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all eyes are on chicago. it's game day for the democratic party, the kickoff to the democratic national convention and the countdown for vice president kamala harris formally accepting the party this week. you're looking inside the united center where the chicago bulls play. our team of correspondents on the ground, the convention officially kicking off in about two hours and 50 minutes from right now at 6:15 minutes eastern. donald trump's convention now a distant memory to save democracy at all costs. tonight is the first sliding doors moment for president joe biden who had planned to speak thursday night at his convention's close but will instead open the week as the man who passed the torch to his dynamic and loyal number two as the ultimate act of political

sacrifice in public service. he will be preceded by some of the party's biggest stars and most influential voices. to name a few, united autoworkers shawn fain. congresswoman alexandria course ya cortez. hillary clinton. longtime biden friend and ally congressman jim clyburn, secretary hillary clinton, first lady dr. jill biden, and the man of the hour, president joe biden who just one month ago made that historic decision to drop out of the race for president, paving the way for what we're all watching, this political phenomenon that has taken the nation by storm in the form of the candidacy of vice president kamala harris and governor tim walz. tonight's speech will kick off a career that spanned more than half a century, a life in public

service that culminates in this decision, in this moment, a moment that "the new york times" describes this way as, quote, bittersweet. they go on. tonight's speech was supposed to have superchargeds he final push for a second term but instead will serve as an opportunity to pass the torch to vice president harris. quote, mr. biden will use the speech to argue that mission harris is the best person to carry on his legacy now that he's no longer in the race. her candidacy is the standard bearer, he will argue is the natural choice he made four years ago to place her just a heartbeat away from the presidency. the times goes on, quote, but the president is also focused by aides to focus on the stakes of the 2024 election and what he sees as the existential danger if voters return president trump the oval office. he will argue if the voters elect miss harris, it will mean

that democracy is preserved. that is where we start today. with some of our favorite reporters and friends, mike anymorely, ameesh alcindor who's been covering the campaign and former u.s. senator and co-host of msnbc how to win podcast, claire mccaskill. mike emily, how is this for you? you all had plans to be there. you covered longer and better than anybody we all know and now he's playing the role that -- frankly, this is the speech that builds a lot like the one president obama gave for him, the special qualifications of his number two. it's a really, really incredible book end. >> yeah, it really is remarkable. first of all, i consider myself an honor ariane delawarean

having spent all that time in that state over the years. as i've been covering the biden story for the last more than 16 years now, i've always been struck. one of the reasons why he's such a fascinating person to cover is the way the stories sometimes echo the moments in the past. i was thinking really about how you and i would talk in the 2020 primaries. when things changed so suddenly when then vice president -- former vice president biden was down and out and then suddenly quickly became the front-runner for the nomination, and i would talk about how he was good at being gracious, that as these other younger ambitious democrats were stepping aside, endorsing him, he would stand with them, praise them, and talk about their bright future in the party, talking about how they were making the ultimate sacrifice to drop out early to endorse him to unite the party. that's what president biden's mission is. this is a bittersweet moment for

him. remember three years ago i was one of a small group of reporters in an empty convention hall when he had to speak in a dark room to talk about the stakes of this election. he was very much looking to it, the entire team toward the end of his political career, a large full convention hall to celebrate his accomplishments and to empower him to four more years, but it's something he's mindful of. he's made a decision and he let's moved on. yes, this is difficult maybe for some people, maybe some people he's related to, quite frankly, but he sees this as a critical mission for him. he, as he put it, saved democracy in 2020. he can make this case uniquely tonight about what happens if donald trump is returned to the white house. joe biden is nothing if not consistent, and that's the message he brings to the convention hall tonight. >> mime memoli, the convention last week erupted in organic

spontaneous thank you, joe, and kamala harris felt the moment, i think, in her bones and said -- first she stepped back from the podium and just let that roar fill that venue. then she went back to the microphone and said, they're thanking you for a lot of things. talk about this relationship, that i think was opaque to a lot of people, how close the president and vice president have become especially over these last eight weeks. >> reporter: frankly, nicolle, one of the ultimate tumultuous parts over the last month is the way both of these figures have been loyal to one another. even as he was fighting for his political career, making the case to stay in this craze, president biden did everything he could to elevate his vice president at the same time. he invited her to be part of a number of events with him, including the fourth of july, holding her hand up with him on the truman bell kany.

he asked her to return for the return of the hostages because he knew what an important moment that was as well. in return, the vice president, at a time when there were some in the white house who wanted her to make more calls to rally support for him, she didn't want to do it for this reason, which i found so fascinating. she didn't want to give any hint to any democrat that might misinterpret her remarks as preparing to take over, which was not the case. she was sticking with the president who chose her. i was with them last night, nicolle. one of the dynamics i saw last week that we could see tonight, there's an element of this event with all the tributes that will lead up to president biden that i think aren't going to mean as a much as they might have in another circumstance. what i mean by that, in 2016 he saw the this is your life moment when many thought hillary clinton was going to be the next

president. now he doesn't necessarily feel those tributes in the same way, but i was very closely watching president biden's face as that crowd was reacting to him last week in maryland, the way in which he knew his vice president was allowing that reaction to build, and as much as i think he wants to power through in this moment and stick to his speech and talk about what he believes is at stake, i think we know the emotions might also overpower him in this moment as well. >> well, i think, ameesh, the other part that makes this so emotional for him is vice president harris has been public and effusive as has her husband in saying we love the bidens. and i heard it and i keep saying it on the show. i heard it in wilmington the first day after he had stepped off the ticket, and he said, i'm right here, kid, i'm watching you. and you just could feel the -- it is such a lonely fish bowel

bowl being the lonely president and she was in the fish bowl with him. this passing of the torch is as much the story this week as the political phenomenon we're witnessing in this candidacy. >> that's right. i'm thinking about the many democrats in this moment. many are relieved, ready to turn the page and lean into the harris/walz ticket. there's just deep admiration for president biden. one who's embodying that is the president. she was on the tv talking up talking points saying you shouldn't be judged by the 09 minutes but by his long time as a public servant. over the weeks so many democrats who knew president biden longer than her came out and started publicly questioning him and publicly telling him he should get out, she was behind the scenes telling her staff, we're not engaging in this. we're going to let joe biden have the respect and dignity to

make his decision and we're not going to be trying to figure out ways to elbow him out. that translated to when he finally made the decision to drop out, she said, i respect and at times i love joe biden because she understands this moment would not be possible in this way if it were not for joe biden picking her as president and also there was that 15-minute period he dropped out and said he was not going to endorse her. and then the endorsement came. not only he dropped out, but she has this big endorsement that's allowed her to power through and build the enthusiasm and build this campaign and fend off anyone who would have tried to take this nomination away from her. this night is not only about joe biden's night and paying respect for him, but it a is going to be about black women. the black women have been the bedrock of the voting party. they've been part of the

leadership for years and years and years, and this night seeing an african american woman be passed the baton by joe biden is going to resonate and feels so powerful to so many women i've been talking to. this has been historic. keep in mind, after shirley chisholm ran, you now have a black woman at the top of the ticket, and that means so much for so many people in the room as we're waiting for this to get started. >> yeah. yamiche, as mike memoli is piecing this together our history of covering joe biden's primary candidacy together, it is the story of the black voters in south carolina who decided, i'm going to go with joe biden, and that was the pivot point in the entire democratic -- it was over. it was over. and the person probably politically most associated with that grassroots wave of support

