thank you so much for letting us into your homes during these truly extraordinary times. we're so grateful. i'll back at 9:00 p.m. eastern for special coverage alongside rachel maddow, our coverage of the republican convention along with ari melber and joy reed and jen psaki starts right now. ♪♪

good evening our special coverage of the republican national convention begins right now. i'm ari melber. >> i'm jen psaki with you for the next two hours as we get into the second day of the rnc. >> this rnc includes the typical trappings of any political convention including what you see on your screen. yesterday the delegates affirmed the running mate senator jd vance and he's getting a walk through. there are the speakers. and appearances from past rivals now pushing unity. tonight ron desantis and nikki haley will speak. a boom for trump as they are the rivals who did best against him in the primary. and the force and enthusiasm of nikki haley's speech did matter. she did build support among conservatives and independents who were skeptical of joe biden and donald trump alike.

tonight's theme is make america safe again a place nikki haley can draw on her foreign policy experience. that's the typical part of the gathering. then there's the assassination attempt hanging over this convention. trump has been photographed since the events of saturday but made his first formal public appearance last night. an unusual step to show case the nominee. in this case his health and condition. you can hardly script a more stark proof of life moment as when he stepped out. the reality is, this is a human being that was almost shot to death on live tv in front of his family and supporters this weekend. and yet this is also showmanship by a politician known for his mastery of what they call unscripted reality tv. taking this supremely visit seat

in the vip box with his new running made and party leaders and long-time tv personality tucker carlson up there as well last night. here's how "the new york times" put it. on the first night of the convention trump was his own biggest prop he entered the vip box, a large white bandage on his ear. a reminder of mortality, a badge of survival. it was a blank rectangle on which the crowd could read what it wished and made it the most potent placard in the hall. that's fair. a placards for delegates to fill in, a spectacle for this candidate who we know is, by his own admission, obsessed with assorted spectacles. this is not normal times. this is not a normal convention.

whether it makes it abnormal in a way that's special or a way that's bad is what voters will assess because many are watching over the course of these nights along with you and our team here. there's a political quest here to mine and use donald trump's injuries and whether the allies and the candidates do that in a way that overextends their credibility will be decided by the voters. that's one thing we hope we can still agree on in this country because that is as i said, a scary reality we all lived through this weekend and a political project. so it's a question for voters and for time itself. but the rnc has certainly begun intensely. here's a bit more of how it's gone. >> donald trump is calling us to be touched by the better angels of our nature. >> the attorney general, and there goes the teleprompter. >> senator jd vance be nominated by affirmation.

all those in favor signify by saying aye. >> i think he brings to the table the common person. >> i did my research and looked into all things donald trump. >> madame chairman -- >> the next president of the united states, donald j. trump. >> the brave heart of our time, donald j. trump. >> and joining us now from the rnc is nbc news correspondent vaughn hillyard. thank you for being with us. i wanted to start with what ari was talking through there. the moment that former president trump walked into the hall that night it was starting to watch on television. there were people chanting fight fight fight. his son was emotional. talk to us about what the feedback you've been given. what people are talking about as it relates to the moment in the hall last night.

>> reporter: right. that was a moment of almost folk hero status for this republican party. this is an electorate, a republican electorate that has been through a lot over the last eight years and donald trump is somebody here who after four criminal indictments, a financial penalty of $350 million went to a rally with thousands in attendance and was shot. and for these delegates here who are the key republican activists but also the elected republican officials who, whether some of them like it or not, donald trump is the leader of their party, there was a reckoning. as he came up those stairs here with the bandage on his ear that this is the individual controlling the future of the gop. he tasked somebody as his running mate, who joins him in the moment who's half his age, a 39-year-old who stands in solidarity with him on foreign policies. this is a party that is going to outlast donald trump and jd vance is someone clearly in

conversations with the delegates someone who is going to carry that mantle. this was the vip area where donald trump was standing last night with jd vance. who's somebody up there right now? none other than harriet hagin. in a lot of ways donald trump is signaling to the party that the future of it is around people like harriet, like jd. i was talking with asa hutchinson who was roaming the grounds earlier today, recall he got 1% of the iowa vote, but he told me he wanted to hear from ron desantis and particularly nikki haley tonight on their message around foreign policy and how it will be received by the convention crowd because donald trump has questioned whether the u.s. should send financial aid to ukraine ahead. and it was jd vance on the front lines trying to end the package

going to ukraine just a few months ago this summer. so donald trump and jd vance have signalled if thaw get back into the white house how they view the u.s.'s role in the world that's where asa hutchinson said he wanted to hear if nikki haley would provide from the microphone provide what could be called a minority report, on what the u.s. should stand for where the u.s. finds itself on the stage. so there is i think for this republican party a lot on the lines for what we hear from some of those individuals like nikki haley who is taking the microphone in a matter of hours. >> we saw nikki haley earlier this afternoon doing a walk through, she was on the stage, again imagining what she would be doing this evening. i want to talk about that but i want to ask you about jd vance, that was a huge development last night announcing a vice presidential running mate. he has a long history of saying negative things about donald

trump. he called himself a never trumper called him america's hitler. how has that sat with delegates? are they concerned about it? they don't care about it? what are you hearing from there? >> i hate to do this, they just started a prayer. >> i understand. thank you for telling us. >> respect, as we say, obviously our great reporters are out there and you want to show respect to the environment you're in, if there's a prayer. we will be getting reporters back to the field. we have a moment to talk before we bring on others in our special coverage. the question you asked about jd vance and the tension is something that republicans are trying to sell. anyone with a tough argument with a partner, family member you say yeah i did that and that bad thing i said about you, it's just because i care so much. the thing i used to believe i'm

willing to take it back for you. it's an awkward thing to pull off. you can try to make it work but it's hard to pull off. that's what they're seeing with jd vance. i saw a quote from tucker carlson who said jd vance doesn't hate trump like the other republicans who secretly hate him. he secretly loves him. this is the fairest way to say it, you have experience in politics curious what you think. on one hand we have seen the move you before and you can unite a party by bringing in p people who had strongly willed disagreements. make hillary clinton secretary of state. bush and reagan patch up. on the other hand you have jd vance, who likened donald trump to murderous dictators that i'm not even saying their name on tv. that i'm not making that comparison so i'm not going to use the word but you can look it

up and call him cultural heroin said he was a terrible noxious force in life. given we're going to see jd vance speak and given the patching up with the unity trying to do, i'm trying to see what you make of it. >> he did call him america's hitler. said he might consider voting for hillary clinton, might write in the name of his dog instead of voting for donald trump. there's been interesting reporting the last 24 hours about how this game to be. including a lengthy meeting they had where he sort of tried to repair things and trump ended up endorsing him but what i'm curious, this is why i asked vaughn the question. it's more than just a disagreement with your partner, fair to say. there have been, of course, historically moments where vice presidential running mates have said things about the person they're joining.

kamala harris and joe biden, joe biden and barack obama. but this feels a bit different and a lot more of a higher criticism. so it's these people you can love them or hate them but who love donald trump feel about a guy who just a few years ago was so critical of him? he's 39, he's young. he's a compelling public speaker. but how do they feel about how he has felt about the guy they love. >> i think that's the open question. the other big thing we saw what we showed was what "the new york times" called the largest prop on the stage was donald trump or his badge or was what he's showing. we know that he is incredibly historically been a divisive figure. he also is someone who really almost lost his life in front of everyone over the weekend. you worked for the current president who has navigated mortality and loss where you can -- i'm not saying it about either of them.

