what some are calling the democratic a-team. hillary clinton and elizabeth warren campaigning together this hour in the battleground state of ohio. now, when they take the stage in cincinnati, it's going to be the first time the two will appear on the trail together. and we are expecting them to go after donald trump. but the rally is also fueling some speculation, that this is doubling as an audition of sorts, for the massachusetts senator. all of our reporting indicates that warren is a series contender for the democratic ticket. and this morning, two new national polls have clinton widening her lead over republican donald trump. our nbc news/"wall street journal" survey has her up by five points. that's slightly up, three points from may. and while an abc news/"washington post" poll has clinton up by 12 points. nbc's kristen welker is joining us now from cincinnati. kristen, this is a big moment for hillary clinton, but what are you hearing? is it fair to characterize this moment for elizabeth warren and hillary clinton, as an audition of the potential democratic

ticket? >> reporter: oh, i think it is absolutely an audition of sorts, thomas. there is no doubt about that. a lot of focus on the chemistry between these two women, between these two political powerhouses, when they take the stage together. we know that the clinton campaign is seriously vetting elizabeth warren. they think she's one of the most effective attack dogs against donald trump. she's really managed to get under his skin, in a way that no one else has. at the same time, she is someone who has been critical of secretary clinton in the past, so that's one of the things that's a challenge for her. but thomas, when you look at it more broadly, she was a candidate who can rally progressives, particularly those sanders' supporters, who say they're not quite ready to get onboard with secretary clinton, so she's someone who helps to rally the obama coalition, quite frankly. so they see a lot of pros in elizabeth warren, but know whatever capacity she serves in, in this 2016 race, she is going to be a force. so a lot of anticipation as

these two are about to take the stage. and it all comes, as you point out, secretary clinton is widening her lead nationally. our latest nbc news/"wall street journal" poll shows her with a five-point lead over donald trump. that's up from her three-point lead in may. meanwhile, another poll shows her with a 12-point lead. but if you delve into the battleground states, it gets a little bit more competitive, thomas. i'll read you a few of those polls. in colorado, secretary clinton leads 40% to 39%. very close there. in florida, she leads 44-39. in north carolina, also, very close. 44-42%. and in wisconsin, it's 41-36%. now, donald trump watching all of this very closely. in fact, he tweeted today, thomas, "crooked hillary is wheeling out one of the least-productive senators in the u.s. senate. goofy elizabeth warren, who lied on her heritage." that's just another example that warren has, in fact, gotten under her skin and why these two could be a good team. but obviously, a lot of other

fame names on that vp list, including tim kaine, who is the virginia senator and former governor. thomas? >> kristen, real fast, before i let you go, we have over a month to go before the dnc, the convention coming up in philadelphia. is there anything swirling around that someone could be picked, announced prior to that convention, to round out the ticket with clinton? >> reporter: i think that it's possible that we'll see a pick before the democratic convention, but i think that we will likely see secretary clinton wait until donald trump has picked his vp nominee before announcing hers, because, remember, that could determine some of the factors in this race. and it could change her decision, ultimately. i think we'll see it happen before the democratic convention, but i would guess within the days leading up to the democratic convention. >> okay, if the rnc does go first, the week before in cleveland. kristen welker, reporting in cincinnati. thanks so much. we'll go back to that time, that moment on the stage when hillary clinton and elizabeth warren

speaking. stand by for that. but we have just moments ago, donald trump sending out this presumptive strike against clinton and warren's upcoming speech. as kristen mentioned about this tweet, "crooked hillary is wheeling and dealing." hallie jackson joins us. this is really part of trump's narrative to reshape the landscape, but the language we see in that tweet is anything but new and different for donald trump. >> that's exactly right, thomas. i think back to a couple of weeks ago, when trump was amping up his attack against elizabeth warren and using this same kind of language, talking about crooked hillary, calling elizabeth warren goofy. that's kind of one of the nicknames he's come up with for her. he's preemptively rebutting what is expected to be an attack, as kristen was talking about, from both warren and clinton later on this morning. trump back home after his trip to scotland. and we are learning now, this morning, thomas, that he is

headed out on the campaign trail. he'll be delivering a policy speech tomorrow outside pittsburgh, focusing on the economy, focusing on jobs. this has been a central theme of donald trump's campaign. we know that his campaign advisers want to see him giving these kind of speeches about once a week, from now until convention, at least. part of it is to show, especially after the changes in his campaign over the last week or so, that he can be more of a disciplined candidate. that he can be more on message. but what will be interesting is how he is at his rally, his next rally, when he is off-prompter, when he is speaking in front of a crowd, flank that has been e g energizing him for months now. manafort just flatly denied anything was wrong with the campaign. listen. >> do you acknowledge that you're behind, both organizationally and in the polls? >> no. because what you're trying to do is comparing an 800-person

