here just today. and what happened is that he has lit a fire under his followers and he can't turn that off. so even though he says that now from his perspective he wants them to turn their affections to hillary clinton, because he is ready to do that, they're not ready. they want to see a completely different kind of democratic party, and they are not persuadable. so how does he do that tonight? that's the real question for bernie sanders and for this party. steve? >> andrea mitchell down there on the floor. you see in the upper left-hand corner of the screen it is now 4:00 eastern time here. 4:00 is when this session is scheduled to get under way. we are keeping an eye on that podium. we're getting a little word it may be a few-minute delay. what a shock in politics, they may not be on time today, but the start of this convention apparently a few minutes away. we'll see stephanie rawlings blake, the mayor of baltimore,

maryland, she will be filling in for the role that debbie wasserman schultz, congresswoman from florida and outgoing share of the democratic national committee had badly, badly wanted to play herself. kelly o'donnell, she joins us now as well. she has been following this story. kelly, what do you have? >> well, we are in the new york delegation here. this, of course, is home turf for hillary clinton. we are awaiting the lectern to rise. but let me show you what i just spotted here on the floor. come with me, if you would. talk about the emotion over the last few days. feel the bern. i have not introduced myself to this man as i am touching his back, but he is telling us a lot about what has been happening here. that energy, that excitement has fueled a lot of what has gone on. as we have been reporting, to bring our viewers up to where we are now, the energy behind many of those supporters who were so angry about what they learned about the wikileaks and the e-mail, it didn't take much for them to get riled up again after

supporting bernie sanders through the primaries. they helped to push this idea that if debbie wasserman schultz were to come to this stage and to speak and to hand the gavel over to the permanent chair that they were going to use that moment to make their displeasure known. and that became clear. that word filtered out to top democratic officials, to the florida delegation, to wasserman schultz herself, and certainly to the clinton campaign. that set off that chain of events that resulted in wasserman schultz removing herself with all of -- mindful of all that pressure and now we await where she is, what she will do and we have a very big night coming up with bernie sanders speaking, michelle obama speaking, and i'm told that mrs. obama is likely to not do any kind of a walk-through. she has been in these settings before, so she won't need that typical sort of advance look at the stage. i'm also told by sources that bernie sanders will try to use his time for unity, not to

inflame the passions of those voters and delegates who support him to look for some other outcome. to not add oxygen to the fire that's been going on the last couple of days, but to try to argue the case for hillary clinton and against donald trump. this arena stage and this place is getting packed with the 4700 delegates who will be here. it's going to be quite something. the band has been loud, they have been playing chicago music. a note to hillary clinton's hometown. and we await the start of this convention. it's going to be four days that are starting off with a wild ride. unity is what they're hoping for. let's see if they can pull that off. steve. >> all right, kelly o'donnell on the floor. maybe it was chicago music earlier, but i don't know if you can hear at home, they have got detroit. that's motown behind me, stevie wonder, up tight, 1965. i could be the dj too if we need one here. instead let's go to jacob soboroff. jacob soboroff also on the floor. he is with the vermont

delegation. look, vermont, bernie sanders' home state. he got almost 90% of the vote there when he ran in that primary. that is a very pro-sanders delegation. jacob, what kind of reaction are we expecting from those sanders delegates when this convention gets under way? >> that is what we are going to be watching very closely up here, steve. kelly said there are 4700 delegates here. think about this, this is twice as many almost as were at the republican national convention. so when we talk about the floor, that's why it extends up here into essentially what is the rafters. we're not down on the floor at all. i'm here with tim german, the vice chairman of the delegation from vermont. big news today, debbie wasserman schultz is not going to be gaveling in. is that something that you all i would imagine are happy with. i don't want to put words in your mouth, you tell me. >> i don't like the word "happy" but i think it was time and it's a good move for the party. >> are you guys comfortable supporting hillary clinton as your nominee at this point? >> i think many of us are. we're here to celebrate the

incredible run of bernie sanders and all that he's done for the campaign. we're looking forward to a message of unity tonight and just the danger of supporting donald trump and getting everybody on board. >> after last week we saw a big fight about the rules on the first night of the republican convention. is there anything from your delegation which has 100% pledged delegates for bernie sanders that you're going to stand up and fight for, make noise in some way to disrupt the program? >> not to disrupt. i think people are pretty happy with the compromise that was reached. in the rules committee. a lot of us wanted changes. i'm a superdelegate, i wanted changes to the superdelegate system. i think their unity commission is on the right path and i think it's going to yield great results and have a much more democratic process. >> you're a superdelegate, bernie sanders is a superdealt and this unity commission is going to study the idea of superdelegates. it will be up to the dnc next time around, but there's a lot more business going to happen here tonight before that, and i'm going to throw it back to you.

