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Debbie Wasserman Schultz and DNC Face Critical Controversy; Donald Trump Speaks on Foreign Policy; NATO Countries Potentially at Risk; Australia: Olympic Village In Rio Not Safe For Their Athletes; Final Wave Of 90,000 Troops Arriving In Rio; DNC Chief's Convention Role Scrapped; Kaine Returns To Home Church A VP Candidate. Aired 2-3p ET
Aired July 24, 2016 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHTFIELD, CNN: Hello everyone, I'm Fredricka Whitfield in Philadelphia, outside the CNN Grill and the Wells Fargo Center. Really, this is Sports Central. This is home of the Eagles, the Flyers, the 76ers, and the Phillies. You are watching CNN special live coverage on the eve of the Democratic National Convention.
We begin with the Democrats in crisis just 24 hours before the start of their party's convention. Breaking news this afternoon DNC chairwoman, Debbie Wasserman Schultz will no longer preside over the convention and all major appearances have been scrapped. A top Democrat going so far as to tell CNN that she has been quarantined. Instead Ohio congresswoman, Marcia Fudge, will take the reins gaveling each session in and out.
This comes on the heels of the massive WikiLeaks e-mails dump that made public nearly 20,000 e-mails sent by DNC staffers. Many of them appear to show staffers who are supposed to be impartial, working against the Bernie Sanders campaign. Sanders, who has long claimed the DNC was supporting Hillary Clinton, responded to the e-mails this morning on State of the Union.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BERNIE SANDERS, SENATOR OF VERMONT: Well I think it's outrageous but it is not a great shock to me. I think -- it's like -- it's what we talked about six months ago. I mean, there is no question from my mind and I think -- no question from observer's mind that the DNC was supporting Hillary Clinton in opposition to our campaign.
I'm not quite shocked by this and that is why many, many months ago I made it clear that I thought that Debbie Wasserman Schultz should resign, should step down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Alright, joining me right now to talk about this major development heading into the DNC is CNN Politics Executive Editor, Mark Preston, CNN Politics Senior Reporter, Stephen Collinson, CNN Political Commentator and Daily Beast Columnist, Sally Kohn, and CNN Commentator and Clinton Supporter, Bakari Sellers. Alright, good to see all of you. This is the tall person's set. My goodness. So Mark, you first. How damaging is this for Clinton? Is it for the DNC? Is it for Wasserman Schultz? Or all of the above?
MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Right. So incredibly terrible situation right now for the Clinton campaign in the sense that it is distracting what should be a fantastic weekend for them. The rollout if Tim Kaine yesterday, in Miami, was flawless. He exceeded all expectations and now you have the head of the Democratic Party right now embroiled in this controversy.
Really lending truth to the argument that Bernie Sanders and his campaign has led all along, that the DNC was on the Clinton side. Now I spoke to several Democrats in the past few hours. One of them said that if Debbie Wasserman Schultz was to leave it is going to have to be because of Hillary Clinton. It is on their shoulders now to take care of it.
Another person said that she need to go as well as these staffers. This distraction needs to be taken care of right now and the Democrats need to get on with their convention.
WHITFIELD: Meaning that has to happen before November.
PRESTON: This has to happen before the next few hours.
WHITFIELD: Wow.
PRESTON: Certainly before tomorrow. We've already seen steps taken so far where she's been neutralized and taken out of the convention programming. The next step is for her to step aside.
WHITFIELD: So Stephen, what does this do to the Bernie Sanders supporters? And Bernie Sanders, who have been saying, We have been saying this all along. That there was no impartiality and now you've got this e-mail dump.'
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: Well I think it validates the claim allotted by the Sanders supporters that this whole thing was rigged against him. They were already complaining that there weren't enough debates. The debate schedule was tilted against Bernie Sanders. You know, that's just going to make people feel this even more. I think it's really interesting. You've got a convention here. We saw what happened last week with the Donald Trump plagiarism issue with Melania Trump's speech. That festered for two days. It will be interesting to see if the Democrats have some sort of -- get this out the way much more quickly and contain the damage.
WHITFIELD: And Sally, there is that word Rigged' again. Donald Trump is going to say, I told you so. That system is rigged. And Hillary Clinton, in his view, is crooked. How does this underscore his message? How does he use this to his advantage?
SALLY KOHN, DAILY BEAST COLUMNIST: Well there is so much to unpack here and let's be clear. I was a Bernie Sanders supporter. I am now proud to be supporting Hillary Clinton, but it is very fair to take our cues from Bernie Sanders on this one. I think Bernie Sanders supporters can take their cues as well which is you can walk and chew gum at the same time. We can look and say these e-mails are problematic, they're incredibly fortunate they reveal issues that people have been concerned about all along. We should discuss them. We should take them serious. We should look at broader reforms of the democratic party and the cross-primary process that make people feel it is fair and participatory.
