so i wear a lot of hats. my restaurants, my tattoo shop... and i also have a non-profit. but no matter what business i'm in... my network and my tech need to keep up. thank you verizon business. (kevin) now our businesses get fast and reliable internet from the same network that powers our phones. (waitress) all with the security features we need. (aaron) because my businesses are my life. man, the fish tacos are blowing up! so whatever's next... we're cooking with fire. let's make it happen! (vo) switch to the partner businesses rely on. it is good to be back with you on this second hour of chris jansing reports. at this hour, guilty on all counts. the president's son, hunter biden, nodding slightly, but showing no emotion, as the jury convicted him in a gun case that made public his dark history of drug addiction. the special counsel declaring no one is above the law. how the biden family is grappling with the verdict while the president fights to hang on to the white house. joe biden saying he will always be there to support his son. and we expect to hear from him any minute now in washington, d.c. for the first time on camera since the jury found his son guilty. with a pardon already ruled out by the president, does hunter biden have a strong case for appeal? we'll dig into that, plus how trump world is reacting. our nbc news reporters are following all the late es. we start with reaction coming from all sides in the wake of the conviction on felony charges. ken dilanian is following it from delaware. what are you hearing there, ken? >> reporter: chris, we're hearing from many of the key players in this saga including david weiss, the trump appointed u.s. attorney in delaware tasked by merrick garland with investigating biden then appointed special counsel in this case after the plea agreement from a year ago fell through. take a listen to david weiss. >> no one in this country is above the law. everyone must be accountable for their actions. even this defendant. however, hunter biden should be no more accountable than any other citizen >> reporter: we also have a written statement from hunter biden himself who said he's more grateful for the love and support i experienced this last week from his wife, melissa, my family, friends, and community than i am disappointed by the outcome. he added recovery is possible by the grace of god and i am blessed to experience that gift one day at a time. in terms of what comes next, it's sentencing. that will take place two to three months from now. the judge will set a date. meantime, there will be an investigation, confidential report written, and that will include an interview with hunter biden, assessment of his offenses and him as a person. then the judge will make a decision. the guidelines in this case we believe call for around a year in prison but the judge is free to go below that and take into account this kind of case is rarely brought as a stand alone. one more thing. if he is sentenced in this case, just the fact he's been convicted, that has a bearing on what happens in the september tax case which is viewed by many as more serious. if he's convicted, he will no longer be a person without a criminal record and that will impact the sentence he would get in that case in california, chris. >> ken, thank you and thank you for your coverage throughout this trial. now to the white house and ali as we wait to potentially hear the president's first on camera reaction. i know he's released a statement. what are we hearing from the white house? >> reporter: yeah, chris. in just a few minutes, we expect to see the president for the first time since his only surviving son was found guilty on all three of those federal gun charges. charges brought forward by the president's own justice department. justice department he has vowed time and time again to remain independent from. and we know ironically he's going to be speaking at this previously scheduled event talking about gun control legislation. this is the annual conference for the organization every town for gun safety. we do not expect him to react beyond the statement that he put out earlier today reacting to his son's verdict in which he said in part, quote, he's president, but he's also a dad. he said that he and the first lady love their son and are so proud of the man he is today. they continue, jill and i will always be there for hunter and the rest of our family with our love and support. says nothing will ever change that. and chris, we saw that love and support on full display throughout this trial. we know the president as it was going on was kept up to speed on all of the developments from it. even while overseas late last week and over the weekend, the first lady remarkably shuttling between france and wilmington, delaware, where the trial was taking place. we saw the emotional toll it took on her. she walked hand in hand with hunter biden, wiping away tears. it's that reaction from not just her, but other members of the family, the president, as we have seen this trial and decision impact the white house's plans. we learned in the last hour that the president after this event is going to go straight to wilmington, delaware, in the wake of this verdict. those actions, those changes, are really underscoring concerns those closest to the biden family have about how this could change the president personally moving forward. especially moving forward into such a critical time in the 2024 election. the president of course at the end of the month having that first general election debate with former president trump and the election now just five months away. so this