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welcome back to msnbc's continuing coverage of president biden's historic decision to end his re- election campaign just 107 days before the november election. i'm jonathan in washington, d.c. >> just hours ago, president biden announcing he will be stepping down as the democratic nominee, and endorsed vice president kamala harris. >> and a statement posted to x, biden announced, "while it has been my intention to seek re- election, i believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term." and a second post, biden also made clear his choice to replace them is vice president, harris, writing on x, "today, i want to offer my full support and endorsement for kamala to

be the nominee of our party this year." >> and in her own statement, she vowed to earn and win this nomination. harris will be speaking at an event at the white house tomorrow morning. biden's campaign has already re- filed with the federal election commission for harris as president, and actblue reports that harris has brought in nearly $47 million since the launch of her campaign a few hours ago. >> and she has already secured endorsements from seven governors and 71 democratic lawmakers. in an interview, hocking jeffries said the change at the top of the democratic ticket should make republican presidential nominee donald trump nervous point >> donald trump is running scared, house republicans are running scared, extreme maga the republicans are running scared, because the focus right now is going to 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. >> it is now, trump responded to biden's announcement with some familiar insults. in a call with nbc, john said biden is the worst president in the history of united states by far. adding, "we will fix what he has done, you should have stayed in his basement." >> trump campaign said he will participate in the next debate against the democratic nominee is scheduled for september. accent democrats have less than two weeks to unite behind a candidate before the dnc is set to make it official and a virtual roll call ahead of the august 19 convention set in chicago. joining us now from rehobeth, delaware is nbc news white house correspondent alley. bring us up to speed on the latest, i understand that the president didn't tell his senior staff until just before the announcement went down or went public. what went into this decision and what is the latest we are hearing from the biden campaign? >> yeah, we received sort of a

tiktok from sources familiar with how this process unfolded earlier today, and they said that in recent days, as the president continued to recover from his covid diagnosis here in rehobeth beach, that he huddled with his closest advisers and members of his family, and they say that that is when his decision really evolved, and that was of course kept very close to the vest by his senior white house and campaign staff, and we are told that saturday night was really when he made this final decision to drop out of the race. no doubt the hardest of his political career. and sunday morning was when we are told he spoke with vice president kamala harris multiple times. we are also told he spoke with some of his closest aides and advisers in the white house, as well as the campaign. he spoke with a long time allies like congressman jim clyburn, to tell them this news. and the president then informed his own campaign, as you mentioned, just one minute

before this letter where he made this announcement was released to the public in an effort to try and stop any leaks of that news from spreading. as far as reaction from the campaign, the now at harris campaign, remember, up until the very moment that the president made this decision, the campaign had been defiant, saying that the president was still in this race to win it, the even announced future campaign travel for the president over the next few weeks. and in the aftermath of this major news that no doubt came as a shock to many of them, sources familiar is a senior campaign officials held a call with staffers to tell them about the call forward, how they were going to rally around this new future for the campaign with vice president kamala harris at the top of the ticket. these officials telling staffers that it is okay to feel upset, it is okay to feel shocked, but at the end of the day, they are very optimistic about the chances over the next few months leading into november.

>> hey, allie, vice president harris is receiving a ton of support, raising nearly $47 million in grassroots donations, what is the latest there? >> yeah, it's now been over 10 hours since the president made this decision and officially announced that he was dropping out of this race, and then of course endorsed is vice president, and we are seeing this massive avalanche of cash coming into the now harris campaign. you have this democratic fundraising platform called actblue, announcing as you mentioned, over $47 million in grassroots donations since this announcement was made. they're saying this was their biggest fundraising day since 2020, and we are also told that big donors are ready to throw in their support, and in some cases, return their support behind vice president harris and the biden campaign, the now at harris campaign, because remember, some donors have pulled back their support, pulled back there donations amid all of these calls from democratic lawmakers for the president to step aside, and that loss of money had helped

