bring on the cash wave. a little more than 24 hours after joe biden dropped out of the race, democrats are welcoming kamala harris's candidacy by opening their wallets. i'm chris jansing alongside my colleague, katy tur. the "new york times" is reporting already more than $80 million in democratic donations has been processed

online. >> that's a lot of mone. today, harris picked up a big endorsement of speaker nancy pelosi. she spent hours calling members of congress, governors, labor leaders and civil rights organizations. at this hour, we are probably going to hear from the democratic leader of the house, hakeem jeffries who should be speaking to reporters. he's also stopped short of endorsing harris. will he do so today? will he, the speaker or the speaker to be if democrats retake the house, does he follow suit? in the meantime, harris is headed to meet with staff at the campaign headquarters in delaware after paying tribute to the man she one day hopes to replace in the oval office. >> i am firsthand witness that every day our president joe biden fights for the american

people, and we are deeply, deeply grateful for his service to our nation. in one term, he has already surpassed the legacy of most presidentials who have served two terms in office. >> nbc's kelly o'donnell is live at the white house. nbc's marissa parra reporting from battleground, north carolina. also joining us, former communications director for vice president kamala harris. ashley, and basil smikle is also back with us. kelly, we've had a lot of folks coming out supporting vice president kamala harris for president. it was actually on the air here on msnbc yesterday with the reverend al that hakeem jeffries wouldn't quite answer that question. nancy pelosi has put into context the importance of kamala harris to have the biggest names in the democratic party getting behind her. >> this is a day for trying to consolidate support to get a sense of where the party is, and in some cases when you have

prominent democrats who do not immediately endorse, it is in part because they want to let the process play out. at times they want to take a position of making certain they don't get ahead of the party or to have it look like there is a pre-baked conclusion, if there is a desire among the party to have some kind of open convention. that's still being talked about in some small circles. the overwhelming response thus far from the party has been to wrap its arms around kamala harris, which is notable given the fact that her time as vice president has at times faced challenges and since roe v. wade was overturned, she's seen greater respect and influence as she has been an effective, democrats would say, person to make the case about abortion rights and about issues of freedom and so forth. so it has been an eventful time in office for her, and what a 24 hours. so having speaker emerita pelosi

getting behind her, others like bill and hillary clinton, other members of the elected class of democrats and those around the country who might be on her short list for running mates. sitting governors and so forth. right now it's really a two-part phase, one, paying tribute to joe biden, showing that she has been an effective partner, that she has been a loyal partner, honoring his service and his decision, one that was painful and difficult for him to step aside, and then a window of moving more and more into the campaign mode where she will be not the running mate any longer but potentially the top of the ticket if the process goes as expected. so told she will go to wilmington, the campaign headquarters, and she will also address some of those employees who are there working on her behalf because it was biden-harris until yesterday, and now will fully embrace her. some of the questions, how does

she layer her team, and plus up her vice president's staff, which understandably is much smaller than the sitting president's staff. so all of these operational changes, the outreach to the party, the trying to position her to be able to go forward with very limited time, just over 100 days until the election. >> we got very lucky there for that event she did a little bit earlier, the rain stayed away, not now, though, kelly. kelly o'donnell, thank you very much. stay dry. let's talk about what's next for kamala harris, ashley, and i just wonder, do you think that she needs to be challenged to earn the nomination? is that better for her than the party falling in line? >> if you ask me, she's already earned it, you know, the president's record, which democrats are running on all over the country is actually hers as well. you know, no president leads alone. she's been a partner in his work since day one. she led us out of covid, hads

-- has built up the economy to be the strongest in the world. she's a partner in passing all of that landmark legislation from guns to climate to rebuilding our infrastructure, all over the country. many of that stuff that she gave joe biden credit for this morning, she actually deserves credit for that as well. so if you ask me, she's already earned the nomination and that's why you're seeing such overwhelming support in such a short period of time. i mean, she's raised $50 million, which is a record for the campaign in one day. grass roots organizations are raising $60 million. some in some cases, $7 million in just three hours. so there's a level of excitement around not just within the party, but around the party within the grass roots because they believe she's ready. she's going to be ready day one, and she's earned it. >> let me ask you, if i can, about the folks she's running against. j.t. vance. hakeem jeffries has just walked up to the camera. let's go there. >> who will go down in american

history as one of the greatest public servants of all time. when president biden and vice president harris first took office on january 20th of 2021, the biden-harris team assumed a public health crisis, an economic crisis, and a democracy crisis in the immediate aftermath of january 6th at the same time. and thanks to the leadership of president joe biden and his partnership with vice president kamala harris they were able to rescue the country from a once-in-a-century pandemic, and turn the situation around so we could return to normalcy. thanks to the leadership of president biden and his partnership with vice president harris, they were able to save

