phang show weekends at 7 a.m. on msnbc. stream new episodes on the peacock as well. "the reid out" with joy reid is up next. tonight on "the reid out" -- >> politics doesn't have to be a raging fire destroying everything in its path. every disagreement doesn't have to be a cause for total war, and we must reject the culture in which facts themselves are manipulated and even manufactured. >> president biden made an appeal for unity in his inaugural address. one hour from now he will not be as gentle. in a primetime address to the nation the president is expected to call out maga republicans for extremism that threatens our democracy. contrast that with the former president who's certainly doing nothing to discourage his

supporters' worst impulses. it's flailing around about the classified documents he stole as a judge prepares to make a decision on trump's request for a special master to decide if he can get the stolen property back or decide what happens to it next. we begin with the battle for the soul of the nation. topic of tonight's primetime speech by president biden. he'll deliver that speech in about an hour in front of independence hall in philadelphia one week after calling his predecessor's vision for america semifascist. biden will make the case that the fate of america's democracy is at stake. here's some of what he plans to say, that maga forces are determined to take this country backwards, backwards to an america where there is no right to choose, no right to privacy, no right to contraception, no right to marry who you love. for a long time we've reassured ourselves that american democracy is guaranteed but it is not.

we have to defend it. protect it. stand up for it. each and every one of us. the speech will come hours after the latest standoff over the boxes and boxes of classified documents found in the twice impeached former president's private home and golf resort in florida. today we learned the fate of a former new york police department who received ten years. also today the oath keepers top lawyer was arrested on charges related to the attack on congress. real hefty consequences. still, the leaders of the insurrection, including the man it was intended to benefit, walk free. in a new interview donald trump said if he wins back the white house he will look seriously at full pardons and a government apology for january 6th defendants, an apology not from

them but to them. we know what they're capable of. we're still in the midst of it. the very world we inhabit with public health, science, cruel disregard for women and girls as stores of human tragedy mount. this is only the beginning which brings us back to the soul of the nation. the rallying cry before the pivotal election. voters will decide which vision will endure. all it takes is one election, folks, one decision to exert dramatic change in the course of a nation. never has that fork in the road felt more evident or more perilous. joining me is korean jean pierre. tell us what we're going to hear tonight. you and i both know that wyden ran as somebody who could supersede the differenceness

this country. instead he has run into a buzz saw that included the january 6th insurrection. he's had to readjust his thinking about what could be done and accomplished in partnership with the other side. we read some of the pretty strong quotes. is that going to be the tenor of the entire speech? >> you've got some excerpts, joy, of something in the speech something to give the american people and your viewers essentially a little bit of what the president is going to talk about. it's going to be an important moment, an important speech. what you are going to hear are core themes that you've heard from him the last three years. as you know, joy, we've talked about these, the need to protect our democracy. the need to protect our right, our freedom, how important that is. he's going to do it at independence hall where those core democracy, our rights were debated, they were drafted and

that is so important to him to this this important conversation right now. look, for about two centuries now, more than two centuries, america has been a beacon for the world and now what we're seeing is an assault. so he's going to lay that out, what that attack has been. he's going to lay out who it is coming from and he's also going to lay out what do we do next? how do we move forward? one thing i know you understand, joy, this president, joe biden, is an optimist. you're going to hear as well how to move forward, how we can come together as a country to make sure that we are fighting, indeed, for our rights, fighting for our democracy, fighting for our freedom because we do have a choice to make. you were saying at the top of your show, there is a choice that has to be made so we're going to hear clearly from this president about what that choice is and he'll lift that out and lay that out for the american people very clearly and boldly.

>> we're seeing president biden and the first lady, jill biden, stepping off of air force one. you can see that happening right now as he gets to prepare for the speech that came a bit early. karine, there is frightening polling out there that shows a plurality of americans believe that civil war is likely in this country. is the white house at this point, you said that joe biden is an optimist. it's hard to be an optimist when you have 40% of americans and 54% of republicans believing civil war is likely. does the president believe we can end up in literal armed conflict with these maga republicans who threaten our democracy? >> reporter: here's the thing. when you think about being the president of the united states, the way this president sees this is the president has to be the strongest voice for our democracy. that's what joe biden believes. when it comes to sitting in the oval office, when it comes to being here at the white house,

