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Biden Gives Oval Office Speech to Explain Withdrawal from Race; Trump Strive to Define Harris with Insults at Rally. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired July 25, 2024 - 06:00   ET

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

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: It's Thursday, July 25. Right now on CNN THIS MORNING --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I revere this office, and I love my country more.

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HUNT: President Biden's historic address to the nation after half a century in public office.

Plus --

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DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Kamala, you're fired. Get out of here. You're fired.

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HUNT: Donald Trump attacking Kamala Harris. A first look at how he plans to handle his new opponent.

Plus, the chilling Google search conducted by the gunman who tried to assassinate Donald Trump.

And this.

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(SHOUTING)

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HUNT: Violent protests break out in D.C. as the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, strikes a defiant tone on Capitol Hill.

All right, 6 a.m. here in Washington, a live look at the White House on this Thursday morning, the morning after that historic speech from President Biden.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us. It was a moment for history. A president in the twilight of his career, Joe Biden, who had been angry as he was pushed out of the arena, seemed reflective about his decision to step off the stage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: In recent weeks, it's become clear to me I need to unite my party in this critical endeavor. 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. That's the best way to unite our nation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: President Biden thanked his vice president, Kamala Harris, calling her experienced, tough, and capable. He didn't say Donald Trump's name, but the former president's presence loomed as Biden painted a picture of a nation at a moral crossroads.

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BIDEN: We have to decide, do we still believe in honesty, decency, respect, freedom, justice, and democracy?

Does character in public life still matter?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: The president insisting he would finish his term, focused on trying to lower costs, combat gun violence, reform the Supreme Court, and strengthen NATO.

Throughout the president's address, just off camera, family members sat watching, including his son, Hunter; daughter, Ashley; and wife, Jill.

The first lady posting this handwritten note to social media: "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."

Last night's address, of course, a defining moment in Biden's presidency and the beginning of a swan song after half a century in American politics.

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BIDEN: My fellow Americans, it's been the privilege of my life to serve this nation for over 50 years. Nowhere else on earth could a kid with a stutter from modest beginnings in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and Claymont, Delaware, one day sit behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office as president United States. But here I am.

That's what's so special about America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Still defines himself as a kid with a stutter.

Let's bring in CNN's chief national affairs correspondent, Jeff Zeleny; Karen Finney, the former senior spokesperson for Hillary Clinton; and Jonah Goldberg, co-founder and editor in chief of "The Dispatch." Welcome to all of you.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

HUNT: Good morning. Jeff, let's -- I want to start with you just -- I mean, you have seen -- you've covered so many of these candidates over time. It is incredibly difficult to set this down. If you -- especially somebody -- it's so rare. Someone who has gained the power that he worked his entire life to gain.

What were your takeaways from the speech? What we heard and what we didn't hear?

ZELENY: Look, we didn't hear why he was leaving. We know what he's doing. We know what he's asking Americans to do, but he didn't really acknowledge why he was stepping aside.

[06:05:03]

And I think you could still hear some strains of disbelief in there by talking about, you know, I could still win. I believe that I, you know, have the record that could still be re-elected, but I'm stepping aside to unite the party.

I thought that was an interesting line, as well. Unite the party. Of course, he wants to unite the country, but the urgent task here is Democrats are divided.

And a week ago would have been almost unimaginable to hear him deliver that speech. But as time wore on, as he sat in Delaware over the weekend, he was a drag on the Democratic ticket. And he came to that realization, of course.

But seeing him in the Oval Office there, it was the beginning of his long goodbye. And I was just struck by another moment. In 2015, he stood -- he stood in the Rose Garden with Barack Obama, President Barack Obama, and he said he's not going to run for president. And that was intended to be the end of his chapter.

But he came back because of Donald Trump. So, he had a second act, I guess, but it was shorter than he hoped.

HUNT: Yes. And "The Long Goodbye." That's the headline on Peter Baker's piece this morning, where he talks about it was time to pass the torch, "but said nothing about his age, health, or capacity that led so many Democrats to desert him since the calamitous debate. He did not describe the journey from supreme confidence that he and he alone could beat former President Trump to the conclusion that he could not. Instead, it was an opportunity for a reset, to tell his story again on his own terms."

And Jonah Goldberg, this was the "Wall Street Journal" editorial board on the speech. They write this: quote, "Americans were left instead" -- They note, of course he did not answer these questions -- "to infer the reasons that Mr. Biden left, as he said, his accomplishments had earned him a second term, but would no longer seek it. His speech will do nothing to dispel the view that this was a coup by Democratic power brokers and that he and they and his aides had been hiding the truth about his decline from the voters for months, if not years."