in cynical politics people can say are you talking about that to get sympathy, votes, ultimately, one of the tests everyone can say you they know how trump is going to sound after the experience, we will see. he will speak this week. but i'm curious your thoughts about walking that line where someone can say are you just saying this for sympathy, for politics? but it's also these are human beings and they go through these things and mortality is part of it. >> that's true. and i think a couple of things can be true at the same time which is true in politics. i was having dinner with my family as many people were that night. it was scary, it was horrific. that is the appropriate reaction that anyone should have had even if they didn't like donald trump. he's, as you just noted very effectively in your opening, he's a performer and somebody who produced television in the past there's an element of last night that was television

production. you saw his son get emotional. there's several layers at the same time. now on the unity front that's what we heard from a number of people involved in the convention, publically privately going in. but last night you had one senator from wisconsin saying he read the wrong speech it was not a unifying speech. you played mike johnson, not exactly a unifying message. tonight is about keeping america safe again. it'll be talking about immigration and crime. historically that hadn't been a unifying message. just because they say it's unifying doesn't mean it's june fieing. what you see in the democratic party is the desire to be sympathetic and empathic about the horror of what we saw on friday and also not erase the reasons that joe biden is running against donald trump. >> that's well put. we have big news coming out of

the biden campaign today about potential reforms for the supreme court. i want to hear your thoughts on that. we have james car vel here. the new details on the trump shooting, the secret service speaking out. we'll show you what we're learning about the investigation later in the hour. president biden and the supreme court changes. and james carvel is here. he has his thinking cap on. we'll see you next, james, right after this. ter this when anyone in this house wears white, it doesn't stay white for long. white? to soccer? i'm not gonna slide tackle. but now with tide oxi white, we can clean our white clothes without using bleach even works on colors. i slide tackled. i see that. it's got to be tide. missing out on the things you love because of asthma? get back to better breathing with fasenra, an add-on treatment for eosinophilic asthma

that is taken once every 8 weeks. fasenra is not for sudden breathing problems or other eosinophilic conditions. allergic reactions may occur. don't stop your asthma treatments without talking with your doctor. tell your doctor if your asthma worsens. headache and sore throat may occur. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. step back out there with fasenra. ask your doctor if it's right for you. (♪♪)

welcome back to our special coverage, night two of the republican national convention. speakers include ron desantis and nikki haley. and joining us now is one of our very favorite guests to chat with, always fun and entertaining james carville, democratic strategist. i just want to ask you about this report that came out in the last hour from "the washington post," president biden is set to support major supreme court changes. one of the things in his interview with lester holt, he went after clarence thomas, he has held back from doing that.

but this is e ethics code, term limits for justices. it is something politically the democrats care about, the base cares about. what do you think? >> the court is a great issue for us, we have not lost an election since dobbs in 2022. so i think it's good to put the court front and center. the president has come out with packing the court, rent controls, a lot of things at the same time. and i don't know if people are going to view it seriously. he's behind in the polls so he's coming up with stuff. i don't know. but i know the court is an awesome issue for democrats in the last couple of years. >> james i haven't heard you talk about everything the last couple of days i know you've been away for a couple of days. has anything changed in terms of the democrats you're talking to, the view on the future of the race? it feels like it's been suspended in air, my view, the

nomination. what is your take on it? >> it's great concern. i think it's going to manifest itself over the weekend. you have people speaking out, you have adam schiff. a lot of people and there's a lot of concern. i don't know the democrats were having a hard time since the republicans in the nixon administration. so the people are worried. i'll be honest with you. it's deep and profound concern among democrats in the congress and everywhere else around the country. everybody i see is asking me are we going to be okay? it's just where we are right now, jen. we can't -- it's just it. >> james, ari melber here. always good to see you. how are you doing? >> oh, i'm in alaska on a cruiseship so i'm a little cold. >> we are touched you would join us from a cruise.

so, you know, i had a question planned that we're going to get to. but you said something striking. you said while there's an understandable pause or diversion away from what had been a heated conversation about the democratic nominee -- i say the democratic nominee because president biden has the delegate votes, i discussed that before, but it seems you're saying that conversation might still yet reemerge before the dnc? >> it's hidden but it's going to emerge again, yes. people have already gone out and you had congressman schiff today, our senate candidate in california, expressing the level of concern in the party, i have to tell you is quite profound and quite deep. and -- i can put on it. >> interesting. because the conventional wisdom such as it was stated that it

was a rough two weeks for president biden, people discussed the debate but he had stopped the bleeding of major public callouts. he has, on paper, obama and others having said keep going. and he had the delegate votes only he's the one who can change it -- go ahead. >> that's correct. but again, looking at what people are publically saying in -- you know, i also know what people are privately saying. and i think that, you know, once the republican convention is behind us in this horrific shooting is a little further in the distance, i think people are going to express their concerns about this. i'm very concerned about the convention and the enthusiasm not to mention the fund-raising is really, really -- i'll say it's dried up, but highly reduced everywhere. >> really? >> that's not going away. you just can't wish that kind of

stuff away. i hate to be the bearer of not great news, but it's every conversation that i have with political people, average people, or anybody else. it's just great concern about where the democratic position is in july. >> look, james, you don't have to apologize here. healthy people prefer bad news over lies, whether it's from a friend or a news man or news woman or doctor. so we got you on that. because you've been busy on the cruise we put something together for you, james. that's something that you might have missed if you didn't watch every hour of yesterday's convention. jen raised this point, and we're anchoring the next two hours from folks. we heard vows of unity, donald trump said his speech is rewritten for unity and we'll hear it. also what some of the top

republicans were saying yesterday was not always unifying vis-a-vis democrats, independents and others across the country. >> today's democrat agenda, their policies are a clear and present danger to america. >> they say they're pro-choice but not if you want a choice over what your kids are taught. >> the democrats' economy is of, by, and for illegal aliens. >> if you were looking for racism today, you find in cities run by democrats. >> president donald j. trump. the braveheart of our time. >> james, what do you see there? >> i think senator johnson's teleprompter guy made the mistake. it's what he said. the part about taking responsibility. he said i didn't mean to say that, they put the wrong thing on the teleprompter.

crime is down since joe biden has been president. and not down by a little bit, down by a lot more than a little bit. so i mean, if we just stand back and let them have their ridiculous narrative of bad teleprompters or crime statistics don't match anything people are going through we're not going to do that well. but if we can get beyond self-inflicted damage that we have and start putting this front and center. i think jd vance is the most adaptable politician in my lifetime. you did a good job what he said before and saying now. as jen pointed out, the courts and the women's rights issues and these things, the gun issue, oh my god, why do you think that president trump was shot? because some loner had access to a weapon, that wasn't anything to do with political rhetoric. so we have some strengths but we

have to dig ourselves out of this hole to make the case but right now it's been a dismal three weeks. >> president biden just did a speech where he talked about some of the things you've been mentioning, gun violence and other issues. i want to ask you about jd vance because historically as you know, we all know you've covered many of these. the vice president running mate doesn't change the course of a presidential election but there's a lot to work with with jd vance he supported an abortion ban, he has essentially been a proponent of everything in the project 2025 plan. there's a long list here. what do you think the democrats should be doing. how much should they be going after him? primarily focussing on trump? what should they be doing in in the next week or so? >> so i want to make an overall point. this is not necessarily a bad idea for democrat incumbents. every incumbent is still leading and they have to make the republican candidates answer for

jd vance. they have to make them answer. we have to give some help here to the national ticket and that's going to come from senate candidates in pennsylvania, wisconsin, montana, nevada, arizona. there are fruitful lines of attack that exist here. you're correct, the whole supreme court thing has been magical for us, we can't get off of that, but we have to make these republican candidates answer for jd vance and who knows, donald trump also. no one knows what his position on abortion is. it's impossible. we have to push that. we have some advantages. i don't want to be overly pessimistic here. but we have to exploit the advantages given to us. right now we're unable to do that given the news cycle and the debate. >> you were a little pessimistic. we're going to let you go,

james. i know you're on the cruise. on this alaska cruise, have you seen any whales? >> my wife saw a bunch of them. it's 100% guarantee. >> how do they guarantee that? >> i think they have electronic devices. i think they know they're there. yeah and the bears eating salmon and everything. it's really the frontier. you come to alaska you're in california in 1852. still has a real frontier element to it. >> there's an old saying if you go to the right part of alaska you can see russia. >> yeah. i got my binoculars but i couldn't get it focused. >> james there's a lot going on. i will say there's a lot of viewers and people in the country wanting to get your opinion, so thank you for jumping on from your trip, appreciate you making the time,

sir. >> for you, ari, anything. >> thank you, jen and i have more for you, beyond the talk of unity, what are republicans asking america to do if they run and vote for this ticket on display tonight? we have a special breakdown next.

you founded your kayak company because you love the ocean- not spreadsheets. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. indeed instant match instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job description. visit indeed.com/hire

power e*trade's easy-to-use tools, like dynamic charting and risk-reward analysis, help make trading feel effortless. and its customizable scans with social sentiment help you find and unlock opportunities in the market. e*trade from morgan stanley

[ put a little love in your heart help you find and unlock opportunities in the market. by david ruffin begins to play ] my bad, my bad.

