President Biden Drops Out; Endorses VP Harris - podcast episode cover

President Biden Drops Out; Endorses VP Harris

Jul 22, 202439 min
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Episode description

Amy King hosts your Monday Wake Up Call. ABC News White House correspondent Karen Travers starts the show talking about Biden dropping out of 2024 presidential race. ABC News correspondent Jordana Miller joins the show live from Jerusalem speaking on Netanyahu arriving in Washington DC today. Political commentator. Steve Roberts discusses what’s next for the Democratic Party. The show closes with ABC national correspondent Steven Portnoy speaking on Trump & GOP reaction to Biden dropping out.

Transcript

You're listening to KFI AM six forty wake Up Call with me Amy King on demand on the iHeartRadio app KFI and KOST HD two Los Angeles, Orange County. It's time for your morning wake up call. Here's Amy King. It's five o'clock. Stra right up, good morning. This is your wake up call for Monday, July twenty second. I'm Amy King. You ready for this? It was such a great, chill weekend. My best friend was in town. We got to go to dinner at Curtis Stone's restaurant. Gwen,

I'm gonna tell you a little bit about that. A little bit later on. We went to the Dodgers game on Saturdayday night. I think I might have shattered an ear drum. I'll tell you about that. But fabulous games, such a great weekend, and then yesterday ten forty five, the big news that you know, I think we were all expecting it, but were we? Because it was on again, off again, and of course President Biden created a political earthquake. So let's get to it. We're going

to have you covered for this. We've got lots and lots of information about what happened, what's coming next. Oh my goodness. The roller coaster ride continues, but we got you covered here on wake up Call, and we're glad you're starting your day with us. Here's what's ahead. President Biden has sent shock waves across the political world announcing on social media he's dropping out of

the twenty twenty four presidential race. The announcement came three weeks after a very bad debate performance against former President Trump and a diagnosis of COVID nineteen last week. The President said as he will focus on serving out the remainder of his term and endorsed Vice President Harris to become the nominee. He encouraged his party to unite behind her. Governor Newsom has gone ahead and endorsed Vice President Harris

to be the next presidential nominee. A lot of people were speculating that Newsom himself would get into the race, although publicly he always said he wouldn't. Pennsylvania Governor Joe Shapiro, another possible nominee, has also endorsed Harris to become the Democratic Party candidate. We're going to bring you the latest on the fallout and the future for the Democrats. We're going to be checking in with ABC's

Karen Travers at the White House in just a couple of minutes. At the bottom of the hour, Steve Roberts is going to tell us what's ahead as we are less than a month away from the Democratic National Convention and just one hundred and six days away from the election. And at five point fifty Stephen Portnoy with what the Republicans are saying about Biden's news and what they plan to do next. Let's get started with some of the stories coming out of the

KFI twenty four hour newsroom. President Biden is expected to give more details soon about his decision to drop out of the presidential race. ABC Selena Wang says it should happen sometime this week, not in the coming days. I'm told later in the week. And we did hear from the President's doctor today. He said he is still isolating, but his symptoms are improving significantly. Biden has been recovering from COVID at his beach house in Delaware. The Biden for

President campaign is now officially the Harris for President campaign. ABC's Mary Bruce says campaign aides have told her they've officially filed the paperwork in the last few hours. We are told for small dollar donors, they have raked in over twenty seven and a half million dollars. Harris has picked up some big name endorsements following the announcement of Biden's decision to end his run for reelection. ABC's Rick

Clines. Biden also announced his support for Harris yesterday and called on others to join him. They have locked down almost all of the major potential rivals, some of her biggest frenemies, even Gavin Newsom, Pete boudagees real big players in Democratic politics, all moving alway. Almost all of the members of the so called squad, including Alexandria Ocasio Cortes. Tennessee is the first state delegation to fully endorse Harris. During the conference call yesterday afternoon, the seventy seven

Democratic National Committee delegates from Tennessee voted unanimously to support her. Recent polls show a race between former President Trump and a vice President Harris would be close. A CNN poll of poll's average shows Trump with forty eight percent support to Harris's forty seven percent. Third party or independent candidates were not included in the polling average. Right now, let's check in with Karen Travers ABC's White House correspondent.

