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00:02four years ago he made us hope again
00:05yes we can now he wants to make us hope again again from charlotte north carolina
00:14this is the democratic national convention hope and change too sometimes the sequel is even better
00:22though not usually
00:43very excited to be here charlotte north carolina the queen city so named
00:48for the band that toured here in 1982
00:52we're thrilled to be at the imagine on theater it's a democratic national convention later on
00:56tom brokaw will join us to entertain
01:01he will be here to entertain us with his pronunciation of our host city
01:07horrible
01:12obviously last week we were in tampa with the republican national convention
01:14we are slowly working our way back home of course the theme of last week's convention
01:18we're not better off than we were four years ago hope and change were elected four years ago
01:26and where has that gotten us this president cannot tell us that you're better off today than when he
01:32took office sure he can he can say whatever he wants hey
01:35he's president still a free country until obama gets re-elected oh my god i fell into the trap
01:44it got me again the big set piece of the republican convention are you better off no now the next
01:52stage of the scripted dance journalists get in the face of prominent democrats and badger them to
01:57elicit a resounding yes can you honestly say that people are better off today than they were four years
02:04ago no but that's not the question of this election see it's just a scripted dance where
02:08every wait a second
02:16did you the democratic governor of maryland martin o'malley just uh say and i'm gonna check this
02:20quote very quickly no
02:24all right one surrogate down bring the big boys the president's campaign team on axelrod on cutter on
02:29block david can you honestly say that the average american is better off today than they were four
02:35years ago here's what i can say chris i can say that we're in a uh better position than we
02:41were
02:41four years ago i just want to remind you what was happening four years ago at this time listen george
02:46i think the american people understand that we uh got into a terrible economic situation no no they
02:53don't the american people don't understand that here's what the american people understand that getting
02:56free sandwich is a good reason for buying 10 other sandwiches that's what we understand here's what
03:01we the american people understand angels are real here's what we the american people understand that
03:09malcolm x was the leader of the x-men so i would urge you to stop with the whole jackie
03:20mason well if
03:21people understood me they went did we i don't know they understand the four years and just say
03:26yes we're better off sure why not are we yes of course because here's what your nuanced reasoning
03:32is going into the octagon against hi i'm chuck norris and this is my wife gina
03:42is he going to yell at an ottoman our great country and freedom are under attack our country as we
03:49know
03:49it may be lost forever if we don't change the course our country is headed we can no longer
03:54sit quietly or stand on the sidelines and watch our country go the way of socialism or something
04:01much worse we will preserve for our children this last best hope for man on earth or we will sentence
04:07them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness
04:25happy labor day
04:26happy day everybody
04:32wow
04:35now i may not agree that the state of the country is
04:38quite that dire
04:42but i just think chuck norris just pitched the perfect premise for an awesome chuck norris comeback film
04:47one man stands between america and a thousand years of darkness
04:55and that man
04:58is 72. chuck norris is texas rangers walker
05:06sometimes
05:12democrats democrats how do you get caught flat-footed
05:17on the better off question it's been the most important question an incumbent has had to face
05:21ever since ronald reagan laid out jimmy carter with it in 1980
05:25are you better off than you were four years ago
05:30and the answer to that question of course is we have and will always only be better off
05:35under the leadership of ronald reagan study your history people it's all there
05:42for god's sakes democrats do you even remember do you even remember obama used to be the challenger
05:53i don't quote ronald reagan that often but let me ask you a simple question are you better off than
05:59you were four years ago
06:02do you guys even have meetings
06:07you know what all right you didn't see it coming
06:09for the weekend news shows it's fine not gonna matter it's like the sats you just take them again
06:16and oh what a difference a good night's sleep can make are we better off today than we were four
06:23years ago when president obama was elected absolutely we are clearly better off as a
06:29country because we're now creating jobs rather than losing them oh better off for yes
06:42look clearly the democrats are having a more difficult time articulating their message this
06:46election but fear not we sent the best news team on television in the streets of charlotte to lend a
06:51hand four years ago america was inspired by an uplifting slogan yes we can later turned
06:59into an insufferable pop song yes we can this year the slogan is forward which sounds like the
07:06kind of thing that matthew broderick shouted at his soldiers in glory before they were shot to pieces
07:11the democrats clearly needed help let's think of a punchy slogan you can slap on a bumper sticker
07:17and that will make everyone excited for the four years ahead so so he didn't create this he inherited
07:23this i don't hate it but i definitely don't like it i'm looking for a like a three-word
07:28slogan moving on up moving on up we still have trials and tribulations and we're going to get
07:37through them do you know what a slogan is nobody's perfect nobody's perfect that's that's not bad
07:46it's pretty bad i feel worse than i did when we started this conversation well i do apologize that's