What do you make of that?

JONAH GOLDBERG, CO-FOUNDER/EDITOR IN CHIEF, "THE DISPATCH": Yes. So, I agree with the first part. I really disagree with the second.

This was not a coup by Democratic power brokers. Democratic voters, and voters generally, have been yelling at pollsters for like two years, saying this guy shouldn't run, right, that he's too old. Don't run. We want a different choice.

And it was only after the debate that the Democratic power brokers said, holy crap, those guys are right. And they started to muster and do this stuff. And they convinced Joe Biden, to his credit, that they needed to switch out.

And you can just see the enthusiasm from Democrats now that proves the point; that they really did want to vote Democrat. They just didn't want to vote for him.

And so, where I agree with "The Journal" is that, look, I thought the text of last night's speech was a really bad missed opportunity. I thought a big chunk of it was -- read like a State of the Union address, just reading off campaign stuff about things he's done.

I get why he's proud of all of it, but I just don't think that was the appropriate venue for it.

I think the subtext of it was we don't -- "The Journal's" right. We don't -- we can infer. This guy, you just look at him, and you, like -- whatever sympathy you have for him, that's great, and empathy and all that. This does not look like a guy who can do 14-hour days campaigning for -- for reelection. And that's -- that was on display.

It's going to open up an argument about whether he can stay as president. I think that's an argument we can do for another day.

But I thought last night he did -- you know, you've just -- you've got to cut -- sort of cut the guy some slack if -- if you're giving him a gold watch early. And -- and you're saying -- and he's willingly going along with doing this, let him say the things that he wants to say, the way he wants to say them. And you can have arguments about it another time. KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: And I think that's a really

important point. I mean, look, he just did something that, if I'm not mistaken, nobody in the history of the world has ever done.

He has the most powerful position. And he said, OK, you know what? I'm going to pass the torch. Whoever does that?

HUNT: Lyndon Johnson did. Well --

GOLDBERG: George Washington.

FINNEY: OK. George Washington. Two in -- how long have we been on the earth?

So, but point being, I also think, though, that speech last night wasn't meant to be -- Let me tell you about my -- my sore knees and my hips and my this and my that. Because we'd be talking about that today. Right?

It was meant to be brief, to the point, because the -- part of our whole point as Democrats is we want to stop talking about the president's age and go back to talking about -- we want to be talking about Project 2025, because we know voters are scared of it, and it resonates. And we want to be talking about Kamala Harris.

And so, I think part of the goal was also, in his mind, to sort of set up, look, there's a positive record. Some may disagree, but there's a positive record that she's also part of that she gets to run on. And really, to make it more of a passing of the torch than a "let me tell you about all the physical ailments, and you guys were right. I should -- I should get out."

I -- I give him a lot of credit. And I think he deserves a lot of grace for it.

HUNT: Yes, and Jeff Zeleny, one of the numbers in our poll that we released yesterday that stood out to me in terms of what Jonah Goldberg was talking about, is this question we asked: "What should Biden do? Should he stay in office or not?"

[06:10:09]

And 70 percent of people said, yes, Biden should stay in office. Only 29 percent said he should resign.

This does seem to underscore that, again, one of the -- one of the things that I keep coming back to as we cover this just absolutely wild election cycle, is that, you know, I actually do really love American voters. Like, if you actually listen to them, they will tell you kind of what they can see.

And they could see things that a lot of people, you know, often weren't willing to say about President Biden.

What they're saying here is that they you can tell the difference between an ask for four more years and the ability to be in that job for six more months. Again, just being president instead of both being president and campaigning for president at the same time.

ZELENY: Yes, that number was pretty striking. I mean, seven in ten, you don't find 70 percent of the people agreeing with much of anything.

HUNT: On anything, yes.

ZELENY: So obviously, some Republicans and independents are in there, as well.

Look, I mean, it's been clear, to Jonah's point. I mean, voters have been saying this. We have been talking about age. The Democratic Party, you know, was thinking -- a lot of people were thinking about should he be primaried last year?

Obviously, that's a very risky move to primary a sitting president. So, they didn't.

But voters, you know, have no qualms about that. So, we've been, like, hearing them for the last year and more.

But the 70 percent of people who want him to stay, I think that answers the question for now, at least. I mean, yes, Republicans will talk about it. It's going to likely be an issue for Vice President Harris somewhat.

