children and our grandchildren. this election is about ending the 40-year decline of our middle class. the reality that 47 million men, women and children today live in poverty. it is about understanding that if we do not transform our economy, our younger generation will likely have a lower standard of living than their parents. this election is about ending the grotesque level of income and wealth inequality in america today.

it is not moral, it is not acceptable and it is not sustainable that the top one-tenth of 1% now owns almost as much wealth as the bottom 90%. or that the top 1% in recent years has earned 85% of all new income. that is unacceptable. that must change. this election is about remembering where we were seven and a half years ago when

president obama came into office after eight years of republican trickle-down economics. the republicans want us to forget that as a result of the greed, recklessness and illegal behavior on wall street, our economy was in the worst economic downturn since the great depression. that's where we were. that is where we were. some 800,000 people a month were losing their jobs. 800,000 people. we were running up a record-breaking deficit of $1.4 trillion, and by the way, the world's financial system was on the verge of collapse. that's where we were when president obama came into

office. well, we have come a long way in the last seven and a half years, and i thank president obama and vice president biden. i thank them for their leadership in pulling us out of that terrible recession. yes, we have made progress, but i think we can all agree that much, much more needs to be done. this election is about which candidate understands the real problems facing this country and has offered real solutions.

not just bombast, not just fear mongering, not just name calling and divisiveness. we need leadership in this country which will improve the lives of working families, the children, the elderly, the sick and the poor. we need leadership which brings our people together and makes us stronger. not leadership which insults latinos and mexicans, insults muslims and women, african-americans and veterans and seeks to divide us up. by these measures, any objective

observer will conclude that based on her ideas and her leadership, hillary clinton must become the next president of the united states. the choice -- this election --

this election -- this election is about a single mother, a single mom i saw in nevada who with tears in her eyes told me she was scared to death about the future because she and her daughter were not making it on the $10.45 an hour she was earning. this election is about that woman and the millions of other workers in this country who are struggling to survive on totally inadequate wages. hillary clinton understands. that if someone in this country works 40 hours a week, that person should not be living in poverty.

she understands that we must raise the minimum wage to a living wage. and she is determined to create millions of new jobs by rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure, our roads, bridges, water systems, and wastewater plants. but her opponent, donald trump, well, he has a very different point of view. he does not support raising the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, a starvation wage.

while trump believes in huge tax brea breaks, huge tax breaks for billionaires, he believes that states should actually have the right to lower the minimum wage below $7.25. brothers and sisters, this election is about overturning citizens united. citizens united is one of the worst supreme court decisions in the history of our country. that decision allows the wealthiest people in america,

like the billionaire koch brothe brothers, to spend hundreds of millions of dollars buying elections, and in the process undermine american democracy. hillary clinton will nominate justices to the supreme court who are prepared to overturn citizens united. and end the movement toward oligarchy that we are seeing in this country. her supreme court appointments will also defend a woman's right

to choose, workers' rights, the rights of the lgbt community, the needs of minorities and immigrants and the government's ability to protect our environment. if you don't believe that this election is important, if you think you can sit it out, take a moment to think about the supreme court justices that donald trump would nominate. and what that would mean to civil liberties, equal rights, and the future of our country. this election is about the thousands of young people i have

met all over this country. the thousands that i have met who left college deeply in debt and tragically the many others who cannot afford to go to college. during the primary campaign, secretary clinton and i both focused on this issue but with somewhat different approaches. recently, however, we have come together on a proposal that will revolutionize higher education in america. it will guarantee, guarantee

that the children of any family in this country with an annual income of $125,000 a year or less, 83% of our population will be able to go to a public college or university tuition-free. that proposal also substantially reduces student debt. this election is about climate change, the great environmental crisis facing our planet. and the need to leave this world

in a way that is healthy and habitable for our children and future generations. hillary clinton is listening to the scientists who tell us that unless we act boldly to transform our energy system in the very near future, there will be more drought, more floods, more acidification of the oceans, more rising sea levels. she understands that we can create hundreds of thousands of jobs transforming our energy system. donald trump, well, like most republicans, he chooses to reject science.

he believes that climate change is a hoax, no need to address it. hillary clinton understands that a president's job is to worry about future generations, not the profits of the fossil fuel industry. this campaign is about moving the united states toward universal health care. and reducing the number of people who are uninsured or underinsured. hillary clinton wants to see that all americans have the right to choose a public option in their health care exchange. she believes that anyone 55 or

older should be able to opt in to medicare. and she wants to see millions more americans gain access to primary health care, dental care, mental health counseling, low cost prescription drugs, through a major expansion of community health centers. what is donald trump's position on health care? well, no surprise there, same old, same old republican contempt for working families. he wants to abolish the affordable care act, throw 20 million people off of health insuran insurance, and cut medicaid for lower income americans. hillary clinton also understands that millions of seniors,

disabled vets and others are struggling with the outrageo outrageously high costs of prescription drugs, and the fact that americans pay the highest prices in the world for the medicine we use. she knows that medicare must negotiate drug prices with the pharmaceutical industry. and that drug companies should not be making billions in profits when one out of five americans are unable to afford the medicine they need. the greed of the drug companies must end. this election is about the leadership we need to pass

comprehensive immigration reform and repair a broken criminal justice system. it's about making sure that young people in this country are in good schools and in good jobs, not rotting in jail cells. hillary clinton understands that we have to invest in education and jobs for our young people, not more jails or incarceration. in these stressful times for our country, this election must be about bringing our people together, not dividing us up.

