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Sources: Biden Says He'll Curtail Late Events So He Can Sleep; Rep. Nikema Williams (D-GA), Is Interviewed About Many Dems Expect "Inflection Point" When Congress Returns; Exit Poll: U.K. Labour Party Beats Conservatives In Landslide; Israel Approves Largest West Bank Land Seizure Since 1993. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired July 04, 2024 - 17:00   ET

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

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST -- have Joey Chestnut, who of course was barred from competing this year after he signed a deal with a plant based foods company, Impossible Foods. On the women's side today, Miki Sudo won, setting a new world record eating 51 hotdogs and buns.

Tonight, you want to avoid the big crowds and the heat, stay inside. Join us right here on CNN. The fourth in America coming your way live starting at seven. We have fireworks from across the country. Major musical performances, Bebe Rexha, T-Pain, The Killers, Ashanti and more. It all starts at seven Eastern right here. Happy Fourth.

The news continues right now on CNN with Pamela Brown in for Wolf Blitzer in the "Situation Room."

[17:00:50]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: Happening now, we are standing by for President Biden to give public remarks at a White House July 4 celebration as he tries to tamp down these growing concerns within his party about his reelection campaign and reassure voters that he is still up for the job. And we also have some new information coming in tonight about the President's face to face with Democratic governors last night, what we're learning about the crisis meeting and Biden's plans to cut back on events after 8:00 p.m. so we can get more sleep. And actually we're going to be talking to one of the governors that was there in that meeting.

And we're keeping an eye on elections in the United Kingdom where polls just flows right now. Conservatives are bracing for a potential political white ballot after 14 years in power. Standby for exit polls and results.

Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. Wolf Blitzer is off today. I'm Pamela Brown. And you're in the Situation Room.

First up tonight, President Biden's race to shore up support from top Democrats amid these growing concerns, his debate against Donald Trump might have been a fatal blow to his reelection campaign. I'm going to go straight to CNN's Priscilla Alvarez. She's at the White House.

So Priscilla, is the President's stumbling when it comes to damage control?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Pamela, it has now been a week since that debate, and the President and his team are still on cleanup duty. Now the President has tried to reassure his allies and even his campaign staff joining calls yesterday alongside Vice President Kamala Harris, and also convening those Democratic governors at a meeting here at the White House. And we are now learning more details about that candid conversation that happened behind closed door, the President's telling governors that he would stop doing events after 8:00 p.m. saying that he needs more sleep that according to sources, frustrating some of those in the room and also making some self-deprecating jokes. Let me read you some of this "New York Times" report that says that Mr. Biden replied to a question from the Hawaii governor about his health, that his health was fine, quote, "It's just my brain."

Some of the room took that as a joke. And then later his campaign co- chair said quote, "He was clearly making a joke." But it is these types of statements that frustrate some of his allies, the idea that the President is just fine that he is just as aggressive and he has the vigor for a second term. And basically telling allies to unseat what they saw on the debate stage. So that has been part of the cleanup that we have continued to see over the course of the last week, and that we will see more of in the days to come.

Of course, the President is scheduled to go to battleground Wisconsin and Pennsylvania over the weekend. He's also going to participate in that prime time interview with ABC News, all of this to try to show that that North Carolina rally that happened right after the debate where he was quite energetic, that it wasn't a fluke. That's what advisors are trying to accomplish here. Now whether they do, still a big question going into the next few days, but tonight, the President will be here at the White House enjoying the July 4 celebrations. And it will be a chance for reporters and those invited here to the White House to see him.

So, more to come, Pamela, but certainly still a scramble here in trying to respond to the ongoing criticism.

BROWN: And the White House can't get its story straight about whether President Biden saw a doctor after the debate. Now it's saying he did.

ALVAREZ: Well, that's added another complicated layer to all of this. A lot of conflicting responses coming from the White House. Over the last 24 hours, we had the White House press secretary say that the President didn't see a doctor. Recall that the President had a cold, that's what official said during the debate that was used as an explanation for his performance. Let me just take a listen to that particular exchange with my colleague MJ Lee.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Has the President had any medical exams since his last annual physical in February?