organization in brooklyn, of mrs. clinton's, with an integrated system of the rnc and the trump campaign, which doesn't appear on an s.e.c. report. we have hundreds, actually thousands of people in the battleground states, political organizers, who are now in place. >> trump clearly not happy with the narrative that has taken shape in the media over the last few days. in addition to that tweet about elizabeth warren, that you talked about, he also said that the media is unrelenting this morning. they will only go and report a story in a negative light. i called brexit, he said, hillary was wrong. watch november. this is consistent with what we've seen from donald trump over the last three or four days, taking credit for predicting that vote overseas, for britain to leave the eu. but trump has come under fire from, for example, democrats, including hillary clinton, out with that new ad this week, slamming trump on his comments in scotland after the brexit vote. thomas? >> hallie jackson reporting outside the trump tower.

hallie, thank you very much. appreciate it. as we were telling you, we are expecting any moment now to get a ruling from the supreme court. it is a decision, potentially, on the ruling about a 2013 texas law. whether that law about abortion providers poses an unconstitutional undue burden on texas women. so we will see exactly what is said as the supreme court is about to go on summer break. we know that we have seen other decisions that have come down in the past couple of weeks, and because of justice scalia's position, after his passing, not being filled, we have seen a completely divided supreme court. we'll see what comes out today. here's our pete williams. >> reporter: this is a very big win for advocates of abortion rights. the supreme court, by a 5-3 vote, has struck down what was arguably the toughest abortion law in the country. this was a texas law that said abortion clinics had to have -- be built to architectural

standards that were the same as walk-in surgical centers, and also said that doctors had to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. when the law was passed, the number of abortion clinics in texas went from 42-19. a more than 50% reduction. and the advocates said, if this law remained on the books, the total number of clinics in the state would go to 10. now, it's a big deal for texas, but there are a dozen states, a dozen other states that had laws similar to this. so they are now in big legal jeopardy, too. some were on hold waiting for the supreme court's decision. here is why this was a very big deal. after trying for years to figure out some way to roll back the abortion right in roe versus wade, the opponents of abortion came up with this new method. instead of restricting the options for the woman, for the patient on waiting periods or having to have counseling or limiting when it was available,

they tried a new tact, and directed their attention instead at the clinics themselves. the state passed this law known as hb-2, with a very controversial vote. the state said it was necessary to protect women's health. but the opponents of the law said it was a pretext, it was nothing more than an attempt to paycheck abortion more difficult to get. and a decisive win, the supreme court, by a 5-3 vote, struck the law down. back to you. >> pete williams reporting at the supreme court. pete, thank you very much. as pete points out, this is a big decision, with a 5-3 ruling, and the supreme court coming out in favor of those that challenged the law to take this all the way to the supreme court. as pete pointed out, after this law went into effect in 2013, the number of places where women were allowed and were able to receive abortions shrank from 42-19. so losing over 50%. one person, who was really against this and catapulted to

fame over it, because of the filibuster that she performed in her pink sneakers there on the texas statehouse floor, was senator wendy davis. and wendy davis join us right now. i want your reaction first about this. because at the time, your filibuster did not work. so your first reaction to what the supreme court is saying? >> well, i'm overjoyed. i have to tell you, i was fighting back tears a moment ago, as i was reading the scotus blog and the first line that came out saying that the fifth circuit opinion or decision had been reversed. it's incredible news for the women of texas. it's incredible news for women throughout this country. >> wendy, what do you think, though, will happen now, as pete told us there, in the reduction of clinics from 42 to 19. women have had to either travel long distances to find safe places to receive medical care, if they are terminating a pregnancy. do you think that texas can rebound back to that number of

42, to where they were prior to the law? or is that going to be very slow for the women of texas to see that happen? >> it's going to take several months, i think, to see us rebound to a place where women throughout the state, have the access that they once had prior to this law going into effect. but i know there are many people and organizations that are committed to making sure that that health care is returned, and that women have their reproductive freedoms restored in texas. >> and so, when it comes to what the texas state officials, and how they argued this, they said in the courts, that their intention was not to make abortion harder to access. they just wanted to protect women's health. why is that something that wasn't an argument that worked in the supreme court, but it did work in the texas courts? >> one of the things that we worked very hard to do was to lay the predicate for the day that came, this day that came.