And at the same time, on Jake's show, Bernie, himself, said this shouldn't get in the way of what we need to do at this convention, what we need to do at this election which is work to elect Hillary Clinton and defeat Donald Trump. We can keep our eyes on that prize. And I wish we would. Unfortunately, this is one of those, you know, this is catnip to the media and -- when we should be talking about substance.
WHITFIELD: So even though, Bernie Sanders made the saying, I told you so. You see this, Bakari, as an organizational problem. Not necessarily a unity one.
BAKARI SELLERS, CNN COMMENTATOR: Well it --
WHITFIELD: How is that different?
SELLERS: I believe it to be an organizational problem. I mean it -- not as much as a unity problem, and it's also an issue that we have to delve into for the general election. I think it's three-fold. Organizationally, I think people need to be fired, people need to be held accountable. You know, I think Debbie Wasserman Schultz has to make a decision about whether or not she wants to be a distraction or not moving forward. If I was the DNC chairperson right now, for the sake of the party, I would have to say unequivocally I would resign from that position. Just for the sake of actually going in to this convention.
We saw what happens when convention get clouded and messages get stepped on last week. Unity-wise, I think that you can look and take cues from Bernie Sanders. You can compare Bernie Sanders to Ted Cruz. I guarantee you we're not going to have a Ted Cruz speech on that stage. There are a lot of republicans that are thirsting for it.
And, general election-wise, I think it's time that we really delve into Donald Trump, his relationship with the Russians, his relationship with Putin, their relationship with WikiLeaks, and see how the Russians are trying to take sides and move our general election --
WHITFIELD: And Clinton's camp actually saying that they believe there is some self-center(ph) there.
SELLERS: --And one way or another. I think there are three things that have to take place, but I believe the first has to be Democrats have to own this, have to be held accountable, and then we can begin to move forward.
WHITFIELD: Alright, meantime, I just learned CNN's John King is learning that Debbie Wasserman Schultz is actually in the midst of a meeting right now. Perhaps to determine her future. What kind of discussion is happening right now? Is it a willingness that needs to be demonstrated on her part? That it is time to step aside? Or is it a berating from those in the committee who were saying it's time to do something.
PRESTON: Well it all depends who the meeting is with, Fred right? So we don't actually know who is in the meeting. Here is the problem. Because, we're focusing all on Bernie Sanders and what Debbie Wasserman Schultz did to Bernie Sanders. It's not so much about Bernie Sanders. It's actually a much larger problem than Bernie Sanders. Bernie Sanders always said that his campaign was a revolution for the liberal wing of the party. So when the liberal wing of the party, who are marching in the streets of Philadelphia behind us right now, frustrated and angry at the party for not being liberal enough their looking at this as an issue for long-term party unity.
Will there be unity here this week? Absolutely. Is there long-term, you know, structural problems with the Democrats -- Democratic Party? There are and it's -- Sally is laughing, but the fact of the matter it's true.
KOHN: Whoa, whoa, I mean look I am a proud member of the liberal left wing and the worn wing of the Democratic Party. I'm not laughing only it's so far as -- again, and this is my challenge, and I'm not saying I don't share some of the sentiments you've just shared, but I feel like my challenge as a Sanders supporter, as a Progressive Democrat, as a Poll Progressive, as well as others is to, again, walk and chew gum at the same time.
You know the truth of the matter is, I have never been prouder in this moment to be a Democrat, especially in contrast to the horrible, ugly, hateful backwards agenda that the Republicans showed us. I have never been more proud to be Democratic.
At the same time, that doesn't mean I can't be made more proud. We can do that together. We can continue to improve the party, make the party more relevant and more relatable to both the Progressive base of voters and the populace sentiment of the country while also recognizing that far and away we are the better offering here than anything the Republicans have.
WHITFIELD: Well, one has to wonder what kind of impudence this offers now for Bernie Sanders supporters who say they are not conceding their support to Hillary Clinton right now. In fact, this is Bernie Sanders this morning however. Listen to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANDERS: I think the focus though, that I am going to go forward on right now, is to make sure that Donald Trump, perhaps the worst Republican candidate in the modern history of this country. Somebody buy Tempobet(ph), Somebody buy ideology, must not become President of the United States. I'm going to do everything I can to elect Hillary Clinton and to keep focusing -- keep focusing on the real issues facing the American people. (END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: So Bakari, he's on board. He's willing to say, You know what? I'm seeing the forest through the trees. He puts support behind Clinton, but his supporters may not be.
