>> well, the fact is that the >> it's a very rare quality to other speakers, the big-name bring your empathy skills to the process of governing. speakers, michelle obama, barack joe biden never forgets that obama, they were so outstanding, kamala harris really delivering in her speech. that's the point of moving the wheels of government. he is not that kind of speaker, >> he will keep his word. but he will have a teleprompter. this is a prepared speech. he will reach out and hear what and his job tonight is to talk about faith, to talk about other people have to say. family, to talk about working >> to have somebody who believes class values, to explain what he in what's best in us, somebody would to in terms of broad strokes. like joe biden, who actually but as chuck says, not to get down to specifics because they believes in the american idea, that's the kind of person who i have avoided specifics for the >> announcer: from nbc news, the democratic national convention. very reason that they don't want here are lester holt and to talk about why they haven't savannah guthrie.g,veryone. adopted bernie sanders' proposals or elizabeth warren's proposals. welcome to nbc news live they have brought them into this coverage of the fourth and final convention. it's all about unity, it's all night of the 2020 democratic national convention. about defeating donald trump. and i don't think you're going want in the white house. this night belongs to joe biden. >> good evening. >> that's right. to hear as much negative about we've been saying it all week. donald trump tonight from joe ella baker, a giant of the civil it remains true. rights movement, left us with biden because he really needs to this wisdom. this is a convention unlike any. define himself, not as a counterpoint to trump. give people light, and they will find a way. >> is it a do no harm strategy give people light. delivered remotely, live and on something that is in play here. tape, and a show of unity for he's got the lead in the polls. those are words for our time. joe biden and kamala harris.

>> there's no question he's bee the current president has >> just a short time from now biden will accept the democratic nomination for president and cloaked american darkness for the president strikes. give the most important and much too long. closely watched speech of his let's turn to senator claire life. mccaskill of missouri, a democrat herself. too much fear, too much division. a chance to reintroduce himself what do you think joe biden has to do here, and what do you think of this conversation we're here and now i give you my word, to american voters and lay out having? is it about policy or is it if you entrust me with the his rigs fvision for a biden presidency, i will draw on the about personality? presidency. everything we've seen this week >> i think it's about both but has been building up to this best of us, not the worst. moment. mostly about personality at this >> and we are fortunate to have point. i'll be an ally of the light, and joe biden has to do a couple moderator of "meet the press" of things. not the darkness. chuck todd along with us along with senior washington one, he's going to give a relatively short speech for joe correspondent andrea mitchell biden. standing by to help us walk i think he's going to speak it's time for us, for we the about 20 minutes. through tonight's events. people, to come together. chuck, i'll start with you. those of us who know joe know he and make no mistake, united we this is biden's night. likes to talk a lot longer than that. he has literally been waiting i also think he's going to do for this night for about 50 years having run for president a some policy stuff that is safe season of darkness in america. few times, but he's reached the in that big tent that chuck just referred to. mountaintop tonight. we will choose hope over fear, what does he have to do? but maybe the most important facts over fiction, fairness >> i can tell you what they thing he has to do, savannah, is over privilege. think they need to do and it's step out of barack obama's shadow. to answer a question that our i'm a proud democrat, and i'll good friend, peter hart, one of he's got to be presidential. be proud to carry the banner of he's got to show the country our party into the general that he is someone they can be election. comfortable with, with some of so it's with great honor and street journal poll said. the most difficult decisions our country faces. humility, i accept this nomination for president of the joe biden is a well known figure >> do you think the isolation, but he's not known well and that the relative isolation that the united states of america. is the point.