>> all right, jacob. so yeah, as you mentioned, over 4,000, well over 4,000 delegates here at the convention. bernie sanders won more than 1700 of them in the democratic primaries this year. 1700 bernie sanders delegates here today. again, we heard kelly o'donnell reporting that tonight when bernie sanders makes that primetime speech, a speech many people have been looking forward to, she says that her reporting indicates it's going to be a very positive message. it's going to be a very pro hillary clinton, a very pro unity message. but again the question isn't so much what is bernie sanders going to say as it is how will his delegates and how will his supporters respond to that. you saw bernie sanders speaking to supporters earlier today. when he got to the portion of his speech where he called for unity, where he called for support for hillary clinton, he was met with boos and so that's the question tonight. one of the questions that hangs over this convention as we look ahead to the first night. nearly 2,000 bernie sanders

delegates, if there is a full-throated call for party unity from bernie sanders, are they going to cheer or are they going to do something else. let's bring in christina shockey, the deputy communications director for the clinton campaign. let me ask you that question. bernie sanders has been saying publicly all the things you'd like to hear him say, but you heard that response from sanders' supporters today. they're not responding the way you want them to. >> i think sometimes that happens in campaigns, especially campaigns like this that were spirited and tough fought. sometimes the supporters take a little longer to come along. we saw that in 2008. when hillary gave the speech, there were a lot of tears from her delegates. 40% of her supporters said they would never vote for president obama. so we understand this was a process, people really were devoted to his campaign. he ran a great campaign. >> tonight, what you're talking about that transition from a loyalist who's disappointed to

looking toward november. tonight is the night to make that happen. >> and senator sanders has played such an important role in this. he himself has said it's a tough fought campaign. she won and he's going to do everything possible to make sure donald trump does not become president of the united states and elect hillary clinton because of the values they share. we're really proud that our campaigns have worked so closely together these last three weeks. on the commission on superdelegates, coming together to build the most bold and progressive platform the democratic party has ever had, and we did that together. >> have you talked to -- has your campaign talked to sanders, the sanders campaign, about hillary clinton and bernie sanders campaigning together this fall? >> you saw them campaigning together, last week in new hampshire. they're going to be working together. our campaigns have really, really come together in the last few weeks. we're proud of what we've done together and he's going to play an important role making sure she's elected as president of the united states.

>> he said, look, hillary clinton's choice of tim kaine to be the vp, she won, that's her choice, but he was also disappointed in that choice. walking around town here, talking to these sanders delegates, again, we say nearly 2,000 of them here, when i ask at this point what are you most disappoint disappointed in, that's the answer i'm hearing the most, the vice presidential selection. >> i think people will get to know tim kaine and see a progressive fighter that he is. hillary really chose him because he's a person that's made a real difference in the lives of american families in virginia and in the senate. so she's really proud of his record. he's been a real fighter from when he was a civil rights attorney working on housing discrimination cases. she's really proud of his record as a progressive and i think people will get to know him. >> but i think the issue is trade an you know what i'm talking about. supporting tpp, now maybe walking that position back a little bit. >> hillary has been very clear that she has a very set criteria for all trailed deals and tpp

didn't meet it. that's something that she and senator kaine talked about in the process and he is supportive of hillary's position on this. >> let me ask you about the situation with debbie wasserman schultz. >> yes. >> yesterday we got news around this time yesterday that she would be stepping down as the chair of the dnc effective the end of the convention. her statement said i intend to open the convention, i intend to close the convention and i intend to speak at the convention. actually i'm going to interrupt this conversation. they are dimming the lights, i'm hearing some stirring in the crowd. we don't have anybody walking on the stage yet, as soon as they do, we'll go back to it. >> it's very exciting here. >> we're waiting for something to happen any minute. >> but let me ask you, though, so yet she's going to open it, she's going to close it, she's going to speak. >> yes. >> why is now she not doing this? >> this is really a testament to debbie wanting to unify the party. you know, she resigned because she wanted to bring this party together and she didn't want to be a distraction this week. today she decided she needed to

