WE GET TO DO THIS AGAIN TOMORROW
NIGHT.
RACHEL MADDOW AND NICK OLEOLLE
WALLACE AND JOY REID.
>>> YOU AT HOME, DAY 1306, LET’S
NOT FORGET, OF THE TRUMP
ADMINISTRATION.
NIGHT ONE OF THE DEMOCRATIC
NATIONAL CONVENTION.
BECAUSE OF THE PANDEMIC THAT’S
STILL SPREADING ACROSS OUR
COUNTRY, THIS WAS, AS YOU KNOW,
THE FIRST EVER ZOOM MEETING OF A
CONVENTION.
AS OF TONIGHT, THERE HAVE BEEN,
LEST WE NEED THE REMINDER, OVER
5.4 MILLION CASES OF CORONAVIRUS
DISCOVERED IN OUR COUNTRY WITH
OVER 171,000 OF OUR FELLOW
CITIZENS DEAD.
THE PANDEMIC WAS, OF COURSE, A
MAJOR TOPIC IN TONIGHT’S
CONVENTION.
TONIGHT’S KEYNOTE SPEAKER, AS
YOU’VE BEEN HEARING, FORMER
FIRST LADY MICHELLE OBAMA, SAID
PRESIDENT TRUMP DOWNPLAYED THE
VIRUS FOR TOO LONG, AND SHE
ADDED THIS.
>> AS HONEST AND CLEAR AS I
POSSIBLY CAN, DONALD TRUMP IS
THE WRONG PRESIDENT FOR OUR
COUNTRY.
HE HAS HAD MORE THAN ENOUGH TIME
TO PROVE THAT HE CAN DO THE JOB,
BUT HE IS CLEARLY IN OVER HIS
HEAD.
HE CANNOT MEET THIS MOMENT.
HE SIMPLY CANNOT BE WHO WE NEED
HIM TO BE FOR US.
IT IS WHAT IT IS.
>> HERE FOR OUR LEADOFF
DISCUSSION ON THIS VERY BUSY
MONDAY NIGHT, PHIL RUCKER,
PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING BUREAU
CHIEF FOR "THE WASHINGTON POST,"
CO-AUTHOR ALONG WITH HIS STABLE
COLLEAGUE CAROL LEONNIG OF THE
BEST-SELLER "A VERY STABLE
GENIUS."
ALSO WITH US, CLAIRE McCASKILL,
FORMER DEMOCRATIC SENATOR FROM
THE GREAT STATE OF MISSOURI.
AND ERRIN HAINES, TEN-YEAR
VETERAN OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WHERE SHE LAST COVERED RACE IN
SOCIETY.
THESE DAYS SHE IS EDITOR AT
LARGE FOR THE 19th, A NUMBER
PROFIT, NONPARTISAN NEWSROOM
FOCUSED ON GENDER, POLITICS, AND
POLICY.
IT’S UP.
GO LOOK AT IT.
GOOD EVENING, AND WELCOME TO YOU
ALL.
SENATOR, IT STRIKES ME THAT
DURING NORMAL TIMES, I WOULD
HAVE MADE MY WAY DOWN TO THE
MISSOURI DELEGATION AT SOME
POINT AND INTERVIEWED ONE CLAIRE
McCASKILL.
I WOULD ASK YOU WHETHER OR NOT
YOU THINK THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
HAVE FOUR NIGHTS OF THIS IN ’EM,
WHAT YOU THOUGHT OF THE FORMAT,
AND WHAT YOU THOUGHT OF THE
FORMER FIRST LADY.
>> WELL, I DON’T KNOW IF AMERICA
HAS FOUR NIGHTS OF THIS IN THEM.
I THOUGHT IT WAS PRETTY
EFFECTIVE.
I THOUGHT THAT THE MUSIC WAS
TERRIFIC.
I THINK THERE WAS AN ABILITY TO
MESSAGE WITH THE VIDEO CLIPS
THAT I THINK REALLY WAS QUITE
POWERFUL.
AND THEN THERE’S MICHELLE.
WOW.
NOW, THE THING I MISSED MOST
ABOUT NOT HAVING A CONVENTION
TONIGHT, A REAL CONVENTION, WAS
THE RESPONSE SHE WOULD -- HER
SPEECH WOULD HAVE TAKEN A LOT
LONGER BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, THERE
WOULD HAVE BEEN MANY
INTERRUPTIONS OF PEOPLE
EXPRESSING A GREAT DEAL OF
AFFIRMATION ABOUT WHAT SHE SAID.