the economy from a once in a decade or so recession like situation. and set us on a positive path so that every day americans would thrive in every single zip code across america. thanks to the leadership of president biden and his partnership with vice president harris, dignity and decency, and a democratic way of life was restored to the oval office at 1600 pennsylvania avenue. we owe a debt of gratitude to president biden for his tremendous leadership, and i'm also thankful for the incredible partnership that he has had for the last three and a half years with vice president kamala harris. >> leader jeffries -- >> ali. >> leader jeffries, first, will

you endorse kamala harris, and i have one other question for you. >> we are scheduled to meet with vice president harris shortly. the house came back into session today. the senate does not come back into session until tomorrow. i'm excited for that meeting, and let me say this, that vice president kamala harris has excited the community. she's excited the house democratic caucus. and she's exciting the country. and so i'm looking forward to sitting down with her in person in short order with leader schumer. and we'll have more to say about the path forward, as soon as that meeting is conducted. >> leader jeffries, quick question, what does president biden need to do these final few months to ease the path, you know, while he's in office to ease the path to make it easier for democrats to flip the house

and keep the white house? >> well, president biden is going to continue to do his job, and he's put the country first. he's put the american people first. he's put hard working american taxpayers first, which is what president biden has always done. and as a result of his leadership, we've seen transformational change. fixing our crumbling bridges, roads, tunnels, sewers and water systems, rescuing the economy from the once-in-a session pandemic. gun safety legislation for the first time in 30 years. standing up for veterans. bringing manufacturing jobs back home to the country and passing the inflation reduction act, which is the largest investment in combatting the climate crisis in the history of the world. we have more work to do. we still have to lower costs. we have to end price gouging. we have to continue to grow the middle class, defend democracy and fight for reproductive freedom. president biden will continue to do that job, along with vice president harris.

and democrats in the house and the senate. >> leader jeffries -- >> you know, this has been a few weeks of very intense discussions about biden being at the top of the ticket, what light can you shed to the american public about the concerns that you conveyed to the presidential about staying on the top of the ticket? >> a private conversation with president joe biden that will remain private. >> leader, there has been a lot of reporting about what was said and wasn't, so just for the record, can you just be clear, did you ever tell the president that he could hurt democrats' chances at taking back the majority if he stayed in the race? and secondly, what do you say to those, whether it's ron klain or congressional republicans who claim that democratic party leaders or elected officials pushed the president out? >> president joe biden is a heroic, patriotic and transformational figure. and he will go down in history as one of the greatest public servants of all time. that much is clear. i had a private conversation

with president biden to express the perspectives that were wide ranging of the house democratic caucus, that conversation will remain private. in terms of my republican colleagues, former president donald trump, and extreme maga republicans are having a meltdown right now, a complete and total meltdown. why? because their presidential nominee isn't popular. the extreme maga republican policies are unpopular, include trying to impose a nationwide abortion ban on the american people, and their project 2025 is unpopular. they're having a meltdown right now. all we want to do as democrats is have a debate about moving the country forward and continuing to put people over politics. >> can you speak for just a moment to the concerns you were hearing from members, you know, in swing districts who are concerned about the president possibly dragging down ballot,

and how this potentially changes that equation by changing the top of the ticket. >> here's what we're looking forward to. we are going to do everything we need to do as house democrats to win back control of the house of representatives. and vacate the extreme maga republican majority on november 5th. >> when is that meeting, today, tomorrow? >> we're waiting on leader schumer to get back into town, as well as to get exact confirmation from vice president harris. thanks. >> the caucus about her versus a president? >> we're looking at a frame of change, versus the status quo. moving the country forward versus donald trump and the extreme maga republicans who want to turn back the clock. defending freedom, like a woman's decision to make her own health care decisions, versus

the abortion ban that donald trump and the extreme maga republicans want to jam down the threats of the american people. we're looking at an economy from the middle out and bottom up, versus the extreme maga republican plans and donald trump's plans to drive a big tax cut down the throats of the american people that benefit the wealthy, well off and well connected. last question. i'm looking forward and excited for the meeting that we will have in short order with vice president kamala harris. thank you, everyone. thank you, everyone. >> leader, is that on a personal level? >> so the leader of the house on the democratic side who had not yesterday endorsed kamala harris, still not, but he made some news there saying that he and senate majority leader schumer are going to be meeting with kamala harris, tbd. we also know she's going to headquarters in delaware to be speaking to members of the campaign, so we'll see how their

schedules work out, but let me go to basil smikle. it's interesting listening to the language he used, even though he didn't endorse her. he said partnership twice. he said these were the discusses of the biden-harris team. he also said she has excited the community, the caucus, and the country. so it sound like there's an endorsement coming. look, i don't think millions of americans are going to follow what hakeem jeffries says, if he endorses her or chuck schumer if he endorses her. talk about why it could be important to her campaign to get people like them to endorse her, governors of battleground states behind her. why that matters. >> and let me talk to what he said for a second. because as we were talking about how many people know kamala harris and her introduction to the voter, they may not know exactly who she is, but they know how they feel in this moment in time.

