hi, everyone. it's 4:00 in new york. tonight, senator kamala harris will step on to a stage only ever occupied by two women in this country's history and never before by a woman of color, as she makes her own history, senator kamala harris will make the case for joe biden's presidency tonight in her address to the democratic virtual convention. harris will also be making the case for herself, stepping into the rarefied air of a vice presidential nominee for her party's ticket and introducing herself to some americans for the very first time. harris will become biden's number one surrogate in making the case against donald trump, and she can be expected to draw on her prosecutorial expertise to do so. a source close to harris telling me today that she will lean into biden's unique ability to lead in this moment, as america struggles with the deadly pandemic, its devastating impact on our economy, and the urgent need for action around racial

injustice, building on the case she's made when she was announced as biden's vp pick just one week ago. >> when we look at someone like the current occupant of the white house, again, he has not been lifting folks up. joe and what we are about is about lifting people up, understanding that the strength of a leader is based on not who you beat down, but who you lift up. >> his empathy, his compassion, his sense of duty to care for others, is why i am so proud to be on this ticket. >> he knows, and he cares about the fact that we have, as a nation, witnessed 165,000 people who just in the last few months have died in our country. so what real leadership looks like is joe biden. to speak up, sometimes telling us the stuff that we don't necessarily want to hear, but we

need to know. >> harris is the candidate that the trump campaign viewed as the most skilled and in a clear sign of their concerns, or maybe it's just how they roll at this point, the racist and sexist smears against her from trump and his buddies have been pouring in. and although it's unclear that the scattershot insults have taken hold outside of trump's fringeiest followers, for her part, harris is already approving to be a skied counterpuncher, knocking back the smarmiest attacks as soon as they were launched. >> they're going to engage in lies, they're going to engage in deception, and they're going to engage in an attempt to distract from the real issues that are impacting the american people. and i expect that they will engage in dirty tactics, and this is going to be a knock-down, drag-out. and we're ready. >> harris' selection has added excitement and diversity, including generational diversity, to the biden effort at a time that he's still holding on to a steady lead in the polls. harris, born to jamaican and indian immigrant parents is

currently the only black woman in the united states senate. she served as california's attorney general before serving in the u.s. senate. harris' own announcement speech of her presidential effort drew crowds that captured trump's attention and she will likely continue to get under his skin. senator kamala harris' big night is where we start with three people who understand the stakes. political strategist, steve schmidt is here, plus msnbc's own alicea menendez, and brilliant pollster, cornell belcher. cornell, i have to start with you, in our shared history of rolling out sarah palin to the country when she was selected as john mccain's running mate, she had a post for senator harris that got a lot of attention. there were some kernels of wisdom in there, but wrapped in a whole lot of grievances that obviously don't apply to kamala harris. but what is this sort of unique moment, not just for the country to see what it says about joe biden that he selected kamala

harris, but for kamala harris herself, to introduce herself to people outside of the political conversations that take place day in and day out and may not know that much about her. >> well, kamala harris is about to become an international household name, that started with the vice president's selection of her as the vice presidential nominee, and she'll become nothing but more famous, starting tonight. i mean, her life from the moment she stepped into the suv and the secret service took over her protection, life will never be the same for her again. and so she's coming into this moment in what i think is the most important election in the country's history since 1864, when fundamentally, we decided whether we were going to be a country tonight. and so, we'll see kamala harris tonight begin to communicate to the american people, to make the case for joe biden, but i think also, importantly, to prosecute the case against donald trump and mike pence and the wreckage

they have wrought. and, you know, with regard, i have to say this, it deserves mentioning about the letter that sarah palin wrote to kamala harris and there's been some reaction to it. like, wow, that was gracious, it was nice. but i want to talk about the first piece of advice in it that's pathological and just completely relevant to the situation and the disaster we're in today. the first thing that sarah palin advises senator harris is don't trust anyone new. don't trust anyone new. this is someone who's going to be the vice president of the united states. and i want to make a point about how that plays out when you -- in 2020 and a guy comes into the room, he's 5'7" tall, he's a doctor, he's the leading

infectious disease expert in the world, he's worked for six presidents, but, hey, i don't know him. he didn't work in trump tower. he didn't work with me in the alaska governor's office, so i don't know him, i'm not going to listen to him, i'm going to trust my gut. and that type of rejection of expertise, the desire to surround yourself with cronies, the desire to attain power, but do none of the work that is required of people who are vested responsibility and obligation, that's what i saw in that letter. and i thought it was abysmal advice for anyone to give any person who's running for national office at the level that kamala harris is. the good thing we know for sure is that kamala harris is no sarah palin. >> and alicea, it is admittedly a very poor comparison, but the point being, it is a very small club of women who have stood on

that stage. you and i have had a lot of conversations on tv and off about the rarer circumstance of being a woman in the political arena. i have to say, just from watching her, senator harris seems to wear some of those extra challenges with a singular grace. she seems to kind of carry them proudly, but move past them and get right to doing her thing. and i know that the view from inside the trump campaign is that she's simply the most skilled politician on the field. the most skilled person they could have picked. and they have some anxiety about the night in which she will face off against mike pence. >> right. and that's why they can't figure out how to frame her. there's the task that would be before anyone who's going to be joe biden's running mate, to introduce themselves to the american people, to make the case for joe biden and then to lay out the case against donald

trump, but joe biden, to your point, didn't just pick anyone. he chose kamala harris. and who she is, what she represents, the daughter of immigrants. the first black woman. the first southeast asian woman to be on that stage adds a layer of complexity. and as you know and steve knows and cornell knows, there have been countless meetings at this point in which the script has been drafted and redrafted, trying to figure out how to tie her personal narrative to the larger american narrative, to this moment. her story of self meeting the story of now. and some of that was substance. those decisions will have been made, but so much of it, nicole, that you know, is about her actual performance tonight. and tonight she will do what women do, what women of color are asked to do all the time, which is to thread that needle between the strength we expect of a leader and the warmth we expect of a woman. and so as much as tonight is about her performance and it is her night to make or break, it's

also about all of us, right? and the way in which we interpret what is undeniably a highly subjective performance and our noonacknowledgement tha part of our interpretation of it is undoubtedly based on the fact that we have sneemnever seen so like her do it before. >> i have 7,000 follow-up questions, but i'm going to just narrow it down to one, alicea. what is our duty tonight to make sure that we don't, as the media covering her, come up short or short shrift the viewers or put this through a frame that is unfair or sexist or racist. i just think that's the elephant in the room, right? >> yep, part of it, i think, is acknowledging our own bias, acknowledging the fact that we all come to this with an element of bias. that is part of it, that awareness. but it's really focusing on the substance of the argument that she is going to make. and we have some glimpse of what that is going to be. she is going to tell her own

personal story, focus on the personal story, focus on the way in which she frames her own record. i would sense, based on having read, you know, much of the way she's told her story in the past, that you will see her tying her parent's history of actionism to her decision to go into law enforcement. the way in which that frames her notion of service. and then listen point by point as she makes the case for joe biden. where the substantiative arguments that she is going to be making for him. what are the pieces of his record that she is going to be pulling, and what is the case that she is making about donald trump. all of that, more important than her face and her voice and the way she uses her hands. >> cornell, i have 7,000 questions for you too, my friend. but let me start with this one. this is a moment where women have asserted themselves as voters and a political force from the day after trump's election, the women have been in the streets, literally, since the moment trump was inaugurated.

