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Biden Drops Out Of Race, Endorses Kamala Harris To Be Nominee; Interview with Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA); Obamas Support Biden's Decision To Drop Out Of Race; Interview With Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), Aired 3-4p ET

Aired July 21, 2024 - 15:00   ET

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

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They want to talk to their members who are coming back to town tomorrow. But Joe Biden's decision too, coming on the heels of Congress returning into session tomorrow, where we were expecting even more Democrats to come out, call for him to step aside, three dozen had done so publicly, more would do so at the end of the day, but this is a shellshocked Democratic Party scrambling to figure out what's next.

A lot of people are happy about this decision, but what does Kamala Harris mean at the top of the ticket? Will she get the nomination? And what does it mean for the rest of their party? All huge questions that they are still grappling with at this key time -- Kaitlan.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF CORRESPONDENT: Yes, major questions, Manu and I should note we are now hearing that President Biden and Senator Schumer spoke before President Biden shared the letter announcing online that he was exiting the 2024 race.

Manu, thank you for that.

[15:00:47]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Hello, and thanks very much for joining us. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.

We want to welcome our viewers here in the United States and around the world. Kaitlan Collins is joining us from New York.

And I want to begin with the major breaking news. We are following right now: President Biden just announced that he is dropping out of the 2024 presidential race and publicly endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic presidential nominee.

He made this truly historic announcement in a statement he tweeted out just before 2:00 PM Eastern earlier today, a stunning decision that he kept very close to his vest, his senior White House advisers and campaign staff only moments before making this public letter to the American people public.

And we are also just learning -- go ahead, Kaitlan. KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, we are learning about how quickly this decision was made and also how recently. Our Jeff Zeleny has told this decision was one that President Biden came to within the last 48 hours as he consulted his family, his top advisers on the phone while he is still self-isolating from COVID.

His statement that he published just a short time ago reads in part: "While it may have been my intention to seek re-election, I believe it is in the best the interest of my party and country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term."

We have a team of correspondents covering this entire breaking story, Wolf. I want to start with CNN's Priscilla Alvarez, who is in Delaware with the president where he has been and Priscilla, obviously, this is major news. Manu just describing a shellshocked Democratic Party following this news from President Biden. What else are we learning about just how he came to this decision that he resisted for three weeks from members of his own party, but now has acquiesced to those calls to get out of the race?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: And a shock, too, Kaitlan, to White House and campaign officials, though he notified his senior teams right before putting out this letter. This is certainly coming as shocking news to those here that have joined him, as well as across the campaign.

Now, the president, as you mentioned was here and is here in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware at his residence where he has been self-isolating from that positive COVID diagnosis from last week. Now, it was over this course of time that the president was around his senior advisers, his inner circle, which we have learned, had grown even tighter by the day, and he was deliberating.

Of course, the president had been hearing from Democratic lawmakers, allies, donors over the course of the last more than 20 days since the presidential debate, calling on him to withdraw from the race.

We saw that over the course of those last week and including yesterday, but even so, even as lawmakers were making their call for him to drop out, the campaign was signaling that it was a full steam ahead that they plan to get him back on the campaign trail and that he was not going anywhere and that there was no Plan B scenario.

That, as of this morning, as the senior campaign brass was saying that the president was in it to win it, and then this afternoon hearing directly from the president in this letter where he says that he is not going to seek re-election and he also notes in this letter that he will be addressing the nation himself later this week. Of course, the president still self-isolating here at his residence in Delaware.

Now, right after putting out that letter, the president also answering one of the major questions going forward, and that was whether he would have put his full weight behind Vice President Kamala Harris, and that is exactly what he did saying that he endorses the vice president to be the nominee and calling on the Democratic Party to come together.

Now, it has been almost about an hour since that news broke. Kaitlan, I have been hearing from sources who are closely advising donors, they say it is an avalanche of money coming in, the same donors that were withholding those big checks because of the questions over the president's candidacy are now pouring in money now that this announcement has been made.

[15:05:08]

Democratic lawmakers also saying that they acknowledge the president's accomplishments and his record, but they are also standing behind him in this decision. So this opens up a whole phase, only weeks from the Democratic National Convention, where there are still so many questions about this moment, this uncertain moment, and where we go from here.

But the president, in addition to saying that he will not seek reelection, is saying that the vice president or that he endorses the vice president. We should note on the vice president, her schedule today was to be in Washington, DC. I have reached out to her staff to see where she is now, as well as whether she has spoken to the President. She was in Massachusetts just yesterday, speaking to donors at a fundraiser.

Also, she has been completely behind the president in this moment. Aides, I have spoken to over the last several weeks consistently told me there was no daylight between the two. Now, of course, we will see what happens from here, but our colleague, John King is reporting that the vice president does intend to lay low publicly until the president speaks to the nation.

She has a couple of campaign stops on her calendar this week, we will see if she will move forward from that. But Kaitlan, just to go back here, the president really making a stunning announcement today in saying he is not seeking re-election, saying that he is endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris, and all of this coming together in the last couple of days while he was self-isolating, at his residence here in Delaware. Sources often told us that it was going to be the president that made this decision. That's exactly what he did -- Kaitlan.

COLLINS: Yes, clearly, a period of self-reflection. Priscilla Alvarez, thank you for that.

And Wolf Blitzer, I mean, you're just joining us now on this breaking news. Wolf, you obviously covered the White House for a very long time. You've covered multiple presidents. I just wonder what you make of this pretty stunning news, even despite the fact, there was kind of a drumbeat building within his own party for three weeks, but still the stunning news to see a sitting president step down from running for re-election.

BLITZER: And the way that the president made this announcement in a public statement that he posted on social media, as opposed to directly addressing the American public, if Priscilla Alvarez is still there, I have a couple of questions for her. Priscilla, has the White House or the White House physician or anyone at the White House updated us on the president's condition. We know he is self-isolating from COVID in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware right now, at his home there. How is he doing?

