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17 Congressional Dems Calling On Biden To Drop Out; Democrats Lean On Vice President Harris To Turn Race Around; Steve Gleason Accepts Arthur Ashe Courage Award At ESPYs. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired July 12, 2024 - 05:30   ET

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

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[05:31:50]

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: All right, just after 5:31 a.m. here in Washington on this Friday morning. A live look at Capitol Hill today. Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.

President Biden facing more Democratic defectors. Seventeen congressional Democrats have now come forward to publicly call on the president to exit the race. That includes Congressman Jim Himes. He is the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JIM HIMES (D-CT): Imagine that three months from now we get another performance like there was in the debate right before the election. Do you want to take that risk? I don't.

REP. HILLARY SCHOLTEN (D-MI): This is not about the past; it's about the future. And we need to have the strongest possible candidate that we can working to prevent Donald Trump and lead us into the future.

REP. ADAM SMITH (D-WA): It's simply my belief that another candidate would give us a much better chance to win.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: CNN is also reporting this morning that former President Obama and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have held private discussions about the viability of Biden's campaign. The president, of course, still adamant about staying the race.

Joining us now, Axios senior contributor Margaret Talev, and Jackie Kucinich, Washington bureau chief for The Boston Globe. Good morning to both of you. Thanks for being here.

Margaret, let me start with you in terms of the result of what we saw last night because we had a pair of significant gaffes from the president -- one before the press conference, one as it opened. But then we did see a president who answered questions. Who seems to be much more like the Joe Biden that we have seen on stage for many years, if older. He seemed to take a different approach in terms of considering his own

potential weaknesses. I heard from Democrats who said hey, if he'd taken this tone right out of the gate with the debate it would maybe not have had as many problems as he's having right now with Democrats.

What are hearing and what's your view of what we saw play out last night?

MARGARET TALEV, SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR, AXIOS, DIRECTOR, INSTITUTE FOR DEMOCRACY, JOURNALISM AND CITIZENSHIP, SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY: Yeah, I think you summed it up very well. And you're right -- when David Sanger started talking to President Biden about foreign policy he clicked into gear and you saw a completely different person.

The Democrats that I was talking to last night were glad to see him be able to do but did not feel that it fundamentally changed the problems or resolve the discontent or the concerns that he faces inside of his own party.

And I think all week there was an acknowledgment Democrats have to come back from their recess, NATO has to go forward and NATO has to be the focus of President Biden's week, but what happens after that? We're about to find out what happens after that and we're going to find out a lot between now and the time the Republican convention starts in a few days.

JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, THE BOSTON GLOBE: Well, and I think if you are a Democrat who is ready to his send on a statement saying that Biden should step down and you are ready, you had reason to do that last night. There were -- there were some verbal issues. There were some mistakes.

Then, but if you are a Democrat who really wanted to hold your fire and you wanted to see if he could do this -- and to your point, particularly on the issue of foreign policy -- his sweet spot for many, many decades -- you had reason to sit back and let it ride a little longer.

HUNT: Yeah -- no. It's a very interesting way to think about it. It was kind of like -- it was a little bit of a choose your own adventure --

[05:35:02]

KUCINICH: Totally.

HUNT: -- right? What do you want to see?

TALEV: That's what every party wants heading into the first --

KUCINICH: Yeah, exactly.

TALEV: -- consequential stretch of the election.

HUNT: Right, yeah. The bottom line here, Margaret, is that what matters if what voters

think. How much they have changed, kind of, their perceptions. And this is a thing where, again, there's a little bit of choose your own adventure.

The White House is looking at national polls. This polling that was out yesterday from ABC that has shown -- that shows kind of a head-to- head horse race basically unchanged. But then, what's really mattering, certainly for these Democrats -- they're looking at internal polling that is showing them running way behind President Biden in their districts. There's risks that they're going to lose the House.

And, of course, swing state polling also. We haven't seen a lot of public polling yet on that front but certainly, these campaigns are seeing it behind the scenes.

But I want to play a little bit of -- these are some of the voters. You spend a lot of time talking to voters, especially young voters --

TALEV: Yeah.

HUNT: -- and they told you a little bit -- you asked them to use one word to describe the president and it was pretty striking. Let's watch it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What emotion does he evoke in you when you see him on TV? Like, fill in the blank. When I see President Biden on TV, I feel x.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Worried.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Respect and sadness.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Scared.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Embarrassed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pity and disgust all rolled into one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: That's a lot there.

