is missing your daughters competition we do payroll would pay com employees do their own payroll. >> so you don't have to miss your daughter's big day time to shine get pay com and make the unnecessary unnecessary the source with kaitlan collins weeknights at nine this is cnn breaking news breaking news president joe biden stepping aside in a stunning announcement the president of the united states, joe biden says that he is now ending his campaign for reelection. good evening. i'm erin burnett, and i'm wolf blitzer in washington, erin, this historic decision plunging the democratic party right now into unknown territory. >> president biden, a statement writing and i'm quoting him now

>> while it has been my intention to seek reelection, i believe it is in the best interests of my party and the country for me to stand down and focus entirely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term. close quote now president biden says he will speak to the nation later this week with more details, though no word yet on when that will happen. however, we do know that president biden is endorsed, his vice president, kamala harris, to replace him. >> erin and wolf. while harris says her intention is to earn and win the nomination too, crucial words earn and when someone lawmakers are now advocating for more open process to allow other candidates to compete for the nomination. >> foreign president obama, in his statement, did not explicitly endorse harris. he wrote, i have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges. wolf then we have a lot erin to get to tonight. mj lee is over at the white house for us. john king has also standing by. let me start with mj. mj, you have some new reporting about what

the first lady, jill biden is thinking that's right, wolf, you know, we have been reporting. so much on the political reaction that has been pouring in since the president's decision. but we are now just getting a sense of how the first lady is responding to this. the first lady's spokesperson saying, in part in a statement down to the last hours of the decision, only he could make she the first lady was supportive of whatever road he chose. we also had gotten a statement from the president's son, hunter, who we had reported in recent weeks have been very close to the political deliberations i've really, among the few people that the president was very much leaning on as he was deliberating about his political future. sure here's a part of what hunter biden said. he said over a lifetime, i have witnessed him absorbed the pain of countless everyday americans who he's given his personal phone number two, because he wanted them to call him when they were hurting. he also went on to say, i'm so lucky every night i get to tell him i love

him and to thank him. i ask all americans to join me tonight and doing the same. thank you, mr. president. i love you, dad. look at wolf, the president had been so dug in and so resistant on the calls for him to drop out until the moment that he wasn't. >> and we are learning that that moment really came in the last 48, 24 hours to 48 hours or so, really it was saturday night. we are told that he came close it's to that decision and gave his aides the green light to start drafting that letter to the american people. one thing i am learning that was not a part of his decision a part of his deliberations were medical issues. i am told by a senior white house official that the president did not have any significant medical exams other than the daily check-ins that he he has with his doctor in part of course, in recent days, to monitor his covid symptoms. the reason i want to clarify that is because within the last week we actually heard the president saying in a bet interview that a new medical condition might actually be the only thing that

might stop him from seeking a second term. and so this this was clearly not a reason we are learning about for why the president has decided to make this momentous decision. but as we were talking about this is certainly an emotional day for the president and also his family as well. >> interesting, very important information. mj lee at the white house. thank you very much right now, i want to go to john king, who's on the ground in the crucial swing state state of pencil, pennsylvania for us john, you've been hearing from voters and getting their fresh reaction. what are they telling you wolf? >> we've been reaching out on this, wow, huge political news day to our voters, intense states across america, we have more than 60 approaching 70 voters now trying to get their reaction and the reactions really the first reaction is really outlined. i think the campaign to come in the recent days, most of the democrats we reached out, we got in touch with at least a dozen of our democrats so far are biden voters. almost all of them all, but one said they were grateful the president made this decision. they thought it was best that he get out of the race given his performance in

the debate and given the polling and the republican convention and all that, about half of them were very happy. it was harris others said they could possibly support harris will see how that one plays out. what was most interesting wolf and i think this lays out the challenge for vice president harris to step up to see if she can seize the stage. if you will, in rise into this role is a great number of independents or republicans who don't want to vote for donald trump. i'm gonna to use it. i'm going to use the word cringe. they hadn grimmest if you look at the collective reaction saying they don't think she's up to the job or she don't think don't think she has the experience or in a couple of cases, they don't think she can beat donald trump. but the reaction democrats, especially a couple of young democrats in michigan, shows you why so many democrats wanted this change. they thought president biden was definitely going to lose. now they think they at least have a chance and one of the pieces they hope with harris is to fill in some of the cracks. president biden ahead, support among african american support among young voters, principally because of the israeli gaza conflict. so those reactions from young voters and from a couple of black voters in milwaukee were relatively positive. we'll see how it

goes forward, but i would say on the first day of the democrats saying maybe changeable spice things up and change things up. perhaps some evidence of that. but we got to 107 days to go wolf all right. >> john, just a little while ago here on cnn, i had a chance to speak to democratic congressman lloyd doggett of texas, who told me he wants the convention in chicago to decide the nominee. they're wet just about 15 weeks until the november election. our democrats in over their heads potentially right now? >> but it's going to be an extraordinary difficult process. but the democrats insist know. i can tell you from people who are working in the biden campaign for vice president harris, they understand. ai, one of the reasons they moved so quickly today after the president's endorsement of the vice president to get so many other endorsements quickly is they are trying to present this not as a fatal complete, but just that she has dominance support and that anybody who challenged her would lose. that's what they're trying to show early on now that doesn't mean it's the case. some word tonight that the independent former democratic senator from west