So, Karen, we're less than twenty four hours since the announcement that President Biden will not continue his campaign for reelection. Two days ago he said he was getting ready to hit the campaign trail again. So what's the latest. Yeah, the latest is a massive fundraising hall for the Harris for President

campie because now the Biden for President campaign committee was changed yesterday. According to an official filing, the campaign brought in nearly fifty million dollars in donations in the hours after the President announced that he was not seeking reelection and was endorsing Vice President Harris. So the campaign feels, you know, this is a sign of enthusiasm on their side for this change, of course, But it

was a move yesterday that sent Democrats scrambling. It surprised even the president's own campaign staff and the White House staff, and it certainly upended the race for the White House with just weeks before the Democratic National Convention and just over three months until election day. The President in that letter said that he believes it's in the best interests of his party in the country to stand down and to

focus solely on fulfilling his duties as president. For the remainder of his term. In a second post, he then gave his full support and endorsement for his vice president to be the nominee of the Democratic Party. He wrote, quote, Democrats, it's time to come together. Beat Trump. Let's do this, okay, And you mentioned that it was a surprise to just about every one. We heard that Kamala Harris didn't even know about it until just

right before the announcement was made. No, they talked multiple times yesterday. Sources told us they took several times throughout the day he let her know about this decision. So no, but he did speak at about one with his core group of senior staff telling him about this decision. And then it was just one minute later when he released that letter on social media. So when

was the decision made? Do we know? You know? We are told that the president on Saturday night began to come to this decision, and on Sunday he started making phone calls, including those multiple conversations with the vice president. The President, in his letter yesterday said that he would speak to the nation later this week to explain his decision. I think until we hear it directly from him, we have to wait and see exactly how this process played

out. But remember the President still his COVID right now, he's not even here at the White House. He's in Delaware, and we don't have a sense yet of when he would be coming back. He only said later this week he would be delivering those remarks. But you can imagine he's eager to be able to explain this talk to the American people, be surrounded by family, supporters, staff, and go out with his own remarks on this very

important political and personal topic for him. So the COVID diagnosis is maybe the reason that we haven't seen him. It's just so weird to hear that somebody is not going to continue to run for the presidency of the United States for reelection. In a note on social media, it's definitely the reason we haven't

seen him. I mean, he's isolating at his house in Delaware. We're told that, you know, he was meeting there presumably not in an unsafe environment with a very small group of senior staff as well as the first lady was out there. But you know, he has, according to his doctor, has been isolating because he still has COVID. Okay, and just from your experience, why would why release this on a Sunday, Like, what's the strategic region? Reason for that? I think the pressure was growing.

I think, you know, the pressure was increasing. Ultimately, we saw forty Democratic lawmakers come out and say that the president should step aside, and you know that number was not slowing down. Though yesterday we saw the president's allies out there on the political talk shows still saying he was in it to win it. The political reality was setting in for the president, as you know. Poles were certainly showing Americans very concerned about his age, and polls

showing he was not beating Donald Trump in the key battle ground states. Okay, ABC's Karen Travers never a dull moment, right, absolutely, all right, Thanks by Thanks so much for the update and the information this morning. Thanks all right, We've got lots more to share with you on the fallout from the decision, what's coming next, what the GOP response is. We're going to be talking to ABC Steve Roberts and the ABC Stephen Portnoy during wake

up call this morning, So stick around. We've got lots more coming. But let's get back now to some of the stories coming out of the KFI twenty four hour newsroom. Along with the political earthquake, there was a real earthquake in the South End yesterday afternoon. A three point five magnitude earthquake jolted Palace Verdi's Estates, about five miles from Redondo Beach. Hundreds of homes in