take it a step further and that's really a testament to her belief in the democratic party and really wanting this to be a great convention. >> we've got -- we've got some activity on the stage. it looks like they're going to open this convention. let's take a look and take a listen. ♪ mine eyes have seen the glory ♪ ♪ of the coming of the lord

♪ he is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored ♪ ♪ he hath have loosed the faithful lightning of his terrible swift sword ♪ ♪ his truth is marching on ♪ glory, glory hallelujah ♪ glory glory hallelujah

♪ glory glory hallelujah ♪ his truth is marching on ♪ i have seen him in the watch towers of a hundred circling camps ♪ ♪ they have builded him an altar in the evening dews and damps ♪ ♪ i can read his righteous

sentence in the dim and flaring lamps ♪ ♪ his day is marching on ♪ glory glory hallelujah ♪ glory glory hallelujah ♪ glory glory hallelujah ♪ his truth is marching on

♪ with t that transfigures you and me ♪ ♪ as he died to make men holy ♪ let us die to make men free ♪ while god is marching on

♪ glory glory hallelujah ♪ glory glory hallelujah ♪ glory glory hallelujah ♪ his truth is marching on ♪ glory glory hallelujah ♪ glory glory hallelujah ♪ glory glory hallelujah ♪ his truth is marching on

>> there it is, that was the battle hymn of the republic, the formal proceedings of the democratic convention in philadelphia just getting under way. we are still waiting for this convention to be formally gavelled to order. again, as we said, the drama that has led into this convention came to a peak just a few hours ago when debbie wasserman schultz, now the outgoing chair of the democratic national committee, announced that not only will she be resigning as the chair of this convention but she will not be a part of this convention in any formal way. she will not gavel it to order, she will not gavel it to a close, she will not be speaking

to the democratic convention. instead, it will be stephanie rawlings blake, which is the mayor of baltimore, maryland. and here she is. >> i am mayor stephanie rawlings blake, mayor of the great city of baltimore and second of the democratic national committee and temporary secretary of the democratic national convention. it is an honor and a pleasure to welcome you, delegates, alternates, standing committee members and all of our honored democrats and other guests here in philadelphia. and all of you who have joined us by television, by radio and online here in the united states and around the world. i here by call the 47th quadrennial democratic convention to order.

>> and there it is. the 2016 democratic national convention is officially under way and you will note the reaction from the crowd right there. there's the official gavel. there it is. now it's officially under way. i jumped the gun there a second ago. again, think of what this place just sounded like as you heard that and now imagine what it could have sounded like if debbie wasserman schultz had gone through with her stated plan to speak to this convention right now. again, nearly 2,000 bernie sanders delegates in attendance. they have been booing every mention of her name this week, i can tell you, since i've been down here. not an exaggeration here. andrea mitchell, the moment has come, the moment has passed. for democrats, crisis averted? >> crisis averted for now. i mean the fact is that every

time hillary clinton and tim kaine's name was mentioned earlier when bernie sanders was addressing them, they were booed. he did try to say, look, this is our reality and they weren't listening to that. so this would have been a real crisis. if this floor had erupted into boos at the opening of the convention, this was the nightmare of the clinton campaign. a lot of effort went into persuading debbie wasserman schultz to stand down and let mayor rawlings take her place. it was a really tough decision for her, but she was standing in the way of a smooth opening and now i think they can get under way. they were preceded by mother bethel ame baptist church, so it was a strong signal in the battle hymn of the republic rendition of unity and faith as they try to emphasize what they're wanting to do tonight, steve, and not the dissention of the last 24, 48 hours.