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: And we were able to talk to the -- to his doctor about that and that is a no. He did not get checked out by the doctor. It's a cold. Guys, it's a cold.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[17:05:02]

ALVAREZ: Now today we're hearing from a White House spokesperson that said the following, quote, "Several days later the President was seen to check on his cold and was recovering well." Essentially, the White House explanation here being it was a brief check, not a physical check like he had in February. But there have also been other explanations, the President himself telling donator -- donors at a Virginia fundraiser that he had jetlag, that he's been traveling too much, keeping too much of an aggressive schedule. So there has been evolving reasons that have been sort of trickling out of the White House and the campaign and certainly this was another one that just added more confusion to what has already been a very difficult few days as they tried to salvage his reelection bid. Pamela.

BROWN: All right, Priscilla Alvarez, thank you so much.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump is savoring this growing chaos inside the Biden campaign, the White House scene as Alayna Treene has details on a secretly recorded video where the former president bashes both President Biden and Vice President Harris.

So Alayna, what does Trump say on this video?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Well, look, it's interesting. And as you mentioned, Pamela, Trump but also Republicans in general are really relishing this period where so much attention is focused on Joe Biden's mental fitness, his physical fitness and of course, the criticism from the fallout of his poor performance at the debate last week. And due to that, Donald Trump has been uncharacteristically quiet this week. He's been laying low, his advisors say he's at his club in Bedminster, New Jersey. However, we did hear some criticism leak out on a video was first obtained by The Daily Beast and Donald Trump himself posted this video to his own Truth Social page.

And essentially, in this video, he is sharply criticizing Joe Biden as well as Kamala Harris and arguing that he actually thinks Harris may be an easier opponent. Take a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: How did I do on the debate the other night?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh fantastic.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, amazing.

TRUMP: I kicked that old, broken down pile of crap.

She's so pathetic.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's so amazing. TRUMP: She's just so fucking bad.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just can't imagine that.

TRUMP: But can you that guy with dealing with Putin and the president of China, who's a fierce person?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TRENNE: Now, Pamela, and I do apologize, I meant to warn our viewers that there was some profanity in there that Donald Trump used. But look, clearly a candid moment for Donald Trump. It's unclear if he knew he was being filmed on the golf course. But again, he did share this himself. So, he is happily criticizing both of these leaders in this moment.

And I will notice, though, or note, that I think something that's really interesting is for months now, we actually haven't really seen Donald Trump and his campaign attack Vice President Harris instead, they've largely ignored her. However, that started to change this week as reality has snuck in that potentially she could succeed Joe Biden as the Democratic Party's nominee. And so, there's a lot of discussion behind the scenes about how to deal with this. But right now, Republicans and Donald Trump himself are trying to continue to let Joe Biden and the Democrats be the story.

BROWN: And how else is Trump trying to seize on this moment?

TREENE: Well, Pamela it's interesting because they really are uncertain about how to move forward, just as all of America is waiting to see what Democrats and Joe Biden does around his own candidacy. Republicans are also watching that very closely. And they do not know what's going to happen. I have to say from my conversations with many of Trump's advisors as well as many allies close to the former president, they actually thought that this wouldn't be as big of an issue heading into this week. They thought there was going to be a lot of hand wringing, following the debate, but I got frantic calls from all corners of Trump world on Monday afternoon, asking what's going to happen?

Is he going to step down? Who's going to potentially replace them? So again, they are very uncertain about how to move forward. And I think one of the issues for them is that they have spent months over a year, really, building out their general campaign infrastructure, mining data, honing their data operation, and the money, all of that geared toward a single person going against Joe Biden. And so they're trying to look now behind the scenes about how that may have to change for their own campaign. Pamela.

BROWN: And as you noted earlier, they're already starting to focus more on Kamala Harris now. Alayna Treene, thank you so much.

Let's get more insight from our political experts. Yasmine, I want to bring you in first to get your thoughts. CNN has learned that President Biden told governors during their meeting that he needs to work fewer hours and not schedule events past 8:00 p.m. How is that message being received?

