The Lead with Jake Tapper Aired July 12, 2024 - 17:00 ET THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) [17:00:39] JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to Lead. I'm Jake Tapper breaking this hour. President Biden fighting for his political life is in battleground Michigan right now. He just arrived at a garage and fuel bar in Northville, Michigan about to hold a campaign event try to show the world that he's up for the job. And just minutes he's going to speak in Detroit. While in the background sources tell CNN his campaign chair acknowledged quote, and bad effing weeks and a call to staff. Let's listen in. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JOE BIDEN, USA PRESIDENT: Wait a minute. Seriously. When she and I are together, she looks like my wife, Jill, and they go. Are you married? We both -- I say yeah, I don't tell who. Anyway, thank you, thank you. You all need this, like, you know, they're holding your head and a beautiful day like this, to come in to say hi, and I can't thank you enough. And you kids, you got had to get dressed up. I owe you big. We owe you big. Everybody knows I like kids better than people. Look, folks, there's a lot going on. We're here to have a rally little bit later on. But you know, John, and the Congresswoman and I got involved for the same reason. I come from a family that we weren't poor but we were just a basic middle class family. Three bedroom split level home on the development of 45 homes, all the same, and four kids and a grandpa living with us. And we were fine. But my dad used to say Joe, your jobs about a lot more than a paycheck. It's about your dignity. It's about respect. It's about being look your kid in the eye and say honey is going to be okay and mean it. And that's what that's what it's all about. You may recall, and I'm not going to make this long, I promise you. And one of the reason I decided to run back my -- my son died in 2015. He was a Bronze Star conspicuous service medal and spent a year in Iraq volunteered to go with his unit 101. He was attorney general state of Delaware. And so I decided I wasn't going to get engaged in public. Always going to run again. I had been vice president. I was a professor full professor at the University of Pennsylvania at the time. And what happened was that I was going to stay out of it. But then what happened was, remember down in Charlottesville, Virginia, when those folks came out of the woods carrying torches and Nazi banners, and literally singing the same Nazi. Anyway, same song song in in Germany in the 30s. And a young woman was killed who was a bystander. And that young woman I met, I talked to the mother. And press contacted Trump, and asked him they said, well what do you think. He said, there were very good people on both sides. Very good people. And honest to God, that's what I decided to run. That's why I decided to run. And because folks is a lot at stake. And I'll end with this. You know, there's probably every five or six generations, we reached an inflection point in history, where what happens in the near term is going to determine what the next four or five decades look like. The post war periods over where and look around the world I just got finished having you may have seen on television. The dealing with NATO and all form heads of state 32 of them here for four days. And, you know, whether it's climate change, whether it's -- anyway, I won't go through all but -- but there's a lot -- there's a lot changing, not because of Joe Biden being president, but just a time of significant movement where and what happens in the next several years is going to determine what the next several decades look like. I mean, for real, not a joke. We either going to step up and do something about the environment. We're going to need to make sure that middle class folks have a fighting chance to make it. We're going to either decide we're going to provide health care for people who need it. We're going to -- we have to and I think when Debbie and I was this last three years, I think we've made a lot of progress. We made a lot of progress. I remember everybody hi, how are you? How old are you? Remember no serious guys in your 30, okay? Towards my daughter and granddaughter. Hadn't worked yet but I'm working on it. But anyway, the whole notion here is that we they told us when I ran and I'll end this, I ran in 2020, Santa for three reasons and you may remember I got roundly criticized. [17:05:04] One was that I thought it was time to restore some, some ethics to the politics, to you know, the restore the soul of the country. We're a good decent people. American people are good, decent, honorable people. But we were -- but the way things were going it just the way we talk to one another and politics anymore, the way things have become so polarized. And I said, the second reason I was running was to deal with the issue of giving the middle class a fighting chance. Like I said, earlier, I come from one of those families. We weren't poor, but we weren't -- there was never anything left over at the end of the month. And, you know, the idea that the trickledown economics and I look, if you can make me go make a million bucks, make a million bucks and make five I really make it. Just pay your fair share as you go along. Just pay your taxes. Just pay a fair share. And so I decided I was going to end the trickledown economics where you know, it's a wealthy do well. everybody else does well all that and a lot trickledown on my dad's kitchen table. And so I decided we're going to build the economy from the middle out in the bottom up. And that way, the wealthy still do very well. I made a commitment offend a lot of Democrats. I said, No, I will not raise taxes anybody had making less than $400,000. So I couldn't be accused of not wanting people to be able to make money. And we have -- that's what we've done. Not a single penny of tax has been raised by anybody making over $400,000. But in the meantime, what's happened, we've grown the middle class. We created 800,000 manufacturing jobs. 1.6 million. 