♪ i tried to love you just couldn't break through no getting used to living without you ♪ ♪ 'cause i've been waiting don't wanna waste it we're all alone now how far will we take it ♪ ♪ [ cheers and applause ] ♪ this is "nightline." >> byron: tonight -- >> i've decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation. >> byron: president joe biden addressing the nation, explaining his historic decision to withdraw from the presidential race. >> i revere this office.

but i love my country more. >> byron: we're in the oval office with biden's family. >> it was a moving experience, frankly, and a powerful moment. >> byron: what happened when the cameras stopped rolling. vice president kamala harris re-energizing the race, smashing fund-raising records, becoming former president trump's top target. >> lying kamala harris has been the ultra-liberal driving force behind every single biden catastrophe. >> byron: the next 104 days to the election headed into overdrive. >> we're going to have to buckle up for the next few months, because it's going to be wild. plus david arquette. you know and love him from "scream." >> call the sheriff for backup. >> byron:drying dewy to life. the son and brother of the famous arquette family, playing stepdad in a movie costarring nick jonas, opening up about his work. >> you mentioned bozo the clown, you bought the rights to the

clown? >> i did. >> what's your plan there? >> it took me 15 years. and the amazing way the mom heard her 5-year-old say "i love you" for the very first time. >> no application fee if you apply by august 29th at university of maryland global campus, an accredited university that's transformed adult lives for 75 years. you're not waiting to win, you're ready to succeed again at umgc.edu. (vo) for over 50 years purina cat chow has been helping cats feel at home. you're not waiting to win, you're ready with trusted nutrition, no wonder it's the number one dry cat food in america. come home to cat chow.

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>> byron: good evening. thank you for joining us. tonight, the historic address from president joe biden sharing his decision to step aside in november's race. endorsed his vice president, kamala harris, in his place. surrounded by family and close friends, biden telling fellow americans their choice for president this november will determine whether the country moves forward or backward with hope or hatred. >> i've decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation. that's the best way to unite our nation. >> byron: four days after shaking the american political landscape, tonight joe biden delivering a historic address from the oval office, speaking to the american people about the consequential decision to step down as the democratic candidate for president. >> the defense of democracy which is at stake i think is more important than any title. i draw strength and i find joy in working for the american people. but this sacred task of perfecting our union is not about me. it's about you.

your families. your futures. it's about we, the people. >> i was in the oval office as part of the rotation of media organizations that are allowed to cover the president in close proximity. inside the room, it was emotional and intimate. family members dialed in intensely to what the president was saying. his daughter, ashley, clearly emotional with her eyes closed for a good portion of the speech. at one point grabbing her mother's hand. that isn't typical in an oval office address to have that many members of the family, but i think they recognized how big this moment was for their father or grandfather, and frankly, for history. >> byron: in the 11-minute address, the president reiterating his full support behind his vp, kamala harris. >> she's experienced, she's tough, she's capable. she's been an incredible partner to me and a leader for our country. >> when the speech ended and the tv networks went off, the room broke into spontaneous applause. the family members and staffers who had gathered there look at

each other and looking at him with just elation. but really strong emotions in every direction. he told people in the room, this has been the honor of a lifetime. >> byron: ice it's been 27 days since that disastrous debate performance watched by 50 million people on yn and simulcast on abc. >> didn't do well at all. he did not do well at all. >> byron: 90 minutes upending an otherwise unremarkable political season. the week that followed transformed into some of the most unprecedented political calamities in political history. >> the last few weeks have been historic in so many different ways. then to have in the mix of all of this, just an absolutely horrifying assassination attempt on a candidate. >> take a look at what happened. >> it's just been head-spinning to say the least. >> byron: how did we get here? >> what happened in the last couple of weeks after president biden's awful debate performance was some serious soul-searching

then some serious political knife-fighting that resulted in the sitting president essentially ousted from his own party, ousted from a nomination that he fought for and earned in the primaries because of concerns over his health. >> people, allies of the president certainly, had whispered concerns to us. i think there were a lot of people who had concerns, but they were willing to sort of write them off. the debate caused people to change their view about that, to re-examine some of their own memories and their own experiences with the president and think, wow, you know what, i did see some of this earlier on, i just didn't want to believe it. >> byron: the president's recent gaffes and fumbles just the latest in what some say is a concerning history. >> ladies and gentlemen, president putin. president putin? he'll beat president putin. president zelenskyy. i wouldn't have picked vice president trump to be vice president if i didn't think she was not qualified to be president. >> it was really the last two years of his presidency that interactions with the press were

