say that he appeared to be confused as he did at the debate and then we will say president trump appeared to be confused when he mixed up the name of the person that he ran against. we will say president trump has been confused when he goes off into these mindless places and talks about things unrelated to the topic that he is on. he makes statements that are inproap. we have -- inappropriate. we are two old men. i accept also the fact that one is efficacious and a democrat and the other chooses to be an autocrat. host: what is happening on capitol hill behind closed doors on this? are there meetings scheduled? guest: meetings have taken place and i am sure there will be many more meetings. this is the issue of the day. the press is doing what it does. it covers the news of the day. the press doesn't tell you how to think. but it does tell you what to think about.

as long as the press keeps saying here is what you should think about. you will have more people saying the same things. host: congressman green from texas, thanks for being at our table.you can also post on x wie handle @cspanwj. former speaking nancy pelosi -- 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 folks across the country, and worried about november's election the stakes cannot be higher we cannot un-see president biden's disastrous debate performance. we cannot ignore or dithe valid questions raised since that night. dersnd why president biden wants to run. he saved us om donald trump

once and 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 nineemocrats who have publicly called for the president to do so as well. as we get to your calls, let's take look at those nine. francine in new york, independent, you are up first. caller: good morning. 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 watch 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 yesterda in determining how to proceed as party, there must be a serious reckoning with the down ballot effect owhver we nominate. what matters is not how we feel but 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 choose a different vp is whaaudrey writes in, but it aside.be better if he stepped aging democrats have refused to give up power cut mee younger people are notce to take over, but i would vote for gretchen wtmer enthusiastically. the new york times front page story this morning about the president, angling to make

>> i'm a democrat, not a republican. >> ok, well go ahead. >> if you go back 40 years ago, that man, 80% of his body is arthritis. donald trump's doctor talking about he could live 200 years. it don't make no sense. >> nathaniel, as a democrat, are you worried -- let me finish my

question. are you worried that he's been politically damaged and cannot recover? >> it doesn't disqualify him from being president. the man can do his job. he's telling you what he's going to do to this country. >> will you be watching his new conference today -- news conference today at 5:30 p.m. eastern time? >> this man is going to ruin this country. >> i'm going to get in more, nice more calls. you can watch it on c-span or online at c-span.org.

the gop led house oversight committee subpoenaed three senior white house aides wednesday, demanding the sit for deposition regarding the president's health. it signals republicans desires to investigate if some of his advisers have hidden his condition in a probe that could dragged through the november 5 election. that is the oversight committee chaired by james comer, republican of kentucky.

>> it's hard to argue with a lot of the figures that are going up around employment. when it comes to whether it's trump or biden, i just submitted a column on sub stack entitled vote biden. bite the bullet for four years, or bite the bullet with trump and hope it goes off in four days. it's really one of those things.

you look at a global image, which our president has, as the most powerful country. there is no way on a global stage donald trump can bestow any prestige on this country whatsoever. his track record is a catastrophic disaster and it comes to morals, principles, ethics, they just don't exist. when you get to the lies, they are so obvious and so blatant, as an independent, i really find it hard to believe that the maga groups and allies really can stand for this. they think he is a great businessman. there is an adage that the house never loses. now that is a fact, and that's

why, because you know he doing fairly well. >> all right, roger, we will leave it at that. roger in wisconsin, a swing state this election cycle, and 2016, former president trump won it in 2020, president biden one this state. it is crucial for their election bid. the washington post said an aarp poll released tuesday, which was conducted by polling firms that work for the biden and trump campaigns, shows biden trailing trump in wisconsin by six percentage points in a five way contest that includes third-party candidates. biden beat trump in wisconsin by less than a percentage point in 2020. republicans will be holding their convention in milwaukee next week. tune into our coverage here at c-span, you can go to our website, c-span.org, and are

free video mobile app, c-span now. we will begin on sunday in milwaukee live with a preview of the republican convention. in pontiac michigan, democratic caller. good morning, gary. >> i'm a retired vet, and i have to say is simple for me, tromp as far as i am concerned is a traitor. i remember that press conference with putin in l -- helsinki, i think it was. being retired military i could never vote for anybody like that. i just couldn't do it. i've talked to a lot of vets and they say the same thing, they could not vote for anyone like that. don't get me wrong, i was disappointed with the

performance of biden at the debate, but i think it was just a terrible night for him and i think he's done a lot of good for this country. i just can't vote for a man like trump who is morally bankrupt and cruel. host: what if the president has more appearances like the cnn debate, then what? caller: that would be very concerning to me. i just have to be realistic, if he has anymore performances like that, i think he drop out, just my opinion. we can afford for him to have anymore terrible performances like that. he needs to get out there and prove to the voters of this country that he can do the job, which i think he can, but he has

to be true to himself. and how can i put this, not put his personal goals over his country. we are at a point in our time, just like world war ii. 5:30 p.m. eastern time, download our free mobile app, or online at c-span.org welcome back to the washington journal. president biden is preparing for high-stakes news conferences afternoon as pressure intensifies on him to exit the race. our conversation this morning with you in the washington journal is about top democrats, some rank-and-file have called on him to withdraw from his reelection bid. news this morning, democrats are questioning the president's path to victory.

