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Rep. Ann Kuster (D-NH) is Interviewed about Harris; Biden Exits Race and Endorses Harris; Sen. Joe Manchin (I-WV) is Interviewed about Biden, Harris and the Democratic Party; Doris Kearns Goodwin is Interviewed about Biden's Exit. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired July 22, 2024 - 06:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:33:20]

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (THEN SEN. JOSEPH BIDEN (D- DE) (July 21, 1993): As you know, by the Senate rules, we don't trust an operation where there's no Democrat present. And that's a joke. We - we totally trust the distinguished senator from -

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maine.

BIDEN: From Maine.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's just that - it's just that I need the experience, Judge, that's what it is. That what he's trying to say.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: Wow, there was a lot in that clip.

Kamala Harris quickly racking up support from many key Democrats in the hours following Joe Bidens announcement, including dozens of governors, senators, and representatives from across the country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JIM CLYBURN (D-SC): I do think she's the best candidate, the best prepared candidate at this particular juncture. I think the American people will see that in that - in her and they will compare her to the alternative. Just as Joe Biden often asked people to do with him and Donald Trump, she gets that opportunity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Vice President Harris has been working the phones with groups on Capitol Hill, reportedly making more than 200 phone calls on Sunday alone.

One of those calls reportedly to Congresswoman Ann Kuster of New Hampshire. She leads the new Democrat - New Democratic Coalition, which represents members in swing districts across the country. She joins us now. Congresswoman, so grateful to have you.

Can you tell us a little bit about that phone call?

REP. ANN KUSTER (D-NH): Sure. Great to be with you.

Very exciting to hear from Kamala Harris. I was one of the first out of the gate to endorse her as soon as I heard the news. And then I was making my own calls to the New Democrats. We're 100 center left Democrats, pragmatic people, people often call us the Biden Dems.

[06:35:01]

We had the Zoom last weekend with the president. And then a number of our members had been coming out asking the president to step aside. And our members were very, very excited about Kamala Harris.

So, when she called, I said, we're all in for you. We'll be there for you. We'll campaign across the country. We're very, very excited to have you at the top of our ticket.

HUNT: Congresswoman, you're from New Hampshire, which is one of the states that when President Biden was still in the race many Democrats were starting to worry might be in play for Donald Trump in the fall. It's obviously been blue in most of the recent elections.

Do you think Kamala Harris will win New Hampshire now?

KUSTER: Yes, I definitely do. And I think it's the energy that's been lacking on the ground. People are very excited. Getting young people back into this race, I think, is critical. I've been hearing from young people, my own sons, and people across the country throughout my district at getting women energized. Kamala Harris will be able to bring the Dobbs decision, our reproductive freedom to the fore.

Not just that, but just the understanding of what's happening across our country. Donald Trump takes total credit for overturning Roe v Wade, and people's lives are at stake. Their pregnancies. Birth control is at stake. You know, IVF. These are very important, personal decisions. Kamala Harris has been fantastic out on the trail, motivating voters.

And then, of course, people of color. You know, that's not such a big issue in New Hampshire. People care a lot. Barack Obama did very, very well here. I expect she'll win handily here.

HUNT: Congressman, one emerging criticism from Republicans already, and one that my sources is telling me may be something when they look at polling data that could be a challenge for Vice President Harris, assuming she becomes the nominee, if she becomes a nominee, and that's the idea that she may have had more knowledge than the American public about the state of President Biden's health ahead of that debate.

How do you respond to people who are going to criticize her and say she knew, she was in on it the whole time? KUSTER: I mean, look, this is what's challenging for all of us. And I'm just being very honest with you and with the viewers. This is what was difficult for us, particularly over the last three weeks since the debate. I spent time myself with President Biden back in the spring. I had the opportunity to fly with him on Air Force One. And I could tell that he was aging.

It's not - I think he has acuity in his thought process. I'm not worried about that. It's not about his memory. I think it was the burden of campaigning and governing at the same time. And so there was never any doubt, nor is there doubt now, about his ability to continue his term, finish his term. But, you know, she was being very loyal to the ticket.

I'm not concerned about that criticism. I think that's going to be gone within the - within the week in terms of moving on, the excitement of having her at the top of the ticket, and just where we go from here.