much tighter and you just saw him less and less and less. and this bubble that was forming around him was getting thicker and thicker. >> byron: after weeks of both private and public pressure from at least 40 democratic lawmakers -- >> but i believe the time has come for president biden to pass the torch. >> it is time to step aside and turn this over to a new generation. >> byron: as well as voters and top supporters like george clooney, to step down as the nominee, on sunday president biden posting this letter saying in part, "i believe it is in the best interests of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term." >> in terms of his legacy, he got into this race because of democracy. he wanted to strengthen democracy. he called it the central cause of his campaign. and he did so i think by wresting the white house from donald trump in 2020. and i think that is his legacy. >> for the next six months, i'll be focused on doing my job as

president. that means i'll continue to lower costs for hard-working families. grow our economy. i'll keep defending our personal freedoms and our civil rights, from the right to vote to the right to choose. >> we saw speaker johnson come out saying that if the president is not able to or fit to be a candidate, he also is not fit to be president. and calling on him to step down. now, the white house has resisted that and dismissed those concerns, and there's no indication right now that we're getting or that i'm hearing from my sources that the president plans to leave office. instead, we're hearing that he wants to burnish his legacy. >> byron: but this moment in history not as unprecedented as it may seem. >> let me say this. of those to whom much is given, much is asked. >> byron: leading up to the election of 1968, incumbent president lyndon b. johnson withdrew from the race at the end of march. >> i shall not seek and i will

not accept the nomination of my party for another term as your president. >> if you look at 2024, it looks a lot like 1968 in certain respects. it was very divisive year, 1968. it was very turbulent. a number of events played out that felt like -- they gave us a great deal of uncertainty in this country. we're seeing that today. >> byron: the stakes for the country are once again sky high. >> this election got a whole more interesting. it was always consequential, but now i think the focus on it is going to match the gravity of the moment. >> byron: like then, the democrats have a new name at the top of the ticket. >> we're not afraid of hard work, we like hard work, don't we? >> byron: vice president harris the presumptive nominee has rais raised more than $100 million in new donations and nearly 60,000 new volunteers signed up to help

her campaign. >> we just had the best 24 hours. [ cheers and applause ] of grassroots fund-raising in presidential campaign history. >> we've seen a real surge in enthusiasm and excitement for vice president harris that she'll have to build on. i think the whole campaign gets reset now 100 or so days out. things look a lot different than they did just a week ago. >> byron: immediately the republican ticket began to hit back at harris' ostensibly crowning as a democratic nominee. former president trump speaking at a rally in charlotte, north carolina, going after his new rival. >> the vote for kamala is a vote for four more years of dishonesty, incompetence, weakness, and failure. >> byron: gop vice presidential nominee j.d. vance painting her as come print in what many conservatives see as the failures of the biden

administration. >> the border crisis is a kamala harris crisis. >> byron: resurfaced comments by vance in 2021 drawing the ire of many on social media after he questioned some democratic lawmakers, including harris, for not having children on fox news. >> we're effectively run in this country via the democrats, via or corporate oligarchs, by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable in their own lives and the choices they've made, so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too. >> byron: vice president harris has two stepchildren. >> you're already seeing rhetoric from the right that has been problematic. the thing that we're going to have to buckle up for the next few months, because it's going to be wild. >> byron: for the democratic party, the weeks to come will be unlike anything in recent memory. with only 26 days until the democratic national convention, just over 100 days until the election. >> history is in your hands. the power's in your hands. the idea of america lies in your hands.

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♪ >> byron: welcome back. david arquette was born into the hollywood arquette acting dynasty that includes sisters patricia and rosanna. for decades arquette has switched things up from "scream" to "never been kissed" and

wrestling on the side. he's back with a new film he says draws on his life experience. here's abc's ashan singh. >> reporter: how you doing? thanks so much for making the time. >> i'm good. >> reporter: back to the '90s. you standard as dewy riley in the "scream" franchise. >> lock yourself up, call the sheriff for backup. >> reporter: a role you've been able to revisit a few times. what impact did that have on your career? >> had a great impact. i mean, i loved working with wes craven. it was just like -- a dream come true. the first script, the whole group together, we had such a bond. it's been a real honor just in general. >> reporter: in your new film, you play a little bit of a different role, you play the stepdad of two kids grieving the loss of their mother. take a look at a clip. >> who is the funeral guy? >> i don't know. he's just some weird guy that runs this place. >> no. i mean, what is his name?