ALVAREZ: Yes, Wolf, we actually received a letter from the White House doctor earlier today and he said that the president's condition, his symptoms were improving, "significantly." We have been hearing from the doctor routinely since the president was diagnosed with COVID. And yesterday, the doctor said that his symptoms were improving and that he was progressing today using the term "significantly" to describe how the president was feeling in terms of his symptoms, apparently being more mild and the president himself feeling better.

So the White House doctor, again has been updating us, did so before we received this letter today to say the president is feeling better. Of course, the president has also been taking Paxlovid and took another dose of that today, but he has still been self-isolating over all this time.

And since he arrived here in Delaware on Wednesday, we have not seen him since then. So we are still waiting for guidance on what his schedule looks like this week. Of course the Israeli Prime Minister's Office saying that the two are expected to meet on Tuesday. We have not received White House conformation of that meeting, but it was going to be a busy week ahead for the president and he appeared to be on track to be better, to meet those commitments.

But we are still waiting to get that updated guidance from the White House as to when the president will be coming out of that self- isolation -- Wolf.

BLITZER: We hope he has a speedy recovery from COVID.

Another important development normally under these circumstances, you would think the president immediately would go on television and announce to the American people what is going on. And now, the White House is saying in this public letter that the president has posted on social media that he will do it later in the week.

Is that the result of COVID that he is still suffering? That may be his voice is not that strong yet. Has the White House explained why he is going to go on television later in the week as opposed to tonight?

ALVAREZ: We are asking those questions, Wolf. We will to get more clarity as to when exactly he is referring to in this letter when he says later in the week.

There is nothing in this White House note from his doctor that suggests that his symptoms aren't improving enough to address the nation. But again, he is here in his residence in Delaware, so it is unclear too where he would like to make those remarks when he addresses the public about not seeking re-election.

So we are reporting, we are working our sources to try to get more information. [15:10:10]

Wolf, we also can't sort of overstate here how stunning news this was this weekend to get this letter here around two in the afternoon. So there are still a lot of pieces being put together here, but we do know that the president wants to address the nation from the letter that he put out.

And so we are trying again to get more clarity as to when that will be in why not tonight. But we do know that he is recovering. He is recovering well. I think the outstanding question here is where he wants to make those remarks from because right now he is self- isolating at his residence here in Delaware.

BLITZER: And we of course hope he has a speedy, speedy recovery from this latest bout of COVID.

Priscilla Alvarez on the scene for us in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, where the president is recuperating with his latest bout of COVID. Hope he has a speedy recovery.

I want to bring in Jeff Zeleny right now.

Jeff, am I the only one surprised that he is not addressing the American public tonight as opposed to later in the week? And do you suspect it is related to his bout with COVID?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: I think that could be it. I mean, he is at his home in Rehoboth, Delaware. Certainly, as you know, Wolf, presidents can always have access to a live television camera. He could simply go downtown Rehoboth with a mask on, he could do that.

But I think that he is -- he wanted to deliver this news himself and I am not sure what the harm is in waiting for him to return to the White House to address the nation. This is, I guess one more example of how information is disseminated these days, but they did want to keep this closely held.

Staff only learned about this, we are told just moments before it was sent out. He wanted to control what has to be certainly the most difficult political decision he has ever made.

But we are getting new information in from the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Jamie Harrison, who is saying that: "The work we must do now is unprecedented, but the party will undertake a transparent and orderly process to move forward."

So what that means is that they are going to follow the rules, not get right behind Vice President Harris as the president has done. But I am also learning behind-the-scenes really for the last week, no one was in -- Harris' world, her supporters were trying to push the president out, but in the case he did make a decision, there has been a lot of whipping going on.

And by that, I mean making phone calls to delegates and try and line up the support for her. So that is happening even with more speed now this afternoon.

But look, everyone is not going to come out and support her, but another Democratic official said, who is going to stand up and block her? So it looks like this would be moving that direction, but we shall see. No one would have predicted this just a month or so ago.

BLITZER: Yes, it is a dramatic development, history unfolding, Manu. And as someone who spent seven years as a White House correspondent, I know that if the White House and the president wanted to address the American public from Rehoboth Beach tonight, whether at his home or someplace else, he could have easily organized that. The White House media pool, which is always on the scene, ready to go, they could have set that up very, very quickly.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, perhaps, it has something to do with his recovering from COVID. He wants to do it in a more presidential setting, maybe from the Oval Office, not necessarily from Rehoboth Beach; perhaps, this is all part of the calculation about how he wants to deliver a message that will go down in American history.

I mean, Lyndon B. Johnson of course, decided not to run for re- election. That statement that he made is still, of course, being played today. That was such a historic message. This one will be remembered in the psyche of the American public.

The big question is, where does this campaign go from here? How do the two parties real on their strategies going forward? Republicans, too, they are scrambling to try to figure out how to go about dealing with the fact that Kamala Harris may be at the top of the ticket. I talked to a number of Republicans in the run-up to this, expecting that perhaps this could happen. They were uncertain.

What exactly do they say? Do they go after her political views? They tried tag her to Joe Biden, they say she covered up for Joe Biden's mental challenges and mental acuity, his cognitive ability. Will that be part of it?

And also, Wolf, lawsuits. Republicans are signaling that they may try to fight this and try to prevent her state-by-state from getting under certain ballots. Perhaps they can have some favorable rulings that could make it harder for Democrats going forward, all part of what is uncharted territory as a party tries to assess what is next.

BLITZER: All right, hold on for a second --

ZELENY: I am sorry to interrupt, we just want to say, we have a statement from former President Bill Clinton in and he is supporting Vice President Kamala Harris. This is a significant development here. We have not yet heard from some of the other presidents, but he is saying this in a statement: "Now is the time to support Kamala Harris and fight with everything we've got to elect her. America's future depends on it."

So you can imagine the weight something like that would have on these delegates? BLITZER: Yes. Very significant development indeed.

MJ Lee, our senior White House correspondent, is over at the White House right now.

What are you learning, MJ?

MJ LEE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, we are obviously hearing from a lot of national Democrats since the president announced that he is dropping out, calling him a patriot, saying that he ultimately made the right decision and the decision that was right for the country, you know, put right and wrong aside for a second, Wolf, I think what became clear to the president and probably a few of the people around him really involved in making this decision was that ultimately he didn't really have a choice.