they know this is an inflection point not only this this campaign but the history of the country. that's why the money is pouring in. that's why there's 50,000 women on a phone call last night organizing. so what i think hakeem jeffries is speaking to, we've got to get everybody in order. we've got to get our troops together in lock step and on message. why is that important? because the last 25 days have been excruciating. i have talked about that considerably. i won't go there. >> people have felt it. >> it's been excruciating. i hate that we're here but i'm glad that we are thousand. what can happen is the insertion of the kind of message discipline that the last month sort of lacked, but frankly, the reassurance that i think a lot of the swing state senators, governors, but also the swing district members of congress, that kind of reassurance they're going to need not just from their leader but from the harris

campaign saying, look, we're going to make investments in your district, in your states, and the governors are also critical because right now, those are the individuals that get the delegates together. right, so those early calls to those governors to say, hey, i need your folks, can they get on board. can we get on board with them. how do we make this happen? so that work has been done already. but it's going to need to continue in the next couple of days and weeks. again, to make sure that everybody's lockstep, so we don't have the kind of issues we had over the last month. >> don't discount energy and enthusiasm. up until now, it has been a slog, and you could hear it in the voices, in the way their carrying themselves, it has not been an easy time to be a democrat, especially in the last month, but even before that. there was a general sentiment that things were not looking good within the party. they were really worried about joe biden even before the debates. and they were worried about this

next election because of all of the polling that suggested that 70% of the country wanted neither one of these candidates, they wanted something fresh, and there was a feeling of being stuck. and ali vitali, i want to bring you in on this because what i saw from leader jeffreys and what i have heard from basil, and in conversations with democrats is a much lighter tone, a happiness and excitement. you know, caution that this is going to be a difficult campaign but the energy and the enthusiasm is there in a way that i have not seen in many months. >> reporter: and frankly many years. i remember when i was charting kamala harris's path as the first vice president, there was a lot of frustration, consternation, criticism, both fair and unfair throughout the halls of washington and congress about the job that she was doing. this reversal that we have seen, this coalescing around her in the last 24 or so hours is substantial, and i think for many of us who have tracked vice

president harris for years, it's almost a little bit surprising but i think it also speaks to the political climate of where we are right now, the fact that most democrats, all of the key caucuses, including the cbs, including the progressive caucus. of course we're waiting for the hispanic caucus, but many of these key groups on capitol hill wasted no time in praising president biden, and also getting right on board with biden's pick of vp kamala harris to be the basically next designated nominee should she be able to get those delegates at whatever time they do that virtual roll call. and i think it's really important for us to point out that harris is really someone, as much as she's showing that dollars and donors are follow her, she's also showing that she has people willing to act as validators for her in the elected ranks of washington, and across the democratic apparatus across the country. that's important not just because of the political process and the way that she needs to net delegates if she wants to be

the nominee, but also important because validators are essential to shoring up candidates, and the fact that kamala harris has the excha -- that's something tho woman has done. in my conversation with experts, writing my book, it's clear that more members of the democratic party coming out saying i have no question about the electability. she is the best person in the age of dobbs, stressing what the election means for small d democracy, we can't underscore how important it is, the coalescing around her, what it means for the strides that women elected have made and the pipeline that culminates in harris as the likely nominee. >> speaking with authority on the subject. ali vitali has written a book on it called "electable," go out and buy it. good for this moment in time. thank you very much.

joining us now is the first democratic member of congress to call on biden to leave the race, texas congressman lloyd doggett. i know you have not endorsed kamala harris. you think there should be a mini primary, but i wonder what you make of all the enthusiasm we're hearing out there. $80 million in fundraising since joe biden made his announcement, and you're seeing a number of elected democrats coming out and getting behind her, including the people who would be considered her rivals, a lot of them in a race in a mini primary, and potentially, you know, the speaker or the leader of the house and the majority leader of the senate, do you still feel that a mini primary is the best way to go? >> well, i think these announcements are great. there is a new level of enthusiasm. a moment ago, you described the condition we were in a month ago. it was not just the debate. it was a long year of wagging behind trump and seeing his threat to our country grow.

