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Campbell Brown
Democratic National Convention Day Three
Aired August 27, 2008 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN's live coverage of the Democratic National Convention.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: A truly historic night here at Denver, Colorado, in the United States. The Democrats have formally nominated Barack Obama to be their presidential candidate.
This is the first time in American history an African-American has been nominated to lead the party in the race for the White House.
We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world to this historic day three of the Democratic Convention. I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting. We're here on the floor of the Democratic Convention.
Campbell Brown is here with us, as well, as well as the best political team on television. Gloria Borger is here, Paul Begala. John King is here. He is going to be going over to the magic map. And we're going to get special insight throughout this night as we await to hear from the former President of the United States Bill Clinton, and the nomination, the nomination of Senator Joe Biden of Delaware to be the vice presidential candidate for these Democrats. He will be speaking later tonight as well.
We have our reporters and our analysts standing by over at the CNN Election Center, some of the best analysts in the world. They're getting ready to give us their insight, including Jeff Toobin and Amy Holmes, Ed Rollins, Carl Bernstein, and, of course, David Gergen.
Hilary Rosen and Leslie Sanchez, they're here as well. They're going to give us their insight. And Candy Crowley's up on the podium. We have got Jessica Yellin and Suzanne Malveaux.
All of that coming up, but, right now, let's get a little musical entertainment from Melissa Etheridge.
(MUSIC)
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BLITZER: All right, so there it is. That was almost seven minutes of Melissa Etheridge here at the podium at the Democratic National Convention. It's not just speeches that you're going to be hearing. It's not just speeches that we're hearing. When we're on the floor, we're experiencing what it's like to be here in Denver.
Campbell Brown, you know, we... CAMPBELL BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: You're a big fan, admit it. That was the moment you were waiting for.
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: I love John Legend earlier in the week, too. And I want to make sure that our viewers out there, they experience what we are experiencing, that we're here in the middle of all of the action. And part of the action is entertainment like this.
You know, that's pretty cool, you have got to admit.
BROWN: Absolutely. It is a huge pep rally for Democrats on one level. Obviously, there's a lot going on of substance, but it's here to get people energized and to get all these die-hard Democrats to leave this place with a mission, which is to get Obama elected. And they're certainly revved up by Melissa Etheridge.
BLITZER: I think a performance like that probably did a lot more to get these 20,000 Democrats enthused than maybe another speech by another politician.
All right, we're going to continue our coverage, a lot more coming up. This is a historic night for the Democrats. We have been putting it out. We can't point it out enough. This is the first time an African-American has been nominated lead a major political party in the United States to the White House.
And that happened just a little while ago. And Hillary Clinton had a significant role in making sure it happened.
We're waiting to hear from her husband, Bill Clinton. He's getting ready to speak here at the convention, followed by the vice presidential candidate, Joe Biden.
Much more of our coverage coming up. Remember, CNNPolitics.com, you can see everything happening here. We're streaming it live. Go there.
And we will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Day three of the Democratic National Convention, and this night is going to be an exciting -- it's already been an historic night with the first African-American nominated to lead a major political party.
But this crowd is getting ready to hear from Bill Clinton, the former president of the United States. And you never know what he's going to say. We don't know what he's going to say, but we're anxious to hear what he has to say.
Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer. Campbell Brown is here with me as well.
Campbell, I'm very excited right now, because John King is here, up on the podium. He has a very special guest.
BROWN: I guess he sort of stole the show a little bit last night.
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: I would say he almost stole the show. It's hard to say he completely stole the show, because Hillary Clinton was speaking last night as well.
But the governor of Montana has shown up. He got all dressed up for us, John. He's here, Brian Schweitzer. And just -- he can't hear me right now, but just...
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: But just tell him that we were saying he really did steal the show.
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Governor, Wolf is saying that you stole the show last night. And you certainly did electrify the hall in front of Hillary Clinton's speech.
And I want to say, Wolf, right now for the record, I think the best political team on television should get these bolo ties as our official neckwear.
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: And I love the whole package, the jeans, the boots, the whole nine yards. This is Montana.
KING: This is the Montana look.
And Governor Schweitzer is here, because, as we talked about earlier, the Obama campaign wants to change the electoral map. And you are one of the players in this region. And I'm going to start with a little dose of skepticism, Governor.
Here is the reason we're -- here is the reason we're talking about. And this is your state of Montana up here. We another to pull that out. I am going to shrink it back down. Now, this is 2004, Bush/Kerry race. Look how red this whole region is. Now we're going to go back to 2000. Look how red the region is. Only New Mexico flipped -- 1996, a little more blue, but still mostly red -- 1992, Bill Clinton actually won your state, with the help of Ross Perot, a little better out here.
