Biden Meets the Press, Clooney says 'Get Out', Hurricane Beryl Cleanup Begins
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It's Thursday, July 11th. Right now on CNN This Morning, President Biden just hours away from a press conference that could potentially break his reelection bid as more Democrats call on him to exit the race. Plus this at a NATO dinner last night. The allies in this room not only share a common language, don't share a common language, we do not share a common border.

A verbal stumble from the president at a time when his every word is subject to incredibly intense scrutiny. This as a Hollywood heavyweight calls on the president to step aside just weeks after raising millions for his reelection campaign. And millions left picking up the pieces from Hurricane Beryl in record-breaking, life-threatening heat.

All right, 6:00 AM here in Washington, a live look at the White House on this Thursday morning. Good morning, everyone. I'm Casey Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.

president biden started this week writing to leaders in his own party demanding they stop questioning his position at the top of the ticket it's time for it to end he wrote but on this thursday morning just hours from when he'll take the stage for what is perhaps the highest stakes press conference of his half century career in politics it has not ended nancy pelosi is still asking questions so is democratic senator peter welch and

George Clooney, yes, that George Clooney, writing this brutal assessment just weeks after he posed for this photo with the president. Clooney says this, quote, it's devastating to say it, but the Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fundraiser was not the Joe big effing deal Biden of 2010. He wasn't even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man that we witnessed at the debate.

Vermont's Peter Welch on Wednesday became the first Democratic senator to say that Biden should step aside, writing, quote, For the good of the country, I am calling on President Biden to withdraw from the race. Those comments make Senator Welch the 10th congressional Democrat to call on Biden to step aside with similar statements on Wednesday from Representatives Pat Ryan and Earl Blumenauer.

But it was these comments Wednesday morning from the former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is someone whose counsel Biden actually values, now sounding open to the possibility that Biden could change his mind. It's up to the president to decide if he is going to run. We're all encouraging him to make that decision because time is running short. I want him to do whatever he decides to do.

CNN has learned top officials from Biden's campaign will brief Senate Democrats during a special meeting this afternoon. And Axios now reporting that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is privately signaling to donors that he is open to a Democratic presidential ticket that is not led by President Biden. At least three other Democrats in the Senate have indicated in private meetings that they don't believe that Biden can beat Trump. There are others, though, publicly supporting him, but you can really see the division.

At this point, I think he has a strong campaign and a strong message to deliver. I believe he's going to move forward and I'm going to support him. I'm proud to stand with Joe Biden and I'm showing up tomorrow with brass knuckles. I am deeply concerned about Joe Biden winning this November. He's going to be our nominee at the convention. He is going to be our candidate for president in the fall. He is going to be our next president of the United States.

All right, let's bring in our panel. CNN Chief National Affairs Correspondent Jeff Zeleny, former White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield, and Republican strategist Sarah Longwell, all joining us this morning. Good morning, all. Good morning. Kate Bedingfield, look, I want to start with you. You also, as all of this was kind of cascading yesterday, you tweeted this to those that you used to work with at the White House.

If they have data that supports the path to victory that they see, they should put it out there now and help people who badly want to beat Trump rally around it.

People want to see the path. You've been here several days this morning. We have been following this bouncing ball together where Biden has been up and now Biden seems to be down. How difficult was yesterday for him and how different is the situation now than it was 24 hours before that? Yeah, well, it definitely felt like the mood shifted a bit on Capitol Hill, obviously, when you saw Nancy Pelosi come out and essentially put the conversation back on the table and say, let him get through NATO this week and then regroup.

Essentially, she's signaled we're going to have another discussion about this. So obviously, that is a weaker position than he was in the day prior when it seemed like he had kind of put all of that to rest. I think they are in a position right now where there are a lot of people. I mean, you heard, obviously, Senator Fetterman has stood very strongly by him. You've heard others say he can win this race. I'm actually somebody who believes that he still can win this race.

