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Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) Becomes Official Vice Presidential Nominee; Biden On Trump Call, I Told Him How Concerned I Was; Biden Says, Don't Know If Trump Attack Changes Race Trajectory; CNN Republican National Convention. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired July 15, 2024 - 18:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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[18:00:57]

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: Breaking news, J.D. Vance, the junior Republican Senator of Ohio, is Trump's new right hand man. Welcome to a special edition of The Situation Room. I'm Erin Burnett, live in New York.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: And I'm Wolf Blitzer, live here at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. And, Erin, the excitement is clearly building behind me after the former president just named J.D. Vance as his running mate. Trump waiting until the very last minute, moments before he actually officially won the Republican nomination in a roll call here. Vance is a political newcomer, only elected to the U.S. Senate some 18 months ago, and since then, he has been one of Trump's closest allies up on Capitol Hill, and a very loyal defender of his policies.

And we're also just learning that Vance actually met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago down in Florida on Saturday, just before the rally where Trump was shot at.

BURNETT: And, Wolf, there is anticipation that Trump could address the delegates and the nation tonight from Milwaukee. Usually, presidential candidates wait for a later time in the convention to speak, at least the third night. In 2016, though, Trump did show up all four nights, so there, of course, is speculation. And in that room, anticipation and hope that perhaps he will appear. We have a lot to get to tonight. I want to begin by bringing in Kristen Holmes. She is live in Milwaukee, and according to her sources, former President Trump called Ohio Senator J.D. Vance to offer him the vice presidential nomination 20 minutes before it was announced.

I mean, Kristen, that is really stunning. 20 minutes before it's announced, you got all these guys and sitting around waiting by the phone. Literally, that is what happened?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Literally, literally. And the way this unfolded is really unprecedented. Donald Trump likes a good show, right? And he definitely put one on today. That's what we saw pretty much all day and for the last several weeks. Now, here's what we know. We know that he had been batting around three top contenders for over a month now. North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, and, of course, Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio. He met with all of them in recent days. I am reporting from a source familiar that he met with J.D. Vance at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday before he left for that Pennsylvania rally where there was, of course, as we know now, an assassination attempt that then he was still mulling it over the decision between these three men as early as this morning, I talked to a number of his senior advisers who told me they did not think that Donald Trump had yet made any sort of decision at one point.

I thought they were pulling my leg because I thought it couldn't be possible that we were just moments away from this potential announcement. And here he was not making a decision, but it does appear that he had not told anyone if he had, in fact, made that decision started then seeing the trickle in of the candidates who were told they would not be the vice presidential pick.

It started with Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, sources saying that he got a call saying it would not be him. Then it was North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum. But Donald Trump still waited quite some time before he told J.D. Vance, and I was told that that was because they didn't want any of this to leak out. Donald Trump himself wanted to be the person who announced who his vice presidential pick would be. So, just about 20 minutes before that announcement, he called J.D. Vance, they spoke on the phone and he offered him the job. Obviously, J.D. Vance himself accepting that role.

But this is really an unprecedented kind of rollout, at least in modern history. Generally, what we have seen and what we saw even with Mike Pence, is learning about it far in advance of the convention. Instead, this man was just landing in Milwaukee, hoping that he would be the vice presidential pick and getting a phone call in the morning, he was going to be it and then coming over here to be officially nominated on the floor.

Again, Donald Trump loves the element of surprise. He loves to put on a good show to build up speculation and he certainly did that with this pick.

BURNETT: All right. Kristen, thank you. Wolf?

[18:05:00]

BLITZER: Erin, thanks very much. Our political experts are here to discuss what's going on, very, very dramatic developments. Jeff Zeleny, what do you make of the fact that only 20 minutes before he officially made the announcement to the world that J.D. Vance was going to be his vice presidential running mate, only 20 minutes earlier did Trump actually call J.D. Vance and give him that information?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: In some respects, I'm surprised it was 20 minutes. I mean, Donald Trump has said for a long time he wanted this to be a surprise. And it was a surprise. I was on the floor when the social media posts went out and people didn't know about it. It kind of rippled through the crowd.

This is exactly how the former president wanted it. He wanted to control the message going forward. So, look, I mean, I think it was a surprise in the moment, but the tea leaves were leading that direction for quite some time. Look, I mean, there is no one like J.D. Vance who kind of represents the full spectrum here, from MAGA critic to MAGA disciple. And Donald Trump likes that. He likes the fact that J.D. Vance is younger and can sort of continue on in the Trump populist sort of street.

