2024 election updates: Manchin the latest to call on Biden to end reelection bid

Ron Klain, a senior adviser to Biden and former White House chief of staff joined MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Friday to discuss Biden's high-stakes news conference.

Klain framed the debate as a "bad night" and said the preparations were better than the real-time showing. Klain also said that what Americans saw on Thursday is more representative of Biden's abilities.

"Last night, the press conference we saw ... was much more typical to what we saw in the debate preparations," Klain said, adding: "And I think that the president showed showed what he's capable of last night in this press conference, and voters see it every day as he governs and leads the country and campaigns around the country."

-ABC News' Gabrielle Abdul-Hakim

According to a senior Democratic source, at the Biden campaign briefing on Thursday with Democratic senators, only three senators spoke up to say Biden should stay in the race. The senators also asked for Anita Dunn (a senior adviser to Biden) to be at the briefing and she did not come.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer are both sympathetic to the view Biden is on a path to lose to Trump and it would be best if he moved on, the source said. But, the source said, "This is a private play, not a public one."

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has also spoken to Barack Obama about this -- although it is important to say, they talk regularly.

-ABC News' Jonathan Karl

"Joe Biden saved our country once, and I'm joining the growing number of people in my district and across the country to ask him to do it again," Colorado Rep. Brittany Pettersen said in a statement.

The congresswoman urged Biden to "pass the torch" to "one of our many capable Democratic leaders so we have the best chance to defeat Donald Trump."

There are now 18 congressional Democrats calling on Biden to step aside as the party's candidate.

The House Democratic leader, in a letter to colleagues on Friday, said he met with President Biden privately on Thursday evening.

"Over the past several days, House Democrats have engaged in a thoughtful and extensive discussion about the future of our country, during a time when freedom, democracy and the economic well-being of everyday Americans are on the line," Jeffries wrote. "Our discourse has been candid, clear-eyed and comprehensive."

"In my conversation with President Biden, I directly expressed the full breadth of insight, heartfelt perspectives and conclusions about the path forward that the Caucus has shared in our recent time together," Jeffries added.

-ABC News' Lauren Peller