the moment i met him i knew he was my soulmate. "soulmates." soulmate! [giggles] why do you need me? [laughs sarcastically] but then we switched to t-mobile 5g home internet. and now his attention is spent elsewhere. but i'm thinking of her the whole time. that's so much worse. why is that thing in bed with you? this is where it gets the best signal from the cell tower! i've tried everywhere else in the house! there's always a new excuse. well if we got xfinity you wouldn't have to mess around with the connection. therapy's tough, huh? -mmm. it's like a lot about me. [laughs] a home router should never be a home wrecker. oo this is a good book title.

it is just past the top of the hour, i'm chris jansing and this is the day of historic importance. let me bring you up to speed of what we know right now about the breaking news. joe biden, the 46th president of the united states, announcing this afternoon that he will no longer be the democratic presidential nominee for this election. that news drop at 146 p.m. eastern on social media. here's what mr. biden wrote, it has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your president, and while it's been my intention to seek reelection, i believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and focus solely on the filling my duties as president for the remainder of my term.

in another post moments later, biden strongly endorsed vice president harris to be the democratic nominee. quote, my very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick kamala harris as my vice president, and it's been the best decision i have made. today, i want to offer my full support and endorsement for kamala to be the nominee of the party. in the last hour, vice president harris released her own statement thanking president biden and notably saying, i am honored to have the presidents endorsement and my intention is to earn and to win this nomination. she followed up on social media with the fundraising appeal saying, i will do everything in my power to unite the democratic party and unite our nation, to defeat donald trump and his extreme project 2025 agenda. if you're with me, add a donation right now. joe biden's decision to exit the race less than a month before the parties convention and just a few months before voters head to the polls in november, it's unprecedented.

it raises so many questions about what comes next. let's bring in a reporter, to help make sense of this monumental moment. correspondent mike memoli, chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell and we are joined by reverend al sharpton. mike, this has been, to say the least, a grueling, challenging couple of weeks for biden and it all began on that june 27th debate. there are lots of folks who are saying today, and he said on our air this morning, even early in the afternoon, president biden was still in it, obviously, something changed. what can you tell us? >> chris, obviously, what changed in terms of putting this on this trajectory was that debate on june 27th. biden has been fully committed to running for a second term, even after the debate. he felt he would still be the

best candidate in this race to beat donald trump. he thought he could beat donald trump but as president biden said in 2015 when he made the decision not to run in that race, no person should run for this office unless they can give of themselves 110% to the task. it was clear that he had to spend too much time fighting within the party to leave the party going forward. we have new reporting about what the last 24 hours looked like. we are told yesterday, saturday, as the president was here in rehobeth beach, delaware, as he was convalescing from covid 19, he was focused on his official duties, getting regular briefings about the economy and foreign challenges, but at the same time the team was working to as they put it, on the path forward, on what they felt would be a successful path

forward for the president but it was last night as he was with some of the aids most close to him, among them, and the neighbor now, mike donovan, that he shared his decision with them that he was preparing to make this decision not to run for a second term. it was today, that that very small group of advisors, who were aware of that, began to share it out with a much larger group. we saw the tweet from the president just before 2:00 announcing this. it was within moments of that public declaration that the decision was shared with those around him, the president called vice president harris multiple times today as well as his campaign chairman and the white house chief of staff to discuss this and he shared with senior advisors the decision

not to run and it was a minute later that the public announcement went out and then, he quickly of course followed that by endorsing vice president harris to succeed him as the democratic nominee. there have been a number of calls on the official side led by the chief of staff, but also on the campaign side with senior officials but the larger universe of campaign staff that this has been communicated and shared and there will be now additional calls including all staff call with white house officials led by jeff, you may have heard my phone ring a few minutes ago but it was an important call and but the president will communicate with the american people about this decision and the path ahead. the barrier to him doing that sooner rather than later is he still has covid-19. we got an update from his doctor today about the fact that most of the symptoms continue to improve but he still does have covid-19 and he will travel back to washington

