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to exit the 2024 race. while vice president harris' newly fueled campaign fuels democratic enthusiasm. >> in this campaign, i promise you, i will proudly put my record against his any day of the week. and former president trump floats the possibility of more presidential debates. >> i haven't agreed to anything. i agreed to a debate with joe biden. but i want to debate her and it will be no different because they have the same policies. and israel's prime minister addressing congress, further dividing washington as dozens of democratic lawmakers are skipping the speech in protests over civilian deaths in gaza. and thousands are expected at rallies here in washington, in opposition to american support for weapons that are fuelling the israeli war effort in gaza. ♪♪

good day. i'm andrea mitchell. a very busy day in washington. in prime time this evening, from the oval office, president biden is expected to explain why he decided to end his presidential campaign. framing it as a decision to put country above politics. this is the changing of the guard and the democratic party is happening at warp speed. any moment now, the part tease de facto nominee, kamala harris arriving in indianapolis for a town hall on social justice. this afternoon, the dnc rules committee will be setting a date for the virtual roll call to cement a nomination august 7th. committee chairman nominee tim walz said that vote and a running mate announcement will also happen some time before the 7th. >> we'll go through the process, we'll get a vote. it will then be the vice

president's decision. we want to make sure we don't miss any deadlines like that. i believe soon to be vice president will talk about our jobs matter, environment matters, those freedoms. >> according to political advisers, winning older white men as walz was describing is a focus. nbc news confirming that they can reach out to voters willing to support a black woman much like president obama's choice of joe biden in 2008. we begin with chief correspondent and host of "weekend today" peter alexander. peter, let's talk about this important speech tonight. technically, he's a lame duck, but there's a lot of drama surrounding this speech. this is a man, stubborn, insisting he was not going to

give up. and then within, you know, 48 hours, this sudden announcement this weekend. and it's the first time we're going to hear all the reasons behind it, a painful decision. >> yeah, andrea, i think you're exactly right. there's a couple things i'm hearing. first of all, this is just days after he ended one campaign and in many ways this is the end of one and beginning of another to help frame his legacy going forward. he still has six months in office, of course, as the president. he has already said publicly, particularly to that call called into what is now harris headquarters that he intends to be fully engaged. while the name at the top of the ticket remains the mission remains the same. those closest to his advisers he's indicated what he wants it to look like going further, including the implementation thus far. more than a trillion dollars

from the c.h.i.p.s. act to make sure that money is dished out across the country amid fears that if there is another trump presidency some of those efforts could be rolled back in a way. so, those are high on his list. but i'm also told this is going to focus on the message of unity that all americans can put the country first. that all americans put the country perhaps his personal ambitions before a second term here. but as we speak about the legacy, andrea, what's particularly striking to me, the president's legacy in a lot of ways is in the hands of the vice president and whether she can have a successful bid for the white house. her success is his success. if she succeeds, that will protect so much of what he's accomplished to this point. andrea. >> and nbc news washington, d.c. correspondent yamiche alcindor is joining us from indianapolis

where she's covering the harris campaign where it has raised $126 million since sunday. 3600 packed the first rally yesterday. yamiche, we're seeing an enthusiasm there that we certainly didn't see for joe biden in this campaign. >> reporter: yeah, vice president kamala harris is expected to come to indianapolis for the sorority, a group of african american sororities focused and founded on the sorority with a camaraderie here, these are the black women who are mobilizing and raising funds for the vice president to note that on sunday, there was a huge zoom call, 40,000 women joined and raised $1.5 million in 30 minutes.

