speech that could double as a locker room pep talk. >> we got 76 days. that's nothing. there will be time to sleep when you're dead. we're going to leave it on the field. [ cheers and applause ] >> and appearances by former president bill clinton and oprah winfrey. we've got all the big moments from night three, also ahead, three becomes two. rfk jr. planning to end his presidential bid and back donald trump. but will it make a difference? good morning, it is 10:00 eastern. thank you for joining us. i'm ana cabrera alongside jose diaz-balart. the democratic national convention has been leading up to this tonight, vice president kamala harris will make history becoming the first woman of color to subpoena a major

party's presidential nomination. >> vice presidential nominee governor tim walz set the stage for vp harris with his acceptance speech last night, and the former high school football coach put the final sprint of this truncated campaign in clear terms. >> i haven't given a lot of big speeches like this. [ laughter ] but i have given a lot of pep talks. it's the fourth quarter. we're down a field goal, but we're on offense, and we've got the ball. we're driving down the field. [ cheers and applause ] and, boy, do we have the right team. kamala harris is tough. kamala harris is experienced, and kamala harris is ready. our job, our job, our job, our job for everyone watching is to get in the trenches and do the blocking and tackling. >> joining us now from chicago

msnbc's chris jansing, margaret tollive of axios and barbara boxer of california. great to have you. chris, governor walz talked policy, football, family, and like we've seen really all week, things got emotional. >> they really did but can you imagine having take that stage after oprah winfrey and bill clinton, yeah, but, look, this is a guy who we've watched but much of america hasn't watched and what we saw is that same person who has been at the rallies by himself and also, of course, with kamala harris, somebody who looks like he can't imagine a better thing than to do what he's doing right now, and i think there are a couple of points that the campaign really wants to make, the first one is about that he's part of a real family, he understands the real challenges that face

american families, and that as governor he has worked to make them better. kamala harris, remember, picked him because of their chemistry. they believe he has chemistry with everyone who hears him speak and that he has that relatability. i mean, coach, you heard that over and over again, and in case you didn't get the point they brought some of his old players out on stage. we saw them around the floor. they looked as excited to be here as he has been but also understand that his family has the breakout star of this. there's members of his team. the breakout star arguably is his son gus. you talk about the emotion. it was in the faces of every member of his family, his wife, his daughter hope, but, boy, gus was tearing up several times. i think you had -- if you had any kind of heart when he stood up and said that's my dad.

who couldn't relate to that? and that's important to them, right? this is a family like the families in pennsylvania, in michigan, in those battleground states particularly midwestern states and those children were held through ivf and reproductive rights is key to the harris/walz campaign. here's what he said about that. >> it took gwen and i years, but we had access to fertility treatments and when our daughter was born, we named her hope. [ cheers and applause ] hope, gus, and gwen, you are my entire world and i love you. [ cheers and applause ] i'm letting you in on how we started a family, because this is a big part about what this election is about, freedom.

when republicans use the word freedom, they mean that the government should be free to invade your doctor's office. >> what the democrats have been doing with this campaign in particular i think a lot of analysts i speak to have been impressed by is they're taking what they think are some of the toughest criticisms against them and they are turning it. let me give you another example. a lot of republicans have said, oh, he's just another liberal. he has spent all this money in his home state of minnesota on free meals, breakfast and lunch for kids and i thought another key line from governor walz was, while republicans were banning books from schools, we were banning hunger. speaks to two things. how they're leaning into who he is, what he represents, but also the positivity, right? they want this, not just to be the convention of joy, but the politics of joy which is what they think will win it for them

in november. ana and jose. >> margaret, how do you see the governor's role in this campaign coming into perspective and into focus? how do you see their dynamic compared to trump/vance? >> well, i think what we saw last night was sort of like friday night lights meets "ted lasso" and with all of the imagery after the convention i went back to my hotel and i guess the football players happen to be staying there or walked in because there was a restaurant and the room erupted when the guys showed up. i think you're seeing an effort to give people in the midwest, people who might be more comfortable with an older white man on the ticket to give them a sense of comfort but the theme of the convention is kind of to introduce a more compassionate version of masculinity and see it with tim walz but also with doug emhoff's sort of dad, you