Now, he wasn't picked because Ohio's in danger, but a Trump adviser tells me they believe J.D. Vance can be very helpful in Western Pennsylvania. And Pennsylvania is a critical state here. He grew up not far from there. Appalachia is not far from there.

So, look, I think it excited the Trump campaign, obviously, but Democrats I'm talking to today, I mean, the Biden-Harris campaign are also excited about this pick. So, look, vice presidents don't necessarily matter, but in this uncertain campaign, it certainly is the biggest example yet of a decision Trump made. And it was certainly not Nikki Haley. That would have you know, created a whole different level of excitement and worry from Democrats. So, it's a significant pick.

BLITZER: J.D. Vance is an impressive guy, Yale University Law School, a Marine. He's got a lot of credentials.

ZELENY: He absolutely does. I mean, Manu covers him on Capitol Hill day in and day out. Look, I mean, he is a young senator, but he's someone who they believe can articulate the message.

It also underscores one thing. The Trump strategy to win this is not necessarily to knock on every suburban door. It's to double down and turn out MAGA supporters, they believe, who may not be sufficiently tuned in or they don't vote. So, that's what we're looking at here.

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: And, listen, Don Jr. asked what was it about J.D. Vance. The first thing he said was he liked the way J.D. Vance was on TV., the kind of communicator he was. Of course, he was once a colleague of us here at, at CNN, but those days are long gone.

BLITZER: He was a commentator.

HENDERSON: He was a commentator here. You know, it is certainly, I think, an example of the ways in which the Republican party is fully Donald Trump's. Now, if you think about 2016, he had to do Pence partly because he needed to bring on evangelicals who might've had some questions about his candidacy and his presidency, and now this is all Donald Trump. He is doubling down on MAGA. It's a confident pick, right? It's Donald Trump saying that he doesn't necessarily need to expand to the kind of Nikki Haley voters or suburban voters, but that he feels like he has enough in terms of the MAGA voters to win.

MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR: And just remember, I mean, J.D. Vance is a senator because of Donald Trump. He had a competitive primary in the last election cycle. He wasn't going to win that primary. In fact, he was a little towards the bottom of the primary. But Donald Trump made the choice and decided to endorse him in that crowded primary. And he shot up because the Republican base is the Trump base. And that was enough for him to get over the finish line.

And Trump seized and sees in Vance as someone who can communicate the Trump message and will be a formidable candidate against Kamala Harris. He also brings generational issues as we see two of the oldest candidates ever at the top of the ticket. That will be helpful for them in their argument going forward. But as Jeff notes, he is very conservative on key issues, like abortion, that will be something that he will have to deal with. And other things like January 6th and the like, he has said things that Democrats believe will give them ammunition in the general election.

BLITZER: He's 39 years old, so there's a whole new generation.

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Another way to think of it is he's also going to be able to, for those pro-life or anti-abortion policy folks who are upset, that that language, tougher language on abortion was taken out of the Republican National Committee platform. This is a little bit of a nod to them to say, look, Donald Trump may not want a national ban, et cetera, but look who's vice president. This is someone who cares strongly about this issue and maybe that's meaningful.

I don't know, Jeff, if you have the answer to this. You know, Peter Thiel, the billionaire was also a backer of Vance in Ohio during that race, how does Vance help with fundraising?

ZELENY: Well, look, I think that he absolutely was. I mean, Peter Thiel, who was a former Trump donor, not necessarily as much, my guess is he'll be on board now. I think Vance does help with fundraising, especially with the high tech donors.

[18:10:00]

I mean, not that Trump was really struggling now with fundraising. One thing J.D. Vance can't do is write a huge personal check of his own, like Doug Burgum, the North Dakota governor could.

CORNISH: But he could headline things.

ZELENY: But I think he helps. Oh, sure, he can absolutely headline things. No doubt.

BLITZER: Money talks in politics, to be sure. All right, guys, standby.

I'm going to be speaking live with the former Republican governor of Maryland, now the current U.S. Senate candidate Larry Hogan. He's going to be joining me in a few minutes.

Plus, President Biden already taking on the newest member of the Republican ticket.

Stay with us. You're in The Situation Room.

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BURNETT: Breaking news, new reaction around Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, who Donald Trump has just chosen to be his running mate.

Phil Mattingly is in Milwaukee on the RNC floor with the latest. So, Phil, what are you hearing there?

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CHIEF DOMESTIC CORRESPONDENT: You know, I think, Erin, what's so interesting about at least the first session of this Republican National Convention is the role of the family.