But 1988, we go back there, 1984, 1980.
So, Governor, I'm going to be a skeptic and ask you, how does Barack Obama change this red, some of this red, blue?
GOV. BRIAN SCHWEITZER (D), MONTANA: Well, it's real tough in Idaho and Wyoming and Utah. He is going to not change anything there.
But Montana, North Dakota, Colorado, they are in play. They are virtually tied in all of those states. Montana, it's 45/45. North Dakota, it's within the margin of error. Colorado, it's in -- within the margin of error.
Montana, we have not had a Democrat get to 50 percent since LBJ. When Bill Clinton won, he won because Ross Perot got 26 percent, and he won it with 38.5 percent. Actually, Bob Barr is actually running in this race. And of course the pundits aren't talking about that yet. But in a place like Montana, we are ticket-splitters. And folks will vote for their third party. Bob Barr has an A-rating with the NRA, and neither one of the other candidates do. I have an A-rating with the NRA.
(CROSSTALK)
KING: Help me understand how this works outs. Through no fault through their own, simply through demographics, many people in your state -- it's a largely white state -- have never voted for an African-American for anything, for dogcatcher, for mayor, for city council, for governor, for legislator, because there are no African- Americans living in their town.
(CROSSTALK)
KING: On a night when the Democratic Party has made history, are you convinced that those voters, who have not had African-Americans on the ballots, are prepared to elect one president?
SCHWEITZER: Well, look, Montana was never part of the civil rights debate. The civil rights debate happened in the big cities. It happened in the swing states. It happened in the South.
In Montana, we're 93 percent white and 7 percent Indian. You're right. There's not a lot of black people who live in Montana. But it also means that there hasn't been some of this old tension that occurred 40 years ago. So, in Montana, Barack Obama already polls higher than we have anybody since LBJ.
KING: As you speak, I switched the map right here. This is how we have it called right now. States leaning toward Obama are blue states. Leaning toward McCain are red.
I want you to look. We have your state right now leaning toward McCain. I will show you how to do it. Your state, three electoral votes. If you think Barack Obama can win it, I want you to change it, just like that.
SCHWEITZER: Just like that. I just did.
KING: All right. Now, which other ones in the region here? This is Colorado, where we are, which is a tossup?
SCHWEITZER: I think North Dakota has got a shot. KING: North Dakota. Let me teach you a trick of the map, OK? Before you change it, hold it, down so our viewers can see how many electoral votes it has.
SCHWEITZER: All right, there we go.
North Dakota, it's got three votes. Colorado, I think you are going to put that one in the hands of Barack Obama. And, of course, New Mexico, is going to stay there. I think Nevada is going to go to Barack Obama.
KING: Got to give it another tap if you want to switch it.
SCHWEITZER: And we're going all the way -- yes -- and then all the way down the West Coast.
Now, out in this country, I think you have got these as yellow. I'm not so sure about Florida. I talked to the Florida delegation this morning. And I told them, look, you guys have, what, 27? What is that? Let's hold it down.
KING: Hold it down.
SCHWEITZER: Twenty-seven.
KING: You're good.
SCHWEITZER: I told them, you have got 27. You're the big dog, I told them. We're just the tail up in Montana. And I told, if you will win in Florida, we will win in Montana. So, you don't want the tail to be wagging the dog, do you?
KING: Now, I want to turn back to the group here, so they can hear you as well. Tell me about what it was like up there last night. You lit this all up.
SCHWEITZER: You know, maybe I got kicked by a horse when I was a youngster -- well, a couple of times -- but I was nervous when I got up there. I looked out there and I saw there was a whole lot of fireworks and they just needed somebody to light the fuse. So, I thought, well, let's light it up. And so we lit it up.
KING: You and I had a conversation some time ago at an energy panel we met at where you said you thought Mitt Romney, who was in the primaries at the time, would be a pretty strong candidate out in your region of the country. What if John McCain puts Mitt Romney on the ticket? Would he change any of the calculus you just went through?
SCHWEITZER: I think it's been a long time since any vice presidential candidate has lifted a presidential candidate. John McCain has to win this on his own. If he picks Romney or Pawlenty, it's not going to bump up. It's not going to bump down. They are just a couple of bumps.
KING: Couple of bumps from the governor of Montana. Very colorful language. Anybody have a question before we let the governor go?
BLITZER: I think Gloria has a question.
Gloria actually -- Governor, I don't know if you can hear me, but Gloria Borger, our senior political analyst, she has a home in Montana. She knows the state quite well.
