texas for later on today.

Heat across the West as well, with advisories and warnings going on, 100 record highs possible over the next few days out here. But temperatures are not supposed to be like this in Portland at 104 later on today. For Redding, 110. Even that 120 we saw in Vegas on Sunday afternoon, that was just a perturbation that we'll hopefully never see again. But today, 117. That's close enough. And even down toward Palm Springs, making a run at 120 later on today.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Israel is conducting new strikes in parts of Gaza City after ordering civilians to evacuate. The Israeli military says the new operation is targeting what it says is terrorist infrastructure in the city. On Sunday, the IDF ordered civilians to leave. A Gaza civil defense spokesman says people are still fleeing, and there are now wounded and dead in the streets, and medical crews are having a hard time getting to them.

Meanwhile, the United Nations says the number of displaced Palestinians in Gaza is now 1.9 million. That's about 90 percent of the people who live there.

CNN's Salma Abdelaziz joins us now live from London with more. Good morning to you, Salma. So what more are you learning about these new strikes in Gaza City following the IDF's evacuation orders?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So the Israeli military announced on Monday that it was launching what it called a new counterterrorism operation in Gaza City to, as you said, dismantle and destroy what it calls Hamas infrastructure, weapons depots, underground tunnels in Gaza City. And this is an intensification, Rosemary, of what was already happening on the ground.

For nearly the last couple of weeks, there's been a ground offensive, a push by Israeli troops in Gaza City in the neighborhood of Shuja'iyya, that is ongoing.

But what we're also hearing, Rosemary, is as these bombs continue to rain down, as drones fly overhead, as Israeli troops push through the city, Palestinian officials say people are on the move. Families are fleeing their homes because hundreds of thousands, just in the last few days, have been ordered to evacuate by the Israeli military. And this has disastrous humanitarian consequences. Aid agencies already describing people who simply had nowhere to go sleeping in the open as bombs rained down, with no access to food, to medical care, to sanitation.

I want to reiterate that number that you mentioned earlier, Rosemary. 1.9 million people displaced, nine out of every 10 Gazans forced out of their homes, many of them more than once. Again, aid agencies describing this dire situation on the ground with very little medical help. One of the evacuation orders was for Al-Ahli Hospital. That's one of the main hospitals in Gaza City. It is now shut down. It is added to that very long list of hospitals that are no longer functional.

So really, these evacuation orders, yet again, adding to that humanitarian disaster on the ground, making it more difficult to bring aid into the Gaza Strip. The U.N. says only a fraction of the aid that has been agreed upon has actually been allowed into the enclave in recent days, again, because of these evacuation orders. And the impact is not just on the ground in the Gaza Strip, where again, these humanitarian consequences are disastrous. It could also be an impact on the talks that are taking place in Doha. So, more and more suffering in Gaza and less and less hope for a resolution.

CHURCH: All right. Our thanks to Salma Abdelaziz joining us live from London with that report.

U.S. President Joe Biden is facing a key test today on Capitol Hill. What Democrats are saying about his debate disaster and whether he should remain in the race for the White House.

[03:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

Welcome back to "CNN Newsroom." I'm Rosemary Church. Let's check today's top stories.

NATO members are looking toward the future as they celebrate the alliance's 75th anniversary. Washington D.C. is hosting this year's summit, which will kick off later this evening. Russia's war in Ukraine is on the agenda as well as Ukraine's potential NATO membership. And Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be there to plead his country's case.

Rescue workers searched through the rubble across Ukraine after Russia carried out a daytime aerial assault during the Monday morning rush hour. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy says at least 38 people were killed and 170 more injured. The children's hospital in Kyiv was among the sites targeted.

The Congressional Democratic Caucus will meet today for the first time since the presidential debate. One member tells CNN it could be the day the dam breaks for Joe Biden. A growing number of Democrats are publicly calling for the President to exit the race for the White House.

Mr. Biden got votes of confidence on Monday from the Congressional Hispanic and Black Caucuses. But another member of his own party urged him to make way for Vice President Kamala Harris. Here's Congressman Adam Smith of Washington state.

[03:34:57]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ADAM SMITH (D-WA): Well, look, I think he should step aside. I think it's become clear that he's not the best person to carry the Democratic message. And here's the thing. We have an incredibly strong message and record to run on. And in all respect to the president, he's done a great job. Personally, I think Kamala Harris would be a much better, stronger candidate. And because she is constitutionally his second, that's the way it's supposed to work. (END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: More now from CNN's chief congressional correspondent, Manu Raju.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A critical meeting set for Tuesday morning. House Democrats will discuss Joe Biden's future and whether they support him staying at the top of the ticket. There are signs that there are some key Democrats falling in line behind Joe Biden.

One of them, Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader who told me on Monday evening that he still supports Joe Biden. Even in his position has not changed, he said. He also told me he is not concerned about Biden potentially costing his party the chance of taking back the House of Representatives. There is concern from a number of Democrats that Biden could be a drag at the top of the ticket.