know, awkward dating on the apps, all of that rollout with the son crying. i think that they're trying to show america you can be a tough guy and be sensitive or play a number two role or be supportive also. that's something that goes beyond walz. we have some recent polling both axios polling and syracuse university polling that shows right now americans think walz more than vance understands small town america, is authentic, is relatable, understands their issues, is not a huge gap but it is a consistent gap and that's very interesting. >> former president clinton also spoke yesterday, and he took a few swipes at former president trump. listen. >> two days ago i turned 78. the oldest man in my family for four generations. [ applause ] and the only personal vanity i want to assert is i'm still younger than donald trump. [ cheers and applause ]

i meaning, look, what is our opponent do with his voice, he mostly talks about himself. right? so, the next time you hear him, don't count the lies, count the is. >> nancy, how significant is it to see clinton, to see former president obama, also, stepping into the fray like this to call out a member of that exclusive ex-presidents club. a former presidents club while trump hasn't even garnered the backing of his fellow former republican presidents who are still living, george w. bush. >> well, i think what president obama and president clinton are doing is setting up the democrats' attack lines against trump and this week we've seen them try to paint him as very self-interested and taking a slightly more nuanced take

before than calling out the lies or election conspiracies. they're really trying to call out sort of his wealth, which is generational wealth which he inherited from his father and what they call his self-interests and how focused he is on himself. that is a new attack line and frees vice president harris up tonight to give a more forward-looking speech, a more joyful speech and while i assume she will go after president trump, former president trump, it sort of gives her the bandwidth to present a more forward-looking vision because the former presidents in the democratic party have spent the week trying to bring trump down. >> as chris mentioned walz spoke about parts of his record in minnesota. listen to this. >> we cut taxes for the middle class. [ cheers and applause ] we passed paid family and medical leave. [ cheers and applause ] we invested in fighting crime and affordable housing. [ cheers and applause ] we cut the cost of prescription

drugs and helped people escape the kind of medical debt that nearly sank my family. [ cheers and applause ] and we made sure that every kid in our state gets breakfast and lunch every day. [ cheers and applause ] so while other states were banning books from their schools, we were banishing hunger from ours. [ cheers and applause ] >> in his first very real introduction to the american people on a national level it's clear that the governor wants to shine a light on what he sees as the advantages and the things that he has brought positively to his state. republicans have criticized walz as being too progressive. what do you make of his strategy to focus in on this aspect of his legacy and do you think that's going to be enough to mitigate some of the criticisms? >> this is a very popular governor, and this is from the

midwest state, and basically they're going to throw around all these words, but you know what i used to say when i ran, are you so liberal. i said two words that define he, barbara boxer. well, there are two worth that is define him, tim walz and his whole purpose in being in government is to make life better for people. so to him, bring it on. if you want to go there, you want to be a vice president, a president who stands for the billionaire class and gives them all these tax cuts and all the corporate welfare, fine, say so. if you like that, vote for that ticket. but our ticket is different. it's about seeing the future with joy, not fear. it's about defending our freedoms and trusting our people to make their own personal choices and i think he is a great messenger and i think kamala will be a great messenger as well. >> there have been so many big democratic party heavy hitters who have spoken so far at this

convention, nancy, from the obamas to the clintons, to president biden, members of the party voters know but harris isn't as familiar to many americans, just 64% of voters say they know what the vice president stands for according to the recent cbs poll. how can vice president harris try to change that tonight and realistically how much can one speech have an impact. nancy, go ahead. >> i think the harris campaign is viewing it as a huge moment and they're aware that people are not hugely familiar with her and so they're viewing this as a moment to really talk about her upbringing, her mother, her sister, her middle class upbringing. i think that will be a huge chunk of the speech just introducing herself to people. i talked to some of her policy advisers yesterday. and i think that she'll's emphasize things like working at mcdonald's and just to try to really home the idea that shy understands people's economics.

