Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Jeers Overwhelm Cheers as DNC Chair Speaks; Russians Suspected of Hacking DNC E-Mails; Donald Trump Bounces into the Lead; First Lady Michelle Obama, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders to Speak at Convention. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired July 25, 2016 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:00] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Surprising many of the political pundits with bigger than -- with a bigger-than-expected bounce from his party's convention last week. In our new CNN/ORC poll, he now leads Clinton by five points, not counting the margin of error.

In the meantime Hillary Clinton is rolling out the big guns expected to speak on this day one. A former rival, Bernie Sanders, fellow senator Elizabeth Warren, and the first lady, Michelle Obama. This all against the bizarre backdrop, leaked e-mails trigger a change of leadership among the Democrats and Clinton is blaming Russia. She says Moscow unleashed its hackers to help Donald Trump win the White House.

The DNC chair, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, is forced out amidst the scandal, which shows her DNC staffers favoring Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders. Wasserman Schultz spoke for the first time just last hour and it wasn't pretty.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CROWD BOOING)

REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (D-FL), FORMER DNC CHAIR: If I could get you --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: We're also keeping a close eye on a DNC briefing with the surviving Democratic leaders about to speak to the media so that should be interesting. Of course we're covering all the angles of this but let's begin, though, with CNN's MJ Lee, she was at that breakfast meeting where Debbie Wasserman Schultz was soundly booed.

Tell us more, MJ.

MJ LEE, CNN POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Carol, this was really a chaotic scene. Just so our viewers are aware because it's a little bit hard to tell just by watching the scenes from this delegation breakfast, I want to point out that there were people who were cheering for Debbie Wasserman Schultz, yelling things like, Debbie, Debbie, Debbie, once she took the stage, to show their support. But quickly the scene really turned into really chaotic scene with a

lot of people booing at Wasserman Schultz and jeering at her, holding up signs that said the word "e-mails," clearly taking issue with the DNC e-mails that were leaked over the weekend and yelling things like "shame, shame." Wasserman Schultz really only spoke for a few minutes before quickly exiting the room. She was surrounded by security and would not take questions from the press.

Now, Carol, I want to point out that now the Clinton campaign and the Trump campaign are in a bit of a fight over the timing of the DNC leaks and who exactly was behind the disclosure of these e-mails. Take a listen to these sound bites.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBBY MOOK, CAMPAIGN MANAGER, HILLARY FOR AMERICA: Other experts are now saying that the Russians are releasing these e-mails for the purpose of actually helping Trump. I don't think it's coincidental that these e-mails were released on the eve of our convention here and that's disturbing and I think we need to be concerned about that. I think we need to be concerned that we also saw last week at the Republican convention that Trump and his allies made changes to the Republican platform to make it more pro-Russian.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: Why it is so farfetched to blame the Russians and say that the motive was to help you?

PAUL MANAFORT, DONALD TRUMP CAMPAIGN CHAIRMAN: I mean, it's just absurd. I don't know anything about what you just said. You may know it. Then if you do, then you ought to expose it. I want to say you know, I don't know what you're talking about. It's crazy. The fact that we're having this conversation is the wrong conversation.

The conversation we should be having is, what does Russia have from Hillary Clinton's server? That's the bigger issue. Not what -- what anybody got from the DNC server.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEE: Now, Carol, after this breakfast and seeing just how much anger and frustration really boiled up to the surface, I think the question for the Clinton campaign as well as Democratic leaders is whether or not Debbie Wasserman Schultz really should still speak today later in the day at the convention. You can imagine a situation where Sanders supporters and other angry Democrats will take to the floor to express their frustration and sort of the same way that they did just a few minutes ago. I think that's a decision that the Florida congresswoman will have to make some time very soon.

COSTELLO: All right, MJ Lee, reporting live for us here from Philadelphia, thanks so much.

The Clinton campaign does say, though, Russia is behind the DNC hacking. The allegations sound like something straight out of a Cold War era, right, but now security experts believe Russian hacking groups may have also hit systems at the White House and the State Department.