we asked on the record, and really tried to pin down the proponents of this bill to advance any argument about why women would somehow be made safer under these provisions. and they couldn't answer that question. and in fact, we had from the american college of obstetrics and gynecology, we had from the texas medical association, the american medical association information that said exactly the opposite, that this was going to jeopardize, not improve women's health, and that certainly has been the outcome, where women have lost their access to safe abortion care in our state. >> so in thinking about this now and, you ran for governor, after the filibuster that, as i said, it skyrocketed you because of those pink sneakers, i'm not sure if you've put those in any type of hall of fame in texas,

or if they're still somewhere in your closet, but does this make you want to get back into texas politics again? >> well, i'm never stepping away from texas politics. whether i'm in office or not in office. i've continued the work very hard to make sure that gender equality is advanced in this country. of course, reproductive rights are an incredibly important part of that. and i could not be happier in this moment, talking to you about the decision that we received from the supreme court today. >> it is a big moment. can you clarify, though, where those pink sneakers are, just for folks who are watching? >> yes, they're safely tucked away in storage and of course i cherish them and always will. >> wendy, thank you so much. stand biy for us. i want to bring back pete williams. we're seeing pro-choice advocates being able to celebrate this decision. the breakdown being 5-3. can you explain where this fell down on the sides of the court? >> reporter: this is a decisive smackdown of this law.

they basically didn't buy any of the arguments of the texas legislature. and the whole analysis of this decision is based on the supreme court's long-standing rule that states can restrict access to abortion, but only if those restrictions don't amount to what has been called an undo burden on a woman's right to choose. and they say the law fails -- both prongs of this law fails that test. they say, first of all, there's no real advantage for doctors to have so-called admitting privileges at nearby hospitals, because the number of complications that arise from abortions is very small. that they accepted the argument of the abortion rights advocates, nthat complications from abortion are much lower than many other kinds of surgeries, colonoscopies, for example. and for the argument that abortion centers should be built to the same standards as other

surgical centers, there's no need for that. they couldn't demonstrate why the same kind of surgical standards that you would have in a full-up surgical center were centers for abortions. so they say on the one hand, there's no clear, obvious need for this law. it doesn't advance women's health. and it does restrict the number of abortion clinics. so when you look at those two things, it fails that undo burden test. now, this was a 5-3 vote. but interestingly, only one of the justices would have upheld the law as it's written. that was clarence thomas. the other two conservatives, justices robert and alito says this should be sent back to the appeals court to better develop the factual picture here. so this is a very strong win for advocates of abortion. it's going to be, it's going to be a huge setback to people who wanted to restrict abortion rights, because this was their new strategy. after trying to get this case

back to the supreme court, this whole roe v. wade issue, by restricting the law in terms of the patients, in terms of women, they came up with this different strategy, which was to aim at the clinics, and now the supreme court decisively has shot it down. so it's a big setback for opponents of abortion and a huge victory for advocates of abortion rights. >> pete, real quickly, to get a forecast. i hope to get back to you. we expect two other rulings from the supreme court before they end today, correct? >> reporter: we've already gotten one ruling on the standard for federal crimes of domestic violence. the other big one that we're waiting for is a ruling on what happens to the conviction of former virginia governor bob mcdonnell, his bribery conviction. when the case was argued, it appeared that the court was very favorable to his view that the federal government way overread the bribery law. he said the kind of things he did here for this virginia businessman were very minimal, the kind of thing any elected official would do as a matter of a course of business.

we're still waiting for that, thomas, and i'll be back to you when we get it. >> thanks so much. and to further play out what pete is talking about there, the justices will likely either throw out mcdonnell's convictions or order that he receive another trial with complete definition of official action as a guide, or uphold the lower court's decision and serve two years of a prison sentence. i want to bring in now ari melber. ari is msnbc's chief legal correspondent and joins us now. to pete's point about what this means potentially for the courts back in texas, as they start to deal with the access that is now granted to texas women, do you think that they're going to try to rethink certain tactics, that they used in this instance, that have been found unconstitutional? is there another plan for them? >> the anti-abortion movement will have to rethink its tactics, as you put it, because this is a decisive victory here in a court that we have seen deadlocked on many other divisive issues.