YASMEEN ABUTALEB, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, "THE WASHINGTON POST": I think it's exacerbating concerns about whether he can do the job for another four years. I've done a lot of reporting on people who have observed, you know, signs of accelerated aging and these are mostly physical traits, you know, stiffer gait that people can see in public. You know, sometimes seeming a little bit less engaged in meetings. Everyone says he's still sharp and engaged and asking probing questions. But a big part of the job of president is physical.

[17:10:01]

Being able to do a lot of travel, being able to respond to crises at all hours of the day, being able to hold meetings as long as you need to depending on what's going on. This president has managed a lot of different crises throughout his presidency, a lot of them, you know, wars overseas. And so I think, you know, this idea that he needs to sleep more and work fewer hours just sort of plays into the existing and now heightened concerns about his age and what it means about his ability to do this. Not right now, necessarily, but for another four years.

BROWN: Yes. Because even before this, before these comments from him, there was reporting about, you know, prepping for the debate, sorry, that 11, they had scheduled naptime and so forth.

So, Maria, is that really the right message to calm growing concerns about President Biden's fitness for office?

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think the way that they're doing that is exactly what they are -- what they have started to do, what they're going to continue to do, which is not just those meetings behind closed doors, Pamela, but to show him in public with interviews, George Stephanopoulos is interview tomorrow. He did interviews with black radio hosts yesterday. The host came on to CNN and said, what a positive interview it was, how focused he was, how forceful he was, how honest he was. And the massive calls that they got afterward saying that they are with Joe Biden.

And look, Pamela, I think that if we're going to pile on to all of the issues that Joe Biden has health wise, and it came from that "New York Times" piece, there were a couple of paragraphs in that "New York Times" piece that were very damning about Donald Trump. Both of these guys are old, talked about how Donald Trump is also declining, how he is in meetings, he, you know, starts to trail off and talks incoherencies. And in rallies, we've seen him say, names that are incorrect, dates that are incorrect, talk gibberish. And so again, if we're going to compare the two of them, let's compare the two. And what I have been hearing from so many voters from groups of people who are actually going door to door with voters and the swing states, and let's remember, those are the people that matter, a massive amount of voters are still sticking with Joe Biden.

Because you know why, Pamela, they saw what we all saw on Thursday night, but they also heard what they heard. And they have all said that they will take Joe Biden on his worst night versus Donald Trump, who wants to impose an imperial presidency, who wants to rip babies from the arms of their mother, who wants to impose military tribunals to go after their -- his political opponents. All of those things matter, Pamela, because that means that is an existential threat to so many Americans in so many communities. And that is the contrast and the choice that we have in this election.

BROWN: But I don't think there's a question, Maria, of, you know, for Democrats, for many Democrats, are they going to take Biden over Trump? It's a question of, can Biden beat Trump in November, in the wake of that debate performance?

Charlie Dent, I want to bring you in. You've written this new op-ed entitled, quote, "For the good of the country, Dems must persuade President Biden to step aside." What do you think do you think? Do you think Democrats are doing enough to make that case to the President?

CHARLIE DENT, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No, I think that Democrats have frankly, not been very transparent about this situation. I've been saying for about a year that one of these candidates is too old, and one is too dangerous. We've known this. The American people have been telling us this, the debate simply reinforced that position. Many people are concerned about President Biden's capacity to serve a full four year term.

This election is not about the past four years. It's about the next four years. You know, we have a situation now, whether your saying it's a choice between the incapable and the unimaginable. That's where we are right now. And I think I'd like to hear from some physicians about what happened. I mean, I know what I watched.

And it just struck me that Joe Biden -- that was the beyond the bad night. That was almost a catastrophic event for the president. And if democracy is in fact on the ballot, if the rule of law on the constitutional order in people's rights, you might want to put somebody on the stage who can actually make the argument. That was not happening. Fifty million people watched that debate.

Many millions more are hearing the analysis and watching the worst moments. So I think this is an enormous problem. And I do think for the good of the country, Biden should step aside and the Democrats who put up the next generation of leadership like Joe Biden said he was going to do part of transitioning being that transitional candidate. Well, you have to transit. He should transit out.