for president joe biden is also the person that i think we have the most access to as a deep friend -- friendship and bond, and that's congressman jim clyburn, who's always speaking tonight. just talk about all the people who probably would be speaking if it was the biden convention week, but who have sort of this special place both in the history that kamala harris is making and the wave of support that she has and people -- little girls all over this country who are going to see themselves in her, as well as the bond of someone like jim clyburn has to his friend joe bide snoop when you think about the history of joe biden and the impact he's had on the democratic party, when i talked with sources, part of his history is going to be that he was the vice president and the first black president, and then african americans in south carolina said we're going to stick with joe. i remember being in south carolina, asking people about other candidates including kamala harris at the time saying

what about senator harris. they said, we know joe biden, he stuck by obama. that decision was very much jim clyburn coming in and making that historic endorse management, leaning in on the race that he had never done before, but it was also about getting the first african american president in this country elected. and then when he made that promise, i remember when joe biden accepted the nomination. he said black people will have my back, i'm going to have yours. then you saw him pick not only a black african american woman as vp but also on the supreme court. over and over again african american people have felt like joe biden in large part has had their back. for black democrats, they do feel like joe biden had their back. which is why you saw the black caucus including james clyburn stick with him until the very end, saying we're going to be with you and let you make the decision. we didn't see black african

american democrats say, you're going to get off the ticket. it's after he picked kamala harris, then they turned and said thank you, joe biden. now we're going to support kamala harris. so many girls are going to be saying this is someone who looks like me in a country where we still deal with race and the consequences of racism, but the see her reflected on the top of the ticket is going to mean so much for so many people, but also that you see someone like joe biden, someone, a white man from scranton, pennsylvania, saying we as a country need to lean into diversity, a place where everyone can feel important. he's been part of that integral party doing that. >> claire, this is the kickoff of a week that feels so different from the kind of convention maybe we thought we

would be covering five weeks ago, and you've been in the middle of all these conversations, and they've been painful, but this is totally different. this has been the most seamless transition between the president and his number two in the most extraordinary of circumstances, and maybe it's coming from the other party, the one that keeps doing the thing that is insanity, that literally is the definition of insanity, doing the same thing over and over and expecting the same result, something less catastrophic, less gross, less extreme, the republicans having that delusion. the democrats as a party have exhibited such fealty to the country and the constitution and the flag and one another, and i wonder if you can tell me if that's palpable in the room or sort of the rituals of any convention. what does it feel like? >> i think tonight will be

beyond celebratory when it comes to what this party is facing. the stakes for our country are so high. let me geek out here a moment. i'm sitting in this hall. i've got a genetic defect. i love politics. i'll be very forthright about it. i'm sitting in this hall. you sense the anticipation. while you all were talking about kamala harris and joe biden and the true friendship they have, the true friendship, spoiler alert, james taylor is behind us rehearsing "you've got a friend." like i could tear up just thinking about it that you could make me cry. >> i'm telling you, it is so powerful that joe biden did the honorable thing, something that donald trump would never be capable of doing. that's why donald trump was taken by surprise because he would never consider doing something selfless. that's not in his makeup.

it a is not in his dna. it's not at all about him. i do think this week is going to be extraordinary, and what i'm beginning to hear are echoes of 2008, and it is fitting that we're in chicago. >> yeah. >> i remember the night in grant park when we elected barack obama as president, and we haven't spent a lot of time talking about the historical nature of kamala harris's candidacy and if she was elected, if she were elected, her being the first woman president of this country, but believe me. it's not lost on all the women that are going to be here, and it's not if lost on the women of america as a we're facing for the very first time a loss and a constitutional freedom that we took for granted probably for 50 years. >> i mean, claire, i love that you -- it kills me not to be there. i've been at so many of these democratic and republican conventions because when you're on a campaign, you always are

given the courtesy as a communications person to be welcomed into the other person's campaign. during john mccain, i went to gibbs. i went to obama's and the same happened with the communication folks for his convention. you're right to make that tie. i want to share some reporting in "the new york times" of another tie that i just -- i thought this was such incredible reporting. this is about the relationship between vice president kamala harris and former secretary of state hillary clinton. the two women once on opposite sides during the contentious 2008 dej caratic primary have quietly shared dinners at mrs. harris's washington home. they talk about how the still stubborn ways that women in high office can be underestimated. on monday night hillary clinton

will pass the torch to a woman almost two decades younger. it's such a nice way of thinking about all of the people passing on their hardwork and the groundwork that they laid. people should make no mistake of how far hillary clinton went toward making people think this was not just normal but that our time was overdue to elevate a woman to the highest office. talk about what her supporters sort of feel and have riding on this week. >> you know, i have not talked to hillary clinton, but i have certainly visited with people who are very close to her, and i think she is -- as you would expect from a woman of her intellect and character -- she is solely focused making sure donald trump does not become president and also doing everything she can to help kamala harris become president. both of those things, i think, are motivating her, and i think

we'll hear that in her speech tonight. yes, she did not break that last gas ceiling, but she put a lot of accidents in it, and kamala harris is going to take advantage of those departments. she's going to take advantage of those cracks. and i think that it is really fitting that -- i mean, some people were saying why isn't hillary clinton talking the same night as bill clinton because michelle obama is talking the same night as barack obama. it's different. hillary clinton deserves being a solitaire figure on that stage, not as a spouse of bill clinton but as an accomplished women in her own right who achieved things women in this country can only think of. i think she's anxious to see kamala harris achieve the last dream she didn't get done. >> claire, stick around, mike stick around. yamiche, we're going to be

calling on you often. wherever you are, if you want to say something, wave your arms and we'll get you back on air. we'll have much more on the democratic national convention and reproduction rights take center stage. sydney is set to take the stage and tell this story on the brightest stage in american politics. later, brand-new reporting from "the new york times" on alarming and extreme plans to deploy u.s. military troops on u.s. soil on day one if donald trump wins another term in the white house. we'll bring you all those stories and more when "deadline: white house" continues after a quick break. don't go anywhere. quick break. don't go anywhere. we are living with afib. and over 400,000 of us have left blood thinners behind... ...for life. we've cut our stroke risk and said goodbye to our bleeding worry. with the watchman implant. watchman. it's one time,

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although we weren't able to shatter that highest hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it's got about 18 million cracks in it. and the light is shining through like never before, filling us all with the hope and the sheer knowledge that the path will be a little bit easier next time. >> speaking of cracked glass ceilings, that was hillary clinton's iconic concession speech in 2008 and 2016. she would go on to wing a major

political party and later win the popular vote for president. tonight senator hillary clinton will take the stage in chicago on the first night of the democratic national convention to honor and support and make the case for vice president kamala harris who if she succeeds in november could very much finish the job, cracking the proverbial ceiling once and for all and becoming the first female president in our country's history. joining our coverage, jessica. mike and claire are still with us. i. going to borrow claire's term. geeking out. what are you doing in chicago and how it feels and if it feels different from other conventions. i'm sure you've been to more than a few. >> reporter: it is. geeking is the right term. i'm been searching for the righted a jeck actives how amazing it is. the energy in chicago, you can really feel it.