in addition to the fact that hunter has as ken mentioned, a second trial he is facing for tax evasion charges in california, really raising concerns on the potential impact that could have on the president personally. >> thank you. several member of trump world are already reacting to the guilty verdict. let's bring in dasha burns who's been following this for us. what can you tell us? >> so we haven't heard from former president trump himself directly just yet, chris, but we got a statement from his campaign. it reads this trial has been nothing more than a distraction from the real crimes of the biden crime family, which is raked in tens of millions of dollars from china, russia, and ukraine. crooked joe biden's reign over the criminal empire is all coming to an end on november 5th and never again will a biden sell government access for personal profit. a lot of unsubstantiated claims there. we also heard from the spokesperson for maga inc. they say the evidence that led to a guilty verdict came from the same laptop that's driving hunter's tax fraud case on the money he made from foreign business deals. this decision is only the first step of unraveling of the biden crime family. and congresswoman stefanic who is rumored to be a potential vp contender also saying this is the first step in delivering accountability for the biden crime family. there's this narrative starting to percolate in maga world sort of calling this a red herring. a distraction from other crimes that might lead more directly to former, to president biden. and there's one more set of republicans, most of whom are going, not going on the record, but are telling our colleagues on background that this does, chris, undercut some of the main arguments from the trump campaign that the justice system is weaponized against him. one source telling our colleague john allen that's less of a bumper sticker now. can't be used in the same sort of mantra way it has so far. his most ardent supporters, that doesn't matter. it is something that sort of dampens that message, maybe doesn't ring as loudly now that we have the son of the president of the united states convicted here. >> dasha burns, thank you. joining me now, lisa rubin. i want to talk about what comes next. hunter biden's lawyer says they will quote continue to vigorously pursue all the legal challenges available. what does that look like? >> like going through sentencing first then entering what's called a notice of appeal. they have 14 days to do that. to indicate they are going to appeal both the verdict and the sentence together. now, when they do that, their best chance on appeals as andrew weissman has noted, is a constitutional one. there's a case percolated through the federal courts now that forces people to answer the question, are you a user of or addicted to a narcotic, stimulant. the fifth circuit ruled that is unconstitutional as it interferes with a person's second amendment rights. if the supreme court were to agree or even the fact that a fifth circuit court of appeals, texas and louisiana, does agree, that is going to be a strong basis for hunter's lawyers to say this conviction isn't even sound in the first place. he didn't violate a federal law that can be upheld. the other bases might be for example the exclusion of the gun form. hunter's lawyers wanted to argue it wasn't clear he even filled it out himself, but the judge didn't allow the form into evidence and also prevented them from introducing the testimony from a forensic psychiatrist who was going to talk about addiction and how it impacts what a person does in terms of intent and knowledge. >> i want to talk to you about what happens between now and sentencing. what is hunter biden's role in what will be decided by the judge? >> first of all, hunter biden is going to have to go through and interview with a probation officer. part of that is understanding whether he accepts responsibility for his actions. they never said during the trial he didn't purchase the gun, make the visit to the gun shop. never even said that hunter biden wasn't involved in this events that led to the recovery of the gun. i expect that hunter biden and abby lowell will make a bid for a lower sentence in part by saying hunter biden does accept responsibility. that he was a different person in 2018 than the man he has become today. they will also aggressively work to compile letters of support from people in the community. not only his close friends and family, but other people whose lives he has touched. for example, the galleryist who shows hunter's work now can testify to his talent and the fact he's turned his life around. if i'm lowell, i'm thinking about that presentation to the judge starting now. >> what kind of timeline are we looking at for an appeal and is it likely to just overlap with these tax charges that he's facing another case? >> you know, it's hard to say what timeline any federal court of appeals will be on in terms of an appeal when that briefing will be had. i think it's unlikely we would see a decision prior to the election let alone maybe even an oral argument. in all likelihood, he'll be sentenced on this jury verdict first then in september, assuming he doesn't plead out before then, will go and have his trial in california on those tax charges then the election will come. >> do you think it's likely he'll get jail time? >> i don't. >> just based on what we know of people in this same situation in the past. >> i don't. i'm thinking about david weiss who today said no person is above the law and no person should be more accountable on this, on these charges if they are convicted. that