I think a lot of Democrats probably agree with me on this point. Republicans are enjoying their shot for the moment. They don't have to say anything at all. I think they probably prefer Biden to stay in the race right now because they see him as a very weakened candidate.

BROWN: Let me bring you in, Ana, because you know, Charlie just brought up this idea of hearing from a physician. Reporters in the White House press briefing room had been asking for information. And there have been conflicting -- there's been conflicting information coming from the White House about whether Biden got checked out after this debate, right? You had the press secretary saying no, he did not. He did not get any medical exams. [17:15:15]

Now, in light of this meeting with the President and the governor is where it came out. He told them that he had been checked out several days after the debate. Now the White House is saying, oh, yes, actually, he was looked at a few days later by a doctor for the cold. How concerning is that to you?

ANA NAVARRO, CNN SENIR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: OK, I think I feel like we are dicing, splicing, parsing, dissecting everything that the White House says, everything that Joe Biden says. It's fair. It's fair, because what we saw last Thursday, we can't unsee.

I also think Karine may have -- Jean-Pierre may have misspoken on what she thinks is getting checked out by a doctor may not be what other --

BROWN: It wasn't a misspoken. She said flat out, no, she checked and she said no, the doctor said no.

NAVARRO: OK. But the way to solve this, Pamela, if I hope that tomorrow in that interview he does with George Stephanopoulos on ABC News, he number one, clearly explains what happened last Thursday night. Was in a perfect storm of jetlag, of over preparation, of too much on the schedule, of being 81 years old and losing a step. And number two, I want to know whether this was a one night or whether he knows he has a medical condition.

And I believe that Joe Biden has proven himself to be a truthful person. And that if he gets asked directly, do you have early stage Alzheimer's? Do you have early stage dementia? Has a doctor told you that you have a condition? Or was this just an 81-year-old being an 81-year-old, he will tell us the truth.

I hope he gets asked those questions directly. I hope he answers them directly.

BROWN: I want to bring you in Yasmeen because you heard Ana say, look, we're all dicing and splicing. But the reality is people in the American public, the voters are looking at what's coming out of the White House right now and trying to assess what's going on with Biden. Is this someone I want to vote for in November? Can he do the job the next four years? How much does the White House's initial denial and later admission of the medical visit feed into this narrative that it isn't being transparent about President Biden's health?

ABUTALEB: I think, you know, to your point, the debate heightened concerns that, you know, was this just an off night for Biden or is this what he's like and they were hiding it? And I think every time there's some piece of information that is later corrected or doesn't seem quite right, it plays into -- not just among the public, even among Democratic lawmakers about what isn't isn't going on. I think that the stretch of the next few days is going to be extremely critical for President Biden. I think it's hard to overstate just how important these next few days are going to be because this is going to be his chance to try to allay concerns. And if he's not able to, I think there's going to be a renewed push about or at least a renewed discussion about, is he the best person to have at the top of the ticket.

He's got two campaign events this weekend, one in Wisconsin, one in Philadelphia. He has his first sit down interview with ABC News on Friday. And I will say I've spoken to Democrats into allies of the White House who have questioned why it's taken so long to get the President out there. And I think that has only increased anxiety about if why can't he get out there faster? Why wasn't able to get out and do an interview on Sunday right after the debate to allay concerns.

Why is it taking this long? So I think these next few days and the next week, he's hosting, you know, here in D.C. with a number of leaders, he's supposed to do a solo press conference. So I really do think we can't overstate just how important these next few days are going to be into whether or not he can salvage his candidacy.

BROWN: All right. And we will be --

NAVARRO: Can I say something?

BROWN: Yes.

NAVARRO: Can I say something? I think it's unfair to say that he hasn't been out there. I saw Joe Biden last Friday. And in the 24 hours after the debate, he did the debate, he then went to a waffle house where he interacted with people, we saw it. He then greeted people on the tarmac at RDU in Raleigh Durham when he landed there at two in the morning.

He then did a rally in North Carolina that we all saw, CNN and other networks carried it live. He then went to Stonewall in New York and did a commemoration. And at 9:00 at night, I interacted with him. I spoke with him and I saw him give a speech at the DNC 25th Anniversary Gala for the LGBTQ.

