it is good to be back with you on this second hour of chris jansing reports. at this hour, we're standing by for two big live events. first, senate democrats are about to address the cameras after a consequential day of closed door meetings debating the viability of joe biden's candidacy. can they come together with the presidency on the line? we're also watching the white house where the briefing should start any minute now ahead of a major appearance by the president at the nato summit. how a celebration of the alliance became a high stakes test of his fitness to serve.

and out west, firefighters racing to contain a wildfire that continues to threaten michael jackson's former never land ranch. and just moments from now, the court will continue in the trial of bob mendez. can they rebuff the prosecution's argument that he sold the power of his office for cash and bribes? we begin with ali vitali on capitol hill where congressional democrats have been huddling about what to do on president biden's 2024 prospects. we could hear from senate leaders any moment now, but what's been the mood on the hill? >> reporter: it's been a tense day. i think a lot of people were looking to today, myself included, as a potential inflection point. after hours of standing outside the house democrat meeting this morning, it's clear that no consensus means it's an advantage for biden as one lawmaker put it to our team. on the senate side, we're in a

position where you can see ryan nobles is standing there waiting for the senate leaders on the republican and democratic sides to come out, but we're eager to hear from chuck schumer, who we have not yet heard from on camera and at the capitol, about president biden. he will be coming out of what's probably about an hour and a half long at this point senate democratic lunch. it stands to be pointed out that this happens every week. the same goes for the house democratic huddle that we witnessed this morning. it's not infrequent that these meetings happen. what's notable is the topic of conversation at this pivotal moment in joe biden's presidency. now, what's different about what we've seen on the senate side of this is that no senators at this point have come forward to say they think joe biden should drop out and no longer be the democratic nominee. instead, what we've heard is senators who are saying what we all i think have heard at this point publicly and privately from lawmakers writ large which is that the debate performance

about a week and a half ago gave them pause, concern about biden's ability to carry the party as the standard bearer and they would like to see him continue to show, not tell, that he can be that person as he remains defiant and is going to stay the leader of this party. that of course is something that chuck schumer himself has echoed his support for. we know schumer along with the top democrat on the house side have both spoken with the president by phone. right now and publicly, they have been very supportive of him as the man at the top of the democratic ticket. but of course, that's going to be one of the key questions, especially as both of these democratic leaders have to embark on a listening tour of sorts from the members of their caucus. some of whom are going into today's senate lunch with concerns that they want to air and wanting to talk to their colleagues about it. our team's going to be chasing, you might see me looking down at my phone as i often do, chris, because this reporting just coming in in such realtime.

but that's the waiting game we're playing. looking to see if today is an inflection point or if the dam continues to hold for the president. >> you are also breaking news today. this story about nikki haley ahead of the rnc convention. >> reporter: the fact that nikki haley, what role will she play in the convention, the republican party writ large as the last remaining person to have challenged trump during the primary. certainly now we're learning haley is releasing her 97 delegates earned over the length of the primary. some from states that voted after she dropped her bid, but we're also hearing from her spokesperson that she is not invited to the republican convention. this even as she drops her delegates and urges them to unite behind donald trump. haley of course was critical of trump during the primary. that's how it goes when you're

challenging anyone for the same job. the two politicians have spoken by the phone over the last few weeks. we learned recently, doesn't seem like that phone call healed any of the bad blood between them. specifically because as jamie denton, haley's long time spokesperson said to me, she's not invited and trump is entitled to have the convention she wants. haley in her words, is fine with not being there. it's a moment where she's preaching unity but won't be at the convention to underscore the need for that. >> thank you. to the white house now where president biden is preparing to host nato allies for a summit where his every move will surely be scrutinized. kelly o'donnell is reporting from washington for us. so, kelly, how high are the stakes today? >> they are significant because it really magnifies what has been in large part a domestic story of the post debate issues the president is dealing with

and bringing together 38 world leaders who are joining in parts of the nato summit where the president believes one of his great achievements of his term in office was rallying nato leaders to the support of ukraine and he is marking the 75th anniversary of this path, north atlantic treaty organization that is nato at a time when europe is in a couple of years of open war between russia and ukraine and the concerns about the wider impacts of world order on these alliances. so, for the president, this will be a new opportunity to demonstrate his fitness. his capacity. his skills as a communicator. tonight, he is expected to deliver remarks welcoming the world leaders and that will be closely followed. and there will be opportunities and we'll try to find ways to measure this, for the leaders assembled. many have known joe biden for a long time and there are some new additions like the new british