to me is him sending a signal he doesn't believe hunter biden necessarily deserves a stringent prison sentence. maybe no prison time at all. when you're thinking about how the jurors saw this case, one gave an interview today to another network where they said it was important to them for example the way the gun was retrieved had nothing to do with hunter biden. rather, hallie biden took the gun from him and deposited it into a trash can. when asked if he wanted to file charges against his sister-in-law, he said no. he also didn't want to repo repo success the gun. >> thank you. coming up, a former special assistant to the first lady shares his insight on the emotional toll that hunter biden's case has had on the family despite their decades of experience in being in the glare of the public eye. of the public eye. it's never a good time for migraine, especially when i'm on camera. that's why my go-to is nurtec odt. for the acute treatment of migraine with or without aura and the preventive treatment of episodic migraine in adults. it's the only migraine medication that helps treat & prevent, all in one. don't take if allergic to nurtec odt. allergic reactions can occur, even days after using. most common side effects were nausea, indigestion, and stomach pain. people depend on me. without a migraine, i can be there for them. talk to your doctor about nurtec odt today. my frequent heartburn had me taking antacid after antacid all day long but with prilosec otc just one pill a day blocks heartburn for a full 24 hours. for one and done heartburn relief, prilosec otc. one pill a day, 24 hours, zero heartburn. (aaron) i own a lot of businesses... for one and done heartburn relief, prilosec otc. so i wear a lot of hats. my restaurants, my tattoo shop... and i also have a non-profit. but no matter what business i'm in... my network and my tech need to keep up. thank you verizon business. (kevin) now our businesses get fast and reliable internet from the same network that powers our phones. (waitress) all with the security features we need. (aaron) because my businesses are my life. man, the fish tacos are blowing up! so whatever's next... we're cooking with fire. let's make it happen! (vo) switch to the partner businesses rely on. (♪♪) is he? claritin clear? yeah. fast relief of allergies with nasal congestion, so you can breathe better. claritin plus decongestant. live claritin clear®. i told myself i was ok with my moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis symptoms. with my psoriatic arthritis symptoms. but just ok isn't ok. and i was done settling. if you still have symptoms after a tnf blocker like humira or enbrel, rinvoq is different and may help. rinvoq is a once-daily pill that can rapidly relieve joint pain, stiffness, and swelling in ra and psa. relieve fatigue for some... and stop joint damage. and in psa, can leave skin clear or almost clear. rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections, including tb. serious infections and blood clots, some fatal; cancers, including lymphoma and skin; heart attack, stroke, and gi tears occurred. people 50 and older with a heart disease risk factor have an increased risk of death. serious allergic reactions can occur. tell your doctor if you are or may become pregnant. done settling? ask your rheumatologist for rinvoq. and take back what's yours. abbvie could help you save. hunter biden's guilty verdict today put an emotional punctuation mark on a trial that shined a glaring spotlight on the president's only surviving son. the first lady was seen tightly clutching hunter's hand as they were leaving the courthouse. while she was not inside for the verdict, she's been in court almost every day sitting right behind her son, the son she worked to help get clean. addiction is an issue that ties the biden family experience to millions of other americans who have had their own personal relationships tested and sometimes tormented by addiction. it was even a through line for some of the jury, including number ten, who shared in selection both his brother and brother-in-law struggled with alcoholism and both are now dead. he spoke to cnn. >> i can't speak for everyone but i can speak for myself. it was very sad. that he was being not convicted of these crimes, but that his life had turned out the way it did. >> i want to bring in mike memoli who was inside the courthouse for the verdict, also the former press secretary for the first lady, and the author of it was all a lie and senior adviser to the lincoln project, stewart stevens. i want to get personal to start with if i can, michael, because this is a man how as a boy, lost his birth mother and sister in a car accident. his father, joe biden, remarried jill biden, who said many times she never saw him as anything but her son. talk about the relationship that they have. the fact she was in that courtroom, that she flew back from france to be there and then flew back for a formal event. and just what you saw of this family as you watched this trial play out. >> yeah. thanks for having me, chris. when she started dating joe biden as the first lady often says, she wasn't just dating joe biden. she was dating joe biden and those little boys. and she helped raise them from the time they were 5 or 6. so she's always been mom to them. and she's, you know, she would probably say never saw herself dating someone with children or marrying somebody who had little boys at the time. she fell in love with them. it's why it took her so long to say yes to him because she knew what they had gone through just a year before. year and a half before she met joe biden. and