The nomination of his party. This was also the second virtual session for the democrats. It featured a roll call unlike any other weve ever seen. The advantage of it was we got to see our whole country state by state, territory by territory. This convention, of course, is happening as our country is still in the grip of the coronavirus, the pandemic that has thus far infected nearly 5. 5 million americans that we are aware of. It has taken over 172,000 lives. Tonight the democrats tried to draw a contrast with the incumbent president with a vision of joe biden, his presidency as one of moral leadership, committed to upholding the ideals and the security of the nation. Faced with a president of cowardice, joe biden is a man of proven courage. I was fired for refusing to defend president trumps shameful and unlawful muslim travel ban. We need a president with dignity, integrity, and the experience to lead us out of this crisis. I helped choose him to be Barack Obamas running mate in 2008. Joe bidens lifetime of Public Service reflects his unwavering commitment to our highest ideals. A president ial election is the worlds most important job interview. You know what donald trump will do with four more years, blame, bully, and belittle. And you know what joe biden will do, build back better. I ran for president in 1976. Joe biden was my first and most effective supporter in the senate. Joe has the experience, character and decency to bring us together and restore americas greatness. Even during this terrible crisis, donald trump and republican politicians are trying to take away millions of Peoples Health insurance. Our interests, our ideals, and our brave men and women in uniform cant afford four more years of donald trump. Our country needs a commander in chief who takes care of our troops in the same way he would his own family. Joes purpose has always been driven him forward. His strength of will is unstoppable, and his faith is unshakeable. He and kamala will work as hard as you do every day to make this nation better. And if i have the honor of serving as your first lady, i will too. Here for our leadoff discussion this hour, our own Alicia Menendez is with us, plus two veterans of the obama white house, david plouffe, former Obama Campaign manager, Senior Adviser to the president. His latest book is a citizens guide to beating donald trump. And robert gibbs, former Obama CampaignSenior Adviser and White House Press secretary under president obama. Good evening. We welcome you all. Alicia, id like to begin with you. So youre watching at home. Maybe youre not a party stalwart, but youre an interested party. And maybe you read some of the hubbub about one aoc. Was she given enough speaking time . Is she being given enough respect by the National Party . She begins to speak, and you realize shes giving the seconding address for Bernie Sanders. The republicans are going to keep up the incoming fire about the democrats and the problem with, as they put it, managing aoc as a member of this party Going Forward. Where do you see it going . Brian, im so glad that you started there. When you step back and you look at tonight, i think a big part of what you see is a party that is in transition, that is experiencing generational shift. You know, you have former Vice President biden himself saying he wants to be a bridge to the next generation of leadership. And so a lot of what we watched tonight was a celebration of who the party has been. But then with that keynote address, you also saw a vision of who and what the party could be and a reminder that a lot of that leadership is happening at the state level. So you have Yvanna Cancela in nevada. You have malcolm in pennsylvania. You have stacey abrams, who i would argue is not a rising star of the party but already established as a leader of the party, specifically on one of the biggest and most Critical Issues that the party is talking about right now, which is the sanctity of our elections. I thought she had one of the best lines of the night, i think a line that we will hear again and again, which is in a democracy, we do not elect saviors. I think that will be one of the big lines coming out of the night. But to your point about alexandria ocasiocortez, you know, there was a lot of confusion around this procedural question of her stepping up, nominating senator sanders. She was then clarifying that on twitter, which i thought was incredibly interesting. But she took her 60 seconds, and she made very good use of it, speaking to the movement and the enthusiasm that was behind senator sanders. And i think what a lot of Movement Leaders would like to see is the Biden Campaign deploying her in order to make the connection between that movement, that enthusiasm, and how joe biden can fit into that energy and be a part of that vision. Again, she continued this conversation on twitter, which i thought was so interesting, utilizing both the hashtag from the Biden Campaign and the sanders campaign, trying to tie them together. It will be interesting to see if she gets an opportunity to do that off of twitter. Robert gibbs, in terms of candle power, is there any equal for the former first lady, Michelle Obama . Not after last night. You know, as i said on this program, i think the former president is in danger of being the second best Convention Speaker in his own house. Theres nobody quite like her, and the speech she delivered last night was a Tour De Force. A different speech that jill biden had to give tonight, and i think one that, you know, only somebody like that can give. They can say things about a candidate in a way that only they can say them, that the