as soon as that is possible, remember, he was supposed to meet with mr. benjamin netanyahu this week, so that is still on the docket but now the task for democrats is to look ahead. we've already seen vice president harris issue a statement that she intends to now run and she will do what she can to unite the party and we saw president obama come out with a statement, about what was a difficult decision, biden will be among those in the party who wants to stand ready, once the process is decided and want a new nominee is chosen to unite, there's a lot of mechanics now that are still somewhat uncertain that the party will be looking into as far as what that looks like and how soon we will have a new nominee leading this ticket. >> answer that phone call or return that phone call and come

back to us when you have new information. we should also say that there are new filings with the sec that have changed the name biden for president to harris for president. let's go to andrea mitchell, never seen anything like this, fair to say, there's no precedent. i wonder what you are hearing and what you are thinking today? >> i'm thinking about joe biden and the democratic party. i started covering joe biden when i was a local reporter in pennsylvania and as the new senator from delaware, he was the next senator from pennsylvania and you know how deep his roots are in scranton and then when i was the senate correspondent for consequential times, the iraq war and before that, the clarence thomas hearings, the ups and downs,

and hillary clinton, when i was covering the campaign, i think the importance is, how they handle it from now on. what i'm thinking about most of all though, is joe biden, the legacy he keeps talking about was not relevant in the context of his obvious physical and at times, cognitive, problems. whether it was aging, something else, the stammer, which still affected his speech, whatever happened to him in that debate and since in the news conference, things that were disturbing to party leaders, democrats were worried and they thought they would lose the house and the senate and the house in particular, was

absolutely, you know, critical for them because the senate is very challenged this year as you know, from the map, they have so many seats and very vulnerable seats at risk, ohio, montana, what the possibilities are elsewhere, but, in addition to the senate vulnerability, the house was something they thought they could win back. winning back those five critical new york seat or another combination. that was within nancy pelosi's reach. you saw her yesterday in north carolina saying we have to win, we have to win back the house. she was rallying the troops. that has been her focus. her loyalty to biden whom she really loved, more than her relationship with barack obama, biden worked with her and she succeeded for him, they were real partners, and i think that relationship has been damaged by his conclusion that she was working behind the scenes.

she was certainly making calls, trying to keep behind the scenes, other people were much more open about what they were doing but from the leadership, pelosi and jeffries and schumer, and they told him what they were hearing from the caucuses and it was negative, much more so than the numbers in the senate. the majority of the senate caucus told chuck schumer that he had to go to the president and tell him what they were thinking. that's when ended up persuading him, the pressure mountain, he seemed to be dug in. we know the first lady, dr. jill biden did not want him to drop out and certainly the people around him, you know, when mike mentioned anthony burn all and other trusted advisors, they've been with him all the way, they certainly

didn't want to, the campaign staff were understandably the last to know because they were in the outer ring of the inner circle. and so they learned only just before the statement went out, but this was just critical. the house and senate leadership saw donald trump getting elected and with him elected, and both chambers and the supreme court, there would be no stopping him and now choosing a young, maga successor, they saw years and years and an nine-member supreme court, potentially, it was going to be unsustainable in the future and i think they appealed to his sense of history. as i was saying at the beginning, the legacy that he kept referring to any never answer the question directly, he had four opportunities to

answer the question about his age, and each time he talked about what he had achieved, not how he would be in six months, in a year, at 86, when he was still president and turning over to the next president, that is the progression of aging, that is inexorable, and he couldn't answer that question, and always pivoted back to what he had achieved already and i think now the focus will be on his remarkable, historic legacy in the white house and getting legislation through, and reestablishing the importance of nato and sustaining ukraine and the importance of all those achievements and coming up on tuesday, if he tests negative and is allowed to have this meeting, benjamin netanyahu, on the cusp of a possible cease- fire and hostage agreement which even friday, in this conference i was at, tony

blinken and jake sullivan said, it was within reach but it certainly is something that joe biden would be wanting to nail down. >> as he said, he will focus his attention on what remains of his presidency. thank you for that. reverend al, there is no doubt that the pressure on joe biden had continued to build. it built with poles, donors dropping out, to 25% of what they might take in this month, and of course, it continued to build with more members of congress saying that he should drop out, but what does kamala harris, what did she bring to this race, how does she win it? >> i think first of all that we should give joe biden credit for having a consequential presidency. i talked to him last monday, i was not one that asked him to step out or stay in, but told him that we had to support his legacy no matter what he decided, from voting rights to what he did with the infrastructure, to what he did with the inflation production