she wasn't willing to break their hearts again. and she assimilated and adapted into family and they made their family whole again. what you saw, this story has been evolving and unfolding over the last six years. through our primary campaign, through the general election, through the white house. but what you saw i think is a remarkably grounded and remarkably normal family despite some unusual circumstances. but dealing with a, and coping and supporting each other through very private family ordeal that unfortunately they're having to deal with in public. seeing doctor b. with our sister and sister-in-law clutch hands today, it was pretty powerful and i'm sure her heart is a little broken today. >> mike memoli saying that this is a tough and emotional day for the biden family. obviously an understatement. i wonder what it was like being in the courthouse for this. >> reporter: well, i was so struck, chris, to see valerie biden, the president's sister. she, when the accident happened in 1972, she moved in to her brother's home to help raise those boys so in some ways, hunter is almost like her son in many ways. she was such a part of his life and the reaction i saw on her face, the grief when she walked out of the courtroom after hearing the verdict really did strike me. she was also hear for so many days of the trial. i think one of the most difficult things for the entire family during the course of this six-day trial has been really the fact they've had to relive some of the darkest days as a family. those weeks and months and years that followed after the death of beau biden. hunter talking about in his book the ways in which he unfortunately fell into addiction after that. his ex-wife testifying that it was only weeks after beau died that she discovered the crack pipe. the way in which even hunter's own daughter had to testify. dr. biden was there not just as a mother, but as a grandmother, knowing the entire family was having to live through this difficult moment today over the last week. it's something that i think is part of why the president is coming back here so quickly to spend this night with his son. we know he's about to fly out to the g7 summit in italy where he'll see among other people, pope francis. we know what a close relationship they have built over the last 15 years. then the president will travel to los angeles where hunter has been living the last few years. he's there for a fund-raiser of all things with president obama as well as some celebrities, but it's not unlikely that they might spend that father's day weekend together once he returns from italy. important time for the family. >> stewart, this is something that the late president reagan's daughter patty davis connected to. she wrote an op-ed for the "new york times" talking about her own addiction and how hunter is not alone. there are a lot of hunter bidens in this world. people who fell in way over their heads, who long for someone to believe they can recover and construct their lives differently. you just don't hear about them on the evening news. like she says, millions, lit rally millions of hunter bidens in this world. i think how jill biden and joe biden have talked about this matters. the support they have shown matters to a lot of people out there, but i wonder in a political sense, what you think the impact of this might be, stewart? >> i don't think that there's going to be a lot of political impact on it. i think the people carve out a different space for a candidate and their children always. been a history of that. it certainly underlines the case as it should be that this is a country of rule of law and there is no special place that anyone regardless of their power should have under the law. earlier in the show, you were saying some of the trump people were saying that off the record. and they're right. how does donald trump go out and say this is a politicized justice department when the president's own son was just convicted? it doesn't pass any sort of logic test and people will realize that. >> do you think they will at least in the middle? you're never going to convince the folks who are strong supporters of donald trump but do you think the folks in the middle will say, even who may have had questions about the seriousness of the case brought against donald trump, will say you can't have it both ways? >> yes. and you can't have it both ways. 99.9% of the people in america don't expect special treatment from the government. if they break a law, they expect to be held accountable. there is an ordinaryness about this that has been striking in other comments. this is a family. a very american family. has a very american story. part of that story are terrible tragedies. it's how you deal with these and they've dealt with it with grace and love and they've held together. i think it's something that's very inspiring about this. and touching. it's a very human moment that i think transcends. >> i was just handed this. house speaker mike johnson says he thinks hunter biden being found guilty with appropriate but when asked if he thinks this undercuts the argument of a two-tiered justice system, it doesn't. clearly the evidence was overwhelming. i don't think that's the case in the trump trial and all the charges that have brought against them have been obviously brought for political purposes. hunter biden is a separate instance. i wonder what your reaction is to that statement by the speaker of the house who is saying there's a two-tiered justice system in this country. still saying that. >> yeah. it's a sad day for what used to be my party, the republican party. we used to call ourselves the party of law and order. you know, donald trump was convicted of a hometown jury. take the subway from his apartment to the courthouse. wasn't an example of someone who went up to new york city and got caught up in a scam. you have to respect the verdict and you have a former president who has 34 counts now. former president. 