Gloria, what do you want to ask the governor?
KING: What Wolf was saying is that Gloria Borger owns a home in your state. I personally just asked you to just raise her taxes a bit earlier.
(LAUGHTER)
KING: But Gloria has a question.
GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I want to ask you whether -- getting back to the race issue, you raised an interesting point, that there aren't the racial tensions that you see in a lot of urban areas in Montana.
Have you heard from Democrats or independents in Montana that Barack Obama is somebody they're not sure he shares their values? He's not -- you know, he doesn't -- he supports gun control, for example, a very big issue in your state.
KING: Gloria raises the question, she's asking if you have heard from Democrats or independents, for that matter, in your state whether, as see in some polls, questions about, they don't know this guy. Does Barack Obama share their values? And if the question of gun control, which Barack Obama supports, comes up in a bad way in your state.
SCHWEITZER: I have got to tell you, this is the most remarkable conversion in the history of mankind, how the Republican Party can call Barack Obama elitist.
He grew up with a single mom. He had partial raising by his grandparents. His mother was on food stamps. He worked his way through college and achieved the American dream. And the Republicans have converted that to elitism. Most of us call that achieving.
KING: And the gun issue?
SCHWEITZER: Well, he's in a situation like -- like John McCain is. They're not popular with the NRA. So, I guess, if people are most concerned about guns, they will probably vote for Bob Barr.
KING: Governor, we thank you for spending some time with us tonight. And having Montana as a battleground means maybe I will get to make a trip out there, so maybe we will see you in the weeks ahead.
SCHWEITZER: Thank you.
KING: Governor, thank you very much.
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: Governor, thanks very much on behalf of all of us, the governor of Montana, Brian Schweitzer.
Let's just ask Gloria this important question. How many homes do you own, Gloria?
(LAUGHTER)
BORGER: I knew you were going to go there.
BLITZER: We know you have a home in Washington, D.C.
BORGER: I know how many homes I own. I know.
BLITZER: We know you have one in Montana.
BORGER: OK, OK, OK.
BLITZER: All right.
BORGER: Yes, and that's it. And I write the checks, so I know.
BLITZER: All right.
(LAUGHTER)
BLITZER: Gloria Borger knows Montana quite well.
John, is it realist take -- we hear them, but is it really realistic that the Democrats can win Montana?
KING: In Montana, most people would think they're a tad optimistic, but that's the question of this campaign.
There is -- President Bush's approval rating is down. And John McCain has to prove that he can have a different brand right now. One of the things that is a certainty, though, as we leave this convention, is that the Democrats have changed the map. The Republicans are going to have to spend time and resources in places that they normally ignore from the day their convention ends.
So, if nothing else, that put a strain on the Republican strategy that they may be have to be making trips after Labor Day into states like Montana.
BLITZER: All right, let's get back to the history of this site.
Campbell and I, we were just talking a little bit earlier, this is a really historic moment.
And Jeff Toobin is over at the CNN Election Center.
And you have been a student of history, Jeff, for a long time. Give us some perspective of what this night not only means for these Democrats here, but what it means for the country.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR ANALYST: Well, I would like to just mention someone who hasn't been mentioned tonight. Today is the 100th birthday of Lyndon Johnson.
Lyndon Johnson, among elected officials, did more to assure African-Americans the right to vote than anyone in American history. He's the father of the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act. And Lyndon Johnson recognized that, in embracing the cause of civil rights, the Democratic Party would lose the South, and the Democratic Party has lost the South.
But he also guaranteed African-Americans the right to vote. And he -- it's his 100th birthday today, and he's probably watching, thinking, he's probably amazed, too.
BROWN: But you know what, Jeff? You will also remember that, when Hillary Clinton made that point during the primary campaign, that LBJ was responsible for the Civil Rights Act, it became a point of contention.
And she was resoundingly criticized. I think there was a "New York Times" editorial criticizing her for diminishing the contributions of black America.
TOOBIN: And, you know, there's a lot of credit to go around, obviously, John Lewis and Martin Luther King and the people who -- Medgar Evers -- who gave their lives for the cause of civil rights.
But you cannot diminish -- and I thought it was unfair to criticize Hillary Clinton for that, because Lyndon Johnson didn't have to embrace civil rights, but he did. And that's why African-Americans have the right to vote, in part, today.
BROWN: David Gergen, let's get your thoughts on this.
DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Let me follow up on Jeffrey's very, very interesting point about this being the 100th anniversary of Lyndon Johnson's birth, because the civil rights bills of '64 and '65 really have been political in American political history.