The Democrats I spoke to are expressing some concern and their concern about the divisions within the ranks and about whether Joe Biden can actually beat Donald Trump come November.

REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D-WA): Clearly, you know, I think people need to our members really need to continue to just see how this week plays out and see the president in unscripted situations. And but I think we owe him the respect of -- of not jumping too quickly and also the respect for our democracy of just recognizing what a big moment this is and what a big change anything other than the president's nominee would be.

RAJU: Do you have confidence in him? Do you have confidence in that right now?

JAYAPAL: He's our nominee. And, you know, I've worked closely with him. And I think I said everything else in the statement.

REP. JIMMY GOMEZ (D-CA): As long as people calm down and don't freak out, which I think people are freaking out, he should do fine. But the minute we become the I would say chaos within the caucus kind of spreads, then that's when he's in trouble. He has to keep that up. If he if there's another misstep, I think that he might have some bigger problems.

REP. PETE AGUILAR (D-CA): We'll have a good, robust discussion tomorrow.

RAJU: And that last comment came from the number three Democrat Pete Aguilar, who would not say if he supports Joe Biden right now. So they're going to have a robust discussion. We do expect them to hear from here from the Democratic leaders and a press conference on Tuesday afternoon. That'll be an also key moment about the messaging about Joe Biden. We do know that from the Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, he has not said a whole lot about Biden. He would only say I'm for Joe Biden. He would not go further than that. He would not express any concerns about the prospects of Biden could

drag down Senate Democrats and their ability to hang on to control in the Senate. But a key moment for the president, as he called in to a meeting of the Congressional Black Caucus, one of the most -- the biggest caucus within the larger House Democratic Caucus on Monday night. He plans to meet with progressives later in the week as well as he tries to shore up support within the ranks.

Manu Raju, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Allan Lichtman is a presidential historian and a distinguished professor of history at American University. He's also the author of "The Case for Impeachment." He joins me now from Manhattan Beach in California. A pleasure to have you with us.

ALLAN LICHTMAN, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN AND DISTINGUISHED PROF. OF HISTORY, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: My pleasure.

CHURCH: So you have successfully predicted nine of the last 10 U.S. presidential elections. I know you won't be predicting the outcome of the November election, not just yet, at least. But you have said that President Joe Biden should remain at the top of the Democratic ticket despite his poor debate performance. Now he is facing mounting pressure from within his own party to step aside and new questions about his health. So do you still think it would be a mistake to replace him?

LICHTMAN: Absolutely. What do those Democratic politicians, journalists, pundits who are trying to push Biden out of this race have in common? Zero track record in scientific prediction of elections. And yet they claim to know what the Democrats must do to have a predicted win this time. It's sports talk radio. It has no scientific validity whatsoever.

On the other hand, my system, the keys to the White House, I would say successfully predicted 10 out of 10 elections since 1984, since I proved that 2000 was a stolen election in my report to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, which is still on their website. And let's not quibble that.

The way it works is unlike the pundits and the pollsters, the keys to the White House tap into the structure of how elections really work, that is, votes up or down on the strength and performance of the White House party. And that's what the keys gauge. And the way it works is six or more of the 13 go against the White House party. They are predicted losers.

[03:40:06]

And Joe Biden ticks off two of my keys, incumbency and party contests, because he got 87 percent of the primary vote. That means of the remaining 11 keys, six would have to fall to predict the Democratic's defeat. On the other hand, if these folks who have never predicted elections successfully push him out, you lose the incumbency key and you lose the contest key. And only four more keys would have to fall. But leave aside the keys.

Since 1900, how many times has the White House party been reelected when it's an open seat and a party contest? The answer is zero. On the other hand, when an incumbent is running and is uncontested, the White House party is reelected 75 percent of the time.

You know, Barack Obama had a worse debate -- first debate against Romney than Biden did. You know, to listen to the media, you would think everybody thought Biden lost, but 33 percent thought he won the debate. Only 20 percent thought Obama won the debate. And the polls swung much more after that debate than after the Biden debate.

Romney went from seven points down to four points up. And all the pundits were pronouncing Obama dead. And he won an electoral college landslide with 332 votes to 206 for Romney. So forget the polls. Forget the pundits. Keep your eye on the big picture as gauged by the keys and keep your eye on the verdict of history.

CHURCH: So, Professor, just finally, what is your message to top Democrats who are panicking right now and calling for President Biden to step aside and to those voters who think his debate performance handed victory to Donald Trump? Your message.

LICHTMAN: Well, my message to Democrats is shut up. Why are you airing your dirty laundry out in public and creating an image of Democrats in disarray? You should have kept that to yourself behind closed doors.

You know, my analysis of American politics boils down to one sense. Republicans have no principles. Democrats have no spine.

Republicans are united behind an avowed authoritarian, a convicted felon, a civilly convicted sexual assaulter, colloquially rapist, a civilly convicted, a massive fraudster. And Democrats at the first sign of trouble are trying to throw their own incumbent under the bus. So what I would say to the voters, don't judge the president by one debate.