>> so in front of the curtain everything going smoothly. a lot of that behind-the-curtains drama in very public view. we still have with us christina shockey from the clinton campaign. i do want to ask you -- >> yes. >> -- did hillary clinton herself at any point in these last 24 hours have to get on the telephone, have to sit down and talk with debbie wasserman schultz and say, listen, i would really appreciate it if somebody else was bang that gavel? >> this was debbie's decision. this was something she did because she felt it was right. the truth is debbie has been such a fighter for the democratic party, leading our party for the last five years. she was instrumental in the re-election of president obama in 2012. she has been just a tireless fighter for progressive causes. so this was a decision she needed to make. it was one she did on her own. it was hard, because she's really been, as i said, a tireless fighter as the head of our party for the last five years. >> we've got kelly o'donnell still standing by on the floor. again, kelly, a couple of hours

ago we were bracing to hear hundreds and maybe thousands of people booing in here. different story. what are you hearing right now? >> so we're having a little difficulty hearing you. okay, hey, steve, so i am right below the lectern where stephanie rawlings-blake opened this convention to a very well received rousing reception. we're actually kind of crouching down here because we've been asked to kind of take a low position so people can see what's happening. we are here between the delegations of virginia and new york. obviously those are two key delegations at the top of this ticket, with hillary clinton of new york selecting senator tim kaine of virginia. part of what we have now is sort of the visuals, the getting people excited. we'll be hearing music. it's going to be four days with a lot of substantive work they need to do, but it's also four days all about trying to create

party unity. and that has been hitting some speed bumps in the last 48 hours with choosing stephanie rawlings-blake, mayor of baltimore, a bright star in the party, someone that could have a big national role going forward, that was a choice that prevented a chaotic booing situation if debbie wasserman schultz had in fact come to the stage. so we've seen that unfold. certainly the clinton campaign, the democratic party, want to turn that page and get into the convention itself. so that's what we're going to watch. tonight, of course, we'll hear from elizabeth warren, a star of the progressive left, bernie sanders, who has lit the progressive left on fire during his run, and then, of course, michelle obama. back to you, steve. >> kelly o'donnell on the floor there. again, the 2016 democratic national convention now under way. the commotion behind me, they just brought the group boys 2

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all right. we are back to the wells fargo center near philadelphia, pennsylvania. you can see the 2016 democratic convention is under way. now, earlier today all of the drama we've been talking about here with debbie wasserman schultz and her relationship with bernie sanders, bernie sanders supporters, well, bernie sanders spoke to his supporters earlier today and he talked about the idea of party unity, talked the idea of supporting hillary clinton, and he got booed. that's something that's on a lot of people's minds right now, looking forward to tonight and his speech. kasie hunt is down there with a sanders supporter who was at

that meeting today. kasie, what do you have? >> hi, steve. this is the california delegation which is one of the larger delegations here in this hall. obviously many supporters. yes, hillary clinton supporters but also sanders folks. we found one of them who was at that event yesterday. sanders spoke to all of his delegates, about 1900 of them. this is alexis edelstein and you booed, why? >> yes. we think bernie is still the candidate to win. we don't want trump any more than anyone else wants trump. it's up to the superdelegates to make that decision. in the polls hillary is losing. that's why superdelegates come into play in the first place this. we don't want trump to win. so if we support hillary, we believe trump will win. >> there you have it, steve. it was remarkable there, i did

not hear chants of "lock her up" although i have heard reports of that. did you chant that? >> earlier in the breakfast meeting we did chant that a little bit. i mean at this point that's what she is and that's what the right is going to do, so we need to get that exposed now, so that the superdelegates understand are are the poll numbers are what the poll numbers really are. we don't want hillary nominated because we do not want trump to win. >> are you going to watch her speech on thursday night? >> i don't know. we'll see what happens. it's definitely going to hurt the ears if we do stay and watch it. but, you know, there's some people that may be thinking about leaving. >> walking out in the middle? so that's the kind of moment we'll be looking for here, steve, how many of those they avoided. one just now having stephanie rawlings-blake open this convention instead of debbie wasserman schultz. but there's still plenty of opportunities for sanders supporters to make sure that their voices are heard here on this convention floor, steve. >> all right, kasie hunt with the california delegation. that's an interesting justification for the "lock her