they made their voices heard at the ballot box in 2018, in the midterms, really tilting a lot of individual races in the democratic column. what is the moment when you add in the reckoning going on since the murder of george floyd, the outrage over all of the sort of underreported trespasses and examples of misogyny that donald trump seems to be work into his day-to-day conduct in the oval office. >> well, first, nicole, let me say, i'm so thankful that you women finally stood up and said, and took back control, took control of things and tried to get this country pointed in the right direction. >> well, we have miles to go before we sleep, my friend. >> we're moving in the right direction, because we men have really screwed it up, so thank you. but, yes, to your point, she is the next generation of leaders. she looks like the next generation of leaders. and by the way, sort of picking

up on your next generation of leaders, a shout-out to gen-x, because finally, we get our chance at bat and you know gen-x is the greatest generation of americans ever. but it is that diversity, you know, look, senator harris looks like the future. and i think the future is diverse and the future is female. and sort of the leadership of our country. and i think a lot of those suburban women that donald trump keeps tweeting and trying to scare that people who look like me are going to come invade the suburbs. by the way, i don't want to invade the suburbs. i'm very happy in the city. actually, the suburbs are invading the city. i don't know if you've been to d.c. lately. but, look, i think she's going to come for a lot of those suburban women who are going to see her story, you know, and relate to her story. and i think the relatability piece is important. but i also want to pick up on the bias piece that y'all have just talked about.

i think we do know that women who are strong, assertive, the bias is that they across not likable. and i'll be looking for the news coverage tonight, especially on social media night, to see if we can filter out some of that bias, because women candidates struggle with likability, whether they're republican or democrat, they struggle with likability in a way that's unfair, that men do not struggle with. so i think she has to come across likable, at the same time, she has to come across as a symbol of that next generation of leadership. and she also has to tell her story. i was listening to focus groups, and people know kamala harris, but they don't really know her story. i think he has to sort of tell her story and come across relatable or not. >> i want to put and gender aside for the purposes of this conversation and just show some of her sizable skill set. here she is in her current job, as senator in some of the questioning of brett kavanaugh

and attorney general barr. >> are you willing to ask the white house to conduct such an investigation? because as you are aware, the fbi did conduct a background investigation into you. >> yes -- >> before we were aware of these most recent allegations, so are you willing to ask the white house to do that, and answer yes or no and we can move on. >> six background investigations over 26 years -- >> sir, as it relates to the recent allegations, are you willing to have them do it? >> the witness testimony before you, no witness who was there supports that i was there. >> okay, i'm going to take that as "no." did you watch dr. ford's testimony? >> i did not. >> thank you -- >> i plan to, but i did not. i was preparing mine. >> has the president or anyone at the white house ever asked or suggested that you open an investigation of anyone? yes or no, please, sir. >> reporter: the president or

anybody else. >> seems you would remember something like that and be able to tell us. >> yeah, but i'm trying to grapple with the word "suggest." there have been discussions of matters out there that they have not asked me to open an investigation. >> perhaps they've suggested. >> i don't know. i wouldn't say suggest. >> hinted? >> i don't know. >> inferred? you don't know. okay. >> i mean, steve schmidt, she's a slayer of -- she's just a slayer. just her skill set is unmatched. >> she is a major league political talent. and let's remember something, when she debates, it will be against the incumbent vice president, mike pence,sycophant be a spokesperson for the cigarette industry, communicating to the american people that all was good, cigarettes weren't bad for you at all. as a talk radio host, he stood there and denounced adultery. as a vice president, he embraces

every vile principle of trumpism, at the expense that he -- at the expense of what he once looked into the camera with most sincerity and squinty eyes telling us that he believed from the bottom of his heart and soul. so kamala harris is a politician that has conviction, that has accomplishment. that has facedown the best, so to speak, of the trump enablers and cronies from her perch on the senate judiciary committee. we've seen her perform under pressure. she's a world-class politician. i think mike pence is going to have his hands full to say the least. and she is imminently qualified to be president on day one. she's a person with an easy smile. there's an interview where she did talking about her in-laws that just made me laugh out loud, describing how much new jersey is in them, was a jersey boy. it was just so nice to see somebody with humor open up about their family in a normal

way and to hear her laugh, right? how nice will it be to see laughter around the highest offices in our land? there's seriousness of purpose ahead. there are hard days ahead. but to see the basic human qualities of decency and empathy and smiling and laughter. and just normalcy extraordinary to the white house. that's comma kamala harris represents, in addition to being a world-class political talent, which i think mike pence is going to find out about the hard way when he has to face off against her for 90 minutes. >> alicea, there's some breaking news in the last half hour, some window into what former president obama who is also speaking tonight is expected to talk about. this is from my colleague, peter alexander, who reports that a democratic official tells nbc news philadelphia was chosen for former president obama's speech tonight because of biden's ties to the state and it's because where two of our sacred texts, the declaration to have

independence and the constitution was signed. the city is in many ways the birthplace of american democracy. a fitting reminder of what's at stake in november's election. let me just read a little bit more of this. obama is set to stress biden's qualifications, his judgment as vice president, he'll make a clear, strong, and urgent case on voting, similar to what michelle obama did on monday. if you take just the talent that has been showcased so far this week, michelle obama, you've got the deeply personal speech that i think had a pretty profound message about the pain of the country that jill biden was able to tie to the pain that that family has been through, as a family and their resilience. if you take the sharpening of the national security message that was highlighted last night and is probably expected to be repeated last night from both senator harris and from the former president, what has the story achieved so far and what do you think the result will be?

>> you know, one of the things we know and cornell can speak to this even better than i can, is the fact that donald trump's numbers are pretty baked. so in inas much that we will hear the case made against donald trump, that is one piece of the puzzle, and then to your point, there needs to be the case made for joe biden. so something that stood out to me especially as we were hearing so much about national security is, joe biden's empathy, his warmth, is something we hear about over and over again. it actually was important strategically for democrats to underline his strength, his experience in this realm, specifically. so i think what you're getting is a more completely comple pic. you have the stakes set out, you have the risks of this current presidency. and you're beginning to see the pieces come together. the case that the party is making for why joe biden is the best person to move america forward. >> cornell, to pick up on alicea's point, we heard from chuck hagel, brett mcgurk, marie

yovanovitch. these are known entities not in democratic politics or republican politics, but in national security circles. and you and i both know, and steve, too, and alicea, to the two axis around which presidential defeats and victories turn strong leader and who understands the process like me. joe biden has an insur moundable lead in understanding problems of people like me. but as he makes this argument around strength and decisiveness and around national security, he could really solidify what we see in the polls now, which is a pretty solid lead. what do you think? >> inlg there's an opportunity now, and an opportunity to do it in a way you typically don't see democrats do it. you know, like, you know, george bush, your guy, george bush, he had strength in spades, right? americans thought he was a strong, strong leader. now, you could disagree with him

on a set of different issues, but for your president, especially in times of troubled times, you want a strong leader. he had that. i'll let you in on a little secret, that in 2012, on the economy, voters saw mitt romney as actually better on the econo economy, but to your point, they saw barack obama as a person who would fight for them, fight for the middle class and people like them. so when i see the economy numbers trump still has an advantage on, i know for democrats it's really important that -- look, we may never get a big advantage over republicans on the economy, but we always have to drive and keep that advantage on looking out for people like you. and joe biden has that and he needs to build on that, but at this time, if he can look like the real strong leader, like the adult in the room who's going to fix our foreign policy, who's going to make us safer and more

secure across the globe, he's moving into republican space in a way that frankly democrats don't often do. and i think sort of expanding that majority of voters who are for him, i think you're going to get a lot of soft republicans who are going to look at donald trump and look at joe biden and are going to start to say, i'm fine landing on joe biden. >> three of the smartest people, about all things politics. steve schmidt, alicea melendez and cornell belcher, such a pleasure to start off with all three of you. thank you so much. when we come back, on top of the emotional testimonials about joe biden's resiliency, a strategic message coming through loud and clear, joe biden can heal the country's pain and stem our fears. also ahead, trump and co komprom kompromat. i don't even know if i said it with the right russian accent. it made up a considerable report

of gop report on russian interference. and beto o'rourke joins us to discuss donald trump's affection, addiction, to the low road of american politics. all of those stories, coming up. . all of those stories, coming up.