SELLERS: We've gone through this platform battle -- we've gone through this platform battle and issues that are near and dear to the hearts of many Democrats. We're talking about college tuition; we're talking about healthcare. I mean, we've gone through these issues. For me, I had a Bernie Sanders supporter early tell me that they were going to support Donald Trump because Donald Trump -- because Hillary Clinton didn't support a worldwide ban on fracking.
I said, So you're going to leave Hillary Clinton and go to someone who doesn't believe that climate change is a real thing? I mean that's illogical. That doesn't make sense. So some of these issue leaks will not be made. But we've got a bumpy start right now. You have to admit that changes have to be made, but I also have to underscore that voters voted in this selection, and voters voted and voters came out and more voters voted for Hillary Clinton.
I think that is also a fair statement to make.
WHITFIELD: Alright, and real quick, Stephen, a bumpy start for really both parties. We're seeing this kind of lack of unity.
COLLINSON: Right. Right.
WHITFIELD: It's a problem for the Republican Party and then start of the DNC. It's a problem here too.
COLLINSON: Yes, I think that -- to be honest it's more of a problem in the Republican Party. We saw -- I don't think we're going to see a Ted Cruz moment this week. Had Wasserman Schultz gotten out onto the floor, you might have seen some boos and et cetera from the crowd, but I don't think it's the same. We're not going to get a Democrats standup, I don't think, and basically say effectively Don't Vote for Hillary Clinton.'
WHITFIELD: Alright, thanks for all of you. We're going to see you again in a moment. Mark, Stephen, Sally, and Bakari, thank you. Appreciate it.
KOHN: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: Alright, so right now, a large crowd of Sanders supporters are actually taking part in a rally not too far from where we are at the convention center. Let's get right to CNN Correspondent, Jessica Schneider. So Jessica, what is being said there?
JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, this is just the start of a kickoff of a week's worth of rallies. Take a look around me here. We're just across from City Hall. We've got about 1,000 people. This is all part of the march for Bernie, kicking off. It kicked off at 1:30 this afternoon. They will be out here for about an hour and a half and kicking off at 3 pm they will march down to FDR Park. You can see a lot of emotion out here.
The organizers of this big rally, this is just one of the many they are planning throughout the week. They tell me that their goal out here is really peaceful. They say they wanted to destroy the political two-party system and they want big change. They say that Bernie Sanders has been the inspiration for their change. As you can see, people out here with signs, talking about the importance of Bernie. They're saying, Bernie or Bust.' They say that this nomination is not a lock. They say they plan to continue fighting and they hope Bernie Sanders speaks out.
So it is very loud, very emotion-filled, but they do reiterate to me this is peaceful. They do have permits to be out here and police have pretty much given them their space to speak their minds, let their voices be heard, and beginning in just about an hour they will take this large protest, this large rally all the way down to FDR Park which is right just outside the convention center.
So, giving a look now you can see a lot of people were estimating about 1,000 people so far, but organizers do tell me throughout the week they are expecting about 100,000 people at least. So Fredricka, when we've been able to look at these people and send it back to you.
WHITFIELD: Alright Jessica, thank you so much. That is really only about a 5-10-minute drive. Not fair away. Very noisy. Let's see how impactful it just might potentially be for this convention. And a reminder, join us for full coverage of the Democratic National Convention live from Philadelphia beginning Monday afternoon 4:00 EST here on CNN.
Alright, coming up, Donald Trump defends his comments about making NATO allies pay up. Plus, Trump's son strikes back at critics who say his father is painting a pessimistic view of the country.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP JR, DONALD TRUMP'S SON: And if President Obama wants to go on the air and say, look at the America we live in. It's so phenomenal today versus eight years ago. I don't think I know an American that believes that to be the case.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(Fredricka voice-over)
WHITFIELD: And this breaking news, Australian officials warning about the Olympic village in Rio. Why they say it's not safe or ready for their athletes. We're back from Philadelphia. Right after this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Hello again, welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield outside the CNN Grill here in Philadelphia. So Donald Trump is hitting back after getting a lot of criticism from Democrats and from Republicans for his statement on NATO. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called Trump's suggestion that the US might abandon NATO a quote, Rookie Mistake. President Barack Obama said Trump's comment shows a lack of preparedness.
This morning on NBC's Meeting The Press, Trump defended his belief that NATO countries must pay their fair share if they want US support.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have NATO and we have many countries that aren't paying for what they're supposed to be paying. Which is too little. But they're not paying anyway. And we're giving them a free ride or we're giving them a ride where they owe us tremendous amounts of money, and they have the money, but they're not paying it. You know why?
Because they think we're --
CHUCK TODD, HOST OF NBC'S MEET THE PRESS' PROGRAM: So either. So Estonia is paying and if they get invaded by Russia, you're there.
