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Democratic National Convention Coverage; Interview with Edward Kennedy Jr.; California Attorney General Speaks At DNC; Big Names, Familiar Faces At the DNC

Aired September 06, 2012 - 12:00   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Live from the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, I'm Suzanne Malveaux.

I want to get straight to it.

He has got the party behind him, but can President Barack Obama effectively make his case to the swing voters tonight?

I want to get right to it. And, of course, with our distinguished panelists, let's bring them in.

Bill Clinton laid out the case and it is up to the president to be persuaded that he deserves four more years. And tonight, the president takes center stage.

Last night, it was Clinton who forcibly defended his record and nominated him for another term.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I want to nominate a man who is cool on the outside.

(APPLAUSE)

But who burns for America on the inside.

(APPLAUSE)

In Tampa, the Republican argument against the president re- election was actually pretty simple, pretty snappy. It went something like this: we left him a total mess. He hadn't cleaned it up fast enough, so fire him and put us back in.

President Obama started with a much weaker economy than I did. Listen to me now. No president, no president, not me, not any of my predecessors, no one could have fully repaired all of the damage that he found in just four years.

(APPLAUSE)

Now, but -- he has, he has laid the foundations for a new modern successful economy, a shared prosperity. And if you will renew the president's contract, you will feel it. You will feel it.

President Obama's plan cut the debt, honors our values, brightens the future of our children, our families and our nation. It's a heck of a lot better. It passes the arithmetic test and far more important, it passes the values test.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Let's talk about what Clinton did and what President Obama needs to do this evening.

Of course, our distinguished panelist Dana Bash. Also joining is Republican strategists Ana Navarro, and Democratic strategist Maria Cardona.

Good to have you guys back. The ladies in the house again. I think we are a popular item here. I ready do.

MARIA CARDONA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I agree with you.

MALVEAUX: I want to ask you guys. I mean, after the switch, we were all watching it in the hall there, in the convention. They were a lot of people who came up to me and said, if I could just vote for Clinton again for a third term.

I mean, there was a sense of, OK, we are waiting for Obama, but we kind of miss this guy. I mean, you want to weigh in on this, even you, Ana, do you miss the guy?

ANA NAVARRO, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: And the Republicans were saying the same thing.

(LAUGHTER)

NAVARRO: Listen, I think that it was a terrific night for Bill Clinton. I know Bill Clinton, and I like Bill Clinton and yes, I admit it on national TV. You know, it was -- he showed us last night what a political comeback looks like.

Let's remember that this is a guy that was marginalized in 2008 Democratic primary. He went from the being the first black president to being accused of being a racist. And last night --

MALVEAUX: Well, some will debate, first black president. But go ahead.

NAVARRO: But the guy who marginalized him had to call him back to the rescue, and he did, and he did it in fine Clintonesque form. He was didactic. He was funny. He was lengthy. But he was very, very good.

MALVEAUX: Dana, tell me about the moment when you know it was a surprise to the audience, but we got a head's up that the president was going to be in the hall and was going to take the stage, but the moment when you saw him come out, and Clinton bowed to him. And he bowed to him before he hugged him and that really was a passing of the torch moment, I think.

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wasn't that amazing? Bill Clinton did an interview before the speech and said it is not a bromance or anything, but it looked like a bromance, didn't it, with that hug. It was a man hug.

Look, you know, Suzanne, you covered the Democratic fight in 2008 from, you know, cover to cover so to speak, so you know about the tensions between the two of them, I mean, we all do. But we also, anybody who has covered Bill Clinton and who has kind of tried to get into the head of Bill Clinton knows that he is somebody who loves to be loved and loves to be wanted and needed, because he is actually really good at what he does. He is a master politician.

So the fact that President Obama and his campaign and President Obama, the person in particular, has started to reach out to him over the past couple of years, asking him for advice and asking him for surrogate and sent him on missions, this is kind of the culmination of that, and the culmination of loving the fact that he is back and needed and wanted because he knows he can deliver it like no one else.

MALVEAUX: And, Maria, how did he set up the president for tonight? Because now, people are saying, look, the bar is pretty high.

CARDONA: Absolutely. I think Bill Clinton did three things brilliantly last night. The first one is that he was wonky, but he served it up in a colloquial way that everybody could understand it and everything that he was talking about was very relevant to everyday people's lives.

The second thing was, in that way, he had a super defense, a strong defense and embrace of the Obama accomplishments, which is something that frankly a lot of people who said that the Obama campaign had been doing this for months, we would not be in this tight race.

And the third thing is that he essentially became a surrogate for feeling our pain, for the president feeling our pain through President Clinton.

So what President Obama needs the do tonight is to grab that baton and make us feel that he feels our pain, not just that Clinton feels our pain, but that Obama feels our pain.

(CROSSTALK)

NAVARRO: And that what Barack Obama needs to do tonight is to go out there and say, Democrats, I accept your nomination, and whatever Bill said. Good night. Whatever he said --

MALVEAUX: All right. Play a little bit more of what he said, because he specifically went after the Romney/Ryan health care reform plan. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: So, if he's elected and if he does what he promised to do, Medicare will to now grow broke in 2016. Think about that. That means that after all, we won't have to wait for the voucher program kicks in, in 2023, to see the end of Medicare as we know it. They are going to do it to us sooner than we thought.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: So, Bill Clinton opened up the window for the elderly and the seniors to talk about Medicare and how is it going to impact them. He brings them back to the table and brings Florida back to the table. How significant is that?

CARDONA: I think that's incredibly significant because of the credibility that Bill Clinton has, not just because of his own record of accomplishments and pushing the frankly same policies that Obama wants to push, and I think in that way, he gives Obama credibility for what he wants to do.

But not just seniors, Suzanne. When he did the defense of welfare, I think he's also opening up to bring those disaffected white voters who frankly the Romney campaign was going after with his ad on welfare, which was wrong.

BASH: You know, health care and Medicare in particular, entitlements what he talked about was important. But the main goal of the Obama campaign if you talked to him going into the speech last night was for President Clinton to really take a apart the Romney economic idea, and the Romney economic philosophy. And he really did that in his kind of folksy way, talking about the trickle-down economics, but also talking about it through the prism of his experience as president and his experience and he mentioned one or two or 12 times the idea that he had the presidency when America was at a time of prosperity.

So, it's kind of like, I have done this, guys, I know how to do it.

CARDONA: Exactly.

MALVEAUX: Real quick, how much of a threat is to Romney, the fact that he is laying it out and laying it out very effectively?

NAVARRO: Well, it was a very effective speech last night. There's no ifs, ands or buts about it. I think that Obama will get a bump out of Clinton's speech of this convention and perhaps better than Romney, but thank God it's not about the conventions, because if it were I would say stick a fork in Romney, because he's done.

MALVEAUX: A Republican talking.

NAVARRO: He has hundreds of millions of dollars in advantage.

BASH: She will have her Republican card taken away from her.

(CROSSTALK)

BASH: Maria, do you have extra room at home?

CARDONA: You can stay with me.

NAVARRO: I like being a GOP Latino, because there is a lot less of us and it is a lot less crowded.

I think, you know, but the base is going to be important and Romney has a chance to make up some ground there to really get his message across. And he's got a lot of money advantage now, he's going to begin bombarding the airwaves with media and that is going to make a difference.

MALVEAUX: All right. We've got to leave it there. They're telling me again we have to wrap. We will do this again tomorrow. Yes.

NAVARRO: Four women, short time, this isn't working.

MALVEAUX: We have too much to talk about. Thanks, again. We'll talk again.

And bill Clinton on one thing, I had a chance to get on the floor last night to be on the floor and get a flavor of this and the reaction and the excitement from the crowd. Take a look.

CARDONA: Thanks, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Watching Bill Clinton speech on television is one thing. I had a chance to be on the floor last night to get a little bit of the flavor of all of this, and, of course, the reaction, the excitement from the crowd. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL DUKAKIS, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We are old buddies and one time he nominated me in Atlanta, and this is the fine as speech I have ever heard. It is just terrific.

MALVEAUX: What do Biden and Obama need to do tomorrow?

DUKAKIS: Make sure that people know how we get into this mess. They state their case. And they make sure that people understand what kind of a record Romney had in Massachusetts when he came to creating jobs. They do that, this race is over.

MALVEAUX: Tell me what you thought about Clinton's speech if he hits the points he needed to.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is a great speech and pointed out the inconsistencies and the shortcomings of the plans put forth last week and shows how President Obama's plan so far have put us on the right track and we are not going on the right track as quickly as we'd like, but we are on the right track and in stark contrast to the plans that put us right back into the ditch.