>> margaret, what are you hearing about the vice president's speech tonight and what can we expect, do you think? >> i do think it's going to be sort of a few interesting parts, the biographical introduction and idea that donald trump is sort of cast this idea of kamala harris as a san francisco liberal or radical. she's going to try to present herself as someone who grew up as a middle class american. we'll hear about her upbringing. there will be sort of anti-trump component to the remarks, project 2025 has been this rallying cry and we will hear about that tonight and then her idea of what being a patriotic american looks like. her idea of what the future looks like. if she is half as good as the coach walz branding at sort of branding herself in a simple way that becomes a meme that americans can understand no matter how involved they are in politics, this convention will have been a huge success for her. there are a lot of people who don't know who is kamala harris.

they have their ideas but don't have their own sense of it and i do think it's a big opportunity for her tonight. >> senator, you are part of the year of the woman when you won your senate race in 1992, and then when you retired you endorsed harris who won your seat before she ultimately went on to become vice president. what stands out to you about how she's messaged around gender so far? you know, i think with kamala, it's not so much about saying, i'm a woman, i'll make history. she doesn't do that. she talks about the people. what they need. she connects. she has made history every single time she has run. think about it. a woman of color running for district attorney, beating an incumbent, running for attorney general and winning against a very hard-line republican. she ran for senator, ran a beautiful campaign, won big. and then she's chosen to be vice

president and she sits at the knee of one of the most experienced, you know, legislators in history, joe biden, and one of the experts in foreign policy and so she's not going to stand up there and say, oh, aren't i great? i don't think -- i think it's a fact in evidence. she's going to talk about the people. she's going to talk about joy, not fear. she's going to talk about working hard to make life better for people. last point, she is a symbol of the american dream. and so many people in our country respect that. she wasn't born with a silver spoon in her mouth or on third base and inherited millions of dollars. she fought hard. she fought hard. and she's remained a compassionate person, a caring person. >> margaret talov, nancy congress, former senator barbara boxer, thank you so much for being with us.

a surprise speaker took the stage last night to hype up the crowd at the democratic national convention. none other than oprah. here's just a little bit of what she had to say. >> you're looking at a registered independent who's proud to vote again and again and again because i'm an american, and that's what americans do. values and character matter most of all. [ cheers and applause ] in leadership and in life. when a house is on fire we don't ask about the homeowner's race or religion and if the place happens to belong to a childless cat lady, well, we try to get that cat out too. let us choose, truth, let us choose honor and let us choose joy! [ cheers and applause ] we're all americans, and together let's all choose kamala

harris! >> a lot of people are questioning this morning whether we could be seeing oprah on the campaign trail. that's still a question we need answered. >> i was waiting for you to deliver this in a way that i wouldn't. >> a little singing. ♪ stay tuned ♪ >> you did it, ana. with our special coverage we'll talk to a former trump administration official who is backing vice president harris. her message from the dnc stage to other republicans. also ahead we'll speak with congressman robert garcia of california. what he makes of the message of inclusivity at the dnc so far. and the trump campaign's efforts to cut through the kumbaya. could rfk jr. give them a lift? >> more coverage when we're back in 90 seconds. - so this is pickleball? - pickle! ah, these guys are intense.

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at the democratic national convention. the former national security adviser to mike pence warned of the dangers of a potential second trump presidency and urged her fellow republicans to rally around kamala harris. >> olivia troye joins us this morning. olivia, thank you for being with us. why was it important for you to speak at the dnc? >> good morning, jose and ana. for me it was important to reach my fellow republicans and conservatives and independent voters and be part of growing a broader coalition to support kamala harris and tim walz and really try to tell them firsthand what this election means for our democracy and for the future of our country, as well as, you know, draw the contrast as well about what a potential future with donald trump in the oval office would look like again, the danger he

poses to our alies and to americans across the country. you know, and when i look at kamala/walz ticket, you're looking at a different vision, a brighter future for all and someone who will stand by our allies, promote democrcy and support it and work for middle class that trump pretends to stand for, he claims that he represents them but he actually has no connection to them at all. >> i'm curious, olivia, from your own conversations with fellow conservatives what should the democratic ticket to earn the votes of other republicans who may not love trump, but perhaps trust him more on key issues like the economy or immigration. >> i think it's, you know, incumbent we educate the voters about what's at stake. i think it is important to address significant issues like immigration and also remind them that if trump really wanted to actually fix the immigration

system he would have supported the bill that congress put forward that was bipartisan, right? that bill was led by republicans and democrats and he chose to undermine it and made a strong decision to tell people not to support it because it would give joe biden a win which is actually so hurtful, right, to our country in the situation that we're facing with this migration crisis that continues to go on and on. he also had four years while he was in office to fix it. and what i lived firsthand was that their form of fixing the immigration system was extremism. right? we saw it play out with the child separation and extreme narratives, that is not how you constructively create policy. >> and i want to play for you a clip the dnc aired last night. it's a second focusing on your former boss mike pence. >> mike pence didn't have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our country and our constitution.