prime minister coming into this level of international summit. for them to make their own assessments, get their own take on what they're perceiving about the president's involvement, engagement and so forth. so the stakes are many and for this white house and the biden campaign, trying to ramp up and in some ways cluster their response to the post debate issues by trying to leverage as much of president's conviction that he wishes to stay in, the circumstances that make making a change very difficult at the upcoming convention, and trying to marshall as much of that power that the president has to quiet some of his critics even though that hasn't settled the matter. but it comes at a time when the president has what we would refer to as the rose garden strategy. the ability as a candidate to use the levers of being in office to make a point to send a message and in this case, perhaps to quiet some of the critics and reassure those who

are considering voting for joe biden. >> kelly, thank you. out west, the biggest fire of california's wildfire season is threatening michael jackson's one-time home. steve patterson is following that story for us. are crews anywhere close to containment as they have to deal with this brutal heat wave? >> reporter: they are. this is the biggest fire and now it's even bigger. 20,000 acres. yesterday, 26,000. but alongside with that, progression and containment has grown as well. 8% containment yesterday. 12% containment today. and look, these numbers aren't monolithic, right? just because the fire is bigger it doesn't necessarily mean it's bigger in all directions. the people putting protection on the fire, containment on the fire, are doing it to try to keep it away from population centers. there's one to the south. one to the north. right now, this fire is burning primarily to the northeast. that is more of a wildland area.

i spoke to the forest service this morning. they're happy with where the front of the fire is, however, of course, there are still red flag winds in place. of course, there are now new communities that have been under evacuation orders. but those communities are in wildland areas. one of those ranches is obviously is very famous. the former neverland ranch. still a threat as far as we know. i spoke to the protection service this morning. they're saying that yesterday, they came within a mile of neverland's former ownership. and that they recognize that and they're building significant protection around it. there are several backfires burning to protect the ranch. they will not let it burn. but again, these red flag winds are still a risk as they are with several of the fires across the region. more than 20 large active fires. all it takes is one wind gust, one ember and the fact we are in this heat dome which is

exacerbating everything in the fire fight and causing this fire season, which is already been bad and early burning since june, to continue on today. chris? >> steve patterson, thank you. appreciate the updates. the defense is set to begin closing characters in senator menendez's bribery trial after prosecutors finished by saying this is a classic case. tom winter is following this for us. what's the latest? >> the prosecution wrapping up within the last hour. one of the key things they said in their closing arguments is quote this is a politician who put his office up for sale, adding it was the defendants willing to buy. to buy out anna and fred davies. the developer. they are charged alongside the senator and have pleaded not guilty. the defense is expected to begin its closing arguments shortly here and that may last through the bulk of the day tomorrow or perhaps at least into tomorrow

afternoon. after that, we expect lengthy instructions from the judge to the jury. so it's possible here that the jury doesn't begin deliberations in earnest until sometime on thursday. that was kind of expected according to the judge and what he had been planning on with respect to this trial. there are some concerns that the longer this goes, there are certain jurors that have summer travel plans. but at this point, everything appears to be on schedule. one of the key things prosecutors pointed out is it's one thing for menendez to be the senator from new jersey. then to be the senior senator then the chair of the powerful senate relations committee which throws out billions of u.s. dollars to foreign countries in aid and military weapons. and they said that still wasn't enough for the senator. we still needed to find a way to enrich himself and they attacked something you and i have been

speaking about, menendez's defense. something his wife who is currently undergoing cancer treatment, that she is the one responsible for these payments and that the senator was not aware of it. they addressed that specifically going line by line about the things he blamed both nadine for as well as her children for and kind of attacking each one of those things saying he was quote desperately trying to pass the buck. the thousands and thousands of bucks stop here, referring to menendez and that report from jonathan dienst who's been in court and sending us notes base ond the testimony. obviously looking at the cash and thousands and thousands of dollars of that. close to half a million dollars found at the home and the gold bars which have become so infamous with this case. in 90 seconds, the final days of donald trump's vp search and former president's new comments. plus, the big rally tonight that could give us a clue. ts plus, the big rally tonight that could give us a clue.