virginia, joe manchin it says he might take a look at it. i just talked to a harris lie about that. who said they don't view that as a serious threat for the nomination. maybe senator manchin wants to be the vice presidential pick. i can tell you that harris aides are already working on a project to pick a potential running mate, but they know that they would start as the overwhelming front runner wolf, but they understand that perhaps some others will come forward. that's why they're trying to roll it out. rollout all these endorsements so quickly to get the momentum to raise some money to show that if she's declared choice, maybe those donors who were holding out on the president are willing to throw money in. they hope in the biden campaign and the harris camp, especially, they hope that this process would be finished before the convention so that she they believe it would be her. but ultimately, whoever won the delegates would go to the nomination as the as go to the convention as the nominee. so you don't have a family feud and public on the floor. that's what they hope. we're in the early hours after this. we're gonna have to watch this process play out the drama only just beginning. i'm john king in the key battleground state of pennsylvania for us, john, always good to hear from you. thank you very much. erin, over

to you. >> all right. well, and joining me now is the democratic congressman dean philips and congressman appreciate speaking to you again. >> obviously, when we look back here at history in terms of challenging biden for the democratic nomination, the primary you were at you did you did that mounted that challenge. what's your reaction tonight? now that biden is dropping out just weeks, days before democrats actually officially have a nominee. >> you know, erin, i have to say it's bittersweet. i was in front of a number of students from around the country here for national history camp in virginia. when the news came and it was a moment, i'll never forget because it was a human moment. and despite my activity, of course challenging president in the primary some months ago, he's a wonderful man american hero who served our country with grace and competency. and yet at that moment there was a sadness because he did something remarkable. despite me calling

for it for months, many of my colleagues, of course, chiming in recently, the fact of the matter letters were all human beings and this is a sad day for the president but also a very important day for america he's done something that very few people in power have ever done electively, given up power in the spirit of george washington. i think it's extraordinary, and i'm excited literally excited domestic energized the feeling already amongst my colleagues amongst those who've been reaching out to me is like night and day compared to just a few hours ago, there is excitement and i know we've got good days ahead so let's talk about where we are this morning. >> you would call for congressional democrats to hold a secret confidence vote on whether biden should remain the nominee? and then obviously, here we are. i just wanted to ask you something about that though. did you call for that because you knew, you know, from personal conversations and meetings with people that there was sort of a very large number that if given the cover to go as a group might have done so of course, i mean, i know my

colleagues well i've surveyed many of them. i know it's probably probably close to 90% would have voted to ask him to step aside. but as you know, erin, i've shared on your show before, you know, we have a culture of silence because we reward cowardice and we do not we punish those of courage, and we reward cowardice. and that's politics. and i think way too many of my colleagues appropriately recognized if they stick their necks out things could happen to them like they happen to me, like they happen to other candidates who may get out of line and then lose support or lose funding. and that is part of the problem. so that's why i thought at a secret ballot, although that of course now is no longer necessary. now we turn our attention to the process. >> so let okay. you say you're turn our attention to process. biden endorse kamala harris obviously joe manchin, jake tapper is reporting is considering possibly throwing his hat in the ring. we registering as a democrat in order to do so would you would you try again or do you think

that that is not a good thing to do at this point, the process. and do you endorse kamala harris erin, i intended to be a version of paul revere, not george washington. >> and i do not wish to run what i just proposed and tweeted last hour is that i believe we should host for townhalls around the country. do a straw poll now of the 4,000 convention delegates, democratic delegates, vice president harris should be automatically invited, and then three of the other top vote getters to do a series of four townhalls introduce them selves to our delegates to the country, show transparency. i believe in competition. it's a principal. i don't change that in favor of politics. i think this would help who i believe will become our likely nominee that is vice president harris, but it will legitimize her candidacy. it will energize the base of democrats is whole country will also in the words of jim clyburn, afford the opportunity to vet a likely vice vice-presidential candidate. that's what we should do.

>> so let me ask you one thing more on this. and this is you know, j.d. vance had come out and said, well, if biden is not going to run that, he's no longer he's admitting he can't be president. he should step aside. mike johnson, the speaker, is a number one of a number of republicans who have made the same we'll call johnson just said congressman, if joe biden is not fit to run for president, he is not fit to serve as president. he must resign the office immediately. so that's pretty much what they're all saying in so many words. why do you think biden is unfit to run but fit to serve? >> well, first of all, people who say that right now, erin, in my estimation, should come nowhere close to the white house there's a huge difference. the reason i argue that the president should not run again is because he was going to lose, has he declined his physical gate is physiology, yes. has have his communication skills suffered and are in decline? absolutely. is he cognitively impaired know. and that's the truth. i believe he can serve out his term. i believe he will. and i think those trying to tie these two things together are playing the same nonsensical,

disgusting politics that this country is really getting fed up with. so there you have my answer, and i think what jd vance is doing is exactly exactly what we all expect it. and by the way, i think his selection as a vp candidate with donald trump opens the very door that democrats needed and for hopefully, our eventual nominee, i do believe ultimately will be vice president harris to choose somebody to invite an appeal to moderates to independence and to never trumpers who we need to invite back into this tent. and i think we will all right. >> what congressman phillips, i appreciate your time. thank you very much. >> anytime. thank you, aaron. >> thank you. and wolf over to you aaron. >> thank you. our political experts are back with us. david chalian, our political director. i want to get your reaction to what we just heard. david frum dean phillips, congressman phillips that he's not yet ready to endorse. he wants to see a series of townhalls with not only the vice president kamala harris, but other democrats who may be interested in getting the nomination, right? >> so there are two things going on in the party right

now. there are some in the party who are arguing like dean phillips is for some kind of robust process to play out. all comers join and let the party sort through who the nominee is. on the other side, there is the clear movement and momentum to get behind harris candidate. harris is candidacy for all the structural reasons. we've discussed and all the demographic reasons inside the party and all of these things and yet, there are some people wolf who may end up in that camp of let's get behind harris, his candidacy, who were not coming out to endorse her right now because a they're saying they want to give joe biden a day of praise for making this statement. i'm sure that's true, but also because they want to give harris a day or so here to stay and up her operation and show that she can bring together the labor, the hispanic coalition, the black coalition, that young all the pieces of the democratic