[18:15:04]

We obviously always know that the sons, daughters extended family as well, plays a critical part of Donald Trump, of his political rise, of his political career up to this point. But you saw it in an almost visceral fashion. We knew that Donald Trump Jr. was advocating behind the scenes for J.D. Vance, was a critical voice in that effort to have Vance become the vice presidential pick, which he has. But you also saw the effort from the family to put Donald Trump over the top in the roll call. I was here in Florida. The delegation was sitting right here where you said Eric Trump actually make the announcement of the delegates that put Donald Trump over the top.

And I want to bring you back over here because this is going to become center stage here throughout the course of the next couple of months or nights, where you see the all red behind me. That's the VIP box. That will be where the Trump family is going to sit, like to see fans, family members there at some point as well. It will underscore when Melania Trump comes. She's not expected to speak. Ivanka Trump will be here, was not expected to speak, but there are speaking roles for Eric Trump, for Donald Trump Jr., for members of the family that are so critical to the inner circle and inner circle that without any question at all was rattled by the events of the weekend. This is what Eric Trump said when I asked how the family was doing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT TRUMP'S SON: Well, it's been a pretty somber mood, right? I mean, my father got shot at. Somebody took off half his ear. But I can tell you, my father has never been more determined than he is right now. He is more determined to make America great again. He's got an incredible fighting spirit, no different than when he's pumping his hand in the air with blood running across his face. And I'm really proud of him. I've never been more proud as a child, as a son. He's a remarkable human being. He's got backbone that's unlike any person I've ever met before, and as I said before, we're going to win, and we're going to restore prosperity to this country, and he's going to make America great again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: It's determination, it's defiance, and it's also unity, not just in the family, but Republican Party writ large, something we're expecting to see over the course of the next several nights, Erin.

BURNETT: All right. Phil, thank you very much.

BLITZER: Wolf? Erin, thank you. I want to bring in Larry Hogan right now, the former Republican governor of Maryland who is now running for the U.S. Senate from Maryland. Governor, thank you so much for joining us.

Donald Trump is now calling on the country to unite after the failed assassination attempt on him. Is there anything he can say or do right now to get you to rethink endorsing him for president?

LARRY HOGAN (R), FORMER MARYLAND GOVERNOR: Well, look, I think it's you know, I'm glad to hear that Donald Trump and Joe Biden are both now talking about lowering the temperature and trying to talk about trying to unite the country. It's something that I've been very passionate about and focused on for many, many years. And, look, right now with the -- after the horrific assassination attempt on the president, I think we really need to encourage not just Joe Biden and Donald Trump, but all of the people on both sides of the aisle.

If ever there were a time for us to come together and to stop the angry, divisive, toxic politics, it's certainly right now, at this moment, as we're reaching an inflection point. I mean, the whole country is a tinderbox, and we've got to be very careful about how we proceed.

BLITZER: I spoke with Senator J.D. Vance back in May, just a couple months or so. He's now the vice presidential nominee for your party, the Republican Party. At that time, I asked him whether he was okay with the Trump campaign attacking you for saying Americans should respect the verdict in Trump's hush money case in New York. Listen to what he said at the time. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH): I'm okay with the fact that we need to criticize and call this ridiculous legal proceeding out. Larry Hogan is trying to win a Senate race in a blue seat. Obviously, I disagree with Larry Hogan. The problem is not criticizing the sham prosecution. The problem is the sham prosecution itself, and we need leadership to call it out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Governor, are you comfortable with him as the Republican vice presidential nominee?

HOGAN: Well, look, I don't know Senator Vance. I don't believe we've ever met. I know that we share very different views. You know, it's not really for me to decide. I'm not there at the convention. I'm focused on my race in Maryland. And, you know, I'm out there talking to people every day, trying to convince them that send me to Washington to try to clean up the mess and the divisiveness and dysfunction. BLITZER: Governor, I know you recently said that you're not seeking Trump's endorsement for your Senate campaign in Maryland. Has that changed at all since Saturday's shooting?

HOGAN: No. Look, it doesn't really have much impact on Maryland. You know, I've been out there trying to convince people on both sides of the aisle that I'm the right person to send to Washington, that I have the courage to stand up to the current president, to the former president to the Democratic Party or the Republican Party. And, you know, I didn't seek President Trump's endorsement.

[18:20:01]

You know, quite frankly, it's not much of a factor in Maryland where he lost by 33 points and I ran 46 points ahead of him.

BLITZER: You've been a very strong voice in your Republican Party, Governor, calling for an end to all the divisive rhetoric that's out there. Here's the question. Why aren't you speaking here in Milwaukee at the Republican Convention?