So let's get right to CNN justice reporter Evan Perez. What are you finding out?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Carol, well, there's strong evidence from officials I've been talking to that indicates that the hack of the DNC was the work of hackers working for Russian intelligence. Now officials tell me that the FBI is now investigating this hack. And so far the evidence does point to at least one group of hackers that got in that is familiar to U.S. counterintelligence. Now this is the same group that was involved in the hacking of the non-classified e-mail systems at the State department and at the White House and other federal agencies.

[10:05:03] Now the investigators believe that the Russian intelligence is also behind a wave of cyber attacks on political organizations and even think tanks here in Washington.

Now the matter of the release of the e-mails over the weekend by WikiLeaks and that adds another wrinkle to this. We don't know where WikiLeaks got the e-mails that it is releasing and they're certainly not saying, but we -- and we can't say that the Russians did this to help Donald Trump as the Clinton campaign is saying.

But what we know is this, that this is the type of activity that foreign spies always try to carry out. They try to do this in the 2012 election cycle. And the issue this time is that whoever did this, whoever is behind the release of the e-mails of the weekend is already having a tremendous impact on the U.S. presidential election. And there's also the matter of the relationship or, you know, the sort of -- the behind the scenes between Trump and the relationship with Putin.

We do know that Paul Manafort who is a campaign manager for the Trump campaign did do some work for President Yanukovych who was ousted as president of Ukraine. Now he was a Russian-backed president of Ukraine. So that is also part of the picture here that is now coming together.

And we also know that Putin and Trump have said complimentary things about each other in the past few months. However, you know, beyond all of this, we can't ignore the fact that no one's alleging that the Russians wrote the e-mails that have now been released by WikiLeaks, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Evan Perez, reporting live from Washington.

Now I want to bring in CNN's Manu Raju. He's at the DNC briefing which is about to get under way.

Good morning.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, yes, this is going to happen any minute. The daily briefing that the DNC holds. But of course today comes as -- with the concerns over the leaked e-mails, in addition to Hillary Clinton's slipping poll numbers which is causing some alarm in Democratic circles.

I want to talk a little bit more about those poll numbers which actually saw an increase in Donald Trump's advantage with independent voters. Actually a nine-point bump after that convention as well as a big problem for Hillary Clinton on the trustworthiness factor.

Look at these numbers. 68 percent of voters now don't trust Hillary Clinton or do not believe she is honest. Big alarm bells being set off because of these numbers and because of the way the Republicans really went after her at last week's convention. So watch for tonight to be the beginning of the effort to turn that around. Bernie Sanders slated to speak as well as Michelle Obama and Elizabeth Warren. Not just to go after Donald Trump, which we can expect a lot of that, but also to talk about Hillary Clinton in a more favorable light, hopefully, in their view, turn things around by talking about things that she has done positively for this country.

And that's a distinction that Democrats want to draw here. They're going to talk a lot about Hillary Clinton when Republicans didn't spend a lot of time talking about Donald Trump, they spent most of their time attacking Hillary Clinton, Carol.

COSTELLO: OK. So I'm just wondering, I know Bernie Sanders and Michelle Obama were on the slate to speak tonight. Was Senator Elizabeth Warren added late?

RAJU: She was added last week, as we started hearing about whether it seemed unlikely that she was going to get the vice presidential nod probably leaked in some way to showcase folks on the left, the progressive base, that even if she does not get the nomination, she'll have a prominent role in the convention. So clearly part of tonight is to dispel any dissension within the ranks, on the left side of the Democratic Party, because particularly in light of the e-mail leaks that showed the DNC staffers favoring Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders, Carol.

COSTELLO: So this meeting that you're -- that you're going to listen to, are they going to talk about Debbie Wasserman Schultz and whether she is indeed going to speak at tonight's convention?