up" chant. he said apparently maybe it will help hillary clinton and help democrats unify. at least if i heard that right. let's bring in chris cillizza and beth fuey. beth, let's start with you. bernie sanders, all indications are he's going to walk to that podium tonight and say very favorable things about hillary clinton, about uniting the party, about defeating donald trump. it is an open question whether these sanders delegates here today want to hear that. >> oh, yeah. i think we can expect that there's going to be a lot of noise and a lot of pushback. even at the event kasie discussed with that delegate, it was stunning when bernie sanders said you need to vote for hillary, the boos at that event were almost like the ted cruz boos last week in cleveland. sanders seemed genuinely stunned that they reacted that way. on the one hand that maybe could have let out a lot of the steam and the delegates felt like they had their say there and won't do

that here, but it's unlikely. as we can tell, there's still a lot of emotion among these sanders delegates. they're very upset about what happened with debbie wasserman schultz, and the e-mails, the wiki leak, and they're going to make that noise on the floor of this convention. >> and chris cillizza, the idea for democrats, if you want to judge today a success or a failure, are we talking tomorrow morning about unity issues in the democratic party. they dodged a bullet with debbie wasserman schultz, no public displays of booing here, but that's what we're going to figure out tonight with that sanders speech and the reaction. >> yeah. well, look, speech, if the speech he gave earlier there may be nothing they can do about it. he gave a speech in which he said now is the time to turn to hillary clinton and tim kaine and people booed. you know, i'm not sure what elelse if you're bernie sanders that you can do. you're absolutely right, they avoided a major problem by putting debbie wasserman schultz out there. she would have been heavily booed and that would have made the entire day, that combined

with what happened in the florida delegation breakfast this morning. but, you know, sanders, elizabeth warren, cory booker, this is a liberal's dream, these candidates are going to be fired up on the floor. and i think, you know, bernie sanders can't -- he can't say now let me say before i say hillary clinton and tim kaine, don't boo, right? so in some ways there's nothing they can do about it. it's a question of how much of the people that bernie sanders energized, how much are they willing to listen to him. if earlier is an indication, the answer may be not as much as they would like. >> chris stand by. beth too. we've got the presentation of colors here. let's take a look. >> and to the republic for which is stands, one nation, under god, with liberty and justice for all. >> that's the presentation of

colors here. again, the democratic convention, the formal proceedings just getting under way. chris cillizza, let me ask you too about another speaker tonight. we talked so much about bernie sanders, but another favorite of bernie sanders supporters is elizabeth warren. actually -- hold that for a second. we're going to take the national anthem here. ♪ by the dawn's early light ♪ what so proudly we hailed ♪ at the twilight's last gleaming ♪ ♪ whose broad stripes and bright stars ♪ ♪ through the perilous fight ♪ o'er the ramparts we watched ♪ were so gallantly streaming

♪ and the rockets' red glare ♪ the bombs bursting in air ♪ gave proof through the night ♪ that our flag was still there ♪ ♪ o say does that star-spangled banner yet wave ♪ ♪ o'er the land of the free ♪ and the home of the brave

>> that was 13-year-old bobby hill singing the national anthem here in philadelphia, pennsylvania. we have seen this convention gavelled to order in the last few minutes with stephanie rawlings-blake from maryland. ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the co-chairs of the credentials committee.

>> hello to all of the participants in the 2016 democratic national convention. it is an honor to have served as a co-chair of the credentials committee along with my friend, lorraine miller. on sunday, the credentials committee adopted the report that is now contained in the standing committee report. consideration of this report is the first order of business for this 47th democratic national convention so that delegates and alternates here today can be officially seated. i am proud to say that there are no unresolved credentials issues to be decided by the credentials committee.

this nominating process was an extraordinary marathon of contests. there was historic voter turnout and an enthusiasm about the election that engaged and encouraged people to participate for the first time. this enthusiasm has carried on even after the last contest, which was in washington, d.c., and i'm excited that we all stand united here today to get on with nominating the next president of the united states. i am pleased that as part of this committee's report to the convention the democratic party recognizes that we are stronger together and we make a priority of ensuring the diversity of our party is highlighted. it is now my pleasure to turn this over to my co-chair, lorraine miller.