what we see here in the jurisprudence of abortion, this is not a deadlocked issue or a 4-4 issue. justice kennedy considered a tiebreaker, a republican appointee joining the republican appointees to basically see that texas' cover story, that this was not about reducing abortions. that's what they always claim. this was about health, not about reducing abortions. that that cover story is effectively false. and they relied heavily on the district court opinion, which did a lot of fact finding. that's where they go in and look at the history and look at the record and look at what legislators said about it. and say, you know what? this does look like an effort to reduce or deny worabortions. and as pete mentioned, under long-standing precedent, that's not okay. if it presents a, quote, undo burden on the woman seeking abortion. i'll read briefly from the opinion, a very interesting part where they talk about whether this law was for health or not. again, the conservatives who pushed it said this was all about health and protecting women and it was a pro-health bill and not just trying to reduce abortions. and they say this surgical

center provision poses a financial obstacle to women seeking abortions and constitutes, quote, an undo burden. that's not allowed. and they say record evidence, a legal term from what they know from the lower courts, they say it shows that basically these requirements under the texas law were, quote, generally unnecessary in the abortion clinic context. something pete was mentioned. again, this is a decisive ruling that says, a, you can't restrict abortions this way by going after clinics, if your actual goal is going after the woman would use them. and b, these states like texas who are experimenting saying, it's all about health, are going to get extreme scrutiny. a deep searching inquiry over whether that's really true. they had a cover story. the supreme court effectively rejected it. >> if jyou're just joining us, the supreme court today striking down two key provisions of this sweeping anti-abortion ruling

that the state imposed back in 2014. it's now deemed unconstitutional for posing this undue burden on women seeking to terminate a pregnancy. it was a 5-3 decision. and interestingly, we've had reaction from hillary clinton. two different tweets saying, scotus tee decision is a victory for women in texas and across america. safe abortion should be a right, not just on paper, but in reality. and she also wrote, the fight isn't over. the next president has to protect women's health. women won't be punished for exercising their basic rights. and it's signed, "h," which we know means it's from hillary clinton. wendy davis, let me bring you back into this conversation. how do you think this will play into the larger conversation of the race for the white house and 2016? >> i think a lot of people understand how incredibly important the election of this next president is going to be. particularly because of the appointment of not just one supreme court vacancy, but what

might be another one or two following that. the tilt of this court and the president's ability to place someone there who's going to keep that ship where it needs to be is going to way, i think, very heavily in the minds of voters this fall. >> and we know that hillary clinton in this one tweet, women won't be, quote, punished for exercising their basic rights, that "punish" word in reference to donald trump, an interview, a town hall he had with chris matthews right here on msnbc, where chris pushed him on that, saying, should women receive some form of punishment? and he said, yes, if abortion were to be made illegal. this was probably one of the only times we've ever seen in american history where pro-life and pro-choice advocates were against the statement of that. of punishing the woman, who -- >> well, you know, he kind of laid bare the inconsistency and the anti-abortion argument.

which is characterized as though abortion is murder, on the one hand, but then on the other hand, shies away from going as far as saying that women who commit this act ought to be considered for any kind of punishment. what donald trump said actually was more consistent than what the anti-abortion movement has said all along. and i think he really did, as i said, laid bare the inconsistency in their argument. you cannot characterize it as murder on the one hand and shy away from what you know will be a public backlash on the other hand, if you go that one step further and say that women taught to be punished for exercising this constitutional right. >> and we have those tweets, we can show up on the screen now, of what presumptive democratic nominee hillary clinton has tweeted, just in the last few minutes about this. msnbc's irin carmon is with me and she's been following this story from the very beginning. and one of the points, and i know this has been interesting

for those who have been following it closely, is the amount of data that the courts were asking for, to provide the facts about potential undue burden. and did texas provide the proper data? >> well, as i reported on n nbcnews.com over the weekend, a state employee in the aclu of texas accused texas of holding back official statistics that could have shown the impact of the law at stake. that isn't the only information we had, but texas said you had to wait to see what impact it had son women on the ground before really relying on other evidence. but what this opinion does, justice breyer relies heavily on public health researchers that testified on behalf of the clinics. and basically what they were saying is that texas says this law is going to make women healthier. it's going to protect women from clinics who might be predatory and so on. this is for women's own good. this strongly condemns that argument and says that the evidence actually shows that texas' law makes women less safe, they have to wait longer, drive further distances, they're

less likely to choose the method of abortion they want. women in rural areas are left out in the cold, particularly. so what this decision does, in great detail, justice breyer engages with that research that came from the outside respected public health researchers and he puts it in the supreme court record, which is a very definitive debunking, or it's a very definitive rejection of the evidence that texas brought saying that this law was for women's own good. >> i understand that president obama is going to have a statement out from the white house here shortly. we're going to bring that to you as soon as we get it. irin, to your point about this and the way that the requirements changed in 2013, it was so that those that were performing abortions have admitting privileges at local hospitals, and that even early procedures including medication abortions, that involve only taking two pills, take place in an expensive, ambulatory, surgical center. >> that's correct. >> when texas said, we need to take a wait-and-see approach to get a better collection of data, did they say how long of a timeline was necessary? >> we're still waiting for those