This is a moment where people want to rally behind him, I think. And the campaign needs to give people a reason to do that. I mean, I think all of this anger and frustration, it all comes from a shared desire to beat Donald Trump. Democrats feel that Trump is an existential threat. They are scared about the prospect of losing this election. They want to win. I think the Biden team would serve Joe Biden well to put forward some data that shows here's our path and help people rally around the idea that he can win because the public is

data right now isn't good for him. And that's influencing the way people are thinking because it's politics. Yeah. Sarah, you talk to voters all the time, including many voters who would also like to see Donald Trump not get reelected. What are they telling you about the debate? Yeah, since the debate, I've done nothing but focus groups. I've just listened to voters. I've talked to black voters, to swing voters, to Democratic voters who voted for Hillary Clinton and then Joe Biden and are now undecided.

And here's the main takeaway from the voters that Joe Biden desperately needs, these swing voters, these double haters. He was already behind with them. They already had concerns about his age. That has now calcified into a belief from these voters

that he cannot do the job for four more years and they are desperate for a change. They actually think that a change signals strength, not weakness. And they're sort of begging for an alternative. I mean, and look, the language that they use is tough. They are extremely unhappy with this choice. And they say things like, we've got an insurrectionist on one hand and somebody who's not there on the other hand, or

they even, they use much more unflattering terms than that. And it is all around this sense that Biden can't do it. And the thing that I'm seeing in the public polling as well that's got me more concerned that I don't think people are talking about enough is the race is tightening in places like Minnesota.

in places like Virginia, in places where the map is expanding for Donald Trump in ways where, as somebody who is also a strategist, who is actively running a campaign, Republican Voters Against Trump, who is trying to rally people to vote against Trump, to build an anti-Trump coalition, I am watching states that were not on the table, not on the map, that were not even thought about as competitive, getting competitive. And that is a huge problem right now.

Yeah, really, really very remarkable when you put it that way. Tim Ryan said this on Twitter. The voters will not believe us about January 6th talking about the stakes with Trump if we don't tell the truth about June 27th, which is, of course, the date of the debate. Is that a sentiment you're getting to? Yeah, people feel like

people understand what damage control looks like. And so the voters will say things like, I watched that George Stephanopoulos interview. That wasn't any better. And they're just trying to walk this back, but we all saw what we saw. This is the thing, I mean,

The frustrating thing is that voters have eyes. There's a lot of people telling you, just grab your sword, go out on offense. And look, I believe in offense. I wanted this campaign to play offense for a long time. But you cannot ignore the fact that everybody saw it. If they didn't see it in the actual debate, though lots of people did, they saw it in social media. And people are not, they're going to believe, you know, their lying eyes or whatever the expression is. They know what they're doing.

saw right well and if they saw it on social media they're not going to have seen the back half of the debate where democrats say well biden came back and and are you jeff i want to let you get in here a little bit with your kind of reporting and what you're hearing um around what sarah said and also what you're hearing from the white house look i mean uh

As of now, it's becoming clear and more clear where Democratic leaders and party elders are. It's less clear whether any of this has changed President Biden's thinking. Obviously, he was very busy yesterday with the NATO leaders and other things. But at the end of this week, whatever he decides to do, it's still his decision. This is a much more complicated race for him. To Sarah's point, I was talking to Democratic advisors in Minnesota yesterday. They are very worried about Minnesota. You might ask, why Minnesota?

Think back to 2016. Minnesota was the closest defeat for Donald Trump to Hillary Clinton by about 1.5 percentage points. So I always call it the reddest blue state in the country. So Minnesota is an issue. New Hampshire is an issue. Virginia, New Mexico. So we're looking at potentially a map if Biden does stay in.

I mean, maybe the New York thing. I think the New York local party officials are looking for money in these districts. It's not going to be a runaway. But speaking of money, we spent a lot of time yesterday talking to donors. And yes, President Biden sort of dismissed them as the elites in the party.

