Edition of Morning Joe. We hope you are enjoying your Labor Day weekend. Were on tape this morning bringing you some of our best discussion from the past two months, and we start today with our conversation the morning after Kamala Harris accepted her Partys Nomination for president on the Last Night of the dnc in chicago. Willie, you obviously are in chicago. Describe the scene if you will, because it is awfully hard you know, debates, ive heard one journalist after another say never try to judge how a debate turned out, president ial debate, when you are in the room. It is quite the opposite at a convention. You could walk into a convention, you can be watching it from you know, you had the Bob Uker seats which are usually the best seats to stand in, take it all in and say, okay, what is the state of this party. What is your answer to that . Youre right. John and i sat in section 315 Last Night eating those blackhawks and bulls nachos. Yummy. A pretzel with no salt. We really had the full experience up there. Thats where we were sitting, right up there. Youre right, joe. You could really drink it in and watch the entire scene play out. We have all been to political events where the enthusiasm feels a little manufactured, where people have to be told when to cheer and what to do. Yes. This is not that. It very well might have been if Joe Biden had not stepped out of the race. Theres a lot of talk about the Parallel Universe where Joe Biden stays in and what this might have felt like. But when you looked at that room Last Night, joy was the Word Weve been hearing all week. It was there as reverend Al Sharpton made clear in his speech, shouting about joy. Also, john, you Cant Mistake again Last Night, and i would say more than any night, the level of patriotism in the room, which is you look down from where we were sitting and just a sea of american flags being waved. Signs, chants at every turn about the united states military, Members Of Congress who have served in the military all coming out on stage, and a unifying message from Vice President harris Last Night, which was not a Base Play but a play to the groups of people she knows she needs to win this election, swing states, and, frankly, even to republicans. She is saying, the door is open. If you are disillusioned by what you watched from Donald Trump, if you are disillusioned by the last ten years, and we folD Covid into that as well, if you are tired of the past, come with us because were not going back, as she put it. She explicitly said she was appealing to americans whose vote she knows she didnt have yet. Speaker after speaker all week long focused on the battleground states, it was a roll call, arizona, north carolina, pennsylvania and the like. I think the Vice President Last Night checked every box her team wanted her to do. First with the biography, Leaning Into not just explaining herself to america who doesnt know her all that well yet, but linking her community to those who raised her, to the immigrant experience, to the experience of family, the experience of that love as she put it. She did indeed move to the middle on certain things, played up a lot on national security. In some ways she came across almost hawkish. She had to threads the needle on israel and gaza, a challenging moment for the administration. We should note, we shouldnt lose sight of perhaps the major Story Line coming into this convention was whether the protests were going to overwhelm them, whether it would be chicago 1968 again. It very much was not. There were protests, there were, especially that first night, but they were not nearly as large as they were anticipated to be and they certainly didnt get as violent, willie. So that, democrats breathed a sigh of relief. Last night we had the Vice President , you know, with the momentum of a strong convention behind her, you know, hit the ball out of the Park Yesterday and now heads into the next big centerpiece of this campaign, the debate in about two weeks. Joe, as we talk about this idea of patriotism and the greatness of america, i was struck, as im sure you were, Last Night at the Democratic National Convention how many times the Name Ronald Reagan was invoked, talking about the shining city on the hill. All of these themes that weve become accustomed to seeing at republican national conventions were here at a Democratic National Convention in 2024. It is a stark change from what republicans always attacked as the San Francisco democrats in 1984. It is a complete reversal. You have actually Walter Mondale never said he loved america, he never said the things about america that Donald Trump is saying now. It is actually far worse where the republicans have taken their party, saying we are a nation of losers, we are a nation we are a stupid nation, we are a nation in decline. I could go On And on, but the chants of usa throughout the week, im telling you that sends chills up and down the spines of republicans. They know the shoe is on the other foot now. The symbol of the flag taken from them. You look Last Night at all of the flag waving throughout the entire evening. It is pretty incredible again because you have republicans that are constantly trashing this country, and most americans love their country even if they know, you know, were always striving to be a more perfect union. Chris matthews, why does this matter . I remember you saying something a long time ago. I hope you remember saying it. Maybe you only said it one time, but it stuck with me as i was driving through working neighborhoods. You know, you grew up in a working Class Neighborhood in philly, and you said, you know what the Working Guy has, you know what the little guy has . Hes got the flag, thats what hes got, and he puts it out in front of his house because thats what hes got. It represents the country he