while donald trump is guilty insulting one group after another, hillary clinton understands that our diversity is one of our greatest strengths. yes, we become stronger when black and white, latino, asian american, native american, when all of us stand together. yes, we become stronger when men and women, young and old, gay and straight, native born and immigrant, fight together to create the kind of country we all know we can become. it is no secret that hillary clinton and i disagree on a

number of issues. that is what this campaign has been about. that is what democracy is about. but i'm happy to tell you that at the democratic platform committee, there was a significant coming together between the two campaigns, and we produced by far the most progressive platform in the history of the democratic party. among many, many other strong provisions, the democratic party now calls for breaking up the major financial institutions on wall street.

and the passage of a 21st century glass/steagall act. it also calls for strong opposition to job-killing trade agreements like the tpp. our job -- [ crowd chanting ] that's right. we have got to make sure that tpp does not get to the floor of the congress in the lame duck session.

our job now is to see that strong democratic platform implemented by a democratic-controlled senate, by a democratic house and a hillary clinton presidency. and i am going to do all that i can to make that happen. i have known hillary clinton for 25 years. i remember her, as you do, as a great first lady who broke precedent in terms of the role that a first lady was supposed

to play, as she helpedly the e fight for universal health care. i served with her in the united states senate and know her as a fierce advocate for the rights of children, for women, and for the disabled. hillary clinton will make an outstanding president, and i am proud to stand with her tonight. thank you all very much. >> bernie sanders with a lengthy speech, but a whole-hearted endorsement of hillary clinton, a woman who he bitterly fought and almost taking a bit of a victory lap for some of the progressive victories, the things that he had fought for. much of what you heard tonight

could have been heard in many speeches along the way. >> it definitely felt like a stump speech. i call it trust but verify. he's saying, look, i trust her but i'm going to verify that i trust her. but the biggest speaker tonight, michelle obama. sorry, bigger than the other two. >> let's not lose sight of the fact that while there were people yelling bernie sanders' name and you can hear some of them right now, largely the crowd seemed to be in unison. >> i thought it was for the most part. >> i think they are putting down the tums and breathing a great sigh of relief that there wasn't an all-out fight on the floor. bernie sanders came and did what he was supposed to do. he took a victory lap. he definitely slapped himself on the back a couple of times, but he came through and he said to his voters, hillary clinton must be the president and i think the clinton people will be happy and relieved. >> tom, crare you surprised at l there was no mention of e-mails or the dnc? >> no, i think he had a whole different agenda here tonight. but the one thing i think he did

do that's going to be tricky for hillary clinton, he attached her to his platform effectively. and now she's going to have to finesse that coming out of here because the fact is, it is a progressive platform but it goes more left than most people are prepared to accept at this point. so the question is can they leave mere more than the sum of their parts. can the sanders people leave here and not be seen as sore losers or arrogant about their claim on the american agenda. that's a tricky piece for her. >> all right. well, that is going to do it for our night one coverage, our primetime coverage of the democratic national convention. we certainly hope you'll join us back here again tomorrow. for chuck todd, savannah guthrie, tom brokaw and our entire nbc news team, i'm lester holt. good night from philadelphia.

right now at 11:00, trapped in the flood waters. crews rescue septa passengers after a bus goes underwater. plus a hail storm in july? viewers capture hail coming down fast, setting off car alarms. and you might think all of the rain would cool things down but we're in for another summer scorcher tomorrow. drama at the dnc. bernie sanders calls for his supporters to rally behind hillary clinton. but some are showing no signs of letting go of his revolution. the political big guns are in philadelphia to do their part as another e-mail scandal threatens to divide the party. good evening, everyone. i'm jim rosenfield at the wells

fargo center. we'll have much more on the drama here at the democratic national convention coming up. >> and i'm jacqueline london. we begin with severe storms that slammed our area tonight. let's turn to first alert meteorologist sheena parveen for our neighborhood forecast. sheena, is the worst over? >> yeah, the worst is over, jacqueline. and a lot of the severe threat is now over too. we're only looking currently at some showers left over mostly for new jersey and along the shore. and this extends up through atlantic city even through ocean county near shamong some heavy rain there. also don't forget the 70s at the bottom of your screen for you. more heat for tomorrow. take a look at these feels like temperature. tomorrow will be a dry day but it's going to be another day where it will feel anywhere from 100 to 105 degrees. temperatures will still be in the 90s. so another hot and humid one. little bit of relief in the forecast this week at least compared to what we have seen. i'll show you those numbers and what you can expect it to feel like as well as our next chance for some showers and storms. that's coming up. now a septa scare. this bus became trapped in flood waters in bensalem tonight