it's the electriication of the country since vice president harris has taken the tuct. that's what we're seeing here and decided to live through the next four days. >> one of the things that's extraordinary about tonight is that some of the women who i believe have changed the conversation in america about abortion politics and i think a lot of what explains the numbers is these women bravely telling their stories. some of them will take the stage and talk about the most tragic events of their lives. one is amanda who's been on our show. tell me about this decision by the party and by people who care about these issues to have these women tell these stories on the biggest stage in american politics. what do you think of that? well, first of all, as you said, it's incredibly brave of these women. they're reliving every time they

tell these stories an incredibly devastating experience. but it's also really important, and that's the reason that they're doing it. this is the issue -- one of the reasons reproductive freedom has such power in these elections is because it's deeply personal, intuitive for voters, they overwhelmingly agree these are decisions that should be made without the interference of government, politicians, and here to talk about what they've been through, it connects with voters in a deeply personal way and reminds them what is at stake in this election. >> claire, let me bring you back on this. i had a chance to speak on friday to josh hawley's challenger, and he went straight to reproductive health care, and i was surprised just because i know from covering with you and working with you how deeply red and conservative missouri is, but it feels like the republicans have so overreached that being on the side of amanda zur row ski and president biden

and vice president harris is the center of this debate these days. >> yeah. lucas kunce, the candidate against josh hawley in missouri knows that josh hawley is way out of step with most of america. keep in mind josh hawley votes like jd vance. people need to repeat this over and over again. jd vance not only does not want any exemptions, he wants any women who have been raped to be forced by the government to give birth to the child of their rapist and he wants to vote against contraception and ivf for millions of families trying everything they can with the science god gifted our planet with to be able to have children. the guys that are in charge infuriated women. i'm so proud, too, of the three women that are going to speak

tonight. they represent so many more women, nicolle, that aren't going to make the most painful and private parts of their live public and i respect that. they've faced brutal, brutal decisions because their state has banned abortion. >> one of the sort of tectonic plates that have shifted in american politics is the dobbs decision. just talk about the messaging and the continuity, frankly, between president biden on top of the ticket and vice president harris who was his point person on these issues. she traveled all over the country for people who don't know as vice president. she, i think, maybe -- the first time she appeared with governor walz was at a planned parenthood

in his state. >> that's right. >> talk about how this keeps the torch passing so seamless. >> it's so fascinating, nicolle, because as we talk about the bond and relationship, the working relationship that developed between the president and vice president over the past few years, one of the things they would talk with me about is the respect he has for other people who have put themselves on a ballot, that he views the advice and the input he gets from people who have run for office and elected themselves differently than maybe longtime policy advisers. and one thing he came to value and respect in terms of the vice president's political acumen is when he watched her campaign in 2022 on the issue of reproductive rights, but also freedom and equality more generally and the way in which he was so powerful and helping democrats withstand what would typically be a midterm election where they faced significant defeats. democrats would gain a senate

seat and win seats in the house. the president felt because of the vice president's role in the campaign, it's one reason why they say there was never a question. there was one question where he would allow the process to go through and choose their own nominee or endorse the vice president. there was never any doubt in his mind about that fact. politics is a team sport, and this convention has been built with that in mind. there are roles for everyone to play throughout this convention to speak to the constituenies that are so critical. the democrats are a big tent with many con stat >> everyone sticks around, and we're going to ask all of you to stay in your locations. i love seeing what's happening behind you. you're all so good with your game faces on. i wouldn't be able to resist without looking over my shoulder. up next, after telling her

harrowing story about needing abortion health care to be available to her as a child, haley will be at the dnc, and we get to talk to her on this program live next. her on this program live next. she grew up in a middle class home. she was the daughter of a working mom.

and she worked at mcdonald's while she got her degree. kamala harris knows what it's like to be middle class. it's why she's determined to lower health care costs and make housing more affordable. donald trump has no plan to help the middle class, just more tax cuts for billionaires. being president is about who you fight for. and she's fighting for people like you. i'm kamala harris and i approve this message. ma, ma, ma— ( clears throat ) for fast sore throat relief, try vicks vapocool drops. with two times more menthol per drop, and powerful vicks vapors to vaporize sore throat pain. vicks vapocool drops. vaporize sore throat pain.

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we had that live picture up of him landing at o'hare airport. he got on helicopter marine one and took a chopper ride to soldier field and then a brief motorcade to the convention hall. there he is, looking where he'll deliver his speech that we've been talking about. tonight mike memoli, are you close to where he's standing? >> yeah, nicolle. viewers may have noticed every time you were talking to me i was inching closer and closer to the stage. the first lady is doing the walk, get a sense of the room, getting a sense of the crowd as she'll be seeing it in a much fuller capacity tonight. the order of her testing as she does mic test one, two, three, from dr. biden as she makes her remarks, she wants to speak to those democrats who remained loyal to her husband. we remember the handwritten note

she posted to twitter after her husband made the decision to step aside. now we see president biden stepping closer to the podium himself here. at some point i'm going to get the shouting voice, give up the golf voice to see if we can get him to answer a question or two. mr. president, is this a bittersweet moment for you at all? mr. president -- joe biden, saying this is a memorable moment, not a bittersweet moment. this is the 13th convention president biden has attended. he's been at every democratic convention since he was even too young to serve as u.s. senator in 1972. he only missed 1988 convention because he had suffered those aneurysms. so he's been the headliner in a 2020 convention that was hradek will i altered because of covid-19. he spoke in very prominent roles in 2008 and 2012 as the vice presidential nominee and at

other times supporting good friends of his like john kerry in 2004. this is going to be a convention none like any other and he's been working very closely with his vuzers on over the course of the campaign, striking the right tone. this is something he feels is very important, part of his legacy, making sure his vice presidency succeeds him as the president of the united states. >> mike memoli, i heard from someone who spoke rewith him recently that he's doing great. he's feeling all the pain anyone would feel in sort of abandoned a run that he very much maintains was winnable, but that his successes as president are resounding. the hostage release, the ability to focus 100% on his final months in office, and seeing the reception of his hand-picked successor. what's your understanding of sort of the mixed emotions that

he's feeling on this night? >> i think one of the most interesting parts of seeing him over the last few weeks is that a burden in some ways has been lifted. one of the things that has been fascinating to me covering this over the last three years is the way in which the office he's aspired to his entire adult life, the presidency, almost made it harder for him to practice the politics that he did so successfully, to get that touch and feel of so many americans, the obligations, impediments of being able to freely speak his mind as he used to, maybe as vice president, maybe took away some of that personal touch and feel. what we've seen since he decided not to seek a second term is speaking more freely, frankly making fun of himself in a way in which he wasn't always able to do. one of the things i'm hearing from some democrats is where was that joe biden the last 3 1/2

years. we would have liked to have seen more of that joe biden. we may see that for the next three to six months. he's going to take him time, secede the spotlight to kamala harris, and he's going to spend time with close advisers and build a plan on what can still be accomplished through a plan and foreign policy where he has wide latitude. you heard about hoss tackle talks and negotiations between israel and hamas. that is a part where he can certainly continue to burnish his legacy. i was trying to get jeff to join me on the air, chief of the white house staff. he's been trying to make sure the president ends his presidency -- he has a lot more to do and will do as much as he can before he ends his term in

office. >> claire, as mike is talking about the strategy and all of the latitude -- you know, i opened the hour this way. you know, the biden/harris/walz combination is an opportunity. it's part of why trump's son has been blotted out. he can't get any oxygen. thaler almost too big of a story, the three of them together. what he did and the fact that trump is still spiralling, can't wrap his brain around it, is still tweeting or wherever he posts things, talking about it in a way that is so detached from the reality of this moment for the democratic party. >> yeah. i mean, trump keeps saying at his shrinking rallies that biden

hates kamala harris. well, i mean, this is just another example of where trump tells america, hey, you don't see what you see because it's pretty obvious they like each other a lot, and it's pretty obvious that they're a great team. and, you know, i think another thing we have not talked enough about in terms of joe biden, he's -- he gets credit for so much. he became vice president because of massive foreign policy. he was not strong in this area. he had not specialized as much as joe biden and world leaders but also the people he surrounded himself with. he has an incredible cabinet. they have done really good work. there have been no scandals, no one's been arrested, no one's been convicted, no one has been

charged with criminal conduct. you know, the list is long in the trump administration of people who were charged with criminal conduct. we don't even have time in this segment to go over all the people that were charged with criminal conduct in the trump administration. joe biden knows how to pick people around him. i think when he picked kamala harris, huh knew what he was doing and i think he's proud of that selection, and i think you're going to see that pride tonight. >> claire, stay with us. mike memoli, i feel the pull you feel. i'm going to let you run around the hall. wave your arms if you see anybody and i'll get you on the air, i promise. next up, hadley duvall up next talking about her big speech and the moment tonight. that's next. don't go anywhere. tonight. that's next. don't go anywhere. flare-ups that could permanently damage my lungs. with breztri, things changed for me.

