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Biden and Netanyahu to Meet in D.C.; Biden's Post-Debate Crisis Grows; Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) is Interviewed about Biden; Barbecues Reach Record-High Cost. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired July 03, 2024 - 09:30   ET

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

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[09:32:04]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: New this morning, a source telling CNN, President Biden is expected to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later this month when Netanyahu is in Washington to address Congress. U.S. and Israeli officials are still hammering out logistical details. A ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas has been stalled, as you know, for weeks and months.

With us now, CNN's Paula Hancocks.

What are you hearing about this meeting that is - they're trying to work out when Netanyahu comes to the U.S.?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sara, it's really going to be key when it comes to this ceasefire hostage deal. We know that the whole process at this point appears to have been stalled. And we know that just about ten days ago the Israeli prime minister was speaking in - to the Israeli media saying he wanted a partial deal with Hamas, which would release some of the hostages, leaving the door open to be able to go back into Gaza and finish off Hamas afterwards, as he would like to keep his word and destroy Hamas completely. That has since been walked back by his prime minister's office. But we haven't heard a full endorsement from the Israeli prime minister really when it comes to this complete ceasefire in Gaza.

Now, we know that also the relations between the Biden administration and Netanyahu have been fraught at best over recent weeks, not least because Mr. Netanyahu was also accusing the Biden administration of withholding weapons from Israel, which Biden administration officials had rejected, saying they weren't sure what he was talking about. It was really only the heavy bombs that they didn't want to provide Israel at this point as they were operating in very densely populated areas.

So, there are a couple of key issues that the two well have to talk about at this point. And there have been very public spats between the two of them. We have seen frustration building on both sides.

But really when it comes to what the Israeli prime minister is coming to Washington with, he has a lot of pressure back home in Israel. He has thousands upon thousands coming out onto the streets calling for him to sign this deal.

SIDNER: Yes, we will be interested to see what the meeting looks like and what is said because there is such tension between the president and the prime minister of Israel.

Thank you so much, Paula Hancocks, appreciate it, there live for us from Abu Dhabi.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Sara, there is brand new polling just in that does shed some light on why President Biden might be fighting so hard to stay in the presidential race.

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[09:39:20]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: So, a growing number of voters want President Biden to drop out of the race after his poor showing at last week's debate. This is coming from new numbers out this morning in a CBS News poll. How does this all add - add, though, to the overall picture of what Biden is up against at this moment and can he make it through?

CNN's Harry Enten is here and he's been looking at that. Adding it all together and your own analysis of what you're looking at, how are Democrats feeling from the numbers available about Biden right now?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Yes, people forgot to tell Democrats, if they want - folks want Joe Biden to drop out, they forgot to tell Democratic voters that he should drop out, all right.

So, this is a Reuters/IPSOS poll that is out in the last 24 hours, should Joe Biden leave the presidential race after the debate?

Look, overall, yes, the majority of Americans, 56 percent, say, yes, he should leave the race.

[09:40:05]

But look among Democrats, this is Joe Biden's base. This is why he is the president. They nominated him back in 2020. They nominated him again in 2024. Sixty-six percent of Democrats say, no, he should not leave the race. And, of course, it's going to be these Democratic voters who put the pressure on their members of Congress, their governors, the elected officials, party actors, to try and get Biden to leave.

At this particular point though, the Democratic activists are not necessarily going to put the pressure on Joe Biden because the fact of the matter is, most Democratic voters, two-thirds of them, want Joe Biden to stay in this race. They don't want him to quit, Kate.

BOLDUAN: But how does - so how does this compare in what you can compare to in terms of past incumbents who then decided to not run for re-election?

ENTEN: Right. You know there are two incumbents who were going to potentially run and then decided to get out. In 1952 it was Harry S. Truman. In 1968 it was Lyndon Baines Johnson. So, look, they quit before the nominations were decided, right? They quit as the primary season was going on.

This is the choice for nominee for - before incumbents quit. Look, in 1952 with Harry S. Truman, look at this, he was well below 50 percent. He was just at 31 percent. He was losing the primaries to Estes Kefauver at 35 percent. But look at that, 31 percent. That is way - way, way low. Just 66 percent of Democrats right now want Joe Biden to stay in the race. This was just 31 percent for Truman back in '52.

How about Lyndon Johnson in '68. After RFK entered the race, RFK was leading in the Democratic primary with 44 percent. Look at this, LBJ was just getting 41 percent of the Democratic vote. This is - these numbers are far worse than what Joe Biden is facing right now among the Democratic electorate.

Yes, overall voters want him to leave, but Democratic voters like Joe Biden. The numbers Joe Biden's getting right now don't look anything like the last two times the Democratic incumbents decided, you know what, it's time for me to step aside.