you know of joe biden, he's been pandemic has brought on has been but while i'll be a democratic a presence, but who is this somewhat helpful to him in person. so they have decided what joe maintaining a lead? candidate, i will be an american president. biden needs to do tonight is get i'll work hard for those who people to know him better, know didn't support me. him more personally. as hard for them as i did for it's certainly more of a comfort zone there. has become more and more unhinged. those who did vote for me. i will just put one cautious i mean we're to the point now that's the job of a president, note here about that strategy. that he's whining about whether to represent all of us, not just we saw in our poll that there's still a lot of voters that want people can wear their hats to i our base or our party. to hear a lot more substance from biden. this is not a partisan moment. what is he going to do? but if you think about this with a wacko conspiracy theory. convention this week, guys, it's this must be an american moment. he is really showing himself to some with the calls for hope and be even more unstable than he light and love. been a huge tent, from aoc to john kasich. has been for most of his hope for our future, light to and it's possible that the biden presidency. folks have decided the more they so i think joe biden keeping a see our way forward, and love for one another. talk about policy, the harder it low profile and trump being so america isn't just a collection is to pitch that big tent. nervous is a good combination the less they talk about policy of clashing interests, of red for the democratic ticket in and the more they talk about november. donald trump or joe biden's >> we're just moments away now from the first live speaker decency, then suddenly, boy, tonight. that tent can just get stretched and stretched and stretched. at least as far as this hour is concerned. we're so much better than that. >> andrea, how high is the bar ? as always, we like to reminding folks on the top right you're nearly a century ago, franklin seeing the actual live feed that the democratic national roosevelt pledged a new deal at committee is putting out in this a time of massive unemployment, virtual convention. they're playing a taped piece uncertainty and fear. now. >> we've gotten used to this stricken by a disease, stricken now, not being in an arena and by a virus, fdr insisted that he

i'm looking at it and it feels normal now. would recover and prevail, and he believed america could as >> if you're just tuning in tonight that's what you're well, and he did and we can as seeing. they're playing a taped piece well. about military families leading this campaign isn't just about up to tammy duckworth, a winning votes, it's about decorated veteran herself. winning the heart and, yes, the soul of america. winning it for the generous let's listen to her remarks. >> good evening. among us, not the selfish. i'm tammy duckworth. winning it for workers who keep when i first enlisted in the this country going, not just the privileged f those communities army, i was eager to serve my country, yet anxious whether i'd be able to earn my way into the ranks. who have known the injustice of but i earned my wings and later a knee on the neck. commanded my own air assault for all the young people who unit, learning that serving and leading in the military is both have known only america being a privilege and a sacrifice. to be a commander you must always put your troops first, rising inequity and shrinking because one day you may order opportunity. them to sacrifice everything for they deserve the experience of america's promise. our great nation. to do that, leaders must command they deserve to experience it in their troops' respect and be full. you know, no generation ever worthy of their pledge to knows what history will ask of protect and defend our it. constitution, no matter the cost. all we can ever know is whether but military service doesn't we're ready when that moment just take sacrifice from those arrives. in uniform. it's required from their and now history has delivered us

families too. to one of the most difficult my husband, brian, was the one who rushed to walter reed after i was wounded in iraq. moments america has ever faced. he was the one holding my hand four, four historic crises all waiting for me to wake up. at the same time. when i finally did, he was my a perfect storm. rock, getting me through those the worst pandemic in over 100 hours, weeks, months of years, the worst economic crisis unspeakable pain and unending since the great depression, the surgeries. most compelling call for racial he was my anchor as i relearned to walk, helping me through every step and every stumble. justice since the '60s, and the undeniable realities and just our military spouses hold their accelerating threats of climate families together, praying for change. their loved one's safety so the question for us is simple. wherever they're deployed and serving as caregivers to our are we ready? disabled service members and i believe we are. then picking up the pieces and we must be. starting again whenever the next you know, all elections are important. tour or the next war arises. we know in our bones this one is joe biden understands these more consequential. sacrifices, because he's made them himself. as many have said, america is at when his son, beau, deployed to an inflection point, a time of iraq, his burden was also shouldered by his family. real peril, but also of extraordinary possibilities. joe knows the fear military families live because he's felt we can choose a path of becoming that dread of never knowing if angrier, less hopeful, more your deployed loved one is safe.

he understands their bravery divided, a path of shadow and because he has had to muster suspicion, or, or we can choose a different path and together that same strength every hour of every day beau was overseas. take this chance to heal, to reform, to unite. that's the kind of leader our service members deserve, one who a path of hope and light. understands the risks they face and who would actually protect this is a life-changing election. this will determine what a goin them by doing his job as commander in chief. instead, they have a coward in long, long time. chief who won't stand up to character is on the ballot. vladimir putin, read his daily compassion is on the ballot. intelligence briefings or even decency, science, democracy, publicly admonish adversaries they're all on the ballot. for reportedly putting bounties who we are as a nation, what we on our troops' heads. stand for, most importantly who as president, joe biden would never let tyrants manipulate him we want to be, that's all on the like a puppet. ballot. the choice could not be more he would never pervert our clear. military to stroke his own ego. he would never turn his back on no rhetoric is needed. our troops or threaten them just judge this president on the against americans peacefully facts. exercising their constitutional rights. 5 million americans infected by joe biden would stand up for covid-19. what's right, stand tall for our troops, and stand strong against more than 170,000 americans have died. by far the worst performance of our enemies, because unlike trump, joe biden has common any nation on earth.

