Meet the Press NOW — July 22

If it's Monday, it's a whole new ballgame after President Biden drops his bid for re election and endorses Vice President Kamala Harris to be the top of the ticket. Top Democratic lawmakers, leaders, and potential opponents all getting behind Harris. Has she cleared the field with just over 100 days until Election Day. Plus, former President Trump zeroes in on Vice President Harris while lashing out at President Biden.

As the Trump campaign retools its strategy amid the fallout of this historic shakeup and battled, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheetah is grilled by lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle over what went wrong on the day of Trump's assassination attempt as a growing number of lawmakers call for her resignation. Welcome to Meet the press. Now. I'm Kristen Welker in Washington.

It has been a dramatic and historic 24 hours. The Democratic Party is coalescing around Vice President Harris, essentially clearing the field for her to be the Democratic Party's presidential nominee following President Biden's historic decision to drop out of the race and throw his support behind Harris. Soon, Harris is set to visit what is now Harris headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, to speak with campaign staff. We will bring you those remarks when they happen.

In her first public remarks since President Biden's endorsement, Harris steered clear of the campaign, instead praising the president's record and service. Take a listen. In one term, he has already surpassed the legacy of most presidents who have served two terms in office. I am firsthand witness that every day our president, Joe Biden, fights for the American people, and we are deeply, deeply grateful for his service to our nation.

Now the shakeup has injected new enthusiasm into a Democratic Party that was reeling the Harris campaign. The Democrats say they've raised a hundred million dollars since yesterday's endorsement from President Biden. And the floodgates of public support have also opened up. In just 24 hours, Harris has been endorsed by more than half of Senate Democrats, dozens of House Democrats, including Nancy Pelosi, half of the nation's Democratic governors, and virtually every other potential Democratic presidential contender, many of whom are now potential vice presidential picks, with some hitting the airwaves and social media to loudly declare their support.

I think Kamara soon is going to be in a position where she can really take off, and I'm excited about it. I feel confident that she can win this presidency because she has to. The vice president is smart and strong, which will make her a good president. But she's also kind and has empathy, which can make her a great former prosecutor, champion for reproductive freedom.

And I know she's got Michigan's back. Vice President Harris has my full support and I'm proud to be cultured for campaign. So Michigan, let's get to work. We cannot let Donald Trump anywhere near the White House.

Well, there are still a lot of unknowns in this moment, including who the vice presidential pick will be and whether a change in the ticket can actually change the trajectory of this race for Democrats. Joining me now is our NBC News team. Monica Alba is outside the White House. Ryan Nobles is posted on Capitol Hill.

Monica, I have to start with you. This extraordinary series of events, the decision by the president was obviously anticipated, but as you know better than anyone, you've been working your sources for weeks now. He had been defiant and then something shifted. Talk about how this shift happened, Monica, how did this come to pass?

It is remarkable, Kristen. I mean, just on Friday, President Biden was saying he was gonna be back on the campaign trail this week, saying that he was full steam ahead. He had communic that privately to his senior leadership early in the day on Saturday, they were making preparations for him to return, for him to participate in some large events, for him to really be trying to put the focus back on Republicans. And then by Saturday evening, we know that after getting a briefing from two of his closest aides, people really in his most inner circle, and after having conversations with the first lady and close family members, the president started to decide that he was going to exit the race Saturday evening.

But it was an extremely close hold. And then Sunday morning they regrouped. They decided that that is what the president wanted to do. He then let a couple more senior aides know.

And then really just moments later, he posted that letter onto social media. And that's the way that most rank and file White House staffers and even then Biden campaign staffers learned of the incredibly consequential decision. But we know that there were several factors that went into this question. For instance, the president had been briefed on the latest battleground polling, which was described to me by a source in one word as bleak.

That essentially everything was laid out there for him to see and that he assessed that his path to victory in November had really been so greatly diminished that he decided he couldn't go ahead with the re election campaign. And then the conversation shifted to how he would back his vice president, Kamala Harris, as we saw a short time after that with you on that point. Because now Vice President Harris has the most arguably consequential position of her entire political career to make she's got to choose a running mate. We know that the wheels had already been set in motion privately and quietly behind the scenes.

But talk a little bit about the strategy now moving forward. And this is on a really compressed timeline, Kristen, which I think is critical here in some ways that will make it a little bit easier because they won't be able to just have the luxury of time of vetting some of these potential candidates in the same way you would. You have a longer Runway. They have to get this done, they think in the next couple of weeks to try to get that aligned for the virtual roll call, which we believe will still happen before August 7th.

But some of the candidates, some of the potential vice presidential nominees that we're talking about are people who the vice president has interacted with in recent weeks, has somewhat of a relationship with when we're talking about some of these governors and we're talking about people who she has been interacting with while she has been on the trail, whether it's Senator Mark Kelly in Arizona or Governor Josh Shapiro in Pennsylvania or Governor Roy Cooper in North Carolina. But certainly that list extends beyond those names I just mentioned. So they are going to be going through what we understand is a little bit of a spe dating and really just getting this done a lot faster than you normally would. But again, we're in unprecedented times already on so many friends.

