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Coverage of Hillary Clinton Campaign Event in North Carolina; 3:30-4p ET

Aired July 05, 2016 - 15:30   ET

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

(MUSIC PLAYING)

[15:30:40] HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you!

CROWD: Hillary! Hillary! Hillary!

CLINTON: Thank you so much.

Hello, Charlotte. It is so great to be back in North Carolina with so many friends, with Congresswoman Elma Adams and Congressman David Price and Congressman G.K. Butterfield. And your next U.S. senator, Deborah Ross and your next governor, Roy Cooper, and of course with our president, Barack Obama!

I feel very privileged because I've known the president in many roles, as a colleague in the Senate, as an opponent in a hard-fought primary, and the president I was so proud to serve as secretary of state.

But I've also known him as the friend that I was honored to stand with in the good times and the hard times. Someone who has never forgotten where he came from. And Donald, if you're out there tweeting, it's Hawaii.

So over the years, we've had some memorable experiences together, like storming a secret meeting of foreign leaders at a global climate summit.

That was fun. You should have seen the Chinese guards try to stop us. Now, they put their arms out, and the president just went right through. Then they put their arms out and I went right under.

And the president, with that amazing smile of his, says, hey, we've been looking for you. Now, through it all, as we went from political rivals to partners to friends, my esteem for him just kept growing. And so did my admiration for his brilliant wife, Michelle.

And those two amazing daughters that they have raised. My husband and I know a little bit about how hard it is to raise a child in the public eye, in the fishbowl of the White House. But the Obamas have done a fabulous job.

Malia, who just graduated from high school and celebrated her 18th birthday yesterday and Sasha, who has the energy and enthusiasm of a wonderful young woman. Now, I happen to think those two young women may be the most

impressive accomplishment of all, of our president. And it's one of the many reasons why it means so much to me personally to have the president's support in this campaign. After all, he knows a thing or two about winning elections, take it from me. And he also knows that despite all the progress we have made under his leadership, and yes, we have. We still have a lot of work to do.

President Obama's job, one that he did not ask for, but was handed to him, was to save us from a second great depression and that is exactly what he did. Actually I don't think he gets the credit he deserves for saving our economy.

We have added 14 million private sector jobs. The auto industry just had its best year ever. Twenty million people now have healthcare. Clean energy production has soared. I could go on and on, but you get the idea. That is what leadership looks like.

So our next president has a different job to do. Building on the progress that President Obama has made. We have to continue to take on deep, structural challenges that existed long before the great recession.

We see it here in North Carolina and across the country. Inequality is too high, wages are too low, and it's just too hard to get ahead. We need an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top.

So we are setting five big ambitious goals. First, under President Obama and Vice President Biden, we've had 75 straight months of job growth. I want us to see 75 more. So in my first 100 days as president, we will make the biggest investment in new, good-paying jobs since World War II.

And when I say good-paying jobs, I mean exactly that. Donald Trump thinks wages are too high. He actually stood on the debate stage and said that and he wants to get rid of the federal minimum wage altogether.

Well, I think anyone who is willing to work hard should be able to find a job that pays well enough to raise a family. So we are going to increase the federal minimum wage and give the middle class a raise. That's good for our families, good for our economy, and boy, is it good for our country.

Now, second, we're going to make college debt-free for all. And we're going to build on the president's idea to make community college free. And we are going to help millions of people struggling with existing student debt save thousands of dollars.

Third, we're going to rewrite the rules and crack down on companies that ship jobs overseas and profits to go with them. Let's reward the companies that share profits with their employees instead. And we're going to defend and strengthen the tough reforms President Obama put in place on the financial industry. Not tear them up like Donald Trump says he will do. We need to make sure that Wall Street can never wreck Main Street again. Fourth, we are going to make sure that Wall Street corporations and

the super rich pay their fair share of taxes. It is just plain wrong that a millionaire can pay a lower tax rate than their secretaries and we're going to stop it. And, by the way, we're going to keep asking to see Donald Trump's tax returns. And finally, we're going to step up and respond to the way American families actually live and work in the 21st Century. Our families, our workplaces have changed. Isn't it time our policies changed too?

Now, Donald Trump can accuse me of playing the woman card all he wants. But if fighting for equal pay and affordable childcare and paid family leave is playing the woman card, then deal me in!

And, you know, most of all, most of all - v

CROWD: Hillary! Hillary! Hillary! Hillary!

CLINTON: You know, most of all, though, we're going to build on the vision for America that President Obama has always championed. A vision for a future where we do great things together, not as red states and blue states, but as the United States.