Riverside are being threatened by a fire that's burned about five hundred acres. Riverside Fire Deputy Chief Steve mckinster says the fire started around two yesterday afternoon in the area of Hayward and Drive and Mary Street in the Alessandro Heights neighborhood. We have estimated three destroyed structures with four damaged. Fifteen hundred homes are surrounding the

area. Those homes are under evacuation orders and evacuation center has been set up at the Orange Terrace Community Center. A fire burning between Lake Matthews and Corona in Riverside County has grown to more than sixteen hundred acres. It's twenty five percent surrounded. The fire was reported about two yesterday after so another fire starting around the same time near Cahalco and Eagle Canyon Roads. It quickly grew to

about seventy five acres and just kept spreading. Multiple air and ground resources were assigned. Evacuation orders have been downgraded to warnings. Riverside County fire crews have stopped a fast moving brush fire in El Cerrito. That fire also started yesterday. It burned through about one hundred and twenty five acres in the area of Los Sierra Avenue and ten Mine Road west of Lake Matthews. There were no

injuries. The largest wildfire in California has been seventy three percent surrounded. Fire crews continue to make progress against the fire that started back on July fifth in San Bernardino sorry Santa Barbara County. The fire has burned through forty thousand acres. Some evacuation orders have been lifted, but areas around Los Padres National Forest are still at risk from the wildfire. Part of Wilshire Boulevard could be closed

to cars to expand green space at MacArthur Park. The plan already has a two million dollar grant from the federal government and half a million from the Southern California Association of Governments. LA City Councilman Unsices Hernandez says the project would reconnect the park nearly one hundred years after Wilsher was paved through its middle. This

project is not just about closing the street to traffic. It's about opening up this neighborhood to the possibilities that come when we center people's needs over the needs of cars. The issues only being studied now, with neighborhood feedback to be collected starting next month in downtown La. Michael Monks KFI news Twisters has blown

away the competition at the box office. The sequel to the nineteen ninety six movie Twister Gosh thirty years ago almost has taken in more than eighty million dollars in its opening weekend. That's about thirty million dollars more than it was expected to make in weekend Number one, Despicable Me four finished second, adding almost twenty four million dollars to its three week total of two hundred and sixty million

dollars, and Inside Out was third. La Mayor Karen Bass, who was reported to be on board Biden's shortlist of possible VP candidates back in twenty twenty when she was a congresswoman, has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to be the new Democratic nominee for president. Of course, that news comes after President Biden announced yesterday that he is no longer running for reelection. Basses Harris leads with

strength, courage, and compassion. Republican Senator Rick Scott of Florida says he'll introduce a resolution this week urging the Cabinet to invoke the twenty fifth Amendment, which would lead to President Biden being removed from office. Senator Scott said Biden shouldn't be running the country if he can't run for reelection. Vice President Harris is going to be delivering remarks at an event celebrating National Collegiate Athletic Association championship

teams. It's happening on the White House South Lawn this morning at eight thirty our time. We'll see if she sticks to the script or talks about how she plans to, in her words, earn and win the Democratic Party nomine At six o five, it's handled on the news. The cash is coming in following Biden's announcement that he's not running any longer. What does that mean right now? Let's say good morning to ABC's Geordana Miller. Of course,

the President announced yesterday he's not going to run for reelection. The Democrats are scrambling to find out who their Canada be. Republicans are scrambling to figure out how to compete. But still there's the business of the country that needs to continue, and part of that is a visit by Israeli President Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. That's right, And he departed earlier today this morning local time, and said that he realizes he's coming to Washington, Washington under a time what

he calls great political uncertainty. And having said that, you know, the uncertainty of what's happening in the Democratic Party is something which actually you know is in a sense from the Tomielle himself, bad news. This means that instead of the Taielle thinking as any wiggle room with President Biden to perhaps you know, delay or ignore or somehow in his mind say well, you know, he's not going to be President Trump, so Trump's probably going to be then