What's one more. What a great analogy, Monica. Well, the speed dating is going to keep us all very busy, that is for sure. Ryan, let me head over to you because we know that look at Nancy Pelosi has now endorsed the vice president this afternoon after obviously, as we know, she reached out to President Biden, expressed her concerns about the viability of his candidacy.

But there hasn't yet been an endorsement from Leader Schumer or Jeffries. Do you anticipate that will happen soon? I'd be really surprised if it didn't happen. I think we're at the stage now where Kamala Harris has really coalesce to support the Democratic Party in a major way.

But I do think the particular Democratic leadership wants to at least signal this idea that there is some sort of vetting process taking place here and that they are keeping open the option that if there is someone else that wants to raise their hand and be a part of an open process, that they get that opportunity. But while they want that to be the playing field, well, they want that to be signaled that if somebody wants to get in, they can. You are also getting an overwhelming sense from the rest of the Democratic caucus that these last three weeks have been miserable, and they're ready to move on and move on quickly. And that seems to be reflective of what the leaders are saying about this current moment in time.

Bothers and Chuck Schumer have stopped short of outright endorsing Kamala Harris, but they did have a heck of a whole lot of nice things to say about it. Listen to what the minority leaders said earlier today. Vice President Kamala Harris has excited the community. She's excited the House Democratic Caucus, and she's exciting the country.

So I'm gonna force sitting down with her in person in short order with Leader Schumer, and we'll have more to say about the path forward as soon as that meeting comes. So obviously, Hakeem Jeffrey's Junction worked on Kamala Harris for a long time. It's not this is gonna be a kick to know you meeting, but it does, at least on the surface, appear to be done for the optics of this to show that they're actually talking to her, looking her in the eye, talking about her plan, doing the nomination before they just come out and give her the endorsement that they expect to give her. I imagine that meeting probably happens sometime tomorrow, Kristen.

That's when the Senate is back in session. So both Jeffries and Schumer will be in town, but I would imagine this endorsement comes pretty shortly after that. All right, Monica, Alba, Ryan Nobles, thank you both for starting us off on a very busy and frankly, historic Monday. Really appreciate it.

Joining me now is Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, who has endorsed Vice President Harris Campaign Center. Thank you so much for joining on this day. I really appreciate it. Good to be with you.

So you have spoken to the vice president. What was her message to you? What did you say to her about the path forward? Well, she asked for my help.

She called me late on Sunday afternoon at my home in Springfield. She asked me to help her, and I said, I'm there. I'll help you any way I can. I want you to be elected next president of the United States.

You know, Harris is obviously not formally the Democratic nominee, but, boy, everyone is lining up behind her, so the message could not be clearer. And of course, the convention is next month. We're about three and a half months until Election Day. Do you worry that President Biden made this decision too late to make a difference in this race?

No. History will tell you, Kristen. When Dwight D. Eisenhower was making his decision, he was finally made around the 4th of July before in the convention that nominated him for president.

And the election. And also, if you look back at LBJ's experience, there's a certain campaign there. We have 106 days, if my calculation is correct, to wage this campaign. And that's enough time for a unified party determined to win, to actually achieve that result.

How important do you think it is to make sure that you have a nominee, a running mate in place by the time the convention gets underway in August? Well, I hope we can achieve that goal. The important thing is the transition from Joe Biden to Kamala Harris is going to take some procedural effort on the floor of the convention. I appeal to all my fellow Democrats, let's do this the right way, Bill.

Let's do it in a timely fashion. We don't want to short circuit the opportunity. We have election in November. What do you say to supporters of President Biden who feel frustrated with the way, frankly, this went down, the fact that there seemed to be this pressure campaign by some of the leaders within the Democratic Party.

Do you believe he was pushed out? I think there was an honest effort to convey to Joe Biden, a person I consider a strong personal friend of mine for more than three decades, the reality of a political situation. This is a tough business. There's a hardball aspect to it.

And at one point he had to make a decision. He made the right decision, a selfless decision, not just for his party, but first country. Well, speaking of decisions, Vice President Harris now has the biggest decision to make, which is if, in fact she becomes the nominee, who her running mate will be. Obviously, a lot of names have been tossed around, including the governor of your state, Jamie Pritzker.

What qualities do you think she should be looking for in a running mate? And do you have a name who would be at the top of your list? I would only offer a name if she asked me. This is a very personal decision.

And the obvious starting point is you need someone heartbeat away from the presidency who accepts the responsibility of office and does it in a way that is befitting this great nation. I also think when you contrast her choice with the Republican choice at their convention, finding someone with experience in governing who brings to this the kind of excitement and strength we need to win in November is critical. But by and large, this is a decision to be made by Kamala Harris herself. And Senator, as we are speaking, we are watching Vice President Harris and the second gentleman arrive in Wilmington, Delaware, where she is expected to address campaign staff at her now headquarters.

There she is being greeted at the Wilmington airport. We'll continue to track that Again, we'll bring our viewers any comments that she makes live. Senator, let me ask you about some of the attacks that she is undoubtedly racing for. Republicans basically are saying they're going to pick the playbook where they left off with President Biden, including on the issue of the border.