a lot of them were from african american sororities like zeta phi beta. talking about getting out to work like she had yesterday, that this is a people-powered campaign. all of that on her mind. and the veepstakes here for vice president harris. and from my understanding, sources familiar with the campaign thinking here say that really, african american voters who are sort of worried about, possibly, the messaging that donald trump and the republicans have put out about people sort of stealing their jobs and latino voters worried about that. that's important to them. but also on white voters and suburban women, looking at possibly, most likely, middle aged older white man on the ticket who can talk to people uncomfortable with voting with an african american women, an

asian woman, to check the vibe of the country because they're going to be searching issues like abortion and crime and the border, and change how people are feeling across the nation, andrea. >> and, peter alexander, we did note in wilmington, when he called into her -- her big speech to her campaign staff that she's inheriting and keeping a real affection that seemed to be communicated at least verbally. but there was always tension between the vice president's office -- i mean, you know, he, of course, as vice president had tensions with president obama, we know that behind the scenes. certainly assigning her the immigration, the border account, was a gesture, the toughest problem in washington for decades. how do you think he and the white house feel about her right now, as she tries to reintroduce herself and get a fresh start?

>> reporter: well, i think at least based on our reporting there is a sense of pride in the seamsness that this sort of process has demonstrated over the course of its early days. obviously, the last several weeks were particularly challenging for the embattled president. and now he comes before the country as perhaps a humbled soon to-be former president. but with the relationship here as evidenced by so many people working at the now harris headquarters in wilmington, delaware, the only thing that changed in their title is the campaign for which they were working. from biden to now harris campaign spokespeople. that remains the same. and they need to capitalize what is in effect, a harris honeymoon right now, so much positive attention being lavished on they are candidacy. >> and peter alexander, as you can see, she's arriving now.

uncharacteristically in a yellow suit, this is a whole new look for kamala harris as well. yamiche, she's coming down the steps of the air force two, one of the planes used by the vice president, first lady and cabinet secretary. going to indiana, an important state for them. she's been in milwaukee. now, she's in indianapolis, she's launching her campaign with key constituents, yamiche. >> reporter: that's right, she's launching her campaign with key constituents and it's really, i would say, about this state she's coming to the annual convention of an african american sorority. if this sorority had been gathered in texas she would be there. if they were gathering in california, she'd probably be there. it's reminding women that she is one of them. that she understands their view

of the world and win this election on their behalf and pitching in and asking for help in beating donald trump. i can expect, her message is going to be similar to what we heard in the first campaign rally where she wants people to not just be voting, calling their neighbors, to be knocking down doors and batting down conspiracy theories and maybe pulling along friends who were not happy about joe biden or donald trump can give her a fresh look. saying, look, why don't you give her a look at the top of the ticket. she's connecting with black women of course who is the most loyal base of the democratic party, being black women. >> yamiche, she's beenhonest from the beginning, a fascinating ride. thanks so much to both of you. joining us is vermont's senator peter walsh, the first senator

to call for the president to step out of the race. senator welch, thank you so much. your impression as vice president harris has taken over the campaign. she's now the de facto nominee, not the nominee until the roll call is called and has to choose a vice president very quickly. what do you think of the people she's considering, according to all of our reporting, the governors and the senator mark kelly? >> number one, i think they're all terrific. and they have to speak to those voters in the contested states, and i think all of them are going to be absolutely outstanding. you know, it was an amazing thing we went through. it was very gut-wrenching for democrats. the question whether the president should step aside. we're hearing from our constituents, enormous appreciation for the president and what he had accomplished and a lot of pressure that we pass

the torch. but there is enormous uncertainty here, about the risk of continuing with the president, or the uncertainty of the chaos that might occur if the president stepped aside. now, it's joyful. there's astonishing reaction to how everyone consolidated around kamala harris. and the way that she is really gracefully taking on the mantel of leadership. i think there's a lot of joy. not certainty, but a real challenge facing down trump but what will we feel is an enormous sense of solidarity to try to meet the common needs of folks of red america and blue america need new leadership for us to address. >> and, senator, correct me if i'm wrong, but i think you were the first among those to say let's have a more open process, let's have people compete for this. it has coalesced so quickly