decency. more than 50 million people have he has common sense. filed for unemployment this he can command, both from year. more than 10 million people are experience and from strength. going to lose their health donald trump doesn't deserve to call himself commander in chief insurance this year. for another four minutes, let nearly 1 in 6 small businesses alone another four years. have closed this year. our troops deserve better. and this president, if he's our country deserves better. close their doors and this time for good. if you agree, text more to 30330 working families will struggle to get by. to elect joe biden, a leader who actually cares enough about and yet the wealthiest 1% will get tens of billions of dollars america, to lead. in new tax breaks. and the assault on the >> that was senator tammy duckworth of illinois, a veteran herself. affordable care act will obviously paid a very dear price for her military service. continue until it's destroyed, as we turn to kristen welker, taking insurance away from more than 20 million people, our white house correspondent, kristen, we heard her mention including more than 15 million and several speakers mention beau biden, the vice president's people on medicaid. and getting rid of the son who of course passed away from brain cancer and his spirit protections that president obama is certainly a part of tonight's worked so hard to get passed for program. people who have -- a hundred >> reporter: it absolutely is, million more people who have savannah. pre-existing conditions. there's going to be a taped and speaking of president obama, tribute to him and then he is a man i was honored to serve

alongside for eight years as going to introduce his father, vice president, let me take this audio and video captured of beau moment to say something we don't biden along with his two say nearly enough. surviving siblings, hunter and thank you, mr. president. you were a great president. ashley, so that's going to be a real emotional inflection point a president that our children here tonight, savannah. and that's a part of what we could and did look up to. no one is going to say that about the current occupant of expect to see when joe biden the white house. does give his most consequential speech of his five-decade what we know about this political career. he is going to try to president is that if he's given reintroduce himself to parts of four more years, he'll be what he's been for the last four years. the country, younger voters, independents, disaffected trump the president who takes no voters who may not be familiar with his record in the senate, responsibility, refuses to lead, blames others, cozies up to who may not be familiar with what he feels he accomplished dictators and fans the flames of during his eight years in the hate and division. white house, but more he'll wake up every day importantly, his struggles as a believing the job is all about father. the fact that he's had to him, never about you. rebuild his family not once, but is that the america you want for twice, savannah. of course his first wife and you, your family, your children? young daughter were killed in a car accident years ago, and so i see a different america. he had to rebuild his family then. one that's generous and strong, and more recently when beau selfless and humble. biden passed away, and that is it's an america we can rebuild together.

part of the argument that he is as president the first step i going to make tonight, that he will take will be to get control is the right person to help to move this country forward. of the virus that has ruined so i am told in terms of tone he's many lives, because i understand something this president hasn't going to try to strike a from the beginning. balance. we will never get our economy he will of course contrast himself with president trump, back on track, we will never ge but i am told this is going to be a forward-looking, optimistic speechbo back, until we deal with this virus. the tragedy of where we are that's the feed of the program today is it didn't have to be this bad. just look around. gathering to watch this? >> reporter: there are. it's not this bad in canada or europe or japan or almost a very different feeling here tonight, lester. anywhere else in the world. this is essentially a drive-in and the president keeps telling convention. about 150 cars behind me. us the virus is going to disappear. i can tell you the feeling here really electric. the people inside the cars he keeps waiting for a miracle. honking. well, i have news for him. you can hear them now. i'll pause so you can hear them. no miracle is coming. every time they hear something we lead the world in confirmed cases. that they like, that they feel we lead the world in deaths. energized by, so there's a real our economy is in tatters. sense here of electricity and energy. when biden speaks, though, with black, latino, asian american, native american

