should enumerate some of our really should enumerate some of our very deep— really should enumerate some of our very deep bench the throw their names— very deep bench the throw their names into the ring and call those democrats, those delegates, and see whether_ democrats, those delegates, and see whether or— democrats, those delegates, and see whether or not there's a basis support— whether or not there's a basis support for them there was mark. i�*m support for them there was mark. i'm sure support for them there was mark. sure those support for them there was mark. in sure those phone calls are being taken place with a lot of energy around the country. stephanie on monday, stay with us as our panel here on this life breaking news programme. if you'rejustjoining programme. if you're just joining us, programme. if you'rejustjoining us, you're watching bbc news, and katrina perry, and we are continuing here with our major breaking news story in washington, dc. us presidentjoe biden has analyses and in his reelection bid, withdrawing his name from the 2024 presidential election race and endorsing vice president kamala harris for the democratic nomination. the biden campaign is already filed with the us federal election commission to change the name to harris for president. in a statement on next, joe biden said it is been the

greatest honour of his life to serve as your president, and what it is been my intention to seek reelection, i believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term. that was a statement from joe biden, and then a little later, in a separate post, he said:... the 81—year—old president, currently in isolation while recovering from covid, was under increasing criticism since that poor debate performance against his republican opponent donald trump in latejune in atlanta. a number of democrats called the president biden to end his campaign, democratic donors were also threatening to pull funding. former president donald trump has reacted

to the news from joe biden on truth sociable, saying: trickettjoe biden was not fit to run for president and certainly not fit to serve, and never was. he only attained the position of president by lies, fake news, and not leaving his basement. all those around him, including his doctor and the media, knew that he wasn't capable of being president, and he wasn't — and now, look what he's done to our country, with millions of people coming across our border, totally unchecked and unvetted, many from prisons, mental institutions, and record numbers of terrorists. we will suffer greatly because of his presidency, but we will remedy the damage he has done very quickly. make america great again!"

former president donald trump concluding that statement with" make america vice president kamala harris says she is �*honored' to receive mr biden's endorsement for the nomination. in a statement released via the biden campaign she says with this selfless and patriotic act, president biden is doing what he has done throughout his life of service: putting the american people and our country above everything else. i am honored to have the president's endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination. we have 107 days until election day. together we will fight. and together, we will win. joining me is north america correspondent nomia iqbal. thanks forjoining us. a lot of reaction coming into this announcement from joe biden that he will not seek re—election. how have people been commenting on it? yes, there has been, as you can imagine, caitriona, so much global reaction. ijust want imagine, caitriona, so much global reaction. i just want to read imagine, caitriona, so much global reaction. ijust want to read to you a statement by the australian prime minister, who has praised joe biden for his leadership and ongoing service. anthony albanese has said

that the australia us alliance has been stronger, with our shared commitment to democratic values, international security, economic prosperity and climate action for this and future generations. poland's leader mr tusk paid tribute to biden, saying he had made democracy stronger. the kremlin has also released a statement, russia saying that it is following developments of the president biden announced that he was leaving the race. i wanted to let you also know that the white house has released another statement, that the white house has released anotherstatement, in that the white house has released another statement, in which they insist that president biden will finish his current term in office despite the fact that he has stepped down as a candidate. the statement basically says, he looks forward to finishing his term and delivering more historic results for the american people. as we have been seeing, some of the reaction from the republican party is that if president biden is not capable to run again, he should not remain as president, that he should stand down now. but so far, there has been no

suggestion, i think the white house puts that to bed at the moment, that he has considered such a move. nomia, is there any indication yet from within the dnc is to how the democrats will run this convention now they have to pick a new nominee and a whole new vice presidential nominee? in terms of what happens next, we know that kamala harris has said she earn their work will earn the nomination. she doesn't automatically get the nomination. she has been endorsed by president biden, but it could be that other members of the democratic party will put their hats in the ring. we know there are many who have been suggested as potential candidates. so far, they have not released any sort of statement suggesting they would challenge kamala harris, and in terms of what happens next, you will have the dnc happening in