after the debate, when we had a setback, instead of a surge, i called three weeks ago for the president, respectfully, to step aside. it's taken a long three weeks, but given where we are, given the fact that the vice president seems to have cleared the field of all of the mentioned candidates that might be out there contesting this, while i've advocated for a fair, open and democratic process, i think we'll end up with one candidate for our nomination, and she's a candidate that i could feel very enthusiastic about. >> sound like you're almost ready to endorse her, congressman. >> i think we will see that endorsement from our leaders probably later today, speaker pelosi, former speaker pelosi, just announced an endorsement. i don't see any opposition. i plan to participate in the meeting of the texas delegation, one of the largest delegations, several hundred texans who i

expect will endorse her. my concern about an open primary or a process with town halls, well, i think that would have been very helpful. to some extent, she's accomplishing that and showing she's not just the product of a washington agreement or washington insiders, by getting the state delegations all over the country and by getting the governors behind her. and we'll do that, i think, tonight in texas. and as you mentioned, she's on her way to getting $100 million in 24 hours. that's a mighty good indication of the new level of enthusiasm we have for taking on a criminal with a prosecutor. someone who's prosecuted fraud, sex abuse, rape, and someone who's committed all of those offenses. i think it's a clear contest. >> just a little bit of news, congressman, and it's chris jansing, that maryland governor wes moore said he has no interest in being a vice presidential candidate, although he was repeatedly pressed on

whether or not if offered it he would take it. he didn't say he would turn it down. he said i have no interest. he does not plan on it. let me ask you about this idea of folks getting behind kamala harris and play some of what house speaker mike johnson said today about the democrats' process of choosing a new nominee, and he has some questions about legal issues he says might come up. here it is. >> i expect there will be litigation over there. we'll see how it develops. we're doing our job in washington. the states will be handling that. i think it's problematic. millions of people believe this is problematic. this is not the way this system is supposed to work. there's a reason it's unprecedented. you don't just steam roll the rules and the process because you decide your candidate is no longer suitable. >> were rules and process steam rolled here? do you think there could be a problem, congressman? >> i think republicans will do anything to try to keep her off the ballot wherever they can or

to limit her funding. they know she is surging and is likely to defeat their nominee. we have a contrast between the old trump and the new generation kamala harris. i think we'll be successful. they're always out there trying to suppress the vote. we're trying to bring it out. i'm sure there will be much litigation. i think ultimately, any fair court will allow the democrats to have a nominee on the ballot, in every state. >> congressman lloyd doggett, thank you so much, we appreciate you being with us. we have been talking about the electeds, now let's go to the folks who are going to go to the ballot box, and that is voters. marissa parra, you're in north carolina, the only of the seven swing states that president biden lost in 2020. very curious to hear what voters have saying today?

>> reporter: we are in the great tar heel state. as you mentioned a key swing state here. democrats are pouring in all of their resources to try to win it in november. and so this is a state where the thoughts and opinions of people who live here matter to democrats and republicans. i'll do my best to summarize what we heard on and off camera around here in raleigh. the trump supporters i have spoken to generally have a little bit of trepidation. they thought having trump run against president joe biden might have been a little bit easier for them. that's something that i have seen. among democrats, i'll echo what i've heard from ali vitali. a lot of wasn't 7 days before the election. i wish it was sooner. and i've seen a number of people who were finding out from us hours later, did not know, were not aware that president biden had dropped out of the race.

and were generally apathetic. maybe undecided. >> i keep trying to explain to her, marissa. >> under a rock. i get not paying attention to the news. it's everywhere. i'm going to go scream from a mountain top. >> let me ask a serious question about that. i actually have had a lot of people come up to me who say, i always kept up on the news, and it's been so much lately that i have turned off my notifications and stopped watching the news. i wonder if these are folks who basically never paid attention them or among them are people who just thought they needed a break. >> reporter: it's both. i'm speaking in experience not just the last 24 hours, years of watching in happen. whether it's where i'm living in miami. i see a lot of it in miami and

florida, here in north carolina, a lot of rural areas, people who are burnt out from the news cycle. we work in it, we know how exhausting it can be. this isn't my job, why do i need to be further exhausted. why am i going to turn on the news and be depressed and exhausted. how are you going to inform yourself when it comes to voting in the election, and there's a lot of people who respond, i have lost faith in the electoral process. this is something we're seeing. a lot of people in the undecided category are people who feel that exact same way, and that is across ages, including the gen z voters. i have heard a lot of things. i know some of our correspondents and reporters are saying that a lot of gen z voters are invigorated by the news that we could be harris as the vice president nominee. that's not what i'm seeing on the ground. the gen z voters, generally apathetic, did not express