It's a real issue. They have built a very big campaign, a robust Biden campaign with these offices and a huge advertising budget. Right now, they will not be able to keep the lights on with the amount of money coming in. So at the end of the day, does a press conference even change this?

I'm not so sure about that, but my eye is on the Senate lunch. We've all covered a lot of those, been to a lot of them. It is absolutely pivotal today when General Malley Dillon and Steve Ricchetti and Mike Donilon, three top Biden advisors, go to the Senate Democratic lunch. The message they get, I think, is one that we know because we've talked to these senators. So yesterday, a tough day for President Biden. It's really hard to see

that changing. But again, it is his decision and we don't know if this has changed his thinking. Well, we're going to talk up next about this big press conference he's got on the horizon. Up next, it's really all anyone's talking about here in Washington. Should he stay or should he go? Ohio's Democratic Congressman Greg Lansman here with his take on the president's reelection bid. Plus, a verbal stumble during a NATO toast. Is Joe Biden ready for tonight's big press conference? And this.

George Clooney, not a politician. He has played one. On the big screen, we'll talk about his plea to President Biden ahead.

I'm Dr. Sanjay Gupta, host of the Chasing Life podcast. What are some of the social service agencies that have supported you and your family growing up? That's Dr. Robert Waldinger. He's a psychiatrist, a professor, and a Zen master. What kind of relationships actually help us maintain happiness? And what should we do in those moments where we have setbacks and things that don't work out? Listen to Chasing Life, streaming now, wherever you get your podcasts.

The allies in this room not only share a common language, don't share a common language, we do not share a common border, but we are neighbors. We're neighbors because we all share common beliefs in dignity, equality, democracy, and freedom.

President Biden addressing NATO leaders at the White House dinner last night. The president stumbling a little bit over his words there. A small mistake that would have been probably overlooked in basically any other context. But Biden's every step and every word now under intense scrutiny as he attempts to reassure Democrats that he is fit to run again. That pressure will reach a peak tonight as the president holds a solo press conference wrapping up Friday.

the NATO summit, we were talking as we were coming into this about whether it's fair or unfair. He's a man who has stumbled over his words in the past, Kate.

But this moment for him tonight is, they've set it up, the White House has set it up as, look, these were two tests, George Stephanopoulos interview, the NATO press conference. You now got Pelosi out there saying, hey, you got to reopen this question of what you're going to do. Is there a way for him to, is there an upside here? I mean, it seems like if he gets through it fine, there's still going to be all the questions. But if he trips up, that

That's potentially it. Well, look, there is definitely scrutiny on the press conference tonight. There's obviously scrutiny on his performance overall, given what happened in the debate, understandably. I do think, though, things like, you know, like we were just watching this clip, he said, do not instead of do, and corrected himself. The way anybody reading off a paper is...

I imagine everyone sitting at this table at some point on television has said the wrong word. There before the grace of God, though. Right? But this is also, in some ways, that's an opportunity for the Biden campaign. The base is fired up about this. They feel like Biden is being unfairly attacked, that there is an over-torquing on every last thing that people are piling on, that it's people who are

sitting in Washington and criticizing him. There is an opportunity here for some of this piling on to energize parts of Biden's coalition that he frankly needs to energize. I mean, we've seen him over the course of the race so far, seems to be underperforming with some of the key constituencies that helped him get elected in 2020.

And there is energy for this because people feel like, you know, you're picking on him for saying do instead of do not and correcting himself. I mean, there's a little bit of like, give me a break there. So I think that there's an opportunity for the Biden campaign to kind of, you know, put their armor on and kind of weaponize that piece of it a little bit. Very briefly, do you agree with that? Do you think that? I mean, yeah, I think, look,

I think, look, there is some energy from the base. I certainly get attacked on Twitter anytime I release focus group information that says this. And look, it's great to see Whitmer out there for him. The surrogates are suddenly out in force. Like there is, the circling the wagons, I think has given some energy around the base. The problem is just the swing voters, the even sort of soft Democrats, all of the people you need in these swing states, they're falling off a cliff. And I think that's the problem. - Yeah, all right. Coming up next on CNN This Morning.

