WEBVTT 00:01.700 --> 00:03.733 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% AMNA NAWAZ: Welcome to the "News Hour," and happy Independence Day. 00:03.733 --> 00:07.833 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% Well, it's been one week since President Joe Biden's poor performance in the first 00:07.833 --> 00:12.833 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% debate of the 2024 campaign caused a political shockwave. The president insists he is staying 00:14.933 --> 00:18.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% in the race. But even on this Fourth of July holiday, concerns continue to grow inside the 00:21.000 --> 00:24.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Democratic Party about whether Mr. Biden is the best person to sit atop the ticket in November. 00:26.300 --> 00:28.400 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% "News Hour" political correspondent Lisa Desjardins has been talking to 00:28.400 --> 00:31.400 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% lawmakers and to voters. She joins me now with the latest. 00:31.400 --> 00:32.200 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% Good to see you, Lisa. 00:32.200 --> 00:33.500 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% LISA DESJARDINS: Hi. 00:33.500 --> 00:35.666 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% AMNA NAWAZ: So you have been -- so far, rather, 00:35.666 --> 00:39.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% we have seen two Democratic lawmakers come out publicly, only two so far, to publicly 00:39.300 --> 00:44.266 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% call for Mr. Biden to step aside. Your reporting shows that many more could be considering that. 00:45.200 --> 00:46.633 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Who are we talking about here? 00:46.633 --> 00:48.466 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% LISA DESJARDINS: Amna, the texts and phone calls 00:48.466 --> 00:52.466 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% from Democratic lawmakers concerned have not waned in the last week. 00:52.466 --> 00:56.933 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% And talking to about a dozen or so House members in particular and top staffers in 00:56.933 --> 01:00.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Congress who are Democrats in the last couple of days, I can report that there 01:00.633 --> 01:05.600 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% are two movements to write letters asking the president to step aside as the nominee. 01:05.600 --> 01:07.566 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% These are from two groups that are trying to form, 01:07.566 --> 01:11.400 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% one, veteran lawmakers generally who are in safe seats, like Lloyd Doggett, 01:11.400 --> 01:15.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% who you interviewed here on this program. The other is from front-line members who are 01:15.266 --> 01:20.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% much more vulnerable, who believe they have much more to risk if Biden is on the ballot. 01:22.300 --> 01:24.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% So, these two groups right now are trying to get text together, trying to move these 01:24.533 --> 01:29.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% letters ahead. Now, would they actually publicly call for the president to do 01:29.066 --> 01:34.066 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% this? Unclear. They're talking about it. How big are these groups? Also unclear. It's very fluid. 01:36.166 --> 01:39.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% But I can report from having these conversations that we are talking about scores of House 01:39.533 --> 01:44.533 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% Democrats, not a handful, scores who want the president, privately, they say, to step aside. 01:46.233 --> 01:47.566 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% AMNA NAWAZ: So those who think they may step forward to say that, 01:47.566 --> 01:49.400 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% why are they waiting in this moment to do so? 01:49.400 --> 01:51.700 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% LISA DESJARDINS: Exactly my question. 01:51.700 --> 01:55.633 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% There are a few reasons. One, wording of the letter is difficult, especially for front-liners. 01:55.633 --> 02:00.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Some of those front-liners, I'm told, would like letter that says, this is -- he has 02:00.100 --> 02:03.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% been a good president. They would like praise for the president in this letter. 02:03.100 --> 02:06.200 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% Other front-liners are nervous about signing that kind of letter, 02:06.200 --> 02:10.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% because President Biden may not have won in their district before, may not win again. So, 02:10.933 --> 02:14.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% wording is one issue. Another, of course, is the politics here. 02:14.633 --> 02:19.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% There is a lot of calculation about, how do you influence this president. Some believe 02:19.066 --> 02:24.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% that publicly coming out, asking him to step aside, is exactly the kind of thing that would 02:26.300 --> 02:29.333 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% have this president feel more embattled, more likely to dig in. There's a discussion about that. 02:31.466 --> 02:33.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Then there's also the politics for members. Some are worried that, if they come out publicly, 02:33.500 --> 02:36.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% there will be retribution later, should he win. Some are worried that, if they 02:36.900 --> 02:41.900 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% don't come out publicly now, if he loses, there could be retribution for missing this moment. 