august, and they have said previously that they don't want an open convention. they would view that as chaotic. but who knows what will happen? president 0bama released a statement earlier in which he paid tribute tojoe biden, obviously, the vice president who served him loyally for eight years, but he didn't endorse kamala harris. his statement basically indicated that he would want an open process, so we are few weeks away from democratic national convention. usually, the nomination is sewn up by then, and in the past, conventions have been open, but they have changed in recent decades. so i guess, caitriona, it isjust a case of seeing if anyone will challenge kamala harris for that nomination. and, nomia, onjoe biden himself, do we know anything further about his movements for the rest of the week? he is obviously isolating with covid

at the moment, but he is due to meet the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu later. neta nyahu later. he is, netanyahu later. he is, and there was lots of speculation in the last few weeks about what was going to happen with president biden. was he going to stand down or not, and if so, there was this consensus across the american media that it might not happen before benjamin netanyahu's visit, given that they are not on the friendliest terms, that he would not want to do that beforehand. we understand that meeting are still going ahead. mr biden is said to be at his home in delaware. he has said that he will publicly make a statement, addressing the nation at some point in the coming days. i think there might be questions asked why he released a statement on social media and not addressed the nation, but he has indicated that he will be doing that in the coming days, and i imagine we will hear more from him, probably similar to what is in his statement, but

perhaps also urge the democratic party to unify behind a candidate, who we know from his statement is kamala harris. nomia iqbal, thanks for keeping as up—to—date as always. we will be back to you a little later. former us president barack 0bama, a staunch ally of mr biden, issued a statement of confidence in a process to select a presidential nominee, saying: �*we will be navigating uncharted waters in the days ahead. but i have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges. i believe thatjoe biden's vision of a generous, prosperous, and united america that provides opportunity for everyone will be on full display at the democratic convention in august. potential contenders in the running for consideration at the forthcoming democratic national convention released statements praising president biden.

california governor gavin newsom said president biden has been an extraordinary, history—making president, a leader who has fought hard for working people and delivered astonishing results for all americans. he will go down in history as one of the most impactful and selfless presidents. and similarly, michigan governor gretchen whitmer said on x: president biden is a great public servant who knows better than anyone what it takes to defeat donald trump. she went on to say: myjob in this election will remain the same: doing everything i can to elect democrats and stop donald trump. let's talk about all this with my panel, former democratic congresswoman stephanie murphy and former republican congressman rodney davis. definitely, to you first. on this issue of potential likely contenders, people have started to endorse kamala harris, but do you expect people will pop their heads up expect people will pop their heads

up and declare an interest? —— stephanie. i certainly hope they do. we need some sort of primary process that is open and transparent so that whoever comes out of it on the other side has a unifying effect and support of the democratic party, which i think is incredibly important. but the other thing is that a primary process road—test your candidate, and i think in large part, we mist some of that with the absence of a fuller primary. i know here in florida, i didn't have a chance to vote in a primary, because there wasn't a primary vote biden here in florida. we can't repeat that mistake again. we need an open and transparent process by which the voters get the chance to see the various candidates and what opportunities might exist for the party leadership. given that kamala harris is the vice president and has now been endorsed by the president, how much of an

appetite is there within the party for other individuals to put themselves forward? would that be considered rude, would it be considered rude, would it be considered offensive to the vice president? it is a lot less rude than actually a fuller primary, because in this case, they are just trying to convince the dnc delegates, who are a little over 2000 people who have been nominated to select the candidate. and i think it wasn't until recent decades that the nomination process was so closed. it used to be that it was a bit more of a competition, and it was in recent decades that some of the rules were changed, so by the time we got to nomination, that person was already locked in. so it is kind of throwing this back open to be very, very democratic process, even though it