But I think unless there's some other type of incident or moment, I think he will not get as much attention except when they want him to get attention. And I think it'll be January before we know it.

GOLDBERG: It's also just worth -- the CNN poll had a -- I can't remember the exact number, but it was higher than 70 percent of Americans think he was right to not run again, right?

And so, like, there's this weird -- I mean, it's so. They do it in such angry terms. But the Trump process argument that this is an outrage, and we've nullified 14 million -- Americans, most Republicans, I mean, the vast majority of Republicans think that's a nonsense argument, too, right?

HUNT: Yes. Really, really interesting.

All right, coming up next here on CNN THIS MORNING.

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TRUMP: If you don't mind, I'm not going to be nice. Is that OK?

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HUNT: Not going to be nice. Are you surprised? Donald Trump previews how he plans would tack Kamala Harris as a new CNN poll shows the race tightening.

Plus, Congresswoman Debbie Dingell joins us live as President Biden begins his farewell to politics. And protesters in D.C. warning "Hamas is coming"? Wow.

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(SHOUTING)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Burn, baby, burn! Burn, baby, burn!

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:17:08]

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TRUMP: They say something happened to me when I got shot: I became nice. And when you're dealing with these people, they're very dangerous people. When you're dealing with them, you can't be too nice. You really can't be. So, if you don't mind, I'm not going to be nice. Is that OK?

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HUNT: The race is on to define Kamala Harris as she works to reintroduce herself as the person on the top of the ticket on her terms.

And Donald Trump tries to introduce her on his terms.

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TRUMP: If Kamala will lie to you so brazenly about Joe Biden's mental incapacity, then she will lie to you about anything. She can never, ever be trusted. She can't be trusted.

And just like Crooked Joe Biden, Kamala Harris is unfit to lead.

A vote for Kamala is a vote for four more years of dishonesty, incompetence, weakness, and failure. Other than that, she's doing an excellent job.

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HUNT: All right. Our panel is back.

Karen, you've got something to say there?

FINNEY: You know, the intentionality with which, and almost the glee on his face, when he mispronounces her name.

HUNT: Let me -- we've got a mash of all the times he does this. Let's watch this, because -- and I want to Karen pick up out of this, too, because it's intentional.

FINNEY: Yes. HUNT: And it does matter, I think. Watch.

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TRUMP: if Kam-AL-ah Harris gets in --

Lyin' Kam-AL-ah Harris.

Kam-AL-ah Harris is the most liberal elected politician in American history.

Kam-AL-ah threw open our borders.

Lyin' Kam-AL-ah Harris. Lyin'.

Kam-AL-ah, you're fired. Get out of here. You're fired.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: That was all yesterday. And again, it's KAHM-a-lah. It is not hard.

FINNEY: Right. It's easy. "Comma law." That's all you've got to do.

Yes, look, it's so intentional. And it's so obvious. It's -- it's othering. It is trying to make her seem like she's some bizarre-- not one of us.

It's -- you know, it's also demeaning, right? Because one of the most basic forms of respect is to pronounce somebody's name or to say, how do you pronounce your name?

And look, I mean, for African Americans, there's a whole history of we didn't get to choose our names for a very long time.

But most importantly, it's just such a sign of disrespect. And it's such an obvious, intentional way to try to belittle her and demean her on the national stage.

As to your point, they're trying to define her as someone who's insignificant.

HUNT: Jonah.

GOLDBERG: Yes.

HUNT: I'm intrigued by the look on your face.

GOLDBERG: Look, as someone who mispronounces words all the time, I think that there are people who, in good faith, just mispronounce her name.

I think Trump is a grumpy old 78-year-old guy. It might be deliberate. He's certainly looking to "other" her and do all sorts of terrible things to her. And I don't dispute that for a second.

[06:20:07]

But like, he mispronounced Buttigieg's name all the time, too. And people just sometimes get hooked up on this. So, I just don't know. It could be deliberate. It also might not be. I just -- I think that this is the kind of thing that plays really well among people who were already going to vote for Harris.

And making -- and there's so -- there's so many richer targets to point at about what they're going to say and do towards Harris that will play with persuadables in the middle.

I'm not sure, like, the on the -- on-the-bubble suburban voter is like, OK, now I'm going to vote for her, because Trump's mispronouncing her name.

HUNT: Well, I mean, I think that the point of it, though, is -- is instead, to underscore to people who have, you know -- all the reasons why it has been difficult for women and people of color to get elected in this country. He's trying to torque that --

GOLDBERG: Sure.