She was obviously appointed to oversee the root causes of migration. At one point during the Biden presidency, we did see illegal border crossings reach their highest level. What is her defense and how vulnerable do you think she is on this issue? Well, she faced an extraordinary situation.

It was a refugee problem that was out of control around the world and there certainly were those who were exploiting it, sending us some people to the United States and numbers we've never seen. But there are two elements that should be remembered. Changes that were made by the Biden Harris administration have dramatically reduced those numbers of the borders over the last several months. It's a step in the right direction.

And secondly, a bipartisan effort in the United States Senate to provide resources for border protection and to reduce the number of people coming in there. Bipartisan. James Langford, Republican of Ohio, Barbier, Oklahoma inspired approach was stopped by Donald Trump who said, I'd rather have the issue in November than a solution by November. Let's give no credit to Joe Biden.

Let's, let's not cooperate with Democrats in any way. We had a chance for a bipartisan bill. We could have made a difference. I was prepared to vote for it.

It was Donald Trump that stopped that effort. Senator, finally let me ask you, I'm sure you have seen the criticism of Republicans who say if President Biden can't serve another four years, if he is in fact dropping out of this race, that he should step down from office. How can he justify continuing to serve out the remainder of his term? How do you answer those calls?

I think that's an outrageous charge. There's nothing that stops Joe Biden from continuing to serve as president effectively as he has in the past. Any problems that came out of his debate do not decide his fate in the future. He was elected by the American people.

He'll finish his term with the same kind of vigor that he started in. All right. Senator Dick Durbin, thank you so much for joining us on this very busy and critical Monday. We really appreciate your perspective.

Thank you. Glad to be with you. Joining now on set is California congressman and chair of the Congressional Hispanic cause, Annette Barragan. She endorsed Vice President Harris yesterday.

Congressman, thank you so much for being here on set. We appreciate it. Thank you for having me. Great to see you.

Let me get your reaction, please, to these developments. You have endorsed, obviously, the vice president. You were able to speak with her. What was your message to her?

What did she say to you? Well, she was calling to tell me that she's in this race, that she's running, that she's ready to win and ready to earn the nomination, which I thought was really important to hear from her. Of course, I'm a big fan of supporter of hers. And so that's what I was all in and ready to get to work, continuing the work that I started with President Biden.

I will say it was very, very sad day. There was a lot of crime and tears involved, not just me, amongst colleagues of people who really, who really love the president. So having heard from the vice president yesterday, of course, was great. And it was an ability for us to get fired up.

And we saw, of course, the response across the country, the response from our colleagues that are energized and happy that she's in this race. You know, when you look at the polls, she matches up very similarly to President Biden against former President Trump. Her favorability ratings in some polls are even a little lower. Why do you think she would be stronger against former President Trump?

And why should Democrats have confidence that she would be? Well, there's actually just polling done last week amongst Latin lawyers. And what we found, what we've seen is that people don't know her. She has to be reintroduced.

She's be out there. People who learn about what she's done, what she's doing, and when they hear that she's at the forefront of women on women's reproductive rights, her numbers go up when they hear about her past, whether as a senator, as a ag, all of those have been good. But this is an opportunity for us to make sure we're introducing her. People know what she has done, what she's doing.

And we saw that in that polling data that there was a huge room for improvement amongst Latino voters. So I think this is a great opportunity. Now, the Congressional Senate Caucus, who was on the road with her in Houston, Texas, we had an opportunity to do an event there. We saw the response, very warm, very welcoming.

So I think that could be the case across the country. Let me follow up with you on point, because the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, would you chair, endorse President Biden? Do you anticipate the caucus will now endorse Vice President Harris? So last night, the political number of the Congressional Spanish Caucus PAC did endorse and did put out that statement Last night.

So the Hispanic Caucus is on board, the CBC is on board, KPAC is on board. Elected women tomorrow in a press conference. This is really uniting, I think our base, our country and even here in Washington. I have to ask you four questions, just asked Senator Durbin, which is do you think President Biden made this decision in enough time to change the contours of this race?

You've seen obviously what the battleground states look like. The fact that former President Trump does in some states have a lead in states that President Biden carried in 2020. Did the president make this decision in time? Well, I was with the president from day one and I've been, I just came back, I was with him in Nevada in his last swing and going out there talking about the record.

The vice president has been on the road, she has been campaigning for since the continuation of that. And we just got to make sure people know now that the focus is on her. Well, her record is what she's done now. Remember, she's been a partner with this, with this president.

This is the Biden Harris administration. And every positive that we're talking about, whether it's infrastructure, but whether it's expansion of veteran health care, whether it's the fight against to make sure we're restoring world versus way has been her fight too. So I think this is a continuation. Look, we all got to stop worrying.

We got to move on and we start got to get to work because we got to win. As you say, she's running on the Biden Harris agenda and record. And as you know, Republicans have been attacking the administration's record, arguing that people are not feeling as though the economy is getting better even though inflation has come down, arguing that illegal border crossings are still too high. She was in charge of the root causes of migration.