So, I'm tired just telling you everything he did and he did it and we saw it and we've seen clips and we've seen it on social media. You know, you don't have to do an interview anymore. That's not the way the -- maybe the best way to get the most amount of viewers. But to say that he hasn't been out there, during the weekend he went out and he did fundraising in --

BROWN: Ana, there's a difference.

NAVARRO: -- Pennsylvania.

BROWN: I think just for Yasmeen's point is there is a difference between like going out and hobnobbing and doing campaign events and giving your stump speech or reading off a prompter and doing something that's like where you're under a lot of pressure and you have to be quick on your feet. Is that what you were saying, Yasmeen? I don't want to take your words away from you.

[17:20:18]

ABUTALEB: No, that's exactly it. And that is fair. He did a number of events right after the debate. The North Carolina rally did I think briefly allay some concerns because he was energetic and looked much better there. But I do think there is this concern about him being able to handle unscripted settings like a debate, like a T.V. interview. And I think the White House also recognizes them, they're acknowledging they need to put the president in more of those settings.

They are scheduling more interviews for him now. He is going to do the solo press conference. They recognize that they need to demonstrate that he can not only do campaign rallies and fundraisers and, you know, things that are more scripted, but these unscripted settings, handle questions on the fly and prove to people he's so quick on his feet.

BROWN: And he is -- he has been doing -- he did an interview with this radio host from Wisconsin. We're actually going to interview him later in the show to talk about that interview as well. So he is starting to get out there more.

But I take all of your points. Thank you for giving your insights and your perspective on all of this unfolding during this really consequential time on this Fourth of July holiday. We appreciate it.

And coming up, we have a live look at the White House where President Biden is expected to speak any moment as a July 4 event for members of the military. We're going to take you there live when we see the president.

Plus, more on the White House's evolving headlines on the president's health including that he did see a doctor in the days after the CNN debate.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:25:35]

BROWN: Tonight, the story from the White House is shifting once again. A spokesperson now says President Biden was seen by a doctor in the days after his CNN debate that caused a lot of concern despite a denial just yesterday. I want to bring in CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Jonathan Reiner.

Dr. Reiner, so we know the President Biden now we know did see a doctor in the days after the CNN debate. The White House maintains he had a cold. What does all of this suggest to you?

DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Well, I think there's a little bit of semantics here. It's important to understand that the president's medical care isn't like what, you know, you and I have to do to see a physician or make an appointment. The President has a team of some of the world's best docs that are within every single day. And they see him every single day. So I'm sure in the hours and days after the debate, the president did talk to his physician, because he talks to his doctors every day.

So, you know, I think by that measure, yes, I'm sure it's true, he did -- he was evaluated by a physician. Now whether or not that was a, you know, sort of full scale, you know, examination and blood drawn and imaging, who knows? But I'm sure he was seen by a physician in those days after the debate.

BROWN: What would you be looking for if you were examining an 81-year- old, with a cold after seeing his debate performance?

REINER: Well, first of all, we didn't really see any symptoms, maybe the President did have a cold or an upper respiratory tract infection, but he didn't really display any symptoms of that, the typical, you know, runny nose, or coughing, you know, those kinds of symptoms. But we, you know, I certainly take the president at his word.

Look, I think what we're trying to understand now is the chronicity of what we saw last week. You know, was this basically the first time anyone has seen the president looks so sort of disconnected and so pale and so fragile? Or is this the continuation of a trend? And I think that kind of important granularity is what we need to see here.

Not just from the Biden campaign, but also from the Trump campaign. We know much less about the health of the former president, than we do about the health of the current president. And this whole discussion, though, is not about age, there's a lot of talk about the age of these candidates. What we're really talking about is the health of both of those candidates. We know nothing about Trump, we know a lot about the president.

But I think we need to know more about the context of what happened last week.

BROWN: So let me just follow up on that because in several events, since the CNN debate, President Biden has appeared vigorous. He has had a really busy, jam packed schedule where you haven't seen what we all saw on the debate stage. But is it your sense that it's only a matter of time before we see another instance where Biden is like we saw him on that stage?