HOGAN: Well, you know, I've been a strong voice not just to convince the Republican Party to lower the divisive rhetoric but the Democratic Party as well. And it's what I've been focused on. I literally formed an organization six years ago focused on trying to do something about the toxic politics. And I've been calling that out on both sides, and I'll continue to do so. I'm not sure it makes much sense for me to be out there in Milwaukee. I'm out trying to convince undecided voters here in my state of Maryland.

BLITZER: Former Governor Larry Hogan of Maryland, thank you very much for joining us.

HOGAN: Thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: And coming up, Vice President Kamala Harris now saying she's actually ready to debate J.D. Vance. How popular will Trump's pick for vice president be with voters? Stand by.

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[18:25:43]

BURNETT: The breaking news, bring it on. That is what the Biden campaign says Vice President Kamala Harris is ready to do in terms of debating J.D. Vance specifically issuing that challenge just moments after Trump announced Vance's as his V.P. pick. Vance was officially nominated, of course, during the first day of the Republican National Convention.

Campaign official also saying that Harris left Vance a voicemail where she congratulated him and welcomed him to the race, so she did call him immediately after he was announced.

And everyone's back with me. New York Times Maggie Haberman also joins the conversation. So, Maggie, when we hear about how this actually went down and the kind of, you know, Trump wanting this big moment to surprise everybody, what have you learned about how this happened?

MAGGIE HABERMAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: So, there was lobbying right up until You know, the final hour or, you know, two hours, essentially. People were calling Donald Trump, telling him to pick Vance, not to pick Vance. You know, I think that he had an idea of what he wanted to do for a while, but he tends to second guess himself and he tends to leave things open until the last minute. He did absolutely want to have a surprise. There's no question. He wanted to control the announcement. He likes to narrate everything he does, including his own indictments and convictions and so forth. And so this is not a surprise.

When we started hearing that people had been getting calls that it wasn't them, it became pretty clear where this was headed. And there was a group of people who were pushing Vance who were very vocal, Donald Trump Jr., not just behind the scenes, but also publicly. Trump cares a lot about chemistry. And the only one of the top three who he really has chemistry with is J.D. Vance, number one. Number two, money, which was a big concern for a while for the Trump campaign, was something that donors suggested was an issue why he should pick Burgum or Rubio, that Vance didn't have the same connection with donors.

Trump's campaign has raised so much money since he was convicted and since his indictments and I think since the weekend in the attempt on his life, that I think money became less of a concern.

BURNETT: I mean, it could go the way he wanted to go. But amazing how much it came down to those last hours, and that he still was making that final decision.

So, Kristen, when you look at the polling, what does -- and I know, you know, historically say V.P. doesn't actually matter. Does a V.P. matter on this ticket?

KRISTEN SOLTIS ANDERSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: The V.P. may matter more this time around if only because we are talking about two candidates for the major parties who are advanced in age. But at this point, we don't know what kind of an effect a J.D. Vance choice will make. He is not necessarily the most well known to the average American voter. He's very well known in political circles. He's very well known in circles like ours, because he comes from the world of the media and political elite, even though he has rhetoric that really speaks forcefully against it as well.

So, interestingly, he's almost the pick that you make if you feel very confident that you are going to get elected and you don't feel like you need to use the pick to try to unify the party, or, oh gosh, I need to go win this geographic or demographic region. In some ways, it reminds me a lot of Mitt Romney picking Paul Ryan, completely opposite people. But, remember, Paul Ryan, it wasn't that he was chosen because he brought a new demographic or a new region, Mitt Romney just liked him.

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. Look, I think that's a good point. Conventional wisdom would tell me you need someone who's going to strengthen where you're weak, but I think if you're Trump and you're looking at President Biden, you're thinking this is someone with a foundation that's fractured. It's broken. So, if I can energize my base, if I can maybe bring in some Republicans who aren't typical voters, who may like J.D. Vance, you can sort of speak to that plight of this sort of forgotten man and woman who've sort of seen the country go in a different direction in terms of academic attainment, in terms of what's needed to survive in this world.

A lot of people remember a moment in time when their parents could work a 40-hour a week job and buy their home and put them through college if they so chose. And now a lot of people say, I can't do what my parents did 30 years ago, Erin.

And so J.D. Vance can articulate that point, I think, better than many others.

BURNETT: So, when you talk, Jonah, about what we know Biden has said he has to do, right, that they have to win that Midwest Midwest set of states, right, and just going back to what J.D. Vance made you for this ticket. Hillbilly Elegy is how he became so well known, right? That's how he became the bestselling author in all of the fancy events, and, you know, became that, you know, CNN contributor, right, that media world.