1.6 million new jobs more than any president has in American history in that period of time. We moved our -- well, thank you, but we will -- well, the other thing we've done is we provided health -- health care shouldn't be an option. I was able to change the Affordable Care Act and another 800,000 people. Anyway, access to insurance. Access to health care. And the last thing I said, which I really got clobbered by the press, as you recall, they're good folks. They just thought I was naive, even though I'd been around 207 years. I said, you know, we got to bring the country together. Because when I left the Senate, I was honored. You know, they do this ceremony over vice president I left and they vote and say nice things about you. But one that they said was that I was able to get more done than anybody in the Senate because I had relations with Democrats and Republicans across the aisle. And so I said, we got to bring the country together. They said, that's naive. It used to be the case when Biden was a senator, but he can't do it anymore. Well, guess what, folks? We're the most diverse country in the world. Not a joke. We're the most unique country. No, every other country is organized based on either ethnicity, geography, religion. But we're the only country based on an idea. Not a joke, an idea, only country in history. And the idea was we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men or women are created equal, et cetera. We've never lived up to. We've never fully walked away from it. But what I realized was, the other guy was walking away from it. Walking away from it. And so we ran, and we were told, we're going to lose in 2020. Remember? Well, we won. He told we're going to have -- because of you. Because of you. And by the way, you're also -- we're also told that what was going to happen is the -- that there was no possibility of being able to get bipartisan legislation passed. You know, remember, Trump used to always talk about what he's going to do in terms of the whole idea of building bridges, roads, and internet, and they had infrastructure month every month. He didn't build a thing. But look, what we're doing. We've rebuilt -- how can you be the most powerful country in the world and have bridges network highways that don't work, people? Look, the internet is as consequential to most people as the telephone used to be 50 years ago. And so the point is, that we're able to put it together. I'm optimistic. I'm optimistic. We've done I'm going to say something that's going to sound off the presses here. So I'm going to say in front of them. I think most of the political story and say, I've gotten more done than most presidents have since Franklin Roosevelt, in terms of fundamental changes in and by the way in the process, all this is going on, we saved money. We lowered the depths. We gave people more jobs. It didn't do anything. Remember was going to be this hard landing wasn't going to happen? Well guess what? I was worried today, the Wall Street Journal talks about how Wall Street Journal economists think I'm better than Trump in terms of the economy. That's worrisome to me. [17:10:18] But all kidding aside, think about it. Because when you give people a fighting chance, everybody does better. Not a joke. And the last example I'll give you, is I've been fighting for years, taking on big pharma. And I can put you in Air Force One with me, as we flew up in and you have a prescription by American drug company, I can fly you to Toronto, or to Berlin, or London or to Rome, get you the same exact prescription from a same exact company, for somewhere between 40% to 60% less. For example, I was able to reduce the price of insulin for people who have serious problems they had needed on a regular basis and $400 a month to $35. Here's a deal. I was able to do that. Guess what? The fact of the matter is, they still make three and 350% profit. It cost them 10 bucks to make it. Cost him 10 bucks to make it. And so my point is what that did was every said, Biden, you know, those big liberal. It wasn't going to cost us money. Guess what? It saved you the taxpayer $1.7 billion. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you. BIDEN: No, I'm so serious. Because Medicare didn't have to pay these prices, they can negotiate it. My generic point is that all the stuff we'd like, for example, I make no apologies. I'm most pro labor president American history. I mean factually. I know how to say the word Union. But here's the deal. I had the Treasury Department do a study with an increase in union membership at the contracts like I know I got lots of criticism because I walked the picket line with UAW. The only president ever has done that. Well, guess what? What happened is asked him to do a study, what's the impact of the rest of the workers in America? Everybody does better. Everybody -- no, no. I'm serious. There are over $50 billion of investment from chips manufacturers. We invented those chips from a telephone to a rocket. And guess what? They're all -- they're all somewhere else. They're being -- they exported those jobs because they got cheaper labor. And we have with the call -- anyway. So I went to I went to South Korea to get them to come back. And guess what? We got to all these companies to come back. Not come back reinvest in America. I asked Samsung, why are they going to invest $20 billion in western Pennsylvania. And they said simple reason. One, you have the safest place in the world to invest. And two, you have the best workers in the world. Everybody thinks, you know, you show up and you want to be