former president trump outperform the biden campaign in recent weeks after that poor debate performance by the president, and now we are seeing the vice president herself come out and make this fundraising pitch to voters. we have seen the campaign already send out their first campaign email, as well as a text directly from vice president harris, asking for more donations, and that is going to be one of her biggest goals moving forward as she tries to unify democrats around her as this nominee, but also, really make up for lost time and the last money that the campaign suffered. >> nbc's allie raffa reporting from rehobeth beach, delaware, thank you very much. joining us now with reaction from capitol hill is nbc's julia chester in washington. julia, what have you heard from lawmakers after president biden's announcement today? >> well, jonathan, we have seen a flood of support, quite frankly, for kamala harris. you have roughly 45 members of

the house and nearly two dozen senators coming out in support of the vice president, and for the rest of the democratic caucus. it is unclear whether those lawmakers want to just give biden a day of his own to reflect on his legacy, or if they have reservations. we do know that senator joe manchin is reportedly considering switching back to being a democrat, so that he can throw his hat in the ring. as you know, he became an independent earlier this year, and so that could be a wildcard, but as somebody who was on the campaign trail in 2020 and saw amy klobuchar, elizabeth warren, those senators battling it out with kamala harris, it has been interesting to see how quickly they have coalesced around her. you have senator amy klobuchar saying that this is kind of like speed dating, there is so little time. here is a bit more of what she said about her decision to back the vice president: >> yeah, nbc has new reporting

detailing chuck schumer's role in president biden's exit, what can you tell us about that? >> well, jonathan, we had known senator schumer had met with president biden last saturday, but we didn't know much more than that. my colleagues have pulled back the curtain a little bit on the integral part schumer played behind-the-scenes. so, when the two met one-on-one in rehobeth, schumer told biden he was there out of love and affection and came as a friend and colleague before asking him to consider three points, biden's legacy, the future of the country, and impact on congress. and to think about the supreme court. biden told schumer he needed another week to make a decision, and meanwhile, schumer continued not to air his grievances publicly, encouraged donors and lawmakers to do the same. instead, he believed calling out biden publicly would be counterproductive, and the best way for democrats to approach this wouldn't be with political calculus, but rather humanity. and when the pressure wasn't

breaking through, schumer called jeffries, barack obama, nancy pelosi before requesting another meeting. so, you can see just how fervently he was working behind the scenes and keeping in contact with virtually every member of the democratic caucus and talk campaign officials in the meantime. and so, while this week seemed to be a mystery, we are starting to learn how all of these puzzle pieces came together. and as for leadership on the hill, they have not yet endorsed vp harris, but they haven't really had a chance to talk with their members, and i think allowing the rank and file to come out with their own decisions, rather than make it seem like it is a top-down edict for you to support is part of that calculus. jonathan? >> julia chester reporting from washington, thank you very much. >> and joining us now with more on how donald trump and his campaign are reacting to this campaign shakeup is nbc news senior national politics reporter john allen. i think the word that comes to

mind, jonathan, is apoplectic. it seems that the trump right now with the statements they have been putting out signals perhaps a lot of frustration and anger and disappointment that biden is no longer on the ticket. what is the trump campaign saying about him stepping aside and the potential of running against vice president kamala harris? >> well, certainly they are firing a lot of [ inaudible ]. you heard a lot about it at the republican convention, shots at kamala harris. obviously, president biden was walking a tight rope politically for the last three weeks, so the possibility of a switch has been something that i think the trump camp has been preparing for, but of course, you can prepare as much as you want, but obviously, when the thing actually happens, some of those plans go out the window. we will see how they go after kamala harris, but you know, right now, -- that is if she is

the nominee, i have always believed the democrats will come to the conclusion that she is there nominee, whether it takes a couple days or a couple weeks. but i think, you know, we are starting to hear from the trump campaign a little bit directly, jason miller, senior adviser to trump spoke to nbc a little bit earlier and i think we can catch a little bit of what he had to say. >> there's definitely going to be another debate, or i guess in this case a first debate against whoever the democrats end up choosing, but i am not sure that the democrats are completely locked in on kamala harris yet. we see where former president obama has still yet to endorse, there seems to be a lot of confusion and chaos on the democrat side which is a big contrast where the republicans are. >> and so, what you hear from jason miller there is this contrast that the trump camp has been trying to make for a while now, democrats have argued for a long time, including president biden, that donald trump was unstable, that he was chaotic, and that the democrats and biden were stable.