candidates cant say about themselves. So i think her speech did a lot of good lifting. I think the women clearly as speakers have dominated this convention thus far, and it has been a real Tour De Force in both characterizing who donald trump is but also shedding light on the character of who joe biden is, how he makes decisions and who he makes those decisions for. Really important things that have to get lifted up inside of this convention and then for the next 75plus days after this in order to keep this going and to get this across the finish line. Defining biden is the big role now. David plouffe, some of the oldtimer romantic types who love conventions probably cant wait because they like bad food, sore feet, and funny hats, to get everyone back in the same room. But is it possible that tonight the tour of the United States we got because of this pandemic could be something that survives the pandemic era and becomes, perhaps, a way we nominate these candidates . I certainly hope so, brian. I far prefer it to the alternative. Now, if were in the dream of a political nerd where you have a contested convention, you know, you probably have to do it in the hall next time. But i think when the outcome is known, this is great. And i actually think Going Forward in 2024, 2028, if we gather back again in arenas, i still think youll see more speakers doing speeches from other parts of the country. I thought jill bidens speech tonight was terrific from a classroom. So i think that were going to learn a lot from this. And the other thing about this, most of these speeches all of these speeches have been shorter, which i think is good for anybody watching the show live, but also creates great small Digital Content pieces that can bounce around social media. And if youre the democrats, you like this. Youve had two good nights. Youve got three major speeches left. I agree with robert. Kamala harris, barack obama, and joe biden are going to have to work really, really hard to match what Michelle Obama did monday. But, you know, you nail though three and you like where you are heading, at that point youre 73 days away from election day, and like 35 days away from people starting to vote. Yeah. I enjoyed the tour of our country and the territories it afforded, just the choice of locations. Tulsa reminds you theres no fitting proper lasting memorial to a massacre of our fellow citizens. Ohio was kind of controlled anger at what has happened in the industrialized midwest. The beauty of new mexico and, sadly, it appears on military twitter that two members of the military may be in trouble for being in the shot in American Samoa wearing camo, but we can deal with that perhaps tomorrow. Alicia, set the scene for tomorrow night for us and set the stakes for Kamala Harris. Can i just say that if that tour of america were a reality show, i would watch it every night because it was so deeply satisfying. Im right there with you. And edifying. I have to say because everyone is saying how much they love this Virtual Convention that while i did love it too, i have been humming tina turners the best and am upset it did not make it into the play list. To your question about senator harris, we are nerds, and we watch this with great interest and great intent. There are a lot of americans who she is going to be introducing herself to, right . And so much of this is about leaning into her biography and really helping americans understand who she is, how she has become this person, how her life story ties into her vision of america. And so, you know, it is a story that she has told before. This is simply the largest audience she will be telling it too. So what weve seen work, authenticity, connection, and if she is able to land that, you know, from there theres plenty of room to talk about policy. Theres plenty of room to talk about her accomplishments. But it is that basic connection that she needs to make tomorrow night. Robert gibbs, the party is justifiably proud of its bench. There was kind of a keynote, but there were also kind of 18 keynotes. Right. Is that because there is no dropdead consensus all the money on one person choice, or would you defend the method they chose for tonight, and be honest. I thought the method did work pretty well. Look, i think, you know, as david said, these speeches have been shorter in length, and a typical keynote, when senator obama gave his thensenator obama in 2004, it was probably a 17 to 20minute speech, and i think thats hard to do right now. I thought this bounced around pretty well. You got to meet and see different people and different faces. I thought it did work. And, look, you have to give credit to these convention guys. Theyve done a really i think an admirable job planning something that was really going to always be hard. It was always going to be critiqued, and i think that segment worked. No doubt the tour of the country worked. I was writing down places that i was ready to go visit and that just looked beautiful and tranquil, and it just reminded you of both the diversity and the beauty of this great country. Yeah, put me down for all of new mexico. Thats the one place that was just stunning in addition to the largest single collection of turquoise around the neck of one gentleman i have ever seen. Hey, david, is it too nice thus far . I know thats an outrageous question to ask. Would you take a turn for the tougher . Obviously they are choosing every opportunity to talk about the incumbent president and his record. Would you put a sharper edge on anything youve seen thus far, and do you think theyll come at him sharper in the two nights that remain . Well, i think Bernie