And I can tell you without hesitation, being president of this country is entirely about character. Hollywood A-listers lining up to ask President Biden to step aside. Actor Michael Douglas, who played the president there, Andrew Shepard, I believe, the latest defector. And before we get to that in your morning roundup, first, Hurricane Beryl, extreme heat in Houston. We have a problem.

All right, welcome back. Time now for weather. The West enduring a brutal heat wave with daily records and prolonged heat expected to continue. The National Weather Service in Houston issuing a heat advisory for today. Highs expected in the low to mid 90s with feels like temps going up to potentially 106 degrees. Further west, California Governor Gavin Newsom addressing the heat and its impact on wildfires.

Experiencing unprecedented record heat. These heat domes over the entire western United States over and over and over and over and over again. Record-breaking temperatures. All right, let's get straight to our weatherman, Derek Van Dam with more on this. Derek, good morning.

Yeah, Casey, I just returned home from Houston where the heat wave has settled in, but there's still 1.3 million customers without power. A large majority of them in and around the greater Houston area, Harris County. Heat advisories there in place, heat indices. This is what it feels like as you step outside up to 106. Just absolutely brutal, especially if you don't have that opportunity to cool yourself off.

without electricity and obviously air conditioning. Now it's not just Texas, it's also over the western US. We've been breaking records, sounding like a broken record here in Las Vegas, five consecutive days where the mercury in the thermometer climbed at 115 or even higher. So all time record highs set for that city earlier this week. Daily record highs continue to be broken for that location and other locations too. In fact,

hundred or more record highs possible through the course of this weekend. Now remember Hurricane Beryl? That's what brought the power outages to Texas. Well guess what? It tracked through northern sections of New England. This is coming out of Eden, New York, some tornado damage and it's from the remnants of what was Hurricane Beryl. And this is just incredible to see the path from this tropical system that moved all the way across the eastern seaboard

There were 54 tornado warnings issued yesterday by the upstate New York office and a record-breaking number of tornado warnings across portions of Louisiana with the system earlier in the week. And that's just really saying something. So we're going to say goodbye and good riddance. This is what's left of Beryl, and we can't say goodbye soon enough. Indeed. We also have had 28 suspected heat-related deaths related to all of this.

Derek Van Dam for us this morning. Derek, thank you very much. All right. Coming up next here, we're going to talk to Democratic Congressman Greg Lansman of Ohio about how President Biden can dig in or not. Plus, how the Biden campaign is responding to losing the support of actor and mega fundraiser George Clooney.

All right, welcome back. The stars not currently aligning for President Biden. By stars, we mean the Hollywood heavyweights who one by one seem to be starting to bail on the president. The actor George Clooney calling on Biden to step aside just weeks after headlining a star-studded fundraiser for his reelection campaign. And it was that fundraiser

that gave him this cluny wrote in an op-ed in the new york times it reads in part quote it is devastating to say it but the joe biden i was with three weeks ago at that fundraiser was not the joe big effing deal biden of 2010. he wasn't even the joe biden of 2020. he was the same man we all witnessed at the debate cluny apparently not alone the actor michael douglas says he agrees with cluny that it is time for democrats to do something different

I think it's a valid point. I mean, I'm deeply, deeply concerned. I mean, especially it's difficult because the Democrats have a big bench. I mean, they've got a lot of heavy hitters.

All right, panel's back. And of course, this is the cover of the New York Post this morning. Doesn't have a Clooney. Lots of fodder there. Politico now reporting this morning, Jeff Zeleny, that George Clooney ran this op-ed by President Barack Obama, who you will note we can put that photo back up on the screen, was in that photo with George Clooney and Julia Roberts. And the interesting detail they say is that Obama didn't encourage or advise Clooney to say what he said, but he also didn't object to it.

which is remarkable. It does feel like there is something coordinated here. - And there's gambling at the casino, yes. This is something that is absolutely makes sense because things do not happen this week

in a vacuum. The fact that Nancy Pelosi said her very calibrated words yesterday, and let's remember what she said last week that really framed the discussion, is this an episode or a condition? She intentionally kept the discussion open yesterday morning. A couple hours later, this op-ed came from George Clooney.