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i love you. i do. >> thank you. >> you're like a favorite of my -- >> thank you so much. what's your name? jacqueline. >> you got a camera? take it out and we'll take one. >> you are awesome. oh, my god. >> so you might remember that moment. that was security guard

jacqueline brittney. she was escorting former vice president to his interview with the "new york times" editorial board. he didn't get the endorsement, but got something better. she didn't realize the exchange was caught on camera, but fast forward to last night, the second night of the democratic national vnconvention, and this time jacqueline was back, the first person to enter joe biden's name in for the democratic national convention. >> in the short time i spent with joe biden, i could tell he really saw me, that he actually cared, that my life meant something to me. and i knew, even when he went into his important meeting, he'd take my story in there with him. that's because joe biden has room in his heart for more than just himself. and we've been through a lot, and we have tough days ahead. but nominating someone like that to be in the white house is a good place to start. that's why i nominate my friend, joe biden, as the next president

of the united states. >> joining our conversation, democratic strategist, basel smikle, elise jordan, and current white house reporter for "the washington post," ashley parker. no doubt, there are people who are excited to meet donald trump and take selfies with him. but this is the quintessential joe biden story, right? he's on his way to the "new york times" ed board, he forges this deep bond in the elevator on the way to his meeting, and i think the point is, you go through joe biden's career and there are jacquelines around every corner. my question for you is, is the trump campaign trying to match that? >> well, we don't know the full convention schedule and list of speakers of the rnc yet, but from what we know and the names that have been announced in terms of sort of quote/unquote

ordinary people, a lot of them are people who match the president's model of grievance. there's the st. louis couple, who got in a fight with a black lives matter protester who was passing by their house. there's the covington student. and so, you have people who are not sort of emblematic of the way that president trump has touched their lives, and it's worth mentioning for jacqueline, that in some ways, she was representative in where she was of the whole joe biden story, right? this is a story of joe biden initially during the primaries being spurned by kind of the democratic elite, in this case, "the new york times" editorial board, making an endorsement on the democratic side very much that elite. and then he was lifted up in the south carolina primary by black voters, by black women voters, and sort of by working class voters like jacqueline, who felt that he had a personal connection with them and there

was tremendous enthusiasm for president trump. i don't want to misstate that. but you don't hear as frequently the sort of personal deep connection stories of the president connecting to a vulnerability the way joe biden can, because of the hardships he's gone through in his life, whether it's his stuttering, whether it was the death of his wife and infant daughter in that car crash, whether it was the more recent death of his son, beau. they just approach human frailty and vulnerability and suffering in very different ways, the two men. >> basel, ashley, i think, has given us a perfect framework for what joe biden's political advantage is, just because of who he is, in contrast to who he's running against. and it is that slice that she just articulated of black women, black voters, and working class voters. and what she said that gave me that jolt as a human being, because this is what everyone wants, he saw me.

he got in the elevator and he saw me. a different politician might have been just really in their head, thinking about their presentation to the "new york times" ed board. and as i said, biden didn't get that endorsement pb and i watched. there was a doc made about their process and it's not even clear that the biden meeting went that well. but what he got was this person who vouched in their interest for him on the elevator ride up. it seems in a lot of ways more valuable. >> i think it is, in a lot of ways. you mentioned this, not every politician has that skill set, rig right? not everybody is so good at retail politics can react in that moment to say, let me hear from this person. and i grew up with my parents telling me this and i certainly learned it and had it reinforced when i got into politics. you treat the janitor and ceo the same. and if you really embrace that,

you will be able to hear other people. and that is the beauty of that moment and that's the beauty of that trajectory that joe biden is on with jacqueline and hopefully she becomes someone that is very active and engaged, even if just engaged in civic engagement going forward. i want to add another piece, something that ashley mentioned a about that couple pointing their guns at the black lives matter protesters. that's a matchup i want all day and any democrat wants all day. because even responsible gun owners will understand that there's something wrong with that scene and something wrong with the arrogance those folks would have to come out on their lawn and start pointing guns at people in that way. so tying that to this joe biden moment, there are people across the country that want to be

heard. they want to feel like their ideas and their thoughts matter. and that they're just not going to be pushed away or shooed away, if by just not paying attention to them in an elevator or pointing a gun at them, even as they're protesting the death of a black man at the hands of a police officer. there's something about this moment which joe biden is fitting perfectly. >> you know, elise, i want to peel the political layer off a little deeper with you. what joe biden seems to be doing, and i've listened to every speech delivered, is depriving trump of one of his great advantages from four years ago, which was to run not just against the democratic party nominee, hillary clinton, but against elitism. joe biden is no elite. and you cannot watch the people that know him and the people that run into him and come away with any conclusion other than the fact that donald trump thought it was worth getting

impeached to take him out. to smear his family. to call zelensky and say, take them out! is sort of what chris christie and other trump allies talk about, trump's sort of survival skills. trump is not going to get farther anti-elite than joe biden. joe biden is someone who is much more comfortable with jacqueline than a "new york times" editorial board. >> nicole, from the past two nights, one word has been used repeatedly and it's just stuck with me. zleens decency to describe joe biden. it's been used over and over as a character word from people who know him best. you never hear that comparison when it comes to donald trump. it's one that even his most staunch supporters would balk to say that, oh, donald trump is

fundamentally a decent man. you just never hear anyone with that defense. >> like, not even anyone related to him. >> exactly. >> so at this moment of the country just being starved for decency, and a moment the country is going through a great national suffering, joe biden really hits and fulfills those two universal feelings of emotion that unfortunately are parts of life. >> after the break, as democrats frame themselves, we're learning more about the words donald trump reportedly has said about puerto rico behind closed doors. that story, next. t puerto rico behind closed dos.or that story, next want restaurants to open?

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the president's talked before about wanting to purchase greenland, but one time before we went down, he told us, not only did he want to purchase greenland, he actually said he wanted to see if we could sell puerto rico. could we swap puerto rico for greenland, because in his words, puerto rico was dirty and the people were poor. >> that really happened. it's just another example of the president's racist views now coming to light, out in the public. that was miles taylor. he's the former chief of staff at homeland security, who in recent days has publicly slammed trump for politicizing the department for his own benefit.

he's called the president dangerous for america and he's endorsed joe biden. basel, elise, and ashley are all back with us. ashley, you know from your beat, from the stories you write day in and day out, there are countless examples of the behavior, but very few people who come out and put a face to it. what is miles taylor kind of represent this chapter in the trump presidency? >> well, you're exactly right. i mean, people like him, for instance, are the people who populate a lot of our stories. who have real concerns about what the president says and does, but he's someone who actually came out and said this publicly. it's not, quote/unquote, anonymous writing in the op-ed or a book. it's not someone griping to reporters, but refusing to take a stand about it. i will say in this administration and frankly in any administration, it is actually hard to kind of come out with something to share

specifics, because of course there will be people who herald you as a hero on the democratic side. of course, they are who are being viewed. but there are people who are going to label him a traitor and try to smear him. in this pirnadministration, the are lots of people who complain and there are not many who do so with his name and face attached. although, it is worth noting, there are now people out of that role, in the administration. >> it's an understatement to say that trump is on the low road. trump is subterranean, way down, and to that point, he's wrapping himself around, how do you say it, qanon loons, and he has congratulated a right-wing candidate -- i mean, he is so committed now to the dark underbelly, the fringiest aspects that i don't see how they think there are enough of those people that they're willing to roll the dice and repel the kinds of independent

or sort of center-right voters that they assembled four years ago. >> donald trump is far more well-suited to be an infowars host with alex jones than to sit in that oval office. and we see this constantly and it is so maddening that he has absolutely no respect for facts and truth. and instead, would rather embrace conspirator loons, that reinforce whatever quack idea goes best with his personal inner narrative and political advantage at any given time. it is distressing to see the gop embrace candidates who are qanon followers, and let's just hope that they're in districts that are so red that there won't be any risk of them actually gaining political power. but it's petrifying that the megaphone of the oval office, the president, where harry s.

