Return to Transcripts main page

CNN This Morning

Biden: Time To "Pass The Torch To A New Generation"; Today: Netanyahu Meeting With Biden & Harris; Anti-Israel Protests In Streets of Washington. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired July 25, 2024 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:38]

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: It's Thursday, July 25th.

Right now on CNN THIS MORNING:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So I've decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: President Biden speaks to the nation for the first time since his historic decision to bow out of the race.

Plus --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If you don't mind, I'm not going to be nice. Is that okay?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Donald Trump testing out new attack lines in the first week of a totally new race.

And --

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

HUNT: Thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters, anti-Israel protesters in some cases storm the streets of D.C. and violence erupts.

(MUSIC)

HUNT: All right, 5:00 a.m. here in Washington, a live look at Capitol Hill on this Thursday morning.

We're getting to the end of the week here. Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with U.S.

President Biden addressing the nation last night from the Oval Office, becoming the first commander in chief in over 50 years, half a century to choose not to run for reelection.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: I believe my record as president, my leadership in the world, my vision for America's future, all merited a second term. But nothing, nothing can come in the way of saving our democracy. That includes personal ambition.

So I've decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation. It's the best way to unite our nation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: It was the first time President Biden spoke in any detail about his decision to end his campaign.

CNN reporting that Biden, along with his long longtime communications aide, Mike Donilon, and the historian Jon Meacham, began writing last night's speech on Sunday, shortly after announcing his decision. During the roughly 11 minutes speech, Biden touted his accomplishments and outline what he hopes to accomplish over the next several months.

The soul of America, Biden argued in a phrase uses often, is once again at stake in this election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: America is an idea. An idea stronger than any army, bigger than any ocean, more powerful than any dictator or tyrant. It's the most powerful idea in the history of the world.

In just a few months, the American people will choose the course of America's future. I made my choice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Joining me now, Tia Mitchell, Washington correspondent for "The Atlanta Journal Constitution", and Catherine Lucey, White House reporter for "The Wall Street Journal".

Good morning to both of you. Thank you so much for being here.

Catherine, we start with you.

The president did note that he would need to do this basically to unite his party. That was the phrase that he used. I thought it was a telling one. What were your -- what's your top takeaway from the speech last night as we watched what really was a swan song from the president?

CATHERINE LUCEY, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, WALL STREET JOURNAL: Yeah, it certainly did feel like the date of the beginning of a farewell speech, if not a farewell speech. He didn't really get into detail about why he had to do this, right?

He didn't -- we didn't hear a lot of -- we didn't hear all about the debate, the pressure, the concerns about his age. He said he, you know, he thought he'd earned another term, but then he but he did pivot to this idea of democracy, which has been a huge theme for him through his 2020 campaign, through the '24 campaign until now, the idea that democracy is at stake, and that ultimately, as he said last night, he felt that nothing was more important than that.

HUNT: Yeah, Peter Baker put it this way in "The New York Times", Tia. He wrote this, quote, He, Biden, said it was time to pass the torch to a new generation, but said nothing about his own age, health, or capacity that led to so many Democrats to desert him since the calamitous debate on June 27.

He did not describe the journey from supreme confidence that he and he alone could beat former President Donald J. Trump to the conclusion that in fact, he could not. Instead, it was an opportunity for a reset. Tell his story again on his own terms and try to recast the narrative as he starts to exit the stage.

[05:05:05]

I mean, Catherine's right. He didn't really address the thing that everyone has been focused on for this time.

TIA MITCHELL, WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION: Yeah. And I think that he, his advisors and his speech writer thought, if you're going to give a short speech, 11 minutes, are you going to spend it arguing something, making an argument you've already lost.

And I think they thought that a better use of his time would be more forward looking, which was a lot. And also a lot of what he spoke about, but also reframing the context of the presidential campaign, again, as this fight for democracy also making it clear that he was passing the torch to Vice President Kamala Harris.

And I think thirdly, they want to so make it clear that even though this is not what he wanted, that this was a decision that he made that he wasn't under duress. He wasn't, you know, bitter and angry, at least publicly that he was, you know, a willing participant and where the -- in the direction that this presidential contest and quite frankly, the future of his party is going.

HUNT: Yeah, we do know that behind the scenes, he has been angry, but I think -- I mean, you're right to point out the demeanor was different. Some of that anger though cropped up a possibly a little bit in this Jill Biden letter that she posted. She says, and this is in her handwriting on my sheets, so I'm trying to read it here.

To those who never wavered, to those who refused to doubt, to those who always believed, my heart is full of gratitude. Thank you for the trust you put in Joe. Now, it's time to put that trust in Kamala. Love, Jill.

She's basically talking to the people that stood with him the entire time. What do you hear in that?