TALEV: There is. So these are the monthly Axios and Engagious swing voter focus groups. We were in Florida most recently.

And month after month we do this, sort of, what do you think of when you see Biden? What do you think of when you see Trump? One word.

And for Biden, it's always old. That's always the prevailing word. For months that's been the case. For Trump, it's, like, talking about his character and the criminal cases, and all this stuff -- January 6.

This is different. The idea of sadness and fear -- that is an evolution.

The other thing that we've heard in these panels this week -- there's one woman who really stands out in my mind who said he's not the leader that he was 20 years ago and the idea that they don't think that he sees that, but they see.

In all of these conversations these people were acutely aware of that debate performance and the overwhelming majority of them just did not think they could really get past it. There were some who still felt that the party should stand with Biden, but nobody felt, like, thrilled or enthusiastic about it. And I think that captures a lot of public sentiment and a lot of the feelings inside of the party.

What my colleagues Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei are writing about today is the idea that there's sort of a committee to un-elect the president.

HUNT: Yeah.

TALEV: You think of the committee to re-elect.

KUCINICH: Yeah.

TALEV: There is a committee to un-elect --

KUCINICH: I know, yeah.

TALEV: -- that is operating, sort of, underneath the radar but not completely. There's a ton of machinations, polling discussions. How -- you know, how could the torch be passed with grace. Would it need to be Harris? What do the matchups look like?

And what you said -- this is not about national polling. Everybody in America would like to think that what the general population thinks is what carries the day. There is the Electoral College. Swing states matter disproportionately.

KUCINICH: Yes.

TALEV: And battleground districts are where control of the House is going to be fought out. And the races where there are Senate races will be pivotal to who controls the Senate.

So it is not as important to say what's the national view of Biden as it is to say what is the view of Biden in Wisconsin --

KUCINICH: Yes.

TALEV: -- in Michigan, in Arizona, and Georgia, and Pennsylvania?

KUCINICH: Yeah.

HUNT: Yeah. I mean, Jackie, the reality is that even though this may have assuaged concerns or bought time, as you alluded to.

KUCINICH: Yeah. HUNT: I mean, to Jim Himes' point, this is still -- I mean, if he stays in, going to be something that is facing him every single time he steps to the microphone.

KUCINICH: And this isn't about just winning in November. This is about four more years. And there were some of those questions last night to that effect.

TALEV: Yeah.

KUCINICH: That, you know, do you feel like you can still do this in four years, and Biden says yes.

But you also -- there was one -- there were a couple of interesting moments there where he did allow that there were -- there were situations where he might consider stepping aside, which you hadn't heard before, if the data starts to say that he can't win, I think is what he said there. And that was notable.

So it seems like -- and I don't know if it was Pelosi. I don't know if it was former President Obama. I don't know who kind of got through there, but that was the first time that I can remember in recent --

TALEV: It's the recognition that he is thinking --

KUCINICH: Yes.

TALEV: -- about more than he is saying right now.

KUCINICH: Exactly, exactly.

TALEV: I think that's right.

KUCINICH: Yes.

HUNT: Yeah. I mean, that's like very interesting to me as well because it does seem -- like, I feel like there is that fundamental question: How much of this is actually getting through to President -- to the president himself through his inner circle? It seems like at least some, right?

TALEV: Yes. I think that he's certainly aware and there was a lot that was telling. And my favorite question of the news conference was our colleague Asma Khalid from NPR --

[05:40:05]

KUCINICH: Yeah.

TALEV: -- asked what about that bridge? You remember Biden famously said in 2020 and he had Gretchen Whitmer, Kamala Harris, and Cory Booker standing beside him or behind him when he said it. He said, look, I'm basically just a bridge to the next generation of political leaders. All these people standing here with me are the leaders of the next generation.

And Asma asked well, what about that bridge? What changed? And he didn't say nothing's changed.

KUCINICH: Yeah.

TALEV: He said what changed is and began to talk about how, sort of, the chaos and circumstances of the world, the circumstances of the country necessitated that he stay in, and that he had things that he wanted to finish.

To me, that really did sort of tap into his psychology of what he's been thinking about. Can he turn it over to someone else? Who could he turn it over to? He did not explicate that, but he hinted at it in those comments --

KUCINICH: Yes.

TALEV: -- last night, and I think that's part of the larger path that he's thinking through.

HUNT: Yeah, really interesting.

All right. Margaret Talev, Jackie Kucinich, thank you both very much for being here this morning. I really appreciate it.