you have to be the voice that is the leader and that is fighting for our democracy. that's what you're going to hear from this president. he's going to continue to fight for our rights. he's going to continue to fight for our freedoms because he believes that is one of the most important jobs that he has. look, this is a scary time. this is definitely a time that we should all be concerned about, and you see that for a ma jort of americans. but we understand there is a choice to be made, that we can do this together, that we can stand up to what is in front of us, this extremist, this extremist part of one party, these maga republicans in congress and their agenda that is incredibly dang rougs, that is going to set us back, that is going to take away our very rights, our freedoms. so that's what you're going to hear from this president, and he believes we have to do this. he has to have this conversation. he has to be the leader that has that voice because he is the

president of the united states. >> white house press secretary karine jean-pierre, thank you for being here. let's bring in our next guests. you always occupy this median. it's sort of off joe biden's brand to talk about fascism on the other side because he's always trying to reach out whampt do you make about him making a speech on whether part of the other party threatens our democracy? >> it is off his brand, joy, but it's the truth. it's where we are. remember why he ran for

president in the first place. he wasn't going to do it. he saw what the trump presidency and what it was doing to the nation, how it was dividing us. he saw the white supremacists in charlottesville and he decided this was a pivotal moment and that our democracy was in peril. nothing we have seen since would disabuse him of that idea or disabuse anybody of that idea. this is a serious moment. this is a serious election coming up. there will be another one in 2024, one hopes. the very process of our democracy and the peaceful transfer of power is threatened when one party, and a lot of one party, refuses to acknowledge the results of free and fair elections. i mean, that's the fundamental problem. the policy issues we can deal

with, but you have to acknowledge elections and the people transfer of power and maga republicans don't acknowledge that. >> joe biden has had no choice but to evolve because the democratic party has devolved that way. they have a core and base. the poll, 54% of whom strong republicans believe civil war is unlikely. it's not clear that they don't want it. when you see all adults say they fear civil war, some fear it. one wonders whether some wish it. that puts joe biden in a position of having to be a very different president than he intended to be. >> i think the greatest danger in moments like this is not to recognize the greatest danger. i think what the president is doing is recognize what is important. you have to recognize what is happening in this country.

there are no longer two parties in the sense that we've known them. there was a center left and a center right party. there's really one party that still believes in democracy. they still believe in democracy. then there is an autocratic movement. what we have to realize is all of the elements of a successful autocratic movement are in place that want to go this direction. they have the propaganda swing, financiers, wealthy people like peter thiel. they have the backing of a major party, the republicans, and they have shock troops like the troops that assaulted the capitol. every time democracy slides into autocracy, those are the elements that are there. it's a lot better to recognize it now. it's difficult to talk about this. it's sort of like a pandemic. you sound alarmist at the beginning, but in the end it will prove inadequate. >> you're absolutely right.

it's happened before, eugene. you think about the 1930s when there was a fascist movement with the klan that fdr had to face and factions inside of his own party that he had to fight. there was an alleged attempt to overthrow the fdr regime. we've been here before, propaganda and everything. you think about the cyclical nature of american history. biden finds himself in that fdr position. trying to do big economic things while having to fight this. >> that's absolutely right. and, you know, fdr did not shrink from the fight and joe biden has i think quite properly decided he will not shrink from this fight. he will not decline to give it a name and to tell the american

people, precisely identify the danger. as stewart said, there are not two parties the way we used to have them in this country. there simply are not. there is one that still believes in democracy and then there is the maga republican party which is not a small d democratic party and it seeks a very, very different america. and i think he has to call this out. president biden has to call it out. i think he will tonight. >> stewart, you know, one would think that there would be somebody on the other side that would like to salvage what's left of the republican party and respond in a positive way, but it's hard to imagine who that might be. i don't know, you know, one manage that the response is going to be what ted cruz has already tried to do today to call joe biden, of all people, a communist and that kind of thing. is there anyone left that has the stature in what's left of the republican party to be able

to meet joe biden in this center he's trying to recreate? >> look, we're living in a world in which a cheney, a cheney was drummed out of this party because she spoke the truth. you know, i think one of the great misconceptions here is that something has hijacked the republican party. that is not what has happened here. the republican party is what it wants to be. it is on the path that it wants to be. no one is forcing any of these leaders to stop them from going out and saying, i will never support donald trump even if he's the nominee of my party, but very few have done that. so i think we just have to deal with the world as it is. when you look at the '30s, i think it's a great topic of conversation. why didn't america become fascist? probably because roosevelt was president, not lindberg. maybe what we learned is still leaders matter. right now it is tremendously important to joe biden as president of the united states

and calling this out. >> thank you for mentioning civics classes and history classes, both of which might not survive in half of our states. eugene and stewart, always a pleasure to speak with you both. thank you. we are awaiting president biden's address to the nation at the top of the hour. we will bring it to you live on msnbc. up next on "the reid out," the court hearing on the classified documents trump stashed at mar-a-lago. they've compared it to an overdue library book if you believe that and called espionage a mundane thing. sure, donald, maybe if it was about how to out an american spy. lets medicare negotiate lower prices with drug companies for the first time. that's more savings for us.