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tonight the democrats will shine the light on the devastation donald trump has wrought by delivering on one of his promises, the promise to overturn roe, featuring three women who know firsthand the danger of a second trump presidency for women and their access to reproductive health care. amanda zurowski, who is one of the first women in our country to come forward and tell her story of being denied health care due to the trump abortion ban. kaitlin joshua, who was turned away from two hospitals while she was actively miss carrying a

pregnancy, and hadley duvall, who shared her story of becoming pregnant as a result of rape, to emphasize the horror and danger of those bans with no exceptions in the case of rape and incest. they will be speaking later this evening. bravery doesn't begin to capture what we think of their courage in sharing their story on this stage. joining us, hadley duvall is back with us. when we spoke -- i think air. i think it's extraordinary that you are not just a zroifr of this most horrific of horrors but that you're telling your story and letting other women feel seen. now you're doing this on this biggest of political stages in the world. tell me how you're feeling about tonight. >> i honestly can't find the words. i am so thrilled to be here. i'm so grateful.

and i just really hope that there are so many young girls and women who feel heard and feel seen after hearing what i have to say tonight. >> are you preparing any differently to deliver a speech than you have for any of the other speaking that you've done in interviews? >> i've tapped in a little bit more to me as a 12-year-old. i've done a little bit more of the backtracking and reliving some of the memories, just to remind everybody that this healing is not linear and it really does always stay with you no matter where you are. >> hadley, your trauma is something that no one can really understand if they haven't been through what you've been through. but your courage is the piece of you that i think everyone wants to grab onto. will you talk about how that in your view fits into what the

democratic party, the story they're trying to tell this week? >> this election is genuinely for the people. and i am -- you know, i was not political before this. i was just a regular college student. nobody really knew who i was. and you know, here i am now speaking at the national convention. and that seems so unreal. so just being heard and being seen by people in power when, you know, i wasn't on a powerful platform at the time and now i am. so you don't have to come from somewhere special. it really is just about, you know, connecting with everybody, uplifting each other. this is what, you know, the whole democratic party's about. and i'm so honored to be able to show that. >> we're going to be watching you tonight. and i'm sure you'll be able to hear a pin drop. but what do you want people to know? what do you want people to know about what you've been through? >> that it's very real.

and you know, the hate -- i don't see the hate comments, but your daughters do. and your sisters do. probably the ones that really need your support. and because of that they are afraid to speak out. and i will always speak out for women who really need it. and i know that there is someone out there who is going through that unimaginable situation, and i hope that they know that i see them and i speak for them so loudly. >> hadley, i have this theory that one of the groups of voters that may be quietly gathering a lot of steam behind what you're saying and behind the harris-walz ticket is men. dads, girl dads, brothers who have sisters. sons who have mothers. fathers who have sons and daughters. i mean, can you tell me a little bit of the conversations you have with women and girls and

men when you tell your story? >> the conversations are -- they mean so much to me, and i will forever hold them close to my heart. i have had some of the horrible, horrible stories told to me about the worst details possible. and you know, people who still to this day will not speak out just because society does not make us feel safe to do so. but now we see men and we hear men speaking, like governor andrew beshear put his whole campaign on preproductive rights and he was so unapologetic about it. and that helped. especially in kentucky. it helped men, white men especially, really be comfortable with speaking of something that's hard because it's not my fault about what i went through, so why shouldn't i feel comfortable to talk about it? >> jessica, i think i said this to you earlier. i think that hadley and amanda are changing the conversation in

america about abortion health care. and i think some of the seismic swings in public support for reproductive freedoms go directly to the stories these brave women are telling. >> that's absolutely right. in every election since the dobbs decision we have seen that the american people are with us on this. they believe strongly that these are rights that should be held, that they should not be taken away from us, and they're outraged. they are pissed off that republicans would dare to believe that they should get a say in when and how and if we start a family, or that they should say that women should have to flee their state to get life-saving medical care or wait until they are on the brink of death to get that care. maybe sometimes not at all. this is the state that we are living in in this country right now. it is a direct result of donald trump and republicans. and voters are fed up. they're not going to take it.

and we're seeing that. and it's being matched, by the way, by the vice president, who is offering this vision of the future and saying it does not have to be this way. we can chart a different direction. we can restore these rights and these freedoms. and that's what her campaign is all about, and people are responding to it. >> claire, there is something extraordinary that hadley will be taking the stage the same night as hillary clinton, who really did warn us that this would happen. >> yeah. and keep in mind that roe getting overturned really changed the conversation in america on this topic. and clearly young women coming forward and telling their very difficult stories has been part of that. but nicolle, four years ago the word "abortion" i don't think was ever mentioned on the platform at the democratic national convention. i don't think it was ever brought up. and i know it wasn't brought up

at the republican national convention a few weeks ago. they don't want to talk about it anymore because they've figured out it's a loser, that america is not happy with having freedoms taken away from them. whether it's a young woman in crisis, whether it's a mother who desperately wants to have another child and is suffering a miscarriage, or whether it's somebody's father who is worried about their child and whether or not their daughter can get the health care they need. and i do think this issue, it motivated in 2022. it's going to galvanize in 2024. >> oh, wow. claire mccaskill, jessica mackler, and hadley duvall, who will take the stage tonight at the democratic national convention. you don't need our good luck, but we send you good luck anyway. please come back later in the week and tell us what this experience was like for you. we'll all be watching you tonight. >> thank you. >> we will all be back with a live report from the floor of the democratic national

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♪♪ the message of the convention here in chicago is going to be about the american people. it sounds like a very simple thing. it could even sound like a cliche. but there's something very significant about this. because the trump-vance ticket views politics as being all about them. we're certainly proud of our candidate. we're excited about kamala harris. we're excited about tim walz. but part of what's so important about them is they get that it's not about them. and so what you're going to see i think is a convention that highlights how when we use the tools of policy and politics and government the right way it makes us better off in our lives. >> hi again, everybody. it's 5:00 in new york. it is 4:00 in chicago. the olympics may be over but

there is still one major baton to be passed. ceremoniously, that is. tonight on the first night of the 2024 democratic national convention in chicago president joe biden will deliver the keynote address and hand the party over to his vice president and the next generation of leaders. as axios reports, "tonight's primetime speech by joseph r. biden jr., 81 years old, will be a heartfelt passing of the torch. he'll herald vice president kamala harris, who'll turn 60 in october, as the future of the party and the country. there will be some catharsis for biden after an astonishing 52 years on the public stage. he will remind us that his life in politics from senator-elect at the age of 29 to the judiciary and foreign relations committee chair to the vice president to the president of the united states has always been about you, the people, not