RAJU: I don't think they want to speak about that, but they're going to be asked about it by people like me. She is expected to speak sometime today. Later this afternoon. It's supposed to be brief remarks we're told. A few minutes long as part of her efforts to open up the convention. But not many folks, particularly on the Clinton side of things, want that because she's almost certainly going to get heckled. It's going to be a dramatic moment. And the party is trying to project unity. In fact that's the theme of the first day's convention. But having the party -- outgoing party chairwoman booed and heckled on the way out, probably not the best scene to project on day one, Carol.

COSTELLO: Manu Raju, thanks so much.

So with me now to talk about all of this and many, many people, and I'm glad about that this morning, CNN political analyst Alex Burns, former Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm, she is also a senior adviser to the Clinton coordinated super PAC, Correct the Record. CNN political commentator and Trump supporter Scottie Nell Hughes and Jackie Kucinich, CNN political analyst.

Welcome to all of you.

Jennifer, I will start with you.

JENNIFER GRANHOLM, SR. ADVISER, CORRECT THE RECORD SUPER PAC: Yes.

[10:10:01] COSTELLO: Should Debbie Wasserman Schultz speak, even if her remarks are brief on the floor of the convention?

GRANHOLM: You know what?

COSTELLO: Even if it's just to say hi, welcome?

GRANHOLM: She -- you know, she decided to step down from this position because she did not want to be the issue. After seeing this morning, she is not -- she's a smart woman. So my guess is she's going to do some -- obviously it's her call but I think she's probably going to do some re-evaluating. You know, you just don't want this to be a five-day story. You know, one day, boom, we're united. You don't want to extend the political primary. This is -- we are united. I was with Jeff Weaver on this, said earlier, and you know, we're totally together, so that's the message.

COSTELLO: So why can't Hillary Clinton step in and say, look, Debbie, I don't think you should speak?

ALEX BURNS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, Carol, I don't know that you're going to see her publicly say something like that but I think you can bet that there are people --

COSTELLO: Privately.

BURNS: -- saying behind the scenes, very much what the governor just said now, which is, hey, Chairwoman, you know, I know you that want to stay on through the convention, I know you want to speak, but did you see that breakfast that you were at this morning? Can we show you the video? Do you want that replicated on a massive scale on national television? And we trust that you're going to do the right thing. And I think those are the kind of conversations that are certainly happening right now.

JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I do have to question how unified everyone is, though. Just by virtue of walking around downtown Philadelphia yesterday. It was one for one. People wearing Bernie Sanders stickers and buttons and swag and Hillary Clinton. And you heard some of the conversations that were going back and forth. When this news about the e-mails broke, you saw people in the hallway having conversations and Bernie Sanders fans, in particular, being very upset about this, so maybe it will get past it today, but I do question going into this convention, no offense, just how unified they actually are. GRANHOLM: Yes, I mean, no doubt this -- you know, it was a tough

primary and a lot -- it's hard to turn those emotions on a dime. There's no doubt about that. But you're going to see Bernie Sanders speaking tonight. He's going to make it extremely clear that we are united. That will be a very big moment for us to send a message to his supporters and to Hillary Clinton supporters that we have turned the page.

And honestly, Bernie Sanders did such a phenomenal job in getting what he needed in the -- in the platform. I mean, almost everything that he was pushing for, he got. There was a consensus committee yesterday dealing with the superdelegates which was another issue. You know, Debbie Wasserman Schultz has decided not to proceed, that was another issue. So truly, there is no reason now for us not to be totally united.

COSTELLO: Well, here's the other thing, though. These e-mails, these leaked e-mails proved Bernie Sanders was right. It's hard to believe that he won't mention that in a speech.

BURNS: Well, I don't -- I think that's a big test for him, right. Does he really want to be a team player at this point and does he really want to bring the party together? Or does he personally feel what a lot of his supporters obviously feel, which is that there still needs to be some kind of catharsis where they work out their anger about the primary?

GRANHOLM: Right.