enthusiasm. what i have heard is i need to do more research. we're 106 days away from the election. and these are the people who democrats and republicans are looking to target, those undecideds. this is a key swing state. not only important for the presidential election but there's really key elections happening on a local level. there's a lot of eyes on north carolina, not just because the current governor roy cooper is on the short list as a possible running mate pick, should this go harris's way as the nominee. we have heard from voters, and i believe i heard from a producer in my year that we have sound. i want to take you to what voters said before i explain the local races in just a moment. >> there's a greater chance trump won't win. that debate scared the crap out of me. the timing does concern me because there's not enough time, but better late than never. >> it actually boosts my confidence. >> reporter: it boosts your confidence? >> mm-hmm, yes. because now i think we're opening up the door to our

younger voters who were hoping for a fresher face. >> there have been worse elections in american history, and there are bound to be worse in the future, but i'm feeling pretty crappy about this one. >> reporter: so you heard some enthusiasm from democrats as i mentioned in raleigh. we talked about the local elections, there's a gubernatorial election happening and that is going to be between attorney general josh stein, the democratic candidate, versus mark robinson, trump endorsed, trump backed, a trump supporters himself. that's looking to be a competitive race, something a lot of eyes are on, and democrats have won seven out of eight gubernatorial elections since 1992, throwing at least $1.2 million into a win across the state. they don't want a loss in any of those elections happening. we're seeing resources and visits happening in north carolina. we'll see how much it pays off come november. >> democrats looking at north

carolina and the governor's race and how extreme the republican candidate is and saying they have got a good chance in north carolina because of that. i still don't know how you missed that news. >> brace yourself. henry david thorough would have heard it on walden's pond, too big of news to miss. i'm going to leave it there. marissa parra, thank you very much. >> reporter: i'll give them your number. >> i'm going to get in trouble. i thought it was interesting, voters are telling her, i have lost faith in the electoral process. is one of the challenges for kamala harris to make up for what republicans have so successful messaged that there's something wrong with the system and your vote counting? >> bernie sanders supporters have said the same thing. >> if you really want to take about the train here, shirley chism ran on the issue of getting voters to trust institutions again. there's a generational divide.

as a gen xor, i watched jesse jackson on tv in '84 and '88, ron brown became the dnc chair. that was exciting. if i didn't like the institutions or i didn't think they were fair, all we needed to do was change the leadership. the younger voters don't feel that way anymore. they feel like the institutions are so flawed it doesn't matter who's at the top. i think that's the biggest hurdle that democrats and republicans certainly in this moment, kamala harris is going to have to try to communicate that the institutions matter. and i do think we're starting to see that obviously with the decisions of the supreme court, but more to the point, she has got to relay and convey this trust in the institutions and in the process, and maybe her candidacy, just the fact that she's running helps that happen. >> joe biden stepped aside, and maybe that shreds that feeling of inevitability. he ran in the primaries, a lot

of voters, say he didn't run opposed. that's what i have heard from voters. i didn't feel like i had much of a choice in the primaries. >> to their point, after the supreme court decisions, voters were saying, what can i do, and i think this is what we're seeing now as a result. >> let's talk a little bit more about who could potentially be the vp, governor roy cooper of north carolina was on "morning joe" this morning, and he said he thinks that her, kamala harris being at the top of the ticket, does, as we have been talking about, put north carolina in play. >> i've seen immediate excitement here. she's going to bring that excitement to the people we need to bring to the polls, young people, women, suburban women who can vote either republican or democratic, and i am really excited that not only can she win north carolina, but she could help us with these other important races in our state.

>> roy cooper could also help with those important races in that state. ashley, who are you thinking about for potential vp. we have had whitmer and wes moore say they are not interested. there are still others out there. >> usually when you select your vice president, you know, you choose someone that shores up your negatives, so your deficiencies. not to toot her horn for her but the vice president has very few at this stage. she has been instrumental in domestic, foreign policy. she has been in the situation room, running point on big, important issues. it's not that she needs anyone to shore her up in terms of policy, in terms of foreign policy or in terms of relationships because she's been developing those relationships on capitol hill as well as out in the country. she's hit up 20 states in 60 communities this year alone. not to be crass but the one