special interests." that is the theme of tonight's events, for the people. a focus on how just as biden fought for each and every american harris and her vice presidential pick, governor tim walz, will do the same. we're just about one hour and 15 minutes away from the convention's official start tonight in addition to the president we will hear from democratic party heavy hitters including former secretary of hate hillary clinton, senator raphael warnock and first lady jill biden. the city of chicago is abuzz with energy fueled by a reinvigorated democratic party that looks completely different than it did one month ago. politico notes that the party's unity and drive, quote, democrats arrive here, a city that's played host to so many drama-filled political conventions, as a party lacking in drama. they are disciplined, orderly and united around vice president

kamala harris. and more to the point, around thwarting former president donald trump's restoration. politico reaching the conclusion that, quote, the democrats have become what republicans once were. brutally efficient, on message, establishment driven and singularly committed to winning general elections. emphasized by the president himself, who when asked this weekend about his message to his party responded, quote, win. a reshaped, reinvigorated democratic party kicking off the 2024 democratic national convention is where we begin the hour with mitch landrieu, the national co-chair for the harris-walz 2024 campaign. live in chicago on the convention floor. i'm trying to see what's happening behind you. you're all so good. that's why they don't let me go because i debt distracted by everything happening behind me. tell me how this feels. president joe biden and dr. jill biden just did their sort of

mike checks for where they're delivering their speeches and to see where the prompters are and so on. but what does it feel like? >> if was a surreal moment. i was being interviewed a moment ago and the brnt walked out on the stage with the first lady to get ready to pass the torch to a new generation which is of course he served his entire life to do. 52 years of incredible service with unbelievable both personal and political sacrifice. and he has the receipts. he served for four years but would just as soon serve for eight given everything he got done. and he will go down in history as being one of the greatest presidents that we've ever had. and he's about to pass the torch to a new generation of leaders, a particular person but also an entire generation of young democratic leaders that are ready to fight and win the future. >> he did this extraordinary thing, and maybe it's because i came from a party that did the opposite thing. that collapsed onto someone they all know is immoral, someone they all know is a threat. the democratic party looked at someone who was everything you

just said, one of the most accomplished politically and legislatively presidents in our country's history. he looked around and he passed the torch and he said in some reporting that it was to unite his party. and then after he did that he went and racked up some more accomplishments. i mean, just tell me what the contrast is in your view between the health of the two parties. >> well, let me just speak to -- in a personal way to what you just said. donald trump, as you know, is a man of grievance. he thinks just about himself. he thinks about helping a couple of his friends. and when things don't go his way he wants to take his ball and go home and he did not -- he engaged us in an insurrection. it stopped being the most sacred thing in the country, which is the peaceful transition of power. joe biden, on the other hand, was the kind of person who dedicated his life to helping people and when the time came to make a decision once again between himself and the country, as he did his entire life, chose

the country. and the democratic party is the personification of that. that is what secretary buttigieg was talking about earlier. and that is what's been reflected. we have differences in the democratic party. but the one thing we do believe in is democracy. we believe in lifting people up, not tearing them down. we believe in bringing people in, not actually excluding them. and that is the major difference. and at the end of the day if you can't win then you cannot govern. and we understand that really, really well. but it's also true that the future of america is thirsting to be given an opportunity to create something that hasn't been done before, and we believe that our team is going to actually deliver that and vice president harris will step up to the plate on thursday night and deliver that message to the american people. >> when you look, i mean, you understand the map and you understand what vice president harris says every day, she says, quote, we are the underdogs, how do you see the state of the race today? and what in your view are the political imperatives over the next 70 -- whatever it is, 78

days? >> well two, important points. a lot has changed in the last 19, 20 days but the one thing that has not changed is donald trump is still the same person he's been his entire life. as you know, we all know this story, he's a convicted felon. he's been declared to be a sexual abuser. he's gone bankrupt six times. everybody knows that he participated in the insurrection. that has not changed. what has changed, though, is kamala harris and tim walz have infused a new sense of energy and possibility and hope not just for democrats but for republicans and independents. having said that, this is what has not changed. this country is very divided. this is going to be a very, very close race. it's about winning the electoral college, not the popular vote. so as wonderful as it is to have everybody showing up, you've got to have the right people showing up at the right time in the right place. and so our strategy is just the same. we spent a year putting together an infrastructure on the ground that's ready to deliver in a tough race. it's going to be fourth down and goal. there's going to be no time left on the clock. and we're just going to keep our shoulder to the wheel because as the vice president has reminded us we are the underdogs and we have to keep fighting hard to

win the future. and we're going to do that. >> i want to just share with our viewers some news that's come in since we've been on the air. a frequent guest on this show, conservative judge michael luttig, has announced his endorsement of vice president harris this afternoon, saying this. "in the presidential election of 2024 there is only one political party and one candidate for the presidency that can claim the mantle of defender and protector of america's democracy, the constitution and the rule of law. as a result, i will unhesitatingly vote for the democratic party's candidate for the presidency of the united states, vice president of the united states kamala harris. in voting for vice president harris, i assume that her public policy views are vastly different from my own, but i am indifferent in this election as to her policy views on any issues other than america's democracy, the constitution and the rule of law, as i believe all americans should be." judge luttig joins republican congressman adam kinzinger,

conservative columnist david french. i mean, you talk about permission structures, which is something campaign hacks like myself talk about. the permission structure for conservative legal minds who might see themselves in judge luttig for conservative local elected officials who might see themselves in adam kinzinger, for evangelical conservatives who might see themselves in david french, they're everywhere. they are abundant. how does that figure into the political strategy over the next 80 days? >> well, it's very important because i just want to make a couple of points. first of all, in juxtaposition to donald trump, he actually -- he sat down and did nothing when a mob was trying to kill his vice president, much less doing what president biden has done, with passing off to a new generation of leaders. the other thing is you see the liz cheneys of the world and the judge and the congressman engaging in the kind of selflessness that president biden engaged in. what they're trying to say to us is this is an issue that's

bigger than ourselves. it's an issue that's bigger than the republican and democratic party. it's about democracy itself. back in the day when the republican marty was a regular party led by thoughtful people and the democratic party was, everybody was really fighting on the same side. we had principal disagreements about how to get there but we were all fighting for america. that's not so right now with a large portion of americans. and i think what these individuals are trying to say is there's something bigger than just the ideology in the moment, that democracy really is at stake because here's the thing. this election's about freedom. it's about opportunity, and it's about the future. but freedom's not free. sacrifices have to be made. democracy be can be very strong but it can also be very fragile. and you're hearing now from conservative people that do not agree with kamala harris's philosophy of governing but what they're saying is maintaining the democracy is significantly more important. and so shout out to them, and they're welcome because we have a big tent. >> what is in your view sort of the best use of these four days for the party and the

harris-walz ticket? >> well, first of all, i think the idea of america that is going to be enunciated from different races, creeds, colors, geography, so that people understand that we personify in real people, in real time, in real places the idea that we're better together, that's the big message. the second thing is for the vice president to reintroduce ourselves to the country. it's amazing that many people don't know that she got elected district attorney in san francisco and fought the bad guys and then she was the attorney general in california, which essentially means she ran the biggest law firm in the world, and went after transnational gangs. and then when she was of course a united states senator, how hard she fought to make sure that everything was better. and now as the vice president. and she's going to have a chance to remind everybody, she was just a little girl from oakland, and then with a young guy from nebraska, only in america the possibilities that really believing in the idea of america is important. and she's going to talk about patriotism. and she's going to talk about strength. and she's going to talk about kindness. she's going to talk about being tough. and she's going to talk about

being smart because you see in america we can actually do two things at once. >> mitch landrieu, you're going to have a busy week. thank you for starting it off talking to us. it's great to talk to you. thank you. good luck. >> thanks. >> let me bring into our coverage nbc news political correspondent my friend and colleague jacob soboroff on the floor of the convention, who has wrangled a very special vip. >> nicolle, i'm with a very special vip. congressman jamie raskin is down here. it was like the deli counter as one volunteer said you have to take a ticket to talk to congressman raskin, everybody wants to say hello to you. how are you, sir? how does it feel to be here? >> it feels excellent. and there's such a vibrancy and enthusiasm to this convention. it's extraordinary. >> it's no secret that you wrote this letter to president biden about your desire for him to reconsider his role in the race. you know, this was much publicized. you acknowledged it publicly. how do you feel to be here now in the wake of making that recommendation to him so publicly? >> well, my recommendation of course was just for him to talk to everybody about what was going on.