forcing crews to rescue passengers here. it was just one of the dramatic scenes that played out following tonight's severe storms. nbc 10's brandon hudson has a look at some of the damage left behind across our area. >> reporter: no one is getting by this part of 76th street. check out this large tree right down by the intersection. we found fallen trees just like this one in flash flooding kept people out later than expected. in deep water and deep trouble, an nbc 10 viewer shared this instagram video of a septa bus and car trapped in high flood waters in bensalem. fortunately, no one was injured. but the flooding did cause some growing frustrations from drivers. >> i want to get home. >> reporter: matthew dinner told us he tried three different ways to get home and struck out on all of them. >> both sides of state road is blocked off. >> reporter: in philadelphia the flash flooding wasn't as dramatic. on martin luther king drive

ponding slowed down drivers going through fairmount park. flooding wasn't the only problem. our nbc 10 cameras saw damage in other parts of the city. including a tree parked near a house on atwood road. we're still waiting for crews to clean up this mess, and it may not happen until the morning. meanwhile, we heard that the flooding also caused problems on the school going eastbound by the gladwine exit. in overbrook i'm brandon hudson, nbc 10 news. now to our coverage from the democratic national convention. michelle obama speaking tonight. she took center stage talking about the historic impact of this election, and she had high praise for hillary clinton. the first lady spoke of family and what this election is really about to her. >> this november when we go to the polls that is what we are deciding. not democrat or republican. not left or right. no, in this election and every

election is about who will have the power to shape our children for the next four or eight years of their lives. >> reporter: off the stage president obama sent out a tweet which read in part "incredible speech by an incredible woman." tonight's keynote address came courtesy of elizabeth warren, the massachusetts senator has feuded with donald trump in the past and tonight she was once again in attack mode. >> what kind of a man cheats students, cheats investors, cheats workers? well, i'll tell you what kind of a man. a man who must never be president of the united states. >> warren seen by many as a key figure in helping hillary clinton garner the progressive voting bloc. as the dnc got into full swing in philadelphia, republican presidential nominee donald trump rallied supporters in north carolina. trump taking the stage in winston-salem with running mate

indiana governor mike pence. trump promised voters he and pence would bring jobs back to north carolina, and he said there's a double standard when it comes to the controversy surrounding the ouster of debbie wasserman schultz here. >> if what happened to them happened to us, which is disastrous, right? she said it. we would have headlines all over the world, republicans, disaster, it's a disaster, it's the worst thing we've ever seen in the history of conventions. >> trump told the crowd he predicts some bernie sanders supporters will end up voting for him over clinton. meantime, back here in philadelphia protesters running for cover as storms swept through our area tonight. earlier they braved the heat to show their support for bernie sanders. with police citing dozens of them. nbc 10's keith jones wraps up today's protests. >> reporter: we were right next to the security fence right her right outside the wells fargo center. if you take a walk with me now,

a lot of the protesters actually left once the heavy rain came down. these are the ones that remain after a long day of making their voices heard. ♪ we are in this together >> reporter: a unified chorus amidst an off-key symphony. >> down with isis! >> how much money? $6 billion. >> god killed babies in the old testament! >> reporter: thousands of protesters on broad street, most supporting senator bernie sanders. it was a sea of signs like this one, this one, and even this one, a lone trump supporter who didn't want his face shown. others like nebraska native john jar ecki made a new one entirely. >> just some foam and sprayed it and shaped it. there you go. >> others got more creative. >> it's got to be hot in that. >> oh, big-time. everything's sealed, in all juices -- >> oh, my goodness. >> i air out sometimes. but still showing bernie no matter what. >> reporter: together they launched their message at thousands of delegates through the barriers. more than 50 people were issued code violation ordinances for

disorderly conduct. >> it's not like we're animals or anything. we're not going to harm anybody. we're just here to say something to everybody. >> reporter: and the yelling wasn't just stationary. they also got on the move to different areas as the delegates moved from one side of the barricades and entered another side. then the heavy rain came and they got moving even faster. signs became umbrellas. some of the protests washed away. philadelphia police say of the 54 people who received citations for disorderly conduct, they will receive a $50 fine. as for these protesters they keep telling me this is just day one and to expect much more tomorrow. in front of the wells fargo center in south philadelphia, keith jones, nbc 10 news. >> and still to come, more on bernie sanders' big speech tonight. count on nbc 10 to give you an all-access pass to the dnc right here in philadelphia this week. we have every reporter and photojournalist covering everything that's happening and how it could affect you. man or woman, gay or

straight, any religion or none at all, you are entitled to the full rights and responsibilities of citizenship. >> new jersey senator cory booker's shot in the spotlight tonight. why his call for equality has everyone talking. plus, governor christie taking action in new jersey's gas tax battle. what that means for you at the pump. sheena. and a lot of rain fell today but the severe threat is over. coming up, i'll show you what you can expect tomorrow. another hot and humid one. and the temperatures will still be staying hot this week. i'll show you that with the ten-day forecast coming up next.