coalition to show that she can do that. that's why she's working the phone as much as she is the donors and all of that. and to give her the space to show that she can stand that up. in this moment. and that that is something then they think they can get behind and get buy-in from the whole party so that there isn't a very messy fight. we'll see how this plays out, but those are the two different sort of paths that are being explored at the moment show your work phase of the common-law harris campaign, right? >> it's important and it's clear from sources that i've talked to that they know that it is important and we touched on this earlier, that she be seen trying to earn it, that she be seen making these calls, that it is not as though she is handed this on a silver platter. i think they are very well aware of the danger of that employee occasions. so, you know, i do think that's probably part of why you saw a split statement from president biden. i think he knows that too, where there was one about what he was doing and then the endorsement came a little bit later and i think to that point, she recognizes her team

recognizes it's also important that before we start talking about potential vp nominees or talking about her, and we're talking about her ability, as david said, to stand this up, to stand on her own, to earn the delegates to have the confidence of the donors that, you know, labour party and so you're going to continue to see these endorsements coming fast and furious. i think the second thing that's also happening there were third thing, i guess the david's points i think there's some folks are stepping back and they want to see. okay. let me see how much support she really has. let me see where that supports coming from. >> we're hearing adam schiff maybe support that's very important, right? >> wearing the california i'm hearing the california democrat delegation is being whipped. i'm hearing some of the big donors or consent who hate some hate to tell okay. so love to talk. of course you may hear from them, right? >> and so i do think there are others who are contemplating joe manchin not being one of them, of course, whether or not they're going to let their

names be in the hat based on how quickly how much support she is able to galvanize and from what corners of the party speak you're joe manchin, kate bedingfield, our jake tapper is reporting that senator joe manchin, the independent from west virginia, is considering throwing his hat in the ring and maybe running for the democratic presidential race registering as a democrat in the process our hopes for unifying the democratic party right now seemingly in disarray, falling you'll part potentially well, i think the fact that he would have to re-register as a democrat to even throw his hat in the ring to be the democratic nominee. >> he tells you a lot about the kind of support that he would get from the democratic party. no disrespect to senator manchin was a long record of service, but i'm not sure that he is somebody who is going to rally the democratic base and the democratic coalition in this moment? and i, what i, what i would say is, you know, senator manchin loves to find a headline and, you know, as a communications professional, i can respect that, but i respect

him it's not, speak out earlier to tell her tail spill know. but i don't think we should take the notion of joe manchin and potentially floating ai candidacy as an idea that or suggestion that the democratic party is not going to come together and unify. i would expect, i mean, to karen's point, i would expect that over the next couple of days we probably will hear others it was kind of floating. their candidacies as they watch what vice president harris is doing so, you know, i don't think that in of itself is a reason to believe that democrats will not ultimately coalesce. i personally hope behind vice president harris, but behind a candidate. >> all of us who were in milwaukee, if the republican convention felt noticed how the republican whether the maga base conservative republicans, they were all uniting, coming around trump and j.d. vance for that matter and that puts a lot of pressure on the democrats to unite and put a lot of pressure on the republicans. >> i think the contrast between the republican party, particularly when you've taught back to 2016, the republican party on the convention floor,

the contrast to the current state of the democratic party in the midst of all this over the course of the last three weeks, i think pretty stark for democrats who believe the stakes could not be higher, believe the contrast could not be more clear, and yet couldn't seem to figure out a way to stop shooting one another in terms of going after one another and trying to figure out what president biden should do. i think that is actually a really key component of how quickly people get behind vice president harris. i think there's a recognition that they need to move forward. they have 107 days. this needs to happen now, and the reality for democrats as they look around, whether its donors, whether it's all the coalitions, whether it's lawmakers who do or don't, like the vice president or want somebody else to run we just need an answer and we need a ticket and it needs to happen quickly. >> i'm sorry, i'm sorry. i just want to say roy cooper, north carolina endorsed kamala harris, josh shapiro of pennsylvania, endorsed kamala harris today. i don't think we've heard from gretchen whitmer yet, but some of the names, the most prominent names are cohen, mark kelly that were out there as potential. they're

endorsing think kamala harris today. and so i think that is very important for us to pay attention to as well as quickly to the democrats need to get their act together and unify very quickly because right now they are facing a republican party that is unified and absolutely living on cloud nine right now, they came out of milwaukee last week feeling unbelievably energized every text i got from anybody who was there at the convention was this is one of the best conventions i've been to ever. >> they're feeling great and for many republicans, think about what their image of kamala harris is. it's largely filtered through conservative media. it say clips of her giving speeches where she says things awkwardly, or it's an emphasis on the role that she's played as a leading person on the issue of immigration the biden campaign, republicans in some ways are just giddy at the notion that they get to run against harris. but they could be a little too good because remember, they have to change their whole playbook now, they don't get to run so much on the age issue. they will try to say, well, what did she know? it changes everybody standby. >> we have a lot more to discuss. and as someone who was

in milwaukee at the republican convention, they were extremely really well organized. indeed, everyone stay with us. our breaking news will continue. breaking news coverage will have much more on kamala harris is timeline and just how quickly she has to name a running mate if she is the presidential nominee plus i'll talk to congressman jason crow. who was told by president biden to quote, cut that crap out after pressing him to step aside which it looks better. this or this seems clear to me, if you love to save, check out the whys by sales event going on right now in america's best get two pairs of progressives for just one term 29, 95, offer includes a comprehensive ai dram book, an exam online today i'm richard car and i love my home. >> my hose is lightweight my hose will not kink and my hose is anti leak. >> it 8,000 old hoses. >> this is my host. >> the new pocket hose, copper