>> it's bob. >> hi, i'm bill. so nice to meet you. >> what was it again? >> bill. >> that's right, so nice to meet you. excuse me for one second. >> reporter: a unique family dynamic you're brought into. what was it like bringing levity to that role? >> there's a lot of awkward, cringy humor, dealing with grief. that was nick jonas. he plays the lead. he's just so talented and such an incredible actor. the way he balances his humor and the drama of it. >> reporter: the film deals with topics that i know are personal to you as well. divorce. losing a parent at a young age. when you read the script, did it resonate and compel you to take that role further? >> one thing i found about grief and healing is that gratitude is really helpful. when you can look back and really be grateful for the time you had with them and you can really think about all those wonderful memories. even though i've lost my

parents, i still live my life to make them proud. >> reporter: we have a clip of you sitting down with the late, great barbara walters from more than 20 years ago where you had a revelation following the death of your mother when you were 25, let's take a look. >> i was up all night doing drugs. and i was -- it just hit me. what am i doing with my life? i wanted better for myself. i wanted my mom to know i was safe, even though she'd already passed on. i have an incredible wife now. amazing two new kids. my daughter coco is going to college. life is good. you have to stick it out, because it can be real painful sometimes. ride the wave and really sort of look at the lighter things in life. >> reporter: you don't get enough credit for the multi-hyphenate that you are. you know him from film, you know him from wrestling. when did you first fall in love with wrestling, and how did that become such a big part of your life? >> i love the world. you know.

that was such a spectacle. so i just loved it. then i did the movie "ready to rumble." it was really an amazing life experience. >> i'm gonna getcha, yeah! bam, bam, bam! >> reporter: that jump started your professional wrestling career? >> yeah, to promote it, they made me the champion. a few years ago, i went on this crazy experience. i learned how to wrestle. i did the independent circuit for a while. did a crazy match. just -- i learned something about myself again. i want to be involved with things that i love. so if it's wrestling or if it's bozo the clown or if it's acting. these different projects. >> reporter: david, you mentioned bozo the clown. i read you actually bought the rights to the clown? >> i did. >> rachel: what's your plan there? >> it took me 15 years. i mean, one of the things -- >> reporter: you had your eyes on bozo the clown for a while? >> yeah, yeah, for sure. i loved it as a kid. i loved the whole circus world.

making people laugh and joy. clowns are getting such a bad rap nowadays. it's all scary clowns. they're not actual clowns. those are imposters. i feel like we all need to let our clown out and make the world a better place. >> reporter: david, appreciate you being here. thank you so much for your time. >> thank you, you're the best. >> byron: our thanks to ashan. when we return, the incredible way a mother heard her 5-year-old say "i love you" for the very first time. lactaid is 100% real milk, just without the lactose. delicious too. just ask my old friend, kevin. nothing like enjoying a cold one while watching the game. who's winning? no idea. real milk. real delicious. and don't forget to try some delicious, creamy lactaid ice cream. what's that mabel? (mooo)

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♪ >> byron: finally tonight, a young daughter's breathtaking gift to her mother. here's abc's david muir. >> david: tonight, the incredibly moving moment caught on a mother's she will forever cherish it. 5-year-old zoe asked to borrow her mother's cell phone saying she wanted to look for treasure and video them. zoe has been autism and nonverbal until a few months ago. her mother noticed letting her daughter explore, dance, play music, ski, it's started to help

her talk. her daughter communicates in other ways including lots of hugs. but still, mom, delphine, has never heard her daughter say "i love you." mom was astonished when she saw what her daughter had recorded. just listen. >> this is a pine cone. this is a dandelion. this is another dandelion. this is a grass. this is a sky. this is a cloud. this is my car. this is my house. and there is my beautiful mom. she's the best mom. i love her so much. and she's the best mom in the whole world. >> david: zoe's mother hearing her daughter say "i love you" for the first time. tonight telling us with the help of a simple camera, words came out more easily when she was alone and having fun, and she managed to express in her own way all of the love that she has

for me in her heart but would never be able to tell this to me directly. >> i love her so much. >> david: tonight, one mom hoping the message from her from her own daughter will help so many other families, too. >> byron: warms the heart. our thanks to david. that's "nightline" for this evening. catch full episodes on hulu. see you back here same time tomorrow. thanks for the company, america. good night.