He made a clear case of what we have done in health care and everything else. I thought it was a great speech, showing that we are going in the right direction and showing why we shouldn't go backwards.

We need to be in a situation where we explain that one, it's their mess, their policies puts us in the mess, we don't want to go back. We want to continue forward, and if we have four more years, it'd be quicker than we have done before.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: One booming voice missing this time around at the Democratic National Convention.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TED KENNEDY (D), FORMER MASSACHUSETTS: The work begins anew, the hope rises again, and the dream lives on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: We're going to talk to Edward Kennedy, Jr. about what his father would have thought about this year's election.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA), U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE: Mitt Romney is the guy who said that corporations are people.

No, Governor Romney, corporations are not people. People have hearts. They have kids. They get jobs. They get sick. They thrive. They cry. They dance. They live. They love. And they die.

And that matters. That matters. That matters, because we don't run this country for corporations. We run it for people, and that's why we need Barack Obama.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: That was Massachusetts Senate candidate Elizabeth warren at the Democratic convention. Last night her speech was not about her own race. That race would return late Senator Ted Kennedy's seat to the Democrats.

It is about Barack Obama and she painted him as a president who is for the people and by the people and unlike his rival Mitt Romney who she portrayed as out of touch, bent on undoing all of the accomplishments of Obama's first term.

There is one person whose monumental presence is missed at the Democratic convention. We are talking about, of course, the late Senator Ted Kennedy. In 2008, he gave a roaring nomination speech and made an emotional case for Barack Obama four years ago. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TED KENNEDY: This is the cause of my life, new hope that we will break the old gridlock and guarantee that every American -- north, south, east, west, young, old -- will have decent quality health care as a fundamental right and not a privilege.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: This time it was former President Bill Clinton's turn to do the same. He brought the crowd to its feet with the president's simple math he used to explain why America should re-elect him.

I'm joined by now Ted Kennedy, Jr. -- and it is so good to see you again.

EDWARD "TEDDY" KENNEDY, JR., SON OF LATE SEN. TED KENNEDY: Thank you, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: When you take a look at the tape and you see that four years ago --

KENNEDY: Yes.

MALVEAUX: -- what goes through your head?

KENNEDY: Well, you know, I'm so proud of my dad, and so proud of the issues that he stood for, and every four years, he would come to the Democratic convention, remind us all why we were Democrats. He -- the reason I'm most proud is the way that he always stood up for the underdog and the people who have been left out of our society. And it's very heartening to hear so many people stop me on the street to tell me how much my father meant to them.

And so while I miss him greatly and while I wish he were here, I leave feeling really comforted.

MALVEAUX: What do you think he would think about this convention, how it's going so far and where we are right now? Because there was so much energy and so much enthusiasm when I was at American university and he first endorsed the president and then the candidate. I mean, it was electrifying in that room.

KENNEDY: Well, you know what? This convention has also been electrifying, and he would have been on his feet clapping for Elizabeth Warren and her speech, and standing up for the same principles that he stood up for. I think he would be honored that somebody of her caliber could serve in the United States Senate.

For Barack Obama -- Barack Obama made health care one of his signature causes, and took a lot of heat for it. A lot of president's advisers said, listen, this is complicated, there are too many vested interests, you are going to be bogged down by this issue. But that's one of the reasons he stuck his neck out.

And that is why my dad would be here and why every single candidate is going to be doing everything that we can to make sure that this president is re-elected.

MALVEAUX: Now, that was a promise that the president made to your father, is it not right, that that was going to be something that was at the centerpiece?

KENNEDY: Well, I don't think it was just -- I don't think it was just a promise. I think it was part of the president's own belief that this was the last thing here in the richest country in the world, we have to figure out how to provide decent affordable health care to every single American. And you know, my father tried working with many different people.

I mean, he worked with Orrin Hatch on expanding Medicaid. He worked with President Bush on the Medicare Part D, the prescription drug program. You know, my father was willing to work with anybody who, you know, he was had his political beliefs, but he wasn't afraid to cross the aisle if he thought he could make progress, this would be probably not the ultimate system that he would have designed.

But, you know what? President Clinton last night made an extraordinary case of why health care should be an issue thaw the Democrats should be out in front of and being proud of and talking about.

MALVEAUX: Why do you suppose that the president, I mean, has not been more effective in actually convincing people that his health care reform plan is a good idea, because you take a look at all the polls and it looks like pretty much evenly divided, if not on the other end, that people are a little bit ambivalent, if not afraid of the health care plan. How does he make it more appealing?

KENNEDY: Well, people are afraid of change and so many vested interests in -- you know, when there is so much money, there is so much waste. Well, the government waste is somebody else's profit. And when you talk about that there's a lot of people trying to throw sand in the gears and trying to slow down the inevitable changes, OK.

But when you deconstruct the health care bill, like President Clinton did last night, and talk about the positive things, the guaranteed issue, the fact that kids can stay on the parents' plan until age 26 --

MALVEAUX: Right.

KENNEDY: -- medical loss ratios, meaning that the insurance companies can't make more than 15 percent or 20 percent profit, OK, all of that money has to go back into providing direct patient care. Americans, when you poll people individually on those points, they support this proposal, you know, overwhelmingly.

MALVEAUX: And something that is near and dear --

KENNEDY: And maybe they haven't done, you know, the bet (ph), because it's complicated, Suzanne, it really is.

MALVEAUX: Sure.

KENNEDY: But I think the president last night did a great job and I think you're going to hear this president speaking a lot more about that.

MALVEAUX: Something that's dear to your heart and obviously, that is the issue of disability -- where are we with that? Are we making enough progress? Because we heard that, you know, that the President Bill Clinton saying that he needs to have Medicare reform in place, and that repealing it would be very devastating?

KENNEDY: Well, I've been a life -- I'm a health care attorney. I've been a lifelong advocate for the civil rights of people with disabilities. It is a huge minority group, been denied fundamental rights by virtue of a physical or mental impairment.

And I'm so pleased that President Clinton mentioned people with disabilities specifically. People with disabilities and their families have a lot at stake in this election. Steny Hoyer, the other night, also mentioned people with disabilities.

People are slowly waking up, both Democrats and Republicans, that this is a group -- this is a group that is in an age where there's one or two percentage points that could determine the outcome of this election, people are speaking more to people with disabilities just as an example. Of course, a lot more needs to be done. But people are becoming more active and I'm so pleased that the Democratic Party is really taking the lead on advancing these rights.

MALVEAUX: All right. Ted Kennedy, good to see you as always. Appreciate it.

KENNEDY: Thank you. Thank you, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: OK, thanks.

Bill Clinton, he owned the night, but his wife wasn't there to share it with him. She had to watch from a computer screen. She was in East Timor. We're going to tell you what she is saying about the former president's speech.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SISTER SIMONE CAMPBELL, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NETWORK: Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are correct when they say that each individual should be responsible. But their budget goes astray in not acknowledging that we are responsible not only for ourselves and our immediate family, rather our faith strongly affirms that we are all responsible for one another. I am my sister's keeper. I am my brother's keeper.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: That was Sister Simone Campbell, speaking last night at the DNC.

For several months, Campbell was one of so-called Nuns on the Bus. The Catholic sisters have been touring the country, criticizing the Republicans 2013 budget proposal, which, of course, is put forth by Paul Ryan, now the vice presidential nominee for the GOP.

Campbell says that the spending plan would hurt the poor, that it runs counter to Catholic teaching. She also reminded viewers that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops last spring called Ryan's proposed cuts unjustified and wrong.

Ryan has defended these cuts, rooted in his Catholic faith. He says in an April speech in Georgetown that cutting off welfare benefits for people who don't need it actually strengthens the program for those who do.

Eric Marrapodi from CNN's Belief Blog joins us.

I didn't know that nuns look like that? Is it an old fashioned thing, but -- you know, the outfit and all that?

ERIC MARRAPODI, CNN BELIEF BLOG: The one thing that everyone kept asking me before she speaks was, would she wear the habit or would she rock the headdress?

MALVEAUX: Right.

MARRAPODI: The answer was no.

(INAUDIBLE) was a part of a group of nuns that have long since taken off the habit, and are just in daily life as opposed to in prayer and in a convent. She is a J.D. She's a lawyer by training and in addition to being a nun.

MALVEAUX: Why is she so popular and why when she spoke and introduced herself as one of the nuns of the bus, the crowd went crazy on the floor.

MARRAPODI: I think that there's a lot of politicians who are looking for a religious validation for their positions. And in some ways, she brings that for the Democrats, because -- and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is usually very conservative is backing the Democrats on the budget, too, saying, look, if you make these cuts, you will hurt poor people, and that is immoral.

Ryan has been saying all along, if the government goes bankrupt, we can't help anyone, and that's just as bad, too.

So in some ways they are arguing past one another instead of at the same sort of teachings for the caring of the poor and whose responsibility it is to care for the poor, whether that's the government or the church. So, in some ways, they are kind of arguing past each other.

But again listen to this line that Simone Campbell delivered that got one of the biggest applauses of the night. Take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAMPBELL: The Affordable Care Act will cover people like Margaret. We all share responsibility to ensure that this vital health care reform law is properly implemented and that all governors, all governors expand Medicaid coverage so no more Margarets die from lack of care. This is part of my pro-life stance, and the right thing to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARRAPODI: Yes. I mean, you are hearing that explosive applause as she is saying that. And that was the key line -- this is part of my pro-life stance.

Simone Campbell is pro-life in every way. She is against abortion, and part of the pro-life says I want the whole life and not just the unborn to be protect. So, she thinks that Obama's health care plan is part of that and the crowd was roaring as she again putting that sort of religious validation on that theme.

MALVEAUX: Sure. And talk a little bit about that one of the most contentious and unpredictable moments we saw yesterday on the floor, because you had of course the party's platform. They did not include the language using the word "God" and they did not include they wanted Jerusalem to be the capital of Israel -- very controversial.

And then you had them adding in the language and I had a chance to talk to the Democratic chair of the convention, Villaraigosa, earlier today, and it was a big miss, because three times the vote that was going to happen, where 2/3 have to approve this. A lot of back and forth, some people did not believe they had the majority to change the language and put it in.

What is the significance behind that?

MARRAPODI: It's funny, because in the platform they had a big section on faith, but the language of God was noticeably absent, and there was a lot of people upset. First and foremost, President Barack Obama was the one who was upset. And according to aides, Jessica Yellin learned, that he was the one who put his foot down and said, no, no, we are changing this and it was instantly changed.

When it was taken out, you saw secularists and atheist groups laud the fact that they had removed God from politics. And on the other side, you had all these religious folks who said, whoa, whoa, you can't separate the two. This is way out of balance.

When it comes to the Jerusalem issue, that was contentious points, if you remember, for the Republicans. That was s one of the big promises that they made.

MALVEAUX: Absolutely.

MARRAPODI: Newt Gingrich said he would do is move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. It's a bone of contention when you look at that two-state issue of where the capital of Israel is. And again, we hear it coming back in politics. There's a lot of Jewish voters who are in play, particularly in places like Florida.

In a tight race, no party can afford to have a major group say, you know what? I'm a little annoyed and I'm going to sit this one out.

MALVEAUX: Yes.

MARRAPODI: That is I think what they were really concerned about with both the God issue and Jerusalem issue, like can we afford to have a particular group just say, I'm going the stay home because I'm mad about this one issue.

MALVEAUX: All right. Eric, as always, great to talk to you. You break it down very well. I really appreciate it.

MARRAPODI: Thanks for having me.

MALVEAUX: Thanks.

Hillary Clinton, she wasn't in the audience last night to enjoy her husband's speech. But she has to watch from a computer screen in East Timor. We're going to show you what she is saying about it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: We all know that he also tried to work with Congressional Republicans on health care, debt reduction and new jobs, and that didn't work out so well. But it could have been because, as the Senate Republican leader said, in a remarkable moment of candor, two full years before the election, their No. 1 priority was not to put America back to work; it was to put the President out of work. Well -- wait a minute. Senator, I hate to break it to you, but we are going to keep President Obama on the job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: It was 48 minutes long, much longer than convention planners had actually expected. He didn't actually show them the speech beforehand, not surprising, but of course Bill Clinton and the response that he got, really nobody is complaing from the DNC. This is how Hillary Clinton watched her husband's speech. The Secretary of State, she's on a tour of Asia and the Pacific, sat at a desk at the U.S. ambassador of East Timor. Had a drink, had a sandwich and watched the live-stream of the convention coverage on her computer desktop. And Clinton told reporters she never intended to go the DNC. She enjoyed her husband's speech. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Let me say that for decades Secretaries of State have not attended political conventions because of the non-partisan nature of our foreign policy. I think it's a good rule. But on a personal level, let me also say that my husband read parts of his speech to me over the last few days. I received the "as prepared" version which I am anxious, when I can, to compare to the "as delivered" version. [ laughter ]

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Joining me here at the CNN Grill, Patrick Gaspard, who's the executive director of the Democratic National Committee and former top adviser to the President. Was she not gushing? At least -- did you see that? I think she kind of looked like she was gushing?

PATRICK GASPARD, EXEC. DIR., DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE: She was, but we were all gushing in that room last night. It was a remarkable address from one of the best storytellers that we've ever had in American politics.

MALVEAUX: Tell me about the backstory here, because there was a great article written in "The New Yorker" and it really talked about your role, other advisers, people who were essentially working behind the scenes to bring Barack Obama and Bill Clinton together. And you and I know, four years ago, South Carolina, when I covered the campaign, it was very tense between the two. There was no love lost here. But you managed, along with some of his close advisers, to get these two together. How did it first start?

GASPARD: Well, we'll take no credit for that, because these are two thoughtful men who care deeply about this country and share all the same values and analyzed the circumstances that we find ourselves in in much the same fashion. And I'll remind everyone that in 2008, Bill Clinton did go out to lay out a serious bed in the general election on behalf of Barack Obama and he's continued to be supportive in the last three years.

Now, of course, during the course of our time in government, they couldn't be in communication every single day, and when it came time to get out on the hustings (ph) and campaign around this time around, they had to come together and really reengage one another about the challenges that we have today and the vision that the President has for the future. And when they came together again, you know, it was natural.

MALVEAUX: So Patrick, tell us -- give us a little of the backstory here, because in this article, it lays out the plan and essentially it started off with a simple -- it was on the golf course, right? I mean, they just decided they were going to get together, play golf. They started talking.

GASPARD: All great things happen on the golf course.

MALVEAUX: I gotta learn how to play. GASPARD: Well, the two presidents did go out and play a round of golf with one another, and of course, given that this was Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, they were not entirely focused on the 18 holes but on all of the challenges that the country has. And of course determined yet again that they have a common vision for what the way forward is and absolutely enjoyed each other's company that day and continued to, as you can see last night when the President came out on stage.

MALVEAUX: Does President Obama -- does he trust President Clinton?

GASPARD: He trusts him entirely. Do you recall the great press conference that President Obama had in the Blue Room at the White House --

MALVEAUX: That was right. It was a surprise. Both of them came out after a conversation.

GASPARD: Both came out and President Obama has such confidence in President Clinton that he turned the microphone over to him to continue the conversation on his behalf, because he knows that Bill Clinton has a unique perspspective on the challenges we have; he's walked in the President's shoes before. He came in and inherited a mess from a prior Republican administration, fixed it, set us on the right course and then after he left office, yet another Republican came in and ballooned our deficits again. So the two presidents share a perspective, share a set of experiences and both of them just have a great sense of humor and know how to not take themselves too seriously and to focus instead on the challenges that America has.

MALVEAUX: One of the things that was rather funny, actually, that Bill Clinton said is that one of the things that he praised the President for doing is hiring his wife. And that that was Hillary Clinton as the Secretary of State, appointing his wife, and that is seen as a turning point for these two, that he had encouraged his wife to accept that offer. What more do they need to do in terms of becoming closer in strategic partners?

GASPARD: Well, I don't think we could have any more integration in our campaign than we have right now with Bill Clinton. He gives thoughtful advice to us all the time; he and the President have really great engaging conversations. And Bill Clinton has already committed to getting out on the road after this convention to go campaign in Florida and elsewhere to get out a message and sharply between where the President wants to take us and where the Romney-Ryan ticket will drive us -- drag us back.

MALVEAUX: Al right, Patrick Gaspard. Have a good convention. Thank you very much, as always. We're going to dip right in. Paul Ryan speaking in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL RYAN, (R-WI), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Sometimes, even presidents need reminding. Sometimes, we need to go back to read that Declaration of Independence, because that is where this idea was so clearly pronounced. Our rights come from nature and God and not from governments. That's the American idea. That is in a nutshell what we are.

That idea is always tested. Each generation has an obligation to preserve it. You know, Winston Churchill once said about America, that the Americans can be counted upon to do the right thing, but only after they have exhausted all of the other possibilities. I kind of think that is where we are today. Look, we understand this moment. We are not going to let this moment pass us by.

Here's the commitment that Mitt Romney and I are making to you, our fellow citizens. This idea is precious. It was given to us by our founders and it has been secured every generation since by our veterans, and we thank them for that. Thank you. That's right.

[ cheers and applause ]

So here is our commitment. We are not going to duck the tough issues and kick the can down the road. We are going to lead and fix this mess Washington. And we are not going to spend the next four years blaming people from the last four years. We are going to take responsibility and get the job done, reach across the aisle and fix this problem. Get people back the work. Create jobs. Growth. And most importantly, we are not going to try and transform this country into something that it was never intended to be. We are not going the replace the founding principles; we are going to re-establish them.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: And that was Paul Ryan speaking out of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Here's more of what we're working group. An anonymous group says they have stolen Mitt Romney's unreleased tax returns and they're going to go public with them if they don't get a $1 million ransom.

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MALVEAUX: Mitt Romney's tax returns are being held hostage. That is a claim anyway of some hackers bragging online they stole Romney's tax records. They're going to leak them to the news media unless they are paid $1 million. The Republican nominee for president has so far declined to release the tax returns before 2010. The Secret Service is investigating this alleged extortion deal.

The most important state for the country, for Democrats, it is California. We're going talk live to the state's Attorney General up next.

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MALVEAUX: Has so far declined to release his tax returns before 2010. The Secret Service is invest this alleged extortion deal.

The most important state for the country, for Democrats, it is California. We're going to talk live to the state's attorney general up next.

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SANDRA FLUKE, ATTORNEY AND WOMEN'S RIGHTS ACTIVIST: An America in which states humiliate women by forcing us to endure invasive ultrasounds that we don't want and our doctors say that we don't need. An America in which access to birth control is controlled by people who will never use it.

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MALVEAUX: That was Sandra Fluke. She is the Georgetown University law graduate who made headlines when conservative radio show host Rush Limbaugh called her a slut for supporting contraceptive insurance coverage at Catholic institutions.

Fluke, she's not the only person who took the stage talking about the importance of standing up for all Americans. California's attorney general, Kamala Harris, also zeroed in on that point in her convention speech last night. California, of course, as you know, a strong blue state, voted Democrat in the last five presidential elections. It has 55 delegates. More than any other state. Last night, Harris strongly endorsed the president's economic policies saying the American dream belongs to all of us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, CALIFORNIA ATTORNEY GENERAL: And we firmly believe in the American ideal that our country should work for everyone. That ideal is written into our laws. The rules of the road that create a level playing field in this country. Those are the rules I became attorney general to uphold. And those are the rules Mitt Romney would have us roll back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Kamala Harris, she's joining us.

Kamala, good to see you.

HARRIS: Good to see you, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: It's been a very active convention, I know.

HARRIS: Yes, it has.

MALVEAUX: Tell us a little bit about the points you were making. One of the things you talked about is the -- is the unemployment situation. But you also talked about housing. And that's something in your state --

HARRIS: That's right.

MALVEAUX: That you have made really a cause in terms of addressing those tissues.

HARRIS: Yes.

MALVEAUX: What needs to happen on a national scale? Because there's still a lot of folks who are really in a housing crisis.

HARRIS: Right. And across the state, California was the hardest hit, but we also have the largest population. And I've traveled throughout the country, most recently Ohio, and what ended up happening is, because of really, frankly, failure to regulate certain activities on Wall Street, there were abuses, and it resulted in a situation where millions of families have lost their homes. And so the conversation last night was to talk about what needs to happen to, one, insure that that never happens again, but also to correct (ph) the course. And that is about bringing relief to those homeowners, it is about requiring accountability and consequence for wrong doers and people who engage in predatory activities against hardworking middle class families who are in pursuit of the American dream.

MALVEAUX: And you believe that can happen on a national level? That that (INAUDIBLE) national level?