REINER: Well, again, it depends. If this has happened before, if, you know, his age and his immediate staff have seen this before, then I'm sure we'll see it again. If this was a one off event, then maybe not. But you're right. The day after the debate in North Carolina, the president looked great.

So, what was different? You know, perhaps the President got a lot more sleep. And one piece of the President's history that's important to understand is that he has sleep apnea, which deprives people of restorative sleep. So maybe, on top of, you know, his entire medical picture, he has trouble sleeping. Maybe he had a lot of trouble sleeping before the debate for, you know, for all kinds of reasons. And that's why he looks so awful.

But it would be important for the White House to address these concerns directly rather than having a speculate because there's so much concern about the health of the President. Lay all the cards out on the table, turn them all up. So, there is really no speculation and we just have the facts. I think that's --

BROWN: Yes.

REINER: -- the right thing to do. And it's important to do that for both candidates.

BROWN: Yes, it absolutely is for both candidates for certain. Dr. Reiner, thank you.

[17:30:07]

Up next, we're going to talk with a leading Democrat from a critical swing state in the middle of what is a critical 48 hours for the Biden campaign. Congresswoman Nikema Williams, who also leads the Georgia Democratic Party is here with us live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: All right, let's get back to our top story tonight, President Biden's floundering reelection campaign throwing the entire Democratic Party into chaos. CNN Sunlen Serfaty has more on the ripple effects from Biden's debate performance against Donald Trump. So Sunlen, what is the mood among Democrats in Congress?

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Pam, anxiety is only increasing by the days with many congressional Democrats really ramping up their criticism. We heard some new notable comments from Congressman Scott Peters. He said just today in a local T.V. interview that he thinks Biden's response since the debate has been arrogant. And he says that the Democratic Party needs a new nominee if the President cannot show that he can actually win this race. And that is a sentiment that is shared from many, many congressional Democrats.

[17:35:19]

We heard from Congressman Huffman today, he put it bluntly, he said he doesn't know if President Biden is the best position to lead the Democrats. Here's more of what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JARED HUFFMAN (D-CA): So we need a reset, we need a course correction, we've got to acknowledge that this was not just one bad night, if President Biden decides that in the interest of defeating Donald Trump and saving this democracy and the free world from everything he represents that he is ready to pass the torch. It needs to be and I think should be Vice President Harris.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: And House Democratic leaders are really taking stock of this moment, they convened a conference call last night where the top leaders heard from many members, some of the top members in Congress and there really was a divided according to sources familiar with the call, Pam, some expressed that they want Biden to go. They want him to go now and that they want leadership to communicate that to President Biden. There were others that were worried about the frenzy in this sources word of what that would do if the nominee were replaced. One thing is for certain, Democrats right now are really waiting and circling tomorrow on the week's calendar. They are paying close attention to how he performs in the "ABC" interview how he performs out on the campaign trail. And they're going to make up their mind based on how he performs there. But certainly a critical next few days for President Biden in the terms of the eyes of congressional Democrats who are worthy, of course, about their ability to flip the House. Pam?

BROWN: Yes. Lots of different, you know, viewpoints or camps behind the scenes, some who say he should go, others say he shouldn't. So I'm still trying to figure out what should happen next. Sunlen Serfaty, thank you for bringing us behind the scenes to those conversations.

And joining us now is Democratic Congresswoman Nikema Williams. She's also the Democratic Party chair of Georgia. Hopefully, Congresswoman, you can also shed some light on what's going on behind the scenes because you just heard your Democratic colleague Jared Huffman say Democrats need a quote, course correction. What do you think about that? Do you believe President Biden is the strongest candidate to win in November?

REP. NIKEMA WILLIAMS (D-GA): Well, Happy 4th of July, Pam.

BROWN: You too.

WILLIAMS: I agree with Congressman Huffman, we need a course correction and we need to stay focused on the ultimate prize. I sit in the seat that was once held by the late Congressman John Lewis. And he always taught us to keep your eyes on the prize. Our eyes are on winning in November, we must defeat Donald Trump. President Biden is our nominee, the voters have spoken. I will always Tempus out the voices of the voters. Yes, we've heard a lot of people who want the President removed from the ticket.