bullet, now infused with real copper. >> so your water is always clean and lead free. just turn on the water and watch your hose grow and grow pro to a full size three quarter inch hose. it stretches and expands like a rubber band. and when you turn off the water, a way it goes shrinking and squeezing that water out until it's practically bone dry. and that makes it easier to carry and put away our new inner tube uses three layers of high strength latex on the inside then it's wrapped in a new polymer filament jacket, similar to the technology used in forest fire hoses, because it's light and tough, three times stronger than the other hoses it's guaranteed for ten years nearly impossible to tear or snag and the redesign connector protector helped stop leaks at the spigot. but my favorite part of our new hose build the oversized, easy to grip fittings easy on and off, even with gloves with more than 100 patents worldwide, it's the best pocket hose in the world. get the superlight, 25

foot pocket au is copper bullet today for only 29, 99, but wait, call now and get our copper spray nozzle with our exclusive thumb drive free. simply you does your thumb to turn off and on and with ten unique patterns, you'll have a setting for every job. it's a $30 value, yours free with every 50 foot copper bullet, but it's not available in stores. this is an exclusive release of our newest pocket hose there is a strict limit of three per order, so don't wait order. now to what are call 1800 3-7 to seven to 89, or visit copper bullet holes.com, so-called when 800, 3-7 to seven to 89 or visit copper bullet holes.com order. now now with straight docx, get iphone 12 for a super great deal all with real unlimited data super interested by iphone 12 with superfast 5g and a dual camera system, then get real on limited data on the silver unlimited plan for just $20 a month for a whole year that's

$300 in savings. told you it was super great savings plus a new iphone always make sense less dollars, more sense. now it's straight talk you know, there's this thing called age and it sucks if you're over 50 imagine you could turn back the clock on your stiff achy joints by years introducing into flex advanced, it's restored my joints without just temporarily masking my symptoms and without scary side effects when you can find a product that can take that away to the point japan, you live your life again. that is a miracle to me okay. >> good a complementary sample just by texting hate to three-to-one, three-to-one insta flex advanced targets. >> the root cause of joint sourness and stiffness with a unique combination of five key natural ingredients ingredients back by five clinical studies, i lovetelling you it works, instill flex advanced is the number one selling joy. >> branded gnc, which you can only get your complimentary sample by texting heat to

three-to-one, three-to-one plus tax now and will include a tube of insulin flex pain cream for fast-acting relief. absolutely free text. heat to three-to-one three-to-one today are certain you can fix that yeah. clip here and there are you for imprint certain certainty matters like the certainty of lisa, joshua, robin, haley, and josh for imprint promo product experts dedicated to working with you for you every step of the way, make certain your logo, your organization, as you shine. >> that's the certainty of four imprint.com. >> for certain the lead with jake tapper weekdays at four on cnn back with our breaking news tonight, cnn just learning that possible democratic presidential candidates are in a wait and see mode to assess just how much the party rallies behind vice president kamala harris. >> so let's get straight to

jeff zeleny. jeff, you've got new reporting on what happens here next for the party for other contenders, possibly. and of course for harris, what do you know where there's not much time to wait or see because this is moving much faster than even some officials thought earlier, we're just learning tonight that the the tennessee delegation, the democratic delegation, has come out in a unanimously supporting harris. i'm told that other state delegations are likely to follow in the coming hours here. and we certainly have also seen that potential running mates have also come out endorsing harris. so roy cooper from north carolina, josh shapiro, the governor of pennsylvania, senator martin kelly of arizona, and the list goes on. however, the timeframe that is really coming into sharper view tonight is that harris should she become the nominee, will make a play for it, would have to have her running mate in place around august 1. so why that's when the delegates are scheduled to have their virtual voting. should that person seed? so the window here is august 1 through august 7. so she would have to

have her running mate named because delegates would vote to support both of them going into the convention. so yes, there is still some time senator manchin has made some discussions of it, but the reality here is you can feel this coming around of vice president harris. she's working the phones tonight because evening i'm told and she'll be doing so for the next several hours wolf. all right. thanks very much. jeff. john berman is joining us right now. he's over at the magic wall for us, john, i know you're looking at the numbers. how does harris compared to biden in polling potentially against trump? >> well, better the question is, is it better enough, wolf? these are the results from 2020, president biden, joe biden beat donald trump by about 4.5 points in the popular vote in the latest cnn poll of polls joe biden was trailing donald trump by four points. that's a big swing. he won by 4.5, trailing think by for, as, for kamala harris vice

president harris only trailing donald trump by one point. so better than joe biden, not quite good enough, not yet now, of course, our presidential elections are not national popularity contest. it's the electoral college broken down into states. so what are the state comparisons right now? now, let's look at pennsylvania right now. that's a state that president biden won by just over a point in 2020. well, right now in the latest poll of polls, he's trailing by four points. a big swing trailing trump by four. as for kamala harris she is trailing as well, but just by two points. so better than biden, but not quite better enough, not yet. now, another state that's beginning a lot of attention lately is the state of virginia more attention by the way, than democrats would like why? because virginia is the state, the democrats have won since barack obama and 2008, a state that joe biden won by ten. in the latest poll, the new york times pull out of virginia. he was trent know he is only up by

two over donald trump won by ten, only up by two. as for kamala harris the vice president is up by four, so you can see wolf that harris does better than president biden mostly, but not yet better enough to perhaps sway in the election. not yet john, we all just heard jeff zeleny mentioned josh shapiro, mark, kelly, and roy cooper. >> what impact could a harris running mate potentially have on the electoral map? >> so that's really interesting when you put their faces up on the screen here as you said, jeff zeleny reporting, andy beshear, kentucky roy cooper out of north carolina, mark kelly of arizona, and josh shapiro of pennsylvania i'm going to move them over here x3, shrink them a tiny bit, and then just talk about their state's well. josh shapiro, very popular governor of pennsylvania. that's a state that president biden won by just one point. could shapiro put pennsylvania more firmly? in the democratic camp? same type of issue for arizona. this

