MORE THAN THREE WEEKS AGO. WE’RE JOINED NOW BY DEMOCRATIC POLITICAL ANALYST MARIANNE MARSH. SHE HAS BEEN WITH US ALL WEEKEND, AND SHE’S GOING TO HELP US BETTER UNDERSTAND HOW THIS WILL IMPACT THE ELECTION MOVING FORWARD. ALL RIGHT, MARIANNE, WE’VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT THIS FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS NOW. WOULD IT HAPPEN? IT SEEMS LIKE THE TEMPERATURE GOES UP. THE TEMPERATURE GOES DOWN. WELL, OF COURSE IT FINALLY HAPPENED. THIS AFTERNOON. UM, TAKE US BEHIND THE SCENES A LITTLE BIT INTO WHAT WENT INTO THIS DECISION, BECAUSE WE KNOW THERE WERE A COUPLE OF FACTIONS, AT LEAST FROM REPORTING IN THE NEW YORK TIMES AND OTHER PLACES OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY THAT WERE WORKING BEHIND THE SCENES, MOST NOTABLY THE FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI. YEAH. AND I WOULD INCLUDE, UH, BARACK OBAMA AND THEN THAT AS WELL, AND SOME OTHERS. SO WE’VE TALKED ABOUT IT THIS MORNING ON OTR. WE’VE TALKED ABOUT IT THROUGHOUT THE WEEK. THERE HAS BEEN A CAMPAIGN FOR OVER THREE WEEKS NOW TO PRESSURE JOE BIDEN TO MAKE THE DECISION NOT TO RUN FOR REELECTION. AND THEY CAME IN CONVERSATIONS LARGE AND SMALL, ALL OF THEM BEHIND THE SCENES. BUT YOU REALLY STARTED TO TAKE NOTE THAT AFTER THE NATO LET ME BACK UP A LITTLE BIT, NANCY PELOSI ON MORNING JOE SAID WHEN ASKED IF SHE WANTED JOE BIDEN TO RUN. SHE SAID, I WANT HIM TO MAKE A DECISION. THE COUNTER TO THAT WAS HE MADE A DECISION. HE SAID, HE’S RUNNING. SHE GOES, I WANT HIM TO DO WHAT HE WANTS TO DO. AND THAT SET INTO MOTION A WHOLE NOTHER LEVEL OF PRESSURE AND YOU COULD SEE IT THERE WERE MEETINGS WITH WITH SCHUMER. THERE WERE MEETINGS WITH NANCY PELOSI. THE MEETING THAT CAUGHT MY EYE WAS AFTER JOE BIDEN HAD HIS PRESS CONFERENCE POST NATO. UM, CONVENTIONAL NATO MEETING AT 9:00 THAT NIGHT AT THE WHITE HOUSE. HE MET WITH HAKEEM JEFFRIES. SO THE MESSAGE FROM PELOSI, JEFFRIES, SCHUMER AND BEHIND THE SCENES, OBAMA. YEAH, HE COULD NOT WIN. HE COULD NOT DO IT. THEY LOOKED AT ALL THE POLLING AND FELT THAT HE COULD NOT HE WAS NOT THE PERSON TO DEFEAT DONALD TRUMP. AND THERE WAS NOTHING MORE IMPORTANT THAN DEFEATING DONALD TRUMP. A LOT TO GET TO THERE IN ONE FOR ONE SECOND, THOUGH. YOU MENTIONED FORMER PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA. UM, THIS WILL NOW HAVE BEEN THE SECOND PRESIDENTIAL RACE THAT HE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR, KIND OF EASING JOE BIDEN OUT OF. WE CAN GO BACK TO 2015, 2016, UM, YES. PRESIDENT BIDEN HAD JUST LOST HIS SON, BEAU. THE FAMILY WAS DEVASTATED. THERE WAS A SENSE THAT HE WANTED TO GET INTO THAT RACE AGAINST HILLARY CLINTON FOR THE DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION. THE QUESTION IS, HAD HE DONE THAT, WOULD HE HAVE WON THE DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION? AND COULD HE HAVE BEATEN DONALD TRUMP IN THE FIRST PLACE? HOW CONFIDENT ARE THE OBAMA AND PELOSI CAMPS THAT THIS IS THE RIGHT MOVE THIS TIME AROUND, WHEN IT MIGHT NOT HAVE BEEN EIGHT YEARS AGO? WELL, WE DON’T KNOW IF HE WOULD. HE WOULD HAVE WON. WE? THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO PREDICT. WHAT WE DO KNOW IS THE FACT THAT JOE BIDEN WAS ABLE TO BEAT DONALD TRUMP IN 2020, SAVE EVERYBODY FROM COVID, SAVE THE COUNTRY, SAVE OUR DEMOCRACY, COME TO 2024. THAT DIDN’T SEEM TO BE THE CASE GOING FORWARD. SO YOU NOW SEE THE DEMOCRAT, THE LEADERSHIP OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IN OFFICE AND OUT AND NO LONGER IN OFFICE TRYING TO STEER THIS ELECTION. YOU SAW A LOT OF BLOWBACK FROM THE BIDEN PEOPLE, BIDEN TEAM UP AGAINST EXACTLY WHAT YOU SAID BEN THAT IN TRYING TO PUSH HIM OUT. WELL, THEY THEY WERE SO SMART. LOOK WHAT HAPPENED THE LAST TIME HE DID IT. SO OBVIOUSLY, JOE BIDEN’S MADE THE DECISION THAT IT’S NO LONGER HIS TIME TO RUN FOR REELECTION. HE’LL FINISH OUT HIS TERM, AND HE HAS ENDORSED KAMALA HARRIS TODAY, WHICH IS NO SMALL THING. SO THAT’S THAT HAS REALLY SET IN MOTION GOING FORWARD TO THE NOVEMBER ELECTION. JOE BIDEN HAS NOT ONLY DID HIS STATEMENT AND SAID HE WAS NOT RUNNING, BUT THEN IN A SEPARATE STATEMENT SAID THAT HE WOULD ENDORSE KAMALA HARRIS. AND YOU’VE SEEN OTHERS COME OUT SINCE THEN ENDORSING HIM. THE CLINTONS HAVE BOTH ENDORSED HER. THE CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS HAS ENDORSED HER, AND THE FOUNDATION OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY. IF YOU WANT TO WIN ANYTHING, ARE BLACK VOTERS AND WOMEN, AND THEY ARE ALL ENRAGED. THIS YEAR ABOUT DONALD TRUMP, THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IS UNITED ABOUT DEFEATING DONALD TRUMP AND ABORTION HAS MADE WOMEN EVEN MORE ANGRY. SO YOU CAN FEEL THE MOMENTUM SHIFTING AFTER A THREE WEEK CAMPAIGN TO ALMOST FOUR TO GET HIM TO STEP DOWN. ALL THAT MOMENTUM IS NOW SHIFTING TO GETTING KAMALA HARRIS THE NOMINATION. IN AUGUST, A COUPLE OF DAYS AGO, NANCY PELOSI SAID THAT SHE FAVORED AN OPEN PROCESS. UM, DO YOU HAVE ANY DOUBT THAT THAT’S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN? AND KAMALA HARRIS IS GOING TO BE THE NOMINEE? WELL, THERE’S GOING TO BE A VOTE AT THE CONVENTION NO MATTER WHAT. THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN IF JOE BIDEN HAD STAYED THE DELEGATES ARE GOING THERE TO REPRESENT VOTERS IN THEIR DISTRICTS THAT THEIR DELEGATES FROM TO CAST THAT VOTE, JOE BIDEN’S NOT ON THE TICKET ANYMORE, BUT WHEN THEY VOTED FOR DELEGATE, IT WAS THE BIDEN-HARRIS TICKET. SO I, I MEAN, WE’LL SEE IF ANYONE GETS IN AND TRIES TO TAKE HER ON AT THE CONVENTION. BUT I THINK THIS IS MORE TO DEMONSTRATE THAT KAMALA HARRIS WASN’T HAND-PICKED FOR THE NOMINATION. THEY WANT EVERYONE, THE PEOPLE’S VOICE, TO BE HEARD THROUGH THE DELEGATES AT THE CONVENTION TO NOMINATE HER FORMALLY AND I THINK THAT WOULD HELP HER COME OUT OF THIS EVEN STRONGER. ALL RIGHT. LET’S TALK ABOUT THE NUMBERS. KAMALA HARRIS, IF SHE IS THE NOMINEE, WOULD HAVE ACCESS TO ABOUT $91 MILLION THAT THE BIDEN CAMPAIGN CURRENTLY HAS IN THE BANK. UM, BUT YOU AND I BOTH KNOW THIS ELECTION IS GOING TO COME DOWN TO THREE STATES PENNSYLVANIA, MICHIGAN AND WISCONSIN. WHAT POLLS ARE OUT THERE, IF THERE ARE ANY THAT SHOW HER DOING BETTER THAN PRESIDENT BIDEN? BECAUSE THIS IS KIND OF WHAT HAS, YOU KNOW, CAUSED THIS PANIC IN THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY. HE’S