Sanders, Michelle Obama, you know, brought some lumber to the party. So i think the biggest challenge for the Biden Campaign now is to fill in, and that sounds crazy because he was Vice President for eight years. Hes been on the National Stage for decades. But theres a lot of people deciding this election that dont know much about him. So you got to fill that in, what he stands for. I think jill bidens speech today was a really important part of that. My suspicion is youll see with Kamala Harris and barack obama a mixture, both indictments and strong indictments of the Trump Presidency but then also talking about joe biden. And Kamala Harris has to introduce herself, but her most important job is to continue to vouch for joe biden. Again, trump, this week, i think its been a disastrous choice, brian. He should have done the white house. He should have been there Holding Meetings with his pandemic team, his economic team, doing the job instead of gallivanting around the country like some washed up vaudeville performer tweeting crazy stuff. He just is making the case for us in many respects. So i think youll see a blend over the next two nights, but the most important thing is for some of these suburban voters, collegeeducated men who are leaning towards biden now, his real strength with seniors. The reason hes got the lead he has is to solidify that support. And i think if they do a good job over the next two nights of making people feeling even more comfortable about biden, the negative on trump is there. People have largely decided he doesnt deserve a second term or enough people to decline him that opportunity. So i think youll see a blend, but i would continue to lean in to the biden side of the job. Three terrific guests after night two to talk about all of it. Alicia menendez, david plouffe, robert gibbs, thank you, gang. Appreciate it very much. Coming up, hes one of the rising stars of the Democratic Party. Perhaps you saw him during tonights Virtual Convention. Enough of a name to get attacked by the trump campaign, and hes trying to turn his familys tragedy during this pandemic into a lifesaving message for others. The mayor of long beach, Robert Garcia, joins us next when we continue. Were coming together and holding on to each other. Were finding mercy and grace in the moments we might have once taken for granted. Were seeing that our differences are precious and our similarities infinite. We have shown that the heart of this nation still beats with kindness and courage. Feeling stressed . Try new natures bounty stress comfort. Three unique gummies for your unique needs. Find peace. Boost mood. Sleep well. Stress comfort comes naturally, only from natures bounty comes naturally, iredefined the wordng thschool this year. Its why, at xfinity, were committed to helping kids keep learning through the summer. And help College Students studying at home stay connected through our university program. Were providing affordable Internet Access to low income families through our internet essentials program. And this summer, xfinity is creating a Virtual Summer camp for kids at home all on xfinity x1. Were committed to helping all families stay connected. Learn more at xfinity. Com education. The nurses in memphis who came out of retirement to treat patients during this pandemic, you built this country. And you know what . You deserve more than the constant chaos that donald trump delivers. More on that gentleman you just saw. To try to highlight the up and coming democrats, tonights convention kicked off with comments from 17 civic leaders. One of those leaders is with us tonight. He happens to be the democratic mayor, Robert Garcia, of long beach, california. He was the first openly gay, first person of color to be elected mayor of that city back in 2014. He was sworn in by a name you might know, the now democratic Vice President ial nominee Kamala Harris. Mr. Mayor, first of all, thank you very much at the end of a long day for saving a few minutes for us. For members of our audience who may not know, tell the story of what coronavirus has done to your family and your life. Yeah, thank you for having us. Obviously its been a tough time for a lot of families across the country with covid19, and my family is no different. I lost my mom a little over two weeks ago to covid19. She was a Health Care Worker for almost 30 years in in country, and my stepdad, the day after my moms service passed away from covid19 as well. This is people that were very careful. She was a Health Care Worker, wore ppe, and this could happen to anybody. And so people need to stay safe, be kind to each other. They both lived great lives, and im really proud of both of them. When you see people being less than cautious, when you see the videos weve all seen, massive parties, massive gatherings, especially among younger people, what do you want to yell back at your tv or your device that they perhaps may not know . Well, its infuriating first of all. People need to be responsible, especially younger people that are out there. They need to wear masks, and they need to take care of themselves. People need to understand that this is a serious pandemic and that the consequences are real. Theyre life and death, and were losing people in this country every single day in our cities, across our state here in california, and we just want people to be more responsible. And one of the things that im hopeful about is having a National Strategy around covid19, and thats something that i think joe biden is ready on day one to bring to this country. We need his leadership. We need Kamala Harris leadership, and its going to save countless lives