good race. - you too. you were tough out there. thank you. i'm getting you next time though. oh i got you, i got you. down goes jewett. jewett and amos are down. what a lovely sign of sportsmanship. you okay? yeah. ♪ ♪ welcome back to our coverage of this second day of the rnc. you can see the delegates and the music blaring. former president trump has been rallying the crowd there. he had the unscheduled appearance last night. his first public appearance since an assassin tried to kill him on saturday. something that will shape this presidential race. many supporters moved by these events. we turn to an official with

experience campaigning for trump. mark lauder joins us live from the rnc. welcome. >> good to see you, ari. >> good to see you, too. i know it can be loud in there, if you need me to repeat anything, let me know. first of all, we've spoken before. but not since saturday. where were you? how did you follow the information? how did you feel? as mentioned you worked for former president trump, served in his white house, it's been a difficult time. >> i was at a birthday celebration for the city of alexandria, virginia turning 275 on saturday, former congressman jack kingston was having a party there. when the news started coming

out, everybody stopped what they were doing. pulled out their phones followed social media i left the party and followed the news to see what was going on. i think everyone across america and the world were grateful for the work of the secret service to protect the president and he was largely uninjured. >> how has it affected the convention so far? >> i arrived on sunday, we had a quite sense on sunday but as we got into the activities yesterday and as the president appeared last night you could hear people ramping up. since we didn't have a convention in 2020 because of covid this is the first time the party has gotten together since 2016 so while they were concerned about the president i think they were eager to get together and get this election campaign going. >> we've heard talk from people around trump and from president biden about lowering the temperature about political

rhetoric. is that something that we're going to continue to hear from donald trump and the campaign? what do you say to people who are balancing this because on the one hand this was a horrific attack and there's no place for political violence in our country. but on the other hand, donald trump and people around him have a known history of also very heated rhetoric. >> i think both sides need to take this as a moment and realize it's time for us to step back. we can have our policy disagreements, but we should, at the end of the day remember we're neighbors and americans. and just because we may disagree politically doesn't mean the other side is evil. it doesn't mean the other side is full of hatred. it just means we have differing views for what we should be doing in our country. let's try to keep it focused on the policy and not necessarily the people themselves. >> understood and wanted to get your thoughts on that. there has been a lot of talk about about the so-called

project 2025. this is a convention we're hearing speeches and laying out a lot of ideas. some of what's in 2025, from heritage, which is as you know a conservative line group not necessarily the same as the campaign but a group trump has said would be working on plans, is and i want to put this up because we are talking about what would happen with another trump term overhaul the entire doj, try to expand the power of the president and that goes beyond what we've seen in recent supreme court decisions. many people view the federal service reforms as something that would replace the kind of nonpartisan or objective individuals who served both administrations regardless of party with loyalists. also proposals to take apart the federal department of education. use the fda to limit access to abortion medication. how should we interpret the fact that trump said heritage is

writing these plans and they're in alliance to now saying he's not necessarily for project 2025. you're close to these folks. what is the stated argument to the american public about that project and whether it represents a second term? >> as you know, ari, i work for another think tank during my day job not affiliated with project 2025. but think tanks think and write words on paper and hope one day a president, governor, senator, congressman will take bits and pieces of their work and put it together with someone else's work and come together with a policy. i think many think tanks get paid by the word. so i'm not surprised you have efforts like project 2025 and others because you have conservatives and folks on the left who are experts in their field wanting to put their policy on paper, get it in front of elected officials. but i think the president and

his campaign made it clear no one speaks for their policies except for him or their campaign. i would say probably the same thing would be true if kato or brookings came out with policies the white house would probably like some of them, not like others, even if former officials from a previous administration wrote them for them, what's kind of what think tanks do in d.c. >> you put it like hey, nothing to see here, think tanks gonna think. but you hear donald trump say that's not me, do you think that's a reflection of his awareness that project 2025 as stated is too extreme for this general election electorate? >> i would think that anything that comes from p any group that's not their official campaign or the president and i would say that's true of either party, is probably more specific they might like, areas they're not prepared to go in, so they'll look at the information, everyone is always giving policy

advice whether they're lawmakers or think tanks regardless of party. you take what you like, reject what you're not for. so that's what i take this entire issue as. so i'm sure if he is elected and returned to the white house he'll take parts of many different people's thoughts, many lawmakers thoughts in various areas and piece them together in the actual policy. >> we're also seeing some speeches devoted to the economy. you've been a trump guy so i have good news and bad news for you. >> okay. >> the good news is, there's polling showing that a lot of americans, not just hard core republicans, think that trump might be able to help with the cost of living, with inflation, with prices. that's the good news. the bad news, i guess, for your side is that the actual policies that trump is running on, including the massive tariffs reform, would and i'll put it up on the screen ulactually make

prices and the cost of living worse. majority of economists saying the rates would be up, they'd be worse than biden. what do you say to that? >> i remember many of those same economists said the same thing when trump imposed the tariffs on china when he was in the white house and we didn't see prices go up. we saw china basically take the hit in some cases retailers and others took the hit as well because they weren't going to pass those tariffs along to consumers. so what we've got to do is get tough with china and deal with countries who are not treating us fairly in terms of trade. the president believes in free trade but it's got to be reciprocal. he's been clear on that, even from his time in the white house. as opposed to to the predictions of the economists they got it wrong in 2017, 2018 and we'll see how it plays out in the future. >> a wanted to get you on that

question. a lot of changes that donald trump said he had in his speech, he wants to talk about unity. there were those who said he even looked somehow different or quote/unquote softer last night. anything you can tell us about the speech we are going to hear from him at this big rnc gathering? >> i have not seen the speech but i can tell you, he's going to focus on the policies that we're talking about last night, tonight, and tomorrow. and from the reporting that i have seen, you have a president that says by luck and an act of god or a mere inch he's alive or this convention, country would be in a different place had that been an inch different. it's going to shake any man, probably change any man to survive that and i have a feeling it's going to be reflected on thursday night. >> mark, appreciate you joining

us again. >> good to see you, ari. we are covering all of this. we just talked about donald trump. president biden out today with a big speech on policy, civil rights and politics at the ncaa. jen psaki and i will be covering that as our coverage continues on this special convention night. >> partners throughout the city of milwaukee and state of wisconsin have been -- milwauke wisconsin have been -- every home should have salonpas. powerful yet non-addictive. targeted and long-lasting. i recommend salonpas. it's good medicine. ♪ hisamitsu ♪ she runs and plays like a puppy again. his #2s are perfect! he's a brand new dog, all in less than a year. when people switch their dog's food from kibble to the farmer's dog, they often say that it feels like magic. but there's no magic involved. (dog bark) it's simply fresh meat and vegetables, with all the nutrients dogs need— instead of dried pellets. just food made for the health of dogs.

delivered in packs portioned for your dog. it's amazing what real food can do. ava: i was just feeling sick. and it was the worst day. mom was crying. i was sad. colton: i was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma. brett: once we got the first initial hit, it was just straight tears, sickness in your stomach, just don't want to get up out of bed. joe: there's always that saying, well,

you've got to look on the bright side of things. tell me what the bright side of childhood cancer is. lakesha: it's a long road. it's hard. but saint jude has gotten us through it. narrator: saint jude children's research hospital works day after day to find cures and save the lives of children with cancer and other life-threatening diseases. thanks to generous donors like you, families never receive a bill from saint jude for treatment, travel, housing, or food, so they can focus on helping their child live. ashley: without all of those donations, saint jude would not be able to do all of the exceptional work that they do. narrator: for just $19 a month, you'll help us continue the life-saving research and treatment these kids need. tiffany: no matter if it's a big business or just the grandmother that donates once a month, they are changing people's lives. and that's a big deal.

narrator: join with your debit or credit card right now, and we'll send you this saint jude t-shirt that you can proudly wear to show your support. nicole: our family is forever grateful for donations big and small because it's completely changed our lives and it's given us a second chance. elizabeth stewart: saint jude's not going to stop until every single kid gets that chance to walk out of the doors of this hospital cancer-free. narrator: please, don't wait. call, go online, or scan the qr code below right now. [music playing] an alternative to pills, voltaren is a clinically proven arthritis pain relief gel, which penetrates deep to target the source of pain with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medicine directly at the source. voltaren, the joy of movement. introducing togo's new barbecue beef sandwich. it's piled high with tender beef that's slow cooked and smothered in tangy memphis style barbecue sauce. it's no fuss, no muss.