But what I'm hearing from people on the ground is a completely different sentiment. So we need to continue to focus on the job at hand. And that is defeating the person who cheered on overturning Roe v. Wade, that's defeating the person who said he would be a dictator on day one, we have a job to do as Democrats in this country to continue to save our democracy, and that is defeating Donald Trump.

BROWN: And to be clear that you believe President Biden is the best person for that job to beat Donald Trump.

WILLIAMS: Pam, President Biden is our nominee. And so I hear from him that he is not our nominee, I am standing behind him. And I'm going to continue to do everything that I can in my deep blue district in this Periwinkle state to bring it home for him once again.

BROWN: OK. Well, I want to look at this because President Biden has fallen even further behind Trump in our CNN poll of polls since the debate. So how is he going to turn this around? I mean, I hear you, you say, you're going to stand behind him. You're going to help him cross the finish line. But how is that going to happen? WILLIAMS: We have to continue to have the conversation, Pam. We always knew that this would be a tough race, especially here in Georgia, where we won by only 11,780 votes. So that is why when we're having these conversations, it's important to remember what we're up against in this election. That's what we remind voters about. We have someone who literally celebrated overturning Roe v. Wade. That is Donald Trump. That's what you get in November, if we don't get to work and do the job to turn out Democrats and win in November.

BROWN: So what do you expect to happen because we keep talking about how crucial these next few days are? Do you expect more of her colleagues will call for President Biden to step aside? Or do you think, you know, we've seen kind of the extent of, you know, your colleagues coming out publicly to say that where do you think we are as you're having these conversations with your colleagues?

WILLIAMS: I think people want to hear from the President. They want more of what we saw the morning after the debate in North Carolina. They want more of President Biden been on the campaign trail in front of the voters telling his story, we want to see that. And we also want to see this interview that's coming up on Friday night, so that the President can share his record. The President can defend himself. And then what we need to do is get on the campaign trail with ourselves and continue to tell the story of how Democrats have delivered for the American people.

[17:40:29]

BROWN: So as you're talking to some of the voters on the ground, you know, Democrats looking at this, what's the sense you're getting from then? Do you get the sense that, you know, there are some who might have been taken aback by his debate performance, you're still able to convince them that he's up for the job? What are you hearing from them?

WILLIAMS: I mean, absolutely. People watch the debate. And we're not going to tell you, you didn't see what you saw. It was awful. And people were cringing and people wanted to know, what is the path forward? And then people saw the President the next day in North Carolina, and they saw the man that they have known for years serving this country, and they see the last three and a half years of what he's done as President. And then there are concerns about the alternative, about the 34 felony counts that Donald Trump has about him cheering on overturning Roe v. Wade, about the way he has told us who that he would be a dictator on day one. So voters are clear. We have a lot of smart voters across this country, and they understand what's at stake in this election.

BROWN: All right, Congresswoman Nikema Williams, thank you for your time on this holiday. We appreciate it. And Happy Fourth.

WILLIAMS: Thank you, Pam.

BROWN: Just ahead, breaking news coming in right now on a changing of the guard plane out in London. Polls just closing a national elections that could wipe out conservatives. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:45:50]

BROWN: Breaking news, the United Kingdom appears to be on the brink of a major power shift with exit polls showing the Conservative Party losing its majority in parliament after 14 years at the helm. CNN's Matthew Chance is right outside the Prime Minister's residence in London. Matthew, what do we know about the results so far?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, the first exit poll has within the past few minutes, Pamela, just been published and indicates a dramatic landslide victory for the opposition Labour Party. The exit polls suggesting that the Labour Party, which has been out of power for the past 14 years could win a massive 410 seats. There's only 650 seats in the British Parliament. So that would give them a majority of 170 more than every other party in the parliament.

The Conservatives you can see there currently the governing party, they will go down to 131 seats according to the exit polls put some context on that. That's the worst performance for the Conservative Party in their history. And so it's an absolutely decimating for them. A real election for change by the British public, a reflection of that there's been a tweet, well, a post on X rather by Keir Starmer who is the leader of the Labour Party and would become the next prime minister of Britain.

