Intro THE WAY. THE CONVENTIONS, THE DEBATES, THE STATE OF THE 2024 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION. WE ARE RIGHT IN THE THICK OF IT. 74 DAYS FROM NOW, VOTERS WILL DECIDE BETWEEN DONALD TRUMP AND KAMALA HARRIS FOR PRESIDENT. THANKS FOR JOINING US HERE AT SIX. I'M MIKE DARDIS AND I'M KELLY RIPPIN. WLWT NEWS FIVE ANCHOR ASHLEY KIRKLEN REPORTING LIVE FROM THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION. FOR US ALL WEEK. AND TODAY SHE CAUGHT UP WITH NBC NIGHTLY NEWS ANCHOR LESTER HOLT Lester Holt TO GET HIS TAKE ON ALL OF THIS. ASHLEY. HI. KELLY AND MIKE. WELL, LESTER HOLT HAS NOT ONLY TRAVELED THE COUNTRY HEARING THE STORIES OF VOTERS AROUND THE COUNTRY, HE'S ALSO ANCHORED FROM THE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION IN MILWAUKEE AND NOW THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION IN CHICAGO. HE SAYS THIS WILL BE A TIGHT RACE, AND THERE IS STILL WORK TO BE DONE ON BOTH SIDES WHEN IT COMES TO POLITICS AND ELECTIONS. AMERICAS ANCHOR LESTER HOLT HAS SEEN IT ALL, BUT THIS ELECTION CYCLE HAS BEEN UNPRECEDENTED. HOLT SAYS. BOTH BASES HAVE AN EXCITEMENT THAT WAS CLEAR AT THEIR CONVENTIONS. I THINK THE LEVEL OF EXCITEMENT AT BOTH WAS HIGH. THERE WAS A SENSE OF STRONG UNITY WE SAW AT THE RNC. I THINK, YOU KNOW, 4 OR 5 WEEKS, IF YOU HAD ASKED ME, WHAT WOULD IT BE LIKE COMING INTO THE DNC, I WOULD HAVE SAID, WELL, IT'S GOING TO BE A LITTLE MAUDLIN RIGHT NOW. I MEAN, DEMOCRATS ARE FEELING DISCOURAGED. WE'RE SEEING JUST THE OPPOSITE. I KNOW THAT THERE'S THERE'S OBVIOUSLY JOY HERE. THEY'RE USING THE WORD JOY. THEY'RE TRYING TO CREATE THIS SENSE OF EXCITEMENT. AND, YOU KNOW, AS AN OUTSIDER, YOU KNOW, LARGELY THEY SEEM TO HAVE SUCCEEDED, AT LEAST IN TERMS OF GETTING PEOPLE'S ATTENTION AND PROJECTING THIS, THIS SENSE OF UNITY. AND YOU KNOW, UNITED PURPOSE. NOW THAT DEMOCRATS HAVE SEEMED TO HONE IN ON THAT PURPOSE AND ARE RIDING A HIGH AFTER HARRIS'S NOMINATION, HOLT SAYS HE BELIEVES VOTERS WILL STILL WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HER FROM HER SPEECH TONIGHT. EVERYBODY KNOWS SHE'S BEEN VICE PRESIDENT, BUT WE HAVEN'T EVER LOOKED AT HER THROUGH THIS LENS IN THIS WAY. AS THE COMMANDER IN CHIEF, I THINK PEOPLE ARE ALSO GOING TO BE INTERESTED IN HER SPEECH TO HOW MUCH SHE WILL ALIGN HERSELF SOLIDLY WITH PRESIDENT BIDEN'S POLICIES. OBVIOUSLY, SHE WAS A LOYAL, YOU KNOW, NUMBER TWO, THIS IS A LOT DIFFERENT NOW. SHE'S SHE'S PROPOSING TO THE COUNTRY THAT SHE BECOMES THE NEXT PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. NOW THAT BOTH CONVENTIONS WILL BE IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR, HOLT SAYS THE DEBATES WILL BE A NECESSARY GATEWAY TO HELPING VOTERS DECIDE ON ELECTION DAY. THERE ARE TWO INCREDIBLY DIFFERENT INDIVIDUALS WITH DIFFERENT OUTLOOKS ON THE ON THIS COUNTRY, AND I THINK THEY'LL BE CALLED TO TO CALL TO TASK IN A DEBATE FORMAT IN A WAY THAT MAYBE, YOU KNOW, THEY Savannah Guthrie WOULDN'T. AND OF COURSE, WE WILL HEAR MORE FROM LESTER HOLT IN HIS ANALYSIS OF THE DNC TONIGHT WITH SAVANNAH GUTHRIE AFTER VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS'S SPEECH AND JUST AHEAD OF WLWT NEWS FIVE AT 11, REPORTING LIVE