and i said you will make the right decision, as he always does. and so i wasn't trying to put a weight on the scales in either direction but i just wanted to make sure he was hearing from everybody, we are the party of democracy, we're the people's party, and people have a role here. you can't imagine anything like that going on in donald trump's so-called party, which is really a cult of personality at this point. that's not how they work. it's all top down. the democratic party's the party of the people. and we've got mayors and governors and senators and representatives and union leaders and teachers and senior citizens and everybody's here. this is why it's a remarkable thing. we are really a microcosm of the democracy. in fact, fdr used to call our party the democracy, with a capital d. he'd say the economic royalists and the plutocrats say invest in the wealthiest people in america and some of the wealth will dribble down on everybody else, but the democracy says invest in the great american working middle class. and that is the doctrine that has carried through historically

for our party. we are the party of the people. >> let me read from your letter just a little bit. i do want to talk to you about vice president harris and governor walz. but you know, you used the baseball analogy and you said your situation is tricky because you're both our star pitcher and our manager but in democracy as you've shown us more than any other prior president you're not a manager acting all alone you're the co-manager along with our great team and our great people. caucus with the team, mr. president, hear them out, you'll make the right decision. have you spoken to president biden since this has all become so public? >> no, we've not been able to talk about that. but i did see him at the beach, at rehoboth beach very briefly last week. >> and he said what? >> president biden i think is not only at peace with this decision. i think this decision will become part of his extraordinary legacy along with the infrastructure act, the $1.2 trillion investment in our roads and highways and bridges and ports and airports and along with inflation reduction act. this decision is all about showing that part of leadership

is investing in new leadership. part of leadership is creating space and opportunity for other people. that's obviously so distant from donald trump's cognitive structure. he couldn't even assimilate that idea. right? he alone can do it. it's all about him. but joe biden is teaching us how to be better leaders. >> we'll certainly both hear about the legacy you just described of president biden and the campaign and the future that vice president harris -- and in fact, we're standing here, nicolle, right under the california delegation, my home state and yours. what do you want to hear -- i know we hope to see vice president harris tonight. what are you hoping to hear over the course of the next four days from the vice president? >> well, i've loved everything i've heard from the vice president so far in this campaign. and i think that i want her to reaffirm what it means to be a democracy and the relationship between democracy and freedom because without democracy there's no freedom. the autocrats of the world like

vladimir putin and viktor orban are not going to do anything to defend the freedom of the people in their own countries, much less in our country or any other. and the kleptocrates and the plutocrats gathered at mar-a-lago, which is their real headquarters, they're not going to do anything to protect the freedom of american women. and the theeocrats of maga are not going to do anything to protect your freedom and liberty, your right to read the books you want, right the essays you want and study what you want. i think she better than anybody has been articulating the relationship between democracy and freedom. and then we are the party of progress and how are we going to keep the remarkable progress that we've seen under the biden-harris administration going in the harris-walz administration? >> congressman raskin, i know nicolle wallace has a question for you. nicolle, go ahead and i'll relay it to the congressman. >> so today judge luttig, who's one of the congressman and the january 6th select committee's

key witnesses in that select committee investigation, endorsed vice president harris. he said without hesitation. i wonder if he could just speak to the importance in a democracy of the pro-democracy coalition hailing from all sides of the ideological spectrum. >> judge luttig, one of the key witnesses as you know, in the january 6th hearings, endorsed this campaign today. the pro-democracy coalition, as nicolle, calls it, is coalescing around this campaign. your reaction to that. your thoughts on that. >> well, look, there used to be two political parties that stood by the constitution, the rule of law, and democracy. today there's one. we really are the party of democracy, or as fdr used to call us, the democracy. we are the democracy against the plutocrats, against the kleptokrats, against the theeocrats, everybody who would posit some other form of government. for donald trump it's all about

how much money he can make for him and his family when he gets in. the democracy views the government as an instrument for the common good for everybody. how can we use the government to uplift everybody in society? not just the richest people. they're going to do fine with us. but also for the working class and the poor and the middle class. that's what makes us the democracy. >> congressman jamie raskin, it is so great to see you. other people want to take the ticket at the deli counter to speak to congressman raskin. nicolle, back to you. >> jacob, i have a question for you. tell me what it feels like. how does chicago feel? what are you seeing on the ground? and what is the energy like there? >> you know, nicolle, it was such a somber obviously beginning to the last convention in the wake of the horrific assassination attempt on former president trump. and it feels entirely different here. i was in aliquippa, pennsylvania. pennsylvania delegation. and you know, you know what the campaigns think, by the way, about these states based on where they put the delegations.

i already showed you california. let me show you where pennsylvania is over here. come right this way. i told you everybody wants to talk to congressman raskin. take a look. pennsylvania's over here. delaware's over there. there's a sense of excitement. and in aliquippa where i was and actually where vice president harris and governor walz were over the weekend people were talking about how they may come to turn out and vote for the first time in a while. and that sort of spirit, that sort of energy is here on the floor. there's an excitement. and you also feel like all of the eyeballs, not just inside this arena but outside -- i actually want to show you something cool that i didn't know about. i don't remember seeing it at the republican convention but come on, let me show you this. there's something called a boiler-room, you probably know more about this than i do, nicolle. it's outside this arena. but in case anything were to go down because there is going to be a lot of action here, this phone -- this is called a telephone. mom and dad had them. the cable connects to the telephone. and when you pick these up, outside of this convention hall someone in the boiler-room can

speak to people in the individual delegations. so hot tip to everybody watching us over the course of the next couple nights, if you see people in any of these delegations picking up the old school phone with the curly wire, it means somebody outside in the boiler-room for the dnc has got something to say for each delegate in these individual delegations. i'll be watching that closely, nicolle. >> a live shot designed for our children, right? i'll make my kids watch that. this, boys and girls, is a telephone. watch jacob soboroff and you'll learn something. i love when you walk around for us. one more question for you. who's got the -- not to give away their battleground strategy but who's in the very front? who has the very, very best seats? >> okay. so come -- well, right in the front and center right here, so we've got pennsylvania, delaware, california front and center obviously going to be the biggest delegation, the most populous state in the union. maryland, nebraska. and remember, nebraska, nicolle, is home to that second congressional district where in the case of the dreaded 269-269

electoral college tie that second congressional district could be -- oh, the phone's ringing. hold on, nicolle. >> who is it? >> hold on. is it still ringing? hello? jacob soboroff, msnbc. >> can i have a pizza? deep dish? >> are you guys calling? hold on. do you need someone? >> thank you. >> they hung up. i'm going to get in trouble for crank calls. i'm going to get in trouble for crank calls and they're going to kick me out of here, nicolle, i've got to be careful. anyway, nebraska's down front and center because in the case of a tie that nebraska delegation is going to come into play and become incredibly important. i think with vice president harris now in the race there are multiple paths to victory whereas president biden obviously had michigan, wisconsin and pennsylvania as the main targets. but over here just real quick and then i'll let you get on with the show, tennessee, wisconsin, north carolina and oklahoma are down here in front. says a lot about who the campaign thinks are important. but i have a feeling that a lot will be going on in all these

delegations over the course of the next four nights, nicolle. >> i so look forward to talking to you as you walk around and bring us inside everything from ringing telephones to people that you grab and talk to on our air. we're so grateful to get to talk to you. i'm so grateful that you're there all week. thank you so much for joining us. >> thanks, my friend. talk to you soon. >> much more to come for us from chicago on this the very first day of the democratic national convention. and what democrats are doing every day this week to make sure that voters know what's happening there and how they tie to their lives as well as the stakes of this election and the dire consequences of a possible potential second trump presidency. plus there is brand new in-depth reporting in the "new york times" about how the disgraced ex-president donald trump would deploy the united states military on u.s. soil. it's setting off alarm bells among constitutional scholars and across the military itself. our experts weigh in later in the hour. "deadline: white house"