34 counts of felonies. and i think that is what's going to resonate here. you can say this should have been that way, there's nobody in america who is applying for a job and not getting hired because they don't have felony convictions. so, this is, in politics, sometimes you have to spin the impossible. but what's sad about this is they're attacking the justice system. part of the whole attack on the civil society and i just don't think it works. >> yeah, chris. >> go ahead. >> we watched, your previous guest in talking about what's going to happen next and how hunter and abby lowell, how hunter will show remorse and accountability and that he hasn't sort of waivered from that so far. this is a family, this is a guy being persecuted by the republican trump appointed prosecutor sitting before a trump appointed judge. and this family hasn't complained. they haven't whined. they haven't cried or cried or crowed about the process, which is just a striking contrast to the whiners and cry babies on the other side. hunter has always sort of taken responsibility for this really dark period in his life that is, has been stated, very common. whether you are a republican or a democrat. >> michael, let me ask you something else. i want to say on our screen, we are showing a volunteer from action and she is the last speaker before we hear from president biden so i might have to interrupt. as we see all of these statements that are coming in from republicans that are questioning not just the justice system, but many of them questioning joe biden and his family. calling them the biden crime family. is this a family, a couple who are able, and they've had long years of experience, but still, this is deeply personal. obviously what has happened to them today. to at least be able to set the politics of this aside and focus their attention on what, for any family, let alone in the public spotlight would be a devastating day to see their son convicted on three felonies? >> first of all, in response to what you were saying, this was donald trump -- >> and of course, the minute i finish asking that question, michael, joe biden has come out at gun sense university. his states purpose at being there at this annual training conference is to talk about gun violence, but let's hear from the president has to say and if he'll address hunter biden's convictions. >> thank you. thank you, thank you. please, have a seat. i know from experience it takes extraordinary courage for you to stand up here and retell your son's story. many of you who have lost someone to gun violence. it's been a passion of mine for a long, long time. it's the reason way back long time ago i authored the violence against women act. no one thought made any sense. at the time. we've had a lot of trouble getting people to think we can make a difference. fact of the matter is, i remember well when you first started with me. extraordinary courage. you know, through your words, you help ensure that your son and all the victims of gun violence are not forgotten. they didn't die in vain. through your love, you help prevent the next tragedy that saves lives and through your actions, you remember us will never let go one thing that we must never, never lose. i mean this, i know it's hard because i've gotten those calls, too. i've lost a son, a daughter, a wife. i know what it's like. but guess what. never give up on hope. hope, hope, hope. i give you my word. i know what that feels, that black hole when you receive that phone call. seems like the black hole in your chest should be sucked into it. just showing up here, all the work you've done, takes courage because it reminds you of the moment you got that phone call. it reminds you. no matter how long ago. it's hard. you're making such a difference. main reason i'm here to say, i mean this from the bottom of my heart -- no, no, no, no. no. [ four more years ] >> folks, it's okay. they care. innocent children have been lost. come on, now. >> thank you to all the gun violence survivors! >> folks, every time all the leaders here today, i want to thank you for the dedication to this vital issue you've shown. and all the survivors, veterans, families, moms who have turned your pain and purpose into the loss and you determined it to not focus on your anger but on what you can do. look, folks. you've helped power a movement that is turning this cause into a reality. especially young people who demanded our nation do better and protect us all who protested, organized, who voted, who ran for office and yes, who marched for their lives. from my perspective, today's about celebrating you. you're the reason i'm so optimistic about the future of our country and i mean that. two weeks will mark the second anniversary of the bipartisan safer communities act. [ cheers and applause ] it's the most significant gun legislation in nearly 30 years. we passed it only because you worked like hell to get it done. they have the idea, but you made it happen. it was designed to reduce gun violence and save lives and i'm so proud of the tremendous progress we've made since then. you know, the year before i came to the presidency, murder rate was the highest increase on record. last year, we saw the largest decrease in murder history. and those rates continue to fall