is a state that president biden won by less than a point. he's been trailing. they're badly in the polls. could popular senator mark kelly make a difference there? roy cooper's really interesting governor retiring governor in north carolina. this was the closest state that biden lost to trump. could democrats go on? vance maybe with roy cooper on the ticket? and then finally, one of these names does not like the other here, and that's andy beshear, the governor of kentucky. that's the state that donald trump won by more than 25 points. if you're picking andy beshear here, you're not picking him to pick up kentucky, you're going after something else, wolf good point. >> john berman. thank you very, very much. erin, back to you. all right. well, if and joining us now is antonio vieira gaza, the former democratic mayor of los angeles, who has known vice president harris for 30 years and will be a delegate at the democratic national convention next month in chicago. so i appreciate your time, mayor we understand that harris found out just today that as biden was dropping out of the race, and obviously you've known her for three decades. i don't know if you've had a chance to speak with her today after

after this was announced or or in the hours before. but what do you think this moment means to her well first of all, let me say thank you to president biden. >> many of us knew that he would do right by this country and it's clear that he has, he's put the interests of the country with everything at stake. our democracy women's reproductive the freedoms. he put that before his own personal interests. and so i think we owe him a great debt of gratitude. as you said, i've known her for 30 years. i knew her before she got elected as district attorney of san francisco, supported her then supported her when she ran for attorney general of california, supported her hernia in her run for president of the united states. i can tell you this is a woman that can make a forceful case to the nation that democracy is on the ballot, that reproductive

freedoms is something that we have to fight for. no one's done that more forcefully than her. that what's also on the ballot. it is an economy that works for middle-class families. and so over the years, working with there as i have, i can tell you, she's the right person to make that case may of course immigration is also on the ballot and it's a top issue for many americans. >> she has been the person who is designated zero point person for that issue by president biden and we know that there's a lot of frustration. democrats and republicans on this issue. do you think she's ready to own that to take that head-on? >> while she and president biden put forth a solution to address the crisis at the border. and unfortunately donald trump and the republicans didn't support that bipartisan effort. i can tell you that she'll make the case nobody knows the situation. question of immigrants in the united states better than someone that comes from california where the

epicenter of immigration and this nation, and she'll make a forceful case in that regard. >> so i want to ask you, of course, is you're a delegate. you've also served as an adviser to the governor of california, gavin newsom. he has not yet endorsed kamala harris for president you have noted that others have roy cooper has mark kelly has josh shapiro has governor of pennsylvania. we have not yet heard from your governor, gavin newsom. do you think it's possible that newsome is considering throwing his hat in the ring in some sort of a process, a process of course, which the former president barack obama has endorsed i haven't spoken to governor newsome, so i can tell you i can only go on what he said in the past and he said that he wouldn't run against kamo harrison is, you know, and you've already mentioned on the show that a number of the potential candidates have all endorsed her and i think including president biden, and i think they have because when we voted for the biden-harris

ticket, we knew that this could come to fruition and i'm with her. >> i've already signed on as a delegate and supportive her candidacy i expect that the vassal the majority of people in california will do the same. >> all right. well, mayor, i appreciate your time. thanks so much thank you. >> all right. >> to understand u2 married instead, you hear the merits known. obviously, kamala harris, 30 years, you've done extensive reporting on her very, very extensive profile what do you think the biggest challenge is for her at this point? >> i think we have to realize that this version called harris is in a different political moment. the one that arrived in 2020 and ran for president was being pulled in a lot of different directions. there was a democratic party. i was having an open discussion about where it's be on policies she was pulled in a progressive direction from folks like elizabeth warren and bernie sanders. she ran away from her core legislative record around criminal justice that really got her to the point of being a senator and running for

president. so i think what we're going to see this time around is someone who can focus more clearly on the emergency that is in front of them. she wants to talk about issues like abortion, wants to talk about a kind of more moderate economic record. and she can lean on the biden-harris ticket accomplishments. and so i think it's a candidate that gets the benefit of what biden was pushing as accomplishments over the last four years. but this freed of his biggest problem, the issue will be campaigning that i think came up over the last four years. is that when people were asked her about more affirmative vision, she sometimes didn't have good answers to that question. i think this moment is a little different though. i don't think people are going to be asking her to lay out that big vision in the same way anymore. and that lends itself to her strength. >> we found out that she didn't even know until right before today and kaitlan, i know you have new reporting on the final hours of deliberations and who knew what when. >> and if you've reported on president biden it will not surprise you because essentially he was at his rehoboth beach home he was isolated from after testing positive with covid and he had one top adviser there, steve richetti, who everyone who has ever covered biden, he is one of his closest advisers and

biden some into mike donilon, another close advisers and a few other people on hand, and they met yesterday afternoon. i'm told to look at the polling, look at what democratic members were saying. obviously they've continued to come out yesterday and through today. and it was he started to come to this decision last night and then he did what by doesn any big decision that he's ever made in his life is he holds a family meeting and he met with his family last night, talked about this decision, slept on it. i'm told he did not come to a final decision until today, and it is remarkable how quickly it all this happened and we talk about what harris is doing, what she's going to say. she just found out a matter of hours ago that this was actually in motion and it happening. no one really new, maybe if people could sense it, but it wasn't final until this morning and it was at one minute before that tweet came out that biden was on a call with his senior staff telling them about it, then after that, his chief-of-staff, jeff zone nighttime told had to get on a zoom call basically with the cabinet to confirm. yes, this is real this is what's happening. here's our plan of action. and he's