a president. I'll just wait, I'll wait, I'll wait. Well, he can't really say that now, because you know, with Kamala Harris looking like the Democratic Party is supporting her and she will be the nominee, it's

a very different race. And Thetaell now is going to have to really take into consideration all the discussions about the guys of war with Biden, and he is meeting with Kamala Harris as well during this trip, and there's lots of questions about not only the direction of the war, what's happening, you know, after this war ends the ceasfire talk, you have an escalation now with the running backed rebels out of Yemen, as well as an escalation along Israel's

northern border. I mean, when Natania says he's coming to Washington and there's a lot of uncertainty, well that equally applies to Nataniel and all of the different facets of the war. So it's going to be a complicated visit for him. He's addressing both sessions of Congress on Wednesday, where he says he'll defend Israel's just war against Hamas, but it remains a very controversial war.

There will be some Democrats who will not attend that address, and we do expect there to be lots of protests in Washington, and not only pro Palestinian protesters, some Israelis who are also protesting why the Israeli Prime minister is in Washington when again, war is raging here in Israel and there's still one hundred and sixteen hostages in the clutches of Hamas. And by the way, just a couple hours ago, we learned that two of the hostages that is role

hoped we're still alive, have now been declared definitively dead. They now make up more than forty hostages who are dead leaving you know, a little more than seventy five who may be allotted, but really nothing is certain until they're back. Yeah, and I think you know, you're saying that there's going

to be protesting saying why is he here when the war rages on? Which I totally get that, But on the flip side, doesn't he kind of need to be here to try to shore up that support because we're giving them,

We're giving Israel a lot of money to fight this war. Well, it's interesting because initially I think Natagnielle saw this as an opportunity to hobnob with the Republicans and he may still on the download try to reach out to the Trump team, And so a lot of people here saw this as, you know, a step that Nautonnelle is doing with his eye on the next administration. I mean, he's had fights with Biden over this war, but they've

been resolved. He's sent people to Washington. They've had difficult phone conversations that

tell me out doesn't really need to go to Washington right now. But he, I think is also hoping it will help him politically, you know here domestic politics, because his right wing base likes to see him, you know, go to Washington and state Israel's case and and you know, prove that he is a world leader that you know, can have not with the Americans and sometimes even stand up you know, for Israel's right, Israel's positions when

they are in conflict with those in the American administration. So you know, that's that that is part of the reason why there's so much there's criticism about this, this trip to Washington, and there were protests here for for weeks before this visit to Washington. Was Vice President Harris scheduled to meet with Netanyahu? Or is that new because of the events of the last less than twenty four hours, So she was scheduled to meet with N'atagnielle before Biden's announcement.

Obviously, now it takes on a different kind of urgency, but yes, it was. It was on the books before but of course it's the meaning that looks very different. Now, Yeah, and was is he meeting with Trump or any plans for that? Well, we have heard, we were trying to confirm reports that he has reached out to the Trump team to try to at least have a phone call with Donald Trump, but we haven't been able to confirm that. I am, I'm working on it, but I

do. I do think that Natagnielle will make it a priority to reach out to the Trump folks. He'll do it through Jared Kushner, who is a longtime friend before Trump won the presidency back in twenty sixteen, with a family friend and still obviously in contact with Nathaniel Right, He's married to President Trump's daughter. Right. Okay, Jordana Miller, thank you so much for the update. We appreciate it and we'll be watching. Thank you all right,

talk soon. President Biden and former President Trump were supposed to have their second debate in September. Now Trump's campaign has to wait and see why or who the Democratic candidate is going to be. Republican National Committee chair Michael Watlace's former President Trump will take on any opposition, whether it's Kamala Harris or it's anybody else. They have doubled down on every single one of the policies that we've