faster than ever. last year, we also saw one of the lowest rates of all violent crime in nearly 50 years. murder, rape, aggravated assault, robbery, all dropped sharply along with burglary. this matters because of you. don't underestimate what you've done. it's amazing what you've done. you've changed people's minds. neighbors, friends, folks at the grocery store. through the american rescue plan, i was able to invest $15 billion, the largest investment ever to reduce crime and we built on that progress with your help. through the bipartisan safer communities act. first, the act's helping reduce community violence and domestic violence. it invests $250 million in intervention programs across the country. people are now, my daughter is a social worker working with violence against women. what people don't realize is these things matter. they change. they change attitudes. also makes gun trafficking and purchasing a federal crime for the first time, giving prosecutors a legal tool to hold them accountable for the more severe penalties that are available. addiction, background checks for anyone under the age of 21 trying to purchase a firearm. it's about time. there's more we have to do there. it's a big deal. since the law was passed, the fbi stops more than 700 sales of firearms for individuals under the age of 21. and about 20,000 unlicensed firearms dealers are now required to run background checks. second, the act helps stop mass shootings. provides $750 million to states to implement the crisis interventions like red flag laws that temporary -- endanger themselves and others. it also gives $1.3 billion to thousands of schools across the country to build a safer learning environment. including updating safety plans, installing security equipment, hiring mental health professionals and school resource officers. i married a full-time teacher. i get it. as well as violence intervention team. third, the act invests over $1 billion, the largest one-time investment ever in youth mental health in our schools. help them deal with grief, trauma resulting in gun violence. i've attended too many mass shootings, gone to too many schools across america and stood there and looked at the faces of those young children who made it and look at all the families that lost somebody. it's tragic but it needs help. they need help to get through it. includes an additional 14,000 mental health professionals to be hired and trained in our schools full-time. that's 14,000 more. and over 170,000 americans across the country have been trained to identify when someone is having a mental health crisis, correct them to the help they need. one of the reasons i wrote the latest veterans bill was because more veterans and more active duty personnel are dying of suicide than any combat. it matters. this historic law is already saving lives but there's still so much more to do to maximize the benefits of the bipartisan safer communities act. that's why last september, i established the first ever white house office of gun violence prevention. i made it. got first rate professionals there. and overseen by my incredible vice president. pretty fierce prosecutor as well. to drive a coordinated effort to reduce gun violence in america and to send a clear, a clear message about how important this issue is to me, to you, and to the entire country. folks, you're changing the nation. you really are. builds upon the dozens of executive actions by administration has taken to reduce gun violence. more than any predecessors, cracking down on gun trafficking, ghost guns. so much more. folks, we're not stopping there. it's time once again to do what i did when i was a senator. ban assault weapons! i mean it. >> four more years! four more years! >> who in god's name, these magazines can hold 200 shells. >> nobody! >> that's right. i remember when i was a senator going through the wetlands of delaware to meet the people most upset with me, the fishermen and the hunters. i came across a guy who was fishing, you want to take my gun. i don't want to take your gun, you're allowed to have a gun, but i want to take away your ability to use an assault weapon. this is how the conversation went. he said what do you mean, i need a -- i said, guess what. if you need 12 to 100 bullets in a gun, in a magazine, you're the lousiest shot i ever heard. i'm serious. he said you have a good point. think about it. they're weapons of war. and it's time we establish universal background checks. by the way, and require the safe storage of firearms. we should hold -- families responsible if they don't provide those locks on those guns. because three of these major crime scenes i've visited were ones where the mother or father left open, left stuff out on the desk. left it out on a table and the kid came and used it. and by the way, this is most important. the only industry in america that has immunity are gun dealers. we got the end it. end it now. no, i mean it. imagine, imagine if we gave tobacco and exception that could not be prosecuted. we still thousands more people would be dying of cancer because of smoke inhalation. it's time to increase funding for the bureau of tobacco and firearms and explosives and other agencies as well. to solve the crimes faster. look, unfortunately, it's the only partisan thing i'm going to say. republicans oppose all of these. every one of these. instead of trying to stop our ban on ghost gun kits that contain these to commit crimes, they're working like hell to stop it. they want to abolish the bureau of alcohol, tobacco, firearms and explosives. you can't be pro law enforcement and be pro abolishing the pro