Prior to that, through the 1964 elections, the Democrats had won seven out of 10 presidential elections, counting on a solid South as an important part of their voting bloc. After the voting rights bills of '64 and '65, the South started peeling off. Some of it went to George Wallace briefly. Wound up in the Republican camp.
And since those voting rights -- since those civil rights bill, since that historic moments, milestones, the Republicans have won seven out of 10 election victories. Race has been -- played a huge role in American politics. Here we are now in this convention, where it's so central to this convention.
I think that's what gives some of the drama to this, this election year, some sense of America making yet another transition, and moving toward a more inclusive future. Whether we will get with this election or a future election, I think we're looking at the future today. We just don't know when it's going to come.
BROWN: All right, David Gergen for us from New York.
And we have got a lot more ahead, as Wolf and I have been telling you, that we're all wait for example the big moment. I think it's about half-an-hour, a little more than half-an-hour from now, when Bill Clinton is going to take the stage, certainly going to be a dramatic moment here, as we wait to see what he's going to say tonight, and then the vice presidential nominee, Joe Biden, speaking in the 10:00 Eastern time hour, so, a lot ahead that we're awaiting.
Stay with us -- a lot more coverage when we come back after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: And welcome back to the floor of the Democratic National Convention.
We're right in the middle of all the action. This is where we want to be, because it's a great -- the great location.
Campbell Brown, it's good to be here, instead of way up in some nosebleed skybox, in a hermetically sealed, soundproof booth. We feel it. We know what's going on. And we're trying to transfer some of that to our viewers.
BROWN: Right in the middle the thick of it, the excitement, down on the floor, Wolf, as you say.
And on stage right now is Congressman Patrick Murphy from Pennsylvania, Iraq war vet. He's surrounded by other Iraq war vets. That's the theme tonight, national security.
But it's kind of been overshadowed, I think, by the fact that Barack Obama became official with the nominating process today. And -- and so many people have just been moved by the -- the history- making event that this day is. That --
BLITZER: We saw people crying, men and women. And the crying probably hasn't stopped yet.
Let's go to Suzanne Malveaux. She's on the floor right now with a very special guest -- Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: Hey, Wolf, joining us now here is Spike Lee, a filmmaker, actor, as well as activist.
Bill Clinton is going to be speaking momentarily. There has been a lot of talk about the perception within the black community that he's been diminished in their eyes. What is your sense of how he has performed in this primary season and the relationship there?
SPIKE LEE, FILMMAKER AND ACTOR: I just like to say this is my opinion. I'm not like the spokesperson. I think that President Clinton still has the love and respect in the black community. But I think that he just had a hard time dealing with the fact that African- Americans in great numbers wanted Obama more than his wife.
MALVEAUX: What does he need to do? Does he need to do something or say something tonight to reach out to African-Americans and convince them that he is behind Barack Obama, that this is sincere?
LEE: I don't think the African-Americans hold any grudge against President Clinton or Senator Clinton. I expect President Clinton to co-sign what Hillary did last night. And I'm looking for a unified Democratic Party coming out of here in Denver.
MALVEAUX: So you're satisfied with what Bill Clinton has said in the past about things comparing himself, the Obama victory with Jesse Jackson's victory, behind --
LEE: Look, there's a lot of things he said but I'm not going to -- we've got to move on. You know? You know, they were combed the first African-American president. Maybe they went just a little to his head a little bit. I don't know.
But, look, some people take losses harder than others. This was a devastating loss, this thing with him and his wife. So some people take it harder. I think she's -- in my opinion, she's dealing with it better than he has.
MALVEAUX: Let me ask you about tomorrow, obviously it's going to be a huge crowd at Invesco Field.
LEE: Yes.
MALVEAUX: Seventy thousand, 75,000 people expected.
LEE: Right.
MALVEAUX: What do you anticipate that moment is going to be like?
LEE: You know I love sports. And the great athletes always perform best on the bigger stage. So Obama's going to pull a joy tomorrow night.
MALVEAUX: OK.
LEE: You watch.
MALVEAUX: You heard it here, Spike Lee. OK, thank you so much, Spike Lee.
LEE: All right.
MALVEAUX: Back to you, Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, thanks very much. Let's go right to Roland Martin. I want to get his thoughts on what's happening. Roland, this is a night I know you've been anticipating for a long time. Give us some thoughts.
ROLAND MARTIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, Wolf, it was pretty amazing. In fact, I was doing a Canadian broadcast television. Over my shoulder all of a sudden I hear Hillary Clinton, you know, going through those various steps.