They would say not enough has been done. How is she going to answer that criticism? Those are the economy on the border. Well, Republicans have no problem when the infrastructure loans being rolled out to show up and say hey and take credit for something they even vote for.

So you know, there's many things that the administration has done that Republicans are going to take credit for. And there's other things they're going to continue to attack on. You mentioned, you mentioned the border. You know, the media and a lot of people outside Washington as well have called her the border czar.

She was never the border czar. That is totally false. She was in charge of addressing root causes of migration. More of a foreign policy issue.

And by the way, nobody's done very well, with that in the past, and it was the northern tribal countries, the changes of migration, the patterns have changed as well. People have been talking about, do you think there's more that she could have done? I understand, and I didn't use that term to be fair. I know.

I just wanted to. It's a fair point. But do you think there's more she could have done? Should she have spent more time at the border?

Should she have put this in the spotlight, held more press conferences around this issue, for example? Well, I think that she has been very busy on many things. And I can tell you because part of that has been working with Hispanic caucus, even conducting the first ever vice president electing roundtable on small business owners and those in that space. So she's been doing a lot.

Maybe hasn't covered by the media as much, maybe hasn't been as exciting for the media, but she has been doing a lot and she's been on the road. She's gonna be doing more now than ever. And you're gonna be seeing her. Why?

Because that's where the coverage has been. So we have to give her that space to go out, introduce herself, reintroduce herself, I should say, and making sure people are focusing on what she's done and what she's doing very quickly. If she does win the nomination and she picks a running date, who would you like to see on that ticket with her? You know, I think the vice president.

I trust her judgment. I know she's looking at who the best option is gonna to run this country and to be her vice president. So I'm looking forward to see who that might be. All right, Congressman Barbara, thank you so much.

Thank you. I really appreciate it. Coming out. J.D.

vance holds his first solo campaign rally as the Republican Party's VP nominee as the Trump campaign now finds itself in a wildly different situation heading into November. Plus, voters react to President Biden's decision to drop out of the race that endorsed Vice President Harris will get live reporting from a key swing state and his people to break. This was some of the reaction from Democrats in Ohio and Michigan just moments after the news broke. Listen, I think it was the right decision for the Democratic Party, for the country, and I think this should be a powerful female leader for this country.

I did agree with the calls for him to drop out, but I don't agree with the calls for the Harris endorsement. I think Kamala Harris has been a strong vice president. She's been a strong advocate for women's rights, for reproductive rights, reproductive justice. I supported her when she was named vice president for Joe Biden in 2020 and I support her now.

Welcome back. The Trump campaign says it's ready for a Democratic ticket that does not have President Biden at the top. NBC News reports that Trump World has been gearing up to run against Kamala Harris for weeks, preparing a three pronged attack that accuses her of covering up the president's current medical state, her failure to secure the border and that her potential nomination is undemocratic. Vice presidential nominee Jamie Vance appeared to preview that line of attack during his first solo campaign rally today cannot for three and a half years take a guy who clearly didn't have the middle capacity to do the job.

Kamala Harris lied about it. My Senate Democratic colleagues lied about it. The media lied about it. Every single person who saw Joe Biden knew that he wasn't capable of doing the job.

And for three years they said nothing until he became political dead weight. That is not a way to run a country. That is not a way to run a political party. NBC newsholme Vaughn Hillier joins me now.

So Vaughn, take me inside your conversations. What is the strategy to go against Kamala Harris if she's in fact the nominee? Right. The Trump campaign, Christian, knew and were well aware that this could very much become a matchup that they would be facing here.

And that is why so far you have seen them, right, really try to tether Kamala Harris to Biden administration and make the case, you know, as in a conversation I had with RNC Chairman Michael Watley in Michigan this weekend was that it's not so much the messenger, but it's the message. And the Democrats could pick whoever they want, but ultimately it is the Biden administrative policies that they are going to open up and exact their political efforts and opposition on. And so for Kamala Harris, that includes the fact that in 2021 she was put in charge by the administration for being the leader of the conversations with Mexico and with the with Guatemala and El Salvador with how to best stem the migrant crisis in the United States. But also you should expect to see conversations around inflation.

But also for Kamala Harris. She has her own positions. For her 2019 presidential bid, for instance, she backed what was a Medicare for all type of plan that would require private insurers to offer a Medicare for all baseline plan within 10 years. So she should see the Trump campaign despite only having three months left to try to, you know, construct their own view in voters minds about who Kamala Harris is, what she stands For.

But this is going to be, for them, a little bit different race than what they imagine for 20 months is they've been clearly preparing for a Joe Biden, Donald Trump rematch in November. Yeah, and it gets even more complicated when you throw in a new running mate, if, in fact she is the nominee. And speaking of running mates, let's talk about Jane Vance. He had his first solo rally today in Ohio.

Talk about what you heard from him and the strategy for Vance in the coming weeks. Right. Similarly, JD Vance also doesn't know which VP candidate he is running against. But what we heard from the stage was what you played there was the suggestion that this was an undemocratic process, that the Democrats have gone by skipping over the Democratic primary process to install their own pick to be the nominee against Donald Trump.