just tons of flavor. the best barbecue beef is only a togo's. introducing togo's new barbecue try one beef sandwich. it's piled high with tender beef that's slow cooked and smothered in tangy memphis style barbecue sauce. it's no fuss, no muss. just tons of flavor. the best barbecue beef is only a togo's. try one today. just a few days after the

assassination attempt on donald trump, we're grateful he was not seriously injured. it's time for an important conversation in this country. our politics has gotten too heated. we all have a responsibility to lower the temperature. violence is not the answer. that's what we should rally around as a nation. that's the unity i'm talking about. >> president biden today speaking there at the ncaa talking about violence, politics, and the need for that kind of unity. our special coverage is continuing right now, jen psaki is here. you're our colleague, you also, people know, were white house press secretary to president biden. what do you see him doing there and now a couple of days in, with the rnc going strong and him talking about supreme court reform and other things you were discussing with james carville are we back to campaigning after the horrors of this weekend? >> it seems like we are.

you'll see him couch every event like the horrors of saturday, we can't have the violence. but it seemed the campaign was suspended for a bit, the campaign was suspending adads, they weren't putting out statements, it feels like it's back on again. that's interesting. it's also interesting because he spoke at the naacp, part of that is reaching out to african americans, he did a speech in philadelphia speaking to an audience of african american, a huge important base for him for the democratic party and also one that propelled him to the nomination and the presidency. so it's interesting that's where he's spending a lot of his time politically campaigning too. >> the supreme court push we talked about with james carville reflects what? >> this is one of the things that struck me. i mentioned this to james. from the lester holt interview last night. president biden is someone who -- i worked for him for a

year and a half, former chairman of the judiciary committee, an institutionalist as they say, historically and in recent memory -- he's been critical of the supreme court but he's not somebody who typically goes after members of the supreme court. he went pretty hard after slarns thomas -- hard for him i should say. to follow that by news in the reports, i was thinking of the staff when he was saying i'm not going to tell you what it is but i have a big supreme court announcement coming and the staff is like we haven't notified everyone yet. but significant because it may be, as james said, he's trying to do a lot of things right now to gather the base of the party together. it may also be and i'll be a bit more of an optimist in this case, even though he's an institutionalist, he is sick and tired of the supreme court and how they've operated and acted, and he's finally in a place where he wants to call for

things like term limits on things. not something that, by the way, you cover this extensively, was in the report that he commissioned to do while i was still there on recommendations. it didn't have recommendations really, it was just an assessment really. so it didn't go that far. that's farther than he's gone. >> always helpful when you have a washington report with no recommendations but a really long report. that always simpliies things. >> it's a summary of the arguments but it tells you where he stood on it. >> and also, we've seen times people say it's their week or ceded to the rnc or everything that happened this weekend and clearly we're seeing a president who doesn't feel he should take a week off. he's responded to the calling former president trump, all those things of presidenting, but he's also campaigning and being clear that democrats and a lot of the people that he would want to vote for him do see the supreme court as a political issue. to say, oh, that's something

else. that's just up there, that's just judges is, according to many of these folks that we hear from, giving in to a right-wing campaign that says no, they're putting their thumb on the scale from immunity to abortion rights. that's part of the convention politics. i have an update for everyone. jen and i will be here for the next hour as well as part of our special coverage. not only that, michael steele joins the conversation. stay with us. our right to reproductive health care is being stolen from us. the rights for ourselves, our kids, and our grandkids. gone. just like that. i can't believe this is the world we live in, where we're losing the freedom to control our own bodies. planned parenthood fights for you every day. but we need your support now more than ever. visit this website, call, or scan the code on your screen, with your $19 monthly gift. help us win the fight

for the constitutional right to control our own bodies. there's never been a more urgent time to join. so go online, call, or scan this code now. sign up with your monthly gift today, and we'll send you this "care. no matter what" t-shirt. it is your right to have safe health care. that's it. we need you now more than ever. go online, call, or scan right now. (man) mm, hey, honey. go online, call, looks like my to-do list grew. "paint the bathroom, give baxter a bath, get life insurance," hm. i have a few minutes. i can do that now. oh, that fast? remember that colonial penn ad? i called and i got information. they sent the simple form i need to apply. all i do is fill it out and send it back. well, that sounds too easy! (man) give a little information, check a few boxes, sign my name, done.

they don't ask about your health? (man) no health questions. -physical exam? -don't need one. it's colonial penn guaranteed acceptance whole life insurance. if you're between the ages of 50 and 85, your acceptance is guaranteed in most states, even if you're not in the best health. options start at $9.95 a month, 35 cents a day. once insured, your rate will never increase. a lifetime rate lock guarantees it. keep in mind, this is lifetime protection. as long as you pay your premiums, it's yours to keep. call for more information and the simple form you need to apply today. there's no obligation, and you'll receive a free beneficiary planner just for calling. ♪ (cheery music) - they get it.

they know how it works... and more importantly... it works for them. - i don't have any anxiety about money anymore. - i don't have to worry about a mortgage payment every month. - it allowed me to live in my home... and not have to pay payments. - [narrator] if you're 62 or older and own your home, you could access your equity to improve your lifestyle. a reverse mortgage loan eliminates your monthly mortgage payments and puts tax-free cash in your pocket. call the number on your screen. - it was the best thing i've ever done, and- - really? - yes, without a doubt! - just like these folks, aag can show you how a reverse mortgage loan uses your built-up home equity to give you tax-free cash. - it's a good thing. - why don't you get the facts? like these folks did. - [narrator] call right now to receive your free, no-obligation info kit. call the number on your screen. “the darkness of bipolar depression made me feel like

i was losing interest in the things i love. then i found a chance to let in the lyte.” discover caplyta. unlike some medicines that only treat bipolar i, caplyta is proven to deliver significant symptom relief from both bipolar i & ii depression. and in clinical trials, movement disorders and weight gain were not common. caplyta can cause serious side effects. call your doctor about sudden mood changes, behaviors, or suicidal thoughts right away. anti-depressants may increase these risks in young adults. elderly dementia patients have increased risk of death or stroke. caplyta is not approved for dementia-related psychosis. report fever, confusion, or stiff muscles, which may be life threatening, or uncontrolled muscle movements which may be permanent. common side effects include sleepiness, dizziness, nausea, and dry mouth. these aren't all the side effects. in the darkness of bipolar i & ii depression, caplyta can help you let in the lyte. ask your doctor about caplyta. find savings and support at caplyta.com.

. we're following tons of news amidst the rnc convention and big speakers coming up next hour. there's also legal news late today. democratic senator bob menendez found guilty in a federal corruption and bribery case. the new jersey senator was convicted on all 16 counts. he faced, which included bribery, extortion, and acting as a foreign agent. this is menendez's second trial on a different set of charges. some democrats had already called on him to vacate his post. he is now convicted and faces sentencing in october. it's a big night. some of trump's top rivals from the gop primary are set -- sorry about that -- to speak at the rnc, nikki haley and ron desantis. we'll break it down with a man who used to run the rnc, our friend, michael steele. all that and more when we're back with our special coverage.

after careful review of medical guidance and research on pain relief, my recommendation is simple: every home should have salonpas. powerful yet non-addictive. targeted and long-lasting. i recommend salonpas. it's good medicine.

♪ hisamitsu ♪ missing out on the things you love because of asthma? get back to better breathing with fasenra, an add-on treatment for eosinophilic asthma that is taken once every 8 weeks. fasenra is not for sudden breathing problems or other eosinophilic conditions. allergic reactions may occur. don't stop your asthma treatments without talking with your doctor. tell your doctor if your asthma worsens. headache and sore throat may occur. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. step back out there with fasenra. ask your doctor if it's right for you. (♪♪)

dave's company just scored ask your doctor if it's right the comcast business 5-year price lock guarantee. high five! high five! -i'm in a call... it's 5 years of reliable, gig speed internet... five years of advanced security... five years of a great rate that won't change. yep, dave's feeling it. but it's only for a limited time. five years? -five years? introducing the comcast business 5-year price lock guarantee. powering 5 years of savings. powering possibilities.