so, you hear jason miller sort of making that reverse case now. certainly, the last three weeks have not been what democrats want them to look like. and you know, throwing that wedge in their that he is not sure kamala harris, the vice president, is actually going to be the democratic nominee, i think certainly on the trump side, they're hoping there is a long, drawn out fight over her. >> jonathan, thank you, my friend, great to see you as always. you know, jonathan, you have interviewed president biden not once, but twice in the last two years. you have had a chance to speak to him at some pivotal moments in his administration and really get an insight into his thinking about his place in history, this administration, his policies, and certainly now about his legacy. tell us about your impressions of him during the discussions you have had with him through out the years. >> so, a couple points about the president, i have interviewed him in october 2022, and then march 9th of this year, a few days after

that state of the union address he delivered. and in both those interviews, several impressions. the first impression was the president biden i interviewed in october 2022 was the same joe biden i interviewed in march 2024, meaning no cognitive decline. he was all there. because people kept asking me, so how is he? he was fine. the other impression i got, especially from the first interview with him, was that he loves the job of president. not the airplane, not the helicopter, not the house, not camp david, he loves the job of being president. what he gets to do with the power of the presidency to help the american people. that is woven so tightly in his dna. and it came through in the interviews. in the interview in march of this year, it was an incredible interview. 14 questions in 13 minutes, including one where he talked

about a redline with prime minister benjamin netanyahu, who he is meeting with this week when it comes to what was happening in gaza. and one thing on vice president harris, who i have interviewed multiple times throughout her career, from when she was a california attorney general right through to vice president of the united states, and a couple things people need to understand. vice president harris is infinitely better than anything they have read, the negative stories they have read about her in the press of the previous three years. i think that the best thing, sadly, to happen to her, was the leak of the job's decision in 2022. and it was then, when that decision was leaked, she told me in an interview, she turned to her staff and said, "i am getting out of washington." and that is what she has been doing ever since, traveling around the country, talking about not just reproductive

rights and how they were at risk and how they were taken away, but also how that was part of a larger agenda of republicans attacking freedom. and then just one more point, amen, that is the best political speech vice president harris has given in her political career, and certainly as vice president of the united states, was the speech she gave in a surprise visit to nashville tennessee during what was happening with the tennessee three, and the date is april 7th, 2023. if you are watching, do yourself a favor after you watch us, google it and watch it. if you want to know the real kamala harris, the real vice president harris, that speech will give you a great insight into who she is. >> it was definitely one of the most memorable speeches and a defining one. and she certainly has in the last couple weeks found her voice on so many issues, but more importantly, the boys were talking about when it came to reproductive issues, which i think many would agree is going to be a central issue now in

the campaign if she prosecutes that campaign against donald trump. >> so, ayman, joining us now is commerce and steven horsford of nevada, he is the chair of the congressional black caucus. it is always great to talk to you, thank you for being here. you spoke to vice president harris today, what did she tell you? >> thank you, jonathan and ayman, thank you for having me on. i did have an opportunity to speak to the vice president earlier today, shortly after the president endorsed her to be our nominee. and she said that she intended to earn this nomination and that she intends to win this november. and let me begin by thanking president joe biden for the public service that he has given for more than 50 years to our country. selfless service. courageous service. service that truly puts country before self.

he has sacrificed so much, he has experienced personal loss, and through it all, he has put our country first. and i join with him and millions of americans as we together endorse our candidate who will lead us forward yet again, the vice president, kamala harris, to be our nominee. she is the person who is best prepared and most qualified. to win this nomination, to defeat donald trump, and most importantly, to win and to govern in the next four years. to move our country forward with democrats in congress, with hakeem jeffries as our next speaker of the house of representatives, and with angela alsobrooks and lisa rochester in the united states senate. it is a historic time and it is one with a lot of energy, a lot of excitement, and a lot of engagement, and it is time for all of us to get behind our nominee, kamala harris.