seen the Biden and Harris administration adopt over the last four years. We're going to be talking with ABC Stephen Portnoy more about what the Republicans' next steps are coming up before the end of the hour. Watley says Trump lands on sticking to the script, talking directly to the American people about the issues they care about. He says the contrast could not be bigger news brought to you by

one eight hundred got junk. The director of the Secret Service set to testify before a House committee this morning about the attempted assassination of former President Trump. Secret Service director Kim Cheedle not expecting a friendly reception at her public house hearing many of the committee's Republican majority members demanding she resigned after the attempt on Donald Trump's life. ABC's Andy Field says Cheatle has said her agency would be transparent

and communicate with the people. She also said she plans on staying on as director of the Secret Service. Two people have been hurt in a shooting that happened during a street takeover in Compton. Video posted on social media by La County Sheriffs Unleashed shows cars spinning around in intersection last night when the rear of a dark car swung into the rear of a white car. The driver of the white car gets out and appears to fire a gun at the people in

the dark car. Two people later showed up at the hospital to be treated for gunshot wounds. The answer is the newest post office stamp what is? How is Alex Trebek being honored? This week? The US Postal Service will honor longtime Jeopardy host Alex Trebek on what would have been his eighty fourth birthday, the daytime Emmy Award winner died in twenty twenty from pancreatic cancer. The new first class Forever stamps design is in the form of a Jeopardy style question.

So I told you that we went out and about to Gwen the Steakhouse in Hollywood to talk to Curtis Stone. You can see that on my Instagram at Amy K. King. He cooked me the most delicious steak and so I thought, you know what, I need to go and have a dinner. So my best friend was in town. It was just her birthday. So we went to Gwen in Hollywood, and I got to tell you it

was so great delicious. We had steak, of course, but then we also had this amazing or cotton yoki and I don't even remember how to explain the corn dish, but it was to die for and we had an amazing dessert and it was just this great time. And you know, part of when we go out and about which I usually talk about on Thursdays, is to go and kind of discover things that you can find around LA because there's so many amazing things. And so I took my own advice and went out

and about to Gwenn. So if you're looking for something special, you know what, it's not an inexpensive evening, but it was so cool, and there's so many great restaurants around LA. So maybe save up a little bit go have a special dinner with a friend or a boyfriend or a girlfriend, or a husband or a wife, maybe even kids if they would behave themselves. But anyway, I wanted to say thanks again to the folks at Gwen.

That was an amazing, amazing experience. That is the Biden for President campaign has now become the Harris for President campaign, Harris is already reached out to supporters with a fundraising email. She said in the message that it's been the honor of a lifetime to serve along President Biden and that she's eager to run on the record of what she and Biden have accomplished together. Lawmakers from around southern California have been weighing in on the president's decision to get out of

the race for re election. Democratic Assemblyman Isaac Bryan of Culver City's comments were short and precise, the right decision, selfless, powerful, historic. The Democratic National Committee chair says her party will soon announced the next steps for the nomination process. Delegates will have to pick the party's nominee on the convention floor in Chicago in four weeks, or maybe during a virtual role call scheduled for the start of August at six oh five. It's handle of the news.

On the news, you're not gonna want to mishandle this morning. I'm guessing he'll be in rare form with the weekend events and his very interesting perspective and take on all of that. Right now, let's say good morning to ABC's Steve Robert. So, Steve, what everybody seems to be calling a political earthquakes kind of rocked the election. Of course, the president announcing he's stepping

aside. So the big question now is what happens next. Well, as you were indicating, Amy, I think it's almost certainly a done deal with Kamila Harris will be the party standard bearer three reasons. First of all, logistically, it's much easier, particularly in terms of transferring campaign funds to her, she was already on the ticket. Secondly, it's hard for me to see how the party passes over a black woman. Black women are the single

most loyal voting group in the Democratic Party. They vote ninety one percent for the ticket last time. If you passed her over, there would be splinters and fragments already, which is what you don't want. And third, there's no real obvious option. Sure, Gavin Newsom thinks he should be president, and there are half a dozen young governors and senators around the country who might be ready at some point, but there's no one obvious option to her.