welcome back to our continuing coverage of this rnc convention. i'm ari melber joining you for this special and big political night. >> i'm jen psaki with the second night of the republican national convention. it's now in full swing. 7:00 p.m. in the east, 6:00 p.m. in milwaukee at the rnc. tonight we'll hear from a who's who of trump sycophants. kari lake, mike johnson, senators ted cruz and marco rubio. we'll also hear from two people who went head to head with donald trump in this year's primaries and lost. governor ron desantis and former governor nikki haley. those sources tell nbc news trump will not be meeting with either of them. we'll just see them speaking on the stage. nbc is also reporting haley, who

once called trump unhinged, unelectable and unfit for office will focus her speech on addressing voters who are uncertain about voting for trump and making the case for why she's voting for him. interesting to see how she does that, and i'm looking forward to her case for the unhinged, unelectable and unfit for office guy, as she described him. the theme tonight is make america safe once again. which is basically code for focusing on scare tactics about immigration and crime and much more national security issues in all likelihood too. as a reminder as you're preparing to see some of this, a central theme of trump's campaign has been his promise of delivering on the largest deportation effort in american history if elected in november. that's part of his promise, something he talks about. trump has also tried to tie a rise in migration to crime. as you prepare to watch tonight, it's important to remember that there is absolutely no

statistical evidence of a migrant driven crime wave. and despite the claim of crime surges in blue cities, a number of major cities including baltimore, philadelphia, new york city, have seen significant drops in homicides. when it comes to overall crime, the council on criminal justice reported homicides declined by 10% last year. you're seeing kari lake come in there. we'll take that to you in a moment. tonight will also be a test to see how speakers interpret the call for greater unity. we may see that in a moment. i would certainly welcome that, we all would, i'm also not holding my breath. arizona senate candidate kari lake is now on stage. let's listen in to that. >> i love you. i love you, arizona. you guys are amazing. wow. this is maga energy tonight, guys. love it.

oh, wow. this room, america, i wish you were in this room with us. this is electric. hello, america. welcome, everybody, who is watching at home, and welcome everybody in this great arena tonight. we love you all. actually, actually, wait a minute. i don't mean that. i don't welcome everybody in this room. the guys up in the fake news, frankly -- all right, frankly, you guys up there in the fake news have worn out your welcome. right? you have worn it out, guys. you have spent the last eight years lying about president donald trump and his amazing patriotic supporters. actually, guys, they lie about

everything. they lied about joe biden's health, the economy, the laptop, the border. i could go on and on and on. but the really good news is that every day more and more people are turning off the fake news. and they're -- [ cheers and applause ] that's right. and americans are waking up to the truth about the disastrous democrat policies pushed by joe biden and his favorite congressman, my opponent, ruben gallego. these guys, they are full -- they're full of bad ideas. just last week, ruben gallego voted to let the millions of people who poured into our country illegally cast a ballot in this upcoming election. gallego and the democrats have handed over control of my state, arizona's border, to the drug

cartels. and because of them, criminals and deadly drugs are pouring in, and our children are dying. our children are getting their hands on these drugs and dying. i'll tell you, the hardest thing i have had to do on the campaign trail is talk to moms and dads who come up to me and tell me that their 19-year-old son has died because of fentanyl poisoning or their 22-year-old daughter took a half a pill and she's gone. we are losing a generation of young people to this fentanyl crisis. and it's got to stop. the grand canyon state has become the fentanyl state, and it's not okay with this mom. i'm not okay with that. i don't think it's okay with that mom. i don't think it's okay with that mom. it doesn't have to be this way. the problems we face are huge. the problems caused by the democrat party. but the solutions, guys, they're

really simple. first of all, stop the biden invasion and build the wall. easy. [ crowd chanting build the wall ] >> and while we're building the wall, let's kick bidenomics to the curb and bring back the maganomics. is that okay? i miss the strong trump economy. and because i'm a mama bear, i want to replace this indoctrination, this psychological abuse they're inflicting on our children with a real solid, quality education. it's all common sense. the great news is that we can solve these problems, and to be honest, we must solve these

problems for the sake of our children. because that's really what this is all about. right? the next generation. the future of our country. i learned something watching the nature channel that the most dangerous place on planet earth is between a mama bear and her baby cubs. right? that's exactly where the radical left have found themselves, and it's not going to go well for them. >> we have been listening to kari lake with a fairly scorched earth presentation. we should note she is a tv news anchor in her career, that's how she rose to prominence, but she opened with her attacks on the media, where she addressed in the room and spoke about immigration, crime, and what she called her mama bear policies. this is a moment not unlike a few others we have covered with the talk of potential unity or outreach is balanced by the crop of candidates they have. kari lake lost her has race for

governor. she's running now for senate. nbc news correspondent dasha burns is live from inside the conveng. what are you seeing out there in your coverage and what are you looking at with some of the even bigger speeches to come, including former rivals for trump in the primary? >> reporter: well, look, i'll say first, kari lake starting her speech with that attack on the press is something that -- it's striking in particular because of the events of this past weekend. i'll tell you, it's particularly striking for me because i was there, in the press pen, and in the immediate aftermath of the shooting as we were still trying to figure out what was going on, we were going live on the air from that venue, we did have a lot of trump supporters, rallygoers come and start screaming at the news media, angry at the news media, blaming us for what happened to him. the temperature has been turned up in a lot of ways, and the

former president has said he wants to turn that temperature down. he says he wants to focus on unity, but as you heard from kari lake, not everyone is necessarily taking that direction to heart. i'll say shortly after kari lake is speaking, one of the next speakers will be pennsylvania senate candidate dave mccormick, who was at that rally. he was right front and center. he witnessed some of the people who were injured, witnessed the devastating death of corey comperatore, and that is going to make his speech take on a new resonance here. actually just spoke to his wife, dina mccormick, who is right around here somewhere, and she told me that dave is particularly excited in the wake of everything that happened to address this crowd, to project strength, to project unity, and again, he was right there and the pennsylvania delegation is having a unique experience at

this convention given what happened just a few days ago in their state, ari. >> understood, dasha burns covering both where you were this weekend, context, and the rnc. thank you. we'll come back to you. we want to bring in now as promised a former chairman of the republican national committee. he knows his way around conventions. michael steele, now cohost of the weekend here on msnbc. welcome back. >> good to see you. jen, always a treat to see you. >> you, too. >> if ari gets a little crazy, just nudge him. >> don't worry. i'm keeping him in line, michael. >> we have the whole gang together. we both have questions for you michael. i want to be as fair as possible. we covered in our opening tonight, last hour, we looked at what was the dramatic return of donald trump as a candidate. the proverbial bandage, i read from "the new york times" piece that talked about how it was more powerful than any placard, but people would fill in what they want on that, there are people who look at that as a

really remarkable return by someone who was almost shot in the head and had his head blown off and who survived this assassination attempt. it's also politics. those are those who immediately commented on what is also the optics and the political presentation or some say propaganda in these moments. contrast that and the calls for unity against what we just heard, this is a news night, so the most recent news in the last five minutes is if there was a unity memo, kari lake didn't get it or didn't follow it. all of that for your views. >> let's start with last night and the band-aid. that's fine. what i -- where i am at this point, it's been three days going on four since this horrific event occurred, a person lost their live, two have been severely injured yet we have not received a medical report from the hospital nor have we received a medical report from the campaign or the

trump organization about the extent of the damage to his ear. if he was shot by a high-caliber bullet, there should probably be very little ear there. and so we would like to know that. is there cosmetic surgery involved. what is the prognosis for recovery? were there stitches? what is the extent and nature of the damage to his ear? was it caused by a bullet as opposed to some reports from those on the scene, other reporters, saying that it was actually shards of glass from the teleprompter itself, not the bullet. so there are a lot of questions around that ear. and yet, there's been no response to that, instud, just showing the image of the man coming in to the hall with the wounded ear. that's the politics. >> let me jump in on that and then we'll continue. we're looking at that photo. michael steele is correct. while there's a certain amount of time that could be understandable for any medical

scenario, the calls around the current president's medical condition, the questions around his capacity, are also the same questions you have in a medical event like this. certainly the public would want to know as much as possible about both incidents and the trump campaign has not been the most transparent. so i think getting medical records and briefing on that at some point would be appropriate. that's what journalists often ask for. i want to mention and folks will see it on the headline on the screen, we now have confirmed that former president trump and senator vance will appear again at the rnc tonight, as they did last night, which is part of what michael and i are discussing, which again is a change from typical conventions and may reflect the desire to show proof of life or as others have said, to live in this moment and make this moment last as many nights as possible. before we turn to the politics, michael, i did also want to play eric trump, who appeared on this network today, and shared some of his view as a family member. he was there. take a listen.