We saw everything around him really crumbling at such a stunning pace over the line last few weeks, whether it is the money drying up and donors saying that they were not willing to give to the president anymore, whether it was the growing chorus of Democratic-elected officials saying that the president needs to go, whether it is the slipping in the polls that we have seen consistently over the last week or so, where not just in the national polls, but in the very battleground states that will be so important in determining whether President Biden could defeat Donald Trump.

And the problem here was that, in all of those major factors, there was every indication that in all of those things, they were all headed continuing to head in the wrong direction. This didn't seem like a situation where you give it a couple more days and the situation improve and that really was what the president was contending with.

One source that I was talking to just in terms of how closely held this decision was. I am told that he let the staff know at around 1:45, and this is his most senior most members of the team.

And you know, the tweet that he sent out -- that his account sent out with the letter announcing that he was going to be dropping out, went out around 1:46. So clearly, the decision was made and this wasn't the president discussing whether to do this or not with the senior most staff, this was him informing his staff that the decision was made.

I also just want to note, you know, in the letter that he sent, he said he is going to focus the rest of his term on making sure that he is finishing out the rest of the first term as well as he can and really focusing on really just doing the duties of the presidency.

What he didn't say there, of course, is the rule that he potentially now has to play in supporting his Vice President Kamala Harris, who he endorsed. You know, he now is potentially the biggest surrogate that Kamala Harris could have out on the campaign trail and this kind of support obviously could come in a lot of different ways as you were discussing before, the president did say that he is going to be addressing the nation about this decision later in the week. We don't know exactly when, but we expect that he is going to address that decision to endorse Kamala Harris as vice president, as the next person that he is going to pass the torch to.

The one other final thing I will just note, you know, this might be for a lot of Democrats sort of the president finally making the right decision. There is also a lot of anger, a lot of bad blood, a lot of hard feelings about the way all of this was handled by various Democrats in the party.

I was on the phone with campaign co-chair, Cedric Richmond, and he unleashed some really harsh words on the donors that in recent days had refused to give to President Biden and he said, but what the donors had done was create a self-fulfilling prophecy, because essentially when the money dries up, there is no way that you can win.

And he was saying, look the donors basically ensured that this was a no-win situation for the president. He said the donors now better pony up and we are actually seeing the first signs of donors actually turning around and saying, yes, now that he has decided to step down, we are going to continue supporting this ticket -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Dramatic developments indeed, the historic developments we are watching very, very closely right now.

MJ Lee at the White House, we will get back to you. we will get back to our panel shortly. I want to go to Kaitlan Collins, who is also covering all of this for us.

Kaitlan, these are dramatic developments and has come as a surprise to a lot of us after the president of the United States for days and days kept saying he is in it to win it. He is not going anywhere. He is staying in the race, then all of a sudden he posts this letter to the American public saying he is no longer going to run.

COLLINS: Yes, and of course, Wolf, he is recovering from COVID-19 and still experiencing symptoms though his doctor said in an update just this morning, I read the letter this morning at about 9:00 AM that he is recovering and those symptoms had improved "significantly." So that could also play a factor in how we are learning this dramatic breaking news from the president himself in a letter that was posted online announcing he is not going to seek the election and the Democratic nomination for this November to challenge Donald Trump for the presidency.

Jamal Simmons is here with us. He is CNN political commentator, but also more importantly in this moment, the former communications director for Vice President Harris.

And Jamal, I want to talk to you about the Harris dynamic of this, because Senator Mark Warner of Virginia has just lined up behind her. We are watching closely to see what Democrats are saying about this. But first, you worked inside the Biden White House. What is your reaction to this news from the president?

[15:20:08]

JAMAL SIMMONS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It is an incredible amount of -- I kind of thought this was coming, but gosh, it is still so sad, right?

I mean, Joe Biden is this American hero and such a patriot. He is somebody who saved us from Donald Trump four years ago, if you're a Democrat, and so to see him have such a successful political career, a successful presidency, but Father Time is unforgiving and over time, it became clear that this probably wasn't going to be able to work.

So for those of us who were inside, and I think Democrats I have heard from in the last hour or so, there is an incredible amount of excitement about the future, yet sadness about Joe Biden and losing him as a political leader.

COLLINS: Yes, and of course, all the calls for him to drop out had been talking about what it would mean for his legacy. That is what Colorado Senator Bennet said to me when he was saying essentially that he did not believe Biden could defeat Donald Trump if he remained on the ticket.

But with Biden's statement, about 20 minutes after he posted this letter saying that he is going to endorse Vice President Harris as the Democratic nominee. We are watching these statements, we are seeing people like Senator Mark Warner, progressive; House member Jamaal Bowman getting behind her as the Democratic nominee. Is that what you expect to see from the Democratic Party or is this going to kind of become this complicated contest where you are seeing other Democrats throw their hat in the ring for this nomination?

SIMMONS: No. For about 10 days or so, I have been hearing about this movement, particularly of moderate senators, people who are on the line in the upcoming states, a lot of donors who frankly weren't big Kamala Harris fans, a year ago, who have been calling around saying listen, if this works out and she is the nominee, we will move over.

I would expect -- I call them super friends, right? You'll start to see more of the super friends come together. And by that, I mean, we've already seen a statement from President Bill Clinton, from what I just heard on the air. I think you may hear from President Barack Obama. You may hear from some of the other big luminary names in the Democratic Party who will come out and say Kamala Harris is the person.

Here is the reason why, Kaitlan, it is because we just don't have a lot of time. We keep saying, it is four months, but it is not really four months. We are about two months away from the convention. Once we get to the convention and we are less than three months until election day, and so when you think about that, literally you've got to -- you've got so much to do.

I don't know that anybody is working on a logo, right? You need a Kamala Harris logo for the yard signs. Someone has got to print those signs. They've got to ship them out to all the states. You've got to make sure that they're going to be -- what staffing changes are going to occur inside the campaign? We don't know what that might look like.