Frankly, the Republicans are going to throw a lot up. They have a flawed candidate. You know, which would you rather have, a prosecutor or a felon? And they're very, very nervous about how strong this blue wave is going to be. We've got fantastic battleground candidates now, members that are going to win their seats. We've got recruits that I've been out campaigning for and raising funds for all across the country. We're going to win the House. They'll hold the Senate. And that means the Supreme Court for an entire generation. And we've got a great shot now at the White House. And I think we're going to get it done.

HUNT: All right, Congresswoman Ann Kuster for us this morning.

Congressman, so grateful for your time. Thank you very much.

KUSTER: Great to be with you. Thanks, Kasie.

HUNT: See you soon.

All right, everyone is rallying to action here to try to support Kamala Harris, shall we say, including The Lincoln Project, which is a group of moderate conservatives and former Republican Party members who oppose Donald Trump. They've unveiled this new ad thanking Joe Biden for his service, endorsing Kamala Harris for president.

Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But time and the burden of the office means it's time to step aside, to put a warrior into the political arena, ready to take on Donald Trump, to face up to the un-American plan that Trump and Project 2025 will impose.

Vice President Kamala Harris is ready, experienced. And as a tough prosecutor, Kamala Harris dealt with men like Trump all the time, rapists, con men, frauds, criminals. [06:40:05]

She's used to guys like Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: All right, the panel's back.

We're joined by Isaac Dovere of CNN.

Isaac, this group, of course, is one that formed, you know, while Trump was still president. We also saw Nikki Haley - a group supporting Nikki Haley voter - representing Nikki Haley voters come out and endorse Kamala Harris.

Is her profile one that - that - that offers an opening to these kinds of voters, Republicans who don't want Donald Trump to get elected, or is it, is there - does she have more specific challenges?

EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, I think that - this is one of the questions that was looming over the last couple of weeks of whether Joe Biden, for all of it, would be able to make a better case to those kinds of voters then Harris would be. If it comes down to the question of, do you want Donald Trump to be president, yes or no, then those voters and those groups presumably will move toward Harris. But she is not a person who has been seen as, you know, the moderate, middle of the road white guy that Joe Biden was, right?

HUNT: Right. I mean some of it's like, is it policy or is it presentation so to speak.

DOVERE: It might be a little of both.

HUNT: Jonah, what do you think about this question?

JONAH GOLDBERG, EDITOR IN CHIEF, "THE DISPATCH": Yes, it all depends - I mean some of it depends on forces outside of her control, but a lot of it depends on how she decides to run. The previous conversation we had about whether or not she should double down with another female, you know, running mate, I think that would be a bad idea, solely in the sense that she should - the identity politics will speak for itself. She should not lean into those kinds of arguments. That - I think that that turns off a lot of middle of the road voters.

And she has not been willing to lean into her prosecutorial record for a very long time. There was a - there - there used to be the case that, you know, Kamala is a cop was this argument that she was actually tough law and order candidate. After BLM riots and all that kind of stuff, she kind of walked away from all that. It will be really interesting to see if she can kind of reconstitute some of that.

DOVERE: That's - that's the plan actually is, her team has been working on this actually for - even before the debate. And I've got some new reporting up this morning about this, that it is prosecutor versus felon. That's the plan here. But what you hear from people is, not just, let's go up against the

guy who was accused of rape, had the settlement against him, versus the woman - woman who locked up rapists. The big banks versus the - the person who went after the big banks. But is about whether she can push back on the progressives who want to move her in that direction and did successfully move her campaign in 2019 -

GOLDBERG: Right.

DOVERE: To away from being the prosecutor.

KATE BEDINGFIELD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. Well, and some of it, I think, is just about bolstering the case for her as strong. I mean part of what Biden, you know, had struggled with in the contrast with Trump, as Trump was presenting this notion of strength, and Biden, because of age, and what we saw unfold over the last month in particular, was being, you know, received by voters as weak. And so, you know, what The Lincoln Project ad is doing is it's - you know, it's almost less about the specifics of her record and more about just doing everything in their power - you know, everybody who wants to see her win and Donald Trump lose -

HUNT: Right.

BEDINGFIELD: You know, to bolster her as - as strong.