LUCEY: Well, we know she was privately a staunch -- for at least for a time, a staunch advocate that he could keep going, as were many members of his family. And we know, Kasie, the Bidens or like this, they get their backs up. They don't like when they feel like they're being pushed.

HUNT: It's all about, what, getting his Irish up.

(CROSSTALK)

LUCEY: And I -- we know that she has described herself as the holder of grudges in her family, that she is -- she is protective of him and defensive of him, and as someone takes care of him.

And so, there was clearly a lot of emotion we heard in the room last night. She was there. Someone -- his children were there. Grand -- some of the grandchildren, there was a lot of family there.

And this, even though as Tia said, that the president was graciously doing, this, was making clear this is his choice. This was a hard moment for the Bidens. This was not the way they saw this ending.

HUNT: Yeah. And these are -- I'm glad we put these pictures up. This -- these images are remarkable. I mean, I don't recall especially the ones where the family is sitting to the side seeing pictures like this inside the oval office during an address. There he was with Jill right afterward.

But his son, Hunter, other members of the family kind of off to the side watching him the resolute desk there, Tia, and then he went out after this and basically gave this, I don't know if it was impromptu or not, but there was -- there was -- there was cheering after the speech ended from the family and anyone out and addressed at his staff? You can see those pictures there of him standing in the portico.

Again to cheers and applause. I think underscores kind of the nature of the moment.

MITCHELL: Yeah, I think one of the things, back to the point of Jill Biden's letter. And I think that was also addressed a little bit in his beach. I think he wanted to give people who were those always Bidens, those people who didn't waver, wanting him to step down, and were quite frankly disappointed when he made his announcement on Sunday.

I think he wanted to speak to them to say it's okay, guys, I'm making the transition. You can go ahead. I'm releasing you. I'm encouraging you, quite frankly, to move forward without me.

But I think there are, you know, there's the staff, you put in a lot of hours. You put in a lot of emotion into a job like working in the White House. Of course his family, the family has to sacrifice a lot to see their patriarch in the White House and now to see it in not on his own terms, I think there is a lot of emotion there.

And so I think it's very gracious of him to kind of try to ease that transition, not just for himself, but for those who love him most, for those who dedicated a lot to him by working in the White House and again, kind to the party, trying to be this unifier, even when we know privately, this has been difficult for him.

LUCEY: But also he knows Joe Biden is so concerned about his legacy and how he's viewed in the history books. I mean, you see Jon Meacham helping write a speech.

If his party loses in November, that then becomes part of his legacy. So he really does need to pivot this now, and trying to encourage people to get on board, include people who worked for him, you know, the voters, et cetera.

[05:10:05]

HUNT: The best thing he can do for his legacy, right now in his view and the view of those who support him is get Kamala Harris elected.

LUCEY: Exactly.

HUNT: Okay. Tia Mitchell, Catherine Lucey, thank you both very much.

All right. Coming up next here on CNN THIS MORNING: Donald Trump, trying to try it out new attack lines against Kamala Harris.

Plus, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu set for high-stakes meetings with President Biden and Vice President Harris after a remarkable day yesterday as pro-Palestinian protests in the nation's capital turned violent.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HUNT: All right, welcome back.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu set to meet with President Biden, Vice President Harris today at the White House. The high- profile meeting coming a day after protesters marched in Washington, D.C.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

[05:15:11]

HUNT: Pro-Palestinian and in many cases anti-Israel groups. They climbed up that flagpole, tore down the American flag they burned it at Union Station. This is blocks from the Capitol building where Netanyahu was addressing Congress.

Then they did this. They raised the Palestinian flag in its place. Protesters left behind graffiti reading "Hamas is coming". Nine people were arrested by D.C. police.

Then there was this video circulating on social media. It shows piles of maggots, mealworms, and crickets at the Watergate complex where Netanyahu is staying during his visit to Washington.

Inside the Capitol, Democratic Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, held a one woman silent protest. She raised a sign that read war criminal. Netanyahu had this message to the protesters during his address.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Clarity begins by knowing the difference between good and evil. Yet, incredibly, many anti- Israel protesters, many choose to stand with evil. They stand with Hamas.

Well, I have a message for these protesters. When the tyrants of Tehran who hanged gays from cranes and murder women for not covering their hair, are praising, promoting and funding you, you have officially become Iran's useful idiots.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: So in the aftermath, after some of those protests calm down last night, the American flag was once again raised in front of Union Station.

CNN's Max Foster joins us live now from London.

Max, good morning to you.

This, of course, a significant moment for the Israeli prime minister sir, who faces all sorts of challenges at home. But these scenes particularly of the American flag burning, they were also burning in effigy of Netanyahu, it underscores the division and also, quite frankly, the violent nature of some of the protests of this war.

MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR & CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, I mean, seeing the American flag burning is something I think resonated around the world. I mean, that is taking it to a really personal level for many Americans.

The message behind it is that they feel that America is arming this war. They're complicit in this war that they don't I believe in. I mean, many of the protests of course, in America have been legitimate protest by people who are sympathetic with Palestinians generally. You also saw the Hamas sign being written on that monument.

I mean, this is crossing the line, isn't it, for many people, I think a lot of people felt quite insulted though, but Netanyahu's line that people but oppose him are effectively Iran's useful idiots. A lot of the protesters against what Israel is doing are legitimate protests, but it crosses a line here and doesn't really help anyone, does it, when -- it doesn't help the legitimate protests, when it turns this nasty.

HUNT: Yeah, the White House put out at this statement about it, quote, identifying with evil terrorist organizations like Hamas, burning the American flag, or forcibly removing the American flag and replacing it with another is disgraceful. Antisemitism and violence are never acceptable, period, White House spokesman Andrew Bates said, in a statement.

I think it's worth noting burning the flag is within the free speech rights of Americans, if it's your own flag. Ripping down flags on public property to burn them is a whole other category of thing.

Max, I guess I'm curious in terms of the pressure on Netanyahu here. Clearly, in many ways, these protests might actually underscore help kind of buttresses argument for people in Israel because he is on shaky ground at home and one of the other things that happened here was that some people associated with the hostage families were removed from the galleries due to disruptions during the speech, et cetera. It's not like this is a this is very complicated and multi-layered situation when it comes to how Netanyahu is dealing with this from his own domestic political perspective.

FOSTER: Well, I think one thing that Israelis care about is getting hostages home. They want a deal and he didn't really talk about a deal, 20 great depth during the speech. And that was a problem for many back in Israel, who fairly shouldn't even be spending time abroad until that deal is reached. So, you know, many people questioning why he was there at all.

He wanted obviously show he had support from the key us ally, I think if you're being offered this opportunity to speak to both houses, it's pretty hard to turn down.

[05:20:04]

He was probably using it to show his authority on the world stage hasn't been diminished. So there's a personal element there, but also that Israel has this closer alliance with the U.S.

We know obviously that there were many people in that room who chose not to be and these alternative events. But ultimately perhaps up played in terms of optics that we've got here because everyone in the room apart from a couple of examples, you've pointed out, gave him a standing ovation at the end of it. So, it did look as though he had solidified the U.S. tie, did have authority on the world stage, though for him, maybe it was mission accomplished.

HUNT: Interesting.

All right. Max Foster for us this morning, Max, thank you so much. Always great to have you.

All right. Coming up next here on CNN THIS MORNING: Democratic Congresswoman Lori Trahan joins us live after the president's unprecedented decision not to run for reelection.

Plus, former Georgia Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan joins me to discuss the president's Oval Office lets address and his own endorsement of Kamala Harris.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:25:15]

HUNT: All right. Welcome back another day of dry thunderstorms and excessive heat across the west.

This time lapse video showing the rapid growth of the Park Fire in northern California.

Let's get straight to our weatherman, Derek Van Dam.

Derek. Good morning to you. This getting worse out there.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. So what we're following right now is coming out of Butte County, California, the Park Fire that is quickly spread overnight. Remember Butte County is where the camp fire ravaged the area back in 2018. So not what we want to see off in the horizon with some of these fires quickly spreading. Of course that time lapse shows quite a picture of just how fast these fires can spread. Eighty-eight active wildfires over the Western U.S.

But I do want to take note of something that occurred that has been occurring over the past 24 hours across Alberta, into Canada. So we're talking western Canada now, several large active wildfires, but one that has encroached on the tourist town of Jasper. There were mandatory evacuations there, and were starting to get in some information that that area has received significant losses in terms of structures and buildings. So more information to that coming.

Now, this is a look at what's happening in California. You can see the Park Fire here, 3 percent containment. So that's some slight improvement. It was at 0 percent contained came in about an hour ago. So that's good news. We do have a red flag warning for many Western U.S. states, particularly across Montana and to Oregon, are our greatest chances of wildfire activity exists for the day today.

This, of course, on the backdrop of extreme dream heat over the Western U.S. and drought conditions for many Western U.S. states, including the state of Oregon, where our large active fires continue to burn. Here's the Falls Fire and the Durkee Fire, which still sits at zero percent containment.

So, wildfires, that is our big story today. Certainly, Kasie.

HUNT: All right. Derek Van Dam for us this morning -- Derek, very grateful to have you. Thank you.

Coming up next here, how Donald Trump is trying to define his new rival, Kamala Harris.

Plus, Republican lieutenant governor of Georgia, Geoff Duncan, joins me to discuss why he's backing Harris over Trump.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:30:00]