The first person that came to mind, Wolf, was the late Vernon Jarrett, Chicago journalist, first African-American columnist for "The Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times." Vernon used to always talk about Buck Mulligan (ph), Joe Louis and Jackie Robinson. He's always talking about those moments and what it felt like to be in the presence of a historical moment, and that's really what it felt like to actually watch it with your own eyes and to see it happen. Truly amazing.
And I heard folks talking earlier, Wolf, I heard you mention, people were shedding tears and crying. I mean, just think about it. You know, August 28th is going to be tomorrow.
You know, of course Dr. King, "I Have a Dream," march in Washington. But here's another piece, Wolf.
On August 28th, 1955, Emmett Till was brutally murdered in Mississippi. When you think about this moment of Obama getting nominated, you think about Fannie Lou Hamer being locked out of the convention. You think about so many different stories. You think about the people in Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia, the freedom riders.
The reality is this country has evolved greatly and so for this nation to watch this moment, I think we should not move past it so fast and recognize that this nation is growing and moving beyond the issues of race. And so I love today with hip-hop, but you've got white kids and Hispanic kids understanding African-Americans and vice versa. It was an amazing moment not for African-Americans -- for Americans.
BLITZER: Let me get to Amy Holmes to weigh in as well. Amy, you're a good Republican conservative analyst but I'm sure you were deeply moved by what has happened tonight.
AMY HOLMES, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I don't know if I'm a good Republican since I'm a registered independent. But I was deeply moved and have been moved, and I think that you'd have to be a curmudgeon if you don't see the historic nature of this evening.
You know, I was really moved by what Congressman Lewis said. When he said, "When people say we haven't made progress, I tell them to walk in my shoes." And I think the progress he meant that is symbolized tonight is something that we can all share as Americans across racial lines.
Remember, Barack Obama, he was getting majority votes in the Democratic Party in majority white states, like Idaho, Maine, and all around the country. So I think that this is a moment that we can all share about how far we've come.
BROWN: And Ed Rollins, why don't you give us, then, the Republican perspective on this.
ED ROLLINS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I am a Republican. It's a tremendous night for America. I mean obviously my party is not going do it and I'm very pleased that the Democrats have done it.
I think the reality is we're going to be a very close, very tight race. And I think the reality is that this guy has a real shot at winning. You know we've got to have a good convention next week. It's going to be a close race. It will be a close race no matter who the Democrats nominated, but I think at the end the day this is an extraordinary candidate.
The extraordinary part of this story is here's a guy who couldn't get a ticket to this convention in 2000, had lost a congressional race and here he is eight years later as the nominee and on his way to be president of the United States. And someone talked earlier about he and Clinton sharing, they both shared an ambition.
Bill Clinton became a governor and spent a long time. This guy had a very fast track by great skills and great abilities. He beat a very strong political machine to get here.
BROWN: And speaking of Bill Clinton, we're just minutes away now from the speech. We are anticipating from Bill Clinton tonight.
Carl Bernstein is someone who wrote the biography of Hillary Clinton. What are you expecting to hear from Bill Clinton tonight?
CARL BERNSTEIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Tremendous advocacy of the candidacy of Barack Obama. You know I went to segregating schools in the nation's Capitol till the sixth grade when Brown versus Board of Education was enacted by the Supreme Court. My parents marched to integrate those schools and segregated swimming pools in Washington.
And one of the things that's so striking about tonight is that Barack Obama, including the question of race and our coverage of it, is getting the convention that he wants. He is getting, uniting at least on the convention floor of his movement, and Hillary Clinton's movement. And we were just sitting up here and looking at some polls including Florida that shows it not only in play but possibly moving toward Obama.
I don't think he would have said that until this convention. And now, we see that he has through the discipline that he has exercised as he did in the campaign, he's got this convention running like he wants including bringing the Clintons along for the ride under very difficult circumstances. And we're going to see it in a few minutes big time.
BROWN: All right, Carl, let me -- I'm not sure you're right about Florida. I want to go to John King, because that's not necessarily what you've seen in terms of Florida being a player. That -- that close, right? JOHN KING, CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The one thing we should all be careful about is there are a lot of the state polls go back and forth all over the place. The most recent polls in Florida that I have seen have shown McCain stretching his lead, none of it going the other way.
In fact, in an e-mail earlier tonight from a McCain strategist who was watching the convention tonight, who was saying the thing they are happiest about on the state-by-state perspective right now is Barack Obama has spent $7 million on the state of Florida on television. The McCain campaign has not been on TV in Florida and the numbers have barely moved at all. In the McCain perspective, they have moved their way.