around her. and the argument from her people, from, you know, president biden, from the dnc chair, is that this is an open process, other people could have joined but she had the support, and she's working it. are you comfortable with that? >> i'm totally comfortable. people have process. we want to have opportunity, and opportunity was there for other folks mentioned as possible candidates. and what did they do? they all endorsed kamala harris. also, it's relevant in grassroots supporters raised $1.5 million in a day and a half. it's delegates elected in our states, our state of vermont unanimously endorsed kamala harris. those are rank and file that want to have a president. one that president biden gave us

was a unified democratic party. it was divided on this question, should he step aside. but all of the folks that were mentioned not just kamala harris as potential candidates were all united around beating trump and being the nominee across the country. so, thank you, president biden, for what you did. the grace of pure decision, the humility of it. a man who has been determined to overcome any difficulty whatsoever. made a decision, as we all thought he would made a decision on what's best for the country. >> senator, one of the thing that is dividing the american people and america is the gar in gaza. the conduct of the war. there are protesters here today, when the vice president said she's not going to the speech, because of a previous commitment in indianapolis. perhaps she could have changed it. but it affords her the opportunity to not be there for it. you're skipping the speech.

talk to me about. some are calling it a political stunt. >> well, the reality here is that it's very hard not to show up. it's polite, it's the right thing to do. netanyahu is the exception. i was present in 2015 when netanyahu came and gave an incredibly partisan, disrespectful speech, challenging that our president, barack obama, and it was, i think, an atrocious display of disrespect on the part of netanyahu. also, netanyahu has been completing disregarding the advice the united states, president biden, on the aspect of the war. unfortunately, the republicans and democrats, republicans in particular are trying to make this a partisan issue so i think i'm not going. i will watch and listen. and i will stay as totally

engaged as i can to be part of a two-state solution for standing up and the palestinian people and the war plan where we've lost over 39,000 innocent palestinians, and we can't be party to that netanyahu war plan that goes on unabated. >> and do you expect that if she were elected that the harris policy would be more sympathetic, empathetic, with the palestinians and with the problems inside gaza than the biden administration has been? >> well, i think two things. number one, as long as we have president biden he's going to be directing advice and vice president harris is going to be supportive. there's real possibility here because we've got the arab states that in the past wanted to annihilate israel now want to

be allies with israel. so there's real potential to get arab support for a two-state solution in peace for the middle east. so, i think she's got a fresh start opportunity and have been energetic in trying to move towards the same goal president biden had where in my view netanyahu is an obstacle. >> senator peter welch, from vermont, thank you, sir. the father of an american hostage held in gaza is here to talk about his frustration with israel's prime minister. and what he wants to hear in today's speech. we'll be back in just 90 seconds. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. nbc. ♪ and i am lost and i can't ♪ punch buggy red. ♪ even say why ♪

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extraordinary and unprecedented meeting. joining me is father of segui dekel-chen held hostage october 7th. his wife was pregnant at the time, gave birth, his young daughter who, of course, he's never seen is now 7 months old. >> that's correct. her youngest daughter, her name is chaka which means dawn in hebrew. is the third of his daughters, his two older daughters, age 3 and 7, they're waiting for him to come home. >> as are you. and the emotion, the grief, you're not going to go to the gallery. there were invitations for all of you. you're not going to meet with netanyahu today. >> correct. >> why not? >> well, i've come to the conclusion that was actually reinforced in our meeting that he called hostage families that

are in d.c. on monday evening which i attended. and if i had any doubts beforehand about whether to attend and be a witness to this event, in the joint session, that was for me the final straw. i understood that our prime minister, and there's no pleasure in me saying this, has come here for political theater. and not much more than that, for domestic consumption for israel to fortify his base. and not as we expected and hoped to announce that that's it. israel is all in. in this current deal, imperfect as it is with satan embodied by hamas, it does not appear that there's any intention of that at all. which raises the question why was he invited. i don't have a real answer to

