stanford hoover institution fellow and former republican candidate for california state controller lonnie chen. lonnie, thanks for joining us today. >> hi, christine. good to be back with you. >> all right. so what do you make of biden's letter? what does its tone and content suggest to you about how he's feeling right now, whether there's even an inkling of an idea that he's someone, you know, remotely considering stepping aside? >> well, every indication we have is that the president has no interest in stepping aside, that he intends to fully see this race through. and i think that the conventional wisdom all along has been right, in the sense that he's the only one who can make the decision to step aside. there really is no forcing an incumbent president out of a race. there is no forcing him out of being the democratic nominee. i think the question is whether enough pressure could be brought to bear on him to change his mind. and the early indications are that he has no interest in doing so. and i think the reality is that there's no indication, at least in the polling data we've seen. so

katy tur, vaughn hillyard and lonnie chen, thank you very much for being with us this morning. >>> up next, new reporting on a high-profile democrat warning of a wipeout if president biden stays in the race. >>> plus, nbc news has confirmed the president is considering significant changes to the supreme court. we'll talk to senator chris coons about that and more. >>> later, what we're learning about an iranian assassination plot against former president donald trump. we're back in 90 seconds. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports". yes! only pay for what you need. ♪liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty.♪ after careful review of medical guidance and research on pain relief, my recommendation is simple: every home should have salonpas. powerful yet non-addictive. targeted and long-lasting. i recommend salonpas. it's good medicine. ♪ hisamitsu ♪ ♪ me and my friends ♪ ♪♪ life is better with the credit gods are on your side. rewards once available to the few are now accessible to the many. credit one bank. get cash back rewards, and live large. with my aunt and my grandma, i've built thi

joining us now in the booth is republican strategist lonnie chen, a fellow at the hoover institutionanford university. good to have you with us. >> good to be here. >> we were talking as tonight's special coverage kicks you have a about donald trump's selection of j.d. vance as his vice president, what do you think j.d. vance brings to the ticket? >> i think he cements the populist turn the republican party has taken. if you look at some of the policy positions he's espoused recently, whether with respect to trade issue, the view of unions, for example, i think on all of these issues we he really represents a different perspective on economic policy than traditional republicans. there's also the obvious generational differences. 39 years old. would move the party in a very different direction from a leadership perspective. and then from a political per spiskt, one can argue he really changes the dynamic in the midwest. that blue wall that's been talked about so much. you know, he really allows donald trump to cement a lot more support in some of those states that are part of that blu