AND I GOT TO TELL YOU HER SPEECH
WAS SO EFFECTIVE BECAUSE SHE
DIDN’T FRONTALLY GO AFTER DONALD
TRUMP.
AS NICOLLE JUST SAID, IT WAS
EPIC SHADE, BUT IT WAS ELEGANT
SHADE.
I MEAN A COUPLE OF THE LINES
THAT STRUCK ME, JOE BIDEN HAS
LIVED A LIFE THE REST OF US CAN
RECOGNIZE.
WELL, THAT IS REALLY SHADE FOR
DONALD TRUMP BECAUSE WE ALL KNOW
HE’S LIVED A LIFE THAT MOST OF
US DON’T RECOGNIZE.
AND THEN SHE SAID THAT JOE BIDEN
HAS HUMILITY AND MATURITY WE
LONG FOR.
ONCE AGAIN, POINTING OUT THAT
WE’VE GOT A GUY IN THE WHITE
HOUSE WHO WOULDN’T KNOW HUMBLE
IF IT HIT HIM UPSIDE THE HEAD
AND HAZMAT TURTS THE MATURITY OF
12-YEAR-OLD.
SO I THINK SHE DID A REALLY GOOD
JOB OF NOT ONLY CALLING EVERYONE
TO ACTION BUT DOING THE
CHARACTER ANALYSIS OF THE TWO
CANDIDATES, AND ON THAT SCORE OF
COURSE, I THINK SHE CAME IN VERY
STRONG FOR JOE BIDEN.
>> HEY, CLAIRE, WHAT DID YOU
THINK OF KASICH AND HIS PRESENCE
AT THIS GATHERING TONIGHT?
WHEN I SAW THAT EARLIER TODAY
THE PRESIDENT CALLED HIM A LOSER
AND WHEN I READ THAT TONIGHT
CHRIS CHRISTIE CALLED HIM A BACK
STABBER AND EXHAUSTING, I
REALIZED THAT AT LEAST IT HIT
ITS HOPED FOR TARGET.
>> YEAH.
I THINK THE REPUBLICANS WHO
SUPPORT DONALD TRUMP ARE
OBVIOUSLY GOING TO DO NOTHING
BUT RAIL ON HIM.
I THINK IT WAS COURAGEOUS FOR
HIM TO DO IT.
IT WAS INTERESTING TO ME THAT WE
HAD AROUND 15 SPEAKERS TONIGHT,
AND NOT THAT MANY OF THEM WERE
WHITE MEN, AND ONE OF THE WHITE
MEN WAS A REPUBLICAN.
SO IT REALLY WAS A DIVERSE GROUP
OF SPEAKERS TONIGHT, INCLUDING
IDEOLOGY, EVERYTHING FROM JOHN
KASICH, MEG WHITMAN, ALL THE WAY
TO BERNIE SANDERS.
>> HEY, ERRIN, I THINK REGULAR
CITIZENS WOULD BE FORGIVEN FOR
HAVING FORGOTTEN MICHELLE OBAMA
STARTED LIFE AS A
PRINCETON/HARVARD LAW PERSON.
THAT MICHELLE OBAMA IS THE
MICHELLE OBAMA THAT SHOWED UP
TONIGHT.
TALK ABOUT THE ROLE YOU THINK
SHE WILL PLAY AFTER TONIGHT,
PERHAPS LIVE AND NOT ON VIDEO AS
THIS -- WHATEVER THIS CAMPAIGN
IS GOING TO LOOK LIKE --
CONTINUES.
>> WELL, BRIAN, NO, I ACTUALLY
THINK THAT YOU SAW A LITTLE BIT
OF MICHELLE YVONNE ROBINSON
TONIGHT.
YES, SHE STIM REITERATED THAT
2016 CATCH PHRASE THAT CAUGHT ON
OF WHEN THEY GO LOW, WE GO HIGH.
BUT TONIGHT SHE WENT IN AND
WITHOUT CALLING THE PRESIDENT BY
NAME AT ALL, SHE MADE THE CASE
FOR WHY HE WAS NOT AS GOOD AS
HIS PREDECESSOR AND WHY SHE
THINKS, YOU KNOW, THAT THE
PERSON SHE HOPES IS GOING TO BE
HIS SUCCESSOR SHOULD BE IN THE
WHITE HOUSE IN NOVEMBER.