And it says this, to everyone who has campaigned for Labour in this election, who everyone who has voted for us and put their trust in our changed Labour Party, thank you. Changed Labour Party because just in 2019, Labour was seen as radically left wing, it suffered its worst election defeat back in 2019 as well. Keir Starmer, has dragged it into the center ground, making it electable, not just electable, but elected virtually now. It couldn't be his opinion polls, with the biggest majority almost in the Labour Party's history. And so a very significant moment of political change here in Britain. Pamela?

BROWN: Yes. It certainly is that the voters sending a very strong message to the Conservative Party that they want change now to the U.K. Labour Party. Matthew Chance, thank you so much.

Coming up tonight on this Fourth of July, a live report from Jerusalem on new movement today and talks for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:52:10]

BROWN: Just in to CNN, a senior administration official tells us a framework is now in place for a hostage deal and ceasefire in Gaza. CNN Jerusalem correspondent Jeremy Diamond is joining us now live with an update. So Jeremy, these talks have been stop and go for months. Does this time feel different? JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: There's no question about it, Pam. I mean, this is a really significant moment. This is the closest that Israel and Hamas have gotten to a ceasefire deal in months, perhaps even the closest they've gotten since that last truce fell apart at the beginning of December. And that's because for months now what we've been watching is these two parties negotiating through the mediators on a framework for this agreement. And now, a senior administration official is saying that a framework is now effectively in place between these two sides.

And today, the Israeli prime minister authorizing his lead negotiator, the Mossad director, David Barnea, to begin engaging in detailed negotiations. These are the kinds of details that have been put aside for months now in search of a broad strokes framework it -- to get things going in the first place. And now they will hone in not only on the implementation of the ceasefire agreement, but details like the identity of the Palestinian prisoners, who would be released as part of this agreement, the exact ratios of hostages to Palestinian prisoners, for example, and many, many other details.

One source familiar with the talks telling me that this process is expected to take two to three weeks. And while this is a significant moment, we should caveat all of this with saying that the outcome is far but assured and certainly we do not have a finalized deal in hand and nothing is agreed to until everything is ultimately agreed to. But certainly significant progress, and now these parties are set to enter those detailed negotiations in Doha, Qatar very soon.

BROWN: And as all this is going on, Israel is making a major land grab in the occupied West Bank, right?

DIAMOND: Yes, that's right. According to peace, now, an advocacy group that tracks these movements, the Israeli military civil administration of making the largest seizure of Palestinian land in the West Bank, in the history of this since the 1993 Oslo Accords that set out a path for a two-state solution between the Israelis and the Palestinians. This is nearly five square miles more than 3,000 acres of land. And it makes it that much more difficult to try and establish an independent Palestinian state in the future.

And what's so significant about this, beyond the fact that this is the largest that we've seen since 1993, is the context of this and the fact that this Israeli government is the most right wing government in its history. And it has made very clear that not only is it going to continue to ramp up moves like this, ramping up the construction of new housing units in Israeli settlements in the West Bank. But also Bezalel Smotrich, the finance minister, who has a huge amount of influence over moves exactly like this, he has made very clear that all of these moves are intended to try and prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state in the future. Pam?

[17:55:20]

BROWN: All right, Jeremy Diamond, thank you so much for bringing us the latest from Jerusalem. Coming up tonight, more on our top story, President Biden in damage control mode. What we're learning from Democratic governors inside a crisis meeting at the White House last night. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Happening now, new fallout from President Biden's debate debacle. Democratic governor speaking to CNN about their crisis meeting at the White House last night where the President said he plans to curtail his late night events so he can get more sleep. One of the governors inside that meeting joins me live this hour.

And for his part, Donald Trump is relishing the chaos inside his opponent's campaign. New video showing the former president bashing Biden and Harris as we learn new details about Republicans plans to take on the Vice President if she rises to the top of the ticket, a gift at this moment.

[18:00:05]

Plus, Hurricane Beryl is tearing across the Caribbean Sea tonight --