numbers. but i think the key point here, it's actually cited in the opinion, and justice breyer said in an oral argument, he said to texas' solicitor general, can you point me in the record to a woman who would have been, her life would have been saved or prevention from complications, had this law been in place? who does this law help? where does it say her name? and texas' solicitor general said, well, we don't have that name. and that comes up here again. the court has decisively rejected any claim that this was put in place to protect women's health. instead, what it's saying is it was a surreptitious way to block abortion, and it definitively rejects the logic of that law. another thing that's really important is that it's not just texas. in fact, just in the fifth circuit, where texas lies, you have louisiana and mississippi having passed similar admitting privileges provisions. you have wisconsin, oklahoma, kansas, all across the country, states that have put in restrictions that are in the name of protecting women's health, now have to answer to the supreme court, which has said, in fact, these place an undue burden and they have no

base in medical fact. >> one thing we're watching, irin, is the podium right there, on the bottom right-hand of our screen, hillary clinton and elizabeth warren will be appearing together coming up at a rally in cincinnati. we'll take you there when that happens. former senator wendy davis of texas is still with us. wendy, i just wanted to ask you. because of the platform that you had in talking about this, in fighting for access for women, i'm sure you probably heard over the years, many personal stories of women that have been affected by what happened, post 2013. can you tell us some of the stories that you may have heard? >> well, these formed the 65 amicus briefs that were filed before the supreme court. the fronts of overturning this law wanted very much to make sure the justices saw this through the human prism of what the consequences had been. some of the stories came from women who had not been able to

access safe and legal abortion, and had carried a pregnancy to term, one that they felt they could not afford. many of the people who choose to terminate a pregnancy already have children that they're trying to support. and some of the stories came from women like that. they also came from women who had to go through incredible expense and effort, missing work, traveling long distances in order to access their abortion care. and also stories of women who had to wait, what feels like an interminable amount of time because of the backlog at the 19 clinics that continued to exist, having to take up all of the need that arose, as a consequence of the closure of the other 21 or 22. >> so, let's go back to our pete williams. pete is outside the supreme court. and pete, i understand you have more details about the ruling

itself. >> well, just having scanned through it now, thomas. first of all, they look at each of the restrictions. on the requirement that doctors have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals, the justices say they can't see any advantage over the old law, which said that doctors should have what they called working arrangements with nearby hospitals. so if something happened at an abortion clinic and they needed to get a patient to a hospital, they could do that. the justices say we don't see why you'd change that. secondly, on the surgical requirement, the requirement that abortion clinics have the same construction standards as walk-in surgery centers, they say that makes no sense at all for the large number of women who never have surgery for an abortion. the so-called medical abortions, where a woman takes two pills. what t court says, if there are complications in those situations, they're going to develop when the woman is at home, not in the clinic. it just doesn't make any sense. and finally they say, with fewer doctors, fewer clinics, you're

going to have longer wait times, less access to abortion, and let me read the conclusion of this opinion, thomas. it says, given these realities, it's beyond rational belief that the law, which is called hb-2, could genuinely protect the health of women, and certain that the law would simply make it more difficult for them to get abortions. and then, this opinion written by justice breyer says one other thing. when a state severely limits access to safe and legal procedures, women in desperate circumstances may resort town licensed, rogue practitioners at great risk to their health and safety. so in other words, what he's saying is, far from making this safer for women, on balance it may make it less safe for women. again, thomas, i think it's worth noting that this is a 5-3 opinion. in terms of the dissenters, it's not a spirited defense of the abortion law. the main dissent, written by the chief justice and samuel alito,

chief justice john roberts and samuel alito, that says for a lot of technical reasons, that has to do with whether this claim could be brought now, this ought to be sent back for another look. only clarence thomas gives what you would call a full-throated defense of the law. so it is a big defeat. >> all right, pete, stand by. we're going to go to our ari melber. ari, understand you can advance some of the language that we're starting to read out of the ruling. >> yeah, when we look at abortion rulings in the federal courts and the supreme court, we often see a real caution. roe v. wade remains controversial, littl politicall it's been the law of the land for a long time. this decision is really robust by justice kennedy, a republican appointee, in laying down the law, that you cannot just go out and say to women, well, here's a bunch of technicalities that close a bunch of clinics. and so let me read from the opinion. it says, look, in the face of no threat to women's health, the idea that as we've been reporting, they rejected the rationale for the law, reading