that, by the speaker. and why should he come? because there are no outstanding security differences, really, between the u.s. administration, congress and israel. so, this is for political purposes. and i do not -- there's no reason for me to be a spectator. for that. >> i was told by some of your other family members, the hostage family members, that they were also upset because the prime minister brought with him israeli family supporters. and so that when some of you tried to ask questions about why he was not working more on the hostage release rather than going after hamas, they were answering, and they were given a chance to answer, and ameliorate his position getting rid of hamas which the military says is not a possibility is a more important priority. >> yeah. well, as i said, it was a staged

piece of political theater. and the prime minister did bring with him a number of families on his official plane. to the states. look, all of us are in pain. those who he brought with him are actually the most vocal -- at that meeting were not actually hostage parents at all. even though the meeting was meant -- it was announced that it was for hostage families, intimate. and it was neither intimate nor just hostage families. and in fact, those who were most vocal were people not disposed to anything other than bebe's political line. >> you're going to get a chance to meet with president biden and netanyahu at the white house which is not his home turf and just the american hostage families who are of similar

mind-set. do you think that that will be an unique opportunity for the white house, for president biden, to pressure him to put hostage release first? >> i certainly hope so. and i'll take the opportunity while there to ask, again, the prime minister the three questions that i asked him monday night and got answers to none of them. so i'll repeat them here. >> what are they? >> first and foremost, why is it that he is delaying signing this agreement, when the entire israeli defense stability, intelligence community and his own defense minister have already said publicly that all of the conditions are ripe to sign right now. and any additional delay simply risks the lives of the hostages and does not enhance israel's security situation? that's question number one that was not answered number one. as a member of the kibbutz that

was destroyed, why is it ten months after our kibbutz was destroyed. 50 were murdered, 35 from narrows why is it they has not come to visit the kibbutz or the surviving member of the kibbutz? it's something that in any normal country i think would be unthinkable. and, thirdly, he was quoted recently as saying hostages aren't dieing in captivity. he did not answer that question directly during our time together, and i would like to know what sense that makes given from our kibbutz alone seven, seven hostages have died since october 8th. >> and let me ask you one final thing, because we just heard that he is delaying israel's negotiators rejoining the negotiations in other -- in cairo, i think it's in cairo. until next week. your reaction to that? >> outrage.

it is yet another move, in a pattern, since december, of delays obfuscations, obstruction, of getting this deal done. and, you know, there are just endless excuses and rationalizations from our prime minister as to why simply draw this out. the vast majority of israelis already understand that his main goal right now is political survival with his coalition government. and if this war were to end, it is doubtful that that coalition would survive. and, hence, that is for most israelis, the most acceptable explanation, certain the hostage families, all 120, not just those representing the eight americans. and this doesn't make me proud to say as an israeli, we want our kids home. we want this madness to end in

what has become the completely senseless killing of civilians because we are not enhaning as the days go by the security situation. >> thank you very much. >> thank you for having me. >> we'll be watching the speech and talk to you afterwards. thank you. >> thank you. >> we'll be right back. power e*trade's easy to-use tools make complex trading less complicated. custom scans help you find new trading opportunities, while an earnings tool helps you plan your trades and stay on top of the market. e*trade from morgan stanley

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vice president kamala harris is in indianapolis, we saw her arriving earlier today.

her speech at an historically black sorority later today. in "the new york times" op-ed, hillary clinton who ran for president twice praises the de facto nominee saying harris is underestimated but can defeat donald trump the former first lady and snowflake adding, ms. harris' record and character will be distorted and disparaged. something we've heard from tim burchett calling the vice president a dei hire, diversity, exclusion and inclusion hire. joining me doug jones and maria teresa combar. >> senator jones, one source is