ALEX THOMPSON, NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, "AXIOS": Well, and that's why this first week is so critical for her, because she has consolidated a bunch of the party, but not all of the party. Nancy Pelosi, Hakeem Jeffries, Chuck Schumer, Barack Obama, have not explicitly endorsed her. And the fact is that I have some new - some new reporting this morning that part of the reason that Joe Biden hesitated is he had - himself and his senior aides had serious concerns whether or not she was more electable than he was. And, you know, based on the 2020 primary, Kate remembers the 2020 primary.

BEDINGFIELD: Yes.

THOMPSON: Kamala Harris didn't even make it to - to have a caucus. There are some serious concerns about how she can do this campaign. This first week is really critical to trying to assuage those (INAUDIBLE).

GOLDBERG: Also, where is Geoffrey Palmer? He's the guy who won American Samoa. He's the only other person out there with delegates. And, like, he deserves his shot.

HUNT: This is why we love you, Jonah.

BEDINGFIELD: I was like, who? Oh, right.

HUNT: All right, coming up next here, could Senator Joe Manchin be preparing to jump into the race? I will ask him. He is here, next.

Plus, President Biden becoming just the third sitting president in the last 75 years to decide not to seek re-election. We'll talk about what history has taught us about this moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): I'm stepping down, I'm not running for president.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sorry, what?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): One last time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): Mr. President, they will say you're weak.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): They will see you were (ph) strong.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): Your position is -

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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[06:48:55]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (May 6, 2012): Men marrying men, women marrying women, and heterosexual men and women marrying, are entitled to the same exact rights, all the civil rights, all the civil liberties. And, quite frankly, I don't see much of a distinction beyond that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In a second term, will this administration come out behind same-sex marriage? The institution of marriage?

BIDEN: Well, I - I can't speak to that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: That was then Vice President Joe Biden in 2012 in what became the most famous moments in his long career in politics. And now, 12 years later, much of the Democratic Party coalescing around his vice president, Kamala Harris, following Biden's exit.

But there are wildcards that remain and one of them is West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat-turned-independent, now weighing whether to re-register as a Democrat and challenge Harris for the party's nomination.

Manchin is a centrist, retiring from his Senate seat this winter. He never endorsed Biden and is considering his own presidential campaign.

Here's what he told me back in the fall when I asked him about the race.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. JOE MANCHIN (I-WV): I'm not going to be a spoiler. I've never been a spoiler. I've never run to be a spoiler.

I -- whatever I run for, I intend to win. So my -- my game plan would be, how do you win the whole darn thing, whatever you're involved in?

[06:50:04]

Right now, being 14 months out or 12 months out, 13 months out to the next election is - that's just ludicrous.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Senator Manchin joins me now for his first TV interview since Biden announced he is dropping out of the race.

That was a lifetime ago, Senator.

MANCHIN: Good morning, Kasie. How are you?

HUNT: Good morning. I'm well. Thank you for doing this.

MANCHIN: Sure thing.

HUNT: So, Senator, are you running for president?

MANCHIN: Well, let me just put it this way, the calls and everything that's coming in is -- is not quite sure unless they see a process where they really are. Things changed any at all and a coronation doesn't always basically produce I think the strongest, if you will, the strongest team. Very well Kamala could be that person, and I think going through some sort of a process would have been very enlightening to everybody.

So I'm pursuing the -- the process, I really believe strongly, along with I think that's -- former President Obama and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, both think there should be a process. They spoke out about that.

And, you know, you're going to find out as number two, you know, you have your own views, but you're basically part of that team. What's her own views on some of these issues? And it's going to be whether the border, you know, is going to be a hot contentious situation. Is anyone taking serious the debt that we have? The educational opportunities or lack of educational opportunities --

HUNT: Yeah.

MANCHIN: -- or student, basically, performance, things of this sort.

These all need to be talked about and we seem to be basically -- people who are opposed to Donald Trump is thinking that's going to carry the day. It's not. People want issues.

HUNT: You said I'm pursuing the process. Are you going to --

MANCHIN: I'm just continue to push this process.

HUNT: You're going to push the process.

MANCHIN: There's no -- there's -- I haven't done -- I haven't --

(CROSSTALK)

HUNT: Are you considering running?