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as president biden is preparing to address the country about the threats to democracy from the ideology of the extreme mag a republicans, the leader of the maga movement continues to show his disregard for the very system that allowed him to be president in the first place. in florida we are awaiting a decision by a federal judge on whether she will grant mr. trump's request for a special master. federal magistrate judge eileen cannon ended today's hearing indicate that go she would release her decision in a written statement in due course. the judge also said that she

would make public the justice department's more public list of what they seized from mar-a-lago. one of the lawyers for the twice impeached president tried to play down the documents. comparing them to, quote, an overdue library look. i doubt that's what our intelligence agencies would call the mostly guarded security secrets. interestingly what they did not say, they never disputed the fact that trump was in possession of these highly classified materials even after trump's custodian signed an affidavit saying all of the classified material had been handed over. the doj argued that approving a special master would disrupt the ongoing criminal investigation and that's because trump is no longer president. he, therefore, has no claim of executive privilege over those documents. given that trump's team waited two weeks to file a request for a special master the doj noted

it had already reviewed those documents and set aside those that may be protected by attorney-client privilege. last week the judge had indicated that she was inclined to approve the request though she did not say that was her final decision. joining me is andrew weissman and a senior member of muller's special investigative team. i have so many questions. this is my geeky question. is there any significance to the fact that she's going to issue a written ruling? >> i'm a total nerd. >> nerds rule. >> yeah. i wouldn't put a lot of weight on whether it's oral or written. she could have done an oral decision and say written to follow but i think it's good to take time to think about it and

either side may want to appeal this. she'll want to put her best foot forward. i wouldn't put too much stock in the medium she chooses. >> to me, i wonder what it is she's considering. trump's own lawyers, alina haba on hannity last night, let me just play her. this is what ms. haba said last night on fox. >> i do have first-hand knowledge, as you know, i have been down there. i'm down there frequently. i have never seen that. i have never, ever seen that. that is not the way his office looks. anybody that knows president trump's office, he has guests frequently there. it is -- it's just a joke. >> isn't that an admission that he had the documents and it r and that he had them in his office. that sounds like it's not helping him. >> in terms of that statement you just played, she has invited herself getting a grand jury subpoena.

i'm a fact witness, i was there. it seems highly unlikely she isn't going to be in the grand jury to testify. i do think there's one thing to clarify for people that i do think is fair game. there are sort of two privileges that the judge is looking at, executive privilege and attorney-client privilege. the executive privilege, if she were to rule in president trump's favor that a special master could rule for executive privilege, i would expect the department of justice to appeal that. it's so off the wall. no law to support that position. and trump's lawyers did a terrible job of coming up with anything to deal with that. attorney-client privilege, it isn't that the horse is out of the barn. there are a number of limited documents that may be attorney client. see if the parties agree or disagree. if you have an issue, bring it

back to me. i don't think it requires a special master. we're talking a limited number of documents. that's why a federal judge is a federal judge. they're supposed to role up their sleeves and do the work. on the attorney client documents, i wouldn't being surprised and it wouldn't owe fend me or be shocking. even though it wouldn't be ideal i'll have a special master review that and report to me. >> that's helpful. we know that the trump's own attorneys have acknowledged he had the materials. there's no dispute he had the materials. it seems to me the presidential records act is clear. they belong to the government. the only thing she might rule are things a judy katable are things his attorney might have given him. is the that what you're saying? >> yeah, exactly.