She is going to also need to, again, obviously have a new travel schedule and everything is going to change. And so you've got to figure out how do you make that work in a very short amount of time, and I am hearing people talking about that, but it is more than a notion.

COLLINS: Yes, and we are -- we've gotten a statement from the Clintons as well, both Clintons, Bill and Hillary getting behind Harris for this nomination. Talk about those big names that are coming out. Everyone's going to be watching this closely.

Jamal, I want you to stand by because I want more on your thoughts on this, but we are getting new reporting about conversations between President Biden and Vice President Harris.

I want to go back to CNN's Priscilla Alvarez, who is covering all of this from Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Priscilla, what are you learning?

ALVAREZ: Kaitlan, I am told by a source that President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke today. It is unclear exactly at what time they spoke. Remember, the president put out his letter publicly that he would not seek re-election earlier this afternoon, but the president made clear after that letter that he was putting all of his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris to be the Democratic nominee and also calling on the party to come together.

Now, the vice president was on the trail yesterday. She was at a fundraiser in Massachusetts where again, she was defending the administration's record and also trying to underscore the stakes of the election. It was a fundraiser that brought in more than $2 million.

Today, however, she was back in Washington, DC at her residence and with her staff. So this latest reporting is that the president and the vice president have spoken, that according to a source who I spoke with. We are still trying to get more information as to what that conversation looked like and when exactly it happened, but significant all the same.

COLLINS: Yes, of course, and also fascinating to learn about these conversations that he was having. Obviously, you expect him to speak with the vice president about this.

Priscilla, keep us updated on what you're learning about this.

We also have Van Jones joining us. He is CNN's senior political commentator and a former Obama administration official.

Van, obviously, you and I were talking a lot about this dynamic and how this was ultimately going to play out when we were covering the Republican Convention in Milwaukee last week.

And with this news, this entire campaign has just upended itself.

VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, there is a lot of political stuff -- the Democratic Party is a family at the end of the day. This is a family matter.

You know, Joe Biden's body may not be as strong as it used to be, his language skills may not be as sharp as they used to be. His heart is as big as ever. His heart is as big and is true and is strong, and this is the difference between a politician and a leader.

He made a selfless decision and people are heartbroken. Even people who are pushing for this to happen. It is kind of like when your grandpa, you've got to take the keys and everybody, you've got to take his keys. Got to take his keys, you've got to -- and he is fighting and he is fighting. Everybody is so frustrated, and then you finally get the keys back.

And then you just cry because this is somebody that you love. This is somebody that you care about. This is somebody who was there for you. This is somebody you wouldn't be here without him, and to take something from him.

Now, this is not -- look, politics is politics, but this is a human moment for one of the great humans in America. This is a huge moment for him, for his family, for all of us who love him, for all of us who want him to get across the finish line. But if you're a young person watching this, this is leadership, this is patriotism. This is what it means to put the country first and put the party first and put the cause first.

When your arm gets tired, you let somebody else finish pitch the game. That's what Joe Biden has done, and he has done that for all of us.

And so I just want to say I don't know who is going to be the VP. The non-VP. I don't know anything about politics. I just know that I love this man. I care about this man. It was painful every day to sit up here and talk about him like he is just some problem for the party.

Wait until we get to the convention. You're going to see people crying, standing screaming, cheering. He may not get a chance to talk for 10 minutes. We finally got a chance to put our arms around this guy.

He did the right thing for this country. He did the right thing for this party. All of us are going to be in this situation someday and I hope that we take a moment to honor this man and to love this man.

I love Joe Biden. I appreciate what he has done and a lot of people are heartbroken today, even if it is the right thing, it is still just horrible.

COLLINS: Well, and Van, I mean, on that point, which is a great point that I think resonates with a lot of people of the personal nature of a decision like this. We often talk about things in a harsh political lens of who is going to fair better, what this looks like?

I mean, I also have to imagine what it has been like the last three weeks, a little over three weeks since that debate, to see what the reporting has been behind the scenes of Democrats who wanted him to get out.

On Friday night, the reporting was that he was seething over seeing big allies of Pelosi come out and calling on him to get out, even upset to a degree with his former running mate, President Obama and just to see what he personally has witnessed and these calls from his longtime allies, people who certainly praise his legacy, but said, it is time for this decision to be made.

JONES: But how do we all come through this with our own family members? Like yes, he is hurt, he is pissed. A lot of us wouldn't have careers. I wouldn't have a career without Joe Biden.

Joe Biden picked me out of the puppy pile. He is the person that everybody says you worked for Barack Obama, no, I worked for Joe Biden when I was in the administration. I was on his middle-class task force, all of us have known that embrace, all of us have gotten those phone calls in those cars when bad things have happened to us.

So, that's a family. That's what it is.

You know, he is hurt now. He feels let down. He feels that his friends turned on him. In the fullness of time, he will recognize that it was done out of love and as loving away as possible. But at the end of the day, some people and I don't want to mention any names to ruin this day, but some people will back their leader no matter what.

Some people, they don't care how many people -- this man is hurting, how many walls he has broken, no matter how many bad things he has done, that's our leader and we are going to back up no matter what. But this party is not like that.

This is not a cult. This is a political organization and we believe in these principles. And if somebody is sick, if somebody can't do it, there is no shame in that. There is nothing wrong with that.

If somebody can't do it, that's okay. And what you see with Joe Biden, yes, with everything that was falling apart around him, but he could have stuck it out. There were people in this party who want him to stick it out. There are people in this party right now who are mad that he didn't stick it out.

Don't act like it was all on one side. It wasn't about the donors. It was about could this man holds together all of us anymore? And when he realized he couldn't, he did the right thing and he passed the baton. That is leadership.

Pelosi did the same thing with Hakeem Jeffries. That's leadership. That's responsibility. That's what America is supposed to be about.

I love Joe Biden. You have people on both sides of the fight in the party who are crying right now, who can't believe it right now. This is not a normal time y'all. This isn't just politics. These are -- this is a moment in time to honor someone, who for 50 years, put this country first and sacrificed and sacrificed and sacrificed and sacrificed and sacrificed. And today, he sacrificed again, that's Joe Biden.

