Harris on pancakes -- and the call that changed US history

"My family was staying with us, and including my baby nieces, and we had just had pancakes," Harris recalled Thursday in an interview with CNN about the July 21 afternoon when Biden suddenly turned the November presidential election on its head.

Harris and the children were chatting -- "Auntie, can I have more bacon?' 'Yes, I'll make you more bacon'" -- she said.

"And the phone rang, and it was Joe Biden."

Biden had been under growing pressure for weeks to drop out amid fears that at 81 and visibly frail, he was going to lose the race and allow Donald Trump easily to win a second term.

Biden announced his shock decision in writing to the nation and soon after endorsed Harris, who has since surged in popularity, reinvigorating her downbeat Democratic Party.

"He told me what he had decided to do. And I asked him, 'Are you sure?' And he said, 'Yes.' And that's how I learned about it," she said.

Harris defended Biden, saying his presidency would be appreciated more in hindsight. "I think history is going to show... in so many ways it was transformative."