lester, he's going to be inside the chase center essentially communities bearing the brunt of it. n and after all this time, the so that could be a challenge, president still does not have a we'll have to see how he deals plan. with that, lester. well, i do. >> we've got mayor pete buttigieg who was one of the primary rivals of joe biden if i'm your president, on day earlier this year, someone who one we'll implement the national served in the military. he's going to talk about his military service. strategy i've been layinmah. he's also going to talk about the fact that he is able to be a we'll develop and deploy rapid gay man running for office and tests with results available immediately. what that trail blazing has we'll make the medical supplies meant for him personally. and protective equipment that he's expected to speak any moment now. our country needs. we'll make them here in america right now we see in the feed julia louis-dreyfus. she is the actress who's kind of so we will never again be at the the mistress of ceremonies. mercy of china or other foreign countries in order to protect >> he's been adding some comedy our own people. to the program tonight. we haven't seen any of it here we'll make sure our schools have but she has tried to bring some the resources they need to be levity to what has been a very open, safe, and effective. we'll put politics aside. serious piece of business. >> good evening. we'll take the muzzle off our experts so the public gets the beau biden lived a life of information they need and service, in office and in uniform. when you put your life on the line for this country, you do it deserve, honest, unvarnished truth. not because it's the country you they can handle it.

live in, but because it's the we'll have a national mandate to wear a mask not as a burden but country you believe in. i believe in this country, as a patriotic duty to protect because america uniquely h one another. the promise of a place where in short, we'll do what we should have done from the very beginning. we know that for too many and our current president has failed for too long, that promise has been denied. in his most basic duty to the nation. but we also know america is at he's failed to protect us. its best when we make that he's failed to protect america. circle of belonging wider. just over ten years ago, i and my fellow americans, that is unforgivable. joined a military where firing as president, i'll make you a me because of who i am wasn't promise. i'll protect america, i will just possible, it was policy. defend us from every attack, now in 2020, it is unlawful in seen and unseen, always, without america to fire someone because of who they are or who they love. exception, every time. the very ring on my finger, a look, i understand. i understand how hard it is to wedding we celebrated, here have any hope right now. where i'm standing, reflects how on this summer night, let me this country can change. take a moment to speak to those of you who have lost the most. i have some idea how it feels to lose someone you love.

i know that deep black hole that opens up in the middle of your love makes my marriage real. but political courage made it possible. chest and you feel like you're including that of joe biden, who stepped out ahead even of this party when he said that marriage being sucked into it. equality ought to be the law of the land. i know how mean and cruel and there is a long way to go, but if this much can change between unfair life can be sometimes. 2010 and 2020, imagine what could change between now and 2030. left this earth, but they'll imagine what we could achieve, this coalition we are building never leave your heart. this very season, gathering they'll always be with you. progressives and moderates, you'll always hear them. independents and even what i and second, i found the best way like to call future former through pain and loss and grief republicans standing for an is to find purpose. america where everyone belongs. as god's children, each of us joe biden is right, this is a have a purpose in our lives. contest for the soul of the we have a great purpose as a nation. and to me, that contest is not nation, to open the doors of between good americans and evil opportunity to all americans, to americans. save our democracy, to be a it's the struggle to call out light to the world once again. what is good in every american. and finally, to live up to and make real the words written in it's up to us. will america be a place where the sacred documents that founded this nation, that all

faith is about healing and nonexclusion? can we become a country that men and women are created equal, endowed by their creator with lives up to the truth that black lives matter? certain unalienable rights, will we handle questions of among them, life, liberty and science and medicine by turning the pursuit of happiness. to scientists and doctors? you know, my dad was an honorable, decent man. will we see to it that no one r he got knocked down a few times pretty hard, but he always got better future, because i've seen back up. he worked hard and he built a up close their empathy and their great middle class life for our capacity. family. just as i've seen my fellow he used to say, joey, i don't expect the government to solve americans' capacity to support and include one another in new my problems but i sure in hell ways and do better by the expect them to understand them. promise of america. and then he'd say, joey, a job the day i was born, the idea of an out candidate seeking any federal office at all was laughable, yet earlier this year, i campaigned for the presidency, often with my husband, chasten at my side, winning delegates to this very convention. i come proudly supporting joe biden and kamala harris, joining

fellow democrats who were squaring off in competition just a few months ago. a number of us recently got together to talk about the joe we know. >> pete buttigieg speaking there. this is a big night for joe biden, but there's a bigger one to come, election night, november 3rd. i think we're 74 days away. it will be a state-by-state battle to reach the threshold, 270 electoral votes. >> that was the path four years ago. hillary clinton came up short against donald trump. joe biden hopes to change that. chuck todd has been looking at his map. this is for those who haven't been necessarily following it as closely as you, chuck. show folks what the map -- the states that would have to flip in order for joe biden to be victorious in november. >> well, so here's what i've got here. the six states that you see in gray, wisconsin, michigan, pennsylvania in the north, north carolina, florida, arizona in the south, these are the six