>> representative horsford, ayman here. as you know, vice president harris will be speaking at a white house event tomorrow morning. do you hope to hear from her making any comments? what do you hope to hear from her in that first address? this was a prescheduled event, it has to do with the ncaa championship teams that will be visiting the white house or an event around that, but it is likely if she does take any questions, she is going to be asked about this. >> well, look, she has been to nevada, the vice president has been to nevada six times this year alone. i know when she speaks, she speaks for all americans who are concerned about protecting a woman's freedom to make their own health care decisions. she is concerned about taking on corporate landlords and lowering the cost of rent and making housing more affordable. she is focusing on protecting affordable care and healthcare for millions of americans. while donald trump and trump's project 2025 want to rollback protections for americans, want

to take away benefits for people on medicare and social security, eliminate benefits for veterans, vice president kamala harris with democrats in congress, we want to move our country forward. we are not going back, we are moving forward, and with her leadership, i am confident we will win. >> mr. chairman, nbc news reports trump plans to attack harris's candidacy as undemocratic and accuse the democrats of silencing the voices of primary voters. chairman, how is that a thing when primary voters cast ballots for the biden-harris ticket? what you make of that messaging? >> 14 million americans cast their vote, including those in nevada for the biden-harris ticket. they voted for the ticket, and that included the vice president. and she has been involved in every consequential legislative achievement to date, from infrastructure to lifting 50%

of children out of poverty to passing the inflation reduction act and capping insulin at $35, to ensuring that we recovered from the worst pandemic in our lifetime. she has been at the center of those policies and she is at the center of casting a vision and a plan forward, closing the racial wealth gap, putting an agenda around work, wages, and wealth, addressing the issues that so many americans are focused on, which is our freedoms, our rights, and our opportunities, which are under attack by donald trump and trump's 2025 agenda that will literally rollback those rights, rollback those freedoms, and rollback those opportunities. and that is why the people ultimately will make the choice in this election on november 5th, and i'm confident they will make the right choice with democrats in control of the congress and kamala harris as the 47th president of the

united states. >> chairman, how worried are you about what is to come in terms of the insults that republicans are going to level against the vice president? i mean, it's part of their playbook, with obama, we know that they never shied away from using racist insults. in fact, they have already started to mispronounce her name. take a listen to this. >>, love, i call her laughing, love. you ever watch her laugh? she's crazy. you can tell a lot by a laugh, she is crazy, she is nuts. she is not a confident person. she is getting laughed at all over the world. >> we are going to live through this nightmare again, these insults, these racist attacks, how should the harris campaign respond to those kinds of taunts and insults going forward? >> well, the vice president is the most prepared, the most qualified person to take on donald trump, to prosecute the

case against him, and ideology which unfortunately has taken over the republican party. i am imploring those americans who are focused on moving us forward and not backward to join our ticket. we are about bringing people together, not dividing americans. we are about building up community, not tearing them down. that is the opportunity that we have, and in the end, this is really not about one person running for one position, this is about the american people and the very policies that will impact our lives every single day. and so, i am confident that the vice president will prosecute this case, and it is because republicans don't have any ideas, they don't have any vision, and they have nominated a person who has 34 convictions as their nominee, and now they don't want to talk about the

fact that they have no ideas to lead our country forward. we are ready to move our country forward. the president has passed the baton to the next generation of leaders, that is our vice president, she will become the 47th president of the united states. but it is the american people that ultimately will have the power to make this happen, and they will have a big voice between now and november, so let's go out there and win for our future, for our children, and for the next generations to come. >> congressman steven horsford of the great state of nevada, chair of the congressional black caucus, thank you very much for joining us this morning. [ laughter ] stay with us as we continue our breaking news coverage on president biden withdrawing from the 2024 race. >> [ music ] with all the money i saved i thought i'd buy stilts. hi honey. ahhh...ooh. look, no line at the hot dog stand. yes! only pay for what you need. ♪liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty.♪