aft. you can't do it. it's outrageous. i disagree with some of my own party and on the other side. at least there's some rational argument they have as part of their argument. what in god's name is the rationale for taking away the alcohol, tobacco, and firearms? after a school shooting in iowa that killed a student and teacher, but predecessor was asked about it. have to get over it. hell no, we don't have to get over it. we have got to stop it. we've got to stop it and stop it now! more children are killed in america by guns than cancer and car accidents combined. my predecessor told the nra convention recently, he's proud, i quote did nothing on guns when i was president and by doing nothing, he made a situation considerably worse. that's why every town, why every one of you here today are so damn important. we need you to overcome the unrelenting opposition when they oppose common sense gun legislation. i used to be a, no longer the vice president, i became a professor at the university of pennsylvania. before that, i taught a constitutional law class and so i taught the second amendment. there's never been a time that says you can own anything you want. never. you couldn't own a cannon during the civil war. think about it. how much you hear this phrase? the blood of liberty. give me a break. i mean it. seriously. and by the way, if they want to think to take on government if we get out of line, which they're talking again about, guess what. they need f-15s. they don't need a rifle. folks, look. this is crazy what we're talking about because whether we're democrats or republicans, we want our families to be safe. we all want to drop them off at a house of worship, a mall, a movie theatre, a school without worrying it's the last time i'm going to get to see them. we all want it. we all want our kids to have the freedom to learn how to read and write in schools instead of how to duck and cover for god's sake. above all -- above all, we all agree, we are not finished! look, no single, no single action can solve the entirety of the gun violence epidemic, but together, our efforts, your efforts are saving lives. you can help rally a nation with a sense of urgency and purpose. you're changing the culture and we've proven we can do more than just thoughts and prayers. more than thoughts and prayers. you're changing politics. you're proving that you're powerful and relentless and i mean that. let me close with this. i know many people here have been impacted by gun violence and are tired and frustrated. i know. i've been to too many. i've literally spoken with well over 1,000 families at these events i've attended, mass shootings. look in their eyes. you can almost, can almost feel that black hole they feel in the center of their chest that they're being sucked in. there's no way out. if they have remaining children, you look at the children and you wonder, mommy, daddy. how about me. i know you may wonder are we ever going to make full progress we need to make. i'm here to tell you we have no choice. we cannot give up trying. for all the lives lost and all those still there to save. we're going to get there. i have no illusions about how difficult it may be, but also no illusions about the people in this room. you're changing the attitude of the public. i mean that. come back to why i got here in this first place. it was to say thank you. i can come up with all these ideas about the laws we can change to make it easier, but you're changing people's lives. you're convincing your neighbors and people this is necessary. it's beginning to move. look what we've done around the community. look at the movement you have built. elected officials standing with you. look at all the mothers organizations across the country. >> mr. president, you are making a change, i love you so much. >> look, when there's a crisis, half of people affected have to know is anybody listening? do you hear me? do you hear what we're saying? listen to the young people who are speaking out. that's the power of the memory of your loved ones. that's the power of this movement. that's the power of america. we just have to keep going and keep the faith and remember who we are. we are the united states of america and there's nothing beyond our capacity when we act and do it together. so god bless you all and may god protect our troops. thank you, thank you. keep it up. ♪♪ ♪ and i won't back down ♪ >> president joe biden on a day when his only surviving son was convicted of three felonies in a room with people who have known loss of their own of a profound kind. many of them either volunteers or whose families have been victim to gun violence and a very loving and appreciative audience. multiple times before and during his speech, breaking out into chants of four more years. on a day that to say the least would have been difficult for anyone but for this president who lost his first wife and daughter in a car accident then lost his son, beau, to brain cancer, now has seen his son, hunter, facing potentially jail. facing another trial on tax charges. i want to bring back in nbc's mike memoli. michael larosa and stewart stevens. mike, it does strike me that through a matter of coincidence, the president goes into a room of people who believe in him, who support him, who believe that he is the way forward so that other families may not have to go through what they have had to go through. he is going to go back home to be with his family, to be with his son, to be with his wife, the first lady. but certainly, a moment for him of affirmation after what has been another day for this family of loss although of a different