the president leading a church service here in rehobeth beach.was asked by the reporters that traveled with him whether he had been briefed on the shooting at the former president's rally, and the president simply said no but no doubt we could expect that briefing to happen shortly after, and we could assume the white house is working on some official response and capacity to the news the former president was injured at this rally. >> let me ask one more question. has there been any kind of increased security presence or posture in rehobeth with the president considering what just happened to the former president in pennsylvania? >> reporter: well, it's possible that may follow in the wake of this news. but it was only a few minutes ago, there has not been an official change in security posture here in rehobeth beach. but the president always travels in his capacity as president with a huge security apparatus traveling with him wherever he goes to either of his homes in delaware, but as of now no official confirmation any security changes have ha

i will speak with megan hayes about the conversations underway at rehobeth beach right now. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >day to all of you from msnbc headquarters in new york. welcome to "alex witt reports" and we begin with decision 2024, president biden recovering from covid out of sight in self isolation today. behind the scenes he is navigating an intensifying debate and fielding calls from donors and others urging him to resign. he said he is returning to the campaign trail next week is one surrogate reminds the party of their history in launching leadership challenges. >> a lot of people forget. the challenge to jimmy carter before reelecting him to the presidency. what did that get us? a big defeat. the big fight we had. what did that get us? one state and the district of columbia. i have never seen in modern time, a wide open convention be successful in november. it has not happened. now i don't think it will happen now. >> vice president harris is in massachusetts for a fundraiser today. how the campaign surrogates highlight biden-harris a coppersmiths. >> we are just starting to reap those bene

the dam and he had to make the announcement over twitter because he is dealing with covid in rehobeth beach. it is not the way they want to do it. think he was fighting to the bitter end to hold on. joe: he will explain his decision more in the coming days. what do you expect in terms of presentation, any sense of how that will mirror what we got from l.b.j. in 1960? >> we think it would likely be from the white house. one of the themes would be democracy. that is something he hammered and on before the midterms a couple of years ago and had a lot of resonance. he has said he feels like this is an election where democracy is on the line. we also expect him to note a couple of key achievements, the huge infrastructure spending bill he got through and then the inflation reduction act that has a lot of future spending on things like energy efficiency, electric vehicles which republicans have attacked. we think he will harken back to where he started and what he wanted to do when he first became president. joe: what do you think of the fact this rolled out on twitter? is joe biden not physicall

reporter: they aren't announcing anything official as the president recovers from covid here, in rehobeth beachbut we heard from the biden campaign , they say there will be fundraisers, the president will attend a fundraiser that will be hosted by david letterman and massachusetts, also one at the end of the month in chicago. we also know next week vice president harris will be in milwaukee on the campaign trail, and they say the dust of the month the biden campaign will hold several events in these key battleground states, all of them rallying around this defiance and insistence that the president is staying in this race, jonathan. >> from rehobeth beach, delaware, allie raffa, thank you for that report. >>> i spent the week in milwaukee for the republican national convention where folks took donald trump at his word that in the wake of the attempt on his life a week ago right now, that he would deliver a message of unity and temper the overheated, divisive rhetoric, polarizing americans. sure, he called for unity, briefly. and then, quickly returned to his all too familiar red meat- throwing

we are told yesterday, saturday, as the president was here in rehobeth beach, delaware, as he was convalescing from covid 19, he was focused on his official duties, getting regular briefings about the economy and foreign challenges, but at the same time the team was working to as they put it, on the path forward, on what they felt would be a successful path forward for the president but it was last night as he was with some of the aids most close to him, among them, and the neighbor now, mike donovan, that he shared his decision with them that he was preparing to make this decision not to run for a second term. it was today, that that very small group of advisors, who were aware of that, began to share it out with a much larger group. we saw the tweet from the president just before 2:00 announcing this. it was within moments of that public declaration that the decision was shared with those around him, the president called vice president harris multiple times today as well as his campaign chairman and the white house chief of staff to discuss this and he shared with senior advisors the decisio

jeff mason is white house correspondent for reuters and is in robust be where -- is in rehobeth beachnt biden has been isolating. when you look at the seniority of democrats who expressed their doubts that he should continue, were you surprised by the statement today that he's looking forward to getting back out there? >> i will be careful of saying whether i'm surprised, but i will say it was surprising. my reporting, as well as reporting from other colleagues yesterday and the last few days, has been that he was ands soul-searching, is what one source told me, about whether or not to stay in the race, and was taking calls to exit seriously. taking seriously does not mean deciding to step aside. he clearly has not made that decision. i have a couple sources tell me he needs to show that he's not wavering, because if he did start to waiver publicly about whether he was staying in the race, then the dam would break in terms of calls for him to step aside. it's possible the campaign chair's comments were made in part to buy him more time to reflect and make that decision, but it's also