HARRIS: Absolutely right. And I think the president has been very forceful in his support of the work of the 49 attorneys general who are part of a multi state focus on the activity of the five big banks and what should happen around a consequence of robo signing activity. The president was very supportive of and very much a leader around the $25 billion that we brought back to the various states to bring relief to those homeowners by way of principle reduction and giving them an ability to refinance their loans.

MALVEAUX: I want to play for our audience a little clip here, because you seemed pretty emotional about this when you talked about your first home as a kid.

HARRIS: Yes. Yes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Doing nothing while the middle class is hurting, that's not leadership. Loose regulations and lax enforcement, that's not leadership. That's abandoning our middle class.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Why were you so moved by that story?

HARRIS: Well, you know, I told the story of -- my personal story. I was 13 when my mother bought our first home. And my sister and I were incredibly excited. And we were excited as children because I remember my mother being so proud. And when we were going through this discussion about consequence and California's role in the national settlement, our position was very forceful about protecting these homeowners and giving them support because it was based on my own experience. You know, I would talk to people and I'd say, have you ever known folks who were really proud of their lawn? Right.

MALVEAUX: Yes. Right. Sure.

HARRIS: Those -- it's those folks who were very much in this process where they were going through robo signing activity or on a dual-track process and we need to bring them relief, because they're hard-working, good people. Middle class families in America who needed to have relief.

MALVEAUX: You know, you're a big part of this campaign. A lot of people think that you might become the next attorney general. There's all this buzz around you. Do you have any ambitions for that?

HARRIS: No. You know, I love being the attorney general of California. I think being the attorney general of California, as any attorney general can tell you from any one of the states, it is an office that can do very good work that benefits a lot of people. One of our -- my primary responsibilities is to protect consumers.

So that then extends to the work we did around the housing crisis and the foreclosure crisis. It extends to the work that we've been doing in California around privacy and the need to support and protect the privacy concerns and issues as it relates to technology and the beautiful innovation that technology is. And so there is work that can be done on a daily basis that has an incredible impact. And so goes California, so goes the rest of the country, as far as I'm concerned.

MALVEAUX: All right. Yes, people are calling you the female Barack Obama. I think they should call him the male Kamala Harris. What do you think?

HARRIS: You know what, there is only one Barack Obama and thank God he is the president of the United States. And we're going to do everything we can and we will re-election him as president of the United States so he can continue to do the good work that makes us so very proud as Americans.

MALVEAUX: All right, have a good convention.

HARRIS: Thank you.

MALVEAUX: Kamala, thank you very much for joining us.

HARRIS: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for that.

MALVEAUX: Some big names, familiar faces always passing through the CNN Grill here in Charlotte. So we're going to take you on a unique tour after the break.

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MALVEAUX: You might have noticed our wall of fame here at the CNN Grill. It's actually a who's who of many folks who are actually passing by this week here in Charlotte. I want to give you a closer look.

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MALVEAUX: Tom Richmond (ph) of "Mad" magazine, he's one of the most popular people here at the CNN Grill here at the DNC. Check out who's who at the big board.

We got a-list celebrities. You might recognize these faces. Entourages. Adrian Grenier, "CSI's" Hill Harper, and the dude himself, Jeff Bridges.

We also have plenty of political stars.

BILL RICHARDSON, FORMER NEW MEXICO GOVERNOR: They make me look thinner than I are. That's good.

MALVEAUX: Is it a likeness of you? What do you think of it? Do you like it?

REV. JESSE JACKSON: I recognize the guy.

MALVEAUX: You recognize the guy, huh?

JAMES CARVILLE: He captured my hair good, but, you know, it's very hard to do my hair, you know, because it goes one way or the another.

RICHARDSON: It's not Michelangelo, but it's a good, acceptable fun thing to do.

CARVILLE: I like the fact that I got a -- like a nice grin. Smiling. You know what I mean?

MALVEAUX: Can you guess who some of these folks are?

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN: I intentionally sat so that I wouldn't see this caricature. I think it looks nothing like me. I don't know who this person is.

DANA BASH, CNN: So this is my caricature. Does it look like me? I'm not sure. Maybe a little.

MALVEAUX: Angel Suzanne, devil Suzanne. Which one?

COOPER: I think maybe it looks like, I don't know, Wesley Clark maybe?

JOE JOHNS, CNN: Some people who really got beat up, up there, and I'd say I got a B on it.

COOPER: I would pass this by a millions times and not know it was me. Do you think it looks like me?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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