All right. Ahead here, how Vice President Harris is trying to rally support for her boss. Plus, a night for sports royalty and actual royalty. That's next in the Bleacher Report.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRINCE HARRY, RECIPIENT, PAT TILLMAN AWARD FOR SERVICE: The truth is, I stand here not as Prince Harry, Pat Tillman Award recipient, but rather, a voice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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[05:45:47]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Look, I would have picked Vice President Trump (sic) to be vice president if I didn't think she was qualified to be president, so let's start there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: President Biden fumbling the name of his vice president at the start of his NATO news conference, straight up confusing Harris with Trump. In the two weeks since the debate, Biden, of course, has struggled to reassure voters he's fit for a second term.

A lot of eyes have been on Kamala Harris as she has tried to pick up some of the slack on the campaign trail.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now, we always knew this election would be tough and the past few days have been a reminder that running for President of the United States is never easy nor should it be. But one thing we know about our president, Joe Biden, is that he is a fighter. He is a fighter. And he is the first to say when you get knocked down, you get back up. You get back up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: So, of course, Kamala Harris is at the center of the conversation that is happening just off camera about who might be a possible replacement at the top of the ticket if Biden bows out.

Joining me now is Ron Brownstein. He is a CNN senior political analyst and senior editor at The Atlantic. Ron, always great to see you.

Your latest piece is about Kamala Harris, and you write this.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST, SENIOR EDITOR, THE ATLANTIC (via Webex by Cisco): Yeah.

HUNT: "As the party tries to dig out of the hole that Biden deepened with his dire debate performance, they are belatedly growing more aware of the need to buttress the vice president's public standing. Research by several different Democratic groups has found that even after three and a half years in office, Harris largely remains a blank slate for voters."

And this also comes as we are learning that the Biden campaign is quietly testing a head-to-head of Kamala and Donald Trump.

BROWNSTEIN: Yeah. Look, Harris is looming larger in this election, whether she is the stand-in for Biden or just stays as number two. Because voters, after that debate, have growing concern about whether he is going to finish a second term. And Republicans are certainly focused on targeting her. We saw that Donald Trump ad right after the debate -- vote of Biden today, get Harris tomorrow.

You know, I've talked to a lot of Democratic professionals in the last week -- elected officials, strategists, pollsters -- and you can say for sure that she might be a better candidate against Trump than Biden. But at least she shuffles the deck is the view, right?

I think many Democrats believe that the hand they're playing now -- the hand that Biden has ultimately is not going to win because of his struggles in the -- in the swing states. And with Harris, you at least change the dynamics. She might have a lower floor, but she could also have a higher ceiling, is the way one Democratic strategist put it to me.

HUNT: Yeah, it's an interesting way to think about it.

I mean, look, the reality is that I think doubts about her have driven a lot of -- certainly, when I've talked to Democrats --

BROWNSTEIN: Yeah. HUNT: -- on Capitol Hill, some of them who are -- have been a little reluctant to aggressively call in public for Biden to step aside -- like, some of that's coming from nerves about whether or not Harris can perform and what the process would look like.

BROWNSTEIN: Absolutely right.

First of all, I think if Biden did step aside that the process would coalesce around her more quickly than seems possible. There's a demand -- there are a lot of Democratic leaders, and thinkers, and strategists who do worry that she can't beat Trump and would be open to an alternative.

I'm not sure a candidate who would be seen as a potentially better alternative would really challenge her. I mean, Newsom and Whitmer already have both said that they -- that they would not.

You know, the upside of a switch in the eyes of those who are kind of talking about it more and more is severalfold. One is you're on the right side of the generational contrast with Harris and Trump. Suddenly, he's the older guy who looks like he's lost a step -- and there's certainly plenty of evidence of that.

But I think even more important, Kasie -- I mean, look at the polling. Again, Pew yesterday. Trump leads Biden and Democrats by 15 points on who people trust to handle the economy and inflation. That is a very considerable result and a 15-point advantage for Republicans on the economy.

05:50:05]

That means to win, Democrats are going to have to convince millions of voters who think that Trump is better for their bottom line to vote against him anyway. The best weapon -- the best lever they have to do that is the argument about rights, and values, and democracy. And making that argument has been Harris' job for the past two years since Dobbs. I mean, she has the one -- the one part of her political identity that has broken through to voters, according to all the Democrats I talk to, is her advocacy for abortion rights.

She has, I think, honed what has to be the most important argument for Democrats in 2024. And I think there's a broad sense in the party that she now delivers that argument better than Biden.