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 quick

near president biden's home in rehobeth beach, delaware. historic day, it is good to have you with us, mike. let us know if you get anything new that we need to get on the air during this special coverage, appreciate it. let me underscore what mike just said about the new news from governor roy cooper of north carolina, he is one of the people who has frequently been described as a potential running mate for kamala harris at the top of the ticket for the democrats. he has announced explicitly endorsing kamala harris's candidacy for president. another governor in an important state, governor josh shapiro of pennsylvania out earlier this evening with a ringing endorsement of kamala harris for president. so, we are starting to see the kind of consolidation in the democratic party that i think you would expect after this unequivocal endorsement from president biden, including from men who may be candidates, maybe on the shortlist as a vice presidential running mate. joy, over to you. >> thank you very much, rachel. very quickly, just a little t

>> reporter: president biden made the decision while recovering from covid-19 at his home in rehobeth beach, delaware, where voters say they support the move. >> i think it was very brave of him. >> it is little shocking. with 13 weeks left. i think a lot of people knew it was going to be big issues here. >> reporter: the dnc says in the coming days the party will undertake a transparent and orderly process to move forward as a united democratic party. >> vice president harris made statements that she is on -- meanwhile, president biden has not yet made any on camera statement but said he would be addressing the nation later this week. live at the white house, i natalie brand, back to you. >> i just wanted to ask you, are many democrats in washington now breathing a sigh of relief? or joe biden supporters upset about the development? unfortunately , as you can tell, natalie can't hear the question and that, ladies and gentlemen, sometimes live television . let's get over to audra. >> thank you. natalie brian just mentioned, former president donald trump has been reacting on his social media

in rehobeth beach, delaware, where the president is. >> reporter: last night speaking at a rally in detroitmore questions about president biden's age and fitness for office after he appeared to forget the name of michigan congresswoman debbie dingell who has been his friend for decades. >> president biden: members of congress, the haley, excuse me, by the way, i wanted to know, i spent a lot of time with debbie. she has helped a lot. i forget which event we were at, someone said you are his wife, aren't you? she looks like jill. >> reporter: debbie dingell's late husband was the longest-serving member of congress serving 60 years in the house beginning when eisenhower was president, died at 92 when obama was in office. before speaking at the rally, biden stopped by a restaurant, telling patrons, quote, i promise you i am okay. president biden in delaware after midnight has no public events on his schedule and plans to hit the phones and ensure democrats he has what it takes to be there nominee to serve another four years until he is 86 years old. detroit, biden with donald trump. >> preside

at rehobeth beach in isolation with covid he's not just quarantining but also in exile. neil: it is president biden who can dismiss joe biden. that will take a lot of persuasion. he is feisty about it and it is argued someone can do better than me, are they presenting him data that shows several people could? >> reporter: the public polls we are getting don't show kamala harris doing better against trump and that is part of biden's calculation. novelty does he want to see someone else it was much stronger against trump. he sees himself as the ultimate underdog. somebody from the time he was running for senate in delaware as a 29-year-old kid, he won. he has got it in his head that it's possible to beat trump and of course it is possible but democrats are worried, the positive polls for biden are the national polls. folks in his campaign in wellington don't do national polls because it's not a national election. it is state-by-state. the battleground states are the ones he's performing the weakest and he has a big decision to make, based on all reporting out there, he has

meanwhile, president biden is expected to spend the weekend recovering from covid at his home in rehobeth beachf congressional democrats calling for him to exit his campaign stands at 35. on friday, ohio senator sherrod brown added his name to that tally. >>> joining us now to discuss is former florida congressman carlos korbel a. >> congressman, congressman, where you in milwaukee? >> you know, unfortunately, i could not make it. >> i did so [ laughter ], carlos, i tell you, we would not have been welcome there for a lot of reasons but i want to pick up on something that symone led us in with, this idea that this whole convention, i have to give props, well orchestrated, well- run, well-timed, a lot of, i mean, you cannot fault the administration of this event but you can when it comes to this idea of unity. you have had a lot of conversation, that was the push, particularly after the shooting in butler. i would like to play for you trump's unity, sort of, conversation where he talked about in our age of politics. let's hear what he has to say about our age of politics. >> in an age where our