from the opinion, quote, texas texas seeks to force women to travel long places. people less likely to get less individualized attention that doctors may have offered. and it basically makes the argument that this is all unfair to women, even though, as we've mentioned, the texas argument, the pro-life argument is that this was all about clinics and safety. and to the question you were posing a little earlier, where does this go in 2016 and the politics of this. this is a real road block to these pro-life efforts, and a reminder, again, that the pro-life team got a bad ruling today, because they pushed so far through texas. so in the intersection between politics and law. it really raises the question for folks who may want to push this far, was it in their interest. now that i have put a new precedence on the book, the strongest pro-choice precedence in a generation, in 25 years, precisely because they pushed so

far in a conservative state like texas. i would expect some regrouping here, yes. the politicians in both parties are going to have a strong initial reaction. but the longer question in the politics of the pro-life movement is, was this a good idea. i don't think if they knew they were going to get this 5-3 decision, wiping out the law and saying it's impossible in every other state, that they would have done this, to begin with. >> we can also advance some news from different reaction we're getting now from planned parenthood. cecile richards says we're thrilled that these dangerous provision have said struck down. this is a win for women, every person must have the right to make their own personal decisions about abortion and we will fight like hell to ensure that they do. we know that cecile richards, her home state is texas, her mom being the former governor of texas, ann richards. we are waiting to get a statement from president obama. we know that the white house is working on that. and we'll get it to you as soon as they release it. and the other thing that we're watching for you is the shot in cincinnati. hillary clinton and elizabeth warren are set to appear together, their first time on

the campaign trail, what seems a packed house there. this rally in cincinnati. now, they were supposed to start at 10:30, roughly running about three minutes behind. not sure if they're updating some drafts in reference to what's happened from the supreme court, but we shall see. the women take the stage here in just a moment. a lot of people looking at this as the potential audition of what a democratic ticket could be, as we have been able to source here at nbc news, that elizabeth warren is under consideration as a vice presidential contender. kristen welker is standing by for us at the rally in cincinnati. and kristen, do you have anymore details on their timeline? >> reporter: well, thomas, i think they're coming out right now. we had gotten a two-minute warning. that stretched to about ten minutes. i think it is very likely we're going to hear secretary clinton and senator warren address the supreme court ruling earlier today. secretary clinton has already tweeted about it, praising the ruling. and she's also said that it's an

indication that women shouldn't be punished for getting an abortion. that is a clear swipe at donald trump. thomas, i'll toss it back to you, because this is getting underway now. >> all right. our kristen welker there in cincinnati. and this is the first time these two women have appeared on stage together, on the campaign trail. we know that elizabeth warren has been pretty ferocious in attacks on donald trump. and remained on the sidelines. not giving an official endorsement to hillary clinton during the primary. but now we see them hand in hand, locked in arm there, above this rally in ohio, and ohio is going to be a critical battleground state as it always is. all roads to the white house go through ohio. and so, it is, certainly notable that they're making their first appearance in ohio. we hear "fight song" by rachel platen playing in the background here. we typically here that at all hillary clinton events. and kristen, you're still with me. explain the type of reception that you're seeing compared to other receptions that you've

seen for secretary clinton? >> reporter: oh, there's no doubt, thomas, this crowd is energized. you can hear them going absolutely wild. it feels a little bit more like a rock concert than a campaign event for secretary clinton, quite frankly. for a lot of the reasons that we've been talking about today. the fact that elizabeth warren is a progressive champion. she rallies the democratic base. she rallies so many of senator sanders' supporters, who right now are not sure if they're going to get onboard with secretary clinton, and this comes at a pivotal moment. the fact that the supreme court has just handed down this ruling, both of these women will likely talk about that and use that to energize women voters and the voters here even more. thomas? >> elizabeth warren has begun, let's listen. >> sherrod brown! y yes! and it is good to be in the state that is going to send ted

strictland to the u.s. senate in november! yes. now, i'm here today because i'm with her. yes, her! we're all here today because we're with her. and we're going to work our hearts out to make hillary clinton the next president of the united states. yes. i'm ready. are you ready for this? yeah. we're here with someone who gets up every single day and fighting for us. someone who has spent her whole

life fighting for children, spent her life fighting for women. spent her life fighting for families, fighting for health care, fighting for human rights. fighting for a level playing field. fighting for those who need her most. we're here to fight side by side with hillary clinton. so today i want to talk about values. my daddy sold fencing and carpeting. he ended up as a maintenance man. and after his heart attack, my mom answered the phones at sears to keep our family above water. and here's some of the values that i learned up close and personal. my oldest brother, don reid, was career military, 288 combat visions in vietnam. yep.