That brings me to another point which I think is the bigger point tonight. This is a moment for the country to celebrate. Ironically, the one guy who probably can't spend too much time celebrating is the historic African-American candidate himself. Because he knows what this race looks like and he knows with the convention so late this year and the Republican Convention right behind it, that he has to just keep campaigning and not celebrating and this is a key issue tonight.
This is the issue the Republicans have used to undo the Democrats, not just since 9/11, but over history saying they're weak on national security. They're left of center. And so as we listen tonight, it is very important to watch where the Democratic Party lays down its markers on national security because Bush certainly used it against them in 2004 and other Republicans have used. George H.W. Bush used it against Michael Dukakis in 1998. This is a defining issue in presidential elections.
So for all the history, Barack Obama I'm sure is celebrating tonight, but he knows he can't celebrate very long.
BROWN: And just to do -- and some of our reporters have e-mailed in. He is in -- had been with his family in his hotel room tonight. The speech, and we're told, is mostly written. They're doing a little tweaking right now.
But Donna Brazile, do you agree with the points John was making about national security? We're certainly going to hear a lot of it from Joe Biden in his speech tonight, and probably Obama as well tomorrow.
DONNA BRAZILE, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I also believe that Bill Clinton will also talk about the fundamental choice in this election, not just on domestic issues but on foreign policy. And while the Republicans have done a good job in framing this election, in terms of experience versus judgment, there's no question that the Republicans are in deep trouble when it comes to the war on Iraq, Afghanistan, foreign policy.
Democrats have an opening here on national security to reclaim the issue and to tell the American people that we can make the country safe and secure, but perhaps not in the ways that the Republicans think that we should.
BROWN: And everybody should take a look at that photo right there. That picture of Michelle Obama now in the hall talking to Teresa Heinz Kerry, John Kerry's wife who gave a speech in the 2004 convention that we all remember well, Gloria?
BORGER: And we remember the 2004 convention, in fact, was all about the military. And John Kerry spoke about his qualifications as commander in chief. That's what we're going to hear tonight about Barack Obama.
BROWN: All right. We've got to take a quick break. We are minutes, just minutes away now from Bill Clinton, who is scheduled to speak, top of the hour. Stay with us. A lot more of our coverage ahead from Denver. We'll be back right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: There's Hillary Clinton and Chelsea Clinton. They're already seated here. They're getting ready to hear from Bill Clinton, like all of us are. It was a different situation 24 hours ago when Bill Clinton was sitting up there in the box getting ready to hear from Hillary Clinton. The tables have turned a little bit tonight.
We're only moments away from the former president of the United States speaking. Hillary Clinton there with Chelsea Clinton. Charlie Rangel, the congressman from New York, is in the box as well. We'll tell you who else is up there.
Also, not very far away, Michelle Obama. She's getting ready to hear everything that's going on as well tonight. There she is in her box. She'll be listening very carefully to Bill Clinton and later to Joe Biden, the vice presidential nominee. He's going to be speaking after Bill Clinton. Teresa Heinz Kerry sitting over there right next to Michelle Obama.
Our Jessica Yellin is down on the floor. Jessica, the Clintons are anxious to show they want to do whatever they can, whatever Barack Obama asks them to do, to bring this party together.
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. And CNN has just learned that Democratic leadership sources say Senator Reed actually asked Hillary Clinton to give the weekly radio address in response to President Bush's radio address this weekend. We understand that she's going to echo many of the themes of her speech here including her effort to show the unity in the party.
This is the way it works, is every -- the House, the Senate get different turns to give the radio address this weekend. It was Hillary Clinton so Senator Reed said, why don't you do it? We'll hear from her again this Saturday then -- Wolf.
BLITZER: You know, thanks very much. We're going to be watching all of this unfold.
Campbell, it's easier said than done to make sure that this Democratic Party is unified. They're saying all the right things but right now, action is going to be a lot more important than just the words.
BROWN: And a lot of people wanting to see whether Bill Clinton really delivers in the way that the Obama supporters think he needs to and that they want to see him do tonight to get -- to get everybody on board.
You know, you've heard a lot of people reporting that Hillary Clinton had sort of gotten over some of the difficulties they had during the primary and some of the tension that existed -- the back and forth. But that Bill Clinton wasn't quite there yet. But the Clinton supporters insist, don't they, James Carville, that without a doubt, he is going to deliver tonight with a rousing speech in support of Obama?
JAMES CARVILLE, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, you know, we'll just have to wait and see. If I had to guess, if I had to predict, I think that just like last night, everybody said, well, is she really in it? And then, of course, we saw -- we saw last night. And I think that we're going to see quite a good speech tonight.