SHE SPOKE AS A BLACK WOMAN WHO
HAS SAID THINGS THAT I HEAR
BLACK WOMEN SAYING WHEN THEY ARE
RALLYING AND ORGANIZING THE VOTE
IN THEIR COMMUNITY, IN THEIR
FAMILIES.
THE PLAN THAT SHE LAID OUT TO
PEOPLE, TELLING THEM, YOU KNOW,
GET YOUR BALLOT EARLY.
IF YOU HAVE TO STAND IN LINE,
TAKE A SNACK.
BE PREPARED TO WAIT IN LINE.
I MEAN THIS IS WHAT BLACK WOMEN
DO HEADED INTO AN ELECTION.
TELLING PEOPLE IN THEIR NETWORK,
YOU KNOW, THE IMPORTANCE OF
CASTING THEIR BALLOT.
YOU SAW ALL OF THAT ON DISPLAY
TONIGHT IN ADDITION TO JUST, I
MEAN, A PROGRAM LEADING UP TO
HER SPEECH THAT WAS CENTERED ON
VOTERS AND REALLY LAYING OUT THE
FACE OF THIS ELECTION IN TERMS
OF THE DUAL PANDEMIC OF
CORONAVIRUS AND RACISM, THE
THREAT OF VOTER SUPPRESSION THAT
IS HAPPENING THROUGH THE POST
OFFICE.
YOU KNOW, I’M THINKING ABOUT
WHEN SHE SAID, YOU KNOW, WE KNOW
WHAT’S GOING ON IN THIS COUNTRY
IS NOT JUST RIGHT.
I MEAN THAT WAS A MESSAGE NOT
NECESSARILY MEANT TO SPEAK TO
THE BASE BUT FOR SOME OF THOSE
PEOPLE WHO MAYBE WOULD HAVE READ
HER BOOK, MAYBE DIDN’T VOTE FOR
HER HUSBAND BUT RESONATE WITH
HER AND BELIEVE AND TRUST HER.
SO I REALLY THINK AS I WROTE
TONIGHT ON THE 19th THAT THE
"BECOMING" VOTE IS A THING THAT
COULD BE ACTIVATED TONIGHT BY
ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR PEOPLE
IN THIS COUNTRY, THAT BEING OUR
FORMER FIRST LADY.
>> THERE IS INDEED A REASON WHY
SHE IS ALWAYS AT NUMBER ONE OR
TWO MOST POPULAR WOMEN IN THE
WORLD.
HEY, PHIL RUCKER, HOW DO WE
MEASURE THE EFFECT OF THIS
GATHERING ON DONALD TRUMP?
>> WELL, I THINK THE NEXT 24
HOURS ARE GOING TO TELL THE
STORY, BRIAN.
WE HAVE NOT SEEN THE PRESIDENT
TONIGHT, YOU KNOW, LIVE-TWEETING
HIS RESPONSES, BUT WE KNOW HE’S
BEEN WATCHING.
WE KNOW HE’S GOING TO BE
CONSUMING THE TELEVISION
COVERAGE AS HE ALWAYS DOES, AND
HE MIGHT PUT ON A DISPLAY OF
EXACTLY WHAT MICHELLE OBAMA WAS
TALKING ABOUT IN TERMS OF
ATTACKING THOSE WHO WERE
CRITICIZING HIM ONSTAGE TONIGHT.
AND THE FORMER FIRST LADY HAS
GOTTEN A LOT OF ATTENTION, WHICH
I THINK SHE DELIVERED PROBABLY
THE MOST SEARING INDICTMENT
ANYBODY HAS DELIVERED OF THE
TRUMP PRESIDENCY ALL OF THESE
YEARS.
BUT THERE WAS AN EARLIER MOMENT
AS WELL THAT I THINK HAS THE
POTENTIAL TO REALLY GET AT
DONALD TRUMP, AND THAT WAS THE
YOUNG WOMAN FROM ARIZONA WHO
TALKED ABOUT HER FATHER, 65
YEARS OLD, WHO DIED OF COVID
AFTER GOING TO A KARAOKE BAR IN
MAY, AFTER THE STATE OF ARIZONA
STARTED TO REOPEN.
AND SHE HAD ONE QUOTE THAT I
THINK WE’RE GOING TO HEAR A LOT
AGAIN, AND IT WAS THAT HER
FATHER ONLY HAD ONE PRE-EXISTING
CONDITION, AND THAT WAS TRUSTING
DONALD TRUMP.
SO DIRECTLY BLAMING HIS DEATH ON
THE PRESIDENT, AND THAT IS