02:43.366 --> 02:45.433 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% AMNA NAWAZ: How does all of this compare to what you're 02:45.433 --> 02:47.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% hearing from voters who are watching all this unfold? What are they telling you? 02:47.833 --> 02:50.066 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% LISA DESJARDINS: There is a complete disconnect here, Amna. 02:50.066 --> 02:53.933 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% Talking to dozens of voters through our project to reach out to voters, 02:53.933 --> 02:58.100 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% as well as voters in Maine, where I just came back from vacation, family members, and voters 02:58.100 --> 03:03.066 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% here in Virginia this morning at a Fourth of July parade, Democratic voters are not just concerned. 03:04.833 --> 03:07.500 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% It's beyond that. Let's take a listen. 03:07.500 --> 03:10.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% ELLIS JOHNSTON, Minnesota Democratic Voter: I am feeling panicked. Certainly, 03:10.866 --> 03:15.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% like, laying in my bed at night, like, overcome with fear. I do not think that Joe Biden is the 03:20.333 --> 03:25.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% best person to be running in this election. I don't know who that person is, but I don't 03:30.066 --> 03:35.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% feel confident in Joe Biden's ability to win this election. And that makes me very afraid. 03:37.100 --> 03:39.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% LISA DESJARDINS: Now, are there Democrats that still support him, still want him there? 03:39.400 --> 03:42.233 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% Of course there are. But this is the vast majority of the response I'm getting, 03:42.233 --> 03:47.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% including a text just in the last hour or so from Darren, an undecided voter in Milwaukee, 03:47.033 --> 03:52.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% who voted for Biden in 2020. He says he has lost whatever desperate hope he had, 03:52.033 --> 03:55.833 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% and it's well past time for Democrats to face reality about Biden. 03:55.833 --> 03:58.433 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% AMNA NAWAZ: Lisa, as you well know, there's been a sense of the White House and the campaign have 03:58.433 --> 04:02.233 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% kind of circled the wagons around the president since the debate. He won't sit for his first 04:02.233 --> 04:06.566 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% major interview until tomorrow, more than a week after the debate. How is that playing? 04:06.566 --> 04:09.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% LISA DESJARDINS: This has been a difficult week for the White House, but they have again and 04:09.866 --> 04:14.233 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% again, said, no, he's not stepping aside, and they have been getting their supporters out, 04:14.233 --> 04:18.466 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% as we saw last night, when governors from across the country came to the White House. 04:18.466 --> 04:22.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Three of them came up to the microphone to say that they still support the president 04:22.633 --> 04:26.900 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% and that their meeting reinforced that view. And then we had another today, 04:26.900 --> 04:31.900 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% this from a very popular Democratic governor among progressives, Gavin Newsom of California. 04:33.833 --> 04:36.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): There was no one that walked out of that and said, 04:36.266 --> 04:41.266 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% we have got you back, Mr. President. No one. Not one. And so,again, for all the hand-wringing, 04:42.933 --> 04:47.166 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% all the navel-gazing, time to step up and step in. 04:47.166 --> 04:50.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% LISA DESJARDINS: That is again a disconnect from what I'm hearing from Democrats here 04:50.433 --> 04:54.666 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% in Washington, who actually are angry, especially House Democrats, for two reasons. 04:54.666 --> 04:56.733 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% One, the campaign came after them in the last week, 04:56.733 --> 05:01.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% calling them bed-wetters. They say that ignores the reality. They think there is 05:01.500 --> 05:04.700 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% a real political problem here for Biden that they're ignoring and potentially a 05:04.700 --> 05:08.100 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% governing one. They are concerned about what he will be like in three years. 05:08.100 --> 05:11.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% So where does this leave all of this? A lot of those House Democrats who are figuring 05:11.866 --> 05:15.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% out how they express concern and do they are waiting for a big interview tomorrow, 05:15.933 --> 05:20.100 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% President Biden speaking to ABC. Time is of the essence, 05:20.100 --> 05:23.900 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% and this may be the most important interview of his political career. 05:23.900 --> 05:27.600 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% AMNA NAWAZ: All right, Lisa Desjardins with the latest on this ongoing story. 05:27.600 --> 05:28.533 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% Lisa, thank you. 05:28.533 --> 05:29.133 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% LISA DESJARDINS: You're welcome.