Is all of this coordinated? It's no coincidence, I'm told. And the Obama thing specifically. Look, former President Barack Obama has been very loyal to his vice president and his current president, but he also has not come out this week and said anything supportive in terms of, guys, back off. He said he's running. He's running. He has not said that. He is waiting on...

the sidelines and the wings, like many others, to allow this conversation to percolate and things. If he wanted to stop George Clooney from doing this, I'm guessing he could have done that. They are friends.

The Obamas have vacationed at their house in Italy with them in years gone by. But the thought of Obama sort of orchestrating this through Clooney, I don't believe that. But I do believe that this is something that conversations are happening at these high levels. And look, I think the root of all of this is someone talked to me yesterday that President Biden could go from sort of villain in the party, villain's probably strong, to hero immediately in

if he sort of took this off ramp. The question is, how difficult is it for him to take this off ramp? And has any of this changed his mind? He's wrapped himself with the pillars of the party, the CBC and black voters, Labor yesterday. So in the internal structures of the party, he's still fairly strong, but clearly he's losing support externally.

On the Obama piece, also don't forget there's history here. 2015, 2016, President Obama and his team discouraged Joe Biden from getting into the race. Joe Biden wrote about this in quite a lot of detail in his book.

And there are lingering feelings about that. Biden felt like he had a good lane. Look, ultimately, he decided not to run because he was not emotionally in a place after his son Beau's death where he felt like he could give it his all. But there were lingering scars from President Obama and his team really trying to dissuade Biden from getting into the race. So that's another...

a that's another layer here in terms of as people are thinking about how best to kind of I'm you know tried try to influence Joe Biden's decision here and I would have to imagine that in the back of President Obama's mind as well scars with Jill Biden to untold president Obama yeah yeah no it's I it's it's all all very very layered it can we just remind I i just wanna play cuz I i wanna take a look back at but also reference with George Clooney was talking about that big effin deal

Joe Biden moment with Obama. We have that. Let's just look at it. This is, again, when these two men were serving together in the White House. Joe Biden was vice president. And before, what Kate describes, when Obama thinks that Joe Biden is not the right person to basically succeed him and gives that nod to Hillary Clinton instead. Watch. Ladies and gentlemen, the president of the United States of America, Barack Obama. Thank you.

the passage of the ACA 14 years ago now, 2010, was when that happened. And you can see the difference, Sarah. I mean, you just can. Oh, well, you could see the difference if you go back and watch Joe Biden debate Donald Trump in 2020. It is startling. Anytime you look back at Joe Biden, I know people say, well, you know, he's always sort of had this stutter or, you know,

hasn't always found the correct word quickly, but his energy, the ability to understand what he is saying, all of that's different from four years ago. And people who talk about, is it a condition or, you know, is something wrong with him? No, he's just 81 years old. Like the reason that

George Clooney is writing this, the reason that Barack Obama's not stopping him is everybody's going, he's 81 years old. One of the things that focus group voters say is they say, somebody's gotta take the car keys from him because people understand what it's like to have an aging parent and how they get stubborn. And so the taking the car keys is a theme we're starting to hear throughout the groups. - Yeah.

Yeah, it's tough. It's a tough conversation to have, which I think is why this is so difficult, especially for people who do love Joe Biden, right? So let's put up, we've got some new polling data that came in this morning from ABC News. If we want to kind of

cycle through what we have there. I think the top line number here, this is all adults. It's not registered voters or likely voters. It's the number of people that think Joe Biden should step aside. And that stands, or actually here, this is a choice for president. So this is very tight.