[18:30:01]

He writes, I want people to understand the American dream is my family and I encountered it. I want people to understand how upward mobility really feels. And I want people to understand something I learned only recently, that for those of us lucky enough to live the American dream, the demons of the life we left behind continue to chase us.

He has talked about the substance abuse that his mother suffered. We know how much that has enabled Joe Biden to connect with people as a problem so many Americans face. He has a personal story that can connect to a lot of people. He's from that Rust Belt area. Does this turn those crucial must-win states from Biden?

JONAH GOLDBERG, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I am very skeptical, at least in the way that that narrative would suggest.

BURNETT: Yes.

GOLDBERG: The blue collar voters, who are not low-propensity voters, but the voters that turn out in elections, who are blue collar, non- college educated, if they like Trump, they're voting for Trump anyway. The idea that they're going to be convinced to like Trump because of J.D. Vance, I'm very skeptical of.

Where J.D. Vance actually does kind of help with the ticket is with a different kind of low-propensity voter. J.D. Vance goes on Steve Bannon's War Room. J.D. Vance says that Alex Jones is a more credible source of information than Rachel Maddow, because he's being persecuted by the regime. He says all sorts of troll-ish, boom (ph) bait things that I think are appealing to the of the WWE fans who like the drama and the kayfabe of a Trump presidency. And he knows how to talk to those groups. He also knows how to get some money out of Silicon Valley. So, I think it's a different play than the hardscrabble guy wins over the blue collar voter.

JAMAL SIMMONS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: So, Erin, you might think the color of my tie is pink, but today it's actually soft red, a word on purpose, because J.D. Vance is a soft politician. He's so bendable to Donald Trump's will. And I found him, when you go look at him, he's intemperate. What we saw on Saturday when he went out and gave that that tweet about Joe Biden, is somebody who really rushed into the fire without thinking through what it was he was doing. And when you're picking up --

BURNETT: When he called about -- that Biden had called Trump an authoritarian fascist, and that's the rhetoric that led to the assassination.

BURNETT: And that led to the assassination tip. And we are picking somebody who's going to be your vice president. There's somebody who's going to have to stand in case there is a need for the president to be there. And what you cannot have is somebody who's intemperate. And I think the judgment both of Trump to not put the American people's needs first but then also of Vance to then have this intemperateness and then to see the way that he's moved and sort of fishtailed around in order to make himself palatable to Trump.

So, many people who knew him from Hillbilly Elegy and thought well of him, sort of started and heard him say these things about Trump, have a lot of questions about his resoluteness. And I think for those of us who are looking for somebody in the White House who we can trust and have some feel for, he seems a little oily.

BURNETT: All right. Well, thanks all. We're going to be here throughout the evening.

And just ahead, our breaking news continues, the Ohio junior senator, J.D. Vance, on the floor. The state's governor, Mike DeWine, who knows Vance well is my guest.

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[18:37:25]

BURNETT: Breaking news. The Ohio senator, J.D. Vance, Donald Trump's running mate. The announcement made this afternoon during the first day of the Republican National Convention.

And joining me now is the Ohio governor, Mike DeWine. Governor, I appreciate your time. So your home state senator chosen to be your party's vice presidential nominee. I know that's something you celebrate. And your office actually said that you had approved special assistance or approved assistance, I'm sorry, for Vance Saturday night, that he had additional security outside his home. Governor, did you know that this pick was coming?

GOV. MIKE DEWINE (R-OH): No. You know, I've heard what everybody else hears. It seemed to be pointing towards Senator Vance, and the closer we got to today, I think the more likely it looked. But we didn't know it was official until the president said it was official.

BURNETT: And in terms of that extra security, and obviously you've been on the convention floor, I know you were there during the roll call, and you had approved that extra security for Senator Vance, have you received additional threats? Has anything changed in terms of that actual situational awareness since the horrible events of Saturday night?

DEWINE: Well, no. You know, I got a call from the Vance family relayed to our office that they felt that they needed some security. And that was about the same time, frankly, that the president was shot. So, I authorized the Ohio Highway Patrol to go in and give the family the executive protection, same type of protection that I get and that the lieutenant governor gets.

So, we did that right away. And I think it was -- then we're working very closely with the Senate police as well.

BURNETT: Now, Governor, have you had a chance to speak to the senator today or since he was announced as the vice president?

DEWINE: Well, just to congratulate him as he walked into the convention floor. So, he and Usha were there and Fran. I had the opportunity to talk with them briefly. And, look, it's a big day for Ohio. It's been 80 years, I think, since we've had a vice presidential candidate on the ticket. This is good for Ohio. In Ohio, we think we're the heart of it all. We talk a lot about that, and now we're going to have the vice presidential candidate, and we hope the next vice president of the United States.