kind. >> yeah, that's such a great point, chris, because i think so many of us looked at the president's public schedule today and saw he was given remarks at an event about gun safety and immediately thought about the awkwardness of the timing. but in the ways you just so perfectly described, this was a fitting place for the president to be today because of the way we saw him again and end his remarks. the president has talked so often about how important it is for those who have experienced loss. the kind of deep loss of a loved one. especially losing a child by finding purpose through your pain. the president has talked about how he's done that in his own experience including after the death of beau. remember the book he wrote, promise me dad. the promise he made to his son that he would not disengage from politics. in fact, he ran in 2020 because of that encouragement from his son. so he also sees that in those, that new army, really, that has developed into a powerful political force today. the gun safety movement. it's been a real motivating force for young voters in particular but also it's really put up a strong fight against the gun lobby, which used to be one of the strongest political forces in our politics today. it turned out to be quite a fitting place for the president to be. those unscripted remarks. he did not talk about what happened in the wilmington courthouse behind me, but it was very much on his mind as he gave those remarks. >> i also want to note, michael, the president said at the beginning and toward the end, never give up hope, which seems to be in many ways also apropos of what we have seen from this family as hunter biden has been going through this and again, he's going home to one of your former bosses. you worked for the president. also as press secretary for the first lady. i wonder if you can give us a sense of what you think this will be like for the family. just your impressions of the president in front of that audience today. >> i imagine they'll be ordering subs from jansen's down the street and they will all be together. i assume some of the grand kids may be there. i assume some of the nieces and nephews. it's a very, it's a big family when their backs are against the wall, they are there for each other. you saw a lot of that. you talked a little bit about the perseverance of the president through tragedy. he survived two, not one, but two an yur isms as well. his wife had to kick out the priest who was ready to give him the last rights. his family has faced over personal and private struggles that haven't been public and all through, and losing two presidential campaigns which did also take its toll on the family. but throughout it all, the guy just doesn't give up. he's a fighter and the whole family has that sort of fighting spirit. so i think you saw a lot of, we saw quite a contrast in not to be too political, but we did see a contrast of character between two families between last week and this week. one family refused to complain and whine, cry about a process and the other has very little respect for the process as they've shown. >> we wondered, stewart, if the president would make any comments. he had issued a statement again supporting his son and saying how proud he is of him. he made a choice not to do that. but i wonder what you saw in this president on this day. >> you know, i don't know if we've ever seen such a contrast here between two candidates. there's two things that overwhelmingly are on the ballot this year. decency and democracy. you know, this whole gun issue has really turned around. for years when i worked on the republican side, you would look at the numbers and overwhelmingly, 65, 70% of the public wants a stronger gun laws. but the energy was with the nra side. it was the side that opposed it. that's really changed. same on the abortion issue. those who were most interested in this issue now are not the nra members. they're the ones pushing for stronger, more sensible gun laws and there's an age division here. this is where the future is. it's part of an example, the republican party being out of step with the country. and try to hold back a mystical past. one of my favorite politicians used to say -- it's going to happen any way. i think that's a lesson republicans have lost. >> stuart, michael, and mike, who had to leave us. i want to thank all of you because that is going to do it for us this hour. our coverage will continue with katy tur reports, next. ill cont katy tur reports, next arthritis pain? we say not today. tylenol 8 hour arthritis pain has two layers of relief. the first is fast, the second is long-lasting. we give you your day back, so you can give it everything. tylenol. number one doctor recommended for arthritis pain. - so this is pickleball? - pickle! ah, these guys are intense. with e*trade from morgan stanley, we're ready for whatever gets served up. dude, you gotta work on your trash talk. i'd rather work on saving for retirement. or college, since you like to get schooled. that's a pretty good burn, right? you know what's brilliant? boring. think about it. boring is the unsung catalyst for bold. what straps bold to a rocket and hurtles it into space? boring does. boring makes vacations happen, early retirements possible, and startups start up. because it's smart, dependable, and steady. all words you want from your bank. for nearly 160 years, pnc bank has been brilliantly boring so you can be happily fulfilled... which is pretty un-boring if you think about it. ♪♪ with fastsigns, create factory grade visual solutions to perfect your process. ♪♪ fastsigns. make your statement™.