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choice. now more than ever, it all starts with great internet. >> wow! >> wow! supports c-span as a public service, along with these other television providers. ving you a front row seat to todemocracy. former speaking nan- former speaker nancy pelosi's remarks on msnbc yesterday made the front pages of the washington post. pelosi opens doors and calls for replacement. in a 10 minute tv appearance, pelosi, who has a decades longer -- long relationship with the president and demands -- still commands the respect of her colleagues, left her mark on the biggest clinical crisis facing the democratic party in years. let's listen to what the former speaker had to say. >> does he have your support to be the head of the democratic

party? >> it is up to the president to decide if he is going to run. we are all encouraging him to make that decision because time is running short. i think overwhelming support of the caucus it is not for me to say. i'm not the head of the caucus anymore, but he is beloved and respected and people want him to make that decision. >> he has said he has made a decision. he has said he is going to run. do you want him to run? >> i want him to do whatever he decides to do and that is the way it is. whatever he decides, we go with. i think it is important to let him deal with this nato conference. this is a big deal. over 30 heads of state are here. he is the host of it and that means not just hosting it.

that means orchestrating the discussion and setting the agenda and he is doing so magnificent lay. let's just hold off, whatever you are thinking, tell somebody privately, but you do not have to put that out on the table until we see how we go this week. host: the washington post says, when she said it is up to the president to decide if he is going to run, in those few sentences on a program that biden is known to watch, pelosi did not directly call for biden to step aside but did significantly reframe a delicate or urgent conversation taking place among capitol hill's lawmakers. your reaction to the former speaker's comments there. axios said that chuck schumer is signaling to donors that he is open to a democratic presidential ticket that is not

led by president biden. this according to three people -- three sources for axios. in a statement, the majority leader says, as i have made clear, i support president biden and remain committed to ensuring donald trump is defeated in november. that is what he said publicly to axios. they are reporting privately he is signaling to donors that he is open to this idea. yesterday, senator welch became the first democratic senator to say that president biden should withdraw for the good of the country. i cannot like foloss the country, and worried about november' election the stakes cannot be higher. we cannot un-see president biden's distrous debate performance. cant ignore or dismiss the valid questions raised since that night.

i understand why president biden s toun. he saved us from donald trump once wants to do it again, but he needs to reassess whether he is the best candidate to do so. in my view, he is not. for the good of the country, i'm calling on president biden to withdraw from the race. as many of you heard yesterday, after george clooney also writing in the new york times that president biden should withdraw from his reelection bid. there are also nine democrats who have publicly call for the president to dso as well. as we get to your calls, let's take a look at those nine. francine in new york, independent, you are up first. caller: good rning. thanks for taking my call. i realize the democrats are very nervous about this election. it is a serious election, but we

have to believe in our president . we have to believe in biden to do what he needs to do and we need to get behind him. democrats are nervous about this. nobody can give you a guarantee, but we need to stand behind our man and focus on trump. he is the one with all the bad things he wants to do for this country, so let's get behind. get behind biden. host: what about the poll numbers? caller: i never went for poll numbers. we are 116 days away. polls change from day-to-day. we know what biden can do. he has done it. he has been the best president we have had in my lifetime, so

let's go with him. you cannot throw him away for 90 minutes. and i bet trump was yelling like crazy during that debate, throwing him off his game. so give him a little grace. host: what about fundraising? if big donors like george clooney decide they are not going to donate a president biden's reelection bid. >> caller: then's they will guarantee trump's -- then they will guarantee trump's win. host: and you are an independent? caller: i am. host: president biden will hold a solo news conference today at 5:30 p.m. eastern. you can that live on our free video mobile app and online at c-span.org. ray, republican. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call.

i disagree with the previous caller. i believe biden has been a disaster from day one. that is just my opinion. as a republican, i back trump. he was an excellent president. we were energy independent. we worse -- we were respected around the world. i believe people are waking up about what is going on, especially democrats. they are waking up to see what is happening with biden and his health and mental state and cognitive abilities or lack thereof. and they are coming out and seeing it. host: maria in atlanta, what do you say? caller: [indiscernible]

anybody else who do not agree with him, they need to shut up and keep their personal opinions to their selves. they would make a problem and may clooney needs to stop acting . they need to keep their personal opinions to themselves and unite. have a good day. host: before you go, what do you think president biden could do to quell the questioning by these democrats? caller: the same thing he was doing before he had that debate, the same thing he has been doing, trying to help the country. he has been doing good. host: do you think his media appearances help? caller: yes.

just continue to do what he was doing and let the others shut up and go to sleep somewhere. that is what he needs to do. host: it was announced yesterday president biden will sit down with lester holt of nbc news. they will air that interview on monday. he holds a high-stakes news conference this afternoon after the nato summit has been taking place in washington, d.c.. he will take multiple questions. tune in on our mobile app. download it. that is at 5:30 p.m. eastern. in other news this morning, cnn has this headline. political suicide mission. congressional black caucus member representative richie torres switches on biden. the president met virtually with the congressional black caucus earlier this week and they came out in support and solidarity with president biden staying in

the race. torres tweeted this out yesterday. in determining how to proceed as a party, there must ba rious reckoning with the down ballot efct of whoever we nominate. what matte inot how we feel t what the numbers tell us. and unsentimental analysis of the cold, hard numbers which have no personal feelings. garrett in california, good morning. caller: good morning. how are you doing? politics -- there is one guarantee. host: we cannot hear you. we will go to gregory in california, democratic caller. caller: hello. i am calling because i see a very important binary choice