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bring on the good stuff. this week of course the focus is in chicago and on vice president kamala harris and her vision for the country. but at the same time democrats are refusing to allow donald trump to run from his deeply unpopular agenda, making it a point to shine the light brightly on project 2025. literally. the dnc projected the words "project 2025 headquarters" onto the face of trump's chicago hotel to make the point that trump and the far right

blueprint for america are one and the same. joining us now from chicago our friend media matters president angelo carusone. you are so expert at bringing this to life in such a granular level. that's obviously part of what they're doing this week. but it's also what taraji p. henson did, right? just informing people saying there's this thing out there. and i wonder what you make of the opportunity to message at all those levels. basic awareness to the granular details of project 2025. >> yeah, i mean think about it. what they did is project 2025hq. that only works if you know what project 2025 is. if seeing that is going to give you the visceral reaction. that's why that projection works. and in part it's because it's penetrated so much of the american public already. it's only been a month or so that people have actually been really focused on or talking about it and already 59% of americans say that they have heard either a lot or at least some things about project 2025.

and when you drill down lower than that and this is when it starts to connect all the dots, when they actually learn about it it's deeply unpopular. anytime somebody learns about project 2025 they find that it's not only unsettling but they don't like it, they want to reject it. even if they're maybe soft on trump or somewhere in the middle, even the conservatives, when they hear about the elements of it they say this is not a thing that we would like. and that then at a granular level, the more you start to shine a light on it, one, it forces a question and then trump or the trump campaign has to either distance themselves or modulate or moderate or try to sand out the edges of these things. but the effects of that is it either creates more media attention or alternatively within the right-wing media they start to cannibalize each other or attack trump for distancing himself from something or backing away from parts of the project. so he's really in a bind here and the more he tries to engage on it the more attention it gets and the harder the bind actually constricts him. >> what's amazing to me is that the democrats have learned all of the lessons of trump's

presidency when like you're saying someone would get in trouble and he'd say i hardly knew that person. and then it would become this sort of slippery slope. they are stuck together because he picked vance in part but also because all the people at project 2025 are trump's people. his personnel guy went over there and they did all these interviews. i mean, just talk about the inability, as you said, to do the usual houdini when it comes from getting away from these deeply unpopular policies. >> i mean, i think the important thing is like you said a lot of this depends on us allowing him. and by us i mean people. citizens. whether they be members of the media or democracy or just individuals. and i think too often trump was allowed to get away with it. so one sort of sleight of hand was effective because people didn't dig in and ask those questions. now, project 2025 is a little bit unusual in that the ties and the binds, there are so many connections that it's really hard to actually escape it. and the people are so deeply invested in project 2025 that anytime trump started to walk

back from it they would go out there on the media and be like oh, he's only distanced himself as a taikt but we're still really hand in hand. the overlap between key staff and project 2025 is really intense. so for example, one of the people right now, his national press secretary who's out there trying to distance trump and the trump campaign from project 2025, caroline leavitt, she worked at project 2025 right before trump hired her and she was in training videos explaining to people what it was like working in the trump administration, helping would-be hires because part of project 2025 as we talked about sort of setting up this pipeline for personnel so they can get in there and really hit the ground running. she was explaining to people what it's like to be on the inside and talking about how project 2025 promises to be a resource for it. there's literally a video of her explaining project 2025 when she worked there and now she works for the trump campaign trying to disassociate themselves. so to your question, i can't think of a better example or a better embodiment of just how deeply the overlap is than the

actual national press secretary for donald trump who herself was a member of project 2025 just before she started working for trump. >> you're very good at helping me and us as a show not follow a shiny object. what are you sort of at a substantive level, what are you tracking this week over these four days in chicago? >> so i would say the thing that i am sort of -- two things i'm concerned about. one is underneath the surface here it's worth keeping in mind that while at a national political level this is creating consequences and problems but all the reprobate suspects that are around project 2025 they're a little uneasy but they're still full steam ahead. if anything they've just extended the onram. and know they have to do a lot more work in october. while we're all focused here it's worth keeping in mind they're all focused on the types of things to help make it harder for voting to happen and the vote to count in the leadup to october and i was really proud to see that the harris campaign had sort of started to even spin up a larger election war room with new personnel from elias law group to sort of help them.

i think that's really important. in terms of chicago i'm really concerned. there obviously is some disagreements and dissension around palestine policy and sort of the protests there, but i think the thing that concerns me the most is taking that kintdic energy -- and this is where the right wing and the extremists are really good, is exploiting that kinetic energy by putting in bad actors and steering them in other directions so you can then sort of create some of that ire and turn it inward. and i think the media has to be really careful when they're reporting on these things not to oversaturate it and to really think about when things get out of hand if they do where it's coming from how it's coming from. that's the stuff i am really concerned with. i see a lot of high jinks already happening online for that. >> we're going to head you every day for that. thank you for making time for us today. angelo carusone. when we come back, powerful new reporting in the "new york times" about donald trump's plans to use the u.s. military on u.s. soil to put down protests, to fight crime and to target migrants. how that is raising all sorts of alarms at the civil liberties of

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cities, great cities, new york city is a crime den. chicago is a crime den. you look at these great cities. los angeles, san francisco. you look at what's happening to our country. we cannot let it happen any longer. and one of the other things i'll

do, because you know, you're supposed to not be involved in that. you have to be asked by the governor or the mayor to come in. the next time i'm not waiting. one of the things i did was let them run it and we're going to show how bad a job they do. when we did that, we don't have to wait any longer. >> so don't confuse a hint or that bluster with a promise there. a profoundly chilling one at that. donald trump's authoritarian vision and impulses for a second presidency are coming into even sharper focus today as democrats prepare to finalize their ticket. "the new york times" reports this. that where in his first term the disgraced ex-president was relatively restrained from indulging in one of his more dystopian fantasies, a second trump term would see it realized. the u.s. military used as domestic peacekeepers. using the insurrection act as his cudgel. trump would have the ability to

infringe on civil liberties by directing the national guard to move in on major cities. quote, crime dens, as he called them there. from the "times'" reporting, quote, during his time out of power allies of trump's have worked on policy papers to provide legal justifications for the former president's intent to use the military to enforce the law domestically. in public they have talked about this in the context of border states and undocumented immigrants. but an internal e-mail from a group closely aligned with trump obtained by the "new york times" shows that privately the group was also exploring troops to, quote, stop riots by protesters. joining our coverage, former prosecutor at the department of justice and msnbc legal analyst andrew weissmann's back. and retired major general for the national guard randy manners here. general, i start with you. we know from reporting on the first term that it was not a