thing she's missing is obviously, you know, she's going to need a white male. if you can get one from a swing state, i think it's really important. but here's what i'm hearing from not just the voters who you guys, who were just on the segment. the sentiment from everyone on the segment today and in the country is that we need someone to inspire us. i think kamala harris has done that today. she will continue to do that. but whoever she elects or selects i should say, should be someone who actually inspires a nation. i want to put my money on mark kelly, in a key state, he has an incredible story, his wife has an incredible story that's relevant. i think he has an ability to bring along some of those marginal voters, vulnerable voters, disaffected republicans. i think they can identify with him. so that's why i think that's what it is. it's got to be a white male in a key state. someone who's going to add even

more energy and more enthusiasm and inspire the nation and these young people to get engaged and go out and vote. >> there's no doubt there are a lot of voters out there waiting to be inspired. stick around, we have a little bit of breaking news. i want to go to white house correspondent mike memoli in delaware. we just got an update on president biden's covid case. >> reporter: we got the latest update from dr. kevin o'connor, the president's physician, in a memo to the white house press secretary saying the president has competed his tenth dose of paxlovid and his symptoms have almost resolved completely. his vitals appear to be normal. the president continues to perform all of his presidential duties. he will continue to update the white house on his status. essentially in another word, you could say the president is now this close to being able to fly back to washington where his first order of business, as we understand it, is he wants to

speak to the american people directly about this monumental decision he's made to step aside, to not seek a second term, and to endorse vice president harris to succeed him in that office. there's still a lot of discussion within the president's team about the exact format for that address. it's likely that the address will come from the white house. we understand that he's already working with his team on drafting that address. it's important for the white house team here that the president be fully recovered before he returns to washington because it's not just this address to the nation but remember, he's also scheduled to meet with prime minister netanyahu. he has many other pressing obligations waiting for him once he gets back to work. they want to make sure he's 100% healthy when he gets back on air force one to travel back to washington for it. >> mike memoli, thank you very much. let's bring in national affairs correspondent, john nichols, he interviewed vice president harris in 2022 about what she called the beginning of the next

era of the labor movement. union support for biden, we just started talking about union support for kamala harris. you made the point, she has been the point person to go and talk to labor unions, and i did a quick search, she has been to philadelphia, new york, wisconsin. just recently michigan talking to labor unions. what's your expectation about how they will support her? is it just going to be the leadership or will it be the rank and file? >> two good questions. first, my expectation, we're already starting to see major union endorsements for kamala harris. and of course there's a tendency in a lot of our media to cover what happens in washington first, what are the members of congress doing, and what are kind of the inside players there, but we should also be watching the movement until the unions, big unions, like the american federation of teachers endorsed harris almost immediately after the handoff from president biden. we're also hearing from other

unions like the service employees, the united food and commercial workers and the united farm workers. so something big is happening here. the afl-cio, but they put out a statement that sounded a lot like congressman doggett a few minutes ago, it was lavishing praise on kamala harris. that's the first part of it. the second part of it is, why does this happen? the bottom line is it isn't that harris met with the leadership, i was with her in march of this year when she was at a construction site with a large number of building and trade union workers, and they were really talking. they were engaging with her. she does that on a very regular basis. and so i do think there's a reality here that hasn't been covered as much as it should. and that is that harris has made connections with these unions. not just with the leadership but with the members. >> how significant will that be

for her chances in wisconsin, in michigan, two giant labor states? >> it's absolutely essential. i mean, you're not going to win pennsylvania, wisconsin or michigan without a strong labor push, and frankly, that's increasingly true in places like georgia and arizona. they aren't historically taught of as labor centers but there's been a lot of organizing taking place. if we take it back to the battleground states in the great lakes, take a look at a state like michigan. everyone's focusing on the question of whether governor whitmer might be a vice presidential prospect, she said she's not. i can tell you this, if you're in a michigan, i'm sure you would like to have the governor with you. you would also like to have the united auto workers with you in a big way. union endorsements matter in the battleground states. >> it was interest, john, to hear the republicans at the rnc

signaling their support for unions to hear the conversations about j.d. vance. it's going to be an interesting campaign, john nichols, from the nation, thank you so much. we're going to talk more about the big names being floated as kamala harris's vp, first, what democratic voters in arizona and pennsylvania told us about who they would like to see at the top of the democratic ticket. >> maybe, i don't know if he's running or not, but bernie sanders. he seemed like an ideal, you know, candidate at the time when he was trying to run for the candidacy spots. >> actually, hillary clinton. i voted for her back in 2016. so why not. >> the dream would probably for me be michelle obama, but, you know, i see them on twitter vacationing and stuff, maybe they want to chill. ant to chill . as i was writing, i found that i just wasn't sharp and that doesn't work when you're writing a mystery

