"politicsnation." tonight's lead, brotherly love. you're looking at a live shot of philadelphia's temple university where donald trump is expected to take the stage in a couple of hours, continuing his effort to court black voters by going into heavily black democratic cities and talking about black america's problems as he sees them to largely nonblack maga audiences. democrats have responded by flooding the university area with receipts of donald trump's record with black america. at the same time promoting the achievements of joe biden, who has his first opportunity to contrast himself with trump in real time this coming thursday as both camps prepare for the first presidential debate. with black voters historically caught in the middle of this election cycle with just months to go, we have joining me now, philadelphia mayor parker, a democrat. donald trump is is about to take the rally stage at philly's temple university, the latest of several campaign events he's held in black city, some in black neighborhoods, though it was mostly white turnout, as he tries to peel off black support from president biden. the democratic national committee responded to trump at temple by putting up billboards in the surrounding neighborhood hitting the former president over his record with black americans and promoting president biden's. philly is crucial for the president's fortunes in the twin state of pennsylvania, are you worried trump could cut into your city's vote enough to cause biden problems in november? >> no, reverend al, thank you so much for having me, but he's actually there, trump, the vile trickster, as i often refer to him as, is because he remembers how essential philadelphia is to ensuring that president biden wins pennsylvania. if you'll remember in 2016 he won pennsylvania by 44,000 votes. well, philadelphians rose to the occasion in the city that donald trump said specifically to the nation, bad things happen in philadelphia. well, we delivered for president biden. he received 81% of our vote, nearly doubling that vote margin. and he became our president of the united states, and we're going to do the same. this is simply a mere distraction, reverend al. and we won't forget how donald trump has failed the black community. sky high black unemployment. more guns and violence on our streets. and believe me, the higher healthcare costs for families in the city of philadelphia, particularly the black community, we haven't forgotten. >> now, staying with that, some polls have shown an erosion of president biden's support from segments of the black voter base, which he'll have a chance to address in his first debate with donald trump this coming thursday evening. what should his message to black america be and how should he deliver it by touting his record or calling trump out on his record or both? >> reverend al, let me just say this as it relates to polls. i became the first woman mayor in the city of philadelphia, and if i looked at polling as the sole indicator to how i would perform in this election, i wouldn't be here. what i as mayor will be doing is reminding philadelphians we will have to keep our eyes on the prize, and we will have to think about, for example -- and you can't make these numbers up. i'm a new mayor, i just got here in january. i have received from the federal government, the biden/harris administration, over $613 million for the city of philadelphia. for what, reverend al, can't go through it all, but $25 million for water and sewer treatment, for infrastructure, $317 million, mass trajs sit, $#158 159 million to reconnect a community in philadelphia that had been red lined and moved away from our city, and $2 million for additional brown fields remediation. so for me, i think a whole lot about baldwin, this is not simply listening to what people say, this is about watching what they do. and president biden has affirmed that he knows what it means to make philadelphia what i've committed, and that is to make our city the safest, cleanest, greenest big city in the nation with economic opportunity for all, and we can't do it without president biden, and that's what i'm hoping that he stays focused on. i talked to him personally on many occasions. i'm in close communication with his team, and we're going to stay focused on the facts. and it's my job as mayor, reverend al, and i want to be clear, i need to make sure that philadelphians know that we won't be had. we won't be took. and we won't be hoodwinked by any black faces in high places telling us that we should endorse trump. we won't forget about what he's done. and we're prepared to do that here in the city of philadelphia. >> let me get your opinion on the following nbc news is reporting that donald trump is focused on two or three candidates for his running mate ahead of the republican national convention in three weeks. ohio senator j.d. vance and north dakota governor doug burgum are at the top of the list, as we understand it, with florida senator marco rubio also in contention. this is according to nbc sources. missing, of course, from the suggested finalists are women or any of the black candidates once floated for the job like senator tim scott or congressman byron donalds. your thoughts on that, madame mayor, especially as trump tries to court black voters. >> reverend al, i want to be 1,001% clear, i wouldn't care if the running mate was black, brown, white, there is no one who can control for the policies that have attempted to destroy the democracy, the foundation on which our great nation is built, and that is we will give everyone access to the opportunity to be living on the path to self-sufficiency and anyone who subscribes to policies that are embraced by donald trump, we will give them no consideration. and you know, maybe i'm thinking about mayors now a great deal because i'm just returning from the u.s. conference of mayors meeting in kansas city, and as i talked to mayors in urban, suburban, and rural america, they have all said the same thing, we have to stay focused on how president biden, vice president harris has significantly contributed to helping to advance our respective municipalities and cities and not get distracted. >> yeah. >> so his