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republicans have now released their 2024 platform and it sounds a lot like what you would hear at a trump rally. it includes the largest deportation program in american history all the way to keeping men out of women's sports. in a notable shift though, it softens the party's decision on abortion and same-sex marriage

but while the platform may be set, trump's vice presidential pick apparently is not. dasha burns is reporting from doral, florida, where trump is holding a rally tonight. also, brendan buck, a partner at seven letter as well as an msnbc political analyst. vaughn hillyard is here onset. dasha, how much buzz is around the rally tonight particularly when it comes to the veepstakes which we're told could happen any day now? we could hear an answer. >> reporter: any day now. that's the one big question mark left for the trump campaign. while there are many still on the other side of the al, this has been an unusual time for the president where he's sitting back, staying out of the news cycle and watching what's going on with democrats but he has been teasing this vp announcement for a while now. what i can tell you is we know that tonight, here in doral, florida, florida senator marco rubio will be speaking alongside the former president.

he of course has been one of the three names that have consistently been talked about by sources we're plugged in with that includes ohio senator j.d. vance and north dakota governor. they're the top three contenders. as far as we know, none of them know whether or not they are the chosen ones that the former president was continued to say it's not final yet. take a listen to what he said on fox news last night. >> haven't made a final decision but i have some ideas as to where we're going. we'll see what happens with biden. given the old days, they would announce the vice president during the convention. today, with modern day technology, you can't do things that you could have done 50 years ago very easily, but probably a little before the con vengs, but not much. it could even be during the convention. i'd love to do it during the convention. >> reporter: one other question, chris, is how might what's going

on on the other side of the aisle with president biden impact what the former president decides to do. there's some speculation it might have an effect on who he decides will be his running mate. regardless, it would certainly impact the strategy for the trump campaign who has spent the last many months now advertising against president biden and forming their entire campaign around attacking biden opponent rather than potentially harris or somebody else if it were to come to that, chris. >> thank you. vaughn, i've covered a couple of conventions where they announced the vp pick during the convention. not sure what modern day technology you could have done 50 years ago means, but are you getting insights from anybody you're talking to? has he really not made up his mind? >> i think it's notable for donald trump a couple of days ago, he had suggested he had made up his mind and now maybe

it's not the case. with donald trump, it's not an infrequent thing. i think if you compare this to eight years ago, it was kind of a natural process of elimination. the final three were newt gingrich, chris christie and mike pence. i was outside of mike pence's home in indianapolis when the motorcade of donald trump arrived to the then indiana governor's mansion and ultimately the request for him to join the ticket was made. that's different this time. you have marco rubio and j.d. vance on the air waves. doug bergum is out. nobody has naturally ruled themselves out of this equation. one little mention of doral, the last time he had a campaign event there was eight years ago when he at that press conference at the time, he had asked russia to help look for hillary clinton's e-mail. so eight years later, doral is still a focal point. we could get that announcement tonight. >> brendan, if trump wanted someone who would appeal to i

don't know, undecided, middle of the road voters, independents, even those who are squeamish, who would be the best choice? >> probably marco rubio but i don't know if that's the way trump thinks. i don't know if it matters. having worked for paul ryan when he was the vp nominee, i'm not sure who your vp is really swings a lot of votes. i look at it this way. vance would clearly be a cementing of trumpism for the future. it would be saying this is where the party is headed for the long-term. if it was somebody who's really adopted trump's pop list vision. where as the others are more traditional republican establishment type figures. now, rubio i think would probably be more interesting in terms of appealing potentially to hispanic voters. we know donald trump thinks there are big inroads to be made there. i don't know that your vp does

that, but he seems to be thinking there could potentially be a play there. my sense is it's probably going to be a j.d. vance because that's such a policy bit, but in that fox news interview, he said one of the reasons he couldn't do it at the convention is because it gets more complicated. that leads me to think marco rubio is from florida and he would have to move if he was going to be on the ticket. >> yeah, and also trying to figure out if whatever happens with joe biden is something he has to wait for given your point, which i think a lot of people history tells us that vps don't often make much of a difference, but having said that, you could almost see donald trump's wheels spinning because we know that he would prefer to run against joe biden than someone who is younger and potentially already in the polls maybe showing strength against him. >> i think ths going to be a race where they're running against both.