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so, just moments after the news broke about president biden dropping out of the race, reaction from leaders here and across the globe started pouring in. ukrainian president of volodomyr zelenskyy posted on x, "ukraine is grateful to president biden for his unwavering support for ukraine's fight for freedom, which along with strong bipartisan support in the united states has been and continues to be critical. many strong decisions have been made in recent years and they will be remembered as bold

steps taken by president biden in response to challenging times, and we respect today's top but strong decision." kamala harris is receiving overwhelming support to take over the top of the ticket, the question of who will be the democratic nominee against donald trump is still open. joining us now, former illinois congressman joe walsh, democratic strategist a miso cross, and senior reporter for punch bowl news, melanie. everybody, welcome. joe, let me start with you, president biden announced his intent to run for re-election in april 2023. when you kind of look back at it, do you think his allies should have stepped in earlier to raise any concerns about his ability to run a successful campaign? especially when you see against the backdrop of what was happening overseas and some of the protests here and the polls dipping here for them, how did things get to this point, do you think? >> ayman, that is a great

question and i'm going to give you a lousy answer, maybe, probably. but biden had some really important things to do as president, and i don't think any of us wanted those jeopardized. look, joe biden had one thing to prove this campaign, that he wasn't too old and that he was up to the job. he couldn't prove that. in fact, he sort of proved the exact opposite. but joe biden, ayman, believes in his head and his heart that donald trump is an existential threat to our democracy. so, if it took them a little longer to get here, if it took them a little longer to realize maybe i am not the one that can keep that threat out of the white house, that is okay. it happened today, and all of us, again, from never trumper people to progressives need to and will rally behind kamala harris to make sure trump loses. >> you bring up an excellent point that i wanted to ask you about, we are just three weeks out from the democratic

convention. we just saw what rnc look like, which was more of a cult gathering, not like a democratic party or a party that actually celebrates democracy. do you think there could be more open debate in the democratic convention? what do you think that will look like when you have people like joe manchin now possibly floating the idea of running for president? >> so, i like the contrast that you set up here, because i think walking into the rnc, it was supposed to be something that was conciliatory, something that was supposed to bring america back together, then we saw it turn into chaos and mayhem with the former president's speech at the end. what i think we are going to see at the dnc is an aligned party, and i would put money on it being an aligned party around kamala harris and the kamala harris ticket. chicago is really excited to host the dnc, it is recognized that this timeframe is extremely short. we saw today that over 40,000 black women were just on a call strategizing about how to organize communities to support

the harris ticket, what it is going to take moving forward. we know that within such a short amount of time, four or five hours, she raised over $50,000, we are just growing, growing, grunted the state parties have already come out in support of her in various states, not only battlegrounds, but others as well. i think we are going to see a very smooth transition, and an alliance of party leaders around kamala harris, we are already seeing that happen. people whose names have been thrown around as people who would potentially run against her have also announced their endorsements and are standing down. so, i think we are going to see a very peaceful move towards a kamala harris ticket. >> melanie, it's great to talk to you after watching you for years on another channel. but there have been a few names proposed as possible vp picks for vice president harris, including kentucky governor andy

, ellen i governor pritzker, and pennsylvania governor josh shapiro. what have you been hearing from your sources about who might be considered? >> yeah, well it looks like they are definitely looking at some of these red and purple state governors. andy, josh shapiro pennsylvania, we have also heard a name on capitol hill, mark kelly of arizona, someone who has a very impressive resume of course, he has proven he can run in a state like arizona and win, which of course is going to be a critical battleground in this upcoming election, but that is going to be one of the questions going forward, if it is indeed kamala harris, is who is going to be her vice presidential pick? someone who can really help balance out the ticket, but can also excite the base. so, that is one of the questions going forward. we are also looking out for how democratic leadership is going to respond, because as of right