>> thank you, jim. just let me just add my thanks for the opportunity to serve as a co-chair of the credentials committee. all 57 of our state and territorial parties worked diligently tone sure that their delegations to the convention look like america, and as a result of their hard work, we have the most diverse convention ever. we are proud that the diversity represented and the participants of this convention highlight a core value of our party. that is, ensuring that all americans regardless of sex,

race, age, color, creed, national origin, religion, economic status, sexual orientation, gender identity, ethnic identity or physical disability should be able to achieve the american dream. madam chair, on behalf of the other credential committee officers and committee members, i move the adoption of the credentials committee report. >> so just to let you know

what's going on here, what you've been hearing, this is the formal seating of the delegates. we mentioned well over 4,000 delegates attending this convention. each one of these states has to submit a plan for how it will seat, how it will choose its delegates. they are certifying that all of the delegates here today come in accordance with those plans. kelly o'donnell is on the floor right now with a bernie sanders supporter. kelly. >> well, steve, we are here with jeff day, who is a delaware delegate. you were one of those people that i could see shouting for bernie sanders as this convention was getting rolling. why did you feel a need to express those feelings? and what were you trying to say? >> i think a lot of us have been quiet for a long time. i've been in the democratic party since i was 18 years old. my mom had he out at conventions and rallies when i was growing up, picketing, canvassing, and i think now for the first time i'm realizing that there's a lot of people across this country who think like me, who are '

empathetic as i am. bernie coming out and the movement that he started, the people that he's attracted let a lot of us know that we're not alone and there's people across this country who think and believe as we do. >> and do you believe this convention is hearing that? what is the point in your judgment about making a splash and getting attention? >> i think the first thing -- i was at a rally yesterday and a march with a blacks for bernie bus and we heard dws was going to resign. that's probably the first positive point that we've had in regards to the establishment connection with the bernie delegate campaign. >> is not having her onstage important to you? >> that was important to me, but i think that the clinton campaign kind of shot themselves in the foot when they named her as a ceremonial co-chair to her campaign. you can't with one hand take her away and say that it's because of the bad things that she's done and then bring her onto your campaign. >> so what you're seeing here, if you can hear this. i don't mean to cut off kelly

o'donnell, but barney frank just called to the stage and you did hear some loud boos, both as he took the stage and as he started to speech. debbie wasserman schultz may have been enemy number one of the bernie sanders' campaign when they looked to the democratic establishment, but barney frank is probably enemy number two. he as has an official capacity here with the democratic national committee. there were rumblings -- the sanders campaign said that they wanted him removed from that position. they did not consider him neutral. they thought he made comments during the primary season that were disparaging to bernie sanders. you did hear when he took the stage some very loud boos from sanders supporters and again when he began to speak. you're watching msnbc's live coverage of the democratic national convention here in philadelphia. we're going to squeeze a quick break in and be right back to continue our coverage right after this. crowd sounds ]

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all right. we're back here in philadelphia at the democratic national committee, keeping an eye on the podium here. we're going to check in on the podium.

i think congressman marcia fudge has taken to the podium. let's take a listen. >> because we have a choice, a profound choice this november. and we have to make this choice in a time when this nation finds itself at the crossroads of histo history. a time of great promise, progress and potential. but also a time of social unrest, hate speech and war. hillary clinton was born for such a time as this. and that is why -- and that is why we are going to have a different kind of convention than the one we saw in cleveland last week.

because hillary clinton and tim kaine want to build an economy that works for everyone. not just the people at the top. an economy -- an economy where everyone pays their fair share, an economy where if you work hard, you can get ahead and stay ahead. hillary clinton and tim kaine want to bring steady and stable leadership to the world. they will work with our allies to keep america and the rest of the world safe and secure. hillary clinton and tim kaine -- >> well under way now. the campaign rhetoric is being dusted off. this is officially a political convention now and i'm joined by steve israel, congressman from new york. congressman, thanks for joining us. well, let me ask you about the start of this. look, you guys dodged a public relations bullet in terms of debbie wasserman schultz not coming on the stage.

you didn't hear any boos. i did hear some boos just before we went to a break there. barney frank, a hillary clinton supporter who a lot of sanders people had not been fair to them, he did get some booing. what do you make of the opening hour here at the convention? >> well, you are looking and your viewers are looking at the most diverse convention in political history. when you have that kind of diversity, you're going to have a diversity of opinion. we are united on some fundamental things, including we are not going to let donald trump be president and lead this country into anger, vilification and fear. >> we're going to go back to -- who am i checking in with here, tell me. >> we're going to go back to the podium here. >> we are going to unite and we're going to make history. and we're going to do everything we can to elect hillary clinton and tim kaine.

hillary clinton, this is your time. this is our time. delegates, democrats, let the convention begin! and may i -- may i just make a point. may i just make a point. there are many of you that do not know me in this room, but let me say to you, i intend to be fair, i want to hear the varying opinions here. i am going to be respectful of you and i want you to be respectful of me.