states that both campaigns agree are the six most important states, and it's some combination of these states in a fairly close election, five points or less in the popular vote, that is the path, right? donald trump won all six of those states and that's what got him to 300 plus electoral votes. obviously what's path number one? the state where this convention was supposed to be, so there's wisconsin. michigan is another state that they believe they're doing much better in and you can see his numbers growing. there's the boy from scranton. so you can see in some ways we talk about what is the joe just hold states that barack obama carried before and make sure you win the three that you lost in '16 that democrats hadn't lost in a decade or so. you win those and he's there. he wouldn't need florida, he wouldn't need north carolina, he wouldn't need arizona. and that's what, i think, gives joe biden this feeling of a leg up, guys, because he does have multiple realistic paths to 270.

donald trump right now basically has to win the same way he won the last time, and it was an inside straight last time. this time his approval rating is a bit lower. >> we did see in the all-important state of pennsylvania a poll today, chuck, that really tightened up the race and made it a four-point race. >> you're going to see a lot of this. there's two types of ways to see this poll. importannumber to understand about this presidential election is the president's job rating, whether it's the national number or a state number. presidents anymore do not usually get any votes above their job rating. right now in our poll he's sitting at 44%, 45%, depending on the week but he's been sitting there. in his ballot tests, he's at 41%. what i tell people is guess what, joe biden is not up nine or ten points right now. he'll probably be up four or five, because trump will get his approval number. the number to watch is if trump's job rating goes to 47 or 48, then we know this is a real race.

>> the 2016 poll numbers still getting beaten around. what has changed in the way things are being viewed this time around? >> well, a few things. number one is i'd like to think that a lot of us looked at our pollsters. we did some internal stuff with and state pollsters an we think we'r it was the rural, noneduca undersampling. that was the bottom line. if people wanting to know the specifics there, it was that. i do think on the national poll level and what we've done, we all feel a lot better at least about understanding the trump coalition than we did four years ago. >> we're watching the dnc feed on the top right of your screen and it's featuring a taped piece with some of the many, many former primary opponents that joe biden had. i think there was a 20-plus democratic primary. remember the debate? two nights, ten candidates each night. it a candidate who entered late, michael bloomberg.

we expect him to speak at any moment. he of course was one time a republican, the mayor of new york city, then an independent, and then running in the democratic primary. >> and he met a force in those debates. prior to that he had been relying on that very expensive national campaign. you know, there's so now about some of the promises peter, are democrats surprised that michael bloomberg is getting a big chunk of time in primetime on the biggest night of the convention? >> reporter: i think as evidenced by what we've seen so far, they're honking their approval for everybody they hear. we are here in the parking lot. the closest thing we will see to the convention floor at this convention this year. there's a real energy for the first time. it kind of feels like a campaign for the first time in this convention. you can see the signs here, the cars that are spread out. 150 cars that are here in this parking lot watching on a giant screen, enjoying this night. a flag in the distance there. we saw joe biden a little bit earlier.

the surprise may be if he comes out to greet the crowd tonight, savannah. >> even the cars are socially distanced we should note. >> drive-in theaters having a bit of a moment now in the midst of a pandemic. >> well, we are ready to hear from mayor bloomberg. here he is. >> good evening. i've never been much for partisan politics. i've supported democrats, republicans, and independents. hell, i've even been a democrat, republican and independent. it's all about people, and the two people running for president couldn't be more different. one believes in facts, one does not. one listens to experts, the other thinks he knows everything. one looks forward and sees strength in am the other looks backwards sees immigrants as enemies and white supremacists as allies. here's another difference. one has proven he knows how to handle a crisis by helping to lead the economic turn-around

after the 2008 recession, while the other has not only failed to lead, he has made the current crisis much worse. when confronted with the biggest calamity any president has faced in the modern era, donald trump spent the year downplaying the threat, ignoring science, and recommending quack cures which let covid-19 spread much faster than it should have, leaving hundreds of thousands needlessly sick or dead. he has failed the american people catastrophically. four years ago i came before this very convention and said new yorkers know a con when we see one. but tonight, i'm not asking you to vote against donald trump because he's a bad guy. i'm urging you to vote against him because he's done a bad job. today unemployment is at historic highs and small businesses are struggling just to survive. it didn't have to be this way. before i ran foror