and a new washington post abc poll that shows most democrats want the president to drop out, but overall, the race is static. the poll results contradict biden's claim that only party beeps one him to step aside. in the debate he trailed off and occasionally appeared confused. but the poll finds that 56% of democrats say he should step aside while 42% say he should continue in the race. the poll finds biden, and former president donald trump in a dead heat in the contest for the popular vote, with both candidates receiving 46% support among registered voters. that finding is at odds with some other recent public polls across eight other postdebate national polls tracked by the

post, the former president leads by 3.5 percentage points on average compared with the one point trump edge in those same polls before the debate. president biden led trump by between nine and 11 points in average in public polls at this point in the campaign four years ago. he ended up winning by 4.5 points. dave in buffalo new york, a democratic caller. dave, react specifically before you get to your comments to this washington post abc poll. caller: i will react to that poll. i disagree with that pole. i've been a democrat since 1985, and i believe joe biden is fully capable to continue in his position, despite his age and his apparent infirmary, i am a

strong supporter. i have some personal connections . host: are you a supporter of the vice president as well? caller: yes, i am. host: mike, forest lake minnesota, republican. go ahead, we are listening. caller: i just had a quick question. i thought they weren't supposed to have any notes or anything on the podium. i was watching a replay of the debate, and clearly there were different camera angles on c-span and they clearly show that joe biden had a tablet in his hand and he was clearly

reading off the notes. if you go back you will clearly see that he had notes and a marker that he was crossing up certain items. you could tell he was putting his eyes down, he was reading his notes. host: first of all, it was cnn's debate, it was their cameras and their angles, just to be clear. the candidates were allowed to take notes, so what he could've been reading where the notes that he was taking throughout the debate. they were given a pin and pad. caller: ok, that's my fault, i thought they weren't allowed any notes. so that's all i've got. thank you. host: solomon in west virginia, an independent.

solomon? caller: yes, hi america. i'm a 70 year old black woman and i haven't voted since kennedy. i am sick and tired of, for 15 years now, 24/7, biden, tromp, tromp, biden. it's just annoying. and all the young people that spoke for kennedy junior, kennedy, kennedy, he's our man. he can make a change, i know he can. host: charles in missouri, republican. caller: yes. i been watching joe biden for four years. i've been watching the news, and he needs to go.

he's not mentally capable, he's not physically capable. you can tell by his walk. i'm 64 years old. i know i have trouble getting around too. i see it, he is not capable. like they said, if we get a nuclear threat at 2:00 in the morning, is he going to get up, or his wife or somebody else in the cabinet going to make call? he's just not capable of doing it anymore. host: former speaker nancy pelosi on msn bp -- msnbc, hello see who has a decades long relationship with the president and still commands the deep respect of her colleagues, left her mark on the biggest political crisis facing the democratic party in years.

this is what she had to say. >> does he have your support? >> it's up to the president to decide if he's going to run. we are all encouraging him to make that decision, because time is running short. i think the overwhelming support of the caucus, is not for me to say, i'm not the head of the caucus anymore, but he is beloved, he is respected, and people want him to make that decision. >> he has said he has made the decision. he has said firmly this week he is going to run. do you want him to run? >> i want him to do whatever he decides to do. and that's the way it is. whatever he decides, we go with. i think is really important, and i would hope everyone would joining in, to let him deal with this nato conference. over 30 heads of state are here.

he is the host of it, and that means not just hosting, it means orchestrating the discussion and setting the agenda. and he is doing so magnificently. and i have said, everyone, let's just hold off. whatever you're thinking, either tell somebody privately, but you don't have to put that out on the table until we see how it goes this week. host: the washington post reporting on what the former speaker had to say yesterday on msnbc. pelosi did not directly call for biden to step aside, but she did significantly reframe the conversation, a delicate but urgent conversation taking place among capitol hill lawmakers. tim in tampa, 40, democratic caller. what did you make of the former speaker's comments?

caller: i called on the independent line, but when it comes to what nancy pelosi says, at the end of the day, it depends on how they view joe biden. what i don't understand is, i could care less about joe biden or trump, but at the end of the day you know we are going to have the choice between those two candidates. i was hoping to catch that representative who was on there, but obviously he is gone. the thing i don't understand, the media will start planting seeds in people's minds, and people will fall in line with all this foolishness. i don't understand for a 90 minute conversation or debate, how are people going to say, i'm going to now vote for the republican party. it's not all about trump and joe

biden, it's about what the party stands for. because a 90 minute debate, that means all these people now are going to start voting for the republican party, knowing that the republican party and project 2025 is out there? i just don't get it. and one thing i hope you all will do, greta, at c-span, like the person in minnesota saying we are not going to vote for joe biden, then who are you going to vote for, trump? host: seven of 10 independents say the president should exit the race. so independents could determine the outcome of the presidency. as you've heard political analyst say, like chuck schumer, democrat of new york, is privately signaling to donors that he is open to a democratic

presidential ticket that isn't led by president biden. schumer has been insistent he is for joe in public, and private he is singing a different tune, according to three people familiar in the matter. he responded to axios reporting, i remain committed to ensuring donald trump is defeated in november. president biden this morning preparing for his news conference this afternoon at 5:30 p.m. eastern time. you can watch it on our free video mobile app, c-span now, or online at c-span.org. we also learn yesterday president biden will sit down for another one on one interview after his abc interview with george stephanopoulos. now he will sit down with lester holt of nbc news, and that is going to air at 9:00 p.m. er