And for J.D. vance, we, of course, are Zahi narrative Ohio. He's going to be holding a separate campaign event in Virginia. I was talking with senior campaign officials who had suggested that Jay Vance would, yes, be making his way through the Midwestern states of Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, but would not be confined to just those states alone.

Here they have a candidate who is 39 years old and will also be able to help on the fundraising part. So the Democratic National Convention is not until another four weeks from now. And so that sort of opens up the opportunity for how the Trump campaign can Most effectively use J.D. vance while the Democrats, frankly, don't have their own VP candidate across the country like Camp Angel.

All right, Von Hillier, thank you so much. I really appreciate it. Joining me now is Colorado Democratic Governor Jared Felicity is also the chair of the National Governors Association. Governor, thank you so much for joining me.

Really appreciate it. My pleasure. So you are backing Vice President Harris as the Democratic nominee for president, do you think, based on the polling which shows she matches up pretty evenly against former President Trump as President Biden, do you think she's the strongest person to take on Trump? Yeah, look, I think that, first of all, I'm not here.

President Biden is recovering from COVID It sounds like he's back in full strength. But I think he made the right decision. He sort of looked deep in the soul and met with his family, his close advisors, and said, you know what this is? Campaigns are brutal.

Three and a half months. This isn't the kind of thing that you can't do after 8pm you need to do seven, eight, 10 events a day. Kamala Harris is the future. Right.

This is about the future of America. She has the energy. She's ready. Day one she's put criminals behind bars.

She's tough as nails. She's smart and she's served as vice president of the United States. So I'm enthusiastic about what she brings. The country is so ready to turn the page from these 80 year old candidates like Donald Trump and embrace tomorrow.

And that's what Kamala Harris is all about. Do you think given the flood of support that we have seen for Vice President Harris over the past day or so, do you think she effectively all but has this nomination locked up? Well, anybody can run to the nomination to convention. Kamala Harris is working hard to secure it.

She's called, she's calling the delegates. I talked to her earlier this morning. I let her know that the Democrats in the Colorado congressional delegation have all endorsed her. She has a lot of women, a lot of excitement.

She's the right person at the right time to lead our country. She has the experience, but she also has the vision and the tenacity to do the job for, to help grow our economy, to help expand trade opportunities for maid and grow in Colorado and American products. And we're ready to go. Let me just follow up with you on that point.

How critical do you think it is that your party has a nominee by the time that the convention starts? In other words, there's going to be a roll call. That's the anticipation over the next two weeks or so. Do you think it's critical to have this nomination locked up given how late it is, given that we're less than four months till election?

Well, look, there's never a formal nominee until the convention occurs. Right. And you know, your friends in the media love writing these little stories about what might or could happen there. Arizona delegates didn't want to put Donald Trump forward and they might have been fired.

But look, she's working hard to get the delegates you need to be the nominee. There's so much excitement on the Democratic side, but also for so many unaffiliated voters and even Republican voters. They've said it's time to move past the politics of the past. We need a new generation.

And now they're supporting Kamala Harris. But you know what I mean? I mean, do you think she or whoever's going to be the nominee? Would you like to see that person have it all but locked up heading into the convention when, yes, it does become official?

Because there's concern that if it goes to the convention, there's an open convention, that that would be chaotic and destabilizing. Look, I think it says a lot about Kamala Harris's character, that she's not taking this for granted. She's putting in the work. She's on the phone, she's calling the delegates, she's calling the members of Congress, and I think that's gonna get her there.

Of course, if politics is an art form, right, and the minute you take it for granted, it's no longer yours. So she just tried to coast in. She'd have trouble, but she's earning every bit of it. And of course, that's one of the many reasons that she's gonna be an incredible president of the United States with the tenacity and the work ethic and the intelligence that she brings to it.

Well, you are chair of the national Governors association, so you have relationships with a lot of the names on a potential list of running mates. Do you think she should pick a governor to service a running mate? Well, governors have the executive experience which the American people want to see in an executive government in Washington. And frankly, they add value.

They know their states. They know how to run things, and I think that's an exciting background. Of course, there's other people she can look at, people from directly from the business community, from military backgrounds. But, yes, we have some wonderful governors across the country, and I encourage them to look at all the talents people can bring to bear to pick the person that'll be your best governing partner.

Well, you thinking about the record of the Biden administration opposed some of the president's policies, including on tariffs. Would you advise Vice president Harris to reverse course, for example, when it comes to tariffs? Well, can I say this to everybody who agrees with some things and disagrees with others? Nobody's gonna have a candidate they agree with every issue on.

Right. I think President Bisex, but defined presidents also issues I disagree with him on. I certainly am hopeful the Colonel Harris is more embracing of the amazing opportunities for made in America. Growing in America produce by expanding markets overseas with our European allies.

Really bringing back manufacturing to allied countries is an important national security initiative. We call it friend shoring. Right. With onshoring and friendshoring expanding our relationships across the Americas.

