THE SHOW NOTES: Is Biden Hanging On?

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OUTRAGE 1: WSJ Reporter Evan Gershkovich Convicted of Espionage in Sham Russian Trial - Mediaite

OUTRAGE 2: Largest housing provider for migrant children engaged in pervasive sexual abuse - AP

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Hanging On?

Biden World is furiously denying the reporting from Mark Halperin and others that claim Joe Biden’s exit from the presidential race could happen as soon as this weekend.

Details: Despite a growing donor revolt and blatant threats to defund Biden’s presidential library, campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon tells Morning Joe that the President is committed to staying in the race and has multiple campaign events scheduled next week.

Next: If Biden refuses to exit the race next week, Hakeem Jeffries, Chuck Schumer and potentially Nancy Pelosi are threatening to air their grievances publically to force the President out. As news broke yesterday that vulnerable Democratic Senator Jon Tester would call for Biden to step down, Schumer claimed he told the Senator to “do whatever you think is best.” This marks the second sitting Democratic Senator to call for Biden to step down while more than 20 vulnerable House members have done the same.

The public Biden statements have not stalled the flurry of media reports claiming the end is near. Two Democrats with knowledge of the conversations tell NBC that Biden’s family has begun discussing the details of a campaign exit that would preserve Biden’s legacy and prevent chaos at the convention.

Biden’s family members have specifically discussed how he would want to end his re-election bid on his own timing and with a carefully calculated plan in place. Considerations about the impact of the campaign on his health, his family and the stability of the country are among those at the forefront of the discussions, the people familiar with those discussions said.

🚨 Breaking news before we hit send: New Mexicos Senator Martin Heinrich and four House Democrats just called for Biden to step aside. This makes three US Senators and about 25 House members calling for Biden to withdraw.

Offline

A massive IT outage has ground flights, forced banking institutions offline, and disrupted media broadcasts following a failed software update from CrowdStrike. The massive bug impacted everything from emergency services in Anchorage to the Sphere in Las Vegas, ticket sales for Premier League soccer teams, and broadcast capabilities for ESPN.

This is the Atlanta airport with all Delta flights fully grounded this morning.

Here’s a simulation of how quickly flights were grounded:

Nate Silver’s Real-Time Reaction To Trump’s Speech

Outrageous

Trending news:

• Trump's national lead over Biden grows - CBS

• Van Jones says excitement at RNC feels like ‘Obama 2008:’ ‘There’s something happening’ - NY Post

• Democratic donors begin mobilizing to raise money for Harris if she’s the nominee - Politico

• State Farm wants to raise insurance rates in California by 50%. - NBCLA

• Houthis claim responsibility for drone strike on Tel Aviv - Axios

• AOC really wants Biden to stay in the race. - X

• How Russia’s espionage case against Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich unfolded - AP

• Pollster Frank Luntz Names Biden Replacements Who Could Beat Trump and None Are Kamala Harris - Mediaite

• Utah Gov. Cox privately expressed support for Trump - Deseret

• Biden inner circle “moment to moment” as defections grow - Politico

Market snapshot: