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Campbell Brown

The Republican National Convention: Day Four

Aired September 04, 2008 - 21:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

WALL: I just want to pick up on what David Gergen said. I can't help but going into that one. Given that, you know, we talk about these eight years, let's not forget about the two years of the Democratic-controlled Congress with leaders like Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid and the vitriol that's come from them when you're talking about them calling the president a loser and a failure.
I don't think that's the kind of leadership Americans are looking for, particularly when you're talking about -- even the drilling debate as of late, and the gridlock and the locked heads and the partisanship that's taken place with them when we're talking about the position of these leaders and how there is that slant that David -- that seems reticent to not want to acknowledge is taking place right now.

So, you know, there's no one to be to blame once President Bush is out of office.

BLITZER: All right...

WALL: I think we need to look at the leaders right now that are in control of the House and Senate...

BLITZER: All right...

WALL: ...and how that plays into this, as well.

BLITZER: Tara, I want to listen to Senator Lindsey Graham, one of John McCain's closest friends.

His subject is Iraq.

(LINDSEY GRAHAM'S SPEECH)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mother, moose hunter, maverick. Mayor, governor, maverick. The original maverick made an astute choice when he asked Governor Sarah Palin to join him in his effort to remake Washington.

Alaska -- a far corner of America that accounts for 20 percent of our domestic oil has produced a remarkable woman not afraid to put her city, state or country first, regardless of consequences.

One of four children of a close family attracted to Alaska by its unlimited promise and an environment suited to outdoor adventure, young Sarah had a childhood of family, hard work and a love for the environment.

As a teenager, Sarah would rise at 3:00 a.m. to join her dad on pre-dawn moose hunts. She shared a room with two sisters that was heated through the Alaska winters by a wood stove. She went on to lead her high school basketball team to a state championship and graduated from the University of Idaho before returning to Alaska to marry Todd Palin, her high school sweetheart.

The Palins are a busy clan -- raising family of five, ranging from a 19-year-old son who volunteered for the Army is expecting to soon be sent to Iraq, with three daughters and a son born last April.

Sarah started out as a hockey mom who got active in the PTA. She served on the city council and grew frustrated with what she considered the town's wasteful spending and high taxes. And she defeated an incumbent for mayor.

It was a sign of things to come. "I recognized," she said, "that if we had the same good old boys serving, nothing would change. We needed new blood."

As mayor, she managed to increase funding for infrastructure while cutting property taxes. And she didn't stop there. Sarah led a charge against Alaska's attorney general over conflicts of interest and that led to his resignation.

She was appointed chairman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. She developed a keen understanding of the energy industry and was known for her maverick ways in taking on the major oil companies if she thought they were shortchanging her state. She fought battle after battle, one eye on waste and one on corruption, working hard to rid Alaska of both.

Finally, her love for Alaska led Sarah Palin once again to take on an incumbent -- this time for the governor's office. She won the primary overwhelmingly then defeated a popular former Democrat governor in the general election.

Soon after, several current and former legislators were indicted for taking bribes. She signed sweeping ethics reform legislation, auctioned the governor's jet on eBay, eliminated the household help at the governor's mansion and drives herself to work.

Sarah Palin may not be six feet tall, but she's a self-made giant in making government work for us. She loves Alaska, loves America, loves her family. And she loves integrity, frugality and moose stew.

When Alaska's maverick joined America's maverick, the world shook, the world trembled. And the world will soon be a better place.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

BLITZER: All right. We're back here at the Republican National Convention.

That video, by the way, was supposed to be shown last night, but they were running late so they delayed it to tonight. A pretty nice video, Anderson Cooper.

COOPER: I've never been at a convention and learned more about mooses.

BLITZER: Yes.

COOPER: I think this is the first time.

BLITZER: That's what happens when you have a vice presidential nominee from Alaska.

COOPER: Exactly. It's -- it's cool.

BLITZER: She likes to hunt.

KING: The White House chef is on notice. If they win, you've got to learn to make moose stew.

COOPER: Exactly.

BLITZER: All right, let's take a quick break and continue our coverage from St. Paul, right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back to our coverage here in St. Paul.

Anderson, let's just walk through what's coming up in the next few minutes.

There's going to be a video tribute to Cindy McCain. Then she's going to speak. And we're told she's going to go on and on and on speaking about her husband, introducing her husband. And then we will hear from John McCain. And he has a very lengthy presentation.

COOPER: It's interesting, I mean when you compare this to the Democratic Convention where, for the first day or so, there was the biography -- the reintroduction of first -- by Michelle Obama and others -- of Barack Obama. This really has been days of biography. I mean you don't hear a lot of policy specifics about what a McCain administration would look like. And particularly since the Democrats are trying to frame McCain in this race as a third term of a Bush administration, I would have thought that they would try to kind of set out the first four year agenda.

ALEX CASTELLANOS, REPUBLICAN CONSULTANT, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: And I think you're going to hear that. But in politics, we have a thing called the law of car keys. And that is, if I'm going give you my car keys to take me somewhere, to lead, I want to know two things -- not just where you promise to take me, but can I trust you to take me there?

Who are you?

That is as important. Otherwise, the promises mean nothing. And, yes, there is a big character story here because why? Because the Republican argument is that Barack Obama is not ready to lead. You've got to leave him in the oven a little longer to...

COOPER: So the subtext is...

CASTELLANOS: ...maybe the next election.

COOPER: ...John McCain can be trusted, he is patriotic, he is American, leaving the other side of that unsaid.

KING: He has to do the other side of it. A, because he wants to, to distinguish himself -- try to distinguish himself from George W. Bush, reach out to Independents and Democrats here tonight. Number two, if the Republican brand is so damaged -- and even John McCain would tell you it is -- why have other Republicans go up there and tell you what a McCain administration is going to do...

BORGER: Right.

KING: ...because they are the problem. In much of America, politically, they are the problem.

BORGER: He's -- half of the people who are introducing him tonight he's been fighting against...

COOPER: We've got to take a...

BORGER: ...against in the Senate.

COOPER: We've to take a short break.

We're going to take a short break. A lot more of our coverage continues.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: You're looking at viewing parties that have been set up. Sandy Springs, Georgia there; Times Square. That's a CNN viewing party. And another in Costa Mesa, California. The one in California as well as the one in Georgia set up by the Republican Party. The Times Square one set up in -- set up by CNN.

We had the same viewing party in Times Square for Barack Obama's historic address on Thursday night of last week. So we'll be cutting to -- seeing the reaction not just here in the hall, but also there.

Gloria, you wanted to make a point, though, before the break about the importance of biography.

Certainly, it was very important for Barack Obama.

BORGER: Right.

COOPER: But for John McCain, we've had several nights of biography and his biography is perhaps the best known in American politics.

BORGER: It was very important for Obama because there's a sense in that campaign that people still don't know who he is, that he's a bit of a stranger, he's new to American politics. They had to introduce him.

With John McCain, we've spent so much time hearing about his biography, but he's been on the national scene for decades. And so they lost a night of this convention. They have put everything together. They've truncated everything.

But his biography is also his chief sales point, Anderson -- national security. His experience in national security is his clear advantage. You look at all the polls. The one area that Republicans still beat Democrats is national security.

And he's going to say you want change, but I'm the guy who can give it to you without any risks.

COOPER: So David Gergen in New York, is there -- I mean is this an attempt to basically make this, as much as possible, just a referendum on Barack Obama, by highlighting John McCain as a person, as a patriot, as a hero and not really focus on specific policy issues that his administration would pursue if he is elected?

GERGEN: I think it is very much an attempt to make it a choice between two individuals as personalities -- their character, their backgrounds.

What did we hear from Rudy Giuliani last night?

He said this is a job interview. You've got two candidates for a job. Why don't we review their credentials for the job. And then he went through this long extensive conversation, you know, pointing to the strengths of McCain versus Obama and said well, the choice is obvious.

It had nothing to do with changes about -- it had very little to do with philosophical differences, policy differences.

And we've heard from one McCain adviser in the last couple of days talking -- in an interview said this is not about issues, it's about personalities.

So I think, yes, the Republicans think they'll win this. As Gloria just said, John McCain, you know, does have a biography that a lot of people know. It's obviously a compelling biography.

And they went out and mocked, you know, what Obama has done in life as a community organizer. And Roland, I think, properly, responded -- snapped back last night on that question, questioning what a person has done in his career as somehow belittle -- belittled it.

But the bottom line is, yes, I do think there are a lot of Republicans who would like to make this a choice between two individuals in terms of their biography. And they think they will clearly win that.

BLITZER: All right, David, Tom Ridge, the former Homeland Security secretary, the former Pennsylvania governor, very close for many years with John McCain. He's getting the crowd excited over here.

Let me set the stage. Right after he is done, there will be a video tribute to Cindy McCain. Then she will walk out and do something she doesn't normally do -- deliver a lengthy, detailed speech before a crowd like this.

I want to listen in briefly at the end right now. He's winding up his speech. Tom Ridge. Then it will flow right into the video and then Cindy McCain.

TOM RIDGE: That's my friend, John McCain.

(APPLAUSE)

RIDGE: The next president of the United States, the next commander-in-chief, ready to serve, ready to lead, ready to deliver.

(APPLAUSE)

RIDGE: God bless you, John.

God bless all of you.

And may God continue to bless our brave troops who serve our country so well.

Thank you very much.

BLITZER: John King, you've covered John McCain for a long time. We've seen a lot of Cindy McCain, but we really, I don't think, have seen her in this context, where she's about to give a -- deliver a major speech.

KING: She gives introductions on the campaign trail before town halls, but they generally run a minute or two. One way she often distinguishes himself -- herself from him is she mentions their sons Jimmy and Jack, one who served in Iraq, one who was in the Naval Academy, soon to probably go into military service. He does not like to do that. She does.

But remember, when you pick a president, you pick his family, too. And so John McCain does not have to introduce himself. She, in some ways, does.

BLITZER: All right. Here's the video, a tribute to Cindy McCain.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They named her Cindy Lou. Cindy's new dad was a true American patriot. He joined the Army Air Corps as soon as his age would allow, borrowed money just to buy his uniform, then became a decorated World War II B17 bombardier. He flew in the same squadron as the Memphis Belle, was shot down three times and seriously injured the last time, as the plane ditched in the English Channel. But Jim made it home safely and met Smitty, his beautiful and spirited bride-to-be, at a USO dance in Memphis.

Not long after, he brought his Southern belle back to Arizona. Jim and Smitty were the greatest generation -- the generation that accomplished big things and grew strong on big dreams.

In 1955, Jim and Smitty sold everything they owned, borrowed all they could and scraped together $10,000 to buy the distribution rights for a company new to Arizona. It was called Anheuser-Busch. Now, the rest is history.

Great products, hard work, a commitment to each other and to little Cindy Lou added up to building one of the largest Anheuser- Busch distributorships in the country.

Cindy Lou Hensley -- she got all the attention of her father. He took her on treks in the Arizona wilderness and camping along the Mexican border. They were truly best friends.

Jim and Smitty desperately wanted Cindy to go to college, so off she went. When she earned her master's in special education from the University of Southern California, Cindy became the first person in her family to ever graduate from college.

Then she came home to Arizona and taught special needs kids of migrant farm workers in the little town of Avondale.

In 1979, with her parents at a Navy cocktail party in Hawaii, a handsome captain came up and introduced himself. His name was John McCain. He was the Navy's chief liaison to the Senate in Washington.

He was 41, but told Cindy he was 37. She was 24, but told him she was 27. It was love at first sight. In 1980, they were married. And she introduced John to his new home of Arizona. She gave birth to Megan in 1984, John IV, called Jack, in 1986, and Jimmy in 1988. The same year Jimmy was born, Cindy founded the American Voluntary Medical Team, a non-profit group that organizes doctors, nurses and other health care professionals.

In 1991, she camped in Kuwait for five days after the end of the Gulf War to take supplies to refugees.

In Bangladesh that year, she found a special baby girl in Mother Teresa's orphanage, and brought her back to the United States for surgery on a cleft palate that could save her life. On the flight home, she decided she couldn't part with her. When she came out of the plane, John asked, where is she going? Cindy just said, to our house. John nodded, yes, I thought so.

Cindy has seen and smelled the death of genocide, helped treat wounds resulting from land mines and war. She wrapped her helpless arms around children dying from malnutrition, and has been humbled watching the strength of others in their quest for their freedom. She watched with fear, pride, honor and tears while her son Jimmy left for combat in Iraq. Like every mother whose son is at war, Cindy lived to hear his voice. She kept her phone in her hands so she wouldn't miss his call.

She's been around the world just trying to do her best to honor her father, whom she remembers as considerate, generous, thoughtful, kind, devoted, humorous, and passionate about his country. She shares his love of life.

Cindy became a pilot and shares her passion for fast cars with her sons. She even got her wrenches out and built a few race cars. Cindy and her son Jack might just have the only mother-son drift racing team in existence. Her father was the inspiration.

John McCain encouraged her to go far beyond what she thought she could do, helped her find her path to serving a cause grater than herself. But it is Cindy McCain who gets in, rolls her sleeves up and accomplishes miraculous, life changing things for others around the world in places around the world few would dare to go.

Not day goes by since the loss of both her parents that Cindy doesn't think of her father's simple western words: just leave this Earth a better place than when you got here. Well, she's off to a darn good start.

(CINDY MCCAIN SPEECH)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. So Cindy McCain has now spoken. She's introduced her husband. There will be a video, Anderson, that will be coming up momentarily. It's about a seven- minute tribute to John McCain. He will then follow. He's got a lengthy presentation. That's what this crowd wants to hear. Sort of unusual to hear Cindy McCain delivering this long introduction. Normally, as John King points out on the campaign trail, she might spend a minute or two doing it, but this was much more robust.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: I guess I'm confused by it. It seems like we have had night after night of introducing John McCain to the American people, even though his biography has been made into a television movie. He's written several books about it. What is the subtext here?

JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: This part of John McCain is actually not very well known, the family side of John McCain. He's the senator. He's the guy from the Sunday talk shows. He's the guy who goes to Iraq and maybe fights with this president over the troops. I don't think a lot of people do know about his children. We have seen a very compelling family on the Democratic side.

The Obama children are as cute as can be and they're beautiful. Michelle Obama has been both a compelling and a somewhat controversial figure in the campaign. So I think it is important. The American people do elect their president some based on personal characteristics and character and their family. Twenty minutes, I think will be debated, as why on the final night of your convention she took more than 20 minutes.

Part of it is, when they say how many houses John McCain has, the elitist, he's rich, he's spoiled, doesn't understand your life; it's because the wealth comes from Cindy McCain. So it was an attempt on her part to say I come from very humble roots. I was like you. And we earned our wealth.

COOPER: And not only that, we earned our wealth and we are doing good work with that.

BLITZER: Let me explain what they are doing up on the podium right now. They had built this cat walk out there so when John McCain walks out, he'll walk down there and he will deliver his speech from the very end. They'll have a little podium up there for him. So these guys are in the process of resetting the stage for John McCain before he walks out. As I say, there will be a video tribute to him.

COOPER: How much -- do we know how of John McCain, just the staging of it -- he does best in a town hall format, obviously, where he takes questions, but where he is just wind of wandering around amidst people. Is that --

BLITZER: He's not going to move tonight. He's going to be at that podium reading the teleprompter.

KING: No podium. There will be a teleprompter, but no podium. Part of this is designed to make a contrast. I will have a conversation with you. Barack Obama gives a speech to you. I want to talk with you. It's part of what they're trying to say. As the Democrats say John McCain doesn't get it, John McCain can't understand the economic pain of the American people. He's trying to say, I will get closer to you. That's part of the imagery of the stage craft of the convention.

BLITZER: One thing we are told, there is a podium, it will rise up once he walks out there. He'll have, if he needs them, his notes. The teleprompter should go down. But Alex, what do you think about the stage craft and the introduction from his wife?

ALEX CASTELLANOS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, no one can remember the greatest John McCain speech ever. He's not known for his oratory. That's not his strength. He's the town hall guy. He's the guy who connects with people that way. This is a way to get him out in the middle of the crowd. This is the columns versus the town hall, to see him there with a microphone. They won't let him wander around here. But at least he'll be out in the middle of this crowd.

COOPER: Does John McCain tonight try to make the fact that he is not a practiced orator -- does he try to turn that to his advantage? I remember George H.W. Bush, I think it was a line Peggy Noonan wrote, about I hear the -- I don't want to paraphrase it, because I'll mangle it. But I hear the voices others don't.