>> bring out pence. bring out pence. bring out pence. >> have you spoken to pence about your decision to back vice president harris or anything going forward? >> i've certainly made it very clear to some of his advisers that the grave importance of this moment and how i feel very strongly about this and, look, you just showed that video. i've got to be so honest, every time i see that video no matter how many times i watch that clip, i still feel that sensation in my stomach that makes me just physically sick to think that that was the united states of america and that that, my former boss' life was in danger that day. if that doesn't move republican voters to say what is going on in this party where a former president was fine with watching this play out, was fine with,

like, watching this mob potentially kill his vice president at the time, i don't know what else is more of a compelling argument to us and to the entire world of what the danger that trump poses if he returns to office, because if he's willing to do that to one of his most loyal people, imagine what he will do for any policy or anything he wants to do again, and as i watch this play out he's doing that playbook again right now in this current election, the playbook he ran in 2020 where he continues to claim that that election was stolen and he continues to lie about it still today. and he is setting that stage right now in preparation because i know that he's scared he's going to lose and he's sitting here undermining our democracy all over again. >> olivia, i can sense still it's a very deep wound that you carry. >> yeah, look, i have -- i feel like i've been living this for a very long time and i have and i

think i started living this danger of the trump presidency quite honestly from day one of it. i was at dhs when the trump administration took office and then i later chose, i willingly chose to go serve my country in the trump white house because i was very passionate about working to make a difference and really trying to serve in a national security role in the best way i could. i will say this to you all, last night, you know, it took a lot to get on that stage especially as a republican joining the democratic convention. i never thought in a million years. that i would be in these shoes from a lot of the national security community, the intelligence community, the military community, i have gotten a lot of messages interest them saying thank you and also saying when you're on that stage, remember you're speaking for us, you're our voice. we lived it with you, and i have heard from republicans and democrats and independents and

they have all stood strong and said, please continue to warn people what this is because we lived it. we saw it. and we know what's going to happen should he return to office. >> well, it does take a lot of guts to stick your neck out, olivia. i know you personally have faced threats and, you continue to make sure your voice is heard. thanks for joining us. up next the biggest speech of vice president's life as she makes history tonight. what we know about the work going into crafting her address to the country. and we will talk to someone who has been a close friend of hers since high school whose story inspired harris to become a prosecutor, prospective and insights from someone who know her best. prilosec. for easier heartburn relief, one beats ten. prilosec otc. one pill. 24 hours. zero heartburn.

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life as she accepts the democratic nomination for president becoming the first black woman and first asian american to accept a major party's nomination. >> and she's been crafting her speech for the last couple of weeks. gabe gutierrez is joining us now. what more are we learning about her preparations and plans? >> reporter: good morning. she's been making trips to howard university to craft this message. no pressure, right? the biggest speech of her professional life and it will focus on really establishing that contrast between her campaign and donald trump but it will also talk about, you know, really presenting her to the country, even though she's been vice president for the last 3 1/2 years. we heard doug emhoff and how they met on a blind date. this speech will try to personalize her to that wider audience in prime time.

we're told that sources familiar with the planning tell us, at least, that one of the challenges here will be not to focus too much on race and gender. obviously her candidacy is historic but want the speech to focus on her accomplishments, convention speeches sometimes only focus on policy. they do plan to touch on that. but also back in 2019, during her candidacy there, she wanted as a prosecutor she wanted to ce but political consultants told her to shy away. not this time. we're told she plans that this will go with her gut in this speech and also, jose and ana, something else she plans to talk about as well, her relationship with her mother which as you know was quite an immigrant story. >> absolutely. gabe, thank you so much. joining us now is wanda kagan, friends with vice president harris since high school. wanda, it's great seeing you. thank you for being with us. high school was probably just a