I love Joe Biden. This country should get around Joe Biden and help our president through these last few months.

[15:30:00]

COLLINS: Jamal Simmons, you worked in that administration as well. I wonder what you make of what -- of how Van just laid out what a personal decision this was for President Biden to make after facing these calls for three weeks now, sustained calls from his own party and obviously, you know, you worked with him, you've worked with Vice President Harris. I wonder what you make of that.

SIMMONS: Yes. Listen, as I started out, it is such a -- it is a very sad day. I have heard both Van's sentiments. I feel them, right? I mean, there is nothing -- I found after the assassination attempt last Saturday, when Joe Biden went on television to tell us what was happening, I know people had different feelings. I felt a little easier about it, right, knowing that Joe Biden was in charge because here is somebody who was going to be willing to put the American public first and not just his own political needs, not just do what he thought was best for him.

And listen, we can try to make this not about politics and Van, I'm with you. This is a day for Joe Biden, but the other side of this coin is a guy who is the antithesis of Joe Biden, right, who is completely about -- Donald Trump is completely about putting himself first.

So I think as we think about-- as we think about President Biden, all of us who know him and those of us who worked for him, like Van, really feel an incredible sense of loss.

At the same time, this is going to help the democratic party to finish Joe Biden's job, which is the point of what it was he was running for, which is to keep Donald Trump out of the office and to make America a better place that includes more people and has more opportunity for people.

And I think that Kamala Harris is going to do a great job doing that. I think -- let me just say this about her, I worked with her every single day. I met with her every single day. I talked to her on the phone just about every single day when I was there.

This is a woman who has great public values. She knows what she is in the game fighting for. She is fighting for people who are being left behind, people who are being left out. She has been a prosecutor her whole life.

I think that she is uniquely built for the moment. We've got a candidate who has got 34 felony convictions, to go out and prosecute him every day. She is somebody who I think has an incredible ability to go out and inspire people and to get them excited about her.

I remember seeing little girls -- you know, one of the reasons I went to work for the vice president was because I have a daughter and I remember thinking that I wanted my daughter to have the same kind of model for her life that my son has when he thinks about Barack Obama and I remember seeing little girls grab her by the hand and looked at her like she is Superwoman. She is like, she is Wonder Woman.

I remember seeing older women who many of them maybe didn't agree with her politically, they grabbed her by the hand and they have tears in their eyes and they would say, I never thought I'd see the day that a woman would serve in the White House.

Those are the kinds of cases that I think as we go forward in what will become the next political campaign, I think we will see the kind of energy, an emotion that we are talking about today, we will see those out of a lot of Americans.

COLLINS: And Van, I know you said you wanted to take a moment to reflect on what this means for President Biden and rightfully so, but there are a lot of people watching, wondering what happens next here and everyone is carefully watching every single Democrats statement on Biden's exit from this race.

And you're seeing people like Tim Kaine, Mark Warner both of the Clintons, Patty Murray, Tina Smith come out and say, not only acknowledge what President Biden just did here, but also get behind Vice President Harris. Do you think -- what does that look like for other Democrats and those who may have considered throwing their hat in this race?

JONES: Look, there has been a very strong movement behind-the-scenes to try to line up support for Vice President Harris in case this happened, to make sure that if there was a transition, it would be an orderly one, or at least there would be center of gravity that was clear for people and I think that that operation which was led by people who love Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, I think have been very effective.

And so I think that if you're a swing-state governor, if you're a political rockstar of some kind or somebody -- you're going to look at that wall of support is consolidating around Kamala Harris, you're probably going to think, do I want to fight all of that? And so -- but however, I think we've got to recognize, there is still a process here.

This is a party that follows the rules. The delegates still have to make the decision. It is a long process by which people are going to have to come to a considered opinion. And I think it is very clear that Vice President Harris has a tremendous amount support in this party. It is very clear that the operation to make sure that that support was visible and in place was effective and I think --

But at the same time, people think because Joe Biden said that's who it should be, that's automatically done. Nope. We are not a cult. This is not dictatorship. All the delegates still get a chance to weigh in and we still have to go through our process.

But right now, she is the overwhelmingly presumptive favorite to inherit this mantle, and that's what Joe Biden wants.

COLLINS: Van jones to hear from you in this moment --

SIMMONS: Kaitlan, if I could add one more thing on this.

COLLINS: Yes, go ahead, Jamal. Go ahead. [15:35:02]

I think we lost, Jamal's shot. We will get him back for that final thought to see what he has to say, because obviously, this is not just something we are hearing, massive reaction from those who have left the White House, those still inside the White House as well who found out one minute before President Biden posted this letter online.

Jamal Simmons, Van Jones, thank you, both.

Wolf, obviously, a pivotal for this Democratic Party, but also for Republicans as well, who are going to be watching this incredibly closely with a lot of trepidation about who it is that is going to be replacing Joe Biden on that ticket for November.

BLITZER: And the president of the United States making it clear that he wants his Vice President Kamala Harris to do exactly that.

I want to get reaction to the history that is unfolding right now, Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell of California is joining us right now.

Congressman, thanks so much for joining us.

REP. ERIC SWALWELL (D-CA): My pleasure.

BLITZER: What's your reaction to this major decision from the president of the United States?

SWALWELL: Today's decision by Joe Biden to not seek re-election shows the difference between a selfless president and in Donald Trump, a selfish person and I've got a lot of gratitude, Wolf toward the president.

For his entire career, he has stepped up and oftentimes it was reluctantly when he could have devoted his priorities in other directions.

His career has been essentially bookended by tragedy, elected to the Senate and then he lost his wife and his daughter and he found a way to heal his family and help his constituents. And then as he leaves the vice presidency and wants to coast into essentially retirement, he loses his son, Beau, and the country is subjected to Donald Trump and he stepped up once again.

And so my children, you know, they and many others will feed their families from the jobs he created. They will drive on the roads he built. They will power their computers and their phones by the chips that he manufactured and they will live in a land that are more airable and breathable because of the greenhouse emissions that he cut.