TRUMP: I feel differently. I feel very differently. We have --
TODD: Ok. But if a country is not doing great -- hasn't done the two percent, you --
TRUMP: We have countries that aren't paying and this goes beyond NATO because we take care of -- we take care of Japan, we take care of Germany, we take care of South Korea, we take care of Saudi Arabia, and we lose on everything. We lose on everything. If Mitch McConnell says that then he is wrong. So all I'm saying is they have to pay. This isn't 40 years ago. This isn't 50 years ago. It's not 30 years ago. We're a different country today. We're much weaker. Our military is depleted.
TODD: Right.
TRUMP: We owe tremendous amounts of money. We have to be reimbursed. We can no longer be the stupid' country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Alright, joining me right now. CNN Political Analyst and Columnist for the Washington Post, Josh Rogin. Also with me, our CNN Political Commentators, Kayleigh McEnany and Bakari Sellers. Kayleigh supporting Donald Trump. Bakari is a Clinton supporter. Alright, so good to see all of you. Bakari, back at the table here.
So Josh, this is Donald Trump saying going it alone.
JOSH ROGIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Right, so all the commentary is missing here is this is not Trump making a mistake. It's not that he doesn't know what he is saying. He does know what he is saying. He's charting out a new foreign policy for the United States that's a radical departure from everything we've known, Republican and Democratic Administrations, for the last 70 years.
Now you can agree with that or you can disagree with that, but he's not making this up as he goes along. He doesn't believe that Russia's a big threat. He doesn't believe that NATO is that important. Now, this shocks a lot of people including me frankly. But it's not as if he's just coming up with this on the fly. This is what he believes and people should understand that.
Now, the effect that that has on our countries around the world is drastic. I talked to several European diplomats in Cleveland, Republican officials. They are shocked. Ok. They are worried. They are concerned that the US is nagging on 70 years of security commitments and if Trump comes into power that destabilizing effect will only be magnified.
WHITFIELD: Kayleigh, how do Trump supporters such as yourself defend this kind of isolationism?
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well Josh is right. This is certainly not a mistake. This is Donald Trump's worldview. He looks at the world and he sees the United States adventurism, going to foreign countries, having these kind of post-World War II locked in interests and he wants things to change.
WHITFIELD: But how's the argument made that this is advantageous?
MCENANY: Oh the thing is, right now only four of 28 NATO countries are paying two percent of their GDP on defense money to NATO. That is a problem. We live in a world of global terrorism, where everyone has to fight and terrorism will not end until everyone steps up and pays and commits resources to this effort, not just the United States.
ROGIN: Here's where Trump is wrong on the facts. He thinks keeping troops in Germany, keeping troops in Japan, that's actually cheaper than keeping them here in the United States. These countries may not do as much as Trump wants them to do, but they do do a lot and they do pay. And we have to understand here that we're the Superpower. These countries are never going to do as much as we want them to do, but if Trump is going to make this argument, I think he should get his facts right.
Keep -- pulling all the troops back and relocating our bases, that will actually cost America more on the long run.
WHITFIELD: And it's --
MCENANY: But it's worth pointing out that Trump's leadership has actually caused changes in NATO, changes Trump said needs to have.
ROGIN: I don't know that.
MCENANY: NATO needs to have more of a terrorist outlook, in fact they are committing resources --
ROGIN: That's not true. That's like the Roster taking credit for the Sunrise. MCENANY: No one wants to give a Trump credit. They should give him credit because NATO's changed in response to this.
ROGIN: No he doesn't. He takes credit for everything.
SELLERS: What I think that Kayleigh is not recognizing right now, by making these changes, by pulling back, by withdrawing on these defense commitments that we've had and going back to a pre-World War II. America first, nationalism-type rhetoric foreign policy is dangerous. I think people understand that instability is not only dangerous, but is dangerous to our main ally in the Middle East which is Israel.
I mean, you're talking about a domino effect that many people, including Donald trump don't seem to understand. That, if you pull back -- I mean we can talk about Turkey. We can talk about Japan. We can talk about all of these where our interests are firm and although they might not chip in the way we want them to, they do provide services to the United States.
And by doing that we're knocking the entire world off its stability.
MCENANY: Bakari --
WHITFIELD: Alright, well hold on. This is how the President of the United States assessed what was said by Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: To go out and say that America might not stand by its solemn commitment, to protect those same allies who stood with us after 9/11 when we were attacked I think is an indication of the lack of preparedness that he's been displaying when it comes to foreign policy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROGIN: So, I think you're going to see that a lot of this this week. That Trump's rhetoric is dangerous, that he's not prepared. That's going to be the Clinton-Obama argument, right? But what we also have to understand here is that what Trump is saying about pulling back from allies is in direct contradiction to what his criticism is about the Clinton campaign and the Obama policy.