now, they have not come out and throw their weight behind kamala harris, they haven't had a chance to talk to their own caucuses and their members, and they are very sensitive to the idea of having these party bosses and the establishment picking who the next candidate is going to be, but we are expecting in the coming days for them to rally behind kamala harris, and the democratic party at this point just really eager to put all of this messy infighting behind them, so they can finally start talking about donald trump, who they view as very beatable. it has just gotten very overshadowed with all of this talk about pipe biden and his mental acuity in the past few weeks. >> we have already talked about all the money that has been raised, $46 million in under 12 hours. so, i want to pick up on the question i asked melanie, who do you think vice president harris should pick as her vice presidential running mate? >> oh, you're asking to read tea leaves. she needs someone who is going to be able to not just bring

out the grassroots, but somebody who is also able to bring in working-class voters, in addition to tie up some of the loose ends that were somewhat lost in the conversation around mental acuity, around fitness for president biden. and i think that that person could possibly be governor beshear, or in my opinion, it is either going to be beshear or shapiro. i think either of those two would be very strong options here, and would also be able to bring together the coalition that is more traditional when it comes to the democratic party. she is already working very hard for the female vote, she is already working very hard to represent the people of color vote, but it is going to take an extremely broad coalition to bring together and watch together the type of fight that is not only going to challenge, but also be victorious against a former president like donald trump. i think it is important to recognize [ inaudible ] does not mean the polls are automatically going to shift. this is going to be an extremely tight race and every single voter needs to go out to

make a difference. >> joe, i want to play for you some sound from the now independent senator from west virginia, joe manchin, from this morning. watch this. >> i think that we have a lot of talent on the bench, a lot of good people, and i am partial to [ inaudible ], because the governor can't afford to be partial. this is what an open process with you, i think it would bring more people out in a process that could bring democrats slightly back. >> that was before the announcement that president biden is stepping aside and not seeking the nomination. you have got two sources who spoke to the west virginia senator, telling nbc news joe manchin is now considering reregistering as a democrat and possibly challenging the vice president for the presidential nomination. i spoke to a member of congress not too long ago, it was described to me as he is irrelevant. do you think that he will run, and you think he would be able to garner enough support? i believe he has to try to get around 300 delegates just to

become a nominee at the convention. could he be an option for some republicans for example who don't want to vote for donald trump and who didn't want to vote for joe biden? >> no and no and no. away, joe manchin. ayman, cut it out, no. democrats -- democratic delegates won't vote for him. republicans aren't going to vote for him. just look, stop this. this is -- this is what has always been odd to me. it wasn't the joe biden re- election campaign, it is the biden-harris re-election campaign. i'm tired of people like joe manchin, who i think believe -- i think he said, like we have all said, that trump is an existential threat to our democracy. well, cut it out, joe manchin, get and kamala harris, get on the team, and let's defeat trump. so no, i do not -- by the way, last point, this is an open

primary, anybody has a right to throw their hat in the ring right now. kamala harris has been working her fanny off all day. anybody else has the right to do that. >> yeah, very good point. >> excellent point. former congressman joe walsh, amisha cross, melanie, thank you all very much for being with your this morning. >> we are going to take a look at the growing endorsements for vice president kamala harris after a short break, don't go anywhere. >> [ music ] here. >> [ music ] help make trading feel effortless. and its customizable scans with social sentiment help you find and unlock opportunities in the market. e*trade from morgan stanley stuck at the dmv, and i think i'm late on my car insurance. good thing the general gives you a break with flexible payment options. let's get you a break while you wait. what is this place? this is our dmvip. vending machine charcuterie? for a great low rate, go with the general.