So I am eternally grateful to Joe Biden.

BLITZER: Do you support Vice President Kamala Harris as the next Democratic presidential nominee, Congressman? SWALWELL: I fully support Kamala Harris. And in fact, she has been trained by the best, Joe Biden was a vice president himself and so she probably had the best mentor to work under.

And she is tough. She is smart, she is real, and she is everything that we need as we go up against somebody who would take away every freedom.

You know, Trump's Project 2025 would end abortion, force people into marriages. It would ban books and just be an all-out assault on our freedoms, and this vice president, as I said, she is tough, she is real, she is smart, and she has got what it takes.

BLITZER: We just got a joint statement from Bill and Hillary Clinton, Congressman, let me read a couple of sentences from this statement and get your reaction: "We are honored to join the president in endorsing Vice President Harris and will do whatever we can to support her," and then they say, "Now is the time to support Kamala Harris and fight with everything we've got to elect her. America's future depends on it."

Do you anticipate any major challenges to Vice President Harris getting the nomination from other members of your party?

SWALWELL: I've seen a ton of other colleagues of mine and leaders weigh in to support Kamala Harris and I will let that process play out.

But Wolf, I will just lay it out like this. We can finish the work that Joe Biden has done to restore democracy and build our economy or we can turn the greatest country in the world over to a felon, judged rapist, six-time bankrupt businessman, who sent his friends to violently storm the last office from what he was fired.

To me, the choice isn't hard and it is pretty clear that Kamala Harris would be the best one to inherit that work.

BLITZER: Have you started thinking, Congressman, about who potentially she should choose as her running mate?

SWALWELL: We are blessed as we have seen over the past couple of years with a number of options and a very deep bench. And so all of us, in every way are going to work to support her.

But with Kamala, you know, at the top of the ticket and many of the options she has, look, we can win the House, win the Senate, and win the White House, all of that is in play right now.

I am just seeing reinvigoration from my constituents, my supporters, and people all over the country. Let's win is the mindset right now.

BLITZER: The Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson is warning that the GOP could file legal challenges over Democrats replacing Biden. Do you think there is any merit to that at all?

SWALWELL: If I was faced with Donald Trump as my nominee and potentially Kamala Harris as the other side's, I would probably want to talk about process rather than substance as well.

[15:40:08]

I am not worried about that at all, Wolf. We've got a convention coming up. We have plenty of time and again, Americans now have a clear choice as to where we can take this country.

BLITZER: And the Democratic Convention coming up in about weeks or so in Chicago. We will all be there for that as well.

There is also, as you know, Congressman, less than four months until the November election. Do you think that's enough time for Vice President Harris to run a winning campaign and to unite the Democrats?

SWALWELL: Yes, and Democrats have been eager to have a moment like this and to build off of Joe Biden's successes and right now, what you're going to see, of course, we are going to honor Joe Biden. And in fact, he is in the Hall of Fame of Democratic presidents and the best thing that he has done is to prepare Kamala Harris, something that he knows a thing or two about from being prepared by President Obama.

So we are ready. On the resources side, we have offices in all of the swing states and Wolf, I am being flooded with messages of people who have told me that they're making contributions and volunteer pledges beyond their reach and means right now because they know what is at stake.

And again, Americans know the choice and we are going to reject a felon, judged a rapist who stormed the Capitol the last time he lost an election in favor for the opportunity that we have ahead.

I am confident in who we are as Americans and the resilience we are going to show in the next four months.

BLITZER: Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell, thanks very much for joining us.

SWALWELL: My pleasure.

BLITZER: Eva McKend, our CNN national politics correspondent is here with us in the CNN NEWSROOM. We are watching all of this dramatically.

You've spent the last several weeks covering the vice president and you've seen her in action. You've gone to a lot of her events. I assume she was given advanced notice by the president that this is about to unfold.

EVAN MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, what I can tell you, Wolf is that I have really been listening to key Democratic allies in this moment. I think that what they have to say is really instructive.

I am talking about Black-led voter turnout operations like Black Voters Matter, like Higher Heights. These are the groups that do the key laborious work of door-knocking and actually turning out voters, organizing.

And I don't think they necessarily felt empowered in the last couple of weeks because some of these organizers, they didn't think necessarily it was the best strategy for President Biden to step aside.

But in the event that he did, and now that he has, they have always said that the Democratic Party must get behind Vice President Harris.

LaTosha Brown, telling me this afternoon, the bottom line is now that we are ready to go, we are grateful for Biden's surface and that is why we fought with him, for him until the end.

We expect the full Democratic apparatus to now support Vice President Harris and if they don't, they will lose.

And so these are the voices that really should be listened to at this moment because they are so key to the Democratic coalition. Lots of those Black female organizers will be he on a phone call tonight.

BLITZER: She has been very active in the last few weeks out there, very visible on the campaign trail and she has been raising significant sums of money for the Democratic ticket as well, and you've been there along the way watching it all unfold.

She clearly, I assume, was bracing for this possibility.

Well, she certainly wasn't telegraphing that though, Wolf. Everyone on her team was really disciplined. She was really on message. She was focusing on reproductive rights. She had events with former Republican women in Michigan trying to show in that pivotal battleground state that the administration could be one that had mass appeal.

There was never any indication that she was really angling for this. Those in her orbit really describe it as a delicate dance because she never wanted to appear or none of her allies wanted to appear as if they were pushing President Biden out of the way. It was a lot of focus over the last couple of weeks.

BLITZER: And Manu is with us as still as well.

Manu, now that the president has formally endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to be the Democratic presidential nominee, a lot of other Democrats are falling in line.

RAJU: Yes, no question about it. We do expect a lot more. We've seen a lot of rank and file Democrats do so. We have not really seen the Democratic leadership yet offer its endorsement, trying to really assess what the playing ground is going to be, not to try to tip the scales one way or the other, trying to decide whether frankly, they believe she would be the best to be the person to take them to keep the White House in November.

Barack Obama just also just put out a statement, Wolf, just moments ago praising Joe Biden's service.

