PBS News Hour

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Good evening and welcome to special coverage of Presid... We are live from Milwaukee, site of this week's Republi...

I'm Amna Nawaz.

And I'm Jeff Bennett.

We'll bring you the president's remarks live in a mome.. And your scheduled PBS programing will begin as soon... Tonight's address comes just a day after a man shot at for... Mr. Trump .. One person in the audience was killed.

Two more are in critical condition.

And Mr. Trump has arrived in Mil.. Let's get a quick thought from Laura Barone Lopez, who cov... Laura.

Jeff in his address tonight, the president will call on ev...

He will again condemn the attack on former President Trump, ... That is our white House correspondent, Laura Barron.

Lopez will be following the president's remarks along w... We're going to bring you, the president, live now from ... Want to speak to you tonight about the need for us to lo... We are not enemies.

We're neighbors.

We're friends, coworkers, citizens.

And most importantly, we are fellow Americans.

We must stand together.

Yesterday's shooting at Donald Trump's rally in Pennsylva... Take stock of where we are.

How do we go forward from here?

Thankfully, former Trump is not seriously injured.

I spoke to him last night.

I'm grateful he's doing well in Jill.

I keep him and his family in our prayers.

We also extend our deepest condolences to the family of ... Corey was a husband, a father, a volunteer firefighter, a h... We should all hold his family and all those injured in ...

Earlier today, I spoke about an ongoing investigation.

We do not know the motive of the shooter yet.

We don't know his opinions or affiliations.

We don't know whether he had help or support or if... Law enforcement professionals as I speak, are investigating th... Tonight I want to speak to what we do know.

A former president was shot.

An American citizen killed while simply exercised his freedom... We cannot.

We must not go down this road in America.

We've traveled before, throughout our history.

Violence has never been the answer, whether it's w...

There is no place in America of this kind of violence for ... Period.

No exceptions.

We can't allow this violence to be normalized.

You know, the political record in this country has gotten v...

It's time to cool it down.

We all have a responsibility to do that.

Yes.

We have deep..

The stakes in this election are enormously high.

I've said it many times that the choice in this election, we m...

I believe that with all my soul.

I know that millions of my fellow Americans believe it...

Disagreement is inevitable in American democracy.

It's part of human nature.

But politics must never be a literal battlefield.

God forbid a killing field.

I believe politics ought to be an arena for peaceful debate.

To pursue justice.

To make decisions guided by the Declaration of Independence.

In our Constitution, we stand for an America not of extremi... All of us now face time of testing as the elect...

The higher the stakes, the more fervent the passions become.

This places an added burden on each of us to ensure that... Republican convention will start tomorrow.

I've no doubt they'll criticize my record and offer their ...

I'll be traveling this week, making the case for our rec... My vision for the country.

Our vision.

I'll continue to speak out strongly for our democracy.

Stand up for our Constitution and the rule of law to call ... No violence on our streets.

That's how democracy should work.

We debate and disagree.

We compare and contrast the character, the candidates, ...

But in America, we resolve our differences at the battle box.

You know, that's how we do it at the battle, but not w...

The power to change America should always rest in the ha... You know, the path forward through competing visions of ... You know, we're blessed to live in the greatest country... And I believe that with every soul, every power of my being.

So tonight, I'm asking every American to recommit to m...

So make America what it is to think about what's made Amer... Everyone should be treated with dignity, respect and hate m... We need to get out of our silos.

We only listen to those with whom we agree.

Where misinformation is rampant, where foreign actors fanned ... Let's remember here in America, our unity is the most elusive...

Nothing is more important for us now.

And standing together, we can do this.

You know, from the beginning, our founders understood ...

So they created democracy and gave reason and balance a cha... That's America.

We must be an American democracy.

Your arguments are made in good faith and American democra...

In American democracy, where decency, dignity, fair p... We know that those who come before us, those who gave th... We owe it to our children and our grandchildren.

Look, let's never lose sight of who we are.

Let's remember, we are the United States of America.

There is nothing, nothing, nothing beyond our capacity w... God bless you all.

May God protect our troops.

President Biden addressing the nation from the Oval Office w... We are here in Milwaukee for special coverage of ... We're joined here in studio by Lisa Desjardins, who cov... And in Washington, we have Laura Barone Lopez, who covers ... Laura, give us a sense of how President Biden and his advis... President Biden is approaching this moment very solemnly, Je... And you heard he tried to show that this is not an isola...

So when I spoke to a campaign earlier today, Jeff, they s...

It's why he got in the race in 2020, and it's why he they ...

In response to January 6th and other political violence t... Lisa, a few lines stood out to me there.

The president calling upon Americans to remember that un...

He also said, in response to the heated political discourse ri... You've been following the Trump campaign and the reaction am... What's their reaction to this kind of language right now?

Well, there are many Republicans who are saying the same th... Our agenda is instead of these sort of vilification of e...

But there are other Republicans who are angry and who ...

It's an interesting thing that President Biden himself ...

But here he say, no, we need to cool down.

And he and his tone here tonight is going to down.

We're sitting in an auditorium where thousands of people w... Amna, to figure out what is the tone the Republican Party wa... Former President Trump has to make that decision tonight.

How is he going to speak to these delegates.

He may well appear here tomorrow whether virtually or in per...

Tone is going to really be important for the rest of t... And that tone matters to the Democrats as well.

Laura, help us understand how the Biden campaign...

The rest of this week.

They took down their campaign ads and the immediate afterm...

But the president has a planned interview on Monday with w...

Walk us through it.

So that's right, Jeff.

The campaign ads appear to be down for.. A campaign aide told me that it's unclear when they actua...

But, and ultimately today and tomorrow, the president has...

He's also canceled fundraisers.

He does have that interview with NBC.

And they said that pretty much after that interview, mov...

He's going to be in Nevada, speaking at an NAACP event.

And he will also be, holding a number of other campaign eve...

But they are taking a very slow minute by minute, day by ... Lisa, as you noted, we've been hearing some of this same s...

It's fair to say that kind of restraint is not the norm ... And I think the big question here is, has this mom... We do not yet know.

And I can report there is a debate among Republicans ... Now, I will say whatever he wants to do, he will do.

You know, he he is the decider here, including for the cho... Is he going to choose someone like Ohio Senator JD Vance, ... Or is he going to choose someone else who has kind of j...

Which path will the Republican Party pick?

It'll be a mixture of both.

But which dominates is the question.

I can tell you.

And, you know, there's two ..

They want to be unified.

They want a chance to celebrate.

I think much like most of the country, people here are ti...

So it's a question of whether Trump lays into that more... And Lisa, with your reporting experience covering the Hi...

I will say that conversation is over.

It is possible that something else happens with the Presid...

But frankly, right now, Democrats say they're moving on.

All right, Lisa Jordan and on Lopez, our thanks to you both.

And that concludes our special coverage of the presiden... Join us tomorrow night for the NewsHour and our spec... eastern.

And stay tuned now for you..

I'm Jeff.

Bennett.

And I'm ..

Thank you very much for joining us.

You're watching PBS.