BURNETT: So, if Trump and Vance are elected, if they do win, as you hope they will, that will put you in a position, Governor, to do something which is crucial to the balance of power.

[18:40:00]

You will select Vance's replacement in the Senate. So, you know, Vivek Ramaswamy says if you ask him, he'll consider it. Do you already have a list of names, Governor, of who you will consider?

DEWINE: Well, I've certainly thought about it during the last few days. My wife, Fran, and I have talked about it. But this is something that we're not going to really get to until after the election. We have elections to win. We have Bernie Marino to get elected to the United States Senate, we hope. In Ohio, we have other races. So, you know, we will get to that.

I spent, as you know, 12 years in the United States Senate. I think I have a pretty good idea of what I think a United States senator should do. And, you know, one of the main things is someone who works very hard and who focuses and represents their state and represents their country. You also have to have someone who can get elected, both winning a primary and winning a general election.

BURNETT: All right. Well, Governor DeWine, I appreciate your time. It's good to see you again. Thanks, sir. DEWINE: Sure. Good to see you. Thank you. Thanks, Erin.

BURNETT: All right. Thank you. Wolf?

BLITZER: Erin, thank you. Also tonight, President Biden's high stakes interview. We just got our first clip from Biden's highly anticipated interview with NBC News. And in it, President Biden talks about Trump's assassination attempt, his phone call with the former president, and more. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LESTER HOLT, NBC NEWS ANCHOR: Mr. President, thank you for sitting down with us. There's a lot to talk about. I'd like to start with the horrible events of last weekend. It has shocked a lot of Americans. A political rally, your opponent, Donald Trump shot in the middle of greeting his, his supporters.

You spoke to Mr. Trump afterward. Can you give me a sense of that conversation?

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: Very cordial. I told him how concerned I was and wanted to make sure I knew how he was actually doing. He sounded good. He said he was fine. And he thanked me for calling him. I told him it was literally in the prayers of Jill and me. And I hope his whole family was weathering this.

HOLT: Well, let's talk about the conversation this has started. And it's really about language, what we say out loud and the consequences of those. You called your opponent an existential threat on a call a week ago. You said it's time to put Trump in the bull's eye. There's some dispute about the context, but I think you appreciate that word better.

BIDEN: I didn't say crosshairs. I was talking about focus on. Look, the truth of the matter was, what I guess I was talking about at the time was, there's very little focus on Trump's agenda.

HOLT: Yes, the term was bull's eye.

BIDEN: Was it a mistake to use the word? I didn't mean -- I didn't say crosshairs, I meant bull's eye, I meant focus on him, focus on what he's doing, focus on his policies, focus on the number of lies he told in the debate. Focus on -- I mean, there's a whole range of things that -- look, I'm not the guy that said, I want to be a dictator on day one. I'm not the guy that refused to accept the outcome of the election. I'm not the guy who said I wouldn't accept the outcome of this election automatically. You can't only love your country when you win.

HOLT: Mr. President, you've been in politics a very long time, so let's speak frankly, we're all adults here. Has this shooting changed the trajectory of this race?

BIDEN: I don't know. And you don't know either.

HOLT: I don't know. But is it something you've given thought to?

BIDEN: No. I've thought less about the trajectory of the case than two things. One, what his health is, that that was secure, number one. And number two, what happens from here on in terms of the kind of coverage that the president and vice president and former president and new vice president get in terms of -- look, I've never seen a circumstance where you ride through certain rural areas of the country and people have signs there, big Trump signs with a middle sign saying F Biden and a little kid standing there putting up his middle finger. I mean, that's the kind of stuff that is just inflammatory and the kind of viciousness. It's a very different thing than to say, look, I really disagree with Trump's for the way he takes care of taxes, the way he has -- wants a $5 trillion tax cut for people who make a lot of money next time around, doesn't focus on working class people.

HOLT: And I asked him about his struggle in the debate and the calls from some Democrats for him to step aside.

Do you feel like you've weathered the storm on, on this issue of whether you should be on the ticket or not?

BIDEN: Look, 14 million people voted for me to be the nominee in the Democratic Party, okay? And listen to them.

HOLT: In your last T.V. interview, you were asked if you had watched the debate. Your answer was, I don't think so, no. Have you since seen it?

BIDEN: I've seen pieces of it. I've not watched the whole debate.

HOLT: The president also responding to news of Donald Trump's new vice presidential pick.