[15:45:01]

He stopped short of offering an endorsement himself, really leaving this as opportunity to praise Joe Biden, not getting into what is next, but that is going to be a big question where do the Democratic heavyweights come down to?

They tried to rush to embrace Kamala Harris. I've been talking to Democratic strategists over the past hour or so since this news broke, they are trying to assess how she plays in some of those key races. Remember, what was Joe Biden's vulnerability? Young voters, oftentimes Black voters, oftentimes, Brown voters. Can Kamala Harris shore up those key vulnerabilities, help piece together that Democratic coalition that really has been really what Joe Biden has been struggling with to rebuild that coalition.

But is she viewed as out of step in some of those more moderate districts? That's how the Republicans will try to paint her if in fact she is the nominee. That is what the debate is going to be going forward. Is she the best candidate to rebuild the Democratic coalition? And if she can avoid being that polarizing presence that Republicans will undoubtedly try to make her out to be.

BLITZER: We are getting more reaction. Jeff Zeleny is with us as well. A lot of Democrats are reacting right now. Many of them are praising the president for this decision, but stopping short of publicly, formally endorsing the vice president, at least, not yet.

ZELENY: Right. It is a split at this moment. The Clintons, we know both the former president Bill Clinton and Secretary Hillary Clinton having endorsed Harris. We are just getting, as Manu has said, the new statement from former President Barack Obama in and he does not endorse Harris in this statement.

I am told by a senior adviser that that is not out of any question about her, but he wants to maintain the same role he did in 2020 in the primary campaign and stay out of it and be available to unite the party as needed.

But, Wolf, listen to this from former President Barack Obama, who of course chose Joe Biden as his running mate in 2008. They developed a close relationship, tense at times, but close as always, but Barack Obama says this: "For him to look at the political landscape and decide he should pass the torch to a new nominee is surely one of the toughest decisions of his life. But I know he wouldn't make it unless he believed it was right for the country."

He goes on to say that, "... he is a patriot of the highest order." So this has a feel that Vice President Harris is also I am told, thinking about campaign leadership, even before she officially would become the nominee, that will happen in a couple of weeks, but there is no time to waste here.

So I am told that she would largely leave a campaign apparatus in place, but could bring in her own people as well and some former Obama aides and very senior ones I am told are being discussed for that. So this is moving very quickly, but again, behind the scenes, even as people waited for President Biden to make this very difficult decision for him, there was a sense that some of this was in the works, so we shall see in the coming hours probably, or certainly days, if anyone actually steps forward to challenge her. I think that is going to be difficult thing for someone to do.

BLITZER: Interesting, you know, and one thing, and Manu, I want to go back to you for a second, the Nancy Pelosi statement that was just released, significant. This is the former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi: "President Joe Biden is a patriotic American who has always put our country first. His legacy of vision, values, and leadership make him one of the most consequential presidents in American history." Statement from Nancy Pelosi right there.

But we didn't see in that statement a public formal endorsement of the vice president.

RAJU: Yes, and that's one of the things, too. She has been reportedly open to the idea of an open convention. What exactly would that look like? That is one question. She has been engaged in so many behind- the-scenes talks with Democrats, sounding alarms about everything that has been going on within the Democratic Party.

Of course, we know that she has spoken to President Biden himself about the concerns that she had.

Notably, too, Wolf, last night when she was at a Democratic Party dinner, what was called unity dinner in North Carolina, she could have gone out and said, Joe Biden is our nominee. We should stand behind them. Let's get behind him.

She chose not to do that because she knew full well the concerns that so many people in the party had about Joe Biden carrying on, and undoubtedly, if she would come out publicly and say that Joe Biden should step aside, that could create even more problems for the president going forward.

So, the president saw the writing on the wall that this was only going to get much more difficult for the likes of people like Nancy Pelosi potentially tried to undercut his bid if he decided to go forward and thought about going ahead.

But we will see where she lands. That is one of the questions that I've asked a bunch of Democrats today. Where will Pelosi come down? Will she endorse Kamala Harris? That is going to be a huge question this week.

BLITZER: All right, everybody standby, guys. Lots going on and a lot more is about to unfold, right now as well. We are watching as I keep saying, history unfolding here in the United States.

I want to go back to Kaitlan Collins.

Kaitlan, you've got a special guest coming up. COLLINS: Yes, Wolf, we have Senator Chris Coons here joining me. He is one of President Biden's closest allies and also the campaign co- chair.

[15:50:07]

And Senator, thank you for being here.

I just want to first get your reaction to -- it was just being described one of clearly the toughest decisions President Biden has ever made.

SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE): Well, Kaitlan, thanks for a chance to be on with you again.

Joe Biden is a fighter. What has distinguished our president and throughout decades of life is that every time he has been knocked down, he has gotten back up again.

And we, in Delaware, we have served with him in the Senate, we who loved and admired him for decades, admire his fight and his toughness and he was convinced he could continue this fight and beat Donald Trump, but the last few weeks have been a difficult process. I would rather not focus on the process at all.

I think today we should focus on Joe Biden's incredible legacy of service to our nation, his selflessness, his accomplishments in his decades in the Senate, leading the Judiciary Committee and Foreign Relations Committee; as vice president, and now leading the Biden- Harris administration.

It bears repeating that together, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and the majority in the Senate and House managed to put into law earth-shaking historic pieces of legislation that have cut prescription drug prices, helped our veterans, paved new roads, rebuilt our manufacturing, made us stronger at home and abroad.

Last week, his leadership at the NATO Summit reinforced his legacy as the most consequential foreign policy president of my lifetime.

This coming week, he will be rolling up his sleeves and continuing to work on getting to peace plan for Gaza, moving forward.

I will remind you, he got this plan for the release of hostages and the cessation of fighting in Gaza, endorsed by UN Security Council, endorsed by the G7 and this coming week, I know he will be putting his heart in it once again.

This is an historic moment where our president is choosing to step aside in the best interest of the nation and that is in the best tradition of Joe Biden's life of putting our nation before himself.

COLLINS: Yes, he is meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu on Tuesday according to the schedule.

Senator, have you talked to President Biden since he made this announcement?