20 years running a business i started from scratch, so i want to ask small business owners and their employees one question, and it's a question for everyone. would you rehire or work for someone who ran your business into the ground, and who always does what's best for him or her, even when it hurts the company? and whose reckless decisions put you in danger? and who spends more time tweeting than working? if the answer is no, why the hell would we ever rehire donald trump for another four years? trump says we should vote for him because he's a great businessman. really? he drove his companies into bankruptcy six times, always leaving behind customers and contractors who were cheated and swindled and stopped doing business with him. well, this time all of us are paying the price, and we can't let him get away with it again.

donald says we should vote for him because the economy was great before the virus. huh? biden and obama created more jobs over their last three years than the trump administration did over their first three. and economic growth was higher under booiden and obama than unr trump. in fact while biden helped save 1 million auto industry jobs, trump has lost 250,000 manufacturing jobs. so when trump says he wants to make america great again, he's making a pretty good case for joe biden. look, our goal shouldn't be to bring back the pandemic economy, it should be, as joe says, to build back better. joe's economic plan will create clean energy jobs that help fight another crisis that trump is ignoring, climate change. and joe will rebuild our crumbling roads and bridges, something trump has incessantly talked about doing, but in the

hasn't done anything. what a joke. and let me tell you a little secret. donald trump's economic plan was to give a huge tax cut to guys like me who didn't need it, and then lie about it to everyone else. well, joe will roll back that tax cut that i got so we can fund things our whole country needs, like training for adults who have lost jobs and making college more affordable, and investing in american research and development so that the products of tomorrow are made today by american workers. you know, growing up i was taught to believe that america is the greatest country in the world, not because we won the second world war, but because of why we fought it, for freedom, democracy, and equality. my favorite childhood book was called "johnny tremayne" about a boston boy who joins the sons of liberty at the dawn of the american revolution. at the end of the book johnny

stands on lexington commons and sees a nation that is, quote, green with spring, dreaming of the future. that's the america i know and love and that's the america we are in danger of losing under this president. so let's put an end to this whole sorry chapter in american history and elect leaders who will bring integrity and stability, sanity and competence back to the white house. joe and kamala, go get 'em, for all of us. >> mike bloomberg offering kind of a businessman-to-businessman takedown of donald trump. let me bring in andrea right now. andrea, explain where michael bloomberg kind of stands with this party right now. obviously he spent heavily for the nomination. he kind of hit a buzz saw during the debates. why does he stand? >> he spent heavily. he spent a billion dollars on that short-lived candidacy and ran right into elizabeth warren principally in the debates.

look, he has already donated $18 million to the party in march, now has pledged another $50 million to the party, not to biden. but he is there tonight not because of his dollars, but because he has credibility as a businessman and the one factor that donald trump has in the polling, the one issue on his handling of anything is the handling of the economy. trump over biden, and he hasn't been able -- biden hasn't been able to penetrate that. the credibility of mike bloomberg is what this is all about for joe biden. >> let's take a quick break here, sneak it in, because when we come back, the main event, joe biden accepting the nomination. stay with us. ♪ you must go and i must bide

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life so far. he is about to accept, formally accept the democratic presidential nomination and speak to a national and international audience of millions. >> he's had a lot of high-profile help in the form of the other speakers this week but this is his big night, his chance to close the sale. he'll be speaking live from wilmington, delaware, an that is where we find kristen welker for us tonight. i know you have some reporting about just how long he's been working on this speech. some might say decades, but you say a few weeks at least. >> for sure, savannah. i think you're absolutely right. to your first point, he's probably had some version of this speech in his head for the past three decades. this is, of course, the third time he has run for president but only the first time that he has earned his party's nomination. but we are told that this speech was largely finished this summer. that is just remarkable for any politician. as you know, savannah, a lot of times these speeches come together in the final days. but we're told that he's been practicing vigorously with a

number of his chief advisers, because he does see this as the most consequential speech that he has ever given.en with this speech. he wants to lay out the stakes. he's going to talk about the urgent need to address this covid crisis, to address the economic crisis, so in order to do that he wants to make sure that the tone and the words and the delivery are absolutely right. now, we continue to stress this point, he does also see this as a chance to reintroduce himself to the american people, so there will be a part of this that is autobiographical and reinforce his core reason to get into this race. he says he's fighting for the soul of the nation. of course that sharp contrast with president trump. don't expect the type of speech we saw by president obama. this speech is going to be forward looking and largely optimistic. >> let me bring in claire