They say Obama hasn't stood by the allies, and then they go out and say we're not going to stand by the allies, that totally doesn't make any sense when you think about it, right?
MCENANY: Josh, you're --
WHITFIELD: So there are very incongruent messages.
MCENANY: There are crucial facts here. All he is saying is that when you make deal, there are two parties, there are two sets of commitments. The NATO allies have agreed to pay a certain amount. In return we have agreed to defend them. One side of the commitment has been kept up. That is our side. Their side has not. And they need to honor their side of the bargain.
SELLERS: That also ignores -- that also ignores two facts. One, I want to talk about, the incongruent messaging. We can talk about Mike Pence. In Mike Pence's interview, he said, oh we're going to stand by our allies. We're going to do that. And then, the same day Donald Trump was doing an interview with the New York Times and was quoted in saying, We're not going to stand with NATO if they don't -- if they don't pay their fair share.
ROGIN: Right.
SELLERS: But what Kayleigh and no one else seems to recognize is Ok, if I give you they're not paying their fair share, and we pull out. What happens next? What is the result of that? And we cannot afford that instability. We cannot afford to go in and say, Hey they didn't pay their fair share. We're going to sit on our hands, withdraw our troops, and watch the world fallout.
MCENANY: But they won't pay their fair share and this is where Donald Trump is a good negotiator.
SELLERS: How do you know that?
MCENANY: When you got into any sort of deal-making you set the stakes very high and the other party comes to the table. It's great negotiation.
ROGIN: Here is the problem. Foreign policy is not a business negotiation, Ok? These countries have their own internal politics. These are complicated relationships. It's clear that Donald Trump doesn't understand the intricacies of these relationships. So when he talks about them he doesn't really depict them accurately.
Now I agree with the point that the NATO countries have to do more. That's widely held, but when Donald Trump sort of makes these broad statements, you have to ask the question, Is that really helping? Or is that really hurting? And from all the reaction that we can see, all over the world, it's actually making the problem worse.
SELLERS: And --
WHITFIELD: Can we see the counter messaging this week? Or can we anticipate that here in the DNC? When there has been a lot of criticism Kayleigh, that Donald Trump that lead RNC was very negative, very pessimistic. It wasn't isolationist message, go alone. The flipside to that, this week?
MCENANY: Well that's what the Puntons(ph) are saying. That was a negative message, but the great thing is that we had poll numbers come out that showed 75 percent of viewers of the speech thought that it was very or somewhat positive so the newspaper headlines aren't always reflective of the news of the people. We've seen that this week.
SELLERS: Well, we've also seen that in the battleground post, CBS just had a battleground post come out, that he only got a two percent bump which if you look back in history that is tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny, and we also see that Univision just did a poll to show the Hispanic vote is each day of the convention found Donald Trump of the GOP to be --
WHITFIELD: For support of Donald Trump to be eroding.
SELLERS: That's the point, eroding, but they get back to this point. I think that Americans have to understand. You know, building a Taj Mahal in Atlantic City or a Trump Tower somewhere is vastly different and negotiating those deals with City Council to get tax breaks is vastly different than negotiating with our allies about the world and protect Americans. And I think that's very simplistic to say, Oh my god. Donald Trump is a builder. He can actually put one brick on top of another. So let's go negotiate trade deals and foreign policy deals.'
Until he can actually show some depth on that, then I think it's a lost cause.
MCENANY: But the problem is your candidate has shown no depth. The Middle East is one fire, ISIS grew to 50,000 strong under the tutelage of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
SELLERS: Hillary Clinton has depth. She has --
ROGIN: She has a mix record on foreign policy.
MCENANY: A horrible record.
ROGIN: At least it's a record.
MCENANY: A horrible record.
WHITFIELD: We'll leave it right there. We're not done talking about this. We still have another two and a half hours to go ladies and gentlemen. Alright Josh -- well yes, that's the big picture, but for today with us, yes. Tune in to us. Thanks to much Bakari, Josh, and Kayleigh. Appreciate it.
Alright, Donald Trump Jr. giving a fiery defense of his father's convention speech and he is doubling down on his Dad's pessimistic, that what some people are calling it, pessimistic view of the current state of America. This morning the son of the Republican nominee spoke with CNN's Jake Tapper on State of the Union. Trump Jr. dismissing President Obama's criticism, that his father is painting an unfair picture of America's problems.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP JR.: Apparently, he hasn't turned on the news in the last few months, Jake. If you look at what's going on in this country, it's a disaster. Anything that's left of our economy is only there because it's artificially inflated with ridiculously low interest rates (ph) that don't work in the long run. It's a lie. You can't turn on the Tv these days without seeing cops getting shot, you have people enabling these things. We're creating a system where we're encouraging criminals essentially to go out and pretend that they're vigilantes.
