The Note: Biden banks on calm against Trump’s chaos

The TAKE with Rick Klein

Amid unrest and uncertainty, former Vice President Joe Biden has relaunched his campaign. In a broad sense, though, he's back where he started.

From the beginning, Biden cast his campaign as a "battle for the soul of America." The first two words he spoke in his the video that launched his candidacy were "Charlottesville, Virginia."

Now comes a new phase for Biden that seeks to meet the challenges of the moment in ways that could hardly be more different than President Donald Trump. Biden is promising empathy and unity as opposed to anger and division, and a sense of normalcy against Trump's disruption.

"Is this who we are? Is this who we want to be? Is this what we want to pass on to our children and grandchildren?" Biden asked in his speech in Philadelphia.

Trump, of course, has different answers to those same questions. His vows of "law and order" and potential military-led crackdowns play to the uncertainties of this time, and even as a growing number of Republicans fear he is contributing to tensions rather than seeking to quell them.

Biden offered specific policy reforms, and he will face his own challenges in confronting combustible political questions around race and justice. It won't be enough for Biden to quote the last words of George Floyd to overcome skepticism over his own abilities to bring change, and he is also attempting to appeal beyond any natural Democratic base.

But Biden might be most poignant in describing what he would not do as president.

"I promise you this: I won't traffic in fear and division. I won't fan the flames of hate," Biden said Tuesday.

In the 10 weeks or so since Biden wrapped up the nomination, the campaign as we expected it has changed entirely -- twice.

One of the few constants has been Biden. Now he comes off the sidelines -- setting his own tone, while not trying to match the president's volume.

The RUNDOWN with Kendall Karson

The standoff between North Carolina and the GOP over the party's national convention might finally be moving forward -- but in a different direction.

Trump tweeted late Tuesday that due to the escalating feud with Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, "We are now forced to seek another State to host the 2020 Republican National Convention." Cooper responded with his own tweet: "It’s unfortunate they never agreed to scale down and make changes to keep people safe. Protecting public health and safety during this pandemic is a priority."

A Republican National Committee official further clarified Trump's announcement, saying that the "celebration of the president’s acceptance of the Republican nomination" will be in another city, while the party is still hoping to "conduct the official business of the convention in Charlotte."

Committee officials are eyeing Nashville, Tennessee, as a potential alternative to host the marquee event in August, with a trip planned for later this week, either on Thursday or Friday, a Republican familiar with the discussions confirmed to ABC News. Other cities under consideration are Las Vegas, Orlando and Jacksonville, Florida, as well as venues in Georgia.

Trump's tweet comes amid stalled discussions with North Carolina leaders, and after RNC officials gave Cooper a deadline of June 3 to approve the party's outline for a safe, yet "full scale" convention with 19,000 attendees. In the past week, the RNC and North Carolina took turns outlining their visions for what the convention could look like in a flurry of letters. But earlier on Tuesday, Cooper rebuffed Trump's request, telling the RNC, "The people of North Carolina do not know what the status of COVID-19 will be in August, so planning for a scaled-down convention with fewer people, social distancing and face coverings is a necessity."

Cooper also pointed to a Friday conversation with the president, RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, and Marcia Lee Kelly, the president and CEO of the convention, in which they wanted a guarantee of a "full arena" but Cooper said in the letter that would be "very unlikely."

After Cooper's latest exchange, top Republicans assured that their preference was to keep the event in Charlotte, but McDaniel said, "We have an obligation to our delegates and nominee to begin visiting the multiple cities and states who have reached out in recent days about hosting an historic event to show that America is open for business."

With eyes now on Nashville, Tennessee's Republican governor opened the door for the party to take the unprecedented step of moving locations with less than three months to plan. "I can tell them that Nashville is the best place in America to have a convention. And we certainly would be interested in welcoming that to our city," Gov. Bill Lee said. A spokesperson for the mayor of Nashville weighed in, too, saying, "We're not surprised that any national convention would look at us," but added, "We have no plans to use our limited public funds to recruit this convention at this time."

Even with Trump stepping up his initial threat to an explicit declaration that he's looking elsewhere, auxiliary plans are still only in their early stages. Lee told reporters earlier in the day, "there's been very little conversation."

The TIP with Benjamin Siegel

Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., the chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee who won his seat in Congress in 1988, already faced a tough primary challenge this month -- and that was before his hot-mic moment on Tuesday.

"If I didn't have a primary, I wouldn't care," Engel said to Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., as organizers were discussing the speaking order at a press conference with city officials about the protests and unrest.

Progressives immediately seized on the comments as evidence that Engel, after decades in Washington, is out of touch with his now majority-minority district hit particularly hard by the coronavirus and the aftermath of Floyd's killing: "We need to be taking care of our communities right now -- whether it's election season or not," Jamaal Bowman, Engel's progressive primary challenger, said on Twitter.

"In the context of running for re-election, I thought it was important for people to know where I stand, that's why I asked to speak," Engel said in a statement after the incident went viral.

The episode underscores the challenge Engel will have on June 23, in the primary that New York progressives see as their best shot to unseat an incumbent since Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's surprise victory over Rep. Joe Crowley two years ago.

BRINGING AMERICA BACK

Experts say Dr. Anthony Fauci's estimate of a vaccine by January 2021 could be pushed back if we see a dramatic drop off in new infections. Read this story and more by checking out Bringing America Back, an ABC News feature that highlights the day's top stories in economic recovery and medical preparedness amid the coronavirus pandemic.

THE PLAYLIST

ABC News' "Start Here" Podcast. Wednesday morning's episode features ABC News Senior Congressional Correspondent Mary Bruce, who discusses the outrage over President Donald Trump's church visit on Monday and how former Vice President Joe Biden is countering. Then, ABC News Senior Investigative Reporter Josh Margolin tells us how white supremacist groups are stoking confusion on social media. And, ABC News Medical Contributor Dr. Simone Wildes examines the concerns around COVID-19 amid the protests. http://apple.co/2HPocUL

ABC News' "Powerhouse Politics" podcast. ABC News Political Director Rick Klein and Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl talk with Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz and ABC News' Rachel Scott about ongoing protests over George Floyd's death at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer and the president's threat to call in the military to assist. https://bit.ly/2w091jE

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