BURNS: And I think, you know, to Governor Granholm's point, I think a lot of the folks on the left are ready to come on board but I think the alarming thing for the Clinton campaign and for Democrats in general is what if there is, you know, 10 percent to 15 percent of the party, I don't think a giant slice of the party, but what if there's a significant chunk that is just never going to get there and actually it's not even about Bernie Sanders, it's about being, you know, disaffected and anti-establishment and just unwilling to get on board.

COSTELLO: And of course Donald Trump has been tweeting up a storm about the system being rigged and look at these leaked e-mails, and we were right. And then there's this Russian hacker thing going on, and it's -- Scottie?

SCOTTIE NELL HUGHES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, first of all, Bernie Sanders I think is being very diplomatic. I think that -- I give him a lot of credit. I think you're right, he's being a team player. That doesn't mean necessarily that his supporters are going to agree with that. I think they're extremely loyal to the platform and the reason why they got engaged in the first place.

Now you bring in this Russian side. And even if the Russians did hack, I think that brings up a lot of concerns right now about our national security and about the security we had at the Pentagon, the White House. Hillary Clinton's server. If the Russians can hack into government, it scares me about what they can do to a private server. And this is not -- this is going to continue on because these e-mails

are not just about Bernie -- what happened to Bernie, it's going to go on that they're very homophobic, they're very racist, there are some very negative things that are in these e-mails, as people are starting to bring it out. That things you would not incorporate with the Democratic Party that they're going to have to answer for and those staffers are staying on board as of now and bringing Debbie Wasserman Schultz into Hillary Clinton, and her publicly bringing her into her campaign, that's just going to follow into the campaign.

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: Well --

GRANHOLM: Well, here's what I would say on this. Number one, on the issue of security, I think what this hack does is really make people question why in the Republican platform did they remove a provision that was to come to the Ukraine's defense? Why did that happen? Why would there be some interest on the part of the Russians to care about who is the next president? Because Donald Trump has said we want to potentially not come to the defense of our NATO allies. That is a huge boon for President Obama. And of course he would love that. So --

COSTELLO: So you think there is a real possibility that Vladimir Putin ordered the hacking of the DNC e-mails?

GRANHOLM: I have no idea. Well, these are Russian hackers. I have no idea. But it's not too hard to draw the links. I'll just --

[10:15:06] HUGHES: But I want to be cautious about that right there because when you sit there and you do that conspiracy theory, that tie between the campaign, which is -- I really believe is ultimately false, then don't sit there and say, when we sit there and say that, you know, this administration does not support Israel because of the Iran deal and the ties that they have to the Arab countries.

(CROSSTALK)

HUGHES: But I'm saying that's how ludicrous. You don't sit there and, you know, if you want to open that Pandora's Box you're going to see the ties to Obama inviting, you know, people that, you know, Muslim Brotherhood connection into his White House. Don't criticize then.

GRANHOLM: I'm just saying Paul Manafort worked for the Ukrainian president who was backed by Putin who got out. He worked for him for years. What -- it's not -- it's not a total leap to --

KUCINICH: You know what, bottom line is that if the Russians did it, they didn't write the e-mails. The e-mails were written by Democrats, with the DNC, that's the problem.

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: My EP is talking about breaking news. Do you want me to go to the DNC briefing? OK, Robbie Mook, who's Hillary Clinton's campaign manager is now speaking at that DNC briefing. Let's dip in.

MOOK: The first lady will be speaking. She will be talking specifically about the challenges facing families today. Her unique perspective on that as first lady of the United States. And the type of leadership that it's going to take in the White House to put families first.

We're also going to hear from some other participants tonight. One I wanted to highlight in particular is a young woman named Carla who is 11 years old. You may have seen a video that she was in with Secretary Clinton. She approached Secretary Clinton at an event in Las Vegas during the primary to talk about how concerned she was that her parents will be deported. She will be addressing how Secretary Clinton is going to provide opportunity and break down barriers for her and her family.