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pennsylvania's josh shapiro. maryland governor wes moore just told the baltimore banner he's not interested in the vp slot,

though he didn't say he would turn it down. governor gretchen whitmer says she's not leaving michigan. >> are you prepared to take the vice presidency if it's offered? >> no, i'm not planning to go anywhere. >> if they offer it, you will not take it. >> i'm not leaving michigan. >> here to discuss nbc's jesse kirsch live in ohio, covering j.d. vance's event, and ashley eitian and basil smikle are with us. talk about what he said today? >> reporter: we heard for the first time from the republican ticket directly on camera about the news of a president dropping out of this race. here's what j.d. vance, senator from ohio and the republican vice presidential nominee just said moments ago about kamala harris, the current vice president. >> when i think about kamala harris, who i guess is our vice presidential candidate officially, but i guess she's going to run for president now because joe biden dropped out of

the race. [ booing ] you know, what i see -- want to take bets here. want to start a betting pool just in this auditorium. if you want to lead this country, you should feel grateful for it, a sense of gratitude. i never hear that gratitude come through when i listen to kamala harris. >> reporter: so that's former president trump's running mate just a short time ago. he wrapped up his remarks in middletown, ohio. this is his hometown, so of course the former president is going to be able to lean on vance to speak to the rust belt. he is from ohio. he's from this community, and this is the setting for his book, his memoir, "hillbilly elegy," which just speaks to a rags-to-riches story in america, in addition to speaking to policy positions here, mr. vance also reiterated what we're starting to hear from republicans questioning whether or not president joe biden should be continuing to finish

out his current term because he has now said he's not going to run for reelection, guys, back to you. >> jesse kirsch in ohio, with j.d. vance, his first solo appearance as the vice presidential nominee on the republican side. thank you for that. so ashley, let me ask you about the attacks that are coming in against her. on x, before he took the stage there in ohio, j.d. vance said that kamala harris owns biden policies, including what he calls the open border green scam policies driving up the cost of housing and groceries, and quote, she owns all of those failures. she lied for nearly four years about biden's mental capacity, saddening the nation with a president who can't do the job. how thick is her skin? you know her well. and will she even answer some of the criticism that some people might think is small? >> well, i mean if that's the best that the senator can do, what he delivered at the podium, bring it on.

the vice president suffers no fool. i'm ready to see this brawl go down. here's the real reality, those types of criticisms leveled against the vice president really only serve to reinforce the republican's base. that's already locked in. that's already built in. the 1 to 2% is who's going to make the difference in this particular election, and that 1 to 2% wanted an alternative. they got it in kamala harris. we are now already seeing where nikki haley voter packs have already come out and endorsed the vice president, come out and endorsed harris. the fundraising among that group is incredibly large. she's also polling very well, you know, far surpassing joe biden with that group, in and of itself. and if you dig down into the biden campaign, now the harris campaign's internal polling, what really moves those voters

is two issues, one is reproductive rights and democracy. those are the two issues that the vice president has been leading on right now, that the republicans have no response to. and their responses are deficient. they don't meet the level that, again, is sufficient for those particular voters. so, you know, these attacks about the record aren't going to go over well with those voters and they're going to fall flat on their face. i'm just curious to see how the vice president handles them. i know her to be strong, force. fortified in who she is, fortified in her vision. this is going to be interesting. i want to add one more thing. the republicans are going to come after her on two major fronts, one on her gender, and one on her race. those are actually her greatest assets going into this next election. those two issues, those two factors are going to drive out not only the democratic base but that 1 to 2% of suburban voters

that the internal polls within the campaign are showing they need. those are the two issues that are going to drive them out. she's got a lot that's working to her advantage, and i'm not sure any of these criticisms are going to hold and really be effective. >> ashley etienne, it's been great having you on the program. thank you so much, we appreciate it. in the last two hours or so, a rally for kamala harris happened in her home state of california. nbc news correspondent liz kreutz joins us from san francisco, california, not a swing state but a state that can raise some money, certainly. liz, tell us what you saw. >> reporter: absolutely. and this is very familiar turf to kamala harris. and very friendly turf for her, you guys. i mean, immediately the moment yesterday that biden made that endorsement, within an hour there was a flier going around about this unity for kamala harris rally here. i have to say, though, this is a state and a city in particular that is known for a lot of intra-party conflict. the mayor of san francisco, london breed at this rally

called it 50 shades of blue. everybody we're talking to on all ends of the spectrum in the democratic party in the city seem to be coalescing and rallying behind her. we did just see in the past hour the endorsement by speaker emerita, nancy pelosi, the most powerful democrat in california, and of course in san francisco. she says she has full confidence that kamala harris will be able to bring democrats a win in november. this is a city that is known for bringing up women politicians. it's the city of nancy pelosi, dianne feinstein, kamala harris. i spoke to the vice chair, guys, of the san francisco democratic party here, and as excited as she is, she did say that's a concern, kamala harris is a woman, and she doesn't know how the rest of the country will vote about that. >> i think some people in america are still not ready to vote for women, and unfortunately that is the reality. in san francisco, we're doing a better job. we could still improve, but we have elected a female mayor.