few months ago. but i know you've known the vice president for some time. is this something you ever imagined for her? >> hi, ana, jose. thank you for having me. well, we all -- who expects their friend to be -- you expect your friend to succeed in life but to be vice president and now possibly the president of the united states of america, it's been a very emotional, emotional ride, yeah. >> well, you know her so well as we've discussed. you go back pretty far. you have personally talked about how you both come from biracial families and that gave you an immediate bond in high school in montreal and she has shared how she tried to support you when you were experiencing trauma at home. let's listen. >> i remember asking her, is everything okay? i just sensed it, and she shared

with me that her father was molesting her. and so i said to her, as soon as she told me, you have to come stay with us. and big part of the reason i wanted to be a prosecutor was to protect people like her. >> that gave me chills hearing that. what does it mean to you hearing that? >> it's very emotional when i hear it every time i hear it. it brings me back to that time that she rescued me from a very physical and sexually abusive situation at home and took me into her home and gave me stability, you know, structured me, structured me into believing, believing that i too could continue my education and, you know, and so to have come full circle and, you know, i did end up having a success tulsa health care career and to watch

her now going to fight for the american people just like she fought for me over 40 years ago and fought for my rights and my rights to do what i wanted with my body, it just -- it's an emotional and chilling ride and i'm just overwhelmed with happiness for my friend and i'm happy to be alive to be able to witness her now fighting for the people of america. >> wanda, you know, we all have -- we confront issues in our lives that affect how we see our lives going forward. you're just an extraordinary just light on how one reacts to the vicissitudes that one is confronting in life, and i'm just wondering, kindness is so rare in so many ways and so necessary, what do you want people to know about the vice president that maybe isn't

something you can see when, you know, she's a public person? >> i want them to see that she's exactly the person that she's always been from over 40 years ago in high school when she did rescue me and it wasn't just say something, it was do something. she was going to make sure that something was done and to advocate for me even after i went to live with her and her mom and maya and so that's the type of person that she is. she won't just say something, she'll do something. she has those protective instincts and so she's going to do something and fight for the people of america. >> thank you so much for being with us, wanda. >> thank you for having me. up next we have the rfk factor, the presidential candidate, a conspiracy theorist expected to exit the race and potentially back trump. could he make a difference for the gop campaign?

also ahead is donald trump laying the groundwork to contest the results of a free and fair election again. what the ex-president is saying this morning.

welcome back. donald trump is taking his campaign to the southern border. set to host an immigration and, quote, migrant crime event in arizona. the former president also has a rally scheduled in glendale on friday and maybe not so coincidentally rfk jr. is also going to be in arizona on friday nearby phoenix. >> the independent candidate is now planning to drop out of the race and endorse trump according to two sources familiar with the plans. trump has hinted about having rfk jr. serve in his administration if he were to win. vaughn hillyard and richard

goodstein, a democratic strategist and former adviser to bill and hillary clinton and maura gillespie, former advise to speaker boehner and adam kinzinger. vaughn, what are we hearing from rfk jr. and trump on the upcoming decision? >> right, when you take into account that robert f. kennedy jr. has not had a public campaign event in more than a month here and moved an event that was supposed to be taking place in georgia and moved it to arizona which is exactly where donald trump is going to be holding an evening rally in glendale, arizona, it's notable and we are told here at nbc news by two sources that at this point in time, he intends to end this third party presidential bid and in turn endorse donald trump. now, notably in 2020 he voted for joe biden and told me a few months ago, but this for robert f. kennedy of course, running in the democratic primary against joe biden and his polling numbers were low and made the

decision to switch to -- run as an independent and it was really on the left that he took intense criticism from democrats including the kennedy family itself about their relative and ultimately we've seen kennedy's poll numbers drop from 15% nationally just to earlier this year down to 3, 4, 5% yet at the same time some of our own internal numbers and running mates declared their polling numbers suggested he was taking a greater share from the republican donald trump. i want to let you listen because you had mentioned the idea that potentially there could be an exchange of a cabinet secretary post. nicole shanahan floated he could be a good human health and services secretary. let me let you listen to donald trump on fox address the kennedy endorsement. >> so, i've known him for a long time. he's a -- as you know, he's a