to the executive order on george floyd and when we look at what is going on, on the other side, that is what kamala harris is going to be able to fuel. we must remember in the last year, we lost women's right to choose, by this supreme court, stacked by three members of the court that were nominated by donald trump, coupled with the other two already conservative, and we lost affirmative action, and we saw that lead into fights against dei, everything from women's rights to voting rights, to other rights, has been wiped out by this trump supreme court. and the next president will probably get two more

selections. so the question is going to be what kind of america do we want? that's what she can run on. she can build a coalition like she always has. i've known vice president harris for about 25 years. she built a coalition in san francisco to run and win for da when the odds were against her, she built a coalition when she ran for state attorney general and people said she would never make it, and then when she ran for the u.s. senate, she's never had a cakewalk, and i think that this will be a classic battle between two ideas of which way this country should go forward, the way it was already moving forward, trying to secure rights for all and the way of someone saying let's make america great by going back to pre-1940 america. it will also be in my judgment, a battle between law and order. you will have the prosecutor against the felon. if we were doing a boxing match, that's what i would call it, the prosecutor versus the felon. one that prosecuted felon, the other that is a convicted felon. do you believe in law and order in this country anymore? >> i want to bring in commerce

woman joyce beatty of ohio. i was looking back at your social media feed, just about a week ago you posted joe biden on his worst day is better than donald trump will ever be on his best day. you never called for him to step down. i want to get your reaction to his decision but also also his second decision which is endorsed kamala harris. >> i support both of his decisions. i always said i was riding with biden. and i said whatever he decided to do. i have spoken with him recently , he came to this decision and i support that. that's a lot different than people trying to force him out, i think he looked at everything and certainly his background will tell you that he's all about fighting for our democracy and the soul of the nation and i strongly support his endorsement of vice president harris.

i've known her for years, to work with her, when i was chair of the congressional black caucus, she worked with us, she helped get us through covid-19. she has done more for helping women with women's reproductive rights, fighting for civil rights and voting rights, she is in the right time in the right place now, because of the issues and her skill sets. it sets her apart. she's been vetted, she serves as our vice president and i remind the nation that she also ran for president before. and so, this is the time that i think our president, we heard glowing remarks about him and his skills from former president obama, so let's take those skills that he's done with vice president harris, and

get behind vice president harris, as al sharpton just said, she served as a prosecutor, she is about law and order and justice, and she is running against a felon, and that's where my focus is going to be. endorsing and supporting her, we have more than some 18,000 women, women's groups, civil rights leaders, we have women from the democratic caucus, black women, who served in congress and across the country, we are with vice president harris. and we are going to make a lot of noise about that. >> well, let me ask you because as you know, a lot of the folks from your party who called for president biden to step down did so at least in part they said, because not only did they think he could not win but they thought with him at the top of the ticket, democrats could not end up in control of the house or the senate. believe that changes the equation and will it make a difference for sherrod brn, race to keep his senate seat in your state?

>> i think it makes a difference in that the president has given us clear direction to move ahead, clear directions that he has endorsed kamala harris. i think you will see a new energy because it puts us now on the same page. it takes us away from the 30 some odd people who asked him to step down for a variety of reasons, some, for their own elections and so now, we can be reinvigorated. we can start with vice president harris, taking the hand, being the person to represent us, going into the convention, i will be doing everything i can, with our delegates and talking to other delegates, that our candidate is vice president harris, to be president of the united states. >> congresswoman beatty, when we talk about the fact that now vice president harris has been endorsed by the sitting president and others, when we talk about open conventions and talk about contention, is it not a fact that everyone that voted for joe biden voted for

kamala harris? it wasn't you vote on one line for president or another line for vice president and the meaning of being vice president is the president feels that you can step in and continue the duties and what needs to be done. is the argument in the party going to be against what vice presidents were supposed to be set up for? and people were voting for biden but not harris, even though it was coupled together on the ballots, when she and he were elected and it was the largest amount of votes in a presidential race in american history? >> you are so right. 14 million people voted biden/harris. that's number 1, number 2, president biden said, prior to stepping down, all in the last 3 1/2 years, that he could not