So while there are all sorts of obvious risks in moving to Harris, there are, I think in the eyes of many Democrats, some advantages. Above all, the opportunity to shake up the race.

And by the way, she could pick a younger vice president who underscores the generational contrast. She could pick Gretchen Whitmer and really kind of roll the dice. We can't leap halfway across a chasm. And if you move beyond from Biden to Harris you're taking, obviously, a calculated gamble. With a Whitmer, you'd be doubling down on that gamble in the same way that Clinton did when he picked Gore rather than a balancing kind of vice president in 1992. So there's more maneuverability. Like I said, potentially, lower floor; potentially, higher ceiling.

HUNT: Very interesting.

There's also, you know, Andy Beshear in Kentucky who --

BROWNSTEIN: Yeah.

HUNT: -- reinforces that generational argument while, at the same time perhaps, reassuring some other types of voters.

Ron Brownstein for us this morning. Ron, thank you very much. I really appreciate it. Have a great weekend.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you for having me.

HUNT: All right, time now for sports.

Prince Harry delivering an emotional speech amid controversy as the ESPY awards.

Carolyn Manno has more in this morning's Bleacher Report. Carolyn, good morning.

CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

Some of the biggest stars in sports, Kasie, and entertainment too were in L.A. last night to celebrate the year's best moment in sports. No shortage of truly moving moments.

Prince Harry spoke from the heart as he accepted the Pat Tillman Award for Service for his work with the Invictus Games, a competition for injured veterans. The award was not without controversy, like you said. Tillman's mother was actually quoted calling the prince "controversial and divisive" and said that there were more fitting candidates for the award.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRINCE HARRY: The truth is I stand here not as Prince Harry, Pat Tillman Award recipient, but rather, a voice on behalf of the Invictus Games Foundation and the thousands of veterans and service personnel from over 20 nations who have made the Invictus Games a reality. This award belongs to them, not to me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MANNO: Retired Saints safety Steve Gleason, who has been fighting ALS since 2011, received the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage. It's given to a person who shows strength in the face of adversity, making a difference beyond the field of play.

And I, and many others, cannot think of a better example than Gleason, who has lost all mobility function and can only communicate through eye-tracking technology. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE GLEASON, RECIPIENT, ARTHUR ASHE COURAGE AWARD: For me, this honor represents some encouragement and triumph for the families currently living with ALS. All the people living with disabilities or other illnesses. And all of you who experience fear or suffering. Considering this truth of our humanity it's vital that we all individually and collectively discover ways to be courageous and love the life we have.

My view is that the fears and adversities we encounter are our opportunity to accept what is and explore what is on the other side of fear. To grow stronger, better, and have peace of mind.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MANNO: His full speech was incredibly powerful, Kasie. And his charity, the Team Gleason Foundation, has now raised more than $40 million to help people diagnosed with that disease.

And finally for you this morning, switching gears a little bit, those who love the game of golf know that it is an emotional rollercoaster of sorts. LPGA Tour pro Jodi Ewart Shadoff was seven over when she got to the 16th tee of the Evian Championship only to do that right there -- hit a hole-in-one to win a brand-new Porsche that was right behind her. She was stunned to watch her tee shot find the bottom of the cup on the 148-yard par three.

Now, if only Chun-Wei Wu were so lucky. She was one of eight amateurs in the field. She also recorded an ace of her own on the par-3 fifth. A five iron from nearly 180 yards. No free car on five but she did say that she was excited to get her first ace at a major.

I feel like everybody that hits a hole-in-one in a major, Kasie, should get a Porsche. But maybe she'll just get to ride around France in Jodi's. I hope, for her sake.

[05:55:00]

HUNT: I know. I would have said that the hole-in-one is a reward all by itself but, I mean, frankly --

MANNO: Yeah.

HUNT: -- I'd rather -- I'd rather win a Porsche for one than not. Get a Porsche.

MANNO: You get a car, and you get a car, and you get a car, and you get a car -- yeah.

HUNT: Exactly.

Carolyn, thank you very much. Appreciate it.

All right. Coming up next hour here on CNN THIS MORNING, another slipup from President Biden. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: I wouldn't have picked Vice President Trump (sic) to be vice president if I didn't think she was not qualified to be president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Reaction to the president's NATO news conference ahead.

Plus, more Democrats publicly calling on the president to leave the race.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY FALLON, HOST, NBC "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JIMMY FALLON": Well, guys, President Biden continues to dominate the news. Yeah, the whispers about him dropping out of the race keep getting louder. They're getting so loud Biden can almost hear them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)