mccaskill, former missouri senator and nbc political analyst. he will be on a teleprompter tonight but in many of those videos he loves to live in that extempor he knows this is an important speech and he's worked hard on it. he needs to deliver it as he's written it. i think what he's really going to try to show america tonight is that he and jill biden, to paraphrase michelle obama, have lived a life the rest of us recognize. she also stressed in her speech about humility and maturity. and i think that those two qualities are going to be presenting in joe biden's delivery tonight, showing his humility, showing his maturity, and his optimism. >> as i turn to andrea mitchell, one thing we heard earlier in the night tonight was an extended speech all about his faith, just about his faith. faith and loss and grief and his personal story and how that has then formed his values. i imagine we'll hear more of

that from the candidate himself. >> you will be, and it's a deep fait martin of the catholic magazine america today and senator coons, chris coons who has been involved with prayer meetings, prayer breakfasts with joe biden. he's a deeply religious man. so is jill biden. but she did say in her book that after beau died she lost her faith and only rediscovered it through deep introspection and some real work to bring it back after this terrible tragedy that they suffered. so faith has really bound this family together. first of course when he lost his first wife and infant daughter, his toddler daughter, and then again when he lost beau. it has been so important. we should point out that if he is elected, he would be the second catholic president. the first since john f. kennedy. >> claire, has biden done a good job of really clarifying what he wants to do and how he will do it?

for example, the covid outbreak, restoring the economy, making it better. has it been more broad strokes, and is this a chance to really get any minutia or is it not appropriate for tonight? >> i don't think he'll get into minut minutia, but i think he will make sure that america understands what his priorities are. those have been talked about during this unconventional convention. climate change, equality, fixing the problem with covid, building back better. i think you'll hear a lot about that. i really think he will go broad stroke tonight, but then during the campaign, i think you'll see more effort to drill down and get to specifics, especially on health care. >> chuck, is this about persuading independents, undecided voters whoever they may be, however many there may be anymore in this political environment, or is it about really exciting your base, turning out your base and that's what this election will turn on? >> look, i think for joe biden, i think it's the former on that one. i think that they have done a lot of talking to the base, they have done a lot of firing up on that.

i do think tonight it's about -- it's about joe biden. i think it's about joe biden talking to that suburban sort of independent or college educated white guy who was possibly a trump voter but maybe married to somebody that is no longer a trump voter. it's sort of this -- and i think it's sending the message that, hey, you know, i'm not going to scare you or any of that. i'm not going -- you know, i'm not going to go way left or way right, you're tired of that instability. i think that's the voter he's got to talk to. >> we are watching the dnc feed. julia louis-dreyfus doing the honors as the moderator. what we'll see before his speech is a taped piece, an introduction, a lot of family telling joe biden's story. let's take a listen. >> honest. >> caring and principled. >> he'll listen. he'll be there when you need him. >> he'll tell you the truth even when you don't want to hear it.

>> he'll never let you down. >> he'll be rock steady. >> the strongest shoulder you can ever lean on. >> he'll beam with pride every time you succeed. >> he'll make your grandkids feel that what they have got to say matters. >> he'll treat everyone with respect, no matter who you are. >> he'll get up no matter how bully ever saw. >> he'll be the best friend you've ever had. >> he'll love you with all of his heart. >> and if you give him your cell phone number -- >> he's going to call it. >> how do we know? >> because he's been that way our whole lives. >> he's been a great father. >> and we think he'll be a great president. >> beau isn't with us any longer. >> but he is still very much alive in our hearts. and we can still hear his strong voice. >> just like it was yesterday. >> just like it was yesterday. >> in 2008 and 2012 he

introduced our dad at those conventions. >> and if he was here, we're pretty sure we'd know what he'd say. >> so before we show you a film about our dad's journey, we wanted to give beau the last word. beau. >> beau, take it away. >> in moments both public and private, he's the father i've always known, the grandfather my children love and adore, my father, my hero, joe biden. ♪ >> our lives have been turne

shattered and shaken. but the american story has had moments like this before, and he was there, answering the call. >> when we came into office in 2009, we were going through what was then the worst financial and economic crisis since the great depression. >> the economy was hemorrhaging hundreds of thousands of jobs a week. people were losing their homes to foreclosure. the financial system was in tatters. auto sales had dropped to near zero levels. >> the auto companies faced bankruptcy. many said let them fail. but joe remembered his father