Donald Trump, 47. Joe Biden, 46. This is plus or minus two points. I'm not sure if that's registered voters or likely voters. But look at that. Is a candidate too old for a second term? Biden, 85%. Yes. Trump, 60%. Yes. We should acknowledge these men are three years apart in age. But then here's the should Biden step aside number. And this, again, is all adults. Yes. 67%.

percent, no 30 percent. Are these the kind of numbers that are going to make a difference to Biden? No, this is not going to drive his decision. These polls are basically are tracking what our poll said after the debate and others. The bottom, the polls that I think the data that could be sort of persuasive, certainly to Democrats, are what is this whole situation doing to the ticket? Look at House races. Look at some Senate races.

And without question, the Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, those Senate races are harder for Democrats to hold those seats than they were just two weeks ago. It was never easy necessarily, but those are the numbers. If any numbers or data are going to drive this decision, it will be those.

But I think one thing that does, the Biden team can point to that. Look, he is still neck and neck within the margin of error with Donald Trump. The overall number hasn't changed for him. But down ballot, that's where the worry is. In the states, it is changing, though. I mean, like, a lot of these national polls is incredibly misleading. Because right now, like in a place like Wisconsin, there's a massive gap between Senator Tammy Baldwin and how she is polling and where Biden is polling. He's like 10 points behind her. You can't argue with gaps like

that. Yeah, no, they're humongous. And they were big before the debate. But like, from what I understand from talking to my sources on the Hill, they have just ballooned. All right. Coming up next here, a Boeing plane forced to abort its takeoff because of multiple blown tires. We're going to bring that in our morning roundup. Plus, Democratic Congressman Greg Lansman of Ohio is here. We're going to talk to him about Joe Biden's future. That's ahead.

Most Democrats, even those with serious doubts, are falling in line for now, while reportedly they're hoping Biden makes another major public misstep. Mr. President, thank you for touring my district's new banana peel and mop bucket factory. Now, just for safety's sake, where are these roller skates?

President Biden's political future in the balance this morning as the number of Democrats publicly calling on him to step aside has reached 10. And one of Biden's closest allies on Capitol Hill, stunning allies and colleagues with this equivocating answer on the president's political future.

It's up to the president to decide if he is going to run. We're all encouraging him to make that decision because time is running short. I want him to do whatever he decides to do. And that's the way it is.

All right. Joining me now to discuss Democratic Congressman Greg Lansman of Ohio. Congressman, thank you very much for being here this morning. Thanks for having me. What the former House speaker said yesterday, what did it mean to you as you weigh whether or not you think you're going to call on for Biden to step aside? You know, she is a just a giant and we all have an enormous amount of respect for her. So that was a that was a big deal, though not surprising. I think she

And I feel very similar which is that everything's on the line here. The stakes are so high that you know Trump in a second term would be dangerous to our democracy he'll upend our lives and The only thing worse than that would be if he was in control of all three branches of government Which is becoming more and more likely to happen. I mean, that's that's where we're headed and I think that's why

She did what she did and she's she's saying the right thing which is it's it's his decision I mean President Biden has to make this decision and he's got to make it very soon. He doesn't have much time and The idea that he'll come back and keep saying well, I've already made a decision. This is it I'm staying in I think what she's saying there or at least what I would be hoping he would read from that is

Well, there's time to change that decision if you can't pull this off. It really sounds like you feel like she opened the door for him and you want him to walk through it. Yeah, I mean, I'm getting closer and closer to appreciating that as much as I respect Joe Biden and what he's done,

that what Clooney said yesterday was really powerful in that he saved democracy in 2020, he's gotta do it again in 2024. Now, I had hoped and still do to some extent that he can go out and make the case that Donald Trump is unfit to be president, that he is gonna undermine if not destroy our democracy, but I think that's becoming more and more

Less likely, I'm sorry. And he could be, and this is a Sorkin line, you know, an American hero, Joe Biden, and say, look, I've got to step down now.