I'm very confident. I think it's going to be very supportive to Senator Obama. I wouldn't even be surprised if President Clinton goes out and campaigns with Senator Obama. Something tells me that --
BROWN: With?
CARVILLE: Yes, with. Yes. I wouldn't even be surprised if something like that happened.
KING: I want to give you one example of the lingering tensions though about this. On the floor right now, they're passing out flags to the delegations. You will see flag waving tonight when Bill Clinton is up there.
They had a discussion in the Obama campaign whether to print up, "Thank you, President Clinton, or "President Clinton" signs, like we saw Hillary signs last night on the floor and they decided not to do that.
If you go back in time in the 2000 convention, as he was leaving office, there were "Thank you, President Clinton" signs on the floor. Four years ago, some of the delegations, the New York delegation in particular, had "New York loves Bill Clinton" signs. They had a conversation about whether to have a sign specifically for Bill Clinton and they decided no.
Now, the public explanation is they want that flag-waving scene in this hall because, as you know, the Republicans are saying Barack Obama is not ready to be commander in chief and as we talked earlier they always question him on national security. But two of the people working the Obama floor operation involved in these discussions so they also said, you know what, he hasn't earned it because of the lingering tensions at the primary campaigns and the bad blood between them. BORGER: Can I just say that I think it's going to be very easy to solve these tensions, particularly between Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, if in his speech tomorrow night, Barack Obama talks about Bill Clinton's commitment to civil rights. If he does that in his speech and pays homage to Bill Clinton on that one issue that, as you know, James, the president is really touchy about, I think that will go a long way.
CARVILLE: You know, I think that tonight is I don't want to disappoint everybody on this stage. It's going to be fun tonight. He's going to give a really good endorsement.
BORGER: Yes.
CARVILLE: They're actually going to campaign together. I know this is going to shock and disappoint everybody on the set...
BORGER: No.
CARVILLE: ... but it's going to be fine.
KING: I think they will be fine. I already know there are plans in place for them to go to southeast Ohio together and things like that. But it is this inside/outside game. The grudges and the tensions continue, even as everyone proves that they are grown-up and does the right thing.
BROWN: But sure makes this convention more interesting, doesn't it, Wolf?
BLITZER: And, yesterday, James, you said Hillary Clinton would set the table perfectly with beautiful linen and great China and sterling silver. Give us the analogy what Bill Clinton is going to do tonight.
CARVILLE: Well, I think he's going to add some flowers -- some nice flowers to the table. I think that we've got to understand what his role is here.
He is not going to give his longest speech that Senator Clinton gave. She was the candidate. She got 18 million votes. This is the thing.
He is a former president. He's coming in. His speech is going to be shorter. It's going to be an excellent speech to the absolute chagrin of the commentary that he's going to be very supportive. He's going to go out and he's going to campaign.
Now, again, we're going to psychoanalyze -- I'm saying it's going to a very, very good speech and it's going to be fine and, you know, we'll see what happens from here. But it's not going to be anything that the Clintons are going do. They're going to be supportive as they can be. I've always said that from the -- since this thing was over and that's what's going to happen.
BROWN: Let's bring in David Brody and have him some psychoanalyze him for us a little bit. David, what do you think we're going to see tonight?
DAVID BRODY, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Oh boy, you can psychoanalyze all day. I mean, look, it's the theme of national security and here is Bill Clinton on stage and you know he wants to talk about the economics of all of this, and so I think that's part of it.
You know at the end the day, who is going to make the case for Barack Obama on national security? Joe Biden, obviously, we're going to see that tonight. But wouldn't it be important if Bill Clinton could get up and make that case? And clearly, you know, I don't think we're going to see that from a national security perspective tonight.
I'm going to be interested to see how much Bill Clinton goes back in time a little bit to the '90s. I think we need to get the fractions out and actual percentage -- get the percentages on this speech tonight. How much is looking forward? How much is looking back a little bit? Because I think if he looks back too much tonight in this speech, then that may take away from the moment of Barack Obama.
BROWN: David Gergen, do you agree with that? That it really needs to be a forward-looking speech by Bill Clinton? Not dwelling too much on his own accomplishments.
DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Absolutely. You know, the time for the call for unity was last night. Bill Clinton certainly has to join us, but tonight he has to drive the message forward. This convention has not yet done enough to convince the country that an Obama administration would mean a better economy and safety on the national security front.
The Republicans are going to rip their hide off next week about don't take this risk, America. You can't put the country in this young man's hands. They've got to drive home a message over the next two days which I do not think they've done yet to convince people not only to come home, but that the country is going to be in very good hands economically and overseas.