electricians. I want to be electrician. You're like five years apprenticeship. It's like going back to college. My generic point is, I'm convinced to give people a chance. Give people a chance. Everybody, no guarantees, just a chance. And that's what we've done. And we're -- and that's why I'm running again to finish this job. There's more to do. I know I'm only 41. God love you. You're like my sister. Anyway -- but folks, this is an important moment. And I hope yes, I used to always when I finished my -- I got like I was, for the longest time I was too young, because I was the second youngest man ever elected to the United States Senate. And anyway, and now I'm too old. But I know, hopefully, with a little bit of age comes a little bit of wisdom. And I hopefully that in this -- in this moment, I think the alternative is not much of an alternative. And I do think ethics matter. I do think decency matters. I do think we should reflect with America. We're an optimistic. We're decent. We're an honorable country. And I give my word last thing I say I am never been more optimistic about America's possibilities than I am today. Every one of those foreign leaders you saw on television, the 32 members of NATO. I'm going to say some outrageous. I'm the guy that pulled NATO together. Literally, I actually was able to expand it. Every time I leave them they go, you got to win. Because the other guy wants to says anyway. But we have real opportunities, real opportunities. And so we got to finish the job. And I promise you I am -- I'm okay. Thank you. (END VIDEOTAPE) [17:15:12] TAPPER: President Biden in Northville, Michigan talking to a small crowd, telling them he's okay and making several jokes about his age and talking about the kind of obliquely referring to the crisis that is his political career is in right now. Let's go to our correspondents covering Biden. We have CNN's MJ Lee for White House and CNN's Arlette Saenz traveling with the Biden campaign in Michigan. Arlette, we're going to see Biden again in just a few minutes, the campaign event in Detroit, where you are. What is the overall message for him in this battleground state must win state does that a lot? ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, President Biden is here really to try to allay his voters' concerns about his ability to serve in a second term, but the President in his remarks I'm told is also expected. It's really tried to draw a contrast with Donald Trump. He is eager to return the focus away from his struggling campaign and more directly have voters focus on Trump's agenda. Now, according to some excerpts released by the campaign just moments ago, the President is really expected to tie former President Trump directly to project 2025. That is a conservative policy blueprints that has been circulated. The Democrats are quite eager to tie Trump to in this election. And the President, in his remarks will warn that this is a serious project. He will say it's time for us to stop treating politics like it's entertainment or a reality TV show. Another four years of Donald Trump is deadly serious. The campaign also trying to put him in moments like this at that restaurant, impromptu moments, where the President is speaking off the cuff to really try to allay some of the concerns of voters and a top Democrats in his own party. TAPPER: MJ, how much of the specific concerns from Democrats are actually making it through to President Biden because he said yesterday that no one is telling him that he can't win when we know there are quite a few people who think you can't win. From major fundraisers to members of the House to members of the Senate to governors. MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly he's getting a little bit more feedback now than even a week ago, if you look at the last 24 hours. Last night at the White House, the President hosted the House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who said that he shared all of the honest feedback that he has gotten from everyone in his caucus. And then earlier this afternoon, the President called into two separate meetings with Hispanic lawmakers and Asian American lawmakers. And we do know from that first meeting, Congressman Mike Levin actually told the president directly that he believes that he needs to step out and leave the race. This is the first known instance of an elected democratic official directly telling the president after the debate that they think that he needs to go. Now we do know that the President started out by defending his record in response to Congressman Levin, and then he said, "That's why I think it's important I got to get out and show people everything from how well I move to how much I know, and that I'm still in good charge." So we are just continuing to get a sense of that deep anxiety and concerns coming from Democratic lawmakers. And so far, a lot of them feel like they haven't actually had the chance, the proper chance to fully air their concerns. TAPPER: All right. MJ Lee, Arlette Saenz, thanks so much. Again, President Biden just minutes away from his campaign events in battleground Michigan in Detroit. Keep it here on CNN for coverage of that. But first we're going to talk to a House Democrat who is on the list of those publicly calling for Biden to drop out of the 2024 race with only 112 days left until Election Day. We'll be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) [17:22:28] TAPPER: This just in to our 2024 Lead. A group of 24 democratic former lawmakers, representatives and senators are now publicly calling for President Joe Biden to release his convention delegates and for the Democratic Party to hold an open convention, pick their nominee at the convention in Chicago in August. This is the number of current Democratic members of Congress calling on Biden to step aside