telling nbc news that senator mark kelly and veteran, former astronaut, of course, husband of gabby giffords is, quote, liked a lot by the harris team. kentucky governor andy beshear is another on the list. tim walz from minnesota. josh shapiro from pennsylvania. a number of others, kentucky. so, let's talk about what you think, you know, all of these people, what you think the vice president should be looking for, and is there someone you think is particularly strong as a candidate? >> well, i think those names you rattled off there, andrea, are amazing. it shows the strength of the democratic party and a bench that's been building for a number of years, the vice president has got to look at a number of things. there's a short-term issue they've got to look at, and that is current record and what they bring to the ticket in terms of trying to get her across the finish line in november but

there's also the long term. who best can step in the shoes of the president should they be needed? who best is compatible? who can she get along with. who will not be someone to nod their head and look adoringly that we've seen in the previous administration. not from kamala harris, but from a previous administration before that. but someone who can talk straight and have the confidence to do that. i think any of those names will be outstanding. they're all outstanding leaders. they're all outstanding public servants whose hearts in the right place. she's got a heck of a list. >> you've been around long, is there someone to proper vet, we've deny with dan quayle, there were lots of quick stories, as soon as the stories were made, which set the vice

presidential choices back. things that we didn't know. >> look, i think there's ample time. look, these are not unknown individuals. a couple of them have run and been elected on more than one occasion. and i can tell you from firsthand experience, that's a pretty strong vetting experience that you go through there. so, i feel pretty good about it. everybody is going to have something that can be criticized by the other side, especially when you've got a group like donald trump and jd vance out there, he'll do and say anything, whether it's based in fact or not. so, i think there's ample time to do this, i think they'll go through a significant process. it's not going to be a rushed exercise, but they can do it efficiently and get to the right choice. >> maria teresa, let's talk about the racist, sexist attacks. they started already. we saw this with the willie horton experience back in '88. and again, against john mccain,

against his bangladeshi daughter. this has been something very prevalent in presidential campaigns. >> and we should expect more of it. i think where she is today versus the nominee back in january is there's less than 3 1/2 months for a lot of this to stick. we just came off focus groups with young lat inos in battleground states, what's interesting, latinos really liked her. unlike hillary who sadly had to work through decades of baggage of what the right was trying to pin on her, kamala has a fresh canvas. as a result, i think it's one of the reasons why she's winning the imaginations of people on tiktok. i had the privilege of meeting her in flagstaff, when she

walked on that stage, all of the young people at flagstaff university stood up and clapped. she's their superhero. >> and meeting with a group of students in ann arbor, it was one muslim american who wants to be persuaded. >> that's the bare minimum that we've been asking for. and i think the main issue is that we're not seeing any change. i think we will stay uncommitted until we can build trust. >> so, she has to prove herself on the palestinian issue, in particular. where she's been more forward than president biden was and other issues as well. >> right, i think you hit the nail on the head. she's been far more advanced on making sure she's changing the business in gaza. it's been her and tony blinken behind closed doors. now that she can speak more to

the issue what needs to happen in the middle east, it's her agenda, it's no longer the president, we can expect changes. i think the reason, fascination with kamala among young people in particular, she speaks their language. she talks to them about gun reform. she understands we have a generation of young people who have done gun drills all the time. she can talk to them about reproductive choice and immigration as it relates to families. that's where she see her. >> maria teresa kumar and doug jones, thank you both so much. we have news from capitol hill. next tuesday the senate judiciary and homeland security committees agree to hold a joint hearing on the assassination attempt. right now, chris wray has been testifying before the house judiciary committee, revealing this new information and the shooter. >> we just, in the last couple

of days, found that from our review, to your point about devices, analysis of a laptop that the investigation ties to the shooter. reveals that on july 6, he did a google search for, quote, how far away was oswald from kennedy. that is the same day that it appears that he registered for the butler rally. >> nbc's justice correspondent has been tracking all of that, ken dilanian, interesting. what else are we hearing? >> yeah, andrea, new information that christopher wray is revealing doing the opposite of what the former direct kimberly cheatle did yesterday by not answering any questions, wray