>> jacob soboroff, you're standing by. what are you hearing? >> hey, steve. so i'm down here on the floor. take a look up here, there is anti-tpp that went up at the mention of clinton and kaine. this gentleman here, come on over, sir. he's got buttons on, we want bernie, justice or bust. what were those boos about earlier? >> it's about distrust. it's about a ticket that is the presumptive ticket and a lot of people in this room do not believe that they're going to deliver on the rhetoric that's being presented at the dais right now. >> hillary clinton originally said that the tpp was the gold standard and later came out against it. is the booing against tim kaine, her running mate? >> nobody believes her on tpp. her delegates voted down an initiative that would have struck down tpp.

those are her delegates, those are her surrogates. from our perspective she's done a double flip on tpp. people don't trust tim kaine because of his close ties to wall street. >> where are we right now, what delegation are you with? >> pennsylvania delegation. >> all right, the home state delegation. of course he's referring to the fight on the platform over the transpacific partnership, steve. many people say that the opposition to that within the platform committee came from president obama himself. i'm going to send it back to you. >> all right, jacob soboroff here. we still have congressman steve israel standing by. you see there is some dissent right now. >> well, some of the protesters are concerned about tpp. i'm concerned about tpp, so is hillary clinton. >> she picked a running mate who's for it, though. >> again, we are a diverse party and we have a diversity of opinion on specific issues. but what counts to the american people is, am i safe in this country? are we securing our future?

is my kid's college debt to high and do i have a voice in democracy? democrats are united and we're going to go on and defeat donald trump who is abysmal on those issues. >> you heard the reaction to bernie sanders supporters when he said we need to get behind hillary clinton. there was booing in that room. when he says that tonight, what do you think we're going to hear? >> they have the right to express themselves and i have the right to express myself. but we have to do it with respect and we have to do it focused on the importance of winning this election. we all have the rights to our opinion, but we've got to win this election. the only thing that -- look, can it be worse for us? yeah, we could be the republicans at their convention last week which makes us pale in comparison. >> but it looks like they got a bounce out of that convention. there's a poll today that has donald trump three points up over hillary clinton. >> show me a convention, show me a bounce. after this hillary clinton will get that bounce and she'll sustain it and be our next president and stand up for the american people. >> do you think the dnc story, we had the leaks that came out

that precipitated everything we've been talking about with debbie wasserman schultz, do you think that story is now over or is there more to unfold there? >> it should be over. debbie wasserman schultz did the right thing. she realized it was a distraction and she made the decision to remine from the chairmanship. she did the right thing for her party. now we have to focus on issues that most americans are focused on. what are they focused on? my taxes, whether there's traffic, is it safe abroad and at home and do i have a decent future. those are the issues that we need to be focused on. this is not about who the dnc chair is, it's about who the next president is. >> what about bernie sanders, his role this fall. what do you expect from him? do you think you'll see him on the campaign trail with hillary clinton? >> i do believe that. he ran a great campaign. i have to give him credit, a terrific campaign. he really helped start a movement. now that movement has to coalesce around a democratic presidency versus a donald trump presidency. i think he'll play a very active role making sure that happens. >> in terms of president obama

and his role going forward, what do you expect? his legacy, presidents when they get to the end of the second term, they want somebody from their party to succeed them. >> there's no question president obama will play a major role, so will joe biden. you'll see a democratic unity coming out of this convention and in place through the election. the stakes are too high. we cannot be divided. division elects donald trump. there's not a single person in this room, no matter how passionate they are, that believes in that prospect. >> are you surprised, though, there's a poll today and you're saying there's a convention bounce that will get flattened out by what happens here as the business continues behind us here. are you surprised when you see these polls that show such a close race? >> no. first of all, i think we should discount polling. i chaired the democratic congressional campaign committingy for four years. it's a polarized environment. the polls have been generally wrong. the only poll that counts is the one we'll see on election day. if you look at electoral college