grows. One of those congressmen is Scott Peters, a Democrat from California, who joins us now. Congressman, you called for the President to drop out of the race after his high stakes news conference. Tell us about why you reach this decision and how difficult it was because I know you have very fond feelings for President Biden. REP. SCOTT PETERS, (D) CALIFORNIA: I think Joe Biden is one of the finest people I've met in politics. He's a really sincere person, and he's done a great job. His record certainly merits reelection. But what we needed out of that first debate back in June, we needed a boost because we were behind. We were losing. And we didn't get it. In fact, we went the other way. I thought the campaign gave a very dismissive response and inappropriate response, calling people bed wetter's or Davos them or whatever names they called us. And I asked for a plan, and I still haven't seen one. So I decided to call for this, I think, really the best the best situation now is that Joe Biden would step aside for one of the many great leaders we have coming up with the Democratic Party, because we really have to beat Donald Trump and I don't think we're on the right path to do that. TAPPER: So is this a matter of just him being burdened by bad poll numbers? Or are you concerned about his faculties and abilities based on what we saw at the debate ended other times? PETERS: Well, there's been a long campaign primary campaign and there's been a lot of exposure. The President has an exemplary record. But after all that time and all that name recognition, and all that publicity, it's not translating into as to results with voters. And while national polling shows us in decent shape, we remember both Al Gore and Hillary Clinton and others who win the popular vote but lose the election because it's up to the swing states. And since the debate, according to The Cook Political Report, we've gone even further south in the swing states. We've been -- they've downgraded six states after the after the after that debate in June. And we were already behind. So I don't see how we recover from that and even today -- yesterday the President did a great job with NATO. But of course, what got covered was his gaffes, and he's going to face that all the way along. And that's going to take attention both from his record and from the threat that another Donald Trump presidential term will impose in this country. But we got to have a candidate who carry those messages. [17:25:23] TAPPER: Yes. I mean, his gaffes, you know, as you know, he's been gaffe prone since he entered politics in the 1970s. If you define gaffes by the old Michael Kinsley definition, a gaffe is when a politician accidentally tells the truth. This is something else other than gaffes, though, right? I mean, this is misstating names calling President Zelensky, President Putin, calling Vice President Harris, Vice President Trump and then his behavior, his performance at the debate, which really caused a lot of people to question his cognitive skills, given his advanced age, and what we've seen pretty clearly as a deterioration, at the very least in his communications abilities, in the last, really, in the last six -- six to nine months. PETERS: Well, let me say I have no lack of confidence in his ability to govern the country. He's done a great job. He wasn't a young man, when we elected him. He's put together a team and he's done a wonderful job of getting things passed, I think, like the outline of the speech. But the problem is as a candidate, you know, he's -- I'm not sure he's bringing what we need to the table. We have to have someone who both can explain his record in an articulate way, and take it to Donald Trump. And we're already facing a situation. Where we have big headwinds in the swing states of inside this this race, I think we would be better off looking to our deep bench of elected leaders, many, we have governors in red states, governors and swing states, senators from swing states, who can win those states. As a Californian, I'm kind of humble about, you know, telling those folks, you know, who they should nominate. We should have an open convention and figure out who that should be. But right now, we're on a losing path. And I think we got to get off it. TAPPER: Last night at the press conference, President Biden said that no one is telling him that he can't win. There is no indication that he can't win in November and no one is sharing with him data or saying to him, that he can't win. In your statement calling for him to step aside, you're right. And while the Biden campaign claims the post- debate, national polls remain relatively unchanged, polling in the swing states has worsened alarmingly. Are you worried that he's not being told by his advisers how dire the situation is? Or what do you think is going on? PETERS: I don't know. I mean, to me, that's astounding. I think the polling consensus among independent pollsters is that this was Donald Trump's race to lose before the debate. It's gotten worse than swing states. I don't think there's any debate about. There's no argument about that. And why he's not getting that message is not clear to me. Because that information is out there. And if I were in the campaign, or campaign that I was a part of or running, I would want to know that information as the candidate. So I hope that he's getting information. But if he's getting the truth, that's what he should be hearing. TAPPER: Congressman Scott Peters, California. Thank you so much, sir. Appreciate it. Coming up next, the other side of the 2024 race Republicans now just three days away from the started their convention in Milwaukee, coming up. What a second Trump term could meet for the federal court system nationwide and what that might mean for you. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) …