executive privilege. if he's saying there's executive privilege, the remedy is those belong to the archives. those are not his documents. the only thing that could raise an attorney-client issue is if he had personal documents where he was communicating with his private lawyers. just to be clear, it's not communications with white house counsel because that's not -- there's no privilege there. if for some reason those documents existed in what was seized, then there might be an issue and the young can decide that. the parties are heard. that happens all the time. >> yeah. >> if this was any other case, this wouldn't be going on. >> a lot of this wouldn't be going on. he wouldn't have been 18 months holding on to top secret documents. let's quickly talk about pat cipollone, i suppose he's now going to give testimony to the january 6th committee, he and an aide. what's the significance of that? what are you expecting to hear from him as well as pat philbin. >> two very senior white house

former lawyers. they're going to apparently be in the grand jury. i'm going to commend the department of justice. i think it's really important in a public corruption investigation to lock people in the grand jury because you know what, when they get to trial they have a way of saying, i don't really remember that anymore. having a written transcript of exactly what they said, really useful. >> yeah. >> in terms of substance, joy, they have so many pieces. one, they have information about mar-a-lago and because, remember, these two lawyers were the ones who were designated by former president trump to deal with the archives and be his representatives. so they're going to have information about that. on the january 6th material, remember, they were in critical meetings dealing with trump's plan to change the leadership of the department of justice so they could put in a flunky to say there's a fraud investigation when there wasn't one. they were in meetings where there was an issue of having a

special counsel created, i can't believe i was going to say this, sidney powell was going to be a special powell. it's insanity. they should have evidence about the pressure on the vice president to get him to go along with this. pressure on him. they were in a whole host of meetings that were critical and central to the january 6th hearing. in congress and the federal department of justice. >> absolutely. fascinating stuff. the great andrew weissman when i said the january 6th cumulative committee and he gently corrected me. you're wonderful. have a great day. evening. up next, president biden looks to thread the needle with an important speech on optimism and condemnation. that speech is coming up at the top of the hour so stay right there.

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we are awaiting president biden's speech tonight, an appeal for normalcy in the face of chaos and beating back rising maga tendencies. citing white supremacist violence in charlottesville, virginia. >> and in that moment i knew the threat to this nation was unlike any i had ever seen in my

lifetime. i wrote at the time that we're in the battle for the soul of this nation. that's even more true today. we are in the battle for the soul of this nation. >> the brokenness of our country has only deepened since then. the former president's denial of the loss of a free and fair election, the hallmark of democracy and as the supporters exemplify violence. tonight president biden will defend american democracy as he tries to pull us out of this crisis of what he calls semi-fascism. he came in the age of the era of john f. kennedy. it may be hard to believe now but kennedy didn't start out as a warrior for civil rights. he was reluctant to lose the support of southern segregationist democrats by pushing too hard for federally mandated desegregation after

narrowly, very narrowly winning the presidency in 1960. after a summer of protests, the racist violence across the south and on a day the federal officials made the integration of the university of alabama, george wallace blocking the schoolhouse doors, that night president kennedy addressed the nation and urged on by his brother, attorney general bobby kennedy, he put the full weight of the presidency behind the fight for civil rights. >> we are confronted with a moral issue. it is as old as the scriptures and as clear as the american constitution. a part of the question is whether all-americans are to be afforded equal rights and equal opportunities. >> the road to obtaining freedom in the constitution for all would still be long, medgar evers was assassinated after

kennedy's televised address. as the once reluctant jfk became a fighter, president biden whose political career came inspired will tonight also take to the air waves as a fighter for our democracy. joining me is the dean of the columbia journal school and staff writer for "the new yorker" and thank you both for being here. biden is a fascinating character. he is the moderate's moderate. he did come into office believing he could heal these rifts in the country that were characterized by trump in schaar lotsville. the blow back he got was january 6th. people believing he's not the elected president of the united states. he's had to ideologically grow up real fast. >> sure. sure. and i think one of the crucial things here is pointing out that in general, you know, presidents

are given -- they govern the times that they're given not according to their own predispositions and so, you know, what your character is and what your believes are and what your hopes and aspirations are is one thing but events have a way of creating their own script and so now we're seeing with these historical forces which, you know, we've all talked about and seen from charlottesville to january 6th and all of the kind of obsceneness that has intervened, we've seen this moment of crisis assert itself again and again and again and now we're seeing that joe biden recognizes the tenor of the time. one other thing that i will say about this really quickly is that this is not entirely unprecedented. you know, the last time we saw a president who's widely considered to be an illegitimate