states, i think we're doing pretty well. >> congressman, appreciate that. we'll go back over and check in with jacob soboroff who's with some of the delegates on the floor. what do you have? >> i'm up here in the oregon delegation. i've been following the trail of these anti-tpp signs. you're holding up an anti-tpp sign. how come hillary clinton says she's now against the tpp. >> well, she says she's against it but all of her supporters in the committee have voted for it. well, they didn't vote it down, let's put it that way. so we're here to say that since both candidates are against the tpp, there's no reason now for it to be part of the party platform. >> congressman fudge from the stage called for respect and said she was going to be respect. . she wants people out here to be respectful. what does that mean to you? >> well, i absolute low believe that we should respect one another, but we should also respect the democratic process. so if the people are saying this is something that they believe in strongly, then perhaps it should be brought up for a floor vote. >> do you intend to continue

protesting? this is -- you're using a visual sign to protest. are you going to protest throughout the convention? >> possibly. we'll see how it goes. we'll see what happens with the floor vote and see if anything goes down. >> you're looking for a floor vote on the tpp? >> that's what we're hoping for. at the very least we're trying to bring some visibility to it so that the party is aware that this is something that their delegates are quite passionate about, yes. >> i appreciate that. and it's quite an effort, steve, to hold up a sign like that. they have continued to do that. we'll see how long they can actually do it. >> yeah. so, jacob, we've got a dispute then breaking ou in the public here. tpp, no mystery that's been an animating issue for bernie sanders and his campaign. that's the issue more than anything else when he talks about tim kaine, hillary clinton's choice for the running mate slot there, he says it wouldn't have been his choice. when you hear from bernie sanders and certainly when you hear from his supporters, this

is one of the biggest things that's keeping them it seems from being at least the supporters here that's keeping them from being enthusiastic about this clinton ticket is tim kaine right now. at least that's what they're telling me. >> you know, it's actually interesting. as you were saying that, i thought donald trump is against the tpp. let me just ask you, donald trump is against the transpacific partnership. would you consider voting for donald trump over that? >> i'm not planning on voting for donald trump but i haven't made up my mind yet as far as other candidates. >> you may vote for other some candidate. >> i may. >> but no donald trump. >> no donald trump. >> it's interesting to see how many folks end up feeling that way. >> that's the interesting thing. there was a poll not long ago that actually showed, from pew, i think, that showed 85% of the democrats who voted for sanders in the primaries are saying that they're onboard with hillary clinton and that is something i've noticed in talking to some of the sanders supporters around here the past day or two. they will preface, often, they

will preface their criticisms of hillary clinton, their criticisms of the process, their criticisms of debbie wasserman schultz with a statement that they don't believe donald trump is fit to be president, that they don't want donald trump to be president, that they resent the idea that donald trump thinks he can go after their votes. a lot of sanders supporters i've talked to have prefaced their comments with some kind of mention of that. but then again, once they get that out of the way, you hear the objections to tpp, you harry the objections to how the dnc handled themself during this process, how they denied trying to tip the scales, only to be undercut by all of these e-mails that have come out. you hear their objections to tim kaine. tim kaine, hillary clinton's choice to be the running mate. no indication at all that any serious opposition or serious challenge on the floor is going to merge that, but we are looking ahead to that speech by bernie sanders tonight and just as importantly to the response to, to the reception that bernie sanders gets to that speech

tonight from these deglegates. those are all things going through the minds of sanders voters, so that's going to do it for this hour from the floor here at the wells fargo center in philadelphia. i'm steve kornacki. chuck todd will pick it up with "meet the press daily" and it starts right now. good evening, and welcome to msnbc's special coverage of the democratic national convention. i'm chuck todd inside the arena here at the wells fargo center in philadelphia where the convention is now officially under way and has been so about an hour. it's been kind of a raucous opening day, that's for sure. but tonight is opening night, and it's going to be something else as well. you're looking live at the convention floor which officially gavelled in last hour. currently on