truman, like eisenhower and harry s. truman and abraham lincoln sat, is being used to propagate these -- this absolute nonsense that is harmful and dangerous to society. >> yeah, i mean, basel, i think it's the danger of what he's associated with that's reflected in -- i imagine -- i don't know this and i don't have any reporting to support it, but i imagine one of the biggest strategic challenges for the republicans this week is balancing all the republicans who want to talk with all of the rising stars and progressive icons that are entitled to a space on that stage. and i think to elise' point, the consequence of hugging all of these loons, which qanon, whatever that is, that's what they are. they are so loony, i can't believe we're even talking about them. but the result, the reaction is you've got all of these republicans, squljohn kasich, s

molinari, meg whitman was i think the chairwoman of the mccain campaign in '08, john casekasich ran to be the republ nominee just four years ago. the reason that joe biden is able to juggle this diverse number of speakers is because so many are repelled this attraction he has to the fringe. >> that's exactly right. and if you think of donald trump as the conspiracy theorist in chief, and add birtherism into this mix, of course, then, yes, you're going to have a lot of republicans that are saying, there's no room in this party for me. and quite frankly, if donald trump has reshaped and re-formed the party, maybe they're not even sure that there's a future for them in this democratic party. so i understand the feed and the desire for democrats and joe biden to want to include them on the convention stage, but i would tell you, i think, you know, one of the things that we have to be careful about is that we don't ignore our base and the

future of the party in the process pip understand his interest in being bipartisan. i understand his interest in showing empathy, as we often talk about, and being able to bring in other voices. that is very important, but, you know, owing to something that you said in an earlier segment, c what strikes me about the obama speech coming from philadelphia is that where he smamade the sph in '08, which was one of the first times he talked about speech. and it shows as democrats we're willing to have these really hard conversations. and i welcome any republican who's willing to have that conversation with us. but there's still a lot that has to happen within the party itself, including an intergenerational transfer of power and influence, which played out last night. so yes, there's absolutely room for this kind of bipartisan governance and conversation, but i also think that joe biden is going to have to, you know, engage other aspects, other

parts of the democratic fold in the meantime. >> it's tricky, no doubt. it's a conversation, i'm sure, we will continue to have. basel, elise, and ashley, thank you so much for spending some time with us. after the break, buried deep in the republican led senate intelligence committee's latest report on russian interference, rumors and allegations about romantic relationships between donald trump and miss moscow back in 2013. how and why they were in there, next. how and why they were in there, next

it was one of the words we all had to learn out of necessity in the early days kompromat, or compromising material, information that could be weaponized in order to blackmail or embarrass a public figure. questions about what the russians had on donald trump, if anything, have spanned his entire first term, and again today, there's a new angle to consider, courtesy of the republican-led senate intel committee. there's a heavily redacted section of their brand-new report called "threat posed by russian intelligence services collection of kompromat." at the center of their investigation, questions about trump and miss moscow, at the miss universe pageant in 2013. joining us now, former assistant director for counterintelligence with the fbi, frank figliuzzi, also joining us, michael schmidt author of the upcoming book, "donald trump versus the u.s.."

you wrote about this section on komprom kompromat. what is it and why is it in there? >> yesterday when the report came out, we divided it up in big traum big tranches and i was shocked by what i saw. i had to call my editor and say, hey, there's some really surprising stuff in here about trump's personal life. that outlines sk s accusations potential relationship when he went to russia on one of his trips to scout a trump tower. there was questions about whether he had gone to strip club. and it was not only astounding and surprising to see these things being written about a sitting president and about whether a foreign adversary had these things. and i should point out that the report said that there's no indication that the russian government actually had kompromat on trump or used it against him, but nonetheless, this republican-led committee was putting these accusations in

an official document. and this document, being the most thorough, bipartisan document to come out of congress about russia's meddling in the election. and it's just really unusual and surprising and it made me wonder why it was included. and when we went to the vice chairman, mark warner to ask him about this, he said, i'm going to let the report and what it says here, speak for itself. >> so, frank figliuzzi, this is from mike's story. collectively, the allegations raised a collective counterintelligence concern that russia might be compromising information to influence the then presidential candidate's positions with relation to russia. the committee sought in a limited way to understand the russian's government alleged collection of such information, not only because of the threat of a potential foreign influence operation, but also to explore the possibility of a misinformation operation, targeting the integrity of the u.s. political process. it feels like all of those

things are underway, to influence then-presidential candidate's positions on relations with russia, he's more pro-russia than some russians, more pro-putin. i mean, what does that say to you, that this section is in there? >> so, first, it's been playing out for four years. we've felt this way for four years now. one of the initial thoughts i have, nicole is this is further validation that the fbi knew what it was doing, had valid concerns, and while for many people this may sound like a tom clancy novel, this is not new to anybody who's ever worked counterintelligence. in fact, it's not new to any global corporate executive in a targeted industry, who travels regularly. this is what happens. and there is published, credible research regarding trump that even dates back earlier than this. earlier than 1996, when trump first came on the radar screen

of the russian intelligence services. and that's allegedly back when he married ivana, and she had a relative that was reportedly an asset of the east german intelligence service, reporting to the russian intelligence service. so when a wealthy individual who might some day go into politics and has a lot of money to invest in real estate travels to russia, or for that matter to china, they are on the radar screen. the next step is how you compromise them. and let me say this, two thoughts. one, if he did anything like is reported in the report, it's on video. number one. number two, the bigger question for all of us, nicole is, what's the context? does it matter. can you be compromised if you have no shame? in other words, if it's true that he may have been intimate with a former miss moscow, right? to him, or he may have -- he had multiple women in a hotel in russia, as is alleged here, does he care? can he be compromised in a man has no shame? i think the larger context is,

what else is it that they have on him that we don't know, that he would not want to get out? that's what i'm focused on. and lastly, look, we're getting more counterintelligence detail out of this senate report, bipartisan, than we ever saw in the mueller report, because, remember, mueller was limited to criminality. what you're seeing here is straight-up counterintel. is someone working for another government and are they compromised? >> mike schmidt, this is my question for you. what more broadly did we learn yesterday and i asked andrew weismann this yesterday. were there things in the senate report that you didn't know? is it fair to put the mueller report in a much more sort of narrow category than we thought it was if a republican-led committee is churning out this salacious and sordid information that we didn't learn in the mueller report? >> certainly, this was a more thorough story than what the mueller report told. and it gave us a greater understanding of what was going

on. and if you took all the facts from it, you could make a criminal narrative out of it, that dates back to the oooh 90s that comes through today and tells this story. and two important things. one is basically that manafort's right-hand man was a russian intelligence officer and that's a grave national security threat as the report says. and secondly, what should not be lost on anyone is that the report says that basically, it's difficult to take donald trump's answers to mueller, his written answers to mueller, that he did not know what the campaign knew about what may be coming from wikileaks at face value. essentially, that the president may have provided an inaccurate answer to the special counsel's office, that the president may have lied. and look, that accusation has been out there. it was a bit more talked about

when mueller testified. but just to hear that about a sitting president is obviously a huge deal. >> it's where he benefits from the pace and the volume, that he lied to the special counsel, that there's a section about kompromat, and that we're still asking questions about what putin has on him should surprise no one. frank figliuzzi and mike schmidt, thank you both for spending some time with us. still ahead, former president barack obama will be the keynote speaker tonight, returning to the convention stage, if you will. he'll make the case that democracy is on the line if trump gets another term. we'll talk about that when "deadline: white house" returns after a quick break. "deadline: white house" returns after a quick break.