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arthritis pain relief gel, which penetrates deep to target the source of pain with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medicine directly at the source. voltaren, the joy of movement. i am all in for kamala harris, she has had the best mentor you can have in joe biden, he was a vice president in self, and for these rights that are under attack in america, you know, the right over your body, the right to read what you want to read, the right to vote and have it counted, the right to raise

clean air, the right for your kids to be free from gun violence, she is tough, she is real, she is smart, and most important, she is ready. >> that was california congressman eric swalwell giving his full throated support to his fellow californian, vice president kamala harris. lawmakers are the only ones aligning up to endorse her as the next democratic presidential candidate, the president of reproductive freedom for all issued this statement, "our mission in this race has been and will continue to be to beat donald trump, and vice president harris is the best candidate to do that. we must unite behind her as the democratic nominee. vice president harris has shown the american people that she is the leader we need in this moment to go toe to toe with donald trump and stop it trump- vance administration from entering our fundamental rights and democracy. there is nobody who has fought as hard for abortion rights and access, and we are proud to endorse her in this race." >> joining us now, president of

reproductive freedom for all. it is great to have you on this show on this historic night. so, the leak of the dobbs decision back in 2022, at the time, vice president kamala harris since then has really become a powerful voice for reproductive rights. we have seen her make the case even in the last couple days following the rnc, she was out there talking about how the rnc over the course of those several days did not even mention abortion once. what would it mean to have her at the top of the ticket, both as a prosecutor and as a woman? >> so, you know, it was really a tough day for so many of us. you know, i have been a big supporter, as has our organization of president biden, but once he made this decision, it was a really quick decision for us to come in very immediately for vice president harris. i have been hearing from reproductive rights, health, justice leaders all day. we are a membership

organization, 4 million members, we sent out text messages to our members to check in with them. the response has been incredibly powerful. folks are fired up, they are excited. she has been the one in this administration, leading the way on these issues, as you pointed out. she has been a champion of these issues since she was a prosecutor in san francisco, working on gender equity issues, when she was an ag, fighting for planned parenthood and fighting against fake pregnancy centers. and in her time in the senate judiciary center, grilling folks like brett kavanaugh. she has been so trusted. it is incredibly motivating for our movement. it is exactly the right time for her to be in this moment, to be in this role. we are honestly thrilled. it has been an exhilarating day, and i'm still getting text messages and it is past midnight. >> certainly good to hear that, to see that there is enthusiasm, because that was a key indicator once joe biden

stepped aside that there was enthusiasm behind her, you could kind of feel it palpably, just in the air and among various people we have been talking to drop the course of the day. we know that abortion is already on the ballot in several states. if harris is at the top of the ticket, how do you think that will affect voter turnout, especially among women on that issue, where abortion is going to be about the issue and on some state constitutions like florida for example? >> so far, all the ballot measures, arizona, colorado, missouri, montana, florida, are doing incredibly well. we are gathering a lot of signatures, several of them are already on the ballot. we have always said that having abortion referendum on the ballot isn't enough to boost democrats, but this is a totally different scenario. you have got somebody like vice president harris who herself is the champion, she has done over 100 meetings in this country with reproductive rights leaders across the country, she

has met with providers and patients, she was the first president -- sitting vice president and now hopefully future president. when you run on abortion rights, when you run on the policy, those candidates who have done that successfully hand in glove with ballot measures, think about gretchen whitmer in michigan, they have really done exceptionally well, and it has been an opportunity for them to really aggressively advance a policy agenda. so, i think there's going to be a lot of synergy between the ballot measures and a vice president at the top of the ticket, kamala harris, but it is not an automatic. you know, the candidates have to be really aggressive and robust in their advocacy and policy, but in this case, she is at the top, she's the one who knows how to make it happen. >> president of reproductive freedom for all, thank you. let's keep it here as we continue our breaking news coverage. we are going to get some voters' reaction of biden withdrawing from the 2024 race, next.