has come to, as he put it, lean forward. he also put forward new information that the gunman's rifle had a collapsable stock which may explain why he wasn't seen earlier with the backpack. with a collapsable stock, it's conceivable that the rifle could have been inside the backpack. they're not sure. and he also revealed that research shows he was communicating an encrypted devices which they haven't cracked yet. they're still investigating what exactly those encrypted communications were. he also confirmed some things only reported by anonymous sources including the fact there were explosive devices in the gunman's car. he said the gunman had a dead detonator and couldn't have gone off with that method. he confirmed there were eight shell casings found next to the

rifle. they believe that the shooter fired eight shots. and he also confirmed that thomas crooks flew a drone overhead, two hours before donald trump spoke, trying to get aerial surveillance of the site. and he said trying to re-create the flight, because they don't have a record of it. but that is amazing security failure. he was not able to explain whether the secret service knew about that flight. when they had counterdrone capability to take down drones in the area. wray was not able to explain that. but he did confirm that the shooter flew a drone in what seemed to be a spectacular security a farm. >> ken, thank you very much. >> i super pac supporting donald trump is sliming vice president harris for being anti-police in an email blast today from a maga super pac of supporters. this were with what the former president is saying in a call with the rnc saying he would absolutely debate harris more than once.

but does not want abc news as previously agreed to to host. >> she's the same as biden she's a radical left person. this country accident want a radical left person to destroy. . >> joining me now former republican governor and presidential candidate, john kasich. with kamala harris as the likely nominee, how tough is this going to get for her, in terms of the personal stuff, looking back at her record in california, destroying perhaps her law enforcement record and her prosecution record to emphasize wherever they might find some weaknesses? >> i don't think they're going to -- i mean, i don't know her whole record to pick on her as a prosecutor or attorney general i don't think that dog is going to hunt. the reason is in the primaries,

running, that she was too conservative, i don't think that's too good. they're going to try her, she's the border czar, why didn't she get that fixed. she's going to have to be ready to talk about the border, no question, but republicans have to be very careful. i've been thinking about this now for a couple days. they start going really ugly against her, i think it could really, really back fire. they go ugly, i hope it back fires. you know, we don't have time for that in this country. just got a report here about some maniac who wanted to shoot donald trump. the fact is, why don't we just keep it on the issues that are out there. and i think if republicans are not careful about this, it could really hurt themselves by going in a direction that women across the country are really going to be upset about.

not just women, men as well, me, one of them. >> it's funny, because the speaker, to your point, speaker johnson said that, you know, he does not want republicans to be going after her on, you know, racial issues. and you would think it wouldn't be necessary, but already it's happened. and to also go after her as a diversity, equity and inclusion choice when arguably she has a whole lot more experience in public life. agency a vice president, senator, attorney general of our largest state, the most populous state, d.a., local prosecutor, than jd vance, two years in the senate? >> yeah. i think, though, what's going to be most important is not so much everything they're going to say about her. i've been in enough campaigns where people are attacking me one way or another. it's also her ability to project as somebody that can be viewed by the public, as somebody who could be president.

you know, i think, as vice president, you know, look at her numbers, they haven't been that great. although, i've said i'm not sure any vice president's numbers are all that great. but she has a chance, i like to say, i said it the other day, everybody has one chance to make one good second impression. if she comes across tough, compassionate, all of those things and has a sense of gravity about her, she's formidable. she's a formidable candidate, no question. some of these yahoos saying questionable things, by the way, that's why they do, they get on and say, they're in the news, the fact is it's not typical politics, but it could backfire

when you're talking about a woman. >> and do you think in retrospect, now that she's likely at the top of the ticket, how does the choice of jd vance stack up? because she's a good campaigner. we've seen her at rallies now in the last couple of days. she gets big crowds. >> well, andrea, i -- i would say this, i mean, about vance, he's the vice presidential pick. she'll pick someone to be vice president and then we'll compare them. the one thing that's interesting that trump says he will now debate. if i were the kamala harris team i'd debate trump every single time i could. because that gives her an opportunity to stand up there and present herself and to capture a certain image. i'm not sure he's going to want to debate her two or three times. i think she will be underestimated going into the debate by the media. they'll underestimate her. and if she overperforms, if she