So I think this is pretty much a done deal. And she is not anybody's ideal of a perfect candidate. When she ran herself for the presidency. She was a dismal candidate. She has not been, particularly in the beginning, a particularly successful vice president. But she has a couple of enormous advantages, starting with the fact that she ain't eighty one years old, and she didn't and she didn't daughter at the steps of Air Force one, and she

didn't disgrace herself at the debate. And he just doesn't have the same baggage that Joe Biden had. And really, this morning, amy with Democrats are feeling is a sense primarily of relief. They've been hitting themselves over the head of the hammer for a month and if you're doing that, when you stop hitting yourself, suddenly it feels really good. And that's where they are this morning. And I think that you have to under that Kamala Harris is not

going to attract a single vote from some Trump supporter. That's not what politics is about, particularly this year, given the fact that the elections last two have been so close determined on the margins in a few select states, California not being one of them. But she has the potential of energizing the party. She has the potential of getting people excited again. The single biggest problem Biden had was an intensity gap. Republicans were much more energized, much more

excited about their candidates than the Democrats were. And this morning the world looks a lot different to Democrats than it did this time yesterday. And they all you can say is that this is a potential game changer. But it's real, and she has the ability or at least the potential of getting people excited again after a month of deeply disappointing bad news. Yeah, and there's been

a very strong showing of support. People are saying she's our gal. She's the one they've raised like fifty million dollars in less than twenty four hours. But there's a couple of notable exceptions, Steve, and one of that is Hakeem Jefferies has not weighed in. Nancy Pelosi has not thrown her support behind Harris, and former President Obama hasn't spoken and supported her. He said thanks for her service, but he has an endorsed her. Yeah, but I

think this is only a matter of time, you know. I think they they I think that those party leaders wanted to. You know, there's there's an accusation that somehows everybody swarms to Harris that it's not democratic that there should be a more open process, but that's that's just cable TV talk. I think there's just no conceivable way, in my view, that the party will turn to anybody else. And again, while she's far from idea of people

in California, know that she does have some asset. She was elected statewide both as an attorney general and as a Senator in California. And I think what you're going to see in terms of She's basically going to be running on Biden's record, but with one significant difference. She's much better able to push the issue of abortion than Joe Biden ever was. Biden is a believing Catholic,

He's never been very comfortable with that issue. And think about this, amy at the Republican convention, what was the word that was never spoken? Abortion? Why? Because the Republicans know that is the single best issue the Democrats have. The Republicans want people to be thinking about inflation, they want them to think about gas and grocery prices, they want them to think about immigration. These are issues that work for the Republicans, but abortion works for

the Democrats. And she is going to be in a much stronger position, not just as a woman, but as someone who's comfortable with that issue in a way Biden never was. And when you think about it, Amy the Democrats cannot win the presidency without running up the score among female voters. They have to have a big majority, and this is an issue that Harris can go to the voters and say, look, elections matter, they have consequences.

And here is the most obvious, clear example. It was Donald Trump who appointed those three judges to the court, who overturned Roe v. Wade. Donald Trump in a second term, who can continue to appoint judges which who are going to erode your rights as women, not just about abortion, but on other issues as well, contraception and other key issues relating to women's

independence and autonomy. That's potentially, I keep using that word, potentially a game changer and can be a very powerful issue for UH and she is in a much better position to press that argument than Joe Biden would have been. Okay, Steve Roberts, thank you so much for your insight. Appreciated it, and I'm sure we'll be talking to you lots more in the coming weeks, I hope. So all right, take care when we come back.