Senator Bennett from Colorado is a great bill bipartisan in the senate to expand the U.S. mexico, Canada trade agreement to other countries in the Americas. But look, there's many things I think Kamala Harris will take a fresh look at. Certainly that's one of them.

I know there's others I'm excited to have a leader that we can believe in for the future of our country. And finally, governor, I have to ask You Republicans have been saying if President Biden can't run for reelection, he should step down, he should resign right now. I assume you disagree with that argument, but why isn't that a valid argument? Well, I think you know what I've been saying before is President Biden's choice should he focus on being the very best president for six months or should he focus on being a candidate for three and a half months?

It's hard to do both, right. It's hard to do both when you're, you know, when you're in your 30s or 40s. Right. Campaigning is an 18 hour a day job.

You can't stop at 8pm Also governing. I'm glad I'm relieved. As American, he's gonna focus on being the very best president he can be for six months. Put all this time and effort into that.

And of course, it's exciting to have a dynamic presence fighting for the future and for economic press. Barry, like Kamala Harris running for president. I see states. All right.

Governor Jericho, thank you so much. Really appreciate it. Good to see you. Likewise.

Coming up next, we're live in one of the most important presidential battleground states, Pennsylvania, with a view from voters as they digest an historic shakeup in the presidential race. The first NBC caught up with Democratic voters in a couple of other important states, Arizona and North Carolina today. If I'm honest, I do not have enough, just enough information about Camilla to kind of make a determination today to say, hey, yes, I'm still going to vote for Democratic, you know, the Democratic Party. I will endorse what the what the party endorses.

I will vote for whichever the party endorses. I think you made a choice for the country and I'm in favor of it. Now I think we open up the door to our younger voters who, who were hoping for a fresher base. Hey, guys, Willie Geist here reminding you to check out the Sunday Sit down podcast.

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Let's just take a step back. It's more context and clarity from the reporters you trust. Download the NBC News app now and subscribe for more. Welcome back.

As we've been showing you throughout the hour, voters all across the country are reacting to President Biden's decision to end his reelection bid and endorses vice president to be the Democratic nominee in November. Joining me now is Zinclay Asamashi is in the key state of Pennsylvania where she just wrapped up a panel discussion with voters. So Zigla, it's fantastic that you are there in Pennsylvania. What are voters telling?

Hey, Kristen, it's good to be with you. You know, the sentiment here today has been a mixture of disillusionment but also a bit of embarrassment from the Democrats we spoke with. There seemed to be a sense that they were putting the family business out there by going back and forth about will he or won't we or won't be with President Joe Biden. Take a listen to what some folks have to say.

I was just looking forward to supporting him. I think he beat Donald Trump before and I thought he was the person to be able to do it. After my shock and disappointment, I realized that he put the country first and I think that's admirable. So I am on board.

I almost felt relief because there's been so much back and forth, will he, won't he that now there was a moment to have some finality of what was going to happen so we could move forward. Biden stepped down and promptly endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris. How do we feel about her? I mean, we just, we don't know much about her yet, to be honest.

We know she was the vice president in the Biden administration, but I mean, she wasn't. She didn't play a major role in the administration besides immigration. I think that she's been a part of the Biden, President Biden's success. She's been there every step of the way lately.

She's been out talking about the abortion issue. I think she's been on the trail with him she has to introduce herself a bit more to America. And you heard it right there. She has to introduce herself more to America.

That's a theme, Kristen, I heard throughout the day in the city from Democrats, Independents, you know, Republican I spoke with saying they know Biden, but they want to get to know the vice president more, especially as she's up for this Democratic nomination potentially, Kristen, and obviously the governor of that state, Josh Shapiro, one of the names Sinclair is getting some buzz as a potential running mate for Vice President Harris. What are voters there saying to you? Does that make that more eager to support a Harris ticket? Yeah, I want to put that in context for voters right here in Pennsylvania.

We've heard from a lot of Democratic leaders in the state saying Shapiro should be considered as a running mate for Harris. We do know that Harrison Shapiro spoke just yesterday. When I posed that question to the panel of voters who you just saw earlier, it was a very interesting response. On one hand, that first time voter, 18 year old who identifies as an independent actually says he's planning to vote for RFK Jr.

He said he does not think Shapiro should be the running mate. But his reasoning was interesting. He said, I believe Shapiro has presidential potential and he is skeptical the Democrats can win so late in the game given how close we are to the election. But the real sentiment where Ron Shapiro was a bit of a sense of optic sense saying this pick her running mate is really about the states and they're mindful.

Many of them said it needs to be a white man. Frankly, that's what many voters I spoke with on the ground today mentioned that. They said Shapiro is one of several candidates who could fit that bill. Of course, time will tell.

It will. And it's always so fascinating to hear from the voters. It's all about the voters in the end. Sinclair, thank you for bringing those great conversations to us.

Let me now bring in my panel. Molly Ball, Wall Street Journal senior liberal correspondent Simone Sanders Townsend co host of the weekend MSNBC and former senior advisor to Vice President Harris. Who better to talk to today? And Mark Lauer, former spokesperson to Vice President Pence.