I mean, it is ridiculous. We have to defend our cops, we have to take care of our people, we have to get some law and order back into this world because it doesn't exist and if President Obama wants to go on the air and say, Look at the America we live in. It's so phenomenal today versus eight years ago.' I don't think I know an American that believes that to be the case.
We're in a mess and we have to finally acknowledge that, Jake. Sound bites are wonderful, but we actually have to do something in terms of action for a change. Let's talk about the murder rate for cops skyrocketing. Let's talk about the real unemployment rate because the way we actually measure unemployment is after x number of months if someone can't find a job, congratulations they're miraculously off.
When you talk about under employment, which Obamacare has destroyed. People that are working 30 hours a week instead of 40 hours a week. So that companies don't have to put them on Obamacare. When you talk about people that just aren't even registered because they don't count them anymore. They have been out of work for so long. They'd love to work if they could, but they can't. That doesn't count.
These are artificial numbers, Jake. These are numbers that are massaged to make the existing economy look good, to make this administration look good, when in fact it's a total disaster. So let's talk about real numbers. You know, when we talk about the numbers as they see it, it's fake accounting, Jake. It doesn't really work. And that's not what the state of this country is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Alright, coming up, Trouble in Rio. Less than two weeks now before the Olympic Games. Australian officials now warning the Olympic Village isn't safe for athletes. CNN's Shasta Darlington is live for us in Rio with that story.
SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right Fredricka, backed up toilets, leaky pipes, and exposed wires. Just a few of the reason the Australian Olympic Delegation says it won't move into that Athlete's Village. We'll have more after this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[14:30:00] DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: -- you got to see this guy, I don't know what I said, I don't remember --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back. Live in Philadelphia, take a look at this CNN Grill. We are set up right outside which will become the Democratic National Convention location. Much more on the convention in a moment.
But first, breaking news out of Rio de Janeiro. With the Olympic Games less than two weeks away now, Australian officials say that housing is not safe nor ready for the athletes. Australian athletes are staying in hotels because of blocked toilets, leaking pipes, and exposed wiring in their dorms.
CNN's Brazil bureau chief and international correspondent, Shasta Darlington is live for us now in Rio. So Shasta, you took a tour of the housing. What did you see?
SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Fredricka. I can tell you. We did not see the backup toilets obviously. They showed us the very basic rooms. They are pretty no frills I would say. Enough seating for the people staying in the apartment, single beds, disposable wardrobes, no television sets, which is something they had in London and previous games.
But the delegations did convince organizers to install air conditionings and that's of course, to allay the fears over the mosquito-borne Zika virus. So what the Australian delegations says that in their apartments there are exposed wires, dirty, backed up toilets, and that they will stay in those hotels until these problems are fixed.
The local organizing committee says they are doing what they can to get all complaints dealt with as quickly as possible, Fredricka. But I think what makes up for these problems is the outdoor space. This athlete's village has multiple swimming pools, tennis courts and even bike lanes -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Wow. Well, it sounds like it would be really glamorous and very nice, but already the Australian team has been, you know, complaining. That's why they are staying in the hotels. They want to able to move in on Thursday. What about all the other arriving teams? Will they be moving in to that housing?
DARLINGTON: According to organizers, they are arriving today and moving in. No one else, none of the other delegations, have come out with such loud criticism.
We talked to Team USA, they said that as in other games there have been some issues that they needed to address and they are addressing them. So we really haven't heard these loud complaints from any of the other delegations.
But that doesn't mean that there weren't details that needed to be wrapped up at the very last minute. We also saw this in other major sporting events like the World Cup really putting on the last coat of paint as people are moving in -- Fredricka.
[14:35:08]WHITFIELD: Shasta, security is a huge deal here in Philadelphia for the DNC. Clearly, it's a big deal for any Olympic Games and we understand already the last wave of troops have been coming in to Rio to secure the games. What's the role, as far as we know, that many of these troops will be playing?
DARLINGTON: Well, Fredricka, this is providing some relief for the sort of growing tensions here. Earlier this week, 11 people were arrested in a suspected terror plot. They were all Brazilian nationals. They had been pledging allegiance to ISIS over messaging apps although they hadn't actually gotten directly in control of any ISIS operative.
That obviously raise concerns here and now the full 85,000 soldiers and police and firefighters are on the scene here in Rio, that's more than double the security detail that we saw in London. Officials say that they will ensure secure games. That they have been holding anti- terrorism drills. They are prepared for the worst and convinced that it won't happen.