stands up tall, if she can figure out how to talk to the weaknesses that he has, i would tell her to debate, if she could do that. maybe there will be two, maybe three. but if i were her, i'd be on the offense. people need to know who she is. your other guest said she's a blank slate. well, when you're a blank slate there's two ways you can go. somebody can tell you who you are, or you can tell people who you are. it's better for her if she's able to profit who she is rather than let somebody else define her. those debates, those could be really critical in the campaign. >> smart political points from somebody who has been there, john kasich, governor, thank you. >> thanks, andrea. on the schedule, after the address on capitol hill, israel's prime minister has meetings tomorrow, big meetings, and meetings with the hot attach families.

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in just a few minutes, israel's prime minister netanyahu will be on capitol hill meeting with the house speaker mike johnson who invited him at the first invitation that became bipartisan. and bipartisan meetings before both houses. a speech of mostly democratic

lawmakers, president pro tem murray are boycotting to protest how netanyahu is conducting the war in gaza. american hostage families are also here in washington, as you saw right here on this program. and they are very critical of the prime minister for coming to washington what they call a political stunt, instead of focusing everyday on getting their loved ones home. joining me now is michael oren, the former ambassador to the u.s., a smart observer of all of this, michael, thank you very much. so, it's a tough situation. 2015, he came, he went on the attack, on the iran deal against the obama/biden white house. there's a lot of -- you know -- a lot of damage that that created politically, here in washington, at least, among those democrats. today, we are told, this is going to be -- had we focused on iran as you would expect, iran is that much closer to

weapons-grade fuel, tony blinken said that on the record on friday. and iran attacked tel aviv, the iranians proxies, the houthis in yemen. so there's a lot of reason to go after iran. but one of your successors who is in a different role with netanyahu the ambassador here, he'd come last week and say it would be more moderate. however, it could change. it's very controversial, what do you think? >> i think many things, first of all, it's great to be with you, andrea. by the way, that houthi attack in tel aviv is up the street from me. so it's very personal here. >> of course. >> is under almost daily rocket fire, heavy rocket fire from hezbollah, another iranian proxy, and we've had attacks from iranian proxies in iraq and syria and of course with hamas,

all of these iranian proxies. that will be a major theme in netanyahu's speech. iran has been his major theme really since the 1990s, and it's been kind of down played in recent years. it's been overshadowed. he's going to try to put it back onto the national and international agenda. iran is a matter of weeks and maybe days away from creating a nuclear arsenal, it's called threshold capacity, and the only thing separating iran from a nuclear weapon is a decision by iran's leaders. so netanyahu is going to try to frame this as a battle between civilization and radical jihadism backed by iran, and that israel is sort of the spearhead in this struggle. he's going to be very complimentary to joe biden, and he's going to say thank you, thank you, thank you. all disagreements over the last couple of months are going to disappear, and he's going to thank congress for the support the congress gave to israel, a tremendous amount of aid was

voted by congress in a bipartisan way. i think he's going to strike a bipartisan note. i think that's the most important part of this visit is not the speech, the personal meetings he has both with president biden, with former president trump, and with now the democratic presumptive democratic candidate kamala harris and vice president. it's an opportunity for president biden to show the world he is still the president, still capable of being a president, very important meeting. this is certainly one-on-one meeting publicly after this. for trump he's going to try to show that the republican party is the true pro-israel party in the united states. i think the important meeting is actually with vice president harris. it will be her first, it will be sort of a debut on an international stage, internationally recognized leader. whether you like netanyahu or don't like netanyahu, he's one of the few international leaders who is recognized by the americans -- i don't know how many people in the united states