When I look at President Obama, I see a leader with heart, depth, and humility, someone who in spite of the obstruction he's faced, still reaches for common ground and common purpose.

Now, some of you might remember that he and I competed against each other as hard as we could back in 2008. But when it was over, I was proud to endorse him and campaign for him.

And I will never forget, when he called me the Sunday after the election, asking me to come to Chicago, it turned out he wanted me to be secretary of state, and I don't think anybody saw that coming, especially me.

And as I traveled on behalf of our country, a lot of people would ask me, how President Obama and I could work so well together after being such fierce competitors.

In some places, you know, the person who loses an election gets exiled or executed, not asked to be secretary of state. But president Obama asked me to serve, and I accepted. You know why? We both love our country.

That is how democracy is supposed to work. We just celebrated 240 years of our independence. In America, we put common interest before self-interest. We stand together because we know we are stronger together. That is the kind of president Barack Obama has been. He has made difficult, even unpopular decisions for the good of our country. I have sat with him in the situation room and seen him make the hardest choices a president faces.

He does it with steady, principled leadership. He is a statesman, leading not just our country but the entire world. It was his vision -- it was his vision and diplomacy that secured an historic global agreement on climate change, put a lid on Iran's nuclear program, opened up Cuba, and rallied the world to curb the threat of nuclear weapons.

I saw him go toe to toe with the toughest foreign leaders, and to give the order to go after Osama Bin Laden. This, my friends, is a president who knows how to keep us safe and strong. Compare that to Donald Trump.

Can you imagine him sitting in the oval office, the next time America faces a crisis? The world hangs on every word our president says. And Donald Trump is simply unqualified and temperamentally unfit to be our president and commander-in-chief.

So here in North Carolina, this election is our chance to say, our country is better than this. In America, we don't tear each other down. We lift each other up. We build bridges, not walls. We don't call the country we love a disaster or a laughingstock. We know America already is the greatest country on earth.

Just think about those early patriots who met in Philadelphia that hot summer of 1776. They knew we would all rise or fall together. Now, nobody who looked like Barack Obama or me would have been included back then. But we're here today because the story of America is the story of hard-fought, hard-won progress.

[15:46:18] CROWD: Hillary! Hillary! Hillary! Hillary!

CLINTON: So I want you to remember that for 240 years, our history has moved in that direction. Slowly at times, but unmistakably. As the president has reminded us, the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.

So if you believe, along with me and with the president, that our best days as a nation are still ahead of us, please join this campaign. Take out your phone right now. Take out your phone and text join" to 47246, or go to hillaryclinton.com. We are hiring organizers right here in North Carolina. We are going to fight for everybody vote in this state. And with your help, we are going to win it! So I don't know about you, but we are fired up and ready to go, ready to win this election.

Please join me in welcoming the president of the United States, Barack Obama!

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Thank you.

Hillary! Hillary! Hillary! Hillary! Hillary! Hillary!

How you doing, Charlotte? Are you fired up? Ready to go? Fired up? I am -- I'm fired up. Hillary got me fired up. She got me ready to do some work. So I hope everybody had a great 4th of July.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love you.

OBAMA: I love you back. First of all, let me just say, I like any excuse to come to North Carolina. I just like North Carolina. I love the people of North Carolina. I used to -- when we used to campaign here, I used to say, even the people who aren't voting for me are nice.

You know, that's not true everywhere. So you have got great people here and then you have got great food. North Carolina's got some food. In fact, I will find someplace to stop and get some food before I head back to D.C. I know you all have recommendations.

And no, I can't go to your house to get food, although I'm sure you are an excellent cook. And then you have got great basketball. You've got great basketball. We all know that. But I'm not going to get in between all the Tarheel and Wolfpack and, you know, Blue Devils. See, I'm not going to get into all that. You just have great basketball in North Carolina.

So I love an excuse to come to North Carolina. But I'm here for a simple reason. I'm glad to see our outstanding congressional delegation. You are lucky to have them. I'm glad you have got an outstanding candidate for the Senate and outstanding candidate for governor.

And I'm going to be working for them too, but I'm here today because I believe in Hillary Clinton. And I want you to help elect her to be the next president of the United States of America. That's why I'm here.

[15:51:00] CROWD: Hillary! Hillary! Hillary! Hillary!

OBAMA: Now, as Hillary mentioned, this is not the first time we have campaigned together. We went up to New Hampshire after our primary in 2008. We went to Unity, New Hampshire, just in case people missed the point. I love the name of the town, Unity, New Hampshire. And we had gone through what was one of the longest, toughest primaries in history and primaries are always tough. Because you're arguing with your friends instead of the folks you disagree with. Sometimes you've got to find things to disagree about even though you don't really disagree.