For me, I represent a district that is, in my mind, almost perfect. It's equal number of Democrats, Independents, Republicans. And it is a place just like most of America where the anti-Trump coalition is big. It is a majority of voters. And my hope is that Biden appreciates that and either uses these last few days or weeks, I guess, before the convention

to prove us all wrong. Those of us who think, hey, this is maybe too big of a challenge for him. But then to say if that's not the case, if he can't pull this off, that he's not going to allow that to happen. He's not going to allow Trump and the rise of fascism and authoritarianism to take root here.

and to allow Trump to become president and control all three branches of government. Do you think that there is any way that President Biden at this point could regain that trust and confidence that you are talking about? Is that even possible now? I think it's possible. I'd like to go home. We're all, in general, you know, when we're all in D.C., we like to go home. Yes. But I...

We all leave today, we go back home. I want to go back home and check in with folks maybe one last time. But yeah, he could. And as the nominee, I hope he does. However, it's becoming increasingly likely that

that this may be just too high of a hill for him to climb. And by the way, this isn't about being president as much as it is making the case that Donald Trump is unfit to be president of the United States. He tried to overturn an election. He stole reproductive freedom away from tens of millions of women and girls, including my daughter, who's less free now.

He gave trillions of dollars to billionaires at the expense of the rest of us, and that's why the economy is the way it is in my opinion. He will upend democracy and upend our lives, and so everything is on the line. By the way, he also was held liable

by a court for rape. He also, Trump, was also held, was also convicted on 34 felony counts. I mean, to be able to make the case against this person, the former president, should not be that hard. Biden has to do it. If he can't do it, then he's got to let somebody else do it. Do you feel like you can plausibly say to your constituents right now that

The man that they saw in the debate stage is a better person to be in charge of the country Is that a hard better than Donald Trump? Sure I mean you get what I'm saying like if you're trying to convince someone who had maybe voted for Trump in 16 Biden in 2020 trying to decide what to do now How much harder did the president make that argument for you on the debate stage much harder and quite frankly

I think he's made it even harder since the debate because instead of saying, "Look, let me show you I can do this," he just kind of went at us. And I don't think that helped him. So you think he did more damage to himself beginning this week with that letter he put out on Monday? The letter didn't help, no.

But at the end of the day, we're all adults. So put the letter aside. The question is about the future of the country, truly. And he cares deeply about the country. He does. He cares deeply about our democracy. He cares deeply about freedom. There are a lot of people who have a lot on the line right now. I mean, a lot, millions and millions of people

And he cares deeply about an economy that works for working people. And we're not going to get any of that. And we could lose a lot, if not everything, if Trump is reelected and he has control of all three branches of government.

That is, I believe, a nightmare scenario, not just for me or the Democratic Party, but for the American people and those most vulnerable or those who have everything on the line.

which is millions and millions of people. And I know that the president deeply cares about that. And so my hope is that when I go home back to Ohio and listen to folks, that he's spending the next three or four days really listening to folks and either deciding, you know what, I can make a turn here. I can make this happen. I'm becoming increasingly less convinced. Or to say, it's time.

What would you like to see happen in the event that he does step aside? Would you like to see Kamala Harris? Would you like to see an open convention? Either one. Yeah. Either one. Either one. Congressman Lansman, thank you very much for being here. Tell you what, come back Monday after you have talked to people back home. Yeah, no problem. We'd love to hear your news first at the table. Thank you very much for being here.

All right, 54 minutes past the hour. Let's do a quick morning roundup. A jury will soon decide the fate of New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez in just a few hours. Closing arguments will wrap up in his corruption trial. The senator is accused of taking bribes in exchange for his influence.

An American Airlines flight from Tampa to Phoenix forced to abort its takeoff because of multiple blown tires. You can see the smoke billowing from the wheels. No injuries were reported. The 25-year-old Boeing 737-800 had 174 passengers and six crew on board. No one was injured.