policy or a law that kept trump from doing this but a few men. one of them general milley. it is not any mystery that there would be no general milleys in a second trump presidency. what stops trump and stephen miller from invoking the insurrection act and using the military to patrol and police american cities? >> so there's a couple of very important things. number one, every single american should be absolutely deadly afraid of the potential of what he could do because if he has the power to select all the officers, which by the way the president does have that authority, then he could direct or order people to do things that are quite frankly not in acceptance with normal law at the federal and the state level. so we all need to be extremely concerned about this. it will take strong-willed people standing behind the principles of law to keep this potential situation under

control. >> what people? where? i mean, he has absolute immunity from the supreme court and he can appoint all the people atop the department of justice and the pentagon. so what people where would be able to defy him? >> so it's a combination of two things. one would be the department of defense. and it is true. he could theoretically keep on firing people until he gets someone to follow his orders. the second important part is that the governors. the laws are very clear about federal troops or troops on federal status coming into a state. that is not permitted. and that would raise considerable challenges between a national guard of a state where the governor said the federal troops will not come here or where the president otherwise directed. so it is an area that fortunately sane men have not ever tread. and i desperately hope we never do get there. >> andrew weissmann, weigh in on

what would be different. we know what he tried to do. we know he wanted to invoke the insurrection act and he wanted this to happen. defense secretary esper, general mark milley, and a precious small handful of others as well as trump's own fear of criminal prosecution stopped him. none of these guardrails would be a factor in a second trump presidency. talk about what the scenario looks like in your view. >> well, that's absolutely right. let me start by saying that their reporting here is by lead author charlie savage, who is known for meticulous and sober and sobering reporting. so i'd encourage people to read it. this is not scurrilous account. it is incredibly detailed. and documented. as to what trump has done in his first term and discussions about

what he would do going forward. i would note to relate it to what you were just talking about in the prior segment, this is something that was kept out of project 2025 as being too scandalous, of being something that could not, should not be publicized, it's that outrageous because what people need to know who are listening to this and what mr. savage has reported on is the use of the military against the public, that's something he wanted to do in lafayette square as we all know and was stopped by defense secretary esper and as you noted by mark milley. those people, you put your finger right on it, will not be there. jeff clark, stephen miller, kash patel will be the future people. they are not going to stop this. and as you also noted, the

supreme court has now given immunity to the president. so we know that he is going to take this and not worry about criminal liability for doing this. so he can use the military to go after his political enemies. this could not be more important to the whole thrust of what is happening in the election that is upcoming and what's at stake. >> andrew weissmann, this is the kind of story that if the democratic party wasn't making big political headlines this week we would have started with and spent a whole lot of time on. i will commit to doing that in the coming days and weeks. i want to understand from you what laws would be in conflict if the scenario that the general laid out comes to pass, that the states and the governors could

sort of turn to the law that prohibits the military from operating as a domestic police force but donald trump could invoke the insurrection act. tell me who the arbiter is legally if those two things come into conflict. >> well, there -- i think unfortunately it would be assuming that there is a factual basis or invoking the insurrection act, which allows the president to say that there is harm to either a state or federal right, and that's easy enough to manufacture -- let me just give you one example in the reporting, which is that it was noted that the reason you could go after black lives matter protesters where you think that's just first amendment activity is because they said everyone knows that wasn't really about race, it was about undermining the administration, the trump administration. i mean, that's how crazy it is.

and that's how crazy we can expect it to be. so i think that it's going to be up to the courts if a state were to challenge this. but the president has enormous powers and we know that the supreme court is not inclined to throw any road blocks in terms of his power if he has justified his actions under the insurrection act or under his inherent presidential powers. so this is a long way of saying, you know, you cannot look to the law to prevent this, you have to look to the ballot box to prevent this. it's really why the election is so important, that the person in office, as president biden has said, is somebody who knows restraint, who understands the idea of checks and balances and proportionality. >> general, what is the level of unease among folks like yourself, among people in and around the military and military

families about what a second trump term would mean in terms of the stress placed on the military? >> i've talked to hundreds of soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines and family members over the past year, and there is great distress with the comments that president trump has made to the adverse of the service, the idea of serving others, the idea of your personal sacrifice, whether it is through passing away or being killed in action or even from simple things, being away from home on overseas tours and so on. and it's greatly discouraging with the idea that you'll have a president, a commander in chief that would be responsible for leading our military who has such disdain for our military. and it's just -- it affects me every single day. my son is a retired air force pilot, and i come from a military family, and it's very disturbing.

>> well, i hate -- i don't hate. i do it all the time. i'm going to put you both on the spot on live tv. let's pick this up when we have more time and really pull apart the evidence before our very eyes. just what trump has said in public like he did in that speech and what he has done and what he's been charged with doing. and what we have to work with in terms of really teasing out what this would look like. andrew weissmann, retired major general randy manner, your comments really, really so important. and we will pick this conversation up again, i promise. when we come back, we're going to head back out to chicago and spend some time with my friend and colleague joy reid. don't go anywhere.

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in the air i don't know if you can hear it behind me but there's a little bit of music playing, people are literally dancing to the tunes in their own head a kind of relief that i personally have not seen in eight years, it has been a constant slog, as much as people adore joe biden, they love him, his beloved in this party and people were prepared to fight like junkyard dogs to get him over the finish line. there is a sense that it will be a fight but it will be a joyous fight now it won't be a slog. i think people are just relieved and happy. >> one of the things we were talking about is that the polls now match the political reality in this country, arizona should be close, she is back in all of the margins ahead and all of the battleground states. she is changing the map as it should be. talk about the map as you can

>> reporter: i went back and i needed to remind myself, even though i worked on the campaign, the obama victory was something like 332 electoral college votes. he won indiana, north carolina florida and iowa. states that we barely ever talk about anymore is swing states but you remember this, nicole and then we lost that sense as on winnable. the tennessee senator that ran with him was from tennessee. what we've seen is remarkable.

you can have conversations in arizona as not impossible. they are talking about states that they had written off. they have a ticket that feel so normal it feels so approachable . >> the thing that you learn when you get to the highest levels in politics is that there is no secret, the secret is up here. what you are communicating to the country is the possible they are not just handing it out to democrats, they're handing it out to anybody that wants to be a part of the pro-

democracy coalition. >> i will tell you, this is a true story and not just because i'm talking to you, my first text this morning was from the young man who is going to be leading black republicans for harris. i'm letting you know i am putting a group together joe biden to his eternal credit did that in 2020 with the foolishness and the fear and the terror and the taking babies out of the arms of their moms the threatening and banning muslim grandmas from coming to this country and america's that you know what, enough. and he did this handoff to someone very similar to him. they're both from working-class backgrounds. joe biden is the working-class joe that america needed in 2020

and what he said is that i want to expand that coalition to include a woman of color and to include this coach that is basically like america's high school football coach. it is so refreshing and i think you feel that in this room behind me. they are refreshed and they are excited. >> i'm so happy that you are in the room and that our little trifecta has a remote, the tip of our little triangle, i can't wait to talk to you every day we will all be back together in a couple of hours. another break for us we will be right back. right back. since when is one enough for you! that is true.. get your head out of the sand trap, switch to t-mobile and get four iphone 15's on them and four lines for just $25 a line. and you can save on every plan versus the other big guys. [glass shattering] swing big at t-mobile. get four iphone 15's on us.

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we will be back at 7:45 eastern alongside my dear friends and colleagues for full coverage of the convention tonight right now our special