I want to ask you about just shortly before you and I sat down, former President Trump named his vice presidential pick, J.D. Vance.

[18:45:06]

What does that tell you -- his qualities, what does that tell you about former President Trump's values in terms of who he will surround himself with in the next administration, should he win.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATS: Well, it's not unusual. He's going to surround himself with people who agree completely with him, a voting record, that support him, even though if you go back and listen to things that JD Vance said about Trump --

HOLT: And the president had a lot more --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All right. Let's discuss with our political experts who are listening very closely to what the president of the United States just said.

David Chalian? DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, first thing, Wolf, is on the question of the status of a candidate, Lester Holt asked him, do you believe you weathered this storm inside your own party, I didn't hear an answer. All I heard was 14 million people voted for me to be the nominee, I listened to them.

That -- that does not answer the question of whether or not he thinks he's weathered this moment of Democrats in his own party asking for him to step down as the nominee. And I thought that was telling. I also thought just in the comparison to the interview with George Stephanopoulos again, and we saw this a little bit at the NATO press conference, he clearly seems to have gotten some advice that he needs to not be as defiant in this moment, but have a little bit more humility.

And I think he was still trying to strike that tone though clearly indicating he plans to honor the problem primary process and he's the nominee and I'm sure his plan hasn't changed to remain the camera.

BLITZER: Audie, how did you see it?

CORNISH: Well, there was a sense that the seriousness of the attempted assassination had quieted any other political chatter on any other topic.

But the truth is by the end of this week, there will be the almost obligatory post-convention bounce. And I'm sure Democrats will freak out all over again. And that dialogue will return.

RAJU: Yeah, but the longer that they wait, the longer that this goes on without Joe Biden making a move off the tickets, the more this benefits him, and we're going to move closer to the likelihood that the Democratic committee would be some sort of virtual roll call vote to solidify his nomination. That essentially seals the deal and the longer we wait, the more space Joe Biden has from the campaign, the better news for him to weather that storm.

And I agree with David while he didn't quite answer the question, he's also sort of ignoring everybody in his party who's trying to push him out right now, saying its up to the voters. I got 14 million goes -- well, he didn't really have a serious primary.

HENDERSON: That was a pretty definitive answer. He's given a similar which is he's not leaving the race. He gave a defiant speech, I think in Michigan last week.

Listen, he's going to try to be out there as much as possible this week. This is one of the interviews he's doing is going out to Vegas, talking to Black and Brown voters there. He's going to be on BET. He's going to be on (INAUDIBLE) as well.

You know, he has a base she in some of those, people, particularly African-American voters, they are riding with Biden. And I think that was his answer when he said, too, I've got those 14 million oh votes from the primary process. Those are the people I'm going to listen to, not the Washington elite who been trying to push me out. ZELENY: I did think one of his answers was pulled ask the attempted assassination change the trajectory of the race, she said, I don't know and we don't know in the moment, it certainly seems to galvanized and engendered for it, certainly empathy for former President Donald Trump. Let's see how this convention goes.

But to Manu's point, in time is on President Biden's side here. That is what gives some, many Democrats so much pause and fear and worry because they believe are wonder if the window sort of move right before the shootings that happen? And we still haven't talked about this or not.

Senator Chuck Schumer went down to Rehoboth for a meeting at President Biden's home. I'm told it was very candid good and very frank as rank as the Hakeem Jeffries, the House Democratic leader meeting two days earlier, and there were some who believed Biden should reconsider, body was maybe getting word to that point, an of course, the shooting happened literally in the next hour.

So we don't know at this moment, but it is not ease the concern of many Democrats who sit well with President Biden, but they worry what will happen to the Democratic ticket in those House and Senate races.

BLITZER: Manu has the talk up on Capitol Hill about potentially President Biden dropping out of this race. Has that gone away at least for now?

RAJU: Well, privately, it still exists publicly has not its really subsided in the aftermath of Trumps shooting, Democrats really not wanting get a gauge and that discussion, but you guys all right, it will be a bounce out of this convention that will cause that discussion all over again. But what's really remarkable in all of this so how much Trump has solidified the Republican polls hold on, the Republican Party.

[18:50:00]

Mike Lawler was here talking to you Wolf. He from a swing districts in New York typically the kind of person would run away from the top of the ticket. He was here, he was fine defending his support for Donald Trump is much different with Joe Biden in his party right now, so many members including those swing districts and swing seats running away from the top of the ticket as they concerned about he could drag them down.

BLITZER: Our final thought as we compete with this great music.