speculation is raging that he ends the campaign by the end of the weekend, it's a critical weekend in rehobeth beach for the bidens. were on it all morning long, futures extended the losses that we've seen after a volatile week onto wall street take a look at where we stand going into the open this morning the dow industrial down this morning 89 points, the nasdaq is down 39 in the s&p 500 lower by five and a quarter points, right now. the dow sliding 500 points at the close yesterday, the worst day since may 23. for the week, here's what were looking on the friday morning for the markets this week stocks are mixed, the dow is in the green, we have seen a rally in the dow stocks, look at the nasdaq down almost 3% this week. investors keeping a close eye on cyclical stocks, 108 days until election day the federal reserve preparing the september rate cut, all you need to know this morning right here, european markets are in the red, take a look at the eurozone where the s&p 100 is down 38, cac 40 is down 63 and dax index lower by 150 right now, the stock exchange is affected by the global internet out

kevin o'connor updating the public on his condition as he continues recovering from covid at his rehobeth beach, delaware home. his doctor saying in the new letter, he tested positive today, he completed his sixth dose of paxlovid to help with symptoms. he is continuing to experience symptoms like a loose nonproduct cough and hoarseness. he says that his symptoms continue to improve steadily. he also explains what the president is suffering from is a specific variant that also accounts for more than 30% of the new infections across the united states, according to the cdc. that new show of support for president biden as he continues to face calls from democratic lawmakers for him to step aside, we are learning from sources familiar with that thinking of former president bill clinton and former democratic nominee herself, hillary clinton, that they are privately supporting the president's decision to stay in the race, they even are encouraging donors to continue backing the president. the sources add, they have been in touch with the white house in recent days offering support they can offer at t

homeland security officials he met with in person in the situation room this morning after he left rehobeth beach where he was staying early last night to return to the white house. as you heard him say in that speech, he urged americans to have patience as this investigation is underway. he also said the shooters motive is unknown and he asked people not to jump to conclusions. he promised all resources would be available to the fbi as they take the lead on this investigation. presumably, the president will continue to be kept up to speed as this investigation develops and we know that he has spoken with the pennsylvania governor josh shapiro as well as the mayor about where pennsylvania where that shooting took place last night. i do think it is important to mention how this incident, this assassination attempt, has really thrown the presidents schedule as well as the state of the campaign. it has been thrown into flux. we already know the presidents schedule has been changed tomorrow and he was originally slated to go to texas to deliver remarks commemorating the 60th anniversary of the signin

i have been in rehobeth beach the last 48 hours. his closest advisors have been here having conversations with him during the day yesterday, i saw some of them around, this was a very small piece of real estate here in rehobeth but we stayed in contact with the most of the day yesterday. that was speaking to the fact ak this was close to the finish line. even members of his own campaign team, even along the ranks of the senior leadership, we are learning about the tweet, just as so many of us were. >> it is an excruciating decision for president biden. he worked his whole life to get to where he is today and to feel like it is being taken from you is a really hard thing to confront, especially when you have polling showing that you are not in a win, which i am sure is what pushed him over. >> michael, jon meacham, sorry, i have the wrong lead-in. thank you very much for joining us. you are on the phone for us. when did you last speak with president biden? >> i don't want to talk about conversations with the president. i would like t

he was supposed to stay in rehobeth beach monday but obviously returned home early, so that he couldage with law enforcement, his national security team to get an assessment of what happened yesterday in pennsylvania. we expect the president is going to have that meeting at some point this morning. somewhere in in the next hour and a half or so, that meeting should happen at the white house. >> reporter: as we stake -- take a step back, we are -- we can't forget everything happening with the current president. a president running for re- election, had a very tough debate and has since had tough conversations with his own party. how is the events here changing the president's schedule? we knew that he had a big schedule with lester holt tomorrow. another interview with bt later in the week, i believe that is on wednesday. you have to assume in defending his own campaign the strategy might have been to attack his opponent, but now does not seem the time or place for that. >> you're absolutely right, it seems at this point, as though all campaign activities have stopped. we haven't hear

this was a decision he made in rehobeth beach where he is th isolated with covid. there were very few people, it is a very interesting moment we are continuing to learn about. o as we go forward, obviously, kamala harris mama by making ri her his choice, he shuts and a lot of the conversation. it has not necessarily ended but it is hard to see how anybody could surpass this in a short timeframe. that is the biden camp would like to close down the t discussion about internal fighting and focus on going after donald trump. >> they certainly must be tired of the conversation being had t for a month, what will happen on the democratic ticket? at the same time, peter, it does seem to be that the question remains open and we haven't seen an endorsement of harris from former president obama. we have not seen an endorsement of harris notably from democratic leadership. cliburn aside, i have not heard from hakeem jeffries, chuck schumer nor from nancy pelosi, the speaker america. vice president harris left the door open, as well, saying, my intention is to earn and win this