expected to hold another call tomorrow, but it does speak to this has been a three-week drumbeat from democrats calling on him to drop out. it seemed to really hit a crescendo with them yesterday afternoon. would that meeting with the just the close cyst of close aides and then his family last night and so little time though for her. >> and now here we are just watching this. it's like a snowball. going down a mountain here. >> they have no time. they have less than no time. i mean, really this is not an ideal situation. everybody is aware of that i think the funny thing was a lot of i talked to a lot of people, not everybody who was aware that president biden was aware of that he seemed to not want to be pressured by the issue of time in all of this so he really did, i think ultimately by doing this today, probably gave kamala harris the best chance to consolidate this going into the convention before that august 1 deadline when i think they would like to have some kind of delegate votes that they're not going into a convention that is a complete mess. but there's still a lot of work to do. i

mean, this vice presidential decision, who she might pick as a running mate if she becomes the nominee, is going to be a huge, huge decision ahead for them and then also, you heard that the mayor of los angeles talking about how she understands the issue of immigration really well. well, the trump campaign, they view that as her biggest weakness that's for sure want to run on kamala harris as the border czar so we'll see which version of this wins out. but i think he's not wrong. i mean, one of the things that people close to her have been telling me today is that she it's from the state of california. she is a senator there. she understands the issues of that region, of the country really well. that's why when people talk about potential running mates, mark kelly is on the list. ai she not only knows them, but they're states are, they have similar issue areas that they focused on as senators and so i think that there are two sides two the immigration thing when it comes to her. >> yeah. listen, when you're the vice presidential candidate and suddenly you're the presidential candidate that's like jumping from a sidecar

into a spaceship and there's so many moving parts to this thing. she has to build a team. she's not just going to embrace the bible didn team. she's going to want to put it together. a team that reflects her and that she feels comfortable with. and they have to quickly develop on the run a message that fits her and she has the ability to go more on the attack here and she should be the problem with where biden was was that so long? long as he was in the race after that debate, he and his fitness and his condition, we're going to be the center of attention. now that that's gone trump becomes more of the center of attention. and so you want to quickly react. he said, well, i'll debate on fox i think that's a great opportunity for her to say you know, you now you want a home game because you're worried if your worry, what you've been saying, van that this comes down to numbers, okay. we now have a

number. what, six hours? know, not even we're not even five hours or something. but there are numbers already coming in. what are they? >> well, look, i'm act blues. it's getting it's getting $8 million an hour. that's energy that's the energy that's what an hour if that holds up. that's extraordinary. so you've got we love america, loves joe, is trending globally. that's energy you've got black women talking about get information. a quick quoted in the beyonce ally, like you're starting to see energy and that's what's been missing from this campaign. everybody has been, you know, chew on our fingernails off to our knuckles. so there is energy that starting to come in at the same time, i think people want to hold the door open to be able to dream. we do have a chance frankly, to pick anyway, we want you. so calm was an illegal that degree, you i've calm was an elite that's great, but there's also the opportunity to pick literally anybody. and so we've got the best of all possible worlds trump scared those energy in the party, and we can pick

where you want. >> i've jumping in just to say gavin newsom has endorsed of course, i'm au harris just after that. justice that way it's been so really remarkable ground game, if you will, by kamala harris, how much she's locked up outside endorsements internal. this is what she's known for is the insider game in washington. she was good at this as a senator. the next traces, how do you perform externally? and i would actually argue her greatest strength is that she's a known quantity. i could write the trump campaign ads. it's going to be on the border. it's going to be that in 2020 makes you want it to bail out people who are protesting. so she at least knows what she's walking into as opposed to a gavin newsom, we don't know what the apoe foul would be. we don't know what the attacks would be coming, so she at least has the benefit of knowing what's coming. >> that gavin newsom coming in is a big deal. i think you're going to start to see some of those other people have been rumored. they're going to start making there tube last week. >> he said he would not tell him. >> always decided not to reading this instance, we were together san francisco? yes. always doing that number. everyone gets, which right now you've got you've got gavin newsom who got josh shapiro and you've got mark kelly and

you've got roy cooper. you've got the whole list there. we still have not yet heard from the governor of michigan, gretchen whitmer, but all the others it's have come out now with an endorsement for kamala harris, our breaking news coverage continues after this, including new reporting on what was one of the main reasons biden decided to drop out, also breaking this hour new details on the incredible amount of money that democrats have raised van touching on that just in the few hours since biden said he is stepping down it's pods biggest sale of the summer, save up to 25% on moving in storage for a limited time in cy pods has been trusted with over 6 million million moves, but don't wait, use promo code, big 25 to save visit hot hot.com today no one should have to choose between good vision and great value that's why america's best to slashing their prices during a wise by sales abadi get to progressives and a comprehensive eye exam for just 12995. >> book an exam online today. >> an alternative to pills valtteri is a clinically proven arthritis pain relief gel which

penetrates deep to target the source of pain with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medicine directly at the sourc the moment i met him i knew he was my soulmate. "soulmates." soulmate! [giggles] why do you need me? [laughs sarcastically] but then we switched to t-mobile 5g home internet. and now his attention is spent elsewhere. but i'm thinking of her the whole time. that's so much worse. why is that thing in bed with you? this is where it gets the best signal from the cell tower! i've tried everywhere else in the house! there's always a new excuse. well if we got xfinity you wouldn't have to mess around with the connection. therapy's tough, huh? -mmm. it's like a lot about me. [laughs] a home router should never be a home wrecker. oo this is a good book title.