and what it meant to lose a job. the finnegans and bidens were irish catholic. joe was their first. and then his sister, valerie. >> from the moment i opened my eyes, my big brother was there. the thing that was most important was family and family and family. >> as the post war boom faded, joe's father struggled to find work in scranton. but 140 miles south, there was a job cleaning boilers in wilmington. >> there was a long stairway up to the second floor. dad went up to joey in our bedroom and saying, joey, you've got to be a big boy. >> for the first time, joe saw the heavy burden on a father. and it was a lesson he would

never forget. >> the job is a lot more than a paycheck. it's about dignity. >> the country was losing tens of thousands of jobs a day, and they needed three votes to pass the economic rescue package. >> joe biden was handed the task of going to get those three republican votes. >> joe returned to the place where he had been so effective. >> passionate argument, sympathetic listening, a willingness to make adjustments and accommodations to bring people onboard. >> when the law finally passed, the president tapped his partner to run the program. joe tracked every dollar, calling mayors and governors. >> talking to them on the phone one on one. he gave all of them his cell phone. >> and i watched him bring his heart to that job. it matters that you have in your mind the family that you're trying to reach, the neighborhood that you're trying

to reach, the people whose lives are affected by what you do. >> the skills that had made him so effective had not come easy. when he entered school, there was a problem. joe had a stutter. >> and it's mortifying. it allows that child to become an object of ridicule. >> when his te and joe ran home from school, his mother drove him back. >> did you say to my son, mr., b-b-biden. the nun said i was just trying to make a point. my mother stood up, all 5'2" of her. if you ever talk to my son like that again, i'll come and rip that damn bonnet off your head. joe, get back to class. >> he worked hard to overcome his stutter. >> i used to get up at night and stand in front of the mirror with a flashlight and practice. she'd make me look her in the eye, look at me.

remember, joey, you're the smartest boy in that class. nobody is better than you, joey. from having to deal with stuttering, it gave me insight into other people's pain, other people's suffering. >> at 19, joe sought out a summer job that few of his peers considered taking. >> he was a lifeguard along with the black lifeguards. that's when i first seen joe. and we became friends. >> it was one of the best things i've ever done because it gave me a sense that we really didn't know one another. >> after martin luther king jr. was assassinated, riots broke out in wilmington. and the national guard stayed for almost a year. >> i quit the law firm and asked for a job to become a public defender. that's what got me involved in politics. >> j.k. la bogs was a popular war hero in a solidly republican

state, and few took joe's campaign seriously. >> in delaware, the democratic party was nonfunctional. when it got time to put up a candidate, they didn't want to touch it. this young upstart, joe biden, who had a lot of ideas and no money, no influence, the party said, okay, well go ahead, biden, give it a whirl. >> if you like what you see, help me out. >> we'd have a coffee and come out and have five more coffees. he was very articulate on the issues. he brought people to say not just i agree with what you're doing, what can i do to help? j.k. la boggs being challenged by joseph biden. biden, a democrat, is 29 years of age. >> but exhiliration soon turned to tragedy. >> it was clear he had decided

that i'm not going to be a senator. the boys need me too much. >> i was prepared to walk away in 1973. men like ted kennedy and mike mansfield and hubert humphrey and fritz hollings, they convinced me to stay. just stay six months, joe, remember, danny? just stay six months. >> he couldn't allow the suffering to debill at a tiitat. just like he couldn't let the stuttering define him. that's the backbone, there's something bigger than joe's suffering. >> the senate turned out to be a wonderful place for him. he had a real gift for bringing >> the three of them had a bond that was forged in sorrow and

expanded into joy when jill entered. >> they had built this beautiful family, this circle of trust. >> and then the extra gift of ashley. >> growing up, it was full of adventure, laughter. >> we do everything as a family. we've always done everything as a family. >> he was always a good, loving father. i mean there's nothing more important to joe than his children. >> it's hard to explain how eve ever-present he was in their lives. >> you don't have to guess what my dad believes. the great benefit of being my father is that he doesn't have to contort himself into different people at different times. >> beau is going to do fine things. he had it all. and then he got sick. the whole world tilted and it felt like we were all falling off.

>> once again, joe faced the unimaginable. >> my mother, she said, bravery resides in every heart, and some day it will be summoned. >> the way he survived losing my mom and my sister, and then losing my brother, is understanding that you have to have purpose. >> every day i get up, i ask myself i hope he's proud of me, because that's the thing that makes me move on. >> from his time in the senate and then the white house, joe always found a way forward, forging unlikely friendships and alliances. and time after time, he made

struggles of