07:53not bad i do apologize oh i'm saying that oh okay okay he's trying the best that he can right
08:01he's
08:02trying the best that he can that's that's a pretty good slogan obama 2012 he's trying the best that he
08:10can
08:15he's trying the best that he can he's trying the best that he can yes that he can i think
08:21that
08:21he's been blocked by congress i think i really believe that there's been no compromise there
08:27he's trying the best that he can i don't love it and i do hate it so anything better it's
08:33just
08:34taken longer than we thought so some people started to lose hope i'm not sure that really
08:37works as a slogan are you excited to have the president re-elected job oh absolutely okay would
08:42you mind telling your face voice and personality about that excitement sure i'm real excited it's
08:49difficult to be president it's difficult to be president it is a very difficult job being
08:55president of the united states you're responsible for the entire country um uh slogan needs to be uh
09:03he doesn't know it's difficult to be president i told you it was not a good slogan it's a terrible
09:10slogan there are no bad ideas at this point slogan for future go let us do it okay so that's
09:17the bar
09:17that we're working from so i'm looking for a slogan what do you got yes we can yes we can
09:23yes we can
09:25is 2008. it's an old t-shirt to wear what do you got now yes we can but we need
09:30to wait that that was
09:32that was it say that again yes we can but that's it that's it yes we can but the european
09:44debt crisis
09:45is completely out of his control no way it's not his fault yes we can but you inherited crap i
09:52mean
09:52i mean bush was terrible yes we can but with three words and an extra word that will ring from
10:00coast to
10:01coast from sea to shining sea yes we can but yes we can but yes we can but yes we
10:11can but
10:12we can but yes we can but yes we can but yes we can but yes we can but yes
10:16we can but yes we can
10:21do that again we are here in uh we are here in charlotte north carolina i think i can honestly
10:34say
10:34it is one of the country's top carolinas now i can see why james taylor spends so much time here
10:42in
10:42his mind uh for more on the dnc host city we again turn to the best team jessica williams at
10:47nascar
10:48hall of fame samantha b at the convention center al madrigal on the scene and john oliver downtown
10:52which for some reason here is called uptown which i think we can all agree is stupid all right
11:00jessica we're gonna start with you uh jessica you're at the nascar hall of fame is that why
11:05democrats chose charlotte kind of gives a nod to the white male voter you know hey we're thinking
11:10about you too is that the symbolism uh is that fair to say no no not really you know what
11:17i don't think
11:17so i think it's more that nascar is a metaphor for the democratic party okay just driving around and
11:24around in circles covered with the logos of companies that own them and you know they're
11:30thinking to themselves we're getting somewhere right i mean we've been in this car for three hours
11:35never quite realizing that everyone else is just here waiting for them to flame out in the giant wreck
11:44so uh
11:50so it's not a nod no no all right sam b you're at the convention center that's right john charlotte
11:57fun
11:57fact they filmed some of the hunger games here at the convention center well that's a kind of a great
12:03choice it shows charlotte as a vibrant city uh attracting modern commerce the arts it's a great
12:09connection for the democrats to make yes that's the connection between the democratic convention and the
12:14hunger games it's not at all that both are gleaming facades masking a grim post-apocalyptic reality
12:22where children fight each other to the death in a land devoid of hope this is samantha b from charlotte
12:30north carolina for the daily show with john stuart john uh... al you're at uh you're at a local barbecue
12:41joint i'm assuming that symbolizes the smoking ruins of america's economy is that nope i was just
12:47passing by and smelled so good i had to stop because nobody does barbecue like north carolina
12:58it's really that good huh oh yeah it's amazing i mean do you know that any food you buy in
13:04north
13:04carolina is served on a biscuit i ordered a biscuit i ordered a biscuit it came inside another biscuit
13:13it's like turducken but all biscuit
13:17thank you al john oliver what have you seen in charlotte so far well first john let's be clear
13:22carolina barbecue tastes like that's a fact that's a fact that's a fact it goes it yes it does it
13:30goes
13:30texas barbecue korean barbecue no barbecue charlotte barbecue the point is this why are you trying to
13:39calm the crowd you're outside that's right i can hear please right oh i know i just i can it's
13:48just
13:48weird that's all just weird i can hear these peasants through the wall anyway the point is the point is
13:54john the charlotte i've seen so far meter side is a modern progressive city where none of the
14:01stereotypes of the old south apply i mean if you look right here i'm on stonewall street a street in
14:07the south honoring the stonewall riots that started of course the gay rights movement so progress yeah i
14:15don't think actually that that street is is honoring the gay rights movement i don't uh i'm pretty sure it
14:20is john this looks like a pretty gay street to me no i don't i'm pretty sure that that street
14:26is named after stonewall jackson the civil war general yeah general on the union side right now
14:33now oh jesus i've got to get the out of here john hey hey what's the quickest routes to the
14:40airport oh uh
14:41that um that would be billy graham parkway of course it is of course that's just perfect
14:48i get it i get it we'll be right back
14:56hey welcome back my guest tonight legendary newsman he's currently a special correspondent for nbc news
15:03his book the time of our lives a conversation about america is now out in the paperback form
15:08please welcome back to the program mr tom brokow
15:11thank you thank you very much how are you sir i'm very well thank you although i arrived