and i learned from him that we honor our promises to our service members and veterans, always. yeah. and after my middle brother, john, got out of the air force, he got a good union job, operating a crane. today he has a pension because of that job. i learned from him that unions built america's middle class and unions will rebuild america's middle class. yes! and my youngest brother, david, got out of the army and he started a small business and he worked his rear end off. it was tough. and today all he has left is his social security. i learned from him that we honor hard-working people by

protecting and expanding social security. me, i was a baby and i always wanted to be a teacher. i went to a computer college that cost $50 a semester and it opened a million doors for me. i learned that america's public schools can build opportunity for all of our kids. i'm the daughter of a maintenance man, who made it all the way to the united states senate. and hillary clinton is the granddaughter of a factory worker who's going to make it all the way to the white house.

yes! yes! now, we believe in that america, but we're worried. worried that those opportunities are slipping away and a lot of america is worried. worried and angry. angry that too many times, washington works for those at the top and leaves everyone else behind that washington lets giant oil companies guzzle down billions of dollars in tax subsidies, but then says there's no money to help kids refinance their student loans. that washington gives corporations fat tax breaks for ceo bonuses but won't raise the minimum wage. that washington pushes big corporate interests in trade deals, but won't make the investments in infrastructure that create good jobs here in america.

angry that friends and neighbors right here in ohio lost their jobs and their homes when wall street wrecked our economy. angry that instead of sending people to jail, washington gave bankers a bailout. now your pensions are in trouble and washington won't lift a finger to help. that's not right. and we're here to change it. now donald trump says -- [ audience booing ] donald trump says he'll make america great again. it's right there. it's stamped on the front of his goofy hat.

you want to see goofy? look at him in that hat. but when donald trump says "great," i ask, great for who, exactly? for millions of kids struggling to pay for an education? for millions of seniors barely surviving on social security? for families that don't fly to scotland to play golf? when donald trump says he'll make america great, he means make it even greater for rich guys just like donald trump. great for the guys who don't care how much they've already squeezed from everyone else.

great for the guys who always want more. because that's who donald trump is. the guy who wants it all for himself. and watch out, because he will crush you into the dirt to get whatever he wants. that's who he is. just look at the evidence. donald trump cheered on britain's current crisis, which has sucked billions of dollars out of your retirement accounts because, he said, hey, it might bring more rich people to his new golf course. he cheered on the 2008 housing crash because he could scoop up more real estate on the cheap. and he cheered on students, desperate enough to sign up for his fake university so he could bleed them dry and turn a profit for himself.

what kind of a man does that? what kind of a man roots for people to lose their jobs, to lose their homes, to lose their life's savings? i'll tell you what kind of a man. a small, insecure, money grubber who fights for no one but himself. what kind of a man? a nasty man who will never become president of the united states. that's right. because hillary clinton will be the next president of the united stat states. that's right! hillary clinton will be the next president of the united states because she knows what it takes to beat a thin-skinned bully,

who is driven by greed and hate. she knows, you beat a bully not by tucking tail and running, but by standing your ground and fighting back. that's what she's going to do. just look at her history. she's been on the receiving end of one right-wing attack after another for 25 years. but she has never backed down. she doesn't whine. she doesn't run to twitter to call her opponents fat pigs or dummies. no, she just remembers who really needs someone on their

side. and she gets up and keeps right on fighting, for the people who need her most. [ applause ] >> hillary! hillary! hillary! hillary! hillary! hillary! hillary! [ applause ] so here's what it boils down to. hillary has brains, she has guts, she has thick skin and steady hands, but most of all,

she has a good heart. and that's what america needs! and that's why i'm with her. are you with her? [ cheers and applause ] yes! yes! this election is about values. so let's just do a few. donald versus hillary. donald trump believes in defrauding students to benefit himself. hillary clinton believes that every kid should be able to get an education without getting crushed by debt. that means debt-free college and refinancing student loans. hillary fights for us. donald trump believes poor, sad little wall street bankers need to be free to defraud anyone

they want. hillary clinton believes that we need strong rules to prevent another financial crisis. yes. hillary fights for us. donald trump cheats his workers and wants to abolish the minimum wage. hillary clinton believes in no one should work full-time and live in poverty. and that means raising the minimum wage. hillary fights for us! you know i could do this all day. i really could. but i won't. i won't. okay, one more. one more. donald trump calls african americans thugs, muslims terrorists, latinos rapists and

criminals, and women bimbos. hillary clinton believes that racism, hatred, injustice, and bigotry have no place in our country. she fights for us! she fights for us and we will fight for hillary clinton! she fights for us! please join me in welcoming to the stage our next president, hillary clinton! [ cheers and applause ] >> hillary! hillary! hillary! hillary! hillary! hillary! hillary! hillary!