we may no longer have to guess the number of jelly beans in a jar in order to cast a ballot. but even as we sit here, there are those in power who are doing their darnedest to discourage people from voting by closing polling locations and targeting minorities and students with restrictive i.d. laws and attacking our voting rights with surgical precision, even undermining the postal service in the run-up to an election. that's going to be dependent on mail-in ballots, so people don't get sick. >> hi, again, everyone. it's 5:00 in new york. that electricity in the church

when former president barack obama delivered a searing indictment of donald trump's presidency, at the funeral of congressman john lewis is preciselys hoping to recreate tonight, when the former president addresses the democratic convention live from the museum of the american revolution in philadelphia, a location selected specifically to underscore his central message. democracy is on the line. president obama will address the convention at the same moment that trump seems to be gleefully yielding the high road that michelle obama talked about on monday night to his opposition. the current president doubling down on his campaign to create chaos and sew doubt over the legitimacy of the november election and under fire once again for his ties to russia. this time from a republican-led committee. as the need to break through to a scandal-fatigued nation and crystallize the threat of a second trump term amid the blur of trump's misdeeds grows more urgent, obama steps on to center stage. an adviser to president obama,

telling nbc news today, he's set to penetrate trump's most egregious abuses that have left democracy itself on the line and showcase a pathway out, which runs straight through electing joe biden. the country's first black president will share the stage tonight with the country's first black presidential candidate. tonight, senator kamala harris will accept the democratic nomination for vice president, showcasing her considerable skill as a defender of joe biden's record and a prosecutor of donald trump's. together, a harris/obama one-two punch, two of the most popular political figures on the national scene at this moment, that's based on a recent nbc news "wall street journal" poll. they'll be flanked by a slate of democratic powerhouses, including elizabeth warren, speaker nancy pelosi, hillary clinton just to name a few. night three of the democratic national convention is where we start with some of our most famous reporters and friends. with us from "the washington post," white house bureau chief, phil rucker, plus jason johnson,

and a contributor for the grio. he's back. associate editor for realclearpolitics, our friend a.b. stoddard is here. let me start with you, phil rucker. this contrast, it seems to be widening. the democrats building on that searing indictment of donald trump monday night from michelle obama, one of the country's most -- i think one of the most respected public figures in the world. president obama really campaigning like our lives depend on it and making clear that's his view of this election. the introduction of kamala harris, and donald trump gett g getting, to be blunt, weirder by the day, endorsing the fringeiest elements and smallest aspects of his coalition. >> i think that's right, nicole. and we're going to be seeing tonight president obama lay out that case against donald trump, but really underscore that he

thinks the very democracy of this country is at stake. there's a belief that the president -- that the former president shares, but also that a lot of the people who work for him, including vice president biden, that a lot of these profound changes over the last four years in the country and the erosion of our institutions can be reversed after four years. but a second trump term after eight years would make it very difficult to go back and this could become a different kind of country. and that's the case that we expect barack obama to be making tonight, some excerpts just came out from that speech. and he actually talks about how he sat face-to-face with donald trump and president-elect trump in the oval office a couple of days after the 2016 election, and he didn't believe -- obama says he didn't believe that trump was going to continue his policies or share his vision for the country, but that he did believe that trump would grow into the job and take the responsibilities of the office seriously and that he would work to protect the democracy that

elected him into that position. and obama says he's concluded that trump cannot grow into the job and is incapable of it. >> let me read some more of those excerpts. they were handed to me at the same time that phil rucker started telling us about them. so there's that section that you just described perfectly. president obama also expected to explain why he hasn't grown into the job. trum quote, donald trump hasn't grown into the job because he can't and the consequences of that are severe. hundreds of thousands of americans dead, millions of jobs gone, our worst impulses unleashed, our reputation around the world badly diminished and our democratic institutions threatened like never before. obama goes on to say tonight, quote, i'm well aware that in times as polarized as these, most ofs you have already made up your mind. but maybe you're still not sure which candidate you'll vote for or whether you'll vote at all. maybe you're tired of the direction we're headed or can't see a better path or just don't

know enough about the person who wants to lead us there, so let me tell you about my friend, joe biden. and then goes on to really detail a stirring and personal endorsement of joe biden's strength, something we're seeing more and more of around this national security argument and his character. jason johnson, the obamas really coming out forcefully, delivering messages that really are designed to cut through this calcified political climate we're living through. >> yeah, nicole. well, first off, michelle obama was amazing and her language and her speech and her passion were fantastic. and now we have barack, who's going to follow up with this theme of trump isn't man enough for the job. that's essentially what they're arguing both from a sort of insulting the president, but also from a practical level. but i have to say, one of the things that's really, really amazing about tonight is you look at this list, nancy pelosi,

elizabeth warren, senator har s harris, barack obama, hillary clinton. this isn't just a contrast in how we want the country to run, this is a contrast in how we want the country to look. this almost feels like the day before the end of the festival. like, is tomorrow really the undercard, because everybody tonight is fantastic. so i think the biggest challenge might be, can harris top what barack obama has to say? and if she does, democrats can pretty much shut it down. this will have been a completely successful convention. >> let me pick up with something that cornell just said, that joe biden has an insurmountable lead around one of the two metrics in which elections are typically decided. that's understanding the problems of the people in this country. but around this question of strong leadership, it really is a sign that the biden team feels that they're on offense, that they're going after strong leadership. that it's not just his character and his decency and his empathy, but it's that donald trump has failed. and let me show you the messages

on national security, because these seem to be the messages designed to pull over maybe those republican or independent-leaning women in lake county, ohio, in erie, parks, in eau claire, wisconsin, women that may have -- women and men who may have sort of voted for the mystery basket, not that trump was a mystery in my view, but thought, let's roll the dice. and by saying that he's not just not decent, he's not just uncaring, he's weak. let me show you colin powell and the other national security figures that made that argument last night. >> with joe biden in the white house, you will never doubt that he will stand with our friends and stand up to our adversaries, never the other way around. he will trust our diplomats and our intelligence community, not the flattery of dictators and despots. >> our troops can't get out of harm's way by hiding in the white house bunker. they need a president who will stand up for them and president biden will. >> he's trampled the rule of law, trying to weaponize our justice department, to attack

his enemies and protect his friends. put simply, he treats our country like it's his family business. this time bankrupting our nation's moral authority, at home and abroad. but our country doesn't belong to him. it belongs to all of us. joe biden embraces that. >> a.b., so these are just meant to go right at the heart of who donald trump clearly isn't, but thinks he is. he's weak. he's puny, he's small and nothing more than a failed leader of a family office. >> well, first of all, nicole, congratulations on your second hour. >> thank you. >> i'm very excited for you and it's so well deserved. >> thank you, my friend. >> i think that all of these republicans coming out for joe biden, even when the videos or awkward or dorky like casey in the middle of the fork in the road are shrewd because they're