DOWN BY ANYWHERE FROM TWO OR 3 TO 5 POINTS IN THOSE THREE STATES. IS SHE DOING BETTER? WELL, I MEAN, AND THAT’S NOT MUCH. THAT’S AN ORGANIZATIONAL THING THAT YOU CAN OVERCOME. BUT WHERE BIDEN WAS DOWN ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE POINTS HARRIS FOR THE MOST PART IS UP ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR. SO THIS IS GOING TO BE AN ELECTION ON THE MARGINS. NO MATTER WHAT. AND SO IT IS THIS IS NOT WITHOUT RISK. LET’S BE CLEAR. BUT I THINK FEAR IS WHAT’S DRIVING THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY. AND MOST VOTERS THAT DONALD TRUMP COULD GET BACK IN THE WHITE HOUSE AND THERE WAS A FEAR THAT JOE BIDEN WASN’T GOING TO BE ABLE TO BEAT HIM. OR IF HE HAD ANOTHER EPISODE LIKE THE DEBATE WHICH GOT US TO THIS POINT IN OCTOBER, THAT THAT COULD HAVE BEEN FATAL. SO IT’S IT’S DEFINITELY ON KAMALA HARRIS NOW TO PERFORM AND STEP UP, YOU KNOW, AS EMILY AND I SAW AND HEARD YESTERDAY IN PROVINCETOWN THAT DEFINITELY IS THERE LOTS OF ENTHUSIASM THE BIDEN CAMPAIGN HAS RAISED $5 MILLION JUST IN THE FIRST HOUR AFTER THE ANNOUNCEMENT CAME OUT THAT HE WAS NO LONGER RUNNING. YOU SEE PEOPLE COMING OUT TO ENDORSE HER. SO THE MOMENTUM IS THERE. SHE’S PERFORMED BETTER IN THE LAST FEW WEEKS, UM, IN PUBLIC EVENTS. AND I THINK SHE’S GOING TO CONTINUE TO DO THAT BECAUSE BECAUSE EVERYTHING IS AT STAKE. AND I GOT TO GET YOU ON ONE MORE TOPIC. SO IF SHE IS THE NOMINEE, UH, WHO’S HER RUNNING MATE? WHO DOES SHE PICK AS VP? DO YOU GO, UH, KIND OF THE TRADITIONAL OPPOSITE. DO YOU PICK ESSENTIALLY WHITE MALE, IF YOU WILL, OR DO YOU GO, YOU KNOW, YOU MENTIONED IT’S A CERTAINLY A YEAR WHERE WOMEN, UM, WANT TO MAKE THEIR VOICES HEARD. YOU GO WITH SOMEONE LIKE. A GRETCHEN WHITMER OF MICHIGAN AND SAY, LOOK, THE REPUBLICANS HAVE TWO MEN. HERE WE ARE WITH TWO WOMEN. HOW DIFFERENT COULD WE BE? YEAH. SO THAT THE THE TWO WOMEN, UH, MODEL WOULD BE THE CLINTON GORE MODEL, WHERE YOU DOUBLE DOWN ON WHO YOU ARE, THE PICK OF THE OPPOSITE OF YOU IS YOU PICK A WHITE MALE WHO MAYBE A GOVERNOR OF ANOTHER STATE. NOW, HERE’S THE IRONY IN ALL THIS. PENNSYLVANIA, MICHIGAN, WISCONSIN, WISCONSIN. PUT IT OVER HERE. JOSH SHAPIRO IN PENNSYLVANIA, YOU’VE GOT GRETCHEN WHITMER IN MICHIGAN. THOSE TWO ARE PRETTY MUCH ON EVERYBODY’S LIST. THE OTHER NAME THAT’S ON THE LIST IS MARK KELLY. IN ARIZONA, A UNITED STATES SENATOR. SO THERE’S LOTS OF OPTIONS THERE. SHE’S GOT SOME TIME. BUT I THINK I THINK GIVEN HOW CLOSE THIS RACE IS GOING TO BE, NO MATTER WHAT, EVERY LITTLE THING MAKES A DIFFERENCE. PICKING SOMEONE TO BE ON THE TICKET WHO COULD NOT ONLY BECOME PRESIDENT IF NECESSARY, BUT DELIVER ONE OF THOSE STATES IS PRETTY IMPORTANT. ROY COOPER IN NORTH CAROLINA, HE ALSO ON THE LIST YOU THINK, UM, YOU KNOW, THOSE THE NAMES YOU AND I’VE TALKED ABOUT THIS BEN THE NAMES YOU HEAR ARE SHAPIRO, WHITMER, COOPER, BESHEAR, UM, GOVERNOR OF KENTUCKY, ANDY BESHEAR. EXACTLY. DEMOCRATS AREN’T GOING TO WIN KENTUCKY. BESHEAR IS. I MEAN, IMPRESSIVE WIN THERE AS GOVERNOR, A DEMOCRAT WINNING IN KENTUCKY. NORTH CAROLINA IS ON THE BUBBLE AGAIN THIS YEAR. COULD COOPER BRING IT OVER? BUT BOY, A