loves, and it represents everything that hes striving to be. As i saw those flags Last Night i was thinking, yeah, that is such a powerful message to people who used to think they automatically had to vote republican. Yeah. Well, youre right, i did say that. It was a guy that told me its all ive got is the flag, it is my country where i served in the military. You know, Last Night and this whole week has been unbelievable for the democrats. The usa, the anthem, you could hear it underpinning every speech Last Night including kamala. You kept hearing that anthem of i love this country. Everything, speech writers, people dont talk about the speech writers, they put those speeches together. God, Michelles Speech was unbelievable. It was. It was unbelievable, but it wasnt just the drama, the way she presented it, it was the words she used. The language about it being a black job that trump is going for, thats what hes running against an american woman of color, hes running against her for a black job. It was a riot she could nail that so well. But the balloons came down. I have been to a half century of conventions, i have to tell you, back to 72, and i have to tell you the balloons coming down and that cascade. It wasnt just a few balloons, they kept coming down everywhere, giant balloons, kids were playing with them. It was really well produced, tuesday and Last Night, the speech requires got together with the candidates and politicians and worked it out so it was their speeches. I kept thinking, kamala has learned a lot over the years in politics. One thing she learned was talk about your parents and grandparents, bring it home to people. When you say Grandpa Finnegan, how many times did biden talk about his Grandpa Finnegan and what his father said when he said, joey, or his mother said joey. His homegrown feeling, she got it Last Night. She talked about her indian mother and how she taught her all of these things, these basic bromides about life. She didnt quote a philosopher, she quoted her mother who came over here i 59. I may not agree with the Hard Left on this, if they do get into the White House and it looks like they can do it, they can do it, be like this when you are in office. Dont switch to the old Hard Left. Do this even if it is tougher to get some republican votes. Be like this. Be like Last Night. The verse Last Night, it wasnt just sort of trumps Carnage Speech or the basic Medal Of Honor Winners and the horrible stuff. It was the look of the audience Last Night. It was more diverse than the Church Youll go to or synagogue, it was everybody there, the music, everything was black music, all kind of stuff, all kind of culture in the air. They were saluting that too. They werent just saying americA In theory, they loved the room they were in Last Night. Right, and and i thought it was powerful to look at that room. They have to bring that room into americA In the next couple of months. They have to act middleoftheroad general democrats. Thats what she is seen, a general, run of The Myth regular democrat. Not a lefty, a Hard Left, a prosecutor prosecuting a bad guy, but a regular democrat. Thats a good feeling. Black or white, regular democrats are not feared. It is the Hard Left we have to fear. Data point on that. It is so good. Before Joe Biden dropped out of the race there was a poll that was Joe Biden against generic republican and generic republican won by six points. Then it was Donald Trump versus generic democrat. The democrat won by seven points. Thats again, shes doing a lot to, again, try to stay more in the middle, like you are saying, chris. Which actually, ironically, if you look at her career thats where she is. 2020 was a stretch when the Democratic Party in the primary had gone far left and she was trying to fit into the box and people were like, why did she look so awkward at times then, but not now, it is because she was trying to follow where the party was. This actually is a more comfortable fit. You know, we had talked to Elizabeth Warren earlier talking about how progressives throughout the biden administration have been patient. Theyve been pragmatic. They havent done what right wingers and trumps party has done, which is to make americans go, whats wrong with those people. It reminds me of, like, the Logan Roy Line in succession which was the line of the season. Oh. Probably the best Television Line of the year. Just not serious people. Youre not serious people. When you look at the republicans and what theyre doing, you sit there and you go look at Donald Trumps tweets. Youre not serious people. You look at the democrats Last Night. A ton of progressives in that hall, a ton of progressives saying, were in it to win it. Thats a serious party. Yeah. Thats a party that has their eyes on the prize, and theyre not going to let ideology get in the way. Still ahead on Morning Joe, Fred Trump iii, formerpresident trumps nephew, joins us on why he believes in policies over politics, which is why hes supporting Kamala Harris this november. We talked to him about that and his new book. Thats next on Morning Joe. Why do couples choose a Sleep Number Smart Bed . I need help with her snoring. Sleep number does that. Thank you. During our biggest sale of the year, save 50 on the Sleep Number limited edition Smart Bed and free delivery when you add any base. Although most of the Trump Family usually puts out a united family behind Donald Trump, another member of the family is publicly breaking ranks. Fred trump iii has now come out in support of Kamala Harris. The endorsement comes as Fred Trump releases a new memoire which has the title All In The Family the trumps and how we got this way. In the book fred takes readers behind the scenes of the Family Dynamic he says helpeD Create the former president , and fred joins us now here onset. Good to see