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do you think america is ready to elect -- >> absolutely, why not? you know, i don't see why not. if america is ready for a felon, a convicted felon, someone who is a bona fide adulterer, constant, chronic liar, why would they not vote for a woman or a person of color? why not? >> that was a voter in arizona expressing support for putting kamala harris at the top of the democratic presidential ticket, especially since the republican candidate is the disgraced ex- president, donald trump. whatever happens next, this is already an election for the history books. asked joining us now, no call error, she is the author of

partisans: the conservative revolutionaries who remade american politics in the 1990s. nicole, thank you very much for being here. talk to us about the magnitude of this moment with regards to our nation's political history. >> it is an enormous moment. in a number of ways, it is unprecedented, and this has the feel of an unprecedented election cycle. but to have a nominee drop out this late in the race is pretty unusual. i would add, though, that in a way it is also very precedented. i mean, it used to be the case that we would go into these open conventions and choose nominees, so there is also this process that kicks in now, that even though americans today are very familiar with it, is something that is kind of true when it comes to picking presidential candidates. >> a lot of us might only know joe biden as the current president and barack obama's

vice president, but as we all know, his political career spans decades. put that into perspective for us. x it does, i mean, it spans something like 50 years. he has been in office for quite a long time and has really been kind of at the center of the democratic party over the course of that time that he has been serving as a senator, and then vice president, and then president. he has moved along with the party, and so he held what often looked like a much more conservative positions earlier in his career, and i think that has been a little bit of baggage for them, especially as the party has moved to the left, but kind of interestingly, he has moved to the left with the party. and so, as you have seen, a kind of different democratic party emerging under barack obama and in the years since, joe biden has moved with it. so, he is really a politician who has been in office a very long time, but has changed along the way. >> and nicole, the last time a

sitting president decided not to run for re-election was 1968, president lyndon b. johnson against the backdrop of the war, announced that he would not seek re-election. ultimately, a republican victory for richard nixon. do you think that something like that could happen again or where are the parallels and where do the parallels stop, do you think? >> 1968 definitely feels like an important point to return to, but i think in this case, the differences are pretty instructive. in 1968, even before lyndon johnson dropped out, the party was fractured in some pretty important ways, particularly over the vietnam war. in this case, what you are seeing is joe biden has now stepped out of the race, but the party has pretty quickly coalesced around kamala harris. we don't know for sure how contested the convention will be, but there is a sense of a united party going into the

convention. and so, i would anticipate seeing much less fracture and much more unity even than what we were expecting under joe biden, going into this, and that is a very important difference from 1968 when fracture really was the story. >> of course, nicole, there was a history making candidacy of obama and biden. now we are on the cusp possibly of another history making run. talk to us about the possibility that our country could not only have the first woman president, but the first woman of color, the first south asian woman as well, elected to the white house, how historic would that be? beyond just being the first of many. >> so, it of course would be historic because of all of those firsts that you just talked about. one of those things that you are seeing in the past 12 hours or so has been how excited people who weren't necessarily excited about this election are about all of those firsts. and i think if we are thinking about it in terms of history, the potential for the re-

emergence of the obama coalition of 2008 and 2012, that seems entirely possible, especially the excitement that you are seeing among young people and among women and among black women and people of color, like you are seeing the potential. we don't know yet what is going to happen, but at least the potential for the re-emergence of that coalition, and that is something that if that happens, that is a big, important change for the party, which had sort of lost that coalition over the past few election cycles. >> nicole hammer, thank you very much for being up early with us this morning. >> thank you, nicole. >> coming up, democrats in california are lining up against -- including representative barbara lee, who will join us live in the next hour. plus, what is at stake for the lgbtq+ community and a potential kamala harris versus donald trump matchup western president of the human rights

campaign will talk about that. >> and we will also take a look at how mad that lawmakers are reacting to the breaking news on president biden, vice president, harris, and the democratic ticket. all of that and more after the break, keep it here. >> [ music ] >> [ music ] e ar you'd like to be. farxiga can cause serious side effects, including ketoacidosis that may be fatal, dehydration, urinary tract, or genital yeast infections, and low blood sugar. a rare, life-threatening bacterial infection in the skin of the perineum could occur. stop taking farxiga and call your doctor right away if you have symptoms of this infection, an allergic reaction, or ketoacidosis. ♪ far-xi-ga ♪

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