Kamala Harris, Democracy.
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00:00We are coming on the air as Vice President Kamala Harris is delivering remarks at the
00:16White House.
00:17This is an event that we are taking because these are her first public remarks following
00:21President Biden's announcement that he will not seek re-election in this campaign and
00:25he has endorsed Harris for the Democratic presidential ticket.
00:29Now let's listen to what Harris said just a few moments ago from the South Lawn.
00:34Members of Congress, members of our administration and our extraordinary athletes.
00:39Our President Joe Biden wanted to be here today.
00:42He is feeling much better and recovering fast and he looks forward to getting back on the
00:46road and I wanted to say a few words about our President.
00:50Joe Biden's legacy of accomplishment over the past three years is unmatched in modern
00:56history.
00:57In one term he has already, yes you may clap, in one term he has already surpassed the legacy
01:10of most Presidents who have served two terms in office.
01:14And I first came to know President Biden through his son Beau.
01:18We worked together as Attorneys General in our states and back then Beau would often
01:23tell me stories about his dad.
01:26He would talk about the kind of father and the kind of man that Joe Biden is.
01:32The qualities that Beau revered in his father are the same qualities that I have seen every
01:39day in our President.
01:42His honesty, his integrity, his commitment to his faith and his family, his big heart
01:50and his love, deep love of our country.
01:54And I am first-hand witness that every day our President Joe Biden fights for the American
02:02people and we are deeply, deeply grateful for his service to our nation.
02:14And so with that on behalf of our President, I'm honored to welcome him to the White House.
02:20You can see over the Vice President's shoulder there a Colorado Ski Team t-shirt.
02:24This is an NCAA student athlete event, an event for champions.
02:28We would not normally take this event but these are not normal times.
02:32Her first remarks since being endorsed by Joe Biden as the next President, if the country
02:38will have her, what did you make of the Vice President's initial remarks?
02:43It's a real passing of the torch moment here on the White House South Lawn, Tony, that's
02:48for sure.
02:49This is an event that the President himself was supposed to be headlining.
02:53It is being led instead by the Vice President, not because she is now the presumptive nominee
02:57but because the President has COVID and is in isolation in Delaware as he recovered.
03:04So she agreed a few days ago to take over here and obviously the elephant in the room
03:09is that yesterday the President announced that he would step aside, that he would not
03:13seek his party's nomination.
03:15He endorsed her and so it was impossible for her to allow this moment pass, which as you
03:21point out, doesn't have much to do with politics.
03:24It's about NCAA athletes, male and female, who were victorious over the past year.
03:29But she, without campaigning, made some very generous remarks about the President.
03:35Now as far as campaigning goes, we did just learn that she is headed to Wilmington, Delaware
03:40to campaign headquarters this afternoon.
03:43No longer Biden-Harris campaign headquarters, but Harris campaign headquarters.
03:48She's going to meet with all of her campaign staffers there and urge them to hit the ground
03:54running now with just 105 days to go.
03:57We also just learned, because the developments are coming fast and furious, that Michigan
04:01Governor Gretchen Whitmer has agreed to be one of her campaign co-chairs, Tony.
04:07Nancy Corr is for us on the South Lawn of the White House.
04:09Nancy, thank you very much.
04:10Let's bring in senior White House and political correspondent Ed O'Keefe, who is in Delaware,
04:14not far from the President's beach house.
04:17Ed, you know, we just saw that the young people on the South Lawn, maybe the phones lifted
04:22a little higher, maybe the cheers a little louder.
04:25Democrats definitely wanted to excite young voters with this switch on the ticket or attempted
04:30switch on the ticket.
04:31What do we know about this move now of the Vice President heading to Delaware, where
04:35you are?
04:36Yeah, that was a fortuitous backdrop for her at a time when the party's eager to win back
04:41college-age voters.
04:42There she was with some college students herself.
04:44At this hour, Tony, she's got roughly a third of the 1,900 or so delegates that are going
04:50to be required to secure the Democratic nomination.
04:52And that's because a handful of states, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, New Hampshire,
04:57and we anticipate Florida by the end of this morning, are all saying that they plan to
05:02vote for her when the convention is held, whenever a roll call vote is held among the
05:07states.
05:08So she's on her way to getting what she needs.
05:10And in addition to the Michigan governor, Gretchen Whitmer, staying with the campaign
05:13as a co-chair.
05:14We heard, for example, from the Illinois governor, J.P. Pritzker, this morning, who had been
05:18a holdout, who was seen as someone who might be interested in running, were there to be
05:22a more competitive race, and someone who's very close to some of the party's biggest
05:26donors.
05:27But he, too, now says he's with her at this point.
05:29So that trip to Wilmington is designed to buck up the troops, probably have a few high-level
05:33meetings with senior staffers about what exactly to anticipate in the coming days, and start
05:38the process of thinking about a running mate.
05:40As for the president, he's expected to get his daily security briefing here at his Rehoboth
05:44Beach home.
05:45We have not seen him since Wednesday, when he arrived here with his COVID-19 diagnosis.
05:50The doctors have said he is improving.
05:53There is a possibility that he might at some point try to venture out if he's feeling healthier.
05:57It is a windier and overcast day here on the beach.
06:00But for now, we wait to hear from the president, who has said he plans to address the nation
06:04later this week.
06:05Tony?
06:06Yeah, we do.
06:07We do have governors coming forward endorsing Kamala Harris.
06:10That reduces the likelihood of some sort of a mini-primary, as some people have been hoping
06:14for, calling for.
06:15But it does not knock them out of the potential running as a VP candidate.
06:19We'll find out if they're interested as well in the days ahead.
06:21Ed, thank you very much.
06:22Appreciate it.
06:24Our coverage will continue on CBS News 24-7, your local news, and tonight on the CBS Evening
06:29News with Norah O'Donnell.
06:30This has been a CBS News special report.
06:32I'm Tony DeCoppo in New York.