is a bit messy. but democracy is messy, and sol is a bit messy. but democracy is messy, and so i think that's just kind of a reflection of a moment in time where this party is trying to reflect the concept of the will of the people and having vigorous debate now that the presumptive nominee who was not yet nominated has decided to step aside. sol think any losses to be determined in the next days and weeks as we see who else is willing to step forward. but even if no one else steps forward, i think whoever has the presidential nomination has the opportunity to pick a really exciting vice president, and so this is all upside opportunity for a party that is responding to where the american people are, which was that they wanted different choices for this election. and, rodney, how should the republican party approach to campaign in the coming weeks if there is a sort of primary process going on within the democrats? what should donald trump and jd vance be doing? they should continue to travel

throughout the country, reminding americans— throughout the country, reminding americans why they should vote for them, _ americans why they should vote for them, where they need to return republicans to the white house. and also, sit _ republicans to the white house. and also, sit back with some popcorn and watch _ also, sit back with some popcorn and watch the _ also, sit back with some popcorn and watch the democrats in disarray. at some _ watch the democrats in disarray. at some point, — watch the democrats in disarray. at some point, we have to continue to id some point, we have to continue to go back_ some point, we have to continue to go back to — some point, we have to continue to go back to deflect democrat gas lighting — go back to deflect democrat gas lighting that is going to take place — lighting that is going to take place. they are talking about this being _ place. they are talking about this being a _ place. they are talking about this being a democratic process. the 2000 delegates, _ being a democratic process. the 2000 delegates, just like those delegates in milwaukee that we stood above and watch _ in milwaukee that we stood above and watch during the republican convention, they are the most inside insiders— convention, they are the most inside insiders of— convention, they are the most inside insiders of the party. this is 2000 democrat— insiders of the party. this is 2000 democrat insiders being part of the next step— democrat insiders being part of the next step in pushing the current president — next step in pushing the current president of the united states of the ballot. rest assured, joe biden did not— the ballot. rest assured, joe biden did not make this decision on his own _ did not make this decision on his own he — did not make this decision on his own. he was fighting this decision

up own. he was fighting this decision up until_ own. he was fighting this decision up until today, according to reports. _ up until today, according to reports, so he was pushed out by the well-known _ reports, so he was pushed out by the well— known democratic insiders reports, so he was pushed out by the well—known democratic insiders in a backroom _ well—known democratic insiders in a backroom deal, and then the next step in_ backroom deal, and then the next step in this — backroom deal, and then the next step in this process, as my good friend _ step in this process, as my good friend stephanie said, is a democratic process of 2000 political democratic insiders to choose the next candidate for the next four months — next candidate for the next four months. look, icertainly next candidate for the next four months. look, i certainly hope they don't _ months. look, i certainly hope they don'tiust_ months. look, i certainly hope they don't just automatically walk in and -ive don't just automatically walk in and give it— don't just automatically walk in and give it to _ don't just automatically walk in and give it to vice president harris, because — give it to vice president harris, because i— give it to vice president harris, because i think it would be better for republicans to have an open process, — for republicans to have an open process, and i would like to see some _ process, and i would like to see some better candidates for the democrats to discuss, and i know some _ democrats to discuss, and i know some candidates might be making calls right now. i would urge my colleague — calls right now. i would urge my colleague and friend on the bbc i’ilht colleague and friend on the bbc right now, stephanie, begin your campaign — right now, stephanie, begin your campaign now. make those calls. 0h, campaign now. make those calls. 0h. i_ campaign now. make those calls. 0h. iwiti— campaign now. make those calls. 0h, iwill start campaign now. make those calls. oh, i will start another controversy, because as you know, i was not born here in the united states! we will try to steer clear of that this cycle! its, a states! we will try to steer clear of that this cycle!— of that this cycle! a a bipartisan moment there, _ of that this cycle! a a bipartisan