They are already setting up around the venues, wide perimeters and even have Navy ships off the coast of Copacabana Beach where a lot of tourists will be staying and the hope is obviously that this extremely elevated security presence will deter any attempts -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Shasta Darlington, thank you so much, in Rio. Appreciate it.
All right, coming up, leaked e-mails, a party chief cut out of the convention and now this. Protesters furious with the Democratic Party and marching on the streets of Philadelphia. More on their anger and what it could lead to. All of that, next.
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[14:40:32]
WHITFIELD: Hello, everyone. Welcome to Philadelphia. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Live pictures right now inside the Wells Fargo Center, which will be home to the DNC officially when the convention begins tomorrow. Final touches being made, final sound tracks and sets being built inside.
Meantime, great worry that threatening to upstage this building excitement is breaking news today, major news. The DNC chair, Debbie Wasserman Schultz is no longer a major player in the convention. Congresswoman Marsha Fudge will now preside over the event gaveling each session in and out.
This comes on the heels of the release of thousands of DNC emails that appear to show that DNC staffers favored Hillary Clinton during the primary season.
Bernie Sanders responded to the e-mail controversy and Clinton's vice president selection this morning on "STATE OF THE UNION" with Jake Tapper.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SENATOR BERNIE SANDERS (I), VERMONT: I asked and demanded Debbie Wasserman Schultz's resignation many, many months ago, and I state that again. I don't think she is qualified to be the chair of the DNC. Not only for these awful e-mails, which revealed the prejudice of the DNC, but also because we need a party that reaches out to working people and young people. And I don't think her leadership style is doing that.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Let's turn to Senator Tim Kaine. He's Secretary Clinton's choice for vice president. Take a look at what Donald Trump tweeted this morning. Quote, "Looks to me like the Bernie people will fight. If not, their blood, sweat and tears was a total waste of time. Kaine stands for opposite," unquote. Senator, do you think Tim Kaine stands for the opposite of your political revolution?
SANDERS: Well, compared to Donald Trump, certainly not. Look, I've known Tim Kaine. Tim is a fellow senator. I've known for a number of years. Tim is an extremely bright guy and a very nice guy. Are his political views different than mine? Yes, they are, he is more conservative than I am.
But compared to Donald Trump, a guy who rejects science, doesn't even believe that climate change is real, let alone that we have to take bold action to transform our energy system, a Donald Trump who wants to give hundreds of billions of dollars in tax breaks to the top two tenths of 1 percent.
A Donald Trump who goes around the country insulting Mexicans and Latinos and Muslims and women, veterans and African-Americans, trust me on -- on his worst, worst, worst day Tim Kaine is 100 times better than Donald Trump will ever be.
TAPPER: According to the latest CNN polls, Senator, 40 percent of your supporters are not planning on voting for Hillary Clinton. They feel insulted, too. You talk about the insults that Donald Trump has leveled against minority groups, your supporters feel insulted by Hillary Clinton, by Debbie Wassermann Schultz, by the Democratic National Committee. What is your message to them?
SANDERS: This is my message is that we have got to stay focused and the immediate focus has got to be that a disastrous candidate like Donald Trump cannot be elected. My second message is that we continue the political revolution and fight for a government that represents all of us and not just the 1 percent.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right, despite Sanders' calls to stay focused, his supporters are staging protest here, one of them happening right now, just a few miles away from this location.
That's where we find CNN correspondent, Jessica Schneider, right downtown in the thick of it all. Jessica, I talked to a number of people who are Bernie Sanders supporters on the planes and they said that they would be taking part in a rally. So describe what is unfolding there.
JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, the Bernie or Bust Movement is going strong out here. It's gaining force. It will be ongoing all throughout the week. Take a look at the crowd around me. There are about a thousand people out here. They say that their mission out here is kind of two-fold.
They say they want to break up the two-party political system, but they also say that they will act in reasonable harmony. And you're taking a look at the speaker's podium right now. In fact, just a few minutes ago, I saw one of the top Philadelphia police officials get up on to that podium and stand in support with the protesters out here.
[14:45:06]So the police are letting these people have their voice. This protest has been permitted and in a few minutes, a crowd of a thousand people will be marching 3-1/2 miles down to the convention center site where they will be rallying throughout the evening at FDR Park.
But of course, Bernie or Bust, that's the theme out here. I want to bring in Robert Shearer, he is a delegate at large, also delegate coordinator in Northern California.
Robert, you will be on the floor and at the convention when this kicks off tomorrow when Bernie Sanders speaks tomorrow. What do you want to hear from Bernie Sanders? Because after all, as we've been hearing, this Bernie or Bust Movement is not dead.