>> what i will tell you about last night, it was emotional. he was millimeters from having his head blown off on national tv. in front of 30,000, 40,000, 50,000 people who would walk over broken glass for him. i think that puts life in perspective as to what's important, what's not. >> michael, again, you have run the republican party. you have been to these conventions. never one like this. where does that pathos, that mortality, that fear fit in to what is still fundamentally, whether it's by the end of this week or the end of the campaign, a contest between two sets of ideas about who will assume power? >> well, you know, the reality of it is i don't think republicans want it to be about a contest between two sets of ideas in the terms of policy. one is a narrative around victimhood and martyrdom, the other is a narrative around the

age of an 81-year-old man and his ability to serve. that's what both democrats seemingly want it to be about because that's all they seem to be talking about, is the age of the 81-year-old president. and that's what republicans want it to be about, the age of the 81-year-old president, and the martyrdom of the man who wants to be a dictator. that's the context for me. so you have that side of it. then you have the narratives that are emerging. the president said that this would be different in light of what happened on saturday. he put out the word, the rnc put out the word. y'all just bring it down. we want to talk about unity. but that's not what we heard starting last night, right up until the opening of this hour, when the media is in the cross hairs, and somehow responsible for the environment that we live in. creating the narratives about

donald trump that they don't like. so therefore, it's fake news or they're the enemy. that narrative carried on by kari lake just at this opening is inconsistent with this new branding that they want to put out there. the fact that the president and his vice presidential choice will be in the hall tonight, can i just to save everybody some time, he'll be there tomorrow night and the night after that. okay. so we know that. why do we know nat? because it's part of the ongoing branding of donald trump. it is his way of sitting on the throne of this party, to say i'm here, i own every inch of this real estate, and that's fine because they have given it to him. and the consummate example of that is the choice of jd vance. someone who we can play the quotes of what he thought of the man sitting next to him as the american hitler, to what he thinks of him now.

and that is proof of the evolution, i would say appropriately, the devolution of this party into this wasteland of trumpism. now, the question is, what does trump say on thursday night? and that's going to be the ultimate moment where we know for in fact that we have turned the page, we have crossed the rubicon, and there's a different man here. spoiler alert, there will not be a different trump. because he is not internalized what happened the way you and i would have internalized it. there's nothing about that moment that will have changed this man and his outlook on how he sees things and how he intends to prosecute the case against democrats who are still today in congress trying to stir up petitions to forestall the inevitable and to create more negative narratives about the current administration that fuels the beast that is outside

the gates with the incoming potential incoming administration. >> michael steele, we need lots more spoiler alerts from you, so i hope you'll stick around. we have to take a quick break and we want to talk more about the guy you mentioned, jd vance, and what he means for the future of the republican party. stay with us. ♪ ♪ have you always had trouble losing weight and keeping it off? same. discover the power of wegovy®. ♪ ♪ with wegovy®, i lost 35 pounds. and some lost over 46 pounds. ♪ ♪ and i'm keeping the weight off. wegovy® helps you lose weight and keep it off. i'm reducing my risk. wegovy® is the only fda-approved weight-management medicine that's proven to reduce risk of major cardiovascular events in adults with known heart disease and with either obesity or overweight. wegovy® shouldn't be used with semaglutide or glp-1 medicines. don't take wegovy® if you or your family had medullary thyroid cancer,

multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if allergic to it. stop wegovy® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or an allergic reaction. serious side effects may happen, including pancreatitis and gallbladder problems. wegovy® may cause low blood sugar in people with diabetes, especially if you take medicines to treat diabetes. tell your provider about vision problems or changes, or if you feel your heart racing while at rest. depression or thoughts of suicide may occur. call your provider right away if you have any mental changes. common side effects like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea may lead to dehydration, which may cause kidney problems. with wegovy®, i'm losing weight, i'm keeping it off. and i'm lowering my cv risk. that's the power of we. ♪ ♪ check your cost and coverage before talking to your health care professional about wegovy®. what does a robot know about love? it takes a human to translate that leap in our hearts into something we can see and hold. etsy.

i used to leak urine when i coughed, laughed or exercised. i couldn't even enjoy playing with my kids. i leaked too. i just assumed it was normal. then we learned about bulkamid. an fda approved non-drug solution for our condition. it really works, and it lasts for years. it's been the best thing we've done for our families. call 800-983-0000 to arrange an appointment with an expert physician to determine if bulkamid is right for you. results and experiences may vary. when we're young, we're told anything is possible... determine if bulkamid is right for you. ...but only a few of us go out and prove it. witness the greatness of anna hall on a connection worthy of gold: xfinity mobile.

only xfinity gives you the most powerful mobile wifi network, with speeds up to a gig in millions of locations. and right now, get up to $800 off the new galaxy z flip6 and z fold6 when you trade in your current phone. get the fastest connection to paris with xfinity.

if i had been vice president, i would have told the states like pennsylvania, georgia, and so many others that

we needed to have multiple slates of electors and i think the u.s. congress should have fought over it from there. >> we're effectively run in this country via the democrats, via our corporate oligarchs by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices they made so they want to make the rest of the country miserable too. >> we should seize the sdraetive state for our own purposes. we should fire all of the people. we're in a late republican period if we're going to push back, we have to get wild and far out there and go in directions that a lot of conservatives right now are uncomfortable with. >> you just heard there some of the many extreme, just some of them, positions from trump's new running mate, including attacks on childless cat ladies. back with us is former rnc chair michael steele. we only played some snippets. there is a lot to work with in jd vance's record, support for an abortion ban, a range of things, obviously, his criticism of trump. he's also somebody who i believe would actually read the project 2025 plan. >> oh, yeah.

>> michael, hold where you are. we're going to go to david mccormick because he's about to enter the stage. >> send her back to california. who is ready for that? to make donald trump our 47th president. are you ready for that? and who's ready to make jd vance our new vice president? and who's ready to send chuck schumer packing? i'm ready. i'm ready. my name is dave mccormick and i'm running to be pennsylvania's next united states senator, the great commonwealth of pennsylvania. and i want to first acknowledge what transpired just a few days ago in my home state. where i witnessed first-hand from a front row seat in butler

president trump's remarkable strength and resolve in a terrifying, terrifying and unpredictable moment. the president rose brilliantly to the challenge. but what a sad, sad and frightening day for the families of those who were injured, lost, and for our great country. and we all thank god that president trump is okay. i'm a seventh generation pennsylvanian from the great keystone state, born and raised. a west point graduate, a former army wrestler, i'm a combat veteran of the 82nd airborne division. all right. 82nd. and i'm a business leader who helped create hundreds of jobs in western pennsylvania. but most important, i'm a dad. to six daughters, and i'm a husband to the love of my life, dina, wherever she is.

>> back with us is former rnc chair michael steele. so michael, we were just listening a bit to senate candidate dave mccormick. he was at the rally in butler, pennsylvania, this weekend. he spoke to that in his remarks there, saying it was terrifying. of course, thanking god that trump is alive. i wanted to ask you just about that race. it's an important one for the democrats, bob casey is defending that seat. he's currently running ahead. dave mccormick, the attacks he's not living in pennsylvania necessarily. talk to us about what you're seeing in that race and how important it is for the democrats in maintaining control of the senate? >> yeah, jen, it's very, very important. on a number of levels. a, because it's pennsylvania. b, because you know, senator casey and i remember his first campaign for the u.s. senate, and working very hard to not

have him win in that race. and recognizing in that time, at that time, some of the dynamics that he brought to the table as a candidate that was very appealing, not just to the western part of the state, the more traditionally conservative or center right portions of the state, as a democrat, but how he was able to sort of marinate that with philadelphia and some of the excerpts and suburban communities outside of philadelphia. so he is in many respects a quintessential pennsylvanian and candidate that appeals across a lot of boards. the interesting thing with, you know, this gentleman, who is currently running is how does he make that transition carry into maga baggage? people keep forgetting and discounting there is baggage with these guys running in these state-wide races that you may not necessarily have to carry when you're in an r-plus 17

congressional district. if you're marjorie taylor greene, you don't worry about maga because your district is likely maga. but when you're running in a state like pennsylvania or arizona, and this goes back to the way we started the evening, listening to kari lake lying about, you know, immigrants voting illegally in the country, sort of putting up these tropes that weren't true. that gets dissected a lot cleaner and a lot easier in a state-wide race where the margins are a little tighter. so mccormick has a big challenge in this race. and it's important for democrats, again, going back to my earlier point, for them to stop the bs noise right now, because they're creating a lot of distractions that are not just erupting around the presidential race and has nothing to do with joe biden down ballot as much as the noise that's generated in terms of dirt you don't need to have