little different kind of guy, very smart guy, a very good person. if he endorsed me, i would be honored by it. i would be very honored by it. he really has his heart in the right place. he is a respected person. women love some of his policies and i guess some don't like it. >> the concern for donald trump and the kamala harris campaigns was who would ultimately get more of the vote taken away from them from kennedy having that alternative candidate and so now potentially we could see this endorsement on friday, of course, we will wait to actually hear those words come out from kennedy that he is ending his bid, one that could be consequence shall to an election that comes down to thousands of votes. >> thanks for the reporting. so, richard, according to nbc's july poll, rfk jr. isn't doing particularly well in the favorability area. he's plus 11, with republican voters but look at this.

minus 18 with independents. minus 38 with democrats. so i kind of wonder is there risk to trump embracing rfk jr.? >> well, these numbers certainly underscore what the risk is, right? if the whole point is to go for independents. if you've been accused of being weird and dangerous, it seems like trump is doubling down on that. i mean, we've heard rfk jr. says that wi-fi, you know, creates cancer and chemicals in the water make kids gay and the list goes on of just absolutely nuttiness. >> conspiracy theories. >> just absolutely crazy on top of all the things we know about, willie brown and ai and crowds so if your target is the suburban swing voter mom, the notion you're going to have two anti-vaxxers making the call at the top of the administration is going to freak you out for your kids. so i don't see that this is a

particularly good move for trump, but it's not the last one i suspect. >> what do you think of that. >> i think there are a handful of voters who weren't politically active and saw in 2016 which largely contributed to trump winning because he tapped into the fear and anger and this concern and vulnerability for a population that was never politically active but became politically active. yes, he largely used conspiracy therapies to do that. rfk is doing the same thing so there is a small part of the population that will find it appealing but i think on a large scale it should be concerning because it's not going to reach the independent voters, the moderate voters, the moderate republicans who aren't happy with the bombastic behavior of trump or rfk jr. for that matter so you're not appealing to them and quite frankly, donald trump doesn't seem to want that portion of the electorate which he desperately needs to win. and i find it to be a huge mistake and republicans down ballot should see that happening and veer away from it. >> i want you to hear what we

are hearing from donald trump as he is focusing in on this during the final weeks of this campaign. >> and our primary focus is not to get out the vote. it's to make sure they don't cheat because we have all the votes you need. you can see it. every house along the way has signs, trump, trump, trump fans, trump. >> maura, what do you interpret that as his signal? >> rally in moments like that make me feel as though he doesn't actually want to win and i feel this way about the fringes. they use fear and there are louder voices but not speaking for the majority. donald trump enjoys complaining. it is so much easier to complain than lead and so much easier to sit at mar-a-lago and play deejay instead of sitting in the white house and endure that grueling job. he wants to get his maga

supporters to be rallied around him. this rhetoric and focus on i don't really want people to vote. i want to make sure they don't cheat is building what happened january 6th 2021 to happen again. he wants to make sure his supporters are around him no matter what he says and does. and this is -- honestly a disservice to the republican party that could win and has the momentum to do so with policies about economy, safety and security, bring manufacturing back home but can't if they keep messaging like this. >> let's talk about the ground game of both, but for a minute. according to politico the trump campaign, quote, is significantly smaller than it was at this time four years ago by several measures including total spending and personnel. in july 2020, the trump campaign and the rnc had a combined 800 staffers. on payroll. this july trump and the rnc have just over 300 staffers. now, the other side, the harris campaign and dnc has 1100 staffers already on payroll.

does this tell you anything, or, you know, in 2015, 2016 trump did with, you know, unconventional ways. >> i think the disparity is only going to get worse. we've seen this explosion of money. explosion of volunteers since kamala's been in the race and i think this is only going to get worse. there's some suggestion from the press that trump is outsourcing to super pacs his field operation, his ground game. ask ron desantis how that went. it doesn't go well for a variety of reasons and i think it is an enormous mistake. i kind of believe with maura, i think he wants to stay out of jail but it's not quite clear he wants to win. >> why wouldn't he want to win, though? >> why? >> it's a lot of work. i mean i think for him, think back to that time where he didn't get to do the things he wants to do, sitting in mar-a-lago and hold court. he loves to feel he's the most important person in the world and i think watching joe biden get taken out by the party

essentially he's bringing up biden all the time because he sees the fact that he may not be the top of the party ticket anymore if he doesn't win. and he's worried about that. >> thank you so much for being with us this morning. >> thank you, guys. up next we'll talk to robert garcia, a close ally and friend of fellow californian vice president harris. congressman, great to see you. >> we are at the dnc after a quick break. stay right there. they say we should stop eating so much meat.