Thanks to all of you for being here. Molly set the stage. Chuck Todd wrote in his latest column that everything has changed. This is a new election, it's a new race.

Is that how you see it? Yes and no. On the one hand, yes, I do think that this is wide open in a way it has not been for a year. And what we are going to see is a race on the part campaigns to try to define Kamala Harris because as you just heard from that focus group, voters, even though they know who she is and they have opinions about her, don't feel like they know who she is, what defines her, what she's for, what her vision for the future is.

So I think you can more or less throw out all of the polling up to now that has tested her as a hypothetical. On the other hand, she has been part of this administration. There's a reason she was next in line. And of course, the Trump campaign is hoping to saddle her with the unpopular policies of this administration.

And that's part of the reason that that hypothetical polling up to now have shown her as an underdog, because she is viewed as complicit in what this administration has done on economics, on the border, on foreign policy. And in a lot of those areas, voters haven't liked what they see. And as you've been talking, looking at video of Vice President Harris greeting staffers at campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Simone, pick up on that point. I mean, I've been talking to Democrats who say that there is an electric feeling right now in the party because there is a reset, and a lot of people wanted a reset.

Now, this rematch that so many Americans didn't want to see is not going to happen. And this is a new ballgame. It is a new ball game, I must say, Joy. And I think it's a remarkable, just person.

And he did something yesterday that I think very few elected officials across the country would be willing to do themselves to put in this other position, which is why I think the Trump campaign is a surprise, because Donald Trump would never, and again, many other politicians, Democrats as well, would never do what Joe Biden did. But he did it and has really laid the groundwork for the vice president to step into a role in which, and frankly, she has been, as Molly said, doing that work. The business of the campaign headquarters is very important today because although her name was on the ticket, the buying Harris ticket, when you invert the names at the top, it's a little different. It's a number of these people, they signed up to Electro Biden as president of the United States and Vice President Harris as the vice next vice president.

And so this is going there saying, hey, look, I know it's been hard. I know it's difficult. I love Joe Biden. You love Joe Biden.

We now have to hunker down and do the work. And so I expect that as a message folks will hear from the VP in the coming days doing the bio, as we like to call it, is going to be very important. I think if there any contrast between this campaign, the last one she ran, which I was not a part of her presidential campaign, when she ran the president, they did not do a good job introducing the bio. You know, her ad was Colin Harris for the people.

I'm Colin Harris, not here for the people. Great. But when you don't do the bio and people don't know who you are, then you allow that void to be filled. And so now I think what you're going to see is Democrats led by the Harris campaign vice president herself, filling that void themselves, laying the groundwork.

Not only should prosecutor. Right. She's a prosecutor like the big banks and rapists and child molesters. You know, it all matters, especially in this election.

Well, you know, it's so interesting because so many Democrats have said that very thing to me that this is a remarkable opportunity to reintroduce herself. Mark, how much, how much consternation is there inside the Trump campaign? This is not what they were planning for. I know they've been laying the groundwork for this.

But it's one thing to say, hey, let's prepare for plan B. It's another thing when plan B happens and when you see the fact that this race is scary. Well, I think it's only really it's plan 1 1A. None of the issues change.

I mean, Kamala Harris is going to get saddled with the bad inflation, the gas prices, the grocery prices. She's not going to come and say drill, baby, drill. She's not going to say after three and a half years, something about the border. She's not going to support Israel.

She's already saying she's not going to preside over Netanyahu speech on Wednesday. All of these basic issues, these policy problems, which is why Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were so unpopular before the debate. None of the policies have changed. The only thing that changes, the name on the bumper sticker, you know, for the Democrat Party.

Well, I'm sure should be careful. It's not that they don't support Israel. They're obviously there have been a lot of obviously there's been a lot of criticism of his handling of the war in the Middle East. Let me just ask you all because there is the big question of who her running might be.

And I mean, the list is long. Let me just name a couple of potential picks. Andy Bashir, Pete Buttigieg, Governor Roy Cooper, Mark Kelly Westmore, Gavin Newsom, J.B. pritzker, Josh Shapiro Gresham.

The list Goes on and on. These are big names, superstars of the Democratic Party. Well, it's a testament to how rich the Democratic benches. And that was part of the angst surrounding President Biden was this feeling that although there is much affection in the Democratic Party for Joe Biden, there were so many younger potential candidates who were ready to step up and take his place on the ticket, whether as the presidential or the vice presidential candidate.

So there's a feeling among Democrats that they have sort of embarrassment of riches here and that as a presidential candidate, Kamala Harris will have a lot of options to choose from, any of whom really could be quite credible in that spot. And I think, you know, she is in charge now. This is her decision to make and it's going to be very revealing about how she sees this campaign, how she sees this ticket taking shape, who she decides to support them. The decision she has in front of her could not be more consequential.

One Republican said if she chooses Gretchen Whitmer, that would be the end of the story. I don't think she chooses either. But what about the point that Sinclair makes, which is that she does have to think about a counterpoint to the fact that she would be an incredibly diverse candidate. Should she look to, you know, a male governor?