telling people who might have voted last time for the big gamble or the protest vote or they didn't like hillary, and maybe this time they're feeling sheepish and are going to sit it out. and these are voices that come to that broad part of the coalition out on the right, who might have voted in a democratic house in the midterms. this broad coalition of former republicans, independents, center-right voters and these suburban college-educated white women, to tell them, look, you know it's not just the pandemic that he's messed up and the peril he's put us in from that. it's that he's destroyed our standing across the world, and this is not something that we can, you know, take for another four years. not more damage we can sustain. and that's why i think the message in the first couple of nights centered, anchored by michelle obama, telling the base, you cannot sit this out, you can't be disenchanted, you must be on fire and vote like

your life depends on it. these other voices were basically designed to tell people joe biden is safe, he's competent, he's calm, he's a grown-up, he's decent, and empathetic, and he's informed by science. and i just think that messaging at this point, like you said, when he has a lead, the party is united around defeating donald trump and picking up and persuading more voters is very, very smart. there will be many days and ways to excite people. i think the people that were tuning into this convention are those people, somewhere out on the center right and not necessarily the young and non-white voters of the base. and i think in the campaign to come, they can reach everybody. but i think that message on national security will go further than the republicans are afraid that it will. >> phil rucker, let me read you a little more of what former president obama is expected to say tonight, picking occu ining a.b.'s theme. president obama will say this. quote, tonight i'm asking you to believe in joe and kamala's ability to lead this country out of dark times and build it back

better. but here's the thing. no single american can fix this country alone. democracy was never meant to be transactional. you give me your vote, i make everything better. so i am asking you to believe in your own ability, to embrace your own responsibility as citizens, to make sure that the basic tenants of our democracy endure. because that's what's at stake right now. our democracy. i don't think we have heard any campaign of either party put the democracy on the line in a presidential vote, the way they are doing so overtly, so directly, and as a.b. said, directly to people who may be on the fence, who may not be available in the daily churn of what we do here every day or following everything on twitter, but they are likely to see at least the highlights from these big speeches this week. >> that's exactly right. and we've seen that in speech

after speech this week, at the democratic convention. these political conventions, as you know better than anybody, nicole, are usually about the ideological divisions, between the two main political parties. you know, what are you going to do about taxes, how do your health care plans defer. what would you do about the war in iraq? i mean, this is so much more profound. this is about, do we want a democracy in america. this is about what kind of country is america going to look like going forward. that's the argument we're hearing so many of these democratic speakers make and more than anyone, we're going to hear it from president obama tonight and part of what they're trying to do is inoculate biden and harris against what's expected to come off the stage or at least through the zoom video next week at the republican convention, when there are going to be all sorts of attacks on biden and on harris, representing the liberal mob as trump has called them. the radical left, as he has called them. and this is an effort, you saw it from michelle obama, you saw

it in that personal introduction that jill biden gave to her husband, joe, last night, an effort to make joe biden and kamala harris seem accessible and normal and not nearly as scary as the republicans are portraying. >> jason johnson, my friend, john heilemann reminded me that part of the reason all of those republican are there is inoculation for what phil is talking about. what is to come next week. and that inoculation seems to have been thought through by stephanie cutter and everyone involved in this democratic program in a way meant to maybe push the progressive base, the really important vibrancy, the future of the party, almost outside of their comfort zone, but i think by the time what phil's talking about comes to pass mexico wenext week, maybe will feel better about sort of showing joe biden with this slice of the biggest tent we've ever seen showcased as one party's national convention. >> well, yes, nicole. and also, you've also got to

remember, the republicans were rolled out on monday. so that part was moved out of the way and increasingly you're getting -- >> you had john mccain and colin powell last night. you're going soft on me, jason. >> yeah, i just -- i know. but i -- but someone, like kasich, there's a lot of complaints about john kasich. that was kind of monday. kind of got that out of the way. but i think that is a smart thing that the democrats have done. i don't agree with inoculation. donald trump is going to sane anybody who disagrees with him is crazy communist who wants to destroy america. i don't think it works for that reason, but i do think it gives democrats an opportunity saying, this is what we can do for you and this is how it all makes sense. i think the other part to remember is that this coalition isn't just signaling what the democrats are going to be able to do. this is one thing that's really key about what sweechb. your coverage has been fantastic. you and rachel and joy.

the fact that this whole convention has been in two-hour blocks means that people are actually watching, right? we're home during the pandemic. conventions usually go all day, nobody pays any attention. but now, people are like, i can give two hours. that strengths the message of unity that the democrats are putting forward. >> a.b., i'll just show some of our work. rachel has been the reaeeal advocate for watching them the way he just described, the way that the conventions created them for us. it's not like a normal convention, while we're sitting there talking, why they move one set out from a musical production, another one in. we've only looked at this as to whether or not, you know, what is lost. i want to ask you, what do you think is gained by doing them this way? ting there's a chance that maybe they're more intimate.

maybe it's harder to look away. i think people are watching what in a live production is sort of filler and as jason says gets talked over, i think they're taking in a more oliholistic, a as someone who works on convention program, your hope is that people takes in the whole thing, because every moment is there for a strategic purpose. i think people are getting more of what is being programmed to them this way. >> i think we all know after watching roll call last night, there's no way to ever do it again. everyone looking the same and trying to be in funny hats so they stand out, so their cousin sees them on tv. the only one you ever get excited by is state that the candidate comes from when they say, we nominate our future son and in the future, our native daughter. but it was an amazing ride.

i don't know that you ever do that in any other way again. to go around this country like that, it was pretty seamless, except for the delaware thing, which people didn't understand, but turns out was intentional, so delaware, his home state, could have him pass the nomination line, but anyway, it was simply such an incredible celebration of this country. and so many wonderful, thoughtful surprises and i think that despite the awkwardness of a virtual convention, you get bonuses like that that really make it compelling and make people want to stick around for the next thing. and i just, i think that again, people want to be together in person again when life is normal again, we all pray. but there's many things you can do, jumping around the nation that way, collaboratively, that were just absolutely so compelling, there's no reason to go back. >> the virtual roll call and me curling my own hair, two things

that are here to stay. >> joe rucker, jason johnson, a.b. stoddard, thank you so much for starting us all off. that was a joke. when we return, hillary clinton's big moment on the convention stage is tonight as she once again hopes to demonstrate her strategic and unique ability to get right under donald trump's skin. james carville and jen pal momi will be with us. and coming up, donald trump's attack over the topic of immigration. annen core of some of his best hits of 2016. who better to respond than beto o'rourke. "deadline: white house" continues after a quick break. f. find the world is new, again. at chevy we'd like to take you there. now during the chevy open road sales event, get up to 15% of msrp cash back on select 2020 models.