BOLDUAN: If this landscape is not what Joe Biden is looking at, is there a scenario that Joe Biden - what Joe Biden's up against is more - more like?

ENTEN: Yes, how about the last incumbent who had approval ratings about as bad as Joe Biden did among the overall electorate. Think he should quit the presidential race. Back in 1992, remember George H.W. Bush faced Pat Buchanan. That primary, it wasn't too serious. He won all the primaries, but there was still some inkling for him to get out of the race. But this polling was taken after he was the presumptive nominee. Twenty-four percent of Republicans thought that George H.W. Bush should get out of the race. Compare that now, 32 percent of Democrats think that Joe Biden should get out of the race. These numbers look a lot more comparable than the '52 or the '68 scenario.

Look, this number could change. This number could go up. But at this particular point, the numbers that Joe Biden is facing amongst his base look a lot more like 1992 when George H.W. Bush not only stayed in the race but he ran hard. Obviously lost that November to Bill Clinton.

BOLDUAN: Right.

ENTEN: But this number looks a lot more like an incumbent who's going to stay in the race than one who's going to get out.

BOLDUAN: Very interesting in this moment in time.

ENTEN: We'll see what happens days and weeks down the road.

BOLDUAN: Thanks, Harry. ENTEN: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: Sara.

SIDNER: All right, thank you both.

The Biden campaign is pushing back against questions about the president's mental fitness and knocking down, or trying to, those calls for him to drop out of the race.

Joining me now is Democratic Congressman Robert Garcia of California, Long Beach in particular. You are on the Biden campaign national advisory board. Thank you so much for joining us this morning.

This is - you know, it's a tough morning. There's a lot of reporting going on. We've got reporting from CNN that some Democrats have been demanding President Biden get out of the presidential race this week. We've seen congressional Democrats having grievance fests over Biden during a preplanned meeting. That is according to "Axios."

You are on the campaign advisory board. Are members of the campaign freaking out this morning?

REP. ROBERT GARCIA (D-CA): Look, there's - there's - no one's freaking out. I think what's really important is that people are united behind the Biden-Harris ticket. Obviously, the president did not have a great debate night. I think everyone recognizes that.

But remember, Joe Biden is the one person that has beat Donald Trump. And we're also looking at the same number that you all just looked at right now. The reality is that the base of the Democratic Party, the grassroots of the Democratic Party is behind Joe Biden. And it's not just the polling you just went through. Look at the fundraising. The campaign had the single largest fundraising day right after the debate. Within hours of the debate, we broke our fundraising records. And so people are uniting behind Joe Biden.

Look, people are going to have some different opinions. I understand. People want to beat Donald Trump. And so folks are going to feel very passionate in this moment. But I think that you - as the days ahead move forward, you're going to see the party once again harden behind Joe Biden. We are going to beat Donald Trump. And Joe Biden has the record and the agenda to do it.

SIDNER: Congressman, is nobody concerned in the campaign about this? We're seeing so much reporting that there is a great deal of concern about whether Joe Biden can win considering not just what happened during the debate, but after the debate.

[09:45:02]

There are people now coming forward saying he's having cognitive issues, he's having trouble dealing with his everyday work.

GARCIA: I strongly believe the campaign has always been prepared, first of all, for a really tough election. The campaign's been saying since day one this was going to be a close race. That has been now for over the course of the last year. In any campaign you are going to have tough weeks. You're going to have tough days. And so of course the campaign, all of us, everyone is listening to what's happening on the ground, to what members of Congress are saying, to what our voters are telling us.

But let's be crystal clear, the base of the party has nominated Joe Biden to be the nominee. Millions of people have nominated across this country for the Biden-Harris ticket. That's who's going to the convention. And of course folks are giving their perspective, their opinion. The campaign, rightly so, will make adjustments, like they always do. But we have the person that has lowered the cost of health care, is fighting for abortion rights, standing up for marginalized people. That is our nominee. We're proud of Joe Biden. And I'm personally behind him 100 percent.

SIDNER: I want you to listen to this argument from Democratic Representative Lloyd Doggett, who just spoke to our John Berman. He's, of course, out of Texas. And the first elected Democrat to really break ranks and come out publicly and say, look, the president needs to stop running.

Here's what he said.

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REP. LLOYD DOGGETT (D-TX): My concern is that a criminal and his gang are about to take over our government and we may never get it back. What we need is the enthusiasm and the excitement that has been missing there that President Biden has lagged for a year behind Trump. The debate, instead of adding momentum, added disappointment and disillusionment. The idea of having a new person who might excite all those double haters, that there's another alternative out there, can bring us together, would give us a much better chance in the fall.

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SIDNER: He also argued that Democrats down-ballot are concerned and may pull away, worrying that Biden might hurt their chances.