The Republicans haven't wasted any time in reacting to the news that Biden is no longer running for reelection. ABC's Stephen Portnoy's going to be with us with what they're saying and what they're doing. Hey, one of the things I did over the weekend was go to a Dodgers game. It was fantastic. We stayed till the end. Every once in a while we duck out early. We got to see the team go into extra innings and then win after a nice little hit into the outfield by Will Smith. It was a fabulous game.

I think I have a shattered ear drum because there was this guy who was very nice behind me, but oh my gosh, he was loud. I mean, like screaming the whole time. I think somebody yelled up from the field that they could hear him. I mean it was crazy. So my ears are still recovering, but you know what worth every second, and tonight the Dodgers take on the Giants, with the first pitch going out at

seven o'clock. You can listen to every play of every Dodgers game on AM five to seven d the LA Sports Live from the Galpin Motors Broadcast Booth and you can stream all the games in HD on the iHeartRadio app Keyword AM five seventy LA Sports Vice President Kamala Harris's campaign says it raised nearly fifty million dollars in donations in the first fifteen hours. After President Joe Biden dropped out of the race for president and endorsed her, The Republican Party of Orange County was

quick to criticize President Biden's endorsement. Party statements said Democrats will be in chaos for the next four weeks until their convention starts in Chicago. With no nominee, it says Harris has failed up her entire career and has no place failing up to the highest office in the land. World leaders have offered their thanks and support to President Biden. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Biden's decision was

based on what he thinks is best for the American people. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albany's weighed in, and Ukraine's President Zelenski gave thanks for Biden's unwavering support in that country war against Russia. Of course, we're just minutes away from Handle on the news this morning. It's going to have lots to say about what happened less than twenty four hours ago. But right now, let's say

good morning to ABC's Stephen portnoy So. Steven minutes after the announcement was made that President Biden wouldn't be trying to get reelected, the Republicans started weighing in and firing back. What are they saying, Well, a whole bunch of different things. I mean, look, some of the initial statements had suggested

that Joe Biden ought to resigned from office. Now those calls have not intensified in the last eighteen hours or so, But I think it was the initial instinctive response to be like, well, if you can't run for reelection, then why is he serving another six more months. I don't know that Republicans, who are already nervous about running against Kamala Harris as vice president want to run against her as an incumbent president, But that would be the obvious outcome

if Joe Biden were to step out of the White House. So no sign of that. By the way. President said in his letter yesterday announcing he was not going to run again, that he would be focused solely on his commitment as president, his job as commander in chief. So look, it's

a brand new race this morning. Things are being recalibrated. The Democratic parties very quickly coalescing behind Kamala Harris. Last night on a Zoom call, they were reported to be forty five thousand African American women lining up behind Harris getting excited about her candidacy. And there is new enthusiasm on the left today with Joe Biden's departure from the race. Joe Biden is no longer the old man

in the running. Donald Trump is. And with Joe Biden stepping aside, it deprives the Republicans of the argument that Joe Biden is too old to serve. Now the argument can be made against Donald Trump. Yeah, it's amazing how quick that switch flips. I was watching some of the shows last night. Not everybody, but a couple we're saying, now, oh, just thought Donald Trump is too old to run, And I was like, okay, two days ago it was okay, the Biden was running well, right

exactly, So you were going to hear some of that. Look, when it comes to the issues and again, whether Harris is in fact going to be the nominee. It sir, it certainly looks that way. This morning, Republicans are preparing new lines of attack against her. Already, the leading pro Trump super pac MAGA Inc. Has a statement this morning describing Harris as a weak on crime prosecutor when she served to San Francisco's district attorney. The

group also says that Harris owns Joe Biden's quote open border. And you know, there are going to be some things that are going to be said about Harris's early career, other things about her record. And the Republicans are right now working on dossier's about possible running mates. And that's a lot of energy and effort that they're going to have to devote to preparing something in a relatively

short period of time. Let's see how it all plays out. I will say, so far, there's not really any kind of substantial opposition that's emerged in the last eighteen or nineteen hour to Kamala Harris becoming the new standard bearer of the party except Joe Manchin. The West Virginia Independent Senators were doing a round of interviews in which he's not entirely been consistent, but he has indicated that he's not interested in running for the nomination, but he believes there ought

to be some sort of competitive process. He does believe that Harris is too far left. So will someone else take up that mantle or will we see a nomination by acclamation within the next day or two? The Rules Committee on the Democratic side as we meeting later this week to establish a process going forward.