And Costco hiking membership fees by five bucks. It's now going to cost you $65 to join. The increase impacts 52 million customers. Me among them, I will say. The good news, the hot dogs still a buck 50 for now.

And desperate times, desperate measures. I want to talk a little bit more about our big story this morning. A Democratic delegate from California tells CNN that he received a call from the Biden campaign that was designed to, quote, shut down talk of replacing the president at the top of the ticket. Listen to this superdelegate describe what happened after Biden's disastrous debate performance.

When 51, 52 million people watched that debate and a lot of us were dumbfounded by what we saw, I started getting phone calls, text messages, emails. I get stopped on the street or since I'm in Hawaii, stopped on the beach and people say, what can we do to save this situation? And I'm hearing a lot of people who want to at least discuss and a lot of people who are leaning towards trying to get Joe Biden to step aside.

Very interesting. Panel is back. Jeff Zeleny, can I first just get your reaction what the Congressman said here? Because he did say he was getting closer to calling for the president to step aside and really didn't leave a lot of room for

There didn't seem to be a lot of space in his mind for the president to recover. Look, really echoing the sentiment, I think, of what many members of Congress have said privately, a few have said publicly, there's not much difference between the 10 Democrats who have come out versus others who have said he can't win, they don't see a path, et cetera. So I think at this point, members are being a little bit...

I guess, hesitant to go all the way because if the president does not make the decision himself, why be on the record saying that? But despite all of this, I think the question still remains, has any of this changed President Biden's mind, changed the mind of First Lady Jill Biden? We don't know that. So that is something that I think is really the only question we need answered over the next 72 hours or so.

And that's something we have little visibility on. Fair. Absolutely true. But still, Kate, it's very interesting to me that they are calling delegates.

the convention? I mean, that would imply that they are concerned about that on some level. Well, I think you would expect to see them do that. There was obviously an enormous amount of concern following the debate. They are trying to help people stay on board. I'll say it that way. They're trying to help people stay on board. So I don't, look, I don't think it's that surprising that you would see the campaign reaching out to try to shore up the people who are- But doesn't it suggest that they have some power over the president? That the delegates have power over

president or well i mean ultimately they determine whether the president becomes the official nominee although joe biden has enough committed delegates at this point from the primary process to become the nominee on the first on the first ballot but if you're the biden campaign you don't want super delegates out there saying i'm not sure i can back him so i don't you know i i don't think it's an unreasonable thing for the campaign to do their leg work to try to ensure that uh the people who aren't currently committed remain committed

You know, what was interesting to me about what the congressman said was this idea of Joe Biden has the opportunity to save democracy a second time. He was quoting George Clooney. I think this is really true. This Joe Biden, look, I've been a Republican my entire career who then went to bat really hard for Joe Biden in 2020. I thought he was the best person to take on Donald Trump. I think he has been a good president and I think he is a decent person.

I also have been totally flabbergasted by the way that in light of the debate, they have decided to attack people, to put a ton of pressure on people in Congress to try to hold the line as opposed to sort of reckoning with what's in front of us. And I think that Joe Biden could do the country what is

just an enormous service by recognizing what the voters recognize and giving Democrats and his party an opportunity to re-energize things, to turn this whole thing around. And he would go down in history as a selfless champion of democracy. And I think he risks his entire legacy by holding on as tightly as he's trying to hold on right now. It was interesting to me, Jeff, that the congressman said that the—

full court pressure campaign from Biden has in some ways backfired. - I think with some members it has, but I think also important to keep in mind, it seems to have worked with other members like the Congressional Black Caucus and others. So that potentially is the more complicated step here going forward. How does the unwind some of that support should that happen? But again, I know I'm repeating myself, this is still President Biden's decision to make, and we can talk about it till we're blue in the face and members of Congress don't get that decision.

Guys, thank you very much for doing just that this morning with all of us. And thanks to all of you, of course, for joining us this morning as well. I'm Casey Hunt. Don't go anywhere. CNN News Central starts right now.

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