they're very happy to run against joe biden but one of the reasons they like running against joe biden is they're going to make the argument he's not going to last four years and that harris would be worse policy wise. she's much more liberal. so i imagine you're going to hear both. this is going to be coming, especially for the near term where they don't know who it's going to be, i think they're happy to have a vp candidate who can go toe to toe with harris. >> okay, so let me ask you about how to win 2024 newsletter. i know you wrote some stuff in there including that biden may have accidentally stumbled upon a way forward. in a trumpian move, the president is now presenting himself as an underdog, taking on the washington elite. but he is someone who's pretty much been a lifer on capitol hill. do you think that's going to work? >> i think it's a little

disin. joe biden was sleepwalking into an election landslide loss. did not appear that he understood what was necessary to win this race and the stakes, you know, in his stephanopoulos interview, saying if he gave it his best try, that's all that matters. the democrats coming after him wake him up to the stakes in this election. if he runs the rest of this race like he's got a chip on his shoulder, we could potentially have a situation where at least he's got a fighting chance. to win, you've got to be able to fight. especially that first week, it seemed like he had no fightin him. the last few days it seems like he know he's going to have to do something about this. i still think he's an underdog but at least he's got someone to motivate him. probably the best thing he could hope for. >> brendan, vaughn, thank you,

gentlemen. appreciate it. for more from brendan, check out the how to win 2024 newsletter. updates to your inbox by using your phone to scan the code on your screen. be sure to sign up. still ahead, with growing calls for president biden to take a cognitive test, we'll talk to a doctor about what those exams show and what they don't. that's next. t those exams show and what they don't. that's next. the world might not be ready for them... ...but at $3 a pop? your wallet definitely is.

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so we're waiting for a couple of big press conferences. what you're seeing on the left is a break from tradition because usually when senators finish their meetings, republicans, democrats, it's the party in charge. in this case, the democrats who come out first. but today, it's the republicans. so we're still waiting for chuck schumer to tell us the results of that big meeting among senate democrats after republicans had their own meeting and basically no consensus there. on the other side, an empty podium. we were supposed to hear from the white house press secretary at 1:00 this afternoon. then they moved the briefing to 1:45. it's just shy of 2:30 now so running an hour and a half behind what they thought they were going to do. so obviously, democrats whether at the white house or in the senate, still making some decisions about what they're going to say when those press conferences begin, but we will

bring them both to you so keep it here. in the meantime, there are those growing intense questions about president biden's health with bipartisan calls for him to take a cognitive test. as democrats debate there as you saw whether he should continue as their nominee. those questions led to some highly contentious moments at the press briefing yesterday. >> direct question. >> wait, wait, hold on. wait. wait. wait. wait a second. wait. >> at least once in regards to the president specifically. >> hold on a second. no, no, no. wait a minute. ed, please. a little respect here. every time he has a physical, he has had to see a neurologist. so that is answering that question. no, it is. it is. you're asking me -- i cannot, but i just -- i also said to you, ed, i also said to you for security reasons, we cannot share names. we cannot share names.

>> there are accusations that the administration has been less than forthcoming, particularly about eight recent visits to the white house by a parkinson's disease expert. all of that pushed the white house to issue a statement late last night. it said three annual physicals showed no findings consistent with parkinson's or other neurological disorders. so what could a cognitive test tell voters and could it determine if someone is fit to be president? i want to bring in msnbc political analyst, ashley parker. also with us, assistant professor at the institute for health metrics and evaluation, dr. gupta, an msnbc medical contributor. ashley, is the pressure on the campaign now literally every word, every answer, every sentence biden utters is being dissected and now these calls frankly for cognitive tests. >> that's right. what you're hearing from

democrats is sort of their version of what the republicans would always say, i didn't see the tweet. they're saying we need to see more of president biden and the challenge with that is if he wor to say on thursday after his press conference had a catastrophic appearance like he did in the debate, that might give democrats some clarity, but all of these moments where he comes out and democrats are watching. when you talk to them publicly or privately, they say he did fine. right? he maybe shuffled more than they liked. he maybe lost his train of thought. he maybe mixed up a name or two. you know, the ones who want to give him the benefit of the doubt say it's nothing so alarming that they have come out and called for him to step down, but it has not done anything to sort of large scale assuage the doubts of president biden's party. you're seeing the stalemate where as my colleague wrote, it feels like joe biden against the