to 231231. now i'm bill weir on the california coast and this is cnn closed, captioning to you by mesobook.com if you or a loved one have mesothelial not we'll send you a free book to answer questions you may have call now and we'll come to you 808 to one 14000 we're back with our breaking news, cnn learning more about the stark shift in president biden's posture just ahead of his stunning decision today to exit the race, sources telling our pamela brown that biden circumstances, quote, became insurmountable, direct quote. and john king is back with us with more reporting from the battleground state of pennsylvania, john know you've been hearing from strategists and operatives on both sides of the aisle. what do they think

me. >> start with the democrats will, who are mostly excited and a little bit nervous, excited, because most democratic strategists had come to the conclusion, even though they loved president biden, that he could not not win this race. and they wanted him to get out so that they could shake things up. now, can kamala harris, when it that's a big question, but they're excited to have the opportunity. they're nervous because they know a lot the country doesn't know her. a lot of the countries only seen her as vice president. they know there are questions about whether she's ready for the top job, but they also know this wolf that the entire world will be watching the vice president in the coming days and they believe she has this giant platform and this giant opportunity. if she can rise to it too, as the panel was discussing a bit early to go back to our prosecutor days make the case about trump talk about issues that motivate african american base of the democratic party that tried to bring disaffected young people mad at president biden back in. she will have an enormous opportunity more attention than any other candidate in the race. and the next hundred or so hours. and so democrats do see opportunity there. republicans are stunned. look, it was clear at the republican looking convention, you were

there. we just left. they wanted joe biden. they thought joe biden was a weak incumbent president and that they could, the republicans were overwhelmingly favored structurally in the polling and more coming out of the convention. now, they have to readjust. they will try to paint the vice president as a liberal. they were trying to paint her as a san francisco, san francisco liberal exactly that. but now they have to go back to the drawing board as well. and one last point about the democrats, they say because the vice president needs to win the blue wall states were in pennsylvania, michigan, and wisconsin johnson they do think, even though in the end, voters pick presidents, not vice president's, they do think her vice presidential pick is absolutely critical as she tries to essentially reintroduce himself to the american people and establish her identity, not as a senator, as vice president, as the nominee. that's assuming she wins the nomination. but you just rattled off. you heard the other endorsements coming in. they assume she will they certainly do. and as you say, john republicans are recalibrating their approach as well. what can democrats expect going forward democrats should brace and the vice president

knows this. >> the biden team, the biden. now the harris campaign knows this. look, republicans have always exaggerated what her job was the border, but president biden did put her in charge of trying to talk to the country's mexico and the other countries in central america to try to reduce the causes of migration. and so the republicans have always he said she's the borders are that this is all her fault. so you can brace look, immigration was going to be a central issue for trump and vance anyway, you can brace now for ad saying kamala harris harris was joe biden's borders are look how it went. do you want her run the economy? do you want her running national security and then other issues other issues about you, san francisco and the like and look, let's just be honest about this. you can be certain that racism and sexism, if not directly from the trump campaign, from other forces, are going to come flying into this campaign that's really sad to hear that. but obviously true, john, thank you very, very much, john king reporting also tonight, $27.5 million. >> that's how much the

democratic online fundraising platform, act blue is saying it raised in small dollar donations in the five hours after president biden actually withdrew from the race and endorse kamala harris, joining us now, democratic congressman jason crow of colorado, who just last week had a rather heated call with president biden after relaying voters concerns about the president's vigor and strength especially when it comes to the world stage congressman crow thanks so much for joining us as you know, president biden was so upset with your blunt assessment that at one point we understand. he said and i'm quoting now, cut that crap out. direct quote and told you you could walk away if you want. now, the president is walking away. what's your reaction to president biden's announcement? >> wolf today, joe biden cemented his place in history as one of the most selfless patriotic president's we have ever had it is an incredible act as you know, it almost

never happens in politics where you have a politician recognizing for the good of the country for the good of the american people, the needs to step aside and help us lead in a next generation of leadership, which is exactly what he did and listen to that call last week, i have been a supporter of president biden since day one. he has been one of the most effective and consequential presidents in our generation has done incredible work democrats and leaders don't shy away from tough fights. the democratic party this distinguishes us from the republicans here. we have the tough conversations. we listened to the concerns of the american people and that's what we did. we had a tough conversation. we talked about what we need to talk about, and we're all moving forward. >> i know you're backing vice president kamala harris now a congressman, but many democrats that i'd are calling for an open process as they describe it, an open process at both west virginia independent senator, a former democrat, says he's going to re-register as a democrat. joe manchin and minnesota congressman dean

phillips right now are not necessarily surely backing or at least not yet. here's what they said earlier today. listen to this this open, open process right before the convention. and kamala harris, vice president emerges as the nominee. would you be able to support her? >> lot depends what the policies are. i want to see the platform change. >> would you be what i want to see margaret is the president pass the torch term that everybody is using now and then have a mini primary so where does this leave your party, congressman? >> i haven't heard any democrat say that we shouldn't have a process that follows the rules and has consistent with our values. i am throwing my support behind vice president harris because she is the leader that we need to move us forward. i'm excited about her candidacy. i know her leadership. i know what she's had done in the past and i know oh, her vision for the future. and you see a lot of democrats very excited, very energized by her candidacy. we can win with

vice president harris and we will win with vice president harris. and we're going to go through a process in the next couple of weeks that follows our rules and make sure that we have the nominee that does that. my view is that can and should be vice president i didn harris, congressman as you know, president biden said he'd be addressing the nation and the american people at some point about his decision to not seek reelection what do you think he needs to do and say in that address? >> you know the president is one of the most humble just genuine, good people that i have known in my time in leadership in public service. so i think you're going to just hear about his journey. it's a journey born of pain it's a journey that a lot have americans can empathize with and understand. so listening to him, collect his thoughts on where he has come from, what he's done for this country which has been outstanding, an incredible work during some of our darkest times as a nation

into hope for the path forward. that's what i expect. you will hear from president joe biden because that's the type of leader that he is. >> i suspect you're right. congressman jason crow of colorado. thanks. as usual for joining us. >> i have her erin back to you. >> all right. wolf you know, van was just the news here that we're just getting out of gavin newsom just to put an exclamation point on it, obviously to sunday, you know, we haven't yet heard from the governor of michigan, gretchen whitmer yes. >> likely that's going to go the same way that shapiro has gone. gavin newsom's gone i will say, i mean, that would talk about really be that would put some excitement into your into your cauldron roy cooper, mark kelly. but gavin newsom as a long-term friend? yes. it matters that will look i mean, he's he's been a dream candidate for a lot of people because, you know, he went on fox news beat up sean hannity and he went to texas in there's a sense that could gavin do it, but they will never run against each other.