But it's pretty straightforward and simple that the nominee only needs to win a majority of the delegates of the convention, And the likelihood that someone's going to step forward to challenge Harris to such an extent that she would not be able to receive a majority on a first ballot, I think is very unlikely at this point. Well, yeah, and we were talking to Steve Roberts earlier and it was like, who would step in because Kamala Harris has that name

recognition that you some of the other people that I've heard. I'm like, yeah, I know who Gretchen Whitmer is. But Josh Dearborn, who has supported Harris already, is like, who has not Josh Shapiro. I think, sorry, Josh Shapiro, you're right, But it's like again saying because they don't have that name recognition. I don't even know who they are. Well, it's exactly right. And not only does Kamala Harris have name recognition as the sitting Vice president for the past three and a half years, she

also has access to the cash. Yeah, and already the Biden campaign is now legally known as Harris for President because they filed the paperwork with the Federal Election Commission last night. She's a right, she's able to continue spending the more than two hundred million dollars that has been collected in a joint fundraising committee

with the DNC. There's no complication to any of that. If someone else were to emerge, there would be complications with moving some of that money around, and it would be limited as to how much could be spent on another candidate. So that certainly weighs in Harris's favor. And when Donald Trump last Saturday, just the night before last, standing at a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, put the question to his own supporters who they would rather see

him run against. The obvious favorite was Joe Biden. Yeah, there was like a he said, should I run against Kamala And there was sort of a spattering of applause, But then he said Biden and the crowd went wild. There has to be a recognition amongst Trump supporters that Biden is easier to beat. There must be a bit more nervousness, skittishness, apprehension on the part of Republicans because all of a sudden, the abortion issue rises to the

forefront. Young women get instantly energized and activated in a way they wouldn't have been for Joe Biden. And so now it's a totally different race with brand new vulnerabilities for the Republican ticket. Yeah, and then, like you mentioned, it sort of changes everything because right at this moment, it looks like it will probably be Kamala Harris. But right now Trump doesn't know who he's going to debate, and Vance isn't debating Kamala any longer, no matter what

happens. Well, that's right, and so you know, it's sort of a big Q question mark is to how debates will be happening. I mean, we really don't know. Last night, the former president put out on social media that the ABC News debate, which was scheduled for September twelfth, is now a question mark because well, he has his own motivations for it. I don't want to repeat it, but the bottom line is, you know, there are big question marks hanging over this, and it's funny because

I know we only have a few seconds. The Democrats had suggested that August twelfth would be a great day for the vice president's debate. The Republicans said, no, it wouldn't be fair because we don't know who the nominee will be. And that was a bit of snark and a bit of trolling that has borne out to be true. Yeah, all right, well, never a dull moment, and we were happy to have you along to help us sort everything out. Thank you, Stephen Port, and I have a great

day you too. All right. This is KFI and kosd HD two Los Angeles, Orange County. We lead local live from the KFI twenty four hour newsroom. I'm Amy King. This has been your Monday wake up call, and have you missed any of wake up call? Have missed a lot, so much great information from our ABC partners about what's next for the Republicans and the Democrats now that President Biden is out. You can listen to it anytime on the iHeartRadio app. You've been listening to Wake Up Call with me Amy

King. You can always hear Wake Up Call five to six am Monday through Friday on KFI AM six forty, and anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app

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