turned up in the soil. you need a much more level platform for those guys to run on so they can talk about what happened with roe, they can lean into the supreme court narrative, they can talk more openly about the construction that's going on in their state because of the infrastructure bill, the chips act, the fact their district and the people across the state aren't having to spend $300 for insulin but $35. so these narratives become important in a race like pennsylvania, arizona, michigan, wisconsin. but also in other parts of the country that aren't battleground, because that also feeds into how the party performs overall. i know that well because that's how i won in 2010. it wasn't just focusing on battleground states. it was also how i can create momentum elsewhere that boils back into these battleground races that voters say, hmm, there's something good going on

here. which case in point is why the red wave failed. because republicans did not account for how it was playing out, not just in the places they were targeting, but also in areas they weren't. >> one more question, but we only have a minute. i don't know if you can do it. >> he's a pro. and we just took ten seconds of his time. okay, in 45 seconds about michael steele, nikki haley, how is she going to speak to the people out there who are nervous about trump when she has in the past called him unfit to be president? go. >> this is an exercise in futility. she has no credibility with anyone who has identified as a nikki haley voter. why? because she capitulated and gave in when those voters, that's not their trait. that's not their m.o., so this is just a nice speech. oh, by the way, which they gave to her because she wasn't even invited to the dance. but someone made a little noise and gave her the moment and here

she is. >> michael steele, always love talking to you. you never hold back. one of the best things about you. coming up next, how trump is remaking the gop in his image. we'll talk about that after a quick break. if you have chronic kidney disease you can reduce the risk of kidney failure with farxiga. because there are places you'd like to be. farxiga can cause serious side effects, including ketoacidosis that may be fatal, dehydration, urinary tract, or genital yeast infections, and low blood sugar. a rare, life-threatening bacterial infection in the skin of the perineum could occur. stop taking farxiga and call your doctor right away if you have symptoms of this infection, an allergic reaction, or ketoacidosis. ♪ far-xi-ga ♪ when did i call leaffilter? when i saw my gutters overflowing onto my porch. leaffilter is a permanent gutter solution, so, you never have to worry about costly damage from clogged gutters again. it's the easiest call you can make. call 833.leaf.filter today, or visit leaffilter.com.

liberty mutual customized my car insurance and i saved hundreds. with all the money i saved i thought i'd buy stilts. hi honey. ahhh...ooh. look, no line at the hot dog stand. yes! only pay for what you need. ♪liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty.♪ ♪♪ imagine checking your own heart with medical precision from anywhere. introducing kardiamobile 6l, the fda cleared ekg that provides six-times more heart data than any smartwatch. and it detects three of the most common arrhythmias in just 30 seconds, including atrial fibrillation, bradycardia, and tachycardia. check your heart with the most advanced personal ekg outside the hospital. get one for just $99 this amazon prime day. don't wait,

this offer won't last. getting older is part of the journey, even with worsening heart failure. so when i had carpal tunnel syndrome, lower back pain, and shortness of breath, i thought that's what getting older felt like. thank goodness... i called my cardiologist. i have attr-cm, a rare but serious disease... ...and getting diagnosed early... made a difference. if you have any of these warning signs, don't wait, ask your cardiologist about attr-cm today.

hi, i'm gina. i've tried so many things to lose weight. none of it worked. i would quit after a few days or a week at the most. golo is not like any of those. with golo and release i not only met my goal i've surpassed it. and i'm keeping it off. oh, why leaffilter? it's well designed, efficient, i appreciate that. leaffilter's technology keeps debris out of your gutters for good, guaranteed. what more could you ask for? call 833.leaf.filter today, or visit leaffilter.com. after careful review of medical guidance and research on pain relief, my recommendation is simple: every home should have salonpas. powerful yet non-addictive. targeted and long-lasting. i recommend salonpas. it's good medicine. ♪ hisamitsu ♪

it's night two of the

republican national convention, and we're going to go straight to nbc political correspondent jacob soboroff. where are you tonight, jacob? >> i should check. i'm in the kentucky delegation, but where i should be in the west virginia delegation because jim justice is currently on the stage. do you guys know about baby dog? he has a dog called baby dog, and the dog is currently on the stage right now. there's the dog. you can see baby dog. jim justice is talking about baby dog. talking about life in west virginia. but tonight, to bring it back to the issue of the evening, is actually supposed to be, jen and ari, about immigration, and if i could for a second, obviously this is an issue i have covered closely here on our network and across the platforms of nbc news. donald trump and the platform before the convention promised the largest deportation effort in american history, reminiscent of the 1954 policy by the eisenhower administration, with

a name that is so out of bonds, an official name i can't repeat on the air. in 1954, they deported a million people under that operation. that's part of the policy proposal of the current republican administration. it goes far beyond what donald trump did in his first term. i'll be listening closely here tonight about immigration policies and proposals and whether or not that comes up. we did hear from kari lake from arizona just a little while ago, and we heard about those topics from her. as we get later into the evening and get to folks like nikki haley, marco rubio, ted cruz, these are the top sort of tier echelon republican politicians in this country. will they stay behind these policies that are part of the proposal from the republican national committee ahead of the convention or are they going to make a shift in the wake of the assassination attempt that happened on saturday? we don't know yet, but we're listening very closely. and in the meantime, baby dog is on stage. >> that dog is very cute.

maybe hasn't missed a meal, but a very cute dog. we love to see it. jacob, thank you for joining us, and joining us now is carlos curbelo, former republican member of congress. so carlos, there's so much to ask you about. and i just want to start here, because there's a reason why donald trump had to announce a new running mate last night. and that is because his former running mate, the vice president mike pence, is no longer his running mate, for a range of reasons including people were chanting hang mike pence and donald trump did nothing about it, and he didn't deliver on what donald trump wanted him to exactly do. but talk to me a little bit about the jd vance of this all. a lot of people are just learning more about him. what should people know about him? what concerns you about him? and what is kind of exciting the party about him, too, right now? >> well, jen, i think that this is officially the end of the reagan republican party. two things stood out to me last

night. number one, that jd vance pick, another hard core populist, maybe even more populist than donald trump. and that of course, there was that big union speech at the republican national convention. something totally extraordinary that puts trump and his movement at odds with the congressional wing of the republican party. i think if donald trump wins this election, you're going to see clashes between him and a lot of congressional republicans who do come from that old reagan school of republican politics, pro-business, not in line at all with the union messaging that was so prominent last night. a primetime slot. it was really a radical shift from the republican party that i grew up in and that most republicans who are still elected in congress today respond to and came of age in. >> nikki haley is also speaking tonight. i mean, the background on her

speech is that she's going to try to appeal to people who have had concerns about whether or not trump should, you know, whether or not they can support trump. she's called him unfit to be president, she's criticized him quite a bit in the past. what are you expecting there from her speech? >> well, i think it's going to be hard for governor haley to come across as genuine and sincere. she's a talented politician, she might pull it off, but she was pretty explicit during this campaign. maybe not as explicit as former governor christie, but certainly right up there in criticizing donald trump, in talking about why he's dangerous, in talking about why the country should not be led by donald trump for another four years after what happened during the first four years. so i think this is going to be hard for her to pull off, and i think the story we'll have to follow is what is nikki haley getting out of this? she didn't even want to talk to

donald trump for a long time, and here she is at the convention. i know this happens all the time. i understand kamala harris has said some tough things about president biden, but this will be a hard act for nikki haley to pull off tonight. >> you have obviously run for office successfully in the past. another thing we're seeing tonight at the convention is a lot of these senate candidates, you have been watching i think there. who has been most compelling, who has had the biggest response? who are you watching and thinking the democratic senator may have a big challenge on their hands? >> well, look, obviously, west virginia. that's going to be a relatively easy pick-up for republicans. i think montana, senator tester is the other big state to watch. he is a fighter. he has done a really good job to represent his state, and he's had to stand out from his party a number of times. but i think that's where

republicans are going to push hard to get a win. then we have maryland, which would just be a big shocking surprise. larry hogan is very popular, but still, if that state were to elect a republican senator, that would be completely unexpected. that's another one to watch closely. >> carlos curbelo, thank you for joining us. michael beschloss joins us with much needed historical perspective. we always need michael beschloss perspective. he's coming back with us. stay with us. >> americans want a president who is proud of their country -- who is proud of their country -- my recommendation is simple: every home should have salonpas. powerful yet non-addictive. targeted and long-lasting. i recommend salonpas. it's good medicine. ♪ hisamitsu ♪ (bell ringing) someone needs to customize and save hundreds with liberty mutual! (inaudible sounds) (elevator doors opening) wait, there's an elevator? only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, ♪