be prouder than having vice president harris at his side. he has talked about her skill set and how accomplished she is and how she would be able to follow him and walk in his footsteps to become the president. if that wasn't good enough, today, he endorsed her for the position and also said, i would not have selected her, if i did not feel that she would be able to do that. so i think we just have to keep honing in on that message and taking it clear if there are individuals who dawn't want to follow that, i think that we will have enough people who will be working together and when you look to the number of women who vote, when you look at the number of members who are black and brown that vote, when we look at the congressional black caucus, we represent 120 million americans, and i can tell you, we will be standing with vice president harris.

>> so let me ask you a personal question, if i can, obviously, kamala harris has broken a lot of glass ceilings including being the first women of color who is vice president of the united states. she will be the first nominee, a woman, whose a person of color and who in addition could be the first president of the united states, what does that mean to you, and i ask this personally, also as a former chairman of the congressional black caucus which spent so much time and effort working on that pipeline to see that there is broad representation of who we are as a country? >> personally, obviously, it means a lot to me as a black woman and especially, to have another black woman excelling like she is but here's the good thing, the things that this country needs, she possesses and she happens to be black and

a woman of color. that's what makes me so proud, it's not just that she is a black woman, it's when i look at what she has accomplished, as vice president, when i stand with her and watch her talk about women's reproductive rights and voting rights and civil rights, when i watch her reach down and touch that young child and give them hope, it makes me emotional to think that she, kamala harris, could be my president of the united states. she is so talented. she has proven herself as a candidate, and now, she happens to be a candidate who's a candidate of color and as a black woman, i will join later tonight, so many other black women, thousands of black women, on a call tonight, and it'll probably be some 20 to 30,000 women trying to get on this call because for us, it's personal, and we stand with vice president harris. >> 30,000 you think might be on

that phone call? >> i already had 18,000 people put their signature on a letter supporting her and now, the leaders of this call has opened it up for civil rights leaders, sororities will be on the call, civic groups will be on the call. the line is overflowing to get people to be able to sign onto this link tonight. >> they are moving fast. >> they're moving fast and i think it'll be a grassroots movement unlike we've seen probably in a long time, certainly since president obama, and i think that donald trump and jd vance, are going to really see a campaign come together. this is just a few hours old. we do not know who vice president harris is going to choose as a running mate, we dawn't know a lot of other

things that are still evolving but i think that they had really got themselves set for a race that has now turned around and i give credit to joe biden, he put the nation over his own career and we should all be thankful to him for what he's done as president. >> let me bring in claire mccaskill , claire, as you listen to the conversation, do you think there is a feeling among democrats that this race is turning around, and how important is it, whoever is the nominee, and certainly there does seem to be a coalescing behind kamala harris, who she or anybody it is, chooses as their vice presidential nominee? >> the last few weeks have been very difficult for democrats. regardless of whether you believed joe biden should have stayed in the race or if you

believed it was important for him to pass the torch, it was painful and hard, so there is a palpable sense of relief that a decision has been made one way or another and now everyone knows, you have to unite behind the democratic nominee and frankly, i would be shocked if there is a significant movement to support anybody other than kamala harris. so, i'm trying to contain my excitement about kamala harris because i want to be respectful of joe biden and what joe biden has done and today is a day and i think we will have many moments like this, especially at the convention, where our party recognizes him in a way that he deserves, with respect and dignity and gratitude for being such a selfless patriot but make no mistake about it, we have one election -- we have won elections since the dobbs decision because women have been angry that their rights

have been taken away. women dawn't understand why a nominee for president would walk out on convention with the song being played, it's a man's world. women do not understand where they have some world wrestler with fake tan ripping off his shirt he thinks that somehow this is what america needs right now, what america needs right now is a president that sees all of us, and kamala harris sees all of us and we will get to learn about how she got to where she is, i dawn't think people know the story and what she's overcome and the battles that she has fought and won, and i think we will find out how aggressive she was as a prosecutor, attorney general, going after the values that we share , in terms of taking on