you. Thank you. Congratulations on the book. Thank you. Lets start simply with this. Why not . Why speak out now . There are two reasons, and we havent started now. My wife lisa and i have been advocating for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Our young son has complex disabilities. We have been doing so through the legislative and executive branch. We have met during Donalds Term with Cabinet Secretaries in a meeting that culminated in May Of 2020 in the Oval Office. So we havent just started. We waited for the book, we wanted to wait for william to become settled in a new home environment. He doesnt live with us now. He lives in a group home. We wanted him to be settled, but weve been thinking about this for a while. Tell us more about what Donald Trump has said about your son. Donald has never met william. In fact, No One in the trump two of my cousins have met william. So when he said what he did to me, when a fund that had been set up for williams health, for his therapeutic needs and i just want to clear something up. The reason a fund existed is because donald orchestrated a plan to take my sister and me out of my grandfathers inheritance, which went back days after william was released after seven weeks in hospital. Al, you will remember that. You have to remember donald was my trustee. He was supposed to protect me and my family. He did the exact opposite. So the fund was my money but i had to ask for it back, which was troubling. So when the fund was running low i called donald and i mentioned that, and he said, your son doesnt recognize you, let him die and move to florida. Now, i dont know how you can explain that away, the cruelty of that comment. But as you will read in All In The Family he had said something very similar in our last Oval Office meeting with a group of advocates. He haD Called me back into the office when those disbursed. He said those people, all of those expenses, they should just die. So it is hard to wrap your head around that. We should note Donald Trump disputes this account. He says in a statement, i helped him so much, more than anyone else in his life and this is the thanks that i get. Eric trump took to twitter, x Last Night, after decades of unwavering love, golf memberships, et cetera, et cetera, and you have decided to cash in now. Respond to what they were saying. The dynamic started when i was very young when i was able to grasp, and understand that i am one of the only people that knew donald in his formative years, through his Business Career and during his presidency and after. So i know donald as well as anybody. My father, his older brother freddie, wanted nothing to do with the Family Business, but my grandfather who was very tough wanted him to. My father wanted to be an Airline Pilot and wound up being an Airline Pilot in the early 60s. That was quite a feat. But donald, who was given The Path by my father to do what he wanted to do to run the Family Business just demeaned my father for no reason other than his need to feel superior to other people. And that led to issues with my dad unfortunately. People will say this is like the succession television show. I say no, it really isnt. In succession there were three siblings that wanted to take over the fathers business. My dad wanted no part of it. My dad wanted to be an Airline Pilot and became that. Again, he gave donald The Path, but donalD Crushed him. Fred, i want to go back to what you were saying about your sOn And Donald Trumps reaction, because one of the things that strikes me as you know, i have known Donald Trump for a while, pro anD Con relationship, is that the insensitivity that i might have marched on him about in terms of Central Park Five or something else is one thing. But to be insensitive to his own nephews condition, and it shows how he feels about people that have situations like what you and your wife are dealing with with your son. Right. That he really has no sensitivity toward people that are suffering or find themselves in a different situation, which is scary if you are going to make him President Of The United States. Yeah. Talk about just his lack of humanity and sensitivity. Well, i was listening to the segment before with Senator Kelly and the Immigration Policy and how donald and the new republicans, the republican party, which is not the republican party i remember, just everybody is a rapist, everybody is a criminal. The way i answer that question is, the caregivers that Take Care of my son william are from many of those same countries. They care for him every single day of his life. So donald does not respect people that he deems lesser than him. You know, fred, it also is interesting that he doesnt want to be in the presence of people with disabilities. You know, i remember the comments that he made to General Kelly right. Who was then his chief of staff. He said, nobody wants to see those people. Eric and donnie, we invited them to our house many years ago and they came. They saw william is wheelchair bound, needs assistance, everything. He is a wonderful young man. And im sure he has enriched your life. He is the most courageous and inspirational person i have ever met. Then you look at the evangelical community, and this circles back to you, rev. Im pretty sure that jesus spent a lot of time talking about taking care of the least among us. Right. Can you reconcile in your mind this enthusiasm among evangelical christians for a man who has advocated killing people, letting them die if theyre disabled because he doesnt like the way they look . I think they have the same End Goal in mind, just power and to push their goals. If you dont mind me going back again to Senator Kelly, and i hope this helps answer one of your questions. During the inauguration in 2017, my two older children were with us and sitting right behind m