COONS: Yes, I have.

COLLINS: And what did he say to you about how he came to this? Because obviously, as you know, we were following this closely for three weeks. He was resisting these calls. He said what you just said there, that he did feel that he could stay in this race, that he could beat Donald Trump. What changed in his mind?

COONS: Look, I think I will leave that to President Biden to speak about. I am so grateful I've had a chance to be a co-chair of his re- election campaign. We have an incredible group of loyal and determined co-chairs who have fiercely supported and defended him.

And I hope I get to play a role going forward in his six months ahead where he will continue to make a difference in foreign policy and here at home. I have confidence as does our president in Vice President Harris. I served with her in the Senate. I've seen what a difference she has made as vice president ensuring that we get 200 -- more than 200 federal judges seated who are among the highest qualified, most diverse judges in our history.

She has fought hard for freedoms and for rights of Americans and she is a genuine leader and I am glad that President Biden has endorsed her today and made it clear the direction and he intends to take as the most respected senior leader in our party this fall.

He was determined to beat Donald Trump and to make sure that the hard work he and Kamala Harris have done leading our country this last four years continues, and I think we should focus on that, on being united as a party and on honoring and respecting the very difficult choice, Joe Biden has made today and the very great legacy that he has continued to build.

COLLINS: Does that mean you're also endorsing Vice President Harris as the next nominee?

COONS: I support Vice President Harris. I am very hopeful that we will come out of our convention next month united and that everyone who has expressed concerns and hopes and thoughts and fears in the last months will continue to support the ticket that will win this fall and we will see what happens in terms of the choice for a running mate.

But I think our President Joe Biden has made his endorsement clear, and I think that is the most important endorsement that we could all be paying attention to today.

COLLINS: What would you want to see in a running mate on a future Democratic ticket? Because obviously, you know, this is all happening very quickly, but it is going to have to be decided quickly based on what we are hearing from Democrats and Democratic donors. Who would you like to see on that ticket?

COONS: Look, Kaitlan, I think today we should focus on Joe Biden's legacy. He is someone who is so grounded in Delaware, in his faith, in his family, in our tradition of bipartisanship. [15:55:08]

And my hope is that moving forward, whoever ends up being the partner to Vice President Harris, it will be someone who reflects some of that tradition and those values, someone who can help win, someone who can support an effective next administration, and someone who can make the case competently, in fact fiercely who is a good advocate and can take on the things that we heard on the stage in Milwaukee and push them back and successfully remind the American people of the incredible accomplishments of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as our president and vice president, and that the work that needs to be done is work that they can do.

COLLINS: Yes, okay. So it is good to hear you say you do believe that it is Vice President Harris that should be at the top of that next ticket. We will see who, if it is her, who she should pick as her running mate.

But on what you just said, there, we are already seeing calls from a lot of Republicans, including the House Speaker Mike Johnson, who say that they believe President Biden should resign from the presidency.

And you just talked about what a tough decision this was for him. Do you expect that he would resign? What's your response to Mike Johnson?

COONS: No.

COLLINS: And how tough of a call do you believe this was for him?

COONS: No. I think that is ridiculous. I think President Biden has shown in recent weeks his ability to handle and manage complex international matters to continue his lifelong record of service and his legacy of leadership in foreign policy, and to make hard call and tough choices that help make us stronger and safer here at home.

I expect President Biden will finish out his term this year and there are things that remain to be done. We are still negotiating our annual appropriations bill, our Defense Authorization Act, as I just said, there is critical undone work to secure peace in Gaza and a stable and more secure future for Israel and the Israeli people.

Joe Biden has more experience in foreign policy than any national leader. And to have him step aside now, I think would be a grave disservice to our nation and a profound disrespect to his legacy and his lifetime of service.

COLLINS: And I know you've got to go, Senator Coons, you're joining us on this breaking news that is happening as of this moment.

COONS: Yes.

COLLINS: Last question, President Biden said that he will address the nation later this week. For people watching and just kind of stunned by this news like frankly, everyone is, what do you think that they should expect to hear from him? COONS: I think they should expect to hear from Joe Biden what he has carried in his heart for decades, which is a deep belief in the American people.

Joe Biden is an optimist. He knows how hard Americans work. He knows what we are capable of. He is an optimist. I've never forgotten his inaugural speech.

He inherited three crises. We were still in the middle of a desperate, dangerous, difficult, COVID pandemic, and an economic downturn caused by that pandemic, and a crisis of democracy.

I will remind you when he was sworn in, it was just two weeks after January 6, and he gave an inspiring and hopeful inaugural address.

There were folks who said in Washington that he couldn't possibly accomplish the great and bold vision he laid out, the optimistic vision he laid out for what we could do together.

If we put down the tools of partisanship, come together as a country and legislate and solve problems, three-and-a-half years later, I've had a chance to watch Joe Biden sign into law landmark bills, the most consequential legislative records since LBJ. And I expect you'll hear from him when he speaks in a few days about his confidence in the American people, the urgency of our coming together and putting aside partisan bickering and embracing the bright future that our country can have if we will just work together.

COLLINS: Yes, massive news from him this afternoon.

Senator Chris Coons, thank you for jumping on with us on this breaking news. I really do appreciate your time.

COONS: Thank you, Kaitlan.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

BLITZER: And if you're just joining us, I am Wolf Blitzer in Washington, DC; Kaitlan Collins is joining us from New York.

I want to welcome our viewers here in the United States and around the world. We are following major breaking news: President Biden has just dropped out of the 2024 presidential race and is publicly endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris to be the Democratic presidential nominee.

He made this historic and stunning announcement, just before 2:00 PM Eastern earlier today, sending out a statement that reshapes the 2024 presidential race just one month before the Democratic National Convention in Chicago -- Kaitlan.

COLLINS: And Wolf, we are learning that Biden made this decision within the last 48 hours. Sources tell Jeff Zeleny as Biden consulted his family, his top advisers by phone from that Delaware home, it is a decision that he kept very private, only notifying senior White House advisers and campaign staff moments before he went public with this announcement.

[16:00:13]