MANCHIN: There's people who are pushing in that direction and it's something if they're pushing that direction, I've said let's pass the torch to a new generation. There's an awful lot of people that you've shown on the screen that now they're considering as vice president. Nobody has been through a process knowing really where they stand.

Joe Biden went through a process in 2020 against an awful lot of left parts of our party. And the party went with someone centrist that felt like he could win. Are we in that same category right now? Are we in a centrist category? Are we are in a far-left category?

Think about this, Kasie. I'm an independent now. Fifty-one percent of people participating in electoral process are registered independents. Only 23 percent are registered Democrats, only 25 percent are registered Republicans.

If either side can't capture that middle, which is where the center of this country, where the common sense and, you know, just -- they just want to tap it down a little bit and not push onto me, even though you think that's part of the policy and you're playing to the base, is that where the country is? I don't think. Why there's 51 percent like me? How do they win back Democrats like me?

HUNT: Do you think you could win the nomination at a Democratic convention?

MANCHIN: It's almost impossible for anybody at this point in time once it's been anointed.

First of all, I want to thank the president. President Biden, I've him known for a long time, I've considered him a friend and I truly -- I said with heavy heart yesterday.

But here's a person that can put every minute of his remaining term towards doing the job of president, trying to bring peace in the Middle East, trying to make sure we secure our position with Ukraine to defend itself and fight for the freedoms that we want them to have, and they want. And then make sure that we show with grace and dignity how you transfer power, superpower of the world. He can do all of that and have the greatest legacy.

I thank him for everything he's done. I haven't always agreed, he knows that, but we've worked through our differences. I haven't worked with Kamala any at all, to be honest with you. So we'll see what happens.

HUNT: Would you consider being Kamala Harris as vice president? MANCHIN: No. No, I'm not running. It's a new generation. You don't want a 76-year-old vice president right now.

HUNT: Well, do we want a 76-year-old president?

MANCHIN: Well, if he feels like he's 50, maybe.

HUNT: Do you feel like you're 50?

MANCHIN: Let me just say this: the process for the Democrats -- try to win back that center. Joe Biden became president because the center believed that he was in the center. He always had been. I believe he -- I believe --

(CROSSTALK)

HUNT: But if there's going to be a process, somebody's going to run against Kamala Harris. Is that going to be you?

MANCHIN: Well, I don't think that -- I don't know. I just -- we'll see. We'll just have to see.

The system, you would like to see some sort, you know, have some debates, have something. There's plenty of time. We act like there's no time at all.

European countries, U.K., they have them within two or three months and do very well.

HUNT: Six weeks, basically.

MANCHIN: Yeah.

HUNT: Would you run as an independent?

MANCHIN: Well, Bernie tried that, but he -- they said he couldn't be an independent, so he had to be an Independent Democrat, a socialist Independent Democrat is what -- you know? And I respect where Bernie came from and he's still an Independent.

And if I was going to do that, you know, would I changed back to a Democrat?

[06:55:04]

Those are things have been talked about. This just came about so quickly. I haven't really processed that are going through it.

I have been very humbled by people calling and asking, would you be considered, would you consider, would you talk about us?

My main thing is that we have a voice. I want the middle to have a voice. I want the center of this country to be able to say we have a voice.

We're not extreme left. We're not extreme right. I don't run my life that way.

HUNT: Right.

MANCHIN: Why do I have to only have two choices of a party that basically of taking the extremes?

HUNT: You've mentioned Bernie. Have you explored the process, what it would take for you to be able to push that --

(CROSSTALK)

MANCHIN: I haven't gotten to any of that right now, no.

HUNT: Are you willing to re-register as a Democrat if you need to?

MANCHIN: I haven't -- I haven't given that serious thought right now. I can tell you why I left and not becoming a Democrat.

HUNT: We understand.

MANCHIN: No, because of this. I was raised as a Democrat, lifelong Democrat.

HUNT: Yeah.

MANCHIN: Nothing but that. But I was always fiscally responsible and socially compassionate. Always want to give people a hand up and I believe they had to earn everything and basically not being given out.

I believe in John Kennedy: Ask not what your country can do for you, what you can do for your country. And not the premise now -- how much more can my country do for me?

We've gotten off course and we need to get back on course and the country wants to get back on course. And I hope people have enough courage to do that.

HUNT: Is Kamala Harris going to keep us on the wrong course?