moment there, the _ of that this cycle! a a bipartisan moment there, the first - of that this cycle! a a bipartisan moment there, the first in - of that this cycle! a a bipartisan i moment there, the first in recent times! a republican saying he might just vote for a democrat for president! but, stephanie, talking about delegates, which we did earlier, if we have all the endorsements for vice president harris, we may or may not hear from others who might want to put their name forward, but those delegates who will eventually be at the convention in chicago, how much temperature taking will they be doing of the voters in the states where they are from? just like rodney says, the republican party has a similar delegate programme for the nomination, and so these delegates will look at the polling in their states, they will look at the facts on the ground, and i'm sure they will take some of these endorsements into account. but i also will say that the democratic party actually did a very difficult thing because the american people and most importantly, the democratic party, wanted it. and so the presumptive

nominee had lost the faith of a majority of the registered democrats, and had lost the faith of about three quarters of the american people. so i would argue that this party has actually been responsive to the broad swathes of americans, though the process from this point forward is much like it in the republican process, in the responsibility of a handful of delegates, but that is the same for both parties. there are a lot of people who said they were never trumped, that they didn't want to see him back on the ballot, but the republican party delivered exactly that to them. so i would argue that the democratic party as being responsive to the people, even though our system wasn't necessarily set up for that. it was a historic

and courageous decision for present biden to step aside, and any suggestion that it was anybody other than himself is just more of the conspiracy theory, because, caitriona, as you said in a previous broadcast, the only confirmed health issue here is that he suffers from covid, and so let's not go to the crazy conspiracy theories when this is actually a historic and democratic moment for the country. and, stephanie, who would you like to see this —— who would you like to see on the ticket when this has included? i would just like to see an open and transparent process, because that's what the american people would like to see and what they have asked for. i'm looking forward to seeing who is interested in the position and what their vision for the future is. continuing to litigate the past about biden is not where the american people are, so i'm looking forward to hearing people talk about what their vision for the future of this country is, and that's going to

be the exciting part. the good news too about having all of this is that this election, which was going to be same old, same old from four years ago, now has been blown wide open, and people who might not have otherwise been paying attention, all eyes will be on the democratic convention. eyes will be on the democratic convention-— convention. indeed they will. stephanie — convention. indeed they will. stephanie murphy _ convention. indeed they will. stephanie murphy and - convention. indeed they will. l stephanie murphy and rodney convention. indeed they will. - stephanie murphy and rodney davis, stay with us. we will be back for your thoughts in just a few moments. as we have discussed there, kamala harris is already receiving endorsements. in a statement from former president bill clinton and former secretary of state hillary clinton, they said: "wejoin millions of americans in thanking pesident biden for all he has accomplished, standing up for america time and time again, with his north star always being what's best for the country. we are honored to join the president in endorsing vice president harris and will do whatever we can to support her." that statement of endorsement from bill and hillary clinton for the

vice president, kamala harris. joining me live is richard goodstein, democratic strategist and former adviser to bill and hillary clinton. thanks for talking to us on the show. ijust read out the statement there from your former employers endorsing kamala harris. do you expect to see more and more endorsements for the vice president? will this become something of a coronation? well, you saw the statement that vice president harris put out, which said she wanted to earn a nomination, so she's not looking for anybody to engage in a coronation. i think the world of stephanie murphy, but i disagree that somehow it would be good for the democratic party to have a free for all. call it what you want, but once multiple people get in this race, and i don't expect formidable democrats will challenge kamala harris, but if that were to happen, it's what people, quote, go negative. that's how you get a leg up