presence in north philadelphia is a distraction, even if he decided -- someone said to me, cherelle is going to be a black or brown person -- for anyone to think that we are naive enough -- that donald trump is best for black community, you underestimate the power of the community -- >> let me go right there. before you go, i'm out of time, but since you brought that up, we've been talking about trump reaching out to black voters, and i want to get your response to some of that outreach effort. we had florida congressman byron donalds on this program several weeks ago. he's been in your city claiming -- he said this in your city of philadelphia -- claiming black families were stronger during jim crow and suggesting the black community has been worse off for supporting democrats. other black republicans have made similar comments. what's your response to that? >> my response to that, reverend al, is that the black community will not be duped. we know that when it comes to civil rights and voting rights we have used the power of our vote. we have used the courts. and we have used nonviolent civil disobedience and marching and advocating for what's in the best interest of us and anyone who could -- who think that they could convince black people that jim crow was better for the black community than us having the opportunity to be full citizens here in america is someone who is trying to hoodwink our community, and i think much more of the black community. we're keeping our eyes on the prize. president biden. safe, clean, green economic opportunity for all. how his work impacts our city and our people. and we're going to be working door to door. i'm excited. >> all right, well, thank you for being with us. and if you ever give up politics, think about preaching, you'd be great. >> oh. reverend al, i'm privileged to be here with you, sir. >> i'm privileged to be with you, philadelphia mayor parker. now to the presidential debate next week. joining me now is retired general wesley clark, former supreme allied commander of nato and a former presidential candidate. general, as always, great to see you, and i want to remind you of something, two decades ago you and i both ran for president as democrats looking to defeat george w bush, and i wanted to open up with this moment you might remember from your first democratic primary debate. it was right here in new york after you just entered the race in september of 2003 and some veteran democrats took issue with you jumping in the race. roll the clip, please. >> first of all, as the only new yorker, i want to welcome general clark to new york, and i want to welcome him to our list of candidates. and don't be defensive about just joining the party. welcome to the party. it's better to be a new democrat that's a real democrat than a lot of old democrats up here that have been acting like republicans all along. >> you might remember that exchange, and i might add that it was an honor running against you. and we always respected each other and always stayed within the boundaries of what we believed was good for the country, which is what i'm really concerned about on thursday night. that's why i wanted you on, because we have experience on the stage of at least running in the primaries. but now as president biden preps for his thursday debate, what lessons can his team learn from moments like this one from our debate 20 years ago? i don't know if -- >> so -- no, i thought you were going to show another clip. >> no. >> reverend al, it's great to be on with you. i loved being on that debate stage with you, and you were the only one who welcomed me in there, and it always meant a lot. and i think you're just a great -- you're a great debater, you're a great candidate, and it's an honor to be on with you. look, lessons, number one is you've got to make up your mind before you go in, three or four major points you're going to do. you've got to stay focused, be funny, and make it brief. don't pay too much attention to the questions, get your message out. in this case, going against donald trump, the president's got a lot of great things to say that he's done, and he's got a lot of great attack points against donald trump. in fact, he's got so many attack points we'd call it in the military a target rich environment. so he's got to be focused on what he's going to attack. i'm looking at, i'm thinking, okay, how about covid, okay? donald trump recommended we put bleach in our veins. he didn't tell us when he talked to the chinese president, this is an air delivered, serious virus. he tried to say it wasn't going to be important. he didn't recommend people take the vaccines, even though when he got sick he rushed over and did it. what kind of leadership is that? the results show america had one of the worst covid responses of any large nation. we lost a lot of people. joe biden came in the next round of covid, we did a lot better because we had president biden leading us through that. so that's number one. number two, this is a guy who's been impeached twice. not for politics but for actual things he did wrong in over -- in misusing his office of the presidency. and especially on january 6th where he basically tried to overturn the elections. how could any american vote for donald trump again knowing that he's already said he's going to be a dictator from day one? vote for donald trump once, it might be the last vote you ever take as an american president, because he intends to stay. number three on this is, got to listen carefully what donald trump says. he usually accuses the opponents of doing what he's doing, and then he does it. and he's been very transparent. he's very easy to read. donald trump's all about one person, donald trump. he rolls off those grievances, don't you feel sympathy for him. he's beat the law in every case except for one, and now he's a convicted felon. and he's got money behind him. he's got foreign money behind him. this is a man who's about donald trump and nobody else. don't be fooled. >> let me talk strategy with you a minute for the president. the debate gives him a massive platform to contrast himself with donald trump. should he try to appeal to persuadable independent voters or just engage his