It is governance that counts. See, look at his record of governance. Look at how he governs over the next few months and look at how he campaigns and presents himself to the public.

I also have a plan B. If the foolish Democrats succeed in pushing Biden out against his will, what Biden should do is resign the presidency for the good of the country, contrast himself with Donald Trump, who only cares about himself. Harris becomes president. You win the incumbency key. She'll be the consensus nominee. You win the contest key and you will replicate a positive situation for the Democrats.

Otherwise, if they push Biden out and have a party fight, they'll be replicating the very situation in 2016 of an open seat and a contested nomination that elected Donald Trump in the first place.

So, you know, you foolish Democrats look to history, look to the keys and don't panic at the first sign of trouble and air all your dirty laundry out in the public. CHURCH: A powerful message from Allan Lichtman. Many thanks for

joining us. I Appreciate it.

LICHTMAN: My great pleasure. Thank you.

CHURCH: India's prime minister is visiting Moscow for the first time since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. What this means for New Delhi's ties with Moscow. That's next.

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[03:45:00]

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CHURCH: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on the final day of his two-day visit to Russia. It's the first time he's been in the country since Russian President Vladimir Putin's full scale invasion of Ukraine. Modi is set to attend official talks at the Kremlin today. Discussions, his office say, will further cement the two nations' strategic partnership.

Ivan Watson joins me now live from Hong Kong. So, Ivan, what all has come out of Prime Minister Modi's trip to Moscow and, of course, his meetings with Vladimir Putin and what damage has perhaps been done?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, first and foremost, there has been a display of friendship, warm hugs between these two leaders who haven't seen each other face-to-face in nearly two years and talk of mutual trust with Modi, who you can see there arriving at the residence of the Russian president outside of the capital, Moscow. They shared a ride in an electric powered buggy together. They went and looked at some horses in the stables there together.

And this is a continuation or a deepening, it appears, of a partnership between Moscow and Delhi that goes back to the days of the Soviet Union and the Cold War. India has always been a consumer, a purchaser of Russian-made defense systems. It continues to do so to this very day.

But trade has also blossomed over the past two years, really with India scooping up large amounts of cheap Russian energy supplies that used to go to places like Western Europe, most of which now sanctions Russia for its invasion of Ukraine back in 2022. Now, in remarks earlier today, Narendra Modi repeated, kind of, what he described as a relationship built on the foundation of mutual trust and mutual respect between Moscow and New Delhi.

He talked about plans to open two new Indian consulates in the Russian cities of Yekaterinburg and Kazan. He also thanked Putin for helping get large numbers of Indian university students out of Ukraine that were stranded there by Russia's full-scale invasion back in 2022. Now, the criticism is already being lobbed at Modi from none less than the president of Ukraine himself, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

[03:50:07]

He pointed out that these two leaders were embracing each other on the same day that he's accusing Russia of firing a cruise missile at a children's hospital in Kyiv that Zelenskyy says killed at least 37 people, including and injured more than 170, including 13 children. He went on to write, quote, "it is a huge disappointment and a devastating blow to peace efforts to see the leader of the world's largest democracy hug the world's most bloody criminal in Moscow on such a day." We have not yet heard a response from the Indian government to that criticism.

The U.S. State Department spokesperson was asked about this meeting, Washington watching this very closely, of course. Listen to what the spokesperson had to say.

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MATTHEW MILLER, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: India is a strategic partner with whom we engage in a full and frank dialogue, and that includes on our concerns about the relationship with Russia.

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WATSON: India, of course, has also deepened its defense and trade relationship with the U.S. over the last decade or so. Meanwhile, for Vladimir Putin, this visit, it gives him a chance to show that the efforts to isolate him by the U.S. and its Western allies are not succeeding. Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right. Our thanks to Ivan Watson bringing us that live report from Hong Kong.

It was expected to be a tough test, but seven time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic moves closer to another big win as he snatches a place in the quarterfinals. We'll have details just ahead.

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[03:55:00]

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CHURCH: Competition is heating up at Wimbledon as the finals draw closer. Monday saw the round of 16 for the singles tournaments. Number two seed Novak Djokovic advanced in the fourth round by beating number 15 Holger Ruhn 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 to reach his 60th Grand Slam quarterfinal. And Taylor Fritz ousted number four Alexander Zverev to join Tommy Paul in the quarterfinals, giving the U.S. its first multiple men's quarter finalists in more than two decades.

Well, in less than 24 hours, we will know one of the teams that will be in the Euro 2024 final. Spain meet France in the semifinal on Tuesday in Munich. Spain are the only team to win all five of their games, and they're tied for most goals scored in the tournament. But France have kept four clean sheets so far with star forward Kylian Mbappe. France are hoping for a fourth major tournament final in the past eight years. The winner of this match will face either England or the Netherlands in the final.

And I want to thank you so much for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. Have yourselves a wonderful day. "CNN Newsroom" continues next with my colleague and friend, Max Foster.

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