negative. that's how you get a leg up on the person you are running against, and i don't think that is good for her, i don't think that is good for her, i don't think that is good for her, i don't think that is good for the person levelling charges at her, for their political future. ijust don't charges at her, for their political future. i just don't see that happening. so i think that statement from bill and hillary clinton is the first of many, many, many you will see from pretty much any formidable democrat you can name, who i think in very short order, a day or two, will come out behind her, and i think the reason some are holding back, they want to keep this is a day forjoe biden to be kind of honoured for doing something so commendable in the interests of preserving democracy. how challenging is this, though, for the democratic party? listening to what you are saying there, on one side, everyone endorses kamala harris and there is no effective primary contest, the democratic party is already being accused of being anti—democratic and having a coronation candidate. but if they do have a primary there and everyone takes pot shots at one another, that continues the view of the party is

somewhat in disarray. so where is the winning for the party here? the irony is, of course, the crowd accusing democrats of being anti—democratic at the crowd that got behind the marauders of the us capitol on january got behind the marauders of the us capitol onjanuary the 6th, 2021, capitol on january the 6th, 2021, trying to steal an election that they lost. that is the irony here. republicans love to engage in projection. they do something bad, they accuse the other guy of it. here is what is democratic. delegates were elected, and those delegates can do whatever they choose to do, and ifjoe biden asks them to support kamala harris, most will. some may not, and there is nothing undemocratic about having people basically make that choice. when we elect members of congress, we don't direct them what to do, we hope, given their background, that they will do what we want, but once we have elected them, it is their choice, and i think that's the case with these delegates to the

convention. my bet is that the big party chairs for the democrats in all the states have sampled delegates to get a sense of where they are, and my hunch is, very, very few of them will object to having kamala harris of the democratic presidential nominee. and just focusing onjoe biden for a moment, how difficult a decision would this have been for him? he is obviously a proud man, and he has a phenomenal record to have run on, and he did, but as you heard nancy pelosi say in a speech yesterday, elections are about the future, and the public�*s made a judgment about his age, and it's nothing he could do anything about. and i think he realised that that was something that was locked in. there was nothing he could do to shake that perception ofjust simply being too old. maybe not now, that

certainly in two, three, four years from now. so obviously, it is a decision he came to over time. i don't think it happened just yesterday or this morning. these statements that get put out take a while to draft and kind of marinate. but i think he will feel a great sense of relief, knowing that all he can do over the next five months as be the most effective president possible. we saw him very successfully run this nato conference, engage in a press conference, engage in a press conference immediately after talking about worldwide issues that donald trump couldn't even dream of speaking about. we heard trump almost brag about the fact he didn't know what nato was before he was elected, so i actually think at some level, this will be a big relief for joe biden. ., level, this will be a big relief for joe biden-— level, this will be a big relief for joe biden. ., ., ., _ joe biden. you mentioned nancy pelosi there. _ joe biden. you mentioned nancy pelosi there. just _ joe biden. you mentioned nancy pelosi there. just how _ joe biden. you mentioned nancy pelosi there. just how crucial- joe biden. you mentioned nancy pelosi there. just how crucial in l pelosi there. just how crucial in his decision—making do you think it was that nancy pelosi, other allies like chuck schumer, where all phrasing this question that the

president needs to think about it, that it president needs to think about it, thatitis president needs to think about it, that it is something he needs to give thought to, that they were just unequivocally saying, he should run? none of them made public statements to the effect that he should not run. those kind of statements, there were several members of the house and senate that made such statements. but when they could speak with him privately, present the data, when biden kept saying, no, it is tired, i am ahead in these polls, when for the most part, that simply wasn't what everybody else was seeing, i think they have the standing to present the information to him in a way that may be his own staff frankly felt uneasy presenting, and they have such respect for each other. i didn't know that nancy pelosi has got so many pieces of legislation through the house of representatives that no other leader probably could have done. he knows how effective chuck schumer has been, and the high

regard that the house democratic leader hakim jefferies is regard that the house democratic leader hakimjefferies is held on. so he knows these people don't have a political axe to grind, they mean what is best, frankly, for him and the country, and for democrats. so i think there was a lot of weight, but he had to come to this on his own. we expect to hear from joe biden later in the week when he has completed his recovery from covid. what do you expect to hear from him in that speech? i guarantee between now and then, republicans will say, well, if he doesn't have the wherewithal to run, how could he possibly serve? and he alluded to this nonsense in his letter by saying, again, he is perfectly competent to serve, and is serving quite effectively. remember, again, the contrast. he ran that nato meeting very well. those same leaders laughed at trump behind his back when trump was president. and i