world or joe biden against the democratic party. where as long as he stays in, and he very well may stay in until election day, there will always be these sort of calls for another cognitive test. another live interview that's 90 minutes and unedited and goes deep on some sort of policy and it will be the perpetual train tracks of bars that he will always have to barely clear to continue to kind of hold on to this tenuous coalition. >> so, doctor, you haven't examined either of the candidates. i'm not going to ask you about them. what is the cognitive test? what does it show? what doesn't it show? >> this is the essential question. this is a tender topic because of the way we're talking about it. this is a test that addresses or can assess for the presence of say memory lapse. short-term recall issues. attention issues as we get older and what we realized is that two

in three adult americans, 70 and older, might have some cognitive impairment as we get older. that's why, chris, the american academy of neurologists are leading experts in this space in the early 2020s said everybody 65 years of age and older should get a cognitive test. we're stigmatizing this test in a way we shouldn't. brain health should be normalized. it should be assessed just like we assess cardiovascular health. if we can assess that maybe there's something needs to be optimized, there are things we can do. get people the right support at home, keep them safe, and there's reversible causes in some cases of cognitive impairment. this is something we shouldn't be stigmatizing. >> we saw some of the main correspondents including gabe gutierrez taking their seats. that's usually a sign she's coming out within the next

minute or two. i may have to interrupt you. but in the meantime, vin, modern medicine is keeping people alive a lot longer. what are reasonable expectations for someone in their early 80s which both candidates will be while in office if elected? >> every expectation is that both candidates as we've seen do suffer in some cases from memory relapses, from judgment issues. both candidates, not just one. that's what we should be expecting. the american public i think has largely seen this. they've gotten used to it. just how we're talking about it. especially talking about making sure people get assessed properly so they can get the right help. we don't talk enough about this, but 10% of cases of cognitive impairment, mild to severe, can be reversible. from things like hormonal di efficiencies. even depression. maybe there's medication side effect. peoples lives are at stake. more broadly looking past just the two presidential candidates,

how we talk about cognitive tests, talk about getting people the right support is important because it means independent living or reversing some of these symptoms. we get them the right treatment as early as possible. brain health, we should be taking as seriously and nonstigmatizing the way we think about cardiovascular health. >> ashley, you heard about how watching the debate was triggering for people who have people in their lives who have aged. i found that personally when i was back in ohio around the fourth of july. a number of people came up to me to talk about that. what did they tell you? >> so, what they said and this was a discussion i had with voters, democrats, republicans, that was really kind of rare outside of politics and even outside of what they wanted to see happen on election day. or what they wanted president biden to do. these are people who have had loved ones, family member, grandparents, parents who have aged.

in some cases, they, you know, they have alzheimer's or dementia, parkinson's, but sometimes, they're just older. they're in the sunset years of their life the way trump and biden both are. these people told me it was just very heartbreaking and devastating to watch a man some who had a lot of affection for president biden, sort of struggle so publicly on the world's largest possible stage. almost literally. that debate stage. with the fragility of the human condition and the indignities of ages, which just about everyone who is lucky enough to live a long life, encounters at some point. >> how much are we going to see the biden campaign have him stay later at things? interact more with the public to push back against this narrative? we've seen his energy. we've seen that he's feisty about fighting back against this, but what's the campaign planning? what do we know? >> well, it's again, sort of

this fine line because on the one hand, you have the campaign saying and you certainly have people in president biden's own party saying we need to see that he has the bigger not just to do the job of the presidency for four years but the job all democrats agree is the most important job for the next four months. which is to beat donald trump and be an effective messenger for that. they want to see him out there more. they want to see more events. more tv interviews and podcasts and unscripted interactions with voters. and without tell prompters. at the same time, president biden himself has said i need to get more sleep, right? the white house has said we're not going to have him do anything after 8:00 p.m. well, if there's going to be that second debate, which so far, the biden people claim he is going to do, that is going to be in prime time, which is after 8:00 p.m. so it's that push and pull of making sure when he's out in public as much possible but that when he is out in public, he sort of has the rest he needs and the conditions he needs to

succeed and some of that means not being out in public as much as members of his party and voters would like to see to feel reassured. >> vin, do any experts talk about managing aging? i ask this question because warren buffett, many people think the greatest investor of all time? i'm sorry? i'm going to thank you both. we're going into the briefing. >> describe the nature of the meeting with the doctor. did he say whether that one meeting is related to care for the president. >> i can say that it was -- >> and why that information released last night, just wasn't said at the briefing yesterday? >> no, actually, a lot of what is in the letter was said at the briefing, to be very, very clear. i said many of the things that were laid out in the letter. was actually repeated here at this podium yesterday.