know the prime minister. but everybody knows netanyahu one way or the other, and so it's very important for her and i think maybe if i can say this, andrea, it's an opportunity for vice president harris to sort of move toward the center. she's perceived among pro-israel circles as being very in the progressive camp and critical of israel. this is a chance to run more as a centrist. >> well, michael, i just want to ask you very quickly before i lose you because we're short on time, the hostage families are calling this a political stunt and say that it's delaying a deal and now we just learned that his negotiators are not even going to go back to the table until monday. >> they're saying they've been delayed because they want to see the biden netanyahu talk. that's the criticism here. as the israel issue is divisive now, certainly with large sets of the american population, and

netanyahu's policy is divisive here, people say he has to really just make a deal now with hamas, if hamas is willing to do it, we don't know, and get the hostages out including ending the war. include giving up the border between egypt -- or under which hamas had smuggled all those weapons. other people say hamas survives and they kept the weapons, they're just going to do another october 7th. it may get 50, 60 hostages back but could cost thousands of deaths in the future. this is the great, deep, and painful dilemma israel faces today. >> michael oren, ambassador, thank you very much. >> thank you very much, andrea. and biden's moment, next our preview of the president's historic prime time address . and right now in indianapolis, vice president harris is delivering that keynote speech town hall for zeta fie beta sorority.

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tonight will be our first chance to see president biden since his momentous decision to not seek re-election. how is he going to explain his decision after being so steadfast about not yielding to the pressure to step aside, and what will be his chief policy objectives now that he's become, frankly, a lame duck. joining us usa washington bureau chief susan page. both of us have covered joe biden for a long time, what do you expect him to address tonight, and what is he going to say about his legacy, securing his legacy moving forward? >> you know, i'm sure he'll talk about why he stepped back, but the really important message i think is what does he plan to do in the next six months, and he's already signaled that he wants to pursue some big ambitions as presidents do, but we both know that the history of lame duck presidents is that it is really difficult to get things done when the attention of the world has shifted on who your

successor is going to be, andrea. >> now, what do you expect in a running mate choice? do you have any kind of gaming on who might be a front runner in that? >> you know, we're at the point where the people who are talking don't know. i would say you do not have to be a master strategist to think that the first woman of color seeking to be the president will probably go with a white male running mate. you know, that would be pretty sensible way to balance the ticket, and she's got some great options. a lot of attention paid to mark kelly, the arizona senator, the former astronaut, the husband of gabby giffords who would be helpful in a swing state, arizona, and who also has a kind of moderate record that i think might be a good fit with her. there are also some others, but i hear a lot about mark kelly

these days. >> and you wrote the book on nancy pelosi literally. how would you describe her behind the scenes role as the pressure was growing especially in the house caucus for biden to step aside? >> you know, no one played a bigger role than nancy pelosi in pulling this off, in basically rejecting biden's original decision not to step back and in orchestrating calls from house members in public and in private calling for him to step back, and then making the case to biden himself that he was threatened to undermine his legacy by leading democrats to disaster in november. you know, nancy pelosi understands power better than maybe anybody else in town, and we certainly saw her exercise that in these last few weeks. >> and the best vote counter in legislative history arguably. i don't know, going way back. susan page, as always, thank

you, my friend, and that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." remember to follow the show on social media @mitchellreports, and you can rewatch the best parts of our show anytime on youtube. just go to msnbc.com/andrea. "chris jansing reports" starts right now. ♪♪ good day. i'm chris jansing live at msnbc headquarters in new york city. three major addresses in the coming hours, one marking a beginning, one an ending, and one marking the divisions in our politics and our world. right now vice president harris is in indiana speaking to a historically black sorority, but as excitement surrounds the ground she is breaking for women of color, it's coming up against the reality of racism and sexism, attacks already being leveled. president joe biden is preparing to tell the nation why he dropped out of the 2024 race and how he plans to finish the job. how tonight's historic address could shape his final six