think whatjoe biden will say is, i accept reality, that as good as my record is, as good as my ambition for the future of the country is, i was simply not able to overcome the public�*s concerns about my age. nothing i could say or do was going to shake that, and as long as people, rightly or wrongly, felt that way, for me to keep running was foolish, given the stakes. so my guess is, the statement will have sentiments to that effect, and probably, no doubt, will explain why, kamala harris, a generation younger than trump, and whether it is women's rights, human rights, or frankly, what she will do for the economy, i think he will be high in his praise for her. i doubt given the lengthy public service career he has had, it is likely to be quite an emotional moment for him as well? he does tend to be emotional in

these moments. i guess if he rehearses enough, he will resist that. but i'm sure that in some respects, yes, this is the beginning of the end of his public service career, which, as you say, stretches back to 1972, has had tremendous accomplishments, and with tragedies in his own family that none of us would wish on our worst enemy. so i think it will be very emotional, but frankly, as moving as he is capable of, which i think is quite a lot. richard good steam, democratic adviser and former adviser to bill and hillary clinton, thank you for joining us. —— richard goodstein. leaders around the world have voiced support for president biden and his decision to leave the race. uk prime minister keir starmer said on x that mr biden "will have made his decision based on what he believes is best for the american people." praise for mr biden's foreign policy expertise came

from leaders across europe, including the irish taoiseach, poland's prime minister, and germany's chancellor. german chancellor 0laf scholz said on x of mr biden: "thanks to him, transatlantic cooperation is close, nato is strong, and the usa is a good and reliable partnerfor us." mr biden also received thanks for his service and leadership from canadian prime minister justin trudeau and australia's prime minister anthony albanese. and ahead of israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu's visit to the us this week, israel's president isaac herzog thanked mr biden for his "support for the israeli people." with me is former cbs news correspondent christina ruffini. thanks for being with us. just looking at all that outpouring of respect, love and affection forjoe biden coming from world leaders, it seems quite genuine. i think so. last time we were here,

we were talking about nato, i think so. last time we were here, we were talking about nate, and i spent the whole week over there talking to various foreign ministers, and at that time, president biden was still in the race, and there was an effort to have this universal message of supporting him, he has done a great job with the alliance. i think that was all true, but behind the scenes, they were all very nervous about november and very nervous, and those nerves were not allied by some of the gaffes we saw at nato, you know, him introducing president zelensky of ukraine as president putin, and i think some of those nerves continued. i reached out to some tonight. a european defence minister told me a while ago, if you like, there is oxygen in the room, but it will not be an easy ride. a european foreign minister said this is a historic but not actual surprise, and both of them expressed optimism but also nervousness, because not a lot of people have faith in the democratic party's ability to pull this together in the 29 days until the convention, and it is relatively unprecedented, so they are asking me how it is going to go, and i'm

asking others, because we haven't seen this since 1968 in the us, and even then, it wasn't quite like this, so i think there is cautious optimism, but i think it will really come down to come up with the world watching, whether or not democrats can get their messaging and candidate in order and get them to the stage by the time of the convention. and, christina, do we have an idea of what might actually happen? they were set to be a virtual roll call ahead of the convention forjoe biden. is that still going to be the case? the latest date for that was the 1st of august. we are going to start referring to harris as, in practice, the nominee, but that is not actually the case until they vote for her. what must happen now is, before the convention, joe biden's pledged delegates are not legally obligated to vote for her. they can but don't have to. theoretically, if there was a big or real challenge, they could petition those delegates to swap votes, so in between now and then

come in the next 29 days, she