MANCHIN: I have -- I have no idea. You don't know that because there's no process to go through.

Is this basically full steam ahead? Is it basically some adjustment? I think it would help Kamala to have a little bit of a process to where she could explain, articulate, you know, and have a dialogue.

HUNT: All right. Senator Joe Manchin, always grateful to have you.

MANCHIN: Always good to be with you, Kasie.

HUNT: Never dull.

MANCHIN: Never dull. That's unbelievable. And it just seemed to keep happening.

HUNT: It does indeed. All right, Senator, thank you so much --

MANCHIN: Thank you.

HUNT: -- for coming in.

All right, as we've been discussing all morning, this is the first time in more than half a century that a sitting president is giving up a run for a second term.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LYNDON B. JOHNSON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I do not believe that I should devote an hour or a day of my time to any personal, partisan causes, or to any duties other than the awesome duties of this office.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: The last time we all saw this was 1968 when Lyndon B. Johnson stunned the nation, vowing to spend the remainder of his time in office focusing on ending the Vietnam War instead of running for re- election. Johnson's vice president, Hubert Humphrey, went on to win the nomination during a contested convention in Chicago, but ultimately lost that race too Richard Nixon.

Joining me now to offer her perspective, the Pulitzer Prize winning presidential historian, Doris Kearns Goodwin. She is also the author of "An Unfinished Love: Personal History of the 1960s."

Doris, I am so grateful to have you.

Just walk us through - I mean as we all kind of experienced this stunning moment unfold yesterday - what it means to you in terms of the long ark of history and what you think we may see happen next.

DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN, AUTHOR, "AN UNFINISHED LOVE STORY: A PERSONAL HISTORY OF THE 1960S": Well, what it showed to me was what happened with Lyndon Johnson as well. The hardest decision a president has to make is whether to relinquish power or not. And particularly to run for a second term. They all want that second term to endorse the first term. That's what Lincoln said, it was more important to him to win the second than the first, to show that people had cared about what he had done.

For Lyndon Johnson, it was even more dramatic because he knew he was making a speech to the nation on March 31st to say he was hoping to wind down the Vietnam war after the Tet offensive. It would prove that it had to be wind down. It couldn't be won the way it was. A stalemate was all that was possible. So, he had written a speech where he would talk about stopping the bombing, negotiating with the North Vietnamese, and then he had tacked on an ending which would be the withdrawal that we just saw. And even the people closest to him were never sure he'd reached that withdrawal part because he had been known to do that before. Lady Bird said, all day she was watching the clock. She watched the tension in his face, however, kind of release as he went up to give that speech. My husband was up in New Hampshire, and he was watching it with Teddy White, the great journalists. And Teddy White said something was up even before he said it because he could see - the last time he'd seen him five days before, there was such tension. His voice was so soft it could hardly be heard. His eyes look terrible. He was weary. Now he looked composed.

And I think maybe that happened with - with President Biden as well. Once you make that decision, so hard to relinquish it, but you think it's for the good of the country, than the tension comes away and there's a composure to him.

And then the accolades come, as they did for Lyndon Johnson. It was putting sacrifice, going for his ambition for the greater good rather than himself, you know, doing the things that he had never done in 37 years. His disapproval rating was at 57 percent. All of a sudden it was 57 percent approval.

I think that combination will happen for Joe Biden as well. And it'll be interesting to see how he looks the next time we see him, having gone through that betrayal, in the sense of anger and desire, and he'd come back so many times before and thought maybe he could come back again, until it seemed like age and health or something that you can't just will to come back from.

[07:00:08]

HUNT: They are not something that you can just will to come back from.

Doris Kearns Goodwin, I'm so sorry that we are out of time. I'm so grateful for your reflections this morning.

I want to thank our panel and I want to thank you for joining us. I want to leave you with this moment.

I'm Kasie Hunt. Don't go anywhere. After this, "CNN NEWS CENTRAL" will start. But let's remember together.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (July 16, 1988): Fifteen years ago we said that the key to restoring confidence in our traditions and our institutions was public officials who would stand up and tell the American people exactly what they thought. And to paraphrase what I said that day in 1972, I mean to be that candidate. And with the grace of God, and the support of the American people, I mean to be that kind of president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)