1 00:00:01,233 --> 00:00:03,166 GEOFF BENNETT: Welcome to the "News Hour." 2 00:00:03,166 --> 00:00:06,866 President Biden is facing more calls from Democratic lawmakers to step aside 3 00:00:06,866 --> 00:00:10,533 as the party's nominee since his Thursday night press conference. 4 00:00:10,533 --> 00:00:15,533 AMNA NAWAZ: Five House Democrats, Jim Himes, Eric Sorensen, Scott Peters, Brittany Pettersen, 5 00:00:17,466 --> 00:00:21,033 and Mike Levin, have all issued statements asking for the president to step down. 6 00:00:21,033 --> 00:00:26,033 They joined 15 other congressional Democrats who've made similar calls earlier this week. 7 00:00:27,733 --> 00:00:29,933 Our White House correspondent, Laura Barron-Lopez, has the latest. 8 00:00:29,933 --> 00:00:34,466 JOE BIDEN, President of the United States: Thank you. Please be seated. 9 00:00:34,466 --> 00:00:37,600 LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: With all eyes on his high-stakes press conference... 10 00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:42,566 JOE BIDEN: I'm not in this for my legacy. I'm in this to complete the job I started. 11 00:00:44,300 --> 00:00:46,366 LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: ... President Biden played defense Thursday night, 12 00:00:46,366 --> 00:00:50,133 trying to prove that he's still fit to run for reelection. 13 00:00:50,133 --> 00:00:55,100 JOE BIDEN: A lot can happen. But I think I'm the best qualified -- I know -- I 14 00:00:57,166 --> 00:00:59,933 believe I'm the best qualified to govern. And I think I'm the best qualified to win. 15 00:00:59,933 --> 00:01:02,566 LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: And while there were gaffes and slip-ups. 16 00:01:02,566 --> 00:01:06,533 QUESTION: What concerns do you have about Vice President Harris' ability 17 00:01:06,533 --> 00:01:10,666 to beat Donald Trump if she were at the top of the ticket? 18 00:01:10,666 --> 00:01:14,300 JOE BIDEN: Look, I wouldn't have picked Vice President Trump (sic) to be vice 19 00:01:14,300 --> 00:01:18,100 president if I think she's not qualified to be president. 20 00:01:18,100 --> 00:01:22,200 LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: He gave detailed answers on foreign policy and national security. 21 00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:27,200 JOE BIDEN: China has to understand that if they are supplying Russia with information 22 00:01:29,266 --> 00:01:32,900 and capacity, along with working with North Korea and others to help Russia in armament, 23 00:01:36,733 --> 00:01:41,733 that they're not going to benefit economically as a consequence of that. 24 00:01:43,666 --> 00:01:45,766 LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: And went after Donald Trump on his plans for a second term. 25 00:01:45,766 --> 00:01:50,300 JOE BIDEN: Do you think democracy is under siege based on Project 2025? Do you think 26 00:01:50,300 --> 00:01:54,366 he means what he says when he says he's going to do away with the civil service, 27 00:01:54,366 --> 00:01:59,100 eliminate the Department of Education? We have never been here before. And that's the 28 00:01:59,100 --> 00:02:04,066 other reason why I didn't, as you say, hand off to another generation. I have got to finish this job. 29 00:02:05,300 --> 00:02:07,033 LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: But it wasn't enough to stop 30 00:02:07,033 --> 00:02:11,266 some Democrats from urging him to step aside as the party's nominee. 31 00:02:11,266 --> 00:02:15,300 Immediately after the press conference, Connecticut Representative Jim Himes, 32 00:02:15,300 --> 00:02:19,633 the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, issued a statement calling on 33 00:02:19,633 --> 00:02:24,633 Biden to step away from the presidential race and urged Democrats to act fast. 34 00:02:26,733 --> 00:02:30,366 REP. JIM HIMES (D-CT): This is not about one press conference, one debate, one speech. This 35 00:02:32,466 --> 00:02:36,400 is about the presidency of the United States. This needs to be resolved, I don't know, 36 00:02:36,400 --> 00:02:41,400 in the next five to seven days, because we just went 10 days where the story was not Donald Trump 37 00:02:43,700 --> 00:02:47,400 promising totalitarianism. It was, how is Joe Biden going to do in the big boy press conference? 38 00:02:49,466 --> 00:02:51,366 LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Despite the growing number 39 00:02:51,366 --> 00:02:54,366 of congressional Democrats calling for Biden to drop out of the race, 40 00:02:54,366 --> 00:02:59,333 longtime allies like Congressman Jim Clyburn reaffirmed their support for the president. 41 00:03:01,766 --> 00:03:04,833 REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D-SC): I would hope that we will focus on the substance of this man, rather 42 00:03:06,966 --> 00:03:10,066 than these sometimes misspoken words and phrases, and how he has run this country. I'm riding 43 00:03:13,133 --> 00:03:18,133 with Biden no matter what direction he goes, no matter what method he takes. I'm with Joe Biden. 44 00:03:19,466 --> 00:03:21,466 And if he were to change his mind, 45 00:03:21,466 --> 00:03:26,333 I will just answer the question that I would be all in for the vice president. 46 00:03:28,966 --> 00:03:33,200 LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: As Democrats figure out what to do about their nominee, House Minority Leader 47 00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:38,100 Hakeem Jeffries said he met with the president shortly after Thursday's press conference. 48 00:03:38,100 --> 00:03:42,733 In that meeting, Jeffries said that he directly expressed the full breadth of insight, 49 00:03:42,733 --> 00:03:47,033 heartfelt perspectives, and conclusions about the path forward that the caucus has 50 00:03:47,033 --> 00:03:52,033 shared. In an attempt to assuage fears, Biden himself virtually met Friday with some members 51 00:03:54,200 --> 00:03:57,466 of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, 52 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:01,266 and planned to speak with more Hill Democrats over the weekend. 53 00:04:01,266 --> 00:04:06,266 For now, the president has no plans to step aside, unless his advisers say otherwise. 54 00:04:08,100 --> 00:04:12,333 JOE BIDEN: Unless they came back and said, there's no way you can win, 55 00:04:13,533 --> 00:04:17,933 me. No one's saying that. No poll says that. 56 00:04:17,933 --> 00:04:20,700 There are other people who could beat Trump too. But 57 00:04:20,700 --> 00:04:23,733 it's awful hard to start -- start from scratch. 58 00:04:23,733 --> 00:04:25,900 LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: And members of the president's inner circle, 59 00:04:25,900 --> 00:04:29,833 like former White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain, say yesterday's 60 00:04:29,833 --> 00:04:34,833 press conference are reason enough to end the freak-out and unite behind Biden. 61 00:04:36,666 --> 00:04:38,800 Hitting the campaign trail today in the battleground state of Michigan, 62 00:04:38,800 --> 00:04:43,033 the president showed no signs of backing down. His next test, 63 00:04:43,033 --> 00:04:47,400 another cable news interview on Monday and campaign stops next week. 64 00:04:47,400 --> 00:04:50,500 For the PBS "News Hour," I'm Laura Barron-Lopez.