>> thank you, cincinnati! i especially want to thank all the people outside who couldn't get in. thank you for coming today! i am so delighted to be here with my friend, and a great leader, senator elizabeth warren! now, you just saw, you just saw why she is considered so terrific, so formidable, because she tells it like it is. i am very grateful for that introduction, but more importantly, i want to thank her

for fighting every single day, for families like hers, families like yours, and millions of hard-working americans who deserve to have more folks on their side! you know, elizabeth and i came of age around the same time, and when we were coming up, as you heard her talking about her parents, her brothers, we believed in the american dream. it wasn't always going to be easy. my dad was a small businessman. he got up every single day, went off to work, worked hard, and a lot of times my mothers and brothers and i would be there to help. he printed drapery fabrics in a long warehouse with a long

table, it was dark and not very pleasant, but, it was decent, honest work. and he believed, and he taught me, that's what you do in america. that's the basic bargain. you work hard, you do your part, you will get ahead and stay ahead. and we need to make sure that basic bargain is alive and well in 2016. elizabeth is leading the fight to liberty millions of americans from the burden of student debt. and to make sure, to make sure washington never again profits off of our students. she and i agree, the federal government should not be making money off of sending our young people to college to get an education.

and no one works harder to make sure wall street never, never wrecks main street again. she's come up with a lot of great ideas but here's one that's already made a big difference. it's called the consumer financial protection bureau. it's been around a few years under the leadership of a great leader from ohio, richard gordray, who is leading the charge. think about this, it's only been around a few years, but it has already returned over $10.8 billion to 25 million americans,

who have been hurt by illegal financial practices. now, that is what standing up and fighting to right economic wrongs looks like. and i, i must say, i do just love to see how she gets under donald trump's thin skin. as elizabeth made clear, donald trump proves every day, he's not in it for the american people. he's in it only for himself. and elizabeth reminds us of that every chance she gets, because -- [ cheers and applause ] because it is really important

that voters here in ohio and across america understands this. she exposes him for what he is. temperamentally unfit and totally unqualified to be president of the united states. now, some of the best tv since elizabeth came to the senate is actually on c-span. so whenever you see her pressing a bank executive or a regulator for answers, refusing to let them off the hook, remember, she is speaking for every single american who is frustrated and fed up. she is speaking for all of us. and we thank her for that!

i'm thrilled that elizabeth could be here with me in this glorious, beautiful building that has been rehabbed and put to new use as a museum. because we want to make the point together that we must have an economy that works for everyone again, not just those at the top. not just the rich or the well-connected. everybody. now, one might ask, well, yes, that is what we believe. it sounds simple, doesn't it? honestly, i think it is. it shouldn't be complicated, but there are too many politicians and corporations that don't agree they don't even seep to get it. but you do. and we do.

and for the past now more than a year i have been traveling across our country, meeting people, who have told me, their wages haven't budged, even though they see executives who give themselves big bonuses. and you ask yourself, wait a minute, why do the richest americans and biggest corporations get away with manipulating the tax code so they pay lower rates than you do? that's a good question. it doesn't make any sense. doesn't make moral sense, economic sense, historic sense. and you know what else doesn't make sense? when leaders in congress give more tax breaks to hedge fund millionaires instead of making investments in manufacturing clean energy and education that

will actually create more good jobs. it doesn't make sense when corporations stash their profits overseas or send them to influential shareholders, instead of making long-term investments, in raising wages, training, and research. or when governors and legislatures use every trick in the book to weaken unions and make it harder for americans to organize themselves for better wages and benefits. you know what i'm talking about. well, you've heard of right-to-work laws.

well, they're wrong for workers and wrong for america. none of this is right, my friends. but this election is a chance for us to make it right for the future. for our kids and our grandkids. let's make it right. let's make it right for hard-working americans like stan hall in cleveland, who owns a small trucking company. it's a non-stop struggle for him to compete against the bigger guys. but if we keep our economy growing and make sure small businesses like stan's get the right support, we can give more people a chance to succeed under that american basic bargain. let's make it right for young people, like erica in westlake. she dreamed her whole life of going to ohio university in

athe athens, but the housing crash in 2008 wiped out her parent's savings and their small business. so to get her college degree at a public university, erica wound up $100,000 in debt. we cannot let this student debt crisis continue. we've got to give hard-working students and families relief. and you know what erica's doing now? she's volunteering for our campaign and working to elect democrats across ohio. stan's volunteering with us, too, because he, like so many people across ohio and across the country, know that we are