it was -- >> said that -- >> hold on. i said many of the things. we got clarification obviously from dr. o'connor. but it was in line with what i said. i said only three visits that this particular doctor has. a neurologist. who i was not able to confirm is the name and the reason why is because we do not share private information. that is something we respect and we wanted to make sure that we protect our consultants here that work with the white house medical unit. their security as well. that is the one thing i was not able to confirm. obviously, dr. o'connor's letter confirms that, but we had to get permission from dr. canard and also the president in order to put that information and it is not normal. and that also states that in dr. o'connor. but many of the things i said

here at this podium is in the letter. >> could i also ask a little. this is the second time in less than a week from debriefing had prompted a need for later clarification on questions about the president's health. wondering if you could speak to -- >> so, i disagree. it's not. yesterday, a lot of the things that i said right here in this briefing, i know you were not in the briefing room. it's in the letter. it was in the letter. it was being incorrectly assumed and insinuated that the president had seen dr. canard more than three times. i said that it was only three times that the president had seen a neurologist. i didn't confirm the name, but i said it was only three times. it was being incorrectly assume that had the president was being treated for parkinson's. i said right here the president was not. i actually went a step further and said he wasn't taking medication for parkinson's. i said that right here. it was also assumed that dr. canard was someone who only worked on parkinson's when in

fact he's a general neurologist. that was something dr. o'connor was able to confirm. in fact, a general neurologist and we wanted to, we just wanted to set the record straight. it is important, we believe it was important to all of you. i even said here at the podium, if there was more information that we could provide, we would do that. and we did. but many of the things that i said right here is in the letter. is in the letter. >> does the president feel like he's beaten back this effort to force him to step aside? >> look, you know, you heard the president yesterday when he called in to "morning joe" about 18 minutes of q&a yesterday. he spoke very forcefully, passionately about where he stands, how he sees things moving forward and we also have said many times we respect, we

respect members of congress. we respect their view. but i also want to say there's a long list of congressional members who have been very clear and in support of this president. whether it's the cdc who gave a full support, the congressional black caucus for folks who are not sure what cbc is. representative joyce beatty. we think the call went extremely well. the president was very responsive. representative torrey carter, he was elated to hear from the president and he is all in and we are all in with him. he got a congressional hispanic caucus. they put out a statement in full support of this president. and there are others. and so look, he is going to focus on continuing to work on behalf of the american people. continuing to build on an unprecedented record that he's been able to get done with many

of these congressional members that he's proud to have worked with. but that's his focus right now. that's his focus. >> talking to -- >> he's going to continue to engage. as you saw him in pennsylvania when he was on, when he was in the commonwealth on the road, he had two of the senators, two of the congressional members with him. two house members with him. he's going to be traveling later in the week. he's going to be engaging. i mentioned yesterday his robust schedule for the next two weeks when he's in state, he certainly will continue to engage. i don't have a list of additional, additional calls to read out, but he did cbc last night. congressional black caucus and he's going to continue to engage as he has been. >> the president has made clear he's done talking about the debate. it is time to move on. but some of his allies have made clear they're very much still in this wait and see mode. senator murray said he must do

more to prove he can campaign. durbin saying he's concerned this is just a one off or larger issue. how worried is the president that despite his best efforts, he's not going to be able to close the book on these concerns? >> i appreciate the question, but as you know, there are hundreds of members in congress. hundreds. i laid out a list of folks who have supported him. we have heard from senator coons, fetterman. there's support there as well for him. just want to make sure we put that out there as well. >> absolutely. look, representative gregory meeks said coming out of the congressional democrats meeting said that they're united. and you just saw the dem caucus leadership take questions from some of your colleagues over at the capitol. so that is important as well to note. but he had a bad night. we've talked about it. he understands people's concerns. we have been out there. as we have been in previous months but out there obviously in the past ten days.

more than ten days now since the debate. and you see from his engagement with every day people on the ground, you see him with congressional members having, people who are showing their support, speaking on behalf of this president while we're on the ground in that respective state or commonwealth. we were in pennsylvania on sunday. so we're just going to continue that. but look. what we can say, what i can say is we respect people's opinion. these are, you just mentioned two senators that we were proud working with over the past three and a half years to get historic legislation done. and that's what we want to focus on. we want to turn the page. we want to get to the other side of this. we want to continue doing the work and that's what the president's going to do. >> and just be clear, does he have plans to talk with leadership again soon? >> i don't have any calls. we don't have calls to read out or preview. he is going to continue to engage. i just don't have anything right now to share at this moment.