BLITZER: All right, we're going to take -- we're going to take a quick break right now. As we await Bill Clinton, it's only a few moments away. Much more of our coverage. Bill Clinton coming up.
And later, Joe Biden, the vice presidential candidate, he'll get the official nomination and he'll deliver his speech. Much more of our coverage from the floor of the Democratic National Convention.
Remember, CNNpolitics.com, you can see everything going up on the -- going up live on the podium. We're streaming that. Stay with us. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back to the Democratic National Convention. We're here on the floor of the convention. We're watching what's going on. We're only a few minutes away from Bill Clinton, the former president of the United States. He will address this crowd. He will enthusiastically say they must go forward united, and make sure that Barack Obama becomes the next president of the United States.
Later tonight, Joe Biden will accept the vice presidential nomination. We'll be hearing from him as well.
The biggest event -- that will be tomorrow night when Barack Obama himself will accept the Democratic nomination. And he will speak before about 80,000 people who will gather at Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium here in Denver.
Anderson Cooper is back with us. And we've been stressing and I want to stress it one more time, Anderson, the historic moment that has happened here on this day in the United States. A major political party has decided that it wants an African-American to be the next president of the United States.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: And as I said before, I mean, whether you support Barack Obama or not, whether you believe in him, whether you believe in his policies, you cannot help but to take a moment and recognize what this moment means, and how far the country has come, perhaps how far the country still has to go. But it was amazing to be here two or so hours ago when his name was placed in nomination and everyone agreed.
People literally reached out to one another and kind of held on to each other for several minutes. And it was an amazing moment to witness, not only here in the hall, but I'm sure for anyone who saw it at home, it was history being made. And you don't -- you know, we use that term a lot, it's become a cliche that this is a historic election. Today we saw history being made.
BLITZER: And it's no accident, James Carville, that when Bill Clinton speaks up there tonight, in a few minutes, he's going to be introduced by Congressman Kendrick Meek of Florida, an African- American. And I think that's important, isn't it?
CARVILLE: Yes. I mean, and big things are not done accidentally and I think that it probably was and they had to make a statement in trying to bring unity to the party but most --
BLITZER: By the way, that's Muhammad Ali who is here. He's gathered for this historic moment as well. Muhammad Ali, here at the Democratic National Convention.
CARVILLE: The greatest of all-time.
BLITZER: He is the greatest. Right.
CARVILLE: Yes, and I think that is significant. I think Senator Obama carries the vast majority of African-American voters. I think this is a sort of signal where things are going.
I think that you're -- I know that you're going to see a great deal that both Clintons are campaigning hard for Senator Obama. I think you'll see them campaigning together, and I think that all of the signals are going to go out to a unified party. That's what they want to accomplish.
COOPER: I want to ask all of you, you know, we've had people come up to us, and say, look, you guys are overstating the lack of unity here. That this is a media creation, a media spin. I believe their getting a lot of e-mails from people saying that, you know, we support Barack Obama. We're a unified party. What you guys are talking down the air is spin. What is real, what is not in your opinion, James?
CARVILLE: Well, as a party -- as the party's unified, if you look at Obama's vote among Democrat, it's actually very high. They had -- we have some work to do here. I think a lot of it got accomplished.
What kind of cracks me up is people say, the motive. Is their heart into it or not? I have no idea what's in somebody's heart. I can only judge people by their actions and I think you'd call last night what Senator Clinton did. I think you're going to see tonight what President Clinton does. And I think you're going to see this campaign go out.
I am not possessed with the knowledge of what somebody really feels. But I do know this. That you're going to see real, real -- I think you're going to see them working hard for this ticket. And everybody says Obama wants Clinton to help them. They want to be seen as good Democrats and help elect the president.
COOPER: Does the magnifying glass with which the Democratic Party has been viewed in these last two days, is that same magnifying glass being used on the Republican Party? I mean, there are those who would argue, well, if the Democratic Party is not unified, I mean the Republican Party, do they all love John McCain?
BORGER: And the enthusiasm among Democrats is so much more than the enthusiasm of Republicans for their nominees. So I guarantee you, Anderson, we'll be talking about that at the Republican Convention.
But you know, this is a whole new game right now. These people want to win. And you had to kind of do the passing of the torch, one way or another, and that's what Bill Clinton is going to do tonight. And he's going to pass it to Barack Obama. And then they'll go together and try to be a team.
COOPER: And is that narrative, that Clinton narrative of which we have been partaking for the last several days. Is that done tonight?
KING: It's not done completely if you look at our polling data or go to these communities.