♪ liberty. ♪ what does a robot know about love? it takes a human to translate that leap in our hearts into something we can see and hold. etsy.

my mental health was better. but uncontrollable movements called td, tardive dyskinesia, started disrupting my day. td felt embarrassing. i felt like disconnecting. i asked my doctor about treating my td,

and learned about ingrezza. ♪ ingrezza ♪ ingrezza is clinically proven for reducing td. most people saw results in just two weeks. people taking ingrezza can stay on most mental health meds. only number-one prescribed ingrezza has simple dosing for td: always one pill, once daily. ingrezza can cause depression, suicidal thoughts, or actions in patients with huntington's disease. pay close attention to and call your doctor if you become depressed, have sudden changes in mood, behaviors, feelings, or have thoughts of suicide. don't take ingrezza if you're allergic to its ingredients. ingrezza may cause serious side effects, including angioedema, potential heart rhythm problems, and abnormal movements. report fevers, stiff muscles, or problems thinking as these may be life threatening. sleepiness is the most common side effect. take control by asking your doctor about ingrezza. ♪ ingrezza ♪

at bombas we make the most comfortable sock in the history of feet so comfortable you'll wish you had more vist bombas.com and get 20% off your first order after careful review of medical guidance and research on pain relief, my recommendation is simple: every home should have salonpas. powerful yet non-addictive. targeted and long-lasting. i recommend salonpas. it's good medicine.

♪ hisamitsu ♪ america, i served you as a solar and i want to serve you again. >> we are looking at the republican national convention in milwaukee where the speeches continue, and according to tradition, the second night more important than the first. the speakers more profile and on until we hear from the nominee himself. as we reflect on what is obviously a pivotal convention coming as a tense time in our nation, we're joined by nbc news presidential historian michael beschloss. welcome. >> thank you, ari. and thank you, jen. >> yeah, and jen is here standing by, about to jump in as well. my first question for you is, how do parties deal with what they know totoric periods? what happened this weekend was

horrific. we covered it extensively. other horrific situations, the unrest and riots in '68, have also greeted conventions. with you, sometimes we get to take a step back. let's take a step back and tell us how you view all that tonight. >> well, you know, you're talking about law and order and crime and race. this is a party that has a big history with that. as you well know and as jen knows, 1856, republicans nominated their first presidential candidate, their second was abraham lincoln. they were the anti-slavery party, they were the liberal party. they were considered to be the most sensitive on civil rights and race. and that was true all the way up until 1964, when their nominee barry goldwater said he would oppose the civil rights act, to integrate hotels and restaurants, because he thought it was unconstitutional. so ever since then, 1968, richard nixon campaigned on law

and order. would say you can't walk through the streets of washington without getting hurt. and then, that gets up to donald trump in 2017, that inaugural american carnage, if you look at donald trump's political career, a lot of it has been an effort to get some popularity for himself and his party by saying, we're the law and order party, i'm the law and order leader. >> we also have some new leaked audio of donald trump that i want to play. some might be hearing it for the first time. michael, as you know, something that historians and journalists have in common, we love primary sources. it's fine to have someone tell you what they remember, what happened in the we love primary sources. it's fine to have someone tell you what they remember and sometimes it is a self-serving account. it is another to get a primary source and i want to be clear before we play this, there have been a flurry of phone calls with donald trump.

he ended up having a call with rfk jr. former president trump is called with secret service protection for rfk jr. this call was not supposed to go public. rfk has apologized that the videographer who was with him ended up providing this video in a way that it was posted online. with that said it is a fascinating window into the conversation. as trump tries to respond to rfk's concerns about vaccines and woo him towards his campaign, here he is. >> really something is wrong with that whole system. i think it would be so good for you. and we are going to win. and you know it is interesting. he is very nice, actually. he called me and he said how did you choose to move to the

right? people say -- i said, i was just showing the chart. i didn't tell him the chart was all the people pouring into our country. i turned my head to show the chart. it sounded like a giant, the world's largest mosquito. and it was, it was a bullet going. you know what they call it, and ar-15 or something. that is a big gun. those are pretty tough guns, right? >> michael, you have donald trump telling rfk with what he says with the president. he refers to president biden as nice and then he tries to work or soften rfk. we are winning anyway, come join us. as a fly on the proverbial wall, if not the actual mosquito -- what do you make of

that exchange we now have tonight? >> well, it is amazing because as you both know we, historians, usually have to wait decades for something like that. like the tapes of linda johnson. 800 hours of his private conversations. first of all, i have to say donald trump is talking about his mere assassination to a man, rfk jr., whose family life was nearly ruined by the tragic assassination of his father by handgun in 1968. it is almost amazing to see and the other thing is in parts that go beyond what you played, donald trump goes into making it very clear that he does not like vaccines very much, either, just like rfk jr., which may be a little different from what he will be saying in public this fall.

>> michael, there has been a history of third-party candidates. rfk jr. is not the first one. we heard trump say i hope you will do something, i think, with me, presumably. talk to us a little bit about the history of third-party candidates and what it would mean. we don't know that this would be the case, but if rfk jr. were to decide to take trump, i guess, up on his offer on that call. >> trump is only doing this because obviously his pollsters have pretty exact figures saying the roughly 10% who supposedly support rfk jr. would predominantly come to him. whether that is true or not, we don't know. biggest third-party candidate in american history. ross perot in 1992 got 19%. i got to know george h.w. bush very well. until the day he died he was certain that his election, his defeat that year was because of ross perot.

in 1912, theodore roosevelt came in second against a democratic and republican candidate. there is a big tradition. the most interesting one, george wallace in 1968 got 13%. at one point he was running as high as 25% on an open, racist appeal. richard nixon tried to co-opt that. wallace did not run. nixon won by a landslide. privately nixon said the reason i got that landside, george wallace was out of the race and all that boat came to me. that is what we just heard donald trump trying to do. >> as you say, talk about the parallels across history. michael beschloss, thank you as always, sir. >> thank you. >> this has been a fascinating start to what will be a big set of speeches including desantis and nikki haley. we are coming back later so i

will see you later if you stay with us and special coverage of the rnc continues next with chris hayes and alex wagner. with my kids. i leaked too. i just assumed it was normal. then we learned about bulkamid. an fda approved non-drug solution for our condition. it really works, and it lasts for years. it's been the best thing we've done for our families. call 800-983-0000 to arrange an appointment with an expert physician to determine if bulkamid is right for you. results and experiences may vary. hi, i'm kevin, determine if bulkamid is right for you. and i've lost 152 pounds on golo. i had just left a checkup with my doctor, and i'd weighed in at 345 pounds. my doctor prescribed a weight loss drug, but as soon as i stopped taking the drug, i gained all the weight back and then some. that's when i decided to give golo a try. taking the release supplement, i noticed a change within the first week,

and each month the weight just kept coming off. with golo, you can keep the weight off. i'm sam, i have a three and a half-year-old puppy. levi is rambunctious, he's very active. so, levi's had to go to the vet because he was coughing a bit, and he ended up getting x-rays. it would have cost over five hundred dollars, had i not had fetch pet insurance. fetch provides coverage for all of this... and so much more! fetch protects over four hundred thousand pets. get paid back up to ninety percent on unexpected vet bills. fetch. the most comprehensive pet insurance. get your free quote today. i'm not a doctor. i'm not even in a doctor's office. i'm standing on the streets talking to real people about their heart.

how's your heart? my heart's pretty good. you sure? i think so. how do you know? you're driving a car, you have the check engine light. but the heart doesn't have a hey, check heart sign. i want to show you something. put both fingers right on those pads. there you go. in 30 seconds we're going to have a medical-grade ekg reading. —there it is! —that is you. look at that. with kardiamobile, you can take a medical-grade ekg in just 30 seconds from anywhere. kardiamobile is proven to detect atrial fibrillation, one of the leading causes of stroke. and it's the only personal ekg that's fda-cleared to detect normal heart rhythm, bradycardia and tachycardia. how much do you think this device costs? probably a thousand. $99! wow. that's impressive. get kardiamobile today for just $79. and check out our prime day deals at kardia.com or amazon. don't wait. these offers won't last. ♪♪ after careful review of medical guidance and research on pain relief, my recommendation is simple: every home should have salonpas.

powerful yet non-addictive. targeted and long-lasting. i recommend salonpas. it's good medicine. ♪ hisamitsu ♪

good evening from new york,