he talked to cbc again members yesterday. they had a very, very good call. and so he's going to continue to engage. >> the white house is obviously fielded a lot of questions about the president's health. i just wonder have the last 12 days made you reconsider any specific statements that you might have made in recent months on that issue? >> look, i appreciate the question. i really do. and the opportunity. i think there has been moments here when i have said and especially in the gaggle. and actually yesterday, if i have you know, said, misled in something i've said or haven't had full information, i actually own up to that and i actually say i will do my best to get you the information. hence the letter. hence the letter from dr. o'connor, right? and so i will, i have always

been committed to doing the best i can, to give you the information that we have. that is a commitment from the team. it has been an unprecedented time. i think you guys could admit that. it is an unprecedented time. so we are meeting the moment. a new moment that has never really existed before. so we want to make sure that we get you all the information that we have and when we don't have it, we do try our best to provide that information. and so that is something that i'm going to continue to do. i've always said it is an honor and privilege to be standing in front of you every day, exercising in the freedom of the press. this is a briefing that is watched around the world because we lead in democracy, right? we lead in the freedom of the press and what that looks like. honor and privilege and i continue to do my best to do just that. >> we certainly understand you speak on behalf of the president and you defend him, his actions, his positions, policy positions

included. can i just ask you about one example going back that comes to mind. september -- >> in the past -- you're talking about the last 12 days? >> i'm talking about recent months. >> you just said recently. it's been, we've been going back and forth and so in the last, you know, 12 days or so. i believe that's how you asked the question. >> i was talking generally. but if i could just ask you about one example. >> look, if you're going to ask me about something from months ago, it probably would be fair for me to, i probably won't be able to answer that right away. whatever it is you're going to say to me. happy to do that. but it's also to say hey, from september of whenever year, right? that is, that is something that i probably should give a little space to see what you're speaking of. >> okay. that's fine. >> i just want to make sure we kind of give come context here. >> yeah. and you'll remember this. this was an event where the

president called out congressman lor ski, looked for her in the room even though she had recently died. you told multiple reporters at the time -- >> she was -- >> right. it was because she was top of mind for the president. on that example, would you offer a different explanation? >> honestly, i spoke to the president right before coming out that day. and that is what the president told me. it's not something that came from me. that is something that came from the president. >> so he was saying -- for her in the moment. >> she was top of mind. >> okay. >> as you just said in your question, i speak for the president. on behalf of him. that was coming from him and i was delivering directly from the president what he was thinking at the time. >> very different kind of example. this is more recent. >> sure. sure. >> when the president was in italy for the g-7, you'll remember he skipped one of the

leaders' dinner. i remember you were asked about it by reporters and you said we shouldn't read too much into the fact that he's skipping one dinner. would the explanation have been that he was tired and that he needed to -- >> and my answer stays the same. i wouldn't read too much into it. it's not the first time that he has. he has a really busy schedule and there's a lot going on as you know. when the president is abroad, he has continued to go domestic stuff as well as meeting with global leaders. and so i truly would not read too much into it. and i will leave it there. >> very final question on the annual. >> sure. >> letter from dr. o'connor. he said that the president continues to be fit for duty and fully executes all of his responsibilities without any exemptions or accommodations. just because it's been a couple of months, do you know if that

statement is still accurate? >> it is. >> so no accommodations? >> no. thank you. >> there was an announcement from the department of justice today about a crackdown effort to interrupt a russian state sponsored bot operation ai operation to denigrate politicians in the united states and elsewhere. have you, do you have any concerns right now that this is leading edge of any part of a russian effort to interfere in the election? has the president been briefed on this? and have you seen any evidence that the russians or other foreign powers have tried to seize on the debate performance to repeat some of the president's most embarrassing moments? >> that's a very good question. i would have to talk to our team about those particular

questions. you had multiple questions in your statement there. i would leave it to the department of justice as what they announced. obviously that's for them to speak to. ai has always been a concern. that's why the president made some announcements recently, to take executive action on how we can deal with ai. we want to see more action legislatively from congress. that is something, it is a cutting edge technology that we need to get our hands on. and get a better, you know, better understanding of what it could potentially do. and so that is something that the president certainly is looking to make sure that we deal with this in a full whole of government away on those particular questions, i would have to check in with our team here and obviously whoever's related to the department of justice in that statement.