15:38just today and and went through the first of 104 security checkpoints and saw a large barred bus
15:46it's the department of prisons state of north carolina inmate transfer i thought that would be me
15:51inmate transfer i'm here you are here it is i'll tell you they have locked this city down although i've
15:57never been here before maybe that's just what it's like a truck
16:01that's so the bankers don't leave yes nicely done sir nicely done here we go how many of these let
16:09me
16:09ask you a question so so how many of these rodeos have you been to before this is my 24th
16:14began in 19
16:16what was your what was your first first one was 1968 in chicago that was a riot and a convention
16:21broke
16:21out it turned out so this is in an in a nation uh we've gone from do you think this
16:29year take out
16:30all the gates and all the police what do you think people running around with their shirts off getting
16:36beat on with sticks like would it have been would it have devolved has the entire it's an entirely
16:41different culture yeah 68 16 000 people were killed in vietnam linda johnson said i'm not running again
16:46gene mccarthy successfully challenged him dr king was killed bada kennedy was killed but we're heading
16:51into a thousand year uh darkness uh darkness i'm and i don't know that chuck norris can take care
16:57of it single-handedly anymore i'm a little worried about chuck norris but i'm really waiting to hear
17:02what dog the bonnie hunter has to say i think that would be i think that would be wise let
17:07me ask you
17:07something that has been driving me insane over these past few weeks of coverage no it is driving me insane
17:13and i'm obviously not that far from beginning with show them this is a clip from cnn after paul ryan's
17:18speech this will make you nuts in a powerful speech although i'd mark at least seven or eight
17:22points and i'm sure the fact checkers will have some opportunities to dispute if they want to go
17:27forward i'm sure they will we were jotting down points there will be some issues there with some
17:31of the facts but it motivated people when did fact checking and journalism separate
17:39and go their separate ways it feels like now what are the journalists doing at the convention
17:47other than deciding whether or not something helped one candidate or other if not fact checking what's
17:52your job then you're just an mc well you know what happened is that everything is so compressed so they
17:56were responding very quickly i had nightly news and uh nbc that night we were on google and other places
18:02looking at the ryan record looking at the janesville plant when it was idled when it was actually
18:07closed who voted for the bailout paul ryan did as well but what happens now john in this world in
18:14which we both occupy um i like to think we're at a little higher level over here i like i
18:19like how
18:19you threw in an occupy reference smart for the kids everything is so compressed everything happens at
18:28warp speed and but it doesn't have to the convention is over a three-day period it's 24-hour coverage
18:38it feels like we are making it seem as though it's warp speed and we've brought a level of urgency
18:46to
18:46something that you could sit back and actually take your time with no well i do think that that's true
18:52and that uh i think part of the reason that we have the kind of lower viewership that we do
18:57now
18:57everybody understands that this is sanitized and scrubbed and buttoned up i mean these delegates
19:02that arrive in the floor for example they're told where to sit when to stand what to say how to
19:07attack
19:07the opposition and don't get out of line so there's not almost are the delegates actually coached
19:12officially are they brought there they're briefed before they go out there on the floor by their
19:16delegate heads and by those now remember this is the message of the day this is what we want to
19:20have happen here but do you think the media is cowed has the uh effort to discredit their authority
19:27been effective in cowing them from making statements of fact or truth or or being able to state things
19:36more authoritatively i think there's a there's an enormous effort underway on twitter on blogs on on
19:42messages of all kind but the next night of nightly news for example chuck todd walks through the paul ryan
19:47speech and in great detail described where he in my phrase overreached on jamesville right on medicare but
19:56again the phrase overreach seems like the nicest way to say lie like don't wouldn't that don't you
20:04know it's so rarely i saw there was a there was a debate has not stopped on jamesville by the
20:09way i
20:10mean one of the one of the people told me tonight they're going to keep up with it because they
20:13see
20:13all these nuances well no they don't see the nuances he just misstated they have stated time and time
20:18again we're not going to let fact checkers run our campaign yeah our campaign propaganda is key
20:23this is all purposeful this is not but well okay there's a shade of gray there they know what
20:28they're doing but everything is focused last friday we went through this i was on meet the press on
20:32sunday we walked back through it again had a pretty vigorous debate about it again on a number of these
20:37issues at the end of this week after we hear from president obama and even bill clinton and others
20:42there will be things that we'll have to check and put in context or correct at some point and we
20:48have easier access than we've ever had before by the way for all of that because you can immediately
20:53go online and find out what's going on right well stick around you get five minutes to stick around
20:56sure all right we're going to throw up to the web the time of our lives is on the bookshows
20:59now tom brokaw
21:00everybody that's our show here it is your moment of zen osama bin laden is dead and general motors is
21:12alive osama bin laden is dead and general motors is alive osama bin laden is dead and general motors
21:22is alive
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