big banks and taking on bad guys and taking on big oil. all of the things that i think most americans want the president to do. so i'm looking forward to the country getting to know her and i think they are going to like what they see. >> i want to turn it over to reverend al sharpton who has a guest who has been a key player in this narrative, rev? >> president biden's announcement that he is stepping down comes after weeks of debate on capitol hill over not only his future, but how congressional democrats will perform in november, and now they will do so with a new presidential ticket at the top. here now to talk about it is house minority leader, hakeem jeffries. thank you leader jeffries, for being with us tonight. leader jeffries, we know you spoke with the president today. what is your reaction to the news that he is dropping out of the race and endorsing vice president harris? >> joe biden has been one of

the most consequential presidents in american history. he rescue the country from a once in a century pandemic, save the economy from the possibility of recession and also of course, was able to preserve our democracy, the insurrectionist in chief and someone who want to turn back the clock on the united states of america. he has put patriotism over personal position, and this is another heroic act in a long- running series of heroic acts, by joe biden, on behalf of the american people, from the moment he was first elected back in 1972 to the united states senate. >> what turned -- let's turn to come, he called joe biden our nations worst president. this follows the trump campaign rally in michigan last night where he lobbed insults at vice president harris, presuming that vice president harris

becomes the democratic nominee. how do you think trump will run against her? >> donald trump is running scared, house republicans are running scared, extreme maga republicans are running scared because the focus will turn back to project 2025, which is the trump plan to end america and our values and our path forward, as we know it, to turn back the clock. the focus is going to be on the extreme supreme court justices who ripped away reproductive freedom from the women of america and the focus is going to be on trump and his policies of trying to enact big tax cuts

for the wealthy, and we will be able to contrast that with our vision of putting people over politics, fighting for lower cost, ending price gouging, standing up for a woman's freedom to make her own reproductive decisions and growing the middle class. >> when you talk about the contrast, isn't this probably the clearest contrast we've had in presidential races in a long time with all of the things that were fought for at risk and some already being aborted by the supreme court, three of which were nominated by trump and you could not have a more contrast in characters. i've said this will be the prosecutor versus the felon, if we were having a boxing match. in congress, republicans are holding onto a razor thin majority in the house. are you confident that this kind of momentum that the vice president may bring to the race, that the democrats are on track to win back the chamber which would make you the speaker. what are you hearing from members? i know you are probably going to be meeting and having zoom calls with them but what are

you hearing, and are you hearing anything from voters? you and i were just at a church in brooklyn a couple of hours ago and it seemed like there was enthusiasm there. what are you hearing, mr. leader? >> members are very excited, voters on the ground are very excited, the party is very excited. we want to continue to lift up president joe biden and all of his incredible coppersmiths and as he has made the decision to pass the torch, plot the path forward to make sure that we win the presidency, hold the senate and certainly take back control of the house of representatives. everything that we care about is on the line. if roe v wade can fall, that anything can fall. social security can fall, medicare can fall, the affordable care act can fall, the progress that we made on the climate crisis can fall, gun safety reform can fall, democracy itself, as we know it, can fall, so everything we care about is on the line and

you will see in intensity and energy and capacity unleashed by the american people to make sure that this goes the right way in november. >> are you confident about the democrats ability to unify after a nominee is in place, so close to the election? >> i am. i think that we will do what is necessary to prepare for the convention. it'll be exciting, in chicago. we will put on full display our agenda for the american people and do what is necessary in order to leave the convention unified, work as hard as we can and be successful on november 5th. >> thank you congressman, leader jeffries, and we will continue to be talking. let's go to capitol hill where allie is tracking congressional reaction, obviously, it's been weeks,

they have been getting an air fall to say the least about what they thought joe biden should do, now that the decision has been made, what do you make of what we just heard from hakeem jeffries and what are you hearing from folks on the hill? >> reporter: what we've actually heard jeffries be in listening mode but not say very much throughout this process and that is the way that he has led this caucus, since the time he took the reins from former speaker pelosi. it's been a real test of the way that he will run them, whether or not they remain in the majority after november or as reverend al was asking, if you become speaker and if democrats are able to take the