So we were crisscrossing towns from New Hampshire to Nevada. And as much as I had admired her, when we served together in the Senate, I came away from that primary admiring her even more. Because during that year and a half, I had had a chance to see up close just how smart she was and just how prepared she was especially since I had to debate her a couple of dozen times.

And let's be clear, she beat me -- now, you don't have to rub it in. You don't have to rub it in, now. She beat me, you know, at least the first half and then I just barely could play her to a draw. I always had to be on my game because she knew every fact and she knew every detail.

And then during those 18 months, I saw the passion that she feels for anybody who is experienced in justice, anybody who has faced discrimination, anybody who does everything right and still can't seem to get a fair shot, whether it was workers who had lost their jobs or kids unable to afford college. And you could tell, it was personal to her because she had seen struggles in her own life. She had known challenges in her own life. And she could identify and empathize with people who were doing the right thing and wanted to make sure they got a fair shake.

And then during the primaries, again and again, I saw how even when things didn't go her way, she just stands up straighter and comes back stronger. She didn't give up. She didn't pout. She just kept on going. She was the energizer bunny. She just kept on.

And the bottom line is, she had to do everything I had to do, but she was like Ginger Rogers. She had to do it backwards and in heels. And at the end of our contest, I saw the grace and the energy with which she threw herself into my campaign. Not because she wasn't disappointed about the outcome of the primary, but because she knew there was something that was at stake that was bigger than either of us. And that was the direction of our country and how are we going to make sure that all of the people who are counting on us to see a better life.

So we may have gone toe to toe, from coast to coast, but we stood shoulder to shoulder for the ideals that we share. So maybe Hillary was surprised, but I wasn't surprised when I asked Hillary to represent our interests and our values around the world, as America's secretary of state.

I knew she would do a great job. I knew. I knew she would perform. I knew the regard in which she was held in capitals all around the world. I knew that the minute she took that job, there was a stature and a seriousness that would immediately mend some of the challenges that we had had around the world during that time.

Let me tell you, North Carolina, my faith in Hillary Clinton has always been rewarded. I have had a front row seat to her judgment and her toughness and her commitment to diplomacy. And I witnessed it in the situation room, where she argued in favor of the mission to get Bin Laden.

I saw how as a former senator from New York, she knew, she understood, because she had seen it, she had witnessed it, what this would mean for the thousands who had lost loved ones when the twin towers fell.

I benefitted from her skill in foreign capitals, where her pursuit of diplomacy led to new partnerships, opened up new nations to democracy, helped to reduce the nuclear threat. We have all witnessed the work she's done to advance the lives of women and girls around the globe. She has been working on this since she was a young woman working on the Children's Defense Fund. She is not late to the game to this. She has been going door to door to make sure kids got a fair share, making sure kids with disabilities could get a quality education. She has been fighting those fights and she has got the scars to prove it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, Hillary.

OBAMA: And, you know, Hillary and I, we shared a big hug the first time we saw each other after we finally realized one of the great causes of her career, finally guaranteeing access to quality affordable health insurance for every single American, because that's something she got started. And we picked up that baton and were able to get it across the finish line. The bottom line is, she was a great secretary of state. And by the

way, that's not just my opinion. That was the view of the American people and pundits throughout the time that she was serving as secretary of state. Before the whole political machinery got moving. Do you remember that? It wasn't that long ago. It's funny how that happens. Everybody thought she was doing a great job. That's because she did do a good job.

But it's funny how the filter changes a little bit. Same person, done the same work. But, you know, that filter is a powerful thing. You know, it wasn't just what happened in the limelight that made me grow more and more to admire and respect Hillary.

It was how she acted when the cameras weren't on her. It was knowing how she did her homework. It was knowing how many miles she put in traveling to make sure that America was effectively represented in corners of the globe that people don't even know about.

There wasn't any political points to be had, but she knew that it was important. I saw how she treated everybody with respect, even the folks who aren't, quote/unquote, "important." That's how you judge somebody. It is how do they treat somebody when the cameras are off and they can't do anything for you? Do you still treat them right? Do you still treat them with respect? Do you still listen to them? Are you still fighting for them?

I saw how deeply she believes in the things she fights for. And I saw how you can count on her and how she won't waiver and she won't back down and she won't quit no matter how difficult the challenge and how fierce the opposition.

And if there's one thing I can tell you, Charlotte, is those things matter. Those things matter. I'm here to tell you that the truth is nobody fully understands the challenges of the job of president until you've actually sat at that desk.