president from the opposing party was in 1876. that was the election between rutherford d.hayes and ty lden. that brought about the ka llama to us demise and actual fascist ruling in the south. the stakes are high. i'm not saying those things will be repeated obviously, but historically speaking the stakes are high. >> high indeed. 1877. one of the darkest years in american history in my view because it was the literal end of reconstructionist, rutterfraud b. hayes and florida played a part. >> of course. >> as it always does. his evolution. this was president-elect biden's speech to the nation. he's president-elect. the january 6th insurrection has

happened. he started speaking 10 minutes before trump tweeted out his video before trump told his people go home, we love you, you're very special after he repeated his lies about the election being stolen. this is what president-elect biden said that day. >> the scenes of chaos at the capitol do not reflect a true america. do not represent who we are. what we're seeing are a small number of extremists dedicated to lawlessness. this is not dissent, it's disorder. it's chaos. borders on sedition and it must end now. >> what do you think is going on in the mind of joe biden, sochi, as he finds out it is not a

small fringe, it is now the baseline viewpoint of the republican party? >> well, i think that's why you're seeing president biden give this speech today. on january 6th president biden was a leader, the leader we needed at the time. as he did on the campaign trail, he did show that he will be a steady hand, show that he is someone who will continue to fight for our democracy and he -- his entire campaign was based on the battle for the soul of our nation. he wanted to return to normalcy, which a lot of americans wanted as well. now what you're seeing in the years since president biden has been elected is not only people doubting our elections but you've seen our rights taken away. you've seen also this is a fight for our democracy and equality. you'll hear that from president biden. i think this is a smart speech for president biden ahead of the mid term elections. he not only has to show the american people that he's delivered for them, which he

has, and he's had a hell of a few months to prove that, but he also has to show people what the contrast is. what's at stake. and we've seen that through the supreme court. we've seen it through what happened on january 6th and the events after but voters need to be reminded what is at stake in this election and how we could return back to where we were on january 6th if we do not put democrats in office. >> i have a question big picture. are speeches like this meant to be persuasive or are they meant to be palliative for people who are afraid? and at this stage, could any speech by a democratic president given where we are be persuasive still? >> you have to consider this part of a bigger package of actions. so when we talk about presidential speeches of this caliber in these kind of crisis

moments, it's partly the cultural symbolism of the presidency and, you know, in this instance, you know, joe biden has done -- throughout his career but really in the time that he's run for president and taken office most recently, he's really been driven by this belief that the country was better by the most recent behavior. in the bigger picture, no, no speech changes the tide in that way. remember lbj gave the we shall overcome speech but also had to send legislation to congress after that. so it's not a simple one and done deal. >> yeah. absolutely. if politics were that easy, right? i was going to say anyone could do it but donald trump was president. you can't say that line anymore. that doesn't work in our history. thank you both for being here. meanwhile, we're awaiting

president biden's address to the nation tonight. you can see all the microphone checks are happening right now. they're making sure the prompters and everything are in place. you can see all the little behind the scenes pulling it altogether on the tech side. give you a little bit through the window here and see how that works. we'll go to a quick break. the battle for the soul of america. that is coming up right at the top of the hour. stay right there. ["only wanna be with you" by hootie & the blowfish] discover is accepted at 99% of places in the u.s. ["only wanna be with you" by hootie & the blowfish] as someone with hearing loss i know what a confusing and frustrating experience getting hearing aids can be. that's why i founded lively. affordable, high-quality hearing aids with all of the features you need,

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we're just about 15 minutes

away from the top of the hour. that is when we will see president biden walk out to that podium that you see in front of you in independence hall in philadelphia and give the battle for the soul of our nation's speech. an important moment politically for the president as he tries to rally his party just 68 days from a november election, an election that could determine whether the country, frankly, remains a democracy. joining me is democrat peter welch from vermont. a current congressman. i should note you serve on the intelligence committee, sir, in the house where you are now. i to have to ask yo for your opinion on where we even begin to assess the damage that the previous president has meeted out on our intelligence services by hoarding documents in his house? and what do you make of the contrast between the previous president and the man speaking tonight? >> well, no previous president has ever done what he did.