>> you said the president wants to turn p page. has president biden seen enough support over the last 36 hours from fellow democrats in congress to now start turning the page and look ahead? what's his reaction been to what he's seen since congress has gotten back? >> very similar to how i answered the question to one of your colleagues. he's very much focused on what's ahead. he's very much focused, he has a fulsome, robust schedule next two weeks that we laid out for all of you. he wants to focus on that. the messages he wants to come out when he goes to texas next week, to vegas next week. he's going to be on the road on friday as well. i also want to say you know, he is proud of the congressional black caucus who said they have, he has their support. the congressional hispanic caucus did the same and other

members of congress, obviously. and so, look, he wants to move forward as your colleague said, unite the party. continuing to unite the party. we heard from representative meeks who said the democrats came out of the meeting today united. i think that's important to note. but the president's going to move forward. he's going to move forward. he's going to continue to go out there, engage, engage with the american public like you saw him do in pennsylvania. and he's going to stay focused on that. >> does he feel like he's weathered this storm so to speak? >> look, i think that he is more determined than ever to continue to get the job done. to continue to build an economy that works for all. >> let's go from the white house to capitol hill where chuck schumer just coming out of that meeting of senate democrats is speaking. >> hoping to finally put womens

healthcare decisions up to them once and for all. i thank senator murray for leading this bill and every single female senator on our side for cosponsoring it. the resolution has some simple questions. where do senators stand on freedom of choice? do we believe a woman should have a basic right to healthcare? do we agree that the rights protected under roe should be protected under federal law? of course democrats have made it abundantly clear where we stand. yes, we emphatically believe that women should be free to make their own healthcare choices. all year long, senate republicans have shown everyone how out of touch they are with the mainstream. senate republicans have shown that for all their attempts to sound moderate on reproductive care, when it comes time to vote, they will choose maga extremism over the republican

people. when republicans blocked federal protections for contraceptives, they chose maga extremism. this is no surprise. no mistake. they did the same thing when they blocked federal protections for ivf. they chose maga extremism over the american people and when donald trump announced he would nominate hard right justices to the support for the explicit purpose of overturning roe, the same senate republicans enthusiastically voted to confirm them. not once, not twice. three times. so make no mistake. the maga hard rights attacks on women aren't done. first it was abortion, then contraception, then ivf. what's next? if they get the chance, they will push for their ultimate goal of a national abortion ban. that's why voting on legislation protecting access to these things like contraception and

ivf was so important and that's why affirming a woman's fundamental right to choose is so important as well. let me turn it over to patty. >> republicans are trying to rewrite their abortion record. donald trump, a convicted felon and liar, is trying to tell us he doesn't know anything about project 2025. the playbook written by some of his top advisers. he may as well be saying he has no idea who named trump tower. we all know donald trump ended roe v. wade. we all know republicans championed that for decades and we know that trump will absolutely ban abortion nationwide. remember when he said he had no healthcare plan? over and over again? and there was no plan. just to push to tear down the aca and coverage for millions.

pay attention to what they do. not what they say. we have all seen the fallout because of donald trump's actions. women denied abortion care ooerchl when their health is at stake. forced to travel thousands of miles for care and dragged through a pregnancy against their will. no one is going to forget. especially when republicans continue to stand with the most radical abortion extremist at every turn. i'm not just talking about voting against restoring roe. republicans here in congress signed briefs against medication abortion and abortion for medical emergencies. they have supported extreme fetal person hood bills. and opposed the right to birth control and ivf. where does it end? is there a right they will not trample on for antiabortion extremists?

today, we are going to see if we can protect a woman's right to cross state lines for healthcare. to protect a doctor's right to provide legal care to any patient that comes to them again in states where abortion is legal. and insure more health professionals can get critical training in comprehensive reproductive healthcare which is save lives. this is basic, common sense stuff. so the response should be pretty telling. after all, how are republicans going to pretend they think it should just be state politicians overruling women already in extreme position by the way but how do you say that and then have no problem with targeting doctors in states like mine where abortion is legal or trapping women who would travel out of state for care. if republicans block these bills today, i don't know how they are going to try and explain that