CORNISH: We're going to hear all this week. I think that people right now is just about listening for the peak is going to come out, and how are they going to spin this narrative post assassination attempt and talk about what is the forward looking idea kind of coming out of the Republican convention. It's Monday, you know what I mean? It's really just like what is this really going to look like? And is it going to be the shift that that it has been implied.

ZELENY: To the music. I mean, I think we should remember this is a moment where we could see

former President Donald Trump for the first time on stage here it is an atmosphere of celebration, elation. I cannot really recall a time, of course, people are always eager to see Donald Trump but tonight's feels different to me.

A, they are so were so relieve and grateful that this will be the first time he's in a public forum, set shooting aside from walking off the plans. So I think this moment is really extraordinary. We don't know if he'll speak or not, but we will likely to get that first picture between he and JD Vance.

So for this week, for this moment, at least this is a big moment for Donald Trump. A chance to perhaps -- and we're here in Wisconsin. This is one of the --

HENDERSON: It's a very smart pick, yeah.

ZELENY: -- what are voters doing, right? Not far from here. How will they be watching?

HENDERSON: Yeah. You know, he is at the apex of his political power. Any of these you know, if you go back to 2020, it's hard to imagine what he would do oh public in nominee, after January 6, after all the lies, after all the conventions, infuriate, and this will be the most Trumpian of the conventions we've seen. In 2016 was what it was, 2020 virtual and at the White House. So you know, well see it was proud to go crazy tonight --

CHALIAN: No doubt about it. It will be a real heroes welcome. The thematically tonight, the focus is on the account which has been a driving issue top of mind for voters and top of mind for the Trump campaign. Obviously, we've seen prices come down in the most recent reports, but he still going to drive an inflation message tonight, knowing that a lot of Americans some pain here.

And I think what's interesting is since the shooting on Saturday, there was that brief cessation of politics for a moment, you know, the Biden campaign pulled down their ads and they weren't doing sort of outward communicating, that all has changed, right?

We're at the first day of the Republican -- I don't mean that it shouldn't have changed appropriately changed by were at the first day of the Republican National convention. It is inherently a political event. Their job is to make the argument and the contrast with the incumbent President Joe Biden, that they're trying to do. And Joe Biden, who is you see doing interviews is drawing contrast with Donald Trump again.

So this is a re-engaged campaign, right now, that's not dismissing the calls for unity or keeping the temperature found on rhetoric the scenes, if that holds, but certainly the political activity. That pause after that shooting is very much real.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: Go ahead.

RAJU: I was going to say the same thing, Wolf, that a good moment after JD Vance's nomination it takes to be on the ticket, Democrats were out hammering him. He did not. I was actually kind of wondering, will they hold back because of -- no, they didn't hold back. In fact, the Biden campaign came out and just absolutely hammered him, called him an extremist and all the rest. And you can expect tonight, the people were speaking here tonight are some of the more conservative members, similar stauncher Trump allies.

They're not going to hold back. They're going to go after Joe Biden very hard. So that brief moment, there was unity that was not going to last very long.

HENDERSON: In some ways, that's what Biden has been signaling in some of these interviews, with Biden basically saying there was a way we can still can close a shots that it seems they have gone through the sort of the political bloodstream already, the assassination attempted this just 48 hours ago and here we are, JD Vance is going to be this is --

CORNISH: It's the celebratory.

HENDERSON: Yeah.

CORNISH: And I think one of the things that's interesting is you're going to have a party here that's when it celebrates basically vitality and resilience in its candidate. And meanwhile, Democrats, there's still kind of holding their breath. Every one of these interviews for Biden is still a moment of like, well, did he make it through this sentence? How did he explain himself?

I think there is still a little bit of a testing going on and that's not what they have for you, right?

[18:55:02]

They're going to have their Lazarus so to speak, come to stage with their fist raised and showing that there is life in the party, yet and that's such a far cry here we on the third nomination for him from 2016, where you had tons of Republicans who didn't show up, when you had Ted Cruz get onstage and say vote your conscience, not this guy.

I mean, the complete and total transformation is very much embodied to this moment. He's doing more of these interviews. He's got another one coming up on BET.

CORNISH: Yeah. And, of course, like at the BET awards, to Taraji Henson actually got on stage and mentioned Project 2025. And that sent the Google alerts for that soaring. So there's an audience there that is still interested in more information. And that's his opportunity, I guess.

BLITZER: All right. Everybody, standby. We got a lot more news coming up. Everyone stay with us. Erin and I will be back as our special coverage of the Republican

National Committee Convention continues next with a special edition of OUTFRONT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)