we have elected a female d.a., we have a lot of female leaders in our city, but a lot of americans just aren't ready. >> and so that's concerning to you? >> that's concerning to me as well. >> reporter: so a big rallying cry here was to get enthusiastic democrats to go to battle ground states and as the mayor said, to show people, quote, the real kamala harris, that's the driving message in san francisco today, guys. >> liz kreutz, thank you. kamala harris has already had a busy 2024 in the battleground states. among them, michigan, she's visited four times already this year. nbc's adrienne broaddus is live in grand rapids. no surprise that the first appearance of the trump-vance ticket was in michigan this past weekend. it is that important a state. but i wonder now how people are reacting to this democratic news. >> reporter: chris, voters here say they are relieved and terrified.

folks in kent county, which is home to grand rapids, they have the ability to influence the outcome of a general election, and we have seen it happen in the past. take, for example, 2016, that's when president trump won kent county by nearly 3%, and there was a flip in 2020. that's when biden not only won the county, but the state. interesting here. an interesting point. when nbc news was here for the primary election about five months ago, voters we heard from said they did not want to see a biden trump rematch. instead, they wanted an alternative candidate for both parties. to some extent, that wish, at least on the democratic ticket has become reality. take a listen. >> i think it's a good thing that he stepped down, and maybe someone else come in. a little younger, different idea. something, because it's not quite working right now. >> i feel like kamala is a strong woman. and she has knowledge, and i

feel like she will be a strong candidate. she needs a strong running mate. >> three issues you want your candidate to address. >> rent, groceries, and student loans. basically anything in the economy. >> reporter: and every voter we spoke with say they want a candidate with solutions to the problems they face. the overarching theme as a big problem, the economy. back to you guys. >> thank you so much. i'll note also that the very last rally that donald trump and pence did before the 2016 election was at 1:00 a.m. on election day in grand rapids. it was a state they focused really heavily on. obviously a state the republicans are going to focus on again, and a state the democrats are also going to focus on. get ready, michigan. >> local tv stations are happy with the budgets. >> a whole lot of attention.

u.s. allies are paying attention to what's happening in this presidential race. nbc's matt bradley joins us from london. matt, what are you hearing out there? >> we're hearing a lot of comments. really all of them follow under the category of congratulations and tributes. there's been no real hostility, nobody said good riddance. he's not just the sitting president, he's a fixture of american diplomacy, even though he wasn't really a diplomat for generations. these comments also sound like political elegys. this is about a career politician, and you can feel from comments, many of these leaders are probably not going to see joe biden again in the same way, in the same, you know, measure of public life as he is right now. so here in britain, newly installed prime minister, keir starmer wrote on x, as he has done throughout his remarkable career, he, joe biden, will have

made his decision based on what he believes is best for the american people. for people around the world, this news is landing the same way it did in the states. it was both surprising and predictable, and for those who support biden and oppose trump, it may be both a huge relief and a major cause for uncertainty. remember, biden's withdrawal is kind of part of a season of uncertainty, particularly in europe where voters have been making bold bids for political change, like here in the uk and next door in france, and really across the continent. but there are other leaders who have a lot more skin in this whole white house game, like ukrainian president, volodymyr zelenskyy. he's worried about losing support under a potential president trump. he said we respect today's tough but strong decision, and added we will always be thankful for president biden's leadership. another major world leader who has a lot of skin in the game, israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. now, he has received both strong support and some really tough criticism from bide in, and he

said that he will meet with president biden this week while he's in washington, while he's addressing congress, and said, quote, this will be an opportunity to thank him for the things he did with the state of israel and he's clearly prepping for a trump presidency. there may potentially also be a meeting between trump and israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu this week when the israeli leader is in the u.s. guys. >> matt bradley, thank you so much for that. before we go, our thanks to basil smikle for joining us these past two hours. still ahead, congressman dan kildee of michigan joins us on his support for kamala harris, and whether democrats can avoid a contested convention. that's next. convention that'sex nt. ♪ not every decision you make will be as good as getting a volkswagen at the savvy vw summer sales event.

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