majority. all of that is far off but it's also very much linked with this current moment that we are seeing and so much of the angst that was coming from capitol hill around joe biden, remaining at the top of the ticket. there was a lot of fear that i was hearing from lawmakers as well as strategists and other sources about this idea of reverse coattails and dragging democrats in districts where they very much needed to either outperform the president, or perform on par with him especially based on 2020 metrics. now of course, we will watch them all, react with me to this climate in real time but i think the fascinating thing is going to be to watch the ways in which these lawmakers either advocate for an open process or whether they immediately fall behind kamala harris. i think as i've been thinking about what led to joe biden stepping down here, there was a lot of pressure that we saw in the days leading into this weekend and certainly, that was something we took notice of but i have reported that the end of last week that there was expected to be some kind of big push on monday or maybe even tuesday but all before from mr. benjamin netanyahu of israel came to the hill on wednesday.

there was going to be some kind of big push from democratic lawmakers to make clear to joe biden that they did want him to step down. that could have been part of these calculations that the president made in deciding to drop his bid to be the democratic nominee. we know they were only a small part of the larger pressure campaign that was happening behind the scenes but the other thing that strikes me here as someone who has covered capitol hill for a long time but also someone who is tracked the role of vice president harris, is the ways in which there seems to be more comfort ability around for now than at any other time during her vice presidency. your member at the beginning of her vice presidency, there were critics of the job she was doing, people who were allies of hers that were saying she wasn't out there enough, of course, she has done the job of being a vice president the entire time, not getting out in front of her boss, being loyal on calls with donors, resisting any of this public politicking around what could happen if biden stepped down. all of that, it buys her goodwill within the larger

democratic apparatus right now and she's going to need all of that, as they move through this next period, where it is not a given yet that she is going to be the democratic nominee but i also think it's important for us to note that she is further along in getting the public opinion of her party that i think i've ever seen her at any point and for this moment that is going to hinge on abortion access as a central issue, on prosecuting the case for small d democracy and small d democratic norms, harris fits that profile in a lot of ways, in the first year or two it was all about the border, that's not her sweet spot. on policy, she has found it, and this lends to the new tone of confidence that i'm hearing from democrats on capitol hill. >> thank you for that. i want to go back to white

house correspondent mike memoli and it's worth stepping back for a minute, and saying, this was an incredibly stunning decision, not just too much of america and the world but congressional supporters, donors, cabinet members, who did not know that this was coming, all of which affirm what you've been reporting for some time that this was a decision that was being made by the president and very few people close to him, have we heard from anyone in that close circle, mike? >> reporter: we read to you a list of the names of the top of our who were part of this final process in the last 24 hours including some of the aides who have been with president biden the longest, and who are physically with him here in rehobeth beach, over the last 24 to 48 hours but when namely did not include on that list was

the biden family, who of course, every decision president biden has ever made throughout his life has been a family decision. and i want to read to you a statement we just received from hunter biden. to issue this statement, it says for my entire life, i looked at my dad, how can he suffer so much heartache and give whatever remained in his heart others, not only in the policies he passed but the individual lives that he has touched. i have witnessed and absorbed the pain of countless everyday americans who he has given his personal phone number 2 because he wanted them to call him when their last hopes were slipping through their hands. that unconditional love has been his northstar as president and as a parent. he is unique in that there's no distance between joe biden the

man and joe biden the public servant of the last 54 years. i'm so lucky, hunter concludes, i get to tell him i love him and thank him i ask all americans to join me tonight in doing the same, thank you mr. president, i love you, dad. as we look at the course of this remarkable last month and a half, really, we've talked so much about the debate that occurred on june 27th but just remember, two weeks before that, was a hunter biden's conviction, on the gun related charges before a court in delaware. he is facing another trial, later, and no decision the president made, you look back in 2015, just coming months after he buried his eldest son, no biden, it's not one that he is not making with -- that his appointment statement, that speaks to the fact that the family was also very involved in this decision in the final stages. we were told that in the early days after the debate, the family was among those most forceful in wanting the president to see this through. they wanted to support him. the biden's, they are fighters and they were fighting