so we made meat out of plants. because we aren't quitters. impossible. we're solving the meat problem with more meat.

the makeup of our kitchen table, the existence of my family is just one example of something that was literally impossible as recently as 25 years ago, when an anxious teenager growing up in indiana wondered if he would ever find

belonging in this world. >> that was transportation secretary pete buttigieg, speaking in his personal capacity last night at the democratic national convention, one of many voices from generations of democrats to speak at the dnc. >> all building up to tonight when vice president kamala harris will take the stage herself as the party's nominee. joining us now, democratic congressman robert garcia from california. congressman, great to have you here. so, last night alone we heard speeches like that from pete buttigieg as well as a speech from former president bill clinton, part of the old guard. this was his 12th consecutive speech at the democratic national convention. what does that tell you about the evolution of the democratic party and what it means in this moment? >> well, i think you're hearing from just everyone across the party. we are a big tent. we're united behind kamala harris for president and i think it is also a moment where you're seeing that torch being passed, joe biden talked about so

eloquently. this is all leading up to tonight. this is going to be kamala harris' moment. i think a lot of people, of course, know her, her work as vice president, her partnership with president biden. but tonight people are going to get to know, i think, the kamala harris that so many of us from california know, the tough prosecutor, the brilliant leader that she's been for our state, and someone that is also really focused on family. she's compassionate. she's funny. we're going to see, i think, all of that tonight. and the room is going to be electric. last night for governor walz, this place was on fire. and i expect that tonight's going to be even bigger. it is going to be a really exciting night and i think it all has been building up to this evening's speech. >> congressman, always a pleasure to see you. you just mentioned the vice president will be speaking about family. i know that you on monday spoke at the convention about losing your mother and your stepfather to covid. i want to play for you part of that speech. >> what we needed at that moment

was national leadership. but instead we got donald trump. so when donald trump and his maga extremists like marjorie taylor greene downplay the horror of the pandemic, it should make us all furious. >> what does it make you so many years already into this, but that very real reality of losing your family? what does that emotion tell you that you want voters to take away from? >> i think it is really important that we never forget the horrors of the pandemic, the terror that we felt, how we all reacted to seeing our families and friends, hospitalized sick or dying. and donald trump was at the center of that. vaccine conspiracies. telling people essentially all these sort of strange things that he was advising folks to do, talking about -- using strange therapies so get rid of

the virus. and let's not forget it was the single largest loss of life event and we have no national leadership. we couldn't give vaccines in time. tests were not available. he was not getting masks out to governors in states. it was a complete failure of leadership. people lost lives. we lost 1.3 million american lives. and it was joe biden and kamala harris that came into office, had to save the national economy, had to restart and support small businesses, but most importantly actually get the country healthy again. get us vaccines. i think that is something we should never forget. we do not want to go back to that dysfunction that we had during the donald trump era. we got to move forward now and now we have kamala harris at the top of the ticket. >> your family like so many other families in the country right now chasing that american dream. you came to this country from peru when you were just 5 years old, got citizenship under immigration reform in 1986.

this election polls show voters trust trump more on border policy than vice president harris. what do democrats need to do to change that? >> i mean, look, i think that's going to see that shift and change. donald trump actually stopped good border policy in this country. republicans and president biden and kamala harris had a border policy on the table. it was donald trump that tanked it. kamala harris believes not only in a secure border, but also ensuring that people that are coming to the border have the dignity and are treated humanely. that's really important and she's going to get that done. >> just real quick, congressman, would you have voted for that border bill? >> i mean in the house i probably wouldn't have, but i support the broader mission and i think we could have had a good debate for donald trump and the republicans didn't want to do that. >> congressman robert garcia, thank you very much for offering your perspective. much more from chicago after a quick break. perspective much more from chicago after a quick break. . and they don't "circle back" they're already there.

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