Well, look, I think at the end of the day, vice president will be the one who makes this decision under a very truncated timeline. I do not envy a team having to pick a vice president, a running mate in like a week, because that's what it is. You saw the baton. I'm notable.

Many of the names on the list are public. Are elected officials current or former. Right. I think I saw admiral's name also on of the penalists out there, which is important because you still need to bet those folks.

But someone who has been battle tested, right, who's been through a couple of campaigns, who's probably had some ads from Republicans run against them, those are folks that, you know, can deal with a rough and tough of a campaign in less than 100 days. I. I think I'd be very surprised if this ticket was two women. I do think just given the data and what you know about women candidates and the validation of women candidates and whatnot, I think a running mate, A running mate will be a man.

Which man? We don't know. I'm not in competition with someone for advising vice president, but for me, if I was advising her, there's only one choice. You cannot lose Pennsylvania.

You lose Pensylvania. So that's it. You would choose Shasha, change the outcome. He's getting a lot of buzz inside Democratic circles.

Mark, let me read you something very quickly. This is from Tim Alberta. He says the most striking thing I heard from Trump outlaws Yesterday was the second guessing of J.D. vance.

A selection they ackn that was born of cockiness meant to run up margins within the base and a blowout rather than persuade swing voters in a nail bite. What are you hearing? You know, obviously you always Look, I view J.D. vance as a great choice because he was not on Trump's team in 15 and 16.

He was critical. I think it also gives him added credibility with people who may still be on the fence going, I was one of you. I was critical. But I looked at the record, I looked at the plans, I came over, come join me.

You can do it, too. Yeah. He's a generational pick as well. And I do think part of what Trump and Biden was dealing with was this idea of the fact that would be the two oldest presidents.

But what about Josh Shapiro? I'm hearing a lot of fuss about him. I think this is why, this is why the vetting is necessary. The vetting is not only when you go through a running rate process, the vetting candidates, you sit down, you pull through all their stuff.

Right. The lawyers come through, like, tell us why you have a job you don't know about. But also, I mean, seriously questions. But also you have to look at the map and what that means for the map.

Right. Like you take Josh Shapiro, what happens to the Democrat governor seat that currently exists in Pennsylvania. Right. So maybe Josh Shapiro, not to say there's not a plan for that, but you have to game out every single scenario.

So I think that's why folks like Roy Cooper continue to pop up on the list. Well, it could not be a more fascinating moment to cover politics in this country. Thank you all for a great conversation. Molly, Simone and Mark, really appreciate it.

Still come Reliab on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers on both sides of the aisle demanded answers from the head of the Secret Service about the numerous security failures surrounding the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. They're watching the press now. Stay with us. I don't want to add to the director's terrible horror.

Horrible, no good, very bad day. But I will be joining the chairman in calling for the resignation of the director just because I think that this relationship is irretrievable at this point. And I think that the director has lost the confidence of Congress at a very urgent and tender moment in the history of the country. Welcome back.

Those searing comments from House Oversight Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin capture the anger, the frustration that lawmakers expressed today. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheadle testified for Congress for the first time since former President Trump was nearly assassinated. She repeatedly dodged or we partially answered numerous questions even after acknowledging the agency did not do its job. The Secret Service's solemn mission is to protect our Nation's leaders.

On July 13, we failed. any point Saturday, did the Secret Service have an agent on top of that roof? Sir, I'm sure, as you can imagine, that we are just nine days out from this incident and there's still an ongoing investigation. And so I want to make sure that any information that we are providing.

How many times was the Secret Service alerted about a suspicious person at the July 13 campaign of empires, the first shot being shot? I don't have an exact number to share with you today, but from what I've been able to discern, somewhere between two and five times there was some sort of communication about a suspicious individual. And of course, what was so extraordinary about what we witnessed today, the fact that you had these bipartisan calls for the director of the Secret Service Service to resign. It's just stunning.

She has been defiant, saying she's not going to do that. I believe we have NBC News international reporter Sahil Kapoor on the phone. Sahil, what were the other key takeaways here? This was grueling bipartisan frustration with Secret Service directors were exasperated.

Some of them raised their voice, some of them mean her own expletives at her when she seemed invasive to them. They said she, she admitted that she admitted that the failed here. She cut responsibility for what she called the most significant operational failure of the Secret Service in decades. She promised to look into it and to ensure it never happened again.

But she declined to get specifics about the day setting an ongoing investigation. She said a gun in there who tried to assassinate Donald Trump was identified as suspicious but was not identified as a threat, which led to one Democratic monitor asking why was it not a threat when her spectators out there yelling, there's an armed man on the roof. He has a gun. She said they're still looking for the responsibility within secret a communication that occurred.

And she insisted there was no order for counter snipers to hold fire in that instance. It was certainly not a satisfying set of answers for lawmakers who wanted basic answers to what happened and how the failure could have happened. And she also said that their goal is to issue a full and complete report within 60 days with external investigation all right, Sahil, thank you so much for that. Really appreciate it.

We'll continue to track it, and we'll be back tomorrow with more Me depressed. Now the news continues with my friend and Kelly, Kelly Jackson. Right now. I'm Craig.

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