between two sets of ideas, two worldviews, and two presidents cut one of whom has already helped considerably to help america win the battle to save the planet upon which everything we do as people depends and with that in mind i would like to propose what i think is a good idea for biden going forward and for the democrats going forward. our president should campaign on -- in an old-fashioned barn storm, a whistle stop tour. i can see two routes cut two sets about a grant states where the president would campaign with the vice president and with various state governors and senators and members of congress , state members of the legislature and local democrats, laying out hundreds of things --

or thousands really that this president and team democrat have done all over this country in this various places and i hope the vice president would travel, highlighting all of this stuff on the back of an amtrak train. he is amtrak joe, after all. it would be a great media event. it will be days in a row instead of hopping around on airplanes and parachuting in here and there. not to mention the carbon footprint of campaigning that way. i think this would be a useful way for our president and team democrat because it is a bunch of people who do work with intelligence and integrity on hundreds of things to make this country better. we are talking agriculture, industry, education, environment, and all the stuff that makes us a great country. and i think people would enjoy

watching it and it would be fun to watch. it would be a break from normal. that should happen before the democratic convention and i hope the president and his team will consider doing this. i would love to see this happen. host: the front page of the new york times notes there are 35 days between july 18 when mr. trump is set to accept his party's nomination and august 22 when mr. biden is set to accept his party's nomination in chicago. president biden yesterday meeting with afl-cio, called the union his domestic nato as he looks to shore up support. here's a little bit of what he said to the union yesterday. >> when we were going, i said i was going to be the most pro-union president in american history. i am.

[applause] >> because to represent the folks i grew up with and where i come from and where the majority of the american people, i come from a household -- we were not poor, but we do not have any leftovers at the end of the month. three-bedroom bedroom house, four kids, grandpa who lived with us full-time. i look back now wondering how my dad handled it. the point is we gave people a fighting chance. when i got elected, and you guys were with me one back to the 1970's and i was a kid, what we talked about was the idea was to give everybody a shot, no guarantee, just a shot. host: president biden talked

with afl-cio members yesterday. the washington post is reporting top democrats in unions say biden must show he can win. calls came as top union leaders expressed grave concerns but more members and -- of commerce and other democrats call on him to step aside and members of his campaign staff began to exchange doubt about his prospects. in a closed-door meeting, some of the union leaders, many of whom are strident backers abided, set american doubts about biden's ability is damaging his candidacy and asked the biden campaign officials for their plan to defeat trump, according to two people familiar. others spoke on the condition of eminem at he to share private comments. two of the most outspoken leaders with the president of the association of flight attendants and the president of the united auto workers, two of his biggest labor allies. the washington post has that front-page story this morning. as we said cut senator peter

welch cut democrat, first of a credit senator to come out and say that the president should withdraw. others have expressed skepticism. senator richard blumenthal of connecticut, senator michael bennet of colorado. you have seen their comments on other networks. today on capitol hill, senate democrats will hold a special caucus lunch to hear from senior biden advisors and biden campaign chair, according to a person close to senate democratic leadership. they will meet behind closed doors to hear from the biden campaign about the path forward. you get to let washington know what you think on this. mark in pennsylvania, independent. good morning. caller: good morning.

please do not cut me off and you can ask any question you want. first, 81 million people voted for this guy. he cannot even hold a crowd of 500 people. if you have to pass a bill to make people think you are doing great -- the infrastructure bill , $7 billion to put in seven electronic whatever they are. no one is buying these cars. the inflation reduction act, please. give me a break. democrats complain about democracy all the time. they are nothing but dictators. they want power. you can see it. they are all panicking because this is all going to bust. if you have a question, feel free to ask me. host: i am going to move on to michael in new york, republican. caller: how are you today?

good morning. i watched the debate last week or the week before and it was like a heavyweight fighting a lightweight here and it was sad. everybody saw it. i do not know how any people did watch it, but everybody saw what his problem is. it is sad that he wanted to stay in. i know what he wants to stay in he should get out and take care of himself. he is 81 years old. there is nothing to be ashamed about if he gets sick. we all get sick. i wish no harm for him, but for the democrats to have any shot of taking this election he has to get out. i wanted to say that. i wish him no harm at all. host: you are a republican? caller: yes. host: who are you supporting in this race now? caller: i am supporting donald trump.

i'm just talking in general that if the democrats think they can take everything back, this man has to leave. because every time he talks you see he is getting worse and worse. he has to take care of himself. his wife has to say it is time for you to go because this is abuse. i just wanted to say that. host: if biden stays in, he needs to chodiffent vp is what audrey writes in, but i would be better if he stepped aside. aging democrats have refused to give up power cut meeting r pele are not a place to take over, but i woul for gretchen whitmer enthusiastically. the new york times front page story this morning about the

president, angling to make time his best ally. every day that mr. biden defies pressure to step aside, the prospects and logistics of replacing him become more untenable. and the potential of weeks of democratic infighting as the united republican party nominates donald trump may start to look worse than rallying behind mr. biden. no matter the concerns about the 81-year-old president's health and ability to defeat mr. trump. the new york times this morning says the prent's strategy is to run out the clock. karl rove, a republican strategist, writes in the opinion pages of the wall street journal what biden's exit could do for democrats. he says all but 43 of the convention delegates -- the chicago gathering will not be a bunch of bernie brose.

it will be mostly normal democrats who want to win the election. if no candidate gets a first ballot majority when the regular delegates vote, the democratic so-called superdelegates can vote. talk about a crew of practical politicos focus on victory. we will be glued to our screens the entire convention. vice president kamala harris would be the favorite, but hardly a sure thing. her 2020 bid revealed she is a weak candidate. her unfavorable numbers are worse than mr. biden and mr. trump's and she is in charge reporter policy. how has that worked out? if there is a new nominee, that person could keep her as vice president to avoid ditching the first black and asian american female veep. it is true mr. biden's warchest cannot be transferred to any candidate except ms. harris, but it can be transferred to a super pac