How do you respond?

GARCIA: I respect, obviously, people's different opinions. And Lloyd is a great colleague.

The one person that has defeated Donald Trump in this entire world is named Joe Biden. Joe Biden has won, rightfully so, the nomination of millions of grassroot Democrats across this country. The idea that somehow we are going to discard the voters of this country, we're going to discard the Democratic base for this country, I think is - is not productive.

We are uniting behind our nominee and our vice presidential nominee. He has the record to defeat Donald Trump. I think, obviously, you're going to hear a lot directly from Joe Biden in the days ahead through interviews, through rallies, through events. And I think, as we move forward, the important thing to focus on, if Lloyd - this part of Lloyd is correct, we all want to defeat Donald Trump. He's a danger to democracy. He wants to be an imperial president. And the person to defeat Donald Trump is going to be the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris ticket.

SIDNER: But it doesn't sound like that all the Democrats are united behind Joe Biden, although they are not all coming out publicly. But it isn't just the Democratic Congress members and insiders. Voters are starting to share some of the same sentiment.

You did see that two-thirds of Democrats - Democratic voters want him to stay. But if you look at this CBS/YouGov poll that just came out, about 69 percent, nearly seven in ten people polled said Biden shouldn't actually run for president.

As his campaign adviser, how can Joe Biden win the presidency when you see numbers like that, knowing how close, how tight this race has been polling this whole time with mostly Donald Trump being up?

GARCIA: We're - we're going to remind voters every day that Donald Trump is a danger to democracy and to our country. And we're going to look at the fact that the grassroots, that Democratic voters in this country want Joe Biden to be in this race, they want him to stay in this race and they want him to fight like hell to win.

And like Joe Biden said, and he just recently said, when you are knocked down, you get back up and continue to fight. That has been the story of Joe Biden's political life, of his personal life, and he's been there for this country, and we are going to be there for him.

And let's be clear, we have months - we have months before the election. And we're going to spend every single day reminding voters that Donald Trump wants to destroy our democracy and be an imperial president. That is going to be the contrast. And there is going to be a binary choice this November. And I recommend all folks to get engaged, get involved, and we're going to work very hard to ensure that Joe Biden beats Donald Trump.

SIDNER: You're not worried at all about Joe Biden as the next presidential candidate for the Democrats?

GARCIA: Oh, they're - first of all, we should all be worried every single day about Donald Trump. And of course every single campaign - there isn't a campaign in recent memory that we're not all concerned and worried about how elections go.

[09:50:02]

I think that's natural.

We are - and, of course, as a party, right now we are - of course there are folks that are concerned. I understand that. We also had a bad debate. I understand that. But the important thing is we have a nominee elected by the Democratic voters of this country. He is our nominee. We're going to get behind him and we're moving forward to beat Donald Trump.

SIDNER: All right, Congressman Garcia, thank you so much for coming on.

We'll be right back.

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BERMAN: Hopefully you have barbecue plans over the next few days. What will prices be like?

CNN's Matt Egan, happy anniversary, is here with the numbers.

Hello, sir.

[09:55:00]

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: John, I don't know about you, but I love grilling on Fourth of July. You've got to come over to Jersey. Best burgers in Jersey. At least that's what I call my burgers.

But, yes, the cost to grill is going up. The American Farm Bureau estimates the average for a ten-person cookout, $71. That's 5 percent more than last year, 30 percent more than before Covid. And, yes, this would be a record high.

When you look at why that is, it's because people spend a lot of money on meat, and those prices have gone up. Ground beef, 11 percent more expensive than last year. Pork up 8 percent.

But look, this is not all bad news. Prices for some items, like cheese and strawberries, barely budgeting. Chicken actually down. Potato salad as well. So, that's good news.

And when you were - if you were to adjust for inflation, the American Farm Bureau actually says that prices are down from the record two years ago. So, that's a relief.

BERMAN: So, in real terms, kielbasa prices are down.

EGAN: In real terms. In real terms. Exactly.

BERMAN: What about sausage?

EGAN: I'm not sure.

BERMAN: All right.

SIDNER: Just eat tofu and grill that.

BOLDUAN: (INAUDIBLE).

BERMAN: (INAUDIBLE).

Always does.

SIDNER: Wow, Kate.

BERMAN: All right, happy - happy anniversary. BOLDUAN: No. I - stop.

EGAN: Thank you, John.

BERMAN: Happy anniversary.

BOLDUAN: It - that's - gosh darn it, Sara, we're going now.

SIDNER: (INAUDIBLE), Kate.

BOLDUAN: Quickly.

Thank you so much - sorry, Matt. Thank you for being here.

Thank you so much for joining us. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. "CNN NEWSROOM" is up next.

Sara Sidner. I said -

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