HUNT: -- tendency, right?

FINNEY: Yes. Yes.

HUNT: And this, Jonah, is -- is -- The Wall Street Journal" editorial board, you mentioned they're all -- they can be all of these other ways, right?

GOLDBERG: Yes.

HUNT: So, they have this -- their lead editorial this morning, I think they're trying to send a message to the Trump campaign and to other Republicans, because they basically walk through a lot of those possible attacks and say, don't do it.

So, they say, "The puzzle here is why all of this," the excitement about Harris, "seems to have confounded Republicans. They are grasping for attack lines that either aren't likely to work or are counterproductive. One bad argument is that Ms. Harris is a DEI candidate. Another misfire: asserting President Biden should resign now, since he isn't running for reelection. Calling out Ms. Harris for being childless is another false note. Some Republicans think they can win by portraying Ms. Harris as weird, as if her laugh is disqualifying. Too many Republicans seem to have bought the triumphal claims in the conservative press that Ms. Harris can't win. Of such media-bubble overconfidence are defeats made."

And again, this is a Murdoch-owned newspaper with a conservative editorial page.

GOLDBERG: Remember, there's a long history of "The Journal" running pieces trying to signal to Trump, don't go there. Mick Mulvaney wrote an op-ed that he got a lot of grief for, and he

later admitted was intended to -- he's like, there's no way Donald Trump would -- would question the outcome of the election, as a way to sort of like, you know, coach him not to do that.

I agree with "The Journal" on this for the most part. I think that the -- the media bubble stuff, if all you've done is watch FOX and hang out in the FOX News green room, you think there are all of these arguments that work on normals, that only work in your little echo chamber. And -- but Trump's going to do them anyway.

HUNT: Jeff.

ZELENY: Look, I've been surprised that, I mean, for as long as this has been sort of possibly in the works, how flatfooted the Trump campaign sort of has been on this, in terms of finding their footing, how to run against her.

Speaking about her name, though, Speaker Johnson has said it properly. Senator J.D. Vance said it properly last week at the convention. So, we'll see sort of what that split is.

But overall, big picture, the race to define her has been slower in some respects than I thought by both sides. Democrats are not really rushing to defend her in advertising and other things.

And Republicans are doing it somewhat, but not on things that probably matter to some voters in terms of her record and things.

HUNT: Yes.

ZELENY: So, this speech last night could not have been -- from the former president -- could not have been a stronger contrast of what's to come.

And her speech in Indianapolis and other things, talking about, you know, I know his type. I mean, that is the contrast now. And boy, it is not a favorable one for Trump.

HUNT: All right. Coming up next here, we're going to take a look at the chilling Google search that was made by the gunman who tried to assassinate Donald Trump.

Plus --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: You have officially become Iran's useful idiots.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Pro-Palestinian protesters -- many anti-Israel protesters -- causing chaos in D.C. during Benjamin Netanyahu's address to Congress.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [06:28:21]

HUNT: All right. Welcome back.

Chilling new details about the shooter who nearly killed former President Trump.

During the latest Capitol Hill hearing into the assassination attempt, the FBI director, Christopher Wray, shared a Google search that they found on Thomas Matthew Crooks's laptop.

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CHRISTOPHER WRAY, FBI DIRECTOR: He became very focused on former President Trump and this rally.

On July 6, he did a Google search for, quote, "How far away was Oswald from Kennedy?" And so that's a search that obviously is significant in terms of his state of mind.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: We know that Crooks was within just 150 yards of Trump when he opened fire. We also learned he scoped out the site with a drone just two hours before Trump took the stage.

Director Wray says efforts to identify an exact motive are still ongoing. So far, investigators have not found anything conclusive.

All right. Time now for weather. No relief in sight for areas out West battling wildfires. Mandatory evacuation orders remain in effect throughout Butte County in Northern California as the Park Fire continues to rapidly spread.

Let's get straight to our Weatherman van Dam.

Derek, good morning to you. What are you seeing out there?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, remember, Kasie, Butte County is the same county where the Camp Fire was located in 2018 that brought so much devastation.

So, look at this time lapse of the rapid-fire growth of this particular fire. And you can see just how quickly that spreads with the very volatile, on-the-ground dry, brittle conditions.

There are 88 active wildfires over the Western U.S. And I want to point this out. It is not just the Western U.S. impacted by wildfire activity.

I want to get right into the Western parts of Canada.