i mean, he basically stole documents, and i say stole, that are top secret. no private citizen has authorization to do that. so it's illegal. when the former president had them mar-a-lago, he was a private citizen. there's a legal question. there's a national security question. anybody could go into that room. it could be the pillow guy looking at those top secret documents that contain nuclear information and we've got to assess that in the congress and the intelligence committee, have some of our human intelligence been come premised and our collection methods compromised? finally there's the political question and that's where trump is comfortable in the swamp of accusation, lies, obfuscations and lies. >> what do you expect to hear from president biden today? it seems very difficult the idea

that he could ever reach across the divide to a party that does not believe he's even the president of the united states, some of whom believe there are holograms around that make him a fictional human being and people who don't believe in well as pet believe in elections? >> that's exactly right. president biden is not speaking to the maga republicans, including the hundred or so republican nominees for everything from secretary of state, to the united states senate, who deny he is the president of the united states. he is speaking to each of us who is deeply embedded hope, and to maintain our democracy. they are denying each of us, as a citizen, who we want to defend our democracy, because we believe in it, because we know it's away all of us can work together, and with very difficult problems, or are we going to head down the mega path of autocracy?

i expect it to be direct, and straight forwards, and with thing every question, will we defend our democracy? >> let's talk about our democracy for a moment. you are running to join the united states senate, a body, in which the democrats have 50 seats, but represent 42 million more people than republicans do. our democracy is, essential, designed to perpetuate minority rule, in many ways. it is tom cotton, and it is in a ranked choice vote, but minority rule is the way the republicans have power, at all, between that, and gerrymandering. >> we have structural challenges. it is the extreme gerrymandering, which is on balance. it is the bottom line, and the democracy is a majority rule. it is going to be with it right

now. one of the biggest challenges in congresses, finally, we have been effective in doing things to make a difference for the american people. we have to do that against the fight for failure, what the approach for mr. mcconnell. when they fail, he wins. but the casualty of his fight for failure is the erosion of confidence and democracy. it is not just the maga republicans, it is the folks like senator mcconnell, who were hell-bent on doing whatever they can to get the gavel back. they are willing to do things that will undercut peoples faith in our self-governing institutions. >> indeed, it's the reason why maga republicans thrive, because people like mcconnell to use them to stay in power. congressman peter wells, thank you for your senate campaign, thank you for being here. minutes away from the start of president biden's primetime address. we get a live report from independents all, and

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independent saw, we're in a matter of minutes, president biden will speak about the battle for the soul of the nation, and threats to democracy, that our country is facing. specifically, those from maga extremists. joining us from philadelphia nbc news white house, we know we will hear you, and not see you, because another cameras have to get ready for this address. mike, what is the white house

projecting we will hear tonight? >> joyce, i think it is so interesting the way the white house frame the speech, about what they are calling the continued battle for the soul of the nation. a recognition, and acknowledgment, of the fact that a few alone were driving a stake into the heart of trumpism. what's interesting is that biden, in the speeches, one adviser put it, will be acknowledging what is coming to grips with the burden he has taken, as president. he is dismayed, to some degree, not by any means, but by the fact that so many elected republicans, still, are very clearly, under the thumb of the former president. but, what the president is going to try to do tonight to, and what white house advisers insist will be an optimistic speech, is really, try to separate what he will make clear as the majority of americans. democrats, independents, and will make this mainstream republicans, with that fringe, albeit an important one, with maga extreme republicans, who you will say, is determined to

take this country backwards. backwards to america, with the right to choose, no right to contraception, and to marry who you love. this is a president who will try to and express an optimistic tone, and the white house saying, he really does that the congenital optimist to america's best days are ahead of us, should americans choose to take that path. he's going to talk about the ways in which he has made democracy work. not just the partisan winning the inflation reduction act and, the rescue plan, but some of those bipartisan achievements that republicans have been willing to cross the aisle, and to work with him on. then he, does believe, there is still work to do. make no mistake, he is going to make that contrast very clear, and important one, that has been ten weeks before the midterm elections. >> fairly quickly, this is a different president from the guy who is vice president, right? you've been coming here a long time. >> i've been covering for a long time, the happy warrior

joe biden. the joe biden who is the diner visiting, handshake, selfie taking vice president, but now, as president, has come to grips, and acknowledge the burden of governing at a time when there are threats to democracy. >> really, a knowledgeable biden reported, for a long time. thank you very much, that is a readout for tonight. we are moments away from president biden's address to the nation. let me handed off to chris hayes for that. chris? >> thank you so much troy, i appreciate it. we are, as story indicated, moments away from president joe biden's primetime address to the nation, about the threats to our democracy. it is taking place, as you heard there, as they were reporting, just outside of independents all, in philadelphia, right there. of course, that building, that city, the birthplace of the american experiment, has been a fitting setting for many presidential speeches, throughout history. abraham lincoln, in 1861 gave it to john kennedy, in