alongside of him, but over the course of the last week, the conversations even including the family as one person put it to be, became more reality based. they understood that the dynamic was changing, and biden still felt he could win, he couldn't win a two front war, he was increasingly fighting not just against trump but his own party as the calls grew and grew for him to step aside, so now, you look at one other factor that weighed in, in the final stages, new reporting from our colleague about the fact that the president did request and receive some polling data about how vice president harris would fare in a head-to-head matchup with trump, because the president's number 1 goal is to defeat trump and you wanted to be sure that there was data to support the fact that she could win the race. he received the data, very few people knew the data existed and was being presented him but he did receive it, and as i've been talking to others including aides to the vice

president, you are hearing what you also heard from hakeem jeffries, which is, essentially, whatever data existed on paper, you can throw it out the window because there is a believe now that the party, in this moment will honor and pay tribute to biden for the decision that he has made and for his career of public service but they also will rally together in a way, unprecedented, perhaps, at this moment to support vice president harris, and to see this election through. >> thank you so much. and joining me now, former democratic senator doug jones of alabama and charlie dent of pennsylvania, former republican comes. you have called joe biden one of america's greatest presidents. what do you make of his decision and what do you think this does for the democratic party's chances in november? >> i think it adds rocket fuel to a campaign for the

democratic party's chances. you know, when i make about this for biden is exactly what i said following the debate, i've known joe biden for a long time. and i believed ultimately he would make a decision that he believed was in the best interest of the country. and i think he absolutely did that. he said that in the statement. it is not an easy decision. and in the middle of all of this, he had to deal with nato, you know, he had covid, so this is a decision that he made after talking to a lot of people, surveying the country, taking the temperature of folks on both sides of the issue of whether he stays or whether he goes. and at the end of the day, he made the decision, to be the right decision for the country. i support that decision and i believe that he made the decision to endorse the vice president, kamala harris, because he also believes that is the best interest of the country. and that is something i absolutely agree with and i think we are going to see a campaign as mike was just talking about, one that is going to be more united than we

have seen in a long, long time. >> charlie dent, obviously president biden's roots are in your state, scranton, pennsylvania, where he grew up, and this is a state where he spent his last hours before the election, four years ago. he was in a union hall in scranton. i was there with him, and before he went to campaign headquarters and watched the returns come in that made him president of the united states. he's been down against donald trump this cycle, within the margin of error. does this change the equation for him and for congressional candidates there? >> it certainly does. and by the way, i would like to mention this is a time for democrats to be ruthlessly pragmatic, they need to select a nominee who can win pennsylvania. and kamala harris is a strong

candidate but she the strongest to win pennsylvania or michigan. i would be considering gretchen whitmer or josh sapir. that's with this without, dawn't pander the left, it's not about identity politics. -- >> you think shapiro for vp could win pennsylvania? >> i say top of the ticket. you need to win the top of the ticket. who would do better in pennsylvania? and democrats need to look at this because there are a number of races that will be very competitive, who is the best candidate to win crossover voters, shapiro got a lot of republican and independent support. i'm sure that whitmer had very strong support, too. democrats need to look at this.

a wet mop, running as a democrat, is going to beat joe biden in the democratic states. kamala harris, newsom, they already have california bag, they need to figure out how to win the swing states. pennsylvania, wisconsin and michigan and that is the goal, and if they are smart, they will do that but we dawn't know if this is an insider game, there's no primary, to speak of, so they have to have the adults in the democratic party put the strongest candidate for it. it may be kamala harris but i can make a strong case for shapiro or whitmer. >> do you think whitmer, we are led to understand is not interested but do you think it's something that josh shapiro would consider if you are asked to be number 2 if it is indeed kamala harris as the nominee? >> i dawn't know. i haven't talked to him but he would be a strong first kennedy or strong second candidate but most people vote on the presidential candidate, not the vice president kennedy. but there are others who may be stronger. >> i want to bring in antonia hilton who's been speaking to

voters in new york city. i'm guessing that you broke the news to at least some of them, what are they telling you? >> you would be surprised, they were all aware, and we have spoken to a ton of people in the heart of new york city. and this is a democratic city so the majority of them started off by actually saying, thank you to president biden for his many decades of service. but then, after that, the emotions really varied. some people were relieved after seeing him in the debate, they were really concerned about his health, his ability to sustain a campaign like this, to make it to the finish line, that's how several people described it to me and then other people were sad and angry, and many of the women of color that i've been speaking to here in new york city have mixed emotions, some of them feel they dawn't know vice president harris well enough yet . they want to see