democratic base? >> oh, he's got to go for the independent voter, al, sure, he does. but he does that with two factors. number one is the record, which is a darn good record. and number two, he's got to show his energy, his alertness, his ability to focus, get the message out, be focused, be funny, and be brief on target. if he does that -- >> now, he's got to deal with that, a lot's been made about the debate rules. there'll be no live audience, no notes, and the candidates will have their microphones muted when they're not speaking. you've been through this process, how much do these little details matter? >> well, i think it helps not to have the audience there, honestly, because i think it lets the debate focus more on the candidates and the issues, whereas the distractions of just appealing to the audience. but you've still got to appeal to the audience watching on television. you've got to say things that are interesting and have humor in there to put life into the debate. i think having a mic turned off, that's a positive. i think donald trump would attempt to interfere as he did in the previous debates while president biden's talking. so i think that's a good thing. i think the debate rules are fine. they support president biden in this first debate. >> all right, now general, i want to play some comments from former president donald trump just a few hours ago speaking at the faith and freedom conference in washington. take a listen. >> we dominated. we saved the world with -- from those forts, and now they decide to take the names off and -- wait until you see ultimately what happens with those names. i call it a transition, like transitioning. they have a transition name before they name it the reverend al sharpton fort. fort al sharpton. >> now, while i'm honored trump is thinking of me, i'm sure there are others more worthy of having a military facility named after them, and like former president trump, i never served in the military, neither has he, and you would think after serving four years as president he knows the custom is to name forts after people that have done military work. but can you talk -- i'm not going to bite the bait by exchanging sound bites with him -- but can you talk a bit about why the pentagon has taken the thoughtful steps of renaming certain bases? because apparently, the former president does not seem to understand the reason that some people are offended by some, including some confederate jens. i remember he said it was fine people on both sides in charlottesville when we talked about general robert e. lee, so explain why the pentagon's sensitivity is here. >> look, these forts were named during the jim crow era. that's the truth. and they were named so that people in the south and these segregationist senators in the south and the governors would sort of accept the fort in their state. that was the idea. it was a form of racist appeasement. so if you were an african american soldier or hispanic or even an american soldier, finally you say, wait a minute, why am i at fort hood texas? you know who john bell hood was? yes, he lost a leg at gettysburg fighting for the confederates. he led the confederates into one of the worst defeats of the war in the attack on the union forces at nashville. he was a west point graduate who was disloyal to his country, disloyal to his oath to defend -- support and defend the constitution of the united states, or as it was given at that time. and he was a loser. why would you name a big fort after him? instead that fort is renamed for general cavazos, a man i served with and admired tremendously. the first hispanic four-star general in the army. a great loader, two years in combat in korea, a battalion commander in vietnam. this is a guy who knew soldiering. he knew leadership. he knew people. and the same thing is true at fort benning. there it's been renamed for general hal moore. and braxton bragg, he was a loser, and of course, he was disloyal. instead he named it fort liberty. and there's no more appropriate name for where the 82nd airborne is stationed than fort liberty. they're the nation's first response first, and they are the first to protect our freedom. so i think it's a smart move by the pentagon. it went through a commission. wasn't just one person making an arbitrary decision. and i'm really proud of that. and i hope that our soldiers and their families really appreciate the leadership shown by secretary austin and the men and women in the pentagon on this issue. >> well, thank you for being with us, good to see you again, even though it was through the screen. retired general wesley clark, a former presidential candidate. thank you again for being with us. >> thank you. coming up, while trump continues to take shots at biden over his mental ability, questions arise about his own mental equity and acuity and whether his -- he's actually ready for the debate stage. we'll be right back. r the debate stage we'll rbeight back. thing dims my light like a migraine. with nurtec odt, i found relief. the only migraine medication that helps treat and prevent, all in one. to those with migraine, i see you. for the acute treatment of migraine with or without aura and the preventive treatment of episodic migraine in adults. 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. it's time we all shine. talk to a healthcare provider about nurtec odt from pfizer. i'm sam, i have a three and a half-year-old puppy. talk to a healthcare provider levi is rambunctious, he's very active. so, levi's had to go to the vet because he was coughing a bit, and he ended up getting x-rays. it would have cost over five hundred dollars, had i not had fetch pet insurance. fetch provides coverage for all of this... and so much more! fetch protects over four hundred thousand pets. get paid back up to ninety percent on unexpected vet bills. fetch. the most comprehensive pet insurance. get your free quote today. at bombas, we're obsessed with socks. tees. and underwear. because your basic things should be your best things. one purchased equals one donated. visit bombas.com and get 20% off your first order. have you ever considered getting a walk-in tub? 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