ROBERT SHEARER, DEMOCRATIC DELEGATE: I think that absolutely thing that most want to hear, most Sanders followers and most of his delegates is that we're going to move forward and fight for this nomination.
In the absence of that, we certainly want to raise the important platform issues and minority reports like the TPP and fair elections, minority reports that have been drafted by our Platform Committee members.
SCHNEIDER: You were out here earlier on your bull horn. You said that you and your fellow Bernie delegates had big plans for the convention. What are those plans?
SHEARER: That's right. We drafted a nomination statement in a committee of 24 delegates from across the country and it effectively says that all of the signatories feel that Secretary Clinton is not a strong general election candidate and she doesn't have the support of Americans from both the left and the right.
We're going to have delegates stand here and from across the country and give short speeches on the issues that they feel that Hillary Clinton and the Democratic establishment have not fully embraced. Pillars of our political revolution that are not being embraced.
SCHNEIDER: Bernie Sanders has come out in support of Hillary. He's thrown his support behind her. Why not kind of stand down now and let Hillary have her moment?
SHEARER: I don't think you're dealing with a group of people in this country that are willing to stand down. From the beginning, we've been saying, not me, us. This is not about Senator Sanders. This is about moving forward and advancing progressive policies that America needs right now.
The world's climate needs right now. Not through incremental change. Maybe in eight years, we'll talk about banning fracking again. The science is clear, if we don't ban fracking now, we'll push the climate over the limit. It doesn't matter who is elected now.
SCHNEIDER: Robert Shearer, thank you so much for talking with us. So Fredricka, you heard that this isn't just about a candidate. This is about a broader political movement. These people have been rallying throughout the city.
We've seen marchers already moving downtown. This group will move downtown and into the convention center area very soon, but they say that their message is out here, Bernie or Bust. They say they will go strong throughout the week -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, thank you so much, Jessica Schneider. Only about 5 or 10 minutes away from our location here. Thanks so much from downtown.
All right, coming up, Tim Kaine's big homecoming. Hillary Clinton's new running mate greeted with hugs and kisses as he heads to church. What we're learning about his faith and how it could play a role in this year's race.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:52:24]
WHITFIELD: Hello, everyone. Welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield live in Philly ahead of the official start of the DNC. Hillary Clinton and her new running mate, Tim Kaine, won't take a break after this week's Democratic convention.
The pair will hit the road right after the DNC taking a bus tour of Ohio and Pennsylvania, two states that could be crucial to any winning presidential campaign.
Earlier today, Kaine, a devout Catholic and former missionary, attended church back home in Virginia. CNN's Chris Frates joining us now live from Richmond, Virginia. So Chris, what do we know about the church he attended and how happy people were to see him.
CHRIS FRATES, CNN INVESTIGATIONS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fred, well, you know, this is the church that the Kaine's have been going to for over 30 years now. It's a predominantly African-American church and really was a homecoming for Tim Kaine and his wife, Ann.
We saw them take an active role in the service. They brought the communion to the altar. Tim Kaine who is a tenor in the choir sat in and sang one of his favorite songs.
During the part of the service where people get up and ask for prayers, Ann, his wife got up, said, I woke up this morning feeling like I need your prayers and she left unsaid why.
Of course, that's because they are about to undertake one of the toughest endeavors in American politics, which is to run on a presidential ticket with Hillary Clinton.
But she also asked the congregation to keep her son in mind. He's a Marine and he's going to deploy overseas tomorrow and when Tim Kaine came out of the service, he talked to reporters for a minute and said how much it meant for him to be here today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SENATOR TIM KAINE (D), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I'm going to talk about church. Some of you that were inside, you saw what a special community this is. Ann found it in the summer of 1984 and we were married here in November 1984. We needed some prayers today and we got some prayers and some support and it really feels good.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FRATES: Now, I talked to a lot of long-time parishioners here and you know, they will tell you despite all the honorifics he's earned, senator, governor, and now vice presidential candidate, they say Tim is regular people, he's one of us.
I talked to a woman who has been here for 50 years, Fred. I asked what do you want the world to know about Tim Kaine? She said he'll take care of his people and not just his church people but people everywhere -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: Wow. I'm sure he's going to be able to tout that. To say he's attended that church for 30 years, very few people can say that. All right, Chris Frates, thank you so much. We'll check back with you. Appreciate it.
[14:55:07]All right, coming up, security is a big concern in the run- up to the convention here in Philadelphia. How the city is bracing for an additional 50,000 people.
Plus, my interview with the city's former police commissioner. The advice he has for safeguarding such a huge event.
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WHITFIELD: Hello again, everyone. Thanks so much for joining me here in --