her more on the national stage. others do know her well and they are worried about the kind of sexist or racist rhetoric that she could be subjected to in the coming months as she is elevated and may be in the position to be the nominee. listen to some of the conversations. >> i saw it coming. >> because of the debate? >> even before then. i didn't think he was going to make it. no matter who they pick, i think trump is going to win, landside. >> i feel like he did the right thing. >> i hope that she does something this time because i feel like as a vice president she was on the back line too much and then popped out when she wanted voters to come. >> i will add, chris, one thing i found interesting in my conversations with the younger voters in new york city, was that they were excited about harris and seemed to be sort of

energized and in some ways, forgiving of her and i use that word because many of them have been angry at president biden over foreign-policy, over the war in gaza over the last several months. i spent time in new york covering the student protests and many of the students were connected to those issues and that movement and they did not see vice president harris as being responsible for any of the foreign-policy that has upset them and in a way, they like that she is not burdened by that. that seemed to be, well, in a way, it was freeing for them. so it was interesting for me, to talk to young voters who have been so sour on this administration, frankly, in months, to have a renewed sense of energy and excitement, frankly, it'll be interesting in the coming days and weeks to see how that translates for what's about to happen at the dnc, and eventually in this campaign, chris. >> thank you so much.

debbie wasserman schultz, what do you think of biden's endorsement of kamala harris quest my >> i can tell you, i'm not at all surprised that joe biden put country over party and country over self and focused on how we could continue the historic legacy of this presidency, record 15 million jobs created, reductions in prescription drugs for seniors, capping out-of-pocket costs for seniors, ensuring american jobs

, and preventing a toxic stew that the trump administration and donald trump, represents a 34 count convicted felon who is an adjudicated , brings up his enemies in tribunals and it's hard -- . >> we are saying there ought to be a process there are those of us who say, she is the vice president, the vice president endorsed her, selected her and when you voted for him, you voted for her and why do we just go forward with this as a campaign of the nominee now being or probably will be vice president harris versus donald trump, do you worry that we can get into a divisive kind of

process arguing about how we do this in the selection of vice president harris as the nominee? >> well, forever now, it's good to be with you as well. as someone who spent six years as the chair of our democratic national committee, i am confident that we will have a commendation of both. kamala harris earned those 15 million votes right alongside president biden, when they ran for reelection, and campaigned across the country and earned the support of democratic voters across the nation and the democratic national committee along with our delegates at the convention are the ones that ultimately confirm that domination, vice president biden was the presumptive nominee. he will presumably be releasing his delegates in support of

harris, and i think the overwhelming majority will cast their votes for her, like i plan to if i have an opportunity on the second ballot, and i have endorsed her wholeheartedly. the universe, reverend now, it put me in the middle, right after the announcement with 200+ caribbean american women in my district, who, i tossed the remarks out that i was supposed to give them, and we rallied together and out of respect for our president and support of the opportunity to select not only the first woman, but the first african american woman and the first caribbean american woman as president of the united states, who will carry the torch forward and ensure that we dawn't have a 34 count

adjudicated rapist is committed to being an authoritarian, overturning our democracy, firing and seeking revenge on his political enemies, further tearing away the reproductive rights of women and using the weapons of government against people with whom we disagree. that is a contrast that i'm quite sure kamala harris will be able to handle. it's a choice i am confident the american people will choose kamala harris to succeed president biden on november 5th. >> thank you for being on the program. to her point, not only as we heard on this program a short time ago, they are expecting tens of thousands of black women on a call later tonight, we learned three of the largest packs representing minority voters, the collective, latino victory and aapi, will be endorsing kamala harris at 6:00 tonight, so that is just a few minutes from now. we are going to close out at

the end of this hour on a historic night. president joe biden, stepping aside and endorsing kamala harris for the top of the ticket. we will take a quick break but our coverage carries on, next. ge a don't take if allergic to nurtec odt. allergic reactions can occur, even days after using. most common side effects were nausea, indigestion, and stomach pain. it's time we all shine. talk to a healthcare provider about nurtec odt from pfizer.