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donald trump's not offering real change, he's offering empty promises. and you know that sales pitch he's making to be president? put your faith in him and you'll win big? that's the same sales pitch he made to all of those small businesses. then trump walked away and left working people holding the bag. imagine him in the oval office, facing a real crisis. a man you can bait with a tweet is not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons. but here's the sad truth. there is no other donald trump. this is it. >> she was right. fours years ago, hillary clinton using her acceptance speech at the democratic national convention in philadelphia to warn us all about what a donald trump presidency would look like. four years later, hillary clinton makes a return to the

convention stage, this time to make the case for removing trump from office. in her speech, she will say, quote, for four years, people have said to me, i didn't realize how dangerous he was. i wish i could go back and do it over. or worst, i should have voted. well, this can't be another would've, could've, should've election. if you vote by mail, request your ballot now and send it back as soon as you can. if you vote in person, do it early. bring a friend and wear a mask. become a poll worker. most of all, no matter what, vote. vote like our lives and livelihoods are on the line, because they are. joining our conversation, democratic strategist, james carville and former communications director for hillary clinton's 2016 presidential campaign, jen palmieri. james, i just read of some of president obama's excerpts. we heard michelle obama monday night. that's the excerpt from hillary clinton. i mean, the message that is coming through from all of these powerhouse figures in the democratic party and american politics is vote like your life

depends on it. um, is that where we are? >> well, first of all, i'm not curling any hair for the convention. >> you know, if you watch this. and i'll say, there's just an enormous amount of talent in a democratic party. and it's really coming together. at every level, all of these speeches, by any number of people across the whole spectrum, let me tell you something about mrs. clinton. which is one of the most compelling political figures of our lifetime. she was a groundbreaking first lady. started the children's defense fund. she was a groundbreaking, highly effective senator in new york, highly effective secretary of state. she was the first female to lead a major party ticket. and you know, and i'm sure "the times" will have a column tomorrow about the e-mails. but this is time to reflect on a remarkable career by a remarkable woman and i think

she's going to do just great tonight and i'm really proud of her. i really wish her the best. >> jen palmieri, hillary clinton will speak on the same night as, able they're friends, senator kamala harris. what do you think she thinks and wishes for her as she takes her turn under the klieg lights. >> and something they have in common is maya harris, who worked on hillary's campaign and they became very close, kamala's younger sister. and i think that she hopes that hillary was sort of first through the looking glass in terms of how the country reacts to a woman seeking the highest office and how trump interacts with that woman. and what we learned is do not take the bait when he comes after you personally, but always defend him when he attacks somebody else. and kamala has already

experienced some of this from trump. one is, the country has been through this before and the public and the press know better how to handle it. and two, kamala harris is someone who as the daughter of immigrants, a black woman growing up in merks has always known how to defend herself and how to define herself, but i just wish, it was wonderful to hear what james had to say about hillary, and this is the one moment i wish could be in person, because i know if hillary walked out on the stage in milwaukee, she would have been greeted by an overwhelming response. having seen what she went through, and we understand better now in 2020 america, than we did in 2016 america, quite what was happening to her as the first woman and while she will go down as one of the big figures, certainly in american women, pioneering women in our history. and i am so proud to have been

on that campaign. >> i'm listening to both of you now. i follow both of you around wherever you speak and i follow you, jen on social media. i think that the pain and the emotion with which you both speak about hillary hillary clinton is kind of the tip of a really big iceberg. i think all of her supporters feel some version and i have mostly benefited from learning from you. but james, just talk about what's underneath, what i've just described in terms of her maybe avenging her loss or her power with the democratic base or women in this election. >> well, you got a year? >> you got all the time you need, my friend. >> you know, obviously, all of us have a lot of resentments and a lot of complaints and, you know, it's an idiotic email

story and no one will take responsibility for it. but right now during this convention, we're all excited about vice president biden. everybody's excited about senator harris. and i think the party, for 95% is really, really rallying together. and it's really gratifying to see how much talent we have, and it's multi-generational. and some of these youngsters that we have, just coming up with like enormous political skill. so i'm going to, you know, dwell on all of my resentments after this election, but right now, i've just got one mission in life, and that is to help extract this giant infected wisdom tooth that is hurting the body politic of this country. and we've just got to come together and get it done. and i've got to put off all of my resentments and all of my complaints and everything until this job is done. i honestly believe that. >> last word goes to you, jen. >> well, i think we can see what

the iceberg is about, nicole, is that all of us know hillary is a woman who's compassionate, warm, brilliant, funny. and when you see someone like that get caricatured the way she did, you know that can happen to any woman with that kind of ambition. and i think that's the sort of protective reaction you see, of us wanting to defend our friend, and hope that doesn't happen to kamala harris, that she's better positioned and going forward, that's not what we are going to face. >> lots more to discuss with james and jen, who aren't going anywhere. but when we come back, is the democrat show off of their big tent? donald trump is reaching back into his 2016 bag of tricks. we all know it's there. fearmongering at the border with mexico. when we return, we'll be joined by former presidential candidate, beto o'rourke, and get his prescription for what democrats need to do to end trumpism and all that's ushered in once and for all. he's next. d in once and for all. he's next. let me tell you something,

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we're halfway through this week's democratic convention and the message of unity front and center, thanks to soaring speeches about the soul of the country, a virtual roll call, showing national unity literally from coast to coast, from progressives to republicans, teaming up all to take the high road in their support of joe biden. meanwhile, a clearly triggered donald trump using this moment to firmly plant his flag on the low road, where it's always been, to reprise the darkest, most offensive language of his 2016 campaign and presidency. his latest fearmongering just yesterday at the border in yuma,

arizona, was nearly word for word from his message four years ago. >> now that we have more than half of the wall built, and you notice, they don't talk about the wall anymore! joe biden has pledged to abolish immigration enforcement, suspend all removals, provide free government health care and, you know, they want to give it to illegal aliens. we will have people coming into our country that never even thought of it before. >> joining our conversation, former 2020 democratic presidential candidate, beto o'rourke. thank you for joining us. it's always great to talk to you. let me ask you, i mean, your reaction on the ground, holding the community of el paso, literally and figuratively, after that shooting, and putting together what trump has legitimatized, what trump has given voice to, the racism, and the hatred, it seems like an example that everyone can point to and understand how dangerous

his rhetoric is. what -- how do you take that message to the country, to the whole country, in the final 70 days? >> nicole, i think it's so important that you connect the dots, as you really just did. it's not just the rhetoric of resentment and racism, founded on lies and extraordinary cruelty, but it's the actual practices and policies of the trump administration. i mean, he didn't just call asylum seekers and immigrants animals, he attempted to treat them like animals. literally taking kids away from their parents and putting them in cages. six children have died in the custody and care of the border patrol in the last year and a half of this administration. but when he's at an inaugural rally in florida and says, what do we do about this invasion of immigrants, and someone in the crowd yelled out "shoot them" and the crowd laughs, and the

president, donald trump, smiles his assent, that signal was unambiguously picked up by a gunman in allen, texas, who a year and ten days ago, drove to el paso, texas, and shot and killed 23 people. he was trying to repel that invasion that the president had warned him about. and took to heart the president's description of these immigrants as raipszs and kil r killers who were coming to get him and his family. so this is the consequence of donald trump. and you have communities like mine, 85% mexican american, living in fear that there will be another mass attack with a weapon of war, because this president incites that kind of violence and hatred in this country. we've got to make sure we tell that story and connect the dots. >> i want to ask you also about your state and about the latino community and about the communities along the border, which are disproportionately suffering from this pandemic. it would seem that those are

more dots to connect, that donald trump is stirring up and giving voice to all of this xenophobia and racism, but also his complete ambivalence and disregard for the suffering from the disease and the suffering from the economic consequence that have ensued. >> that's right. you've got the most trumpist republican in texas, our lieutenant governor, dan patrick, which happens to be arguably the most powerful position in the state of texas arguing that there are more important things than living, in trying to compel the state to reopen prematurely. but as you know, nicole, it is not affecting everybody equally. and who he's asking to do the dying is disproportionately latinos in this state. you go to the rio grand valley counties of heaarlingen and web and cameron and star, and you have -- these are 90, 95% mexican american communities.