>> gavin newsom and kamala harris have been in epoxy other for a long time. >> all right. >> pause there for a moment because i want to bring in now the democratic senator laphonza butler of california, senator butler, you hear us here talking about your governor gavin newsom, who's he's now formally endorsed kamala harris. you are a senior adviser on her 2020 presidential campaign. so what was your reaction today when you heard the news honored by the service of president biden just deeply moved by such a selfless act for a leader who has been a public servant or all of my life to make a decision like he made today, i just think there's just no greater example of selflessness and leadership on behalf of the country. >> and i'm excited for, for the american people to have, to happen the opportunity to have kamala harris as not just our nation's vice president, but potentially our president. and

definitely our democratic nominee, senator, let me ask you, obviously know where you stand. >> have you had a chance to speak to the vice president today or is there anything you you want to tell her i have spoken with the vice president and i don't intend to reveal our conversation here but for folks who are who have for the last three weeks have been wringing their hands and uncertain about the direction of the democratic party and our nominee is in my opinion, the opportunity for the time and opportunity for all of us to stop with the hand wringing and truly get to work. >> this is a vice president who has earned this nomination. i think she said in her own state i mean, she's going to work continue to work to earn. and win this nomination. and the big threat in front of us is project 2025. who do who and

those who have drafted and donald trump and j.d. vance, who intend to implement it. that is our threat. that's where we have to be focused. and i believe you bet vice president harris will lead our party and our country to advanced democracies and freedoms economic prosperity, and future generations moving forward. >> so senator, let me ask you and i and i know, obviously you're call your call was private, but in terms of what happens now when you spoke to her and obviously she took this on right away and said, i want to earn earn this nomination. but but what does she do next? >> she's got she's got to do the work. this is about the delegates heading into the convention. this is about members of congress and organizations who are, have already been working with the biden-harris campaign. we've been knocking on doors. >> she as got to make sure that

in order to get to the nomination, she's got to have a majority of delegates, 2000 delegates, going into and coming out that convention hopefully more to unify the party. and that takes an incredible amount of work. she is focused on doing that work alright. >> well, senator butler, i appreciate your time. thank you very much for joining us thank you all right. center about what their junior center of california obviously a harris supporter and formerly senior adviser on her campaign. thanks so much to all of you for joining us, our breaking news coverage continues after this with jake and anderson i know how hard it is to acquire new customers. using only social media. that's why i created one direction power bi to tare, it makes tv advertising as simple as digital platforms. get started at wonder ads, ads.com it won't be hard to find someone to fix this. but before i started, angie's list, different story. a lot has changed for us that anjie since

then, but the issues facing homeowners are the same and the solution to skill local prose, get started at angie angie.com. >> take a pea sized amount, apply it like ocean pits under boob pfeifle about cracks, feet. this water-based cream. i'm telling you it's invisible on the skin. it works like a dream. why didn't someone think of this sooner last month, i spent hours on a spreadsheet color-coding my expenses, and tracking subscriptions, thought i had it all sorted out. >> then i got got hit with two unexpected renewals and an annual fee that's when i switched to rocket money. and at that fines and cancels subscriptions, lowers bills, an automatically track and categorizes your spend when i signed up within seconds, i noticed i had to netflix accounts. i didn't know about. thankfully, i was able to cancel both of them take control of your finances and download rocket money? >> did you drive blindfolded of course not the white blindly by car insurance. >> take that blindfold off and

see what options you have in surefire shows you the best person he was insurance rate for free. insurance made easy, which looks better this or this seems clear to me, if you love to save, check out the whys by sales event going on right now in america's best, get two pairs of progressives for just 12995 offer and includes a comprehensive ai dram book, an exam online today. sure. i'm a paid actor this isn't a real company, but there's no way to fake cop work can help your business so its talent all over the world with over 10,000 skills, you may not happen house more than 30% of the fortune 500 use because this is how we work now for 40 years, i've been bearing emotions and all the trauma of just so many things that i had seeing that i could not see. i was taking 16 pills a day, had nearly disconnected myself for my family. >> all i want. i was just to go back and bed post-traumatic stress disorder. >> i wouldn't wish on anybody

i vie for my own service dog because the medication in the talk therapy just weren't enough. >> i was grasping desperately for independence and hope i found it with a tale and a cold nose and knew that my life was about change i call him my battle buddy does every time around in the public he has my back. i'm responsible for him, but i feel just as much like he's responsible for me every time those even start talking and he knows and he's right right there at my side lost and actually does say my life shoes, advil, liquid gels for faster, stronger, and longer lasting relief than tylenol rapid release jailed because advil targets pain the source of inflammation. >> so for faster pain relief, advil, the pain away the best things in life come into two scoops of ice cream two thumbs up, and now by any phone, when

you switch to consumer cellular and get two months of service free, that's right, two months free. >> all the fast, reliable nationwide coverage make this switch today boys and girls were going to go to see worse. chad mecca academies class size is one marion start your free trial and save $100 today. >> dad, are you certain this is going to work? >> nothing to it. >> are you for imprint certain certainty, matters like the certainty of four imprint your home for high-quality promotional gear, including exclusive items and brands they love freedom did perfectly and guaranteed to arrive on time to wow your clients and nail your next event or inspire your team. >> checkout four imprint.com imprint for certain this situation room with wolf blitzer. weeknights at six, cn