you have bodies stacked up in refrigerated trucks, because they've run out of room in the morgues and the funeral homes. this is decimating the mexican american community in texas. we're almost at 11,000 deaths so far with no end in sight. and that's owing to donald trump's historic mismanagement of this pandemic, followed closely by dan patrick and greg abbott, our governor. and so it's no accident who it's affecting, who's dying and bearing the brunt of this right now. tell, what is the real state of this race in texas? i worked for the bush family and the idea that texas -- we followed your race very closely, and i know you came very close to defeati ining ted cruz, but does it feel like on the ground and is it too soon to tell? tell me what it really feels like in a general election test in texas right now? >> the most accurate way kicked describe this is to call it possible. there are polls that show biden

up by a little bit, there are polls that show donald trump up by a little bit. as you know, we lost by only two-and-a-half points to ted cruz, and that was in a midtemer, which as cmidtemerm, which typically favors republican turnout over democratic turnout. in a presidential cycle, with this incredible failure at leadership, at all republican levels of government in the state and nationally, and in this super charged energy at the statehouse candidate level, we are contesting everywhere across the state with extraordinary people primarily women and women of color, who are running right now to claim a majority for the first time in 20 years, i actually think, nicole, you're going to see these reverse coattails, where instead of biden drawing -- pushing votes down the ballot, you'll have these state house candidates surging votes up to the presidential level, and it could be for the first time since 1976 that texas awards our electoral college votes to the democratic

nominee. and i think that more than anything else could stop trump and trumpism in america, because any close call, he will exploit to cause confusion and chaos in an attempt to steal the election. the best defense against that is texas. texas is the offense that we need to be running right now. >> all three of these things we have talked about are things that i want to keep talking about, if you'll keep coming back. i mean, this idea that what happens in texas says something really important about trumpism is something they absolutely -- and i know that the trump campaign, for their part, is very worried about arizona. not that -- there's some overlap with the kind of voters they're losing in arizona and the suffering around the pandemic and the kinds of things that animate some voters in texas. let's stay on this, put a pin in this, and to be continued. brou beto o'rourke, thank you so much. when we come back, james carville and jen palmieri will join us again with much more

from former president barack obama's speech tonight at the democratic convention. obama's speech tonight at the democratic convention.

there is not a liberal america and a conservative america. there is the united states of america. there is not a black america and a white america and latino america and asian america. there's the united states of america. >> that was then senator obama at the 2004 democratic national convention. we have more excerpts that we're

getting in from president obama's speech tonight. he's going to talk about vice president joe biden and say this. quote, over eight years, joe was the last one in the room wherever i faced a big -- wherever i faced a big test, joe was the last one in the room, when i faced a big decision. he made me a better president. he's got the character and the experience to make us a better country. that was my typo, not any lack of elegance expected from the former president tonight. so here's my question for both of you. i have been thinking in the last couple of days about the obamas so much, and about what launched his career and his presidency was, i thought, that speech. speaking to our desire not to be divided up into white america and red america. and for michelle obama to sort of take that stage that we all know she doesn't like, most first ladies don't like, being thrust into the dirty business of campaigns. and for her to deliver the speech she delivered monday night, for former president obama to say the stuff he's

going to say tonight, this is an excerpt, james, from his speech. president obama will say tonight, quote, i'm asking you to believe in joe and kamala's ability to lead this country out of dark times and build it back better. but here's the thing, no single american can fix this country alone. democracy was never meant to be transactional. you give me your vote, i make everything better. i'm asking you to believe in your own ability, embrace your own responsibility as citizens, make sure the basic tenants of our democracy endure. that's what's at stake, our democracy. what do you think, and i keep focusing on that, because it seems like as a campaign message, it's lofty. you know, you had "it's the economy, stupid" on your door so i copied it and put it on my door in '04. this is a much bigger than what we usually take to voters. is it going to work, james. first of all, my friend, eugene robinson, i was on with him last

night, and he interviewed michelle obama, and she really detests politics, but she understands this is a time where we have to put our uncomfortable nature together and come forward and she did a brilliant job. i think at president obama's speech, and from what i saw, is exactly what he needs. he needs to give personal testimony that vice president biden is valuable partner in this administration. there are a lot of democrats and a lot of independents. and since he's left office, obamacare has exploded in popularity. and i think his message is going to be an important component of our convention. i do want to take 30 seconds to address something beto said. i've done a lot of zoom events in texas. i was at the dallas county democrats a couple of weeks ago and two nights ago i was with the houston area democrats. they have 700 lawyers in the houston area that have come forward to volunteer to help with any election law problems that they have. i used to be a lawyer. i wouldn't think you could get 700 lawyers in an entire country to volunteer for anything. and you have 700 of them in one

metropolitan area. that tells me that there's something going on out there, and president obama and miss obama have played a big part of. people are activated. we should not despair. we should hopeful i think he is speaking on hope and despair. part of the reason is that donald trump has sown so much distrust and chaos and question about the legitimacy of the actual vote in november that people are prepared for not just florida which we all lived through but multiple floridas. >> this is what i worry about. nicole, i'm with you. i'm a communications person. you're thinking why is president obama not talking about the economy. it is what people really want. >> i'm just worried. i think the obamas are always

pitch perfect. it's just big. >> right. and here's something really scary. you had an nbc poll the other day. it had trump up 10 points on the economy. 10 points. and we're in the middle of the greatest economic downturn since the great recession. i don't think there's any, i don't know what joe biden can say to people to make them think, if they're willing to look at what's happening right now and still think that donald trump is better on the economy than joe biden, what joe biden could say to upend that. when people talk about the economy, it must be code about something else about how they feel about their own standing or how they feel about america. what it tells me is this is about something much bigger. and i know president obama, i know what he worries about. i know when he's asking people to believe in the power of themselves and in the power of joe biden and kamala harris to lead us out of this, he's worried about, do people still have, think that there can be a credible response?

and assuring people that it matters what each of us does. not just what our leaders do. the moment is that big. you see it. hillary has the same message, michelle obama had the same message, colin powell had the same message. >> that's what it takes. thank you for spending some time with us tonight. always a pleasure to talk to both of you. when we return, remembering lives well lived. lives well lived from chicken of the sea, comes new wild catch. premium, ready-to-eat fillet pieces of albacore tuna,

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> yolanda's loved ones say it is hard to talk about her in the past tense. she was devoted, she was a presence. all of it is true, of course, but then there's the heart breaking reality. she is no longer with us. a 40-year-old mother of two, a nurse from augusta, georgia. she was working her masters degree in nursing when she died of coronavirus earlier this month. she had been on the front lines of the pandemic taking care of dozens of patients every single day just like so many of her colleagues in such an honorable profession. helping those in need was her passion. so yes, now we have to talk about yolanda in the past tense but it is with both eyes forward. our collective responsibility is to honor her memory and it is just beginning. we also want to remember another bright light. jeff curtisman, a man with a supremely caring name who was always thinking about others,

even when he got sick. a friends said he kept apologizing for it saying i'm sorry, i'm sorry. i know you must be scared, he would say. jeff started showing symptoms after an in-person training event about two months ago. he was a flight attendant and had within hawaiian airlines since 1986. it was a great job. especially for him. he got to talk to people which he loved and it allowed him to travel and take photographs. after he died, friends described him as the time of person we need more of in this world. especially now. he was gentle, loving and kind. our thoughts are with his husband, his family and his friends. thank you so much for being with us this afternoon. we're grateful. "the beat" with my friend and colleague ari begins after a quick break. ari begins after a quick break.

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welcome to "the beat." i'm ari melber. it is an historic and ground breaking night by any measure. kamala harris will be formally accepting the nomination for vice president by the democrats at their convention tonight. everyone knows biden picked her but this is the actual way that the first black president in history and the first vice presidential candidate will be presented to the nation tonight. obama will be closing the night. i'm sure you heard that. democrats very excited about this. it will be a live speech in philadelphia making the case for biden. we are just in our newsroom. you know how this works. we're just getting new excerpts from obam