And throughout the week, you're going to be hearing from President Obama, Vice President Biden, President Clinton, obviously, addressing this same issue of Secretary Clinton's lifelong --

COSTELLO: OK, we're going to break away because the interesting part of Robby Mook's speech here will be when reporters start asking him questions and you can be sure reporters will be asking him questions about Debbie Wasserman Schultz and these leaked e-mails. So we're going to step away and continue our discussion right here.

So, Jackie, you can hear, Democrats are really trying hard to change the subject, but it ain't happening.

KUCINICH: Well, absolutely. This is supposed to be the boring convention, isn't it? They're supposed to come in here and just -- it was supposed to be, you know, your normal convention where everyone is speaking and, you know, you read up the speeches and you're done. No, you have the head of the Democratic Party stepping down the eve of the convention. So they've got to figure that out. And yes, they do not want to be talking about e-mails anymore. Like at the end of the day, that's the last thing the Clinton campaign in particular wants to be addressing, be it her e-mails, anyone's e-mails, going into what should be the coronation.

COSTELLO: Robert Zimmerman told me earlier that he thinks more people will step down but it will come after the convention. Would it be best for that to happen sooner rather than later?

GRANHOLM: I know that -- I mean, the review is going to happen. You know Donna Brazile is so fantastic and she'll make sure that everything is totally above board. And that has to be assured. But I do think -- you know, I mean, they've got a whole trove of e-mails. There'll be more e-mails that come out. But I do know also that the Democrats totally want to focus on the message tonight. Why wouldn't they? I mean, they really do want to strike that contrast with Donald Trump and --

COSTELLO: But don't you think the best way to really concentrate on the message is to, A, make sure Debbie Wasserman Schultz does not appear again? GRANHOLM: Well --

COSTELLO: Not speak, none, you're gone, bye?

GRANHOLM: Yes, I think -- I mean, that's truly I think that she's got to -- this is why she stepped down to begin with, is she didn't want to be the story.

COSTELLO: At that breakfast meeting, she said, you know, I talked to President Obama and Hillary Clinton yesterday and it was great. And they fired her. It was --

GRANHOLM: Well --

COSTELLO: It was just, like, did you realize what happened?

GRANHOLM: I think -- I mean, the -- she stepped down, so she stepped down --

COSTELLO: OK, she stepped down.

GRANHOLM: -- because she didn't want to be the story. That -- you know, she's aware enough to realize that if getting up again in front of the convention would create a story, so you want to focus on what Robby Mook was just talking about, which is the economy and families and Hillary Clinton and getting people to know her.

COSTELLO: OK, I've got to -- I've got to stop it right there. We're going to continue this a little later. But thanks to all of you, I appreciate it. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:21:56] COSTELLO: All right, we're going to bust out of this break and go back to this DNC briefing. Robby Mook, Hillary Clinton's campaign manager, talking about Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Robby, to follow up on that.

MOOK: This is going to be a good question.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Yes, it's very good. I'm taking my breath.

MOOK: OK.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Secretary Clinton -- the Russians hacked the DNC e-mails so that she (INAUDIBLE) specifically the Russian government?

MOOK: All we know right now is what experts are telling us. I would refer everybody here to the reporting today in "The New York Times" and yesterday, I believe, in "The Washington Post." The -- what the experts are saying and what the experts said when this breach initially happened at the DNC was that they believe that it was Russian state actors who took these e-mails and what further experts are saying, and again, I refer you to the -- to the reporting on this.

What further experts are saying is that then because they possessed those e-mails that Russian state actors were feeding the e-mails to hackers for the purpose of helping Donald Trump.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Does Secretary Clinton believe that the Russians, the Russian government, though, is hacking (INAUDIBLE)?

MOOK: I think -- you'd have to ask the secretary that. I think she like all of us is -- we are reading the same reporting that you all are seeing and the experts -- we're reading what the experts are saying.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Robby, should there -- Robby, should -- yes. Should there be any repercussions beyond Debbie Wasserman Schultz stepping down from any other senior level DNC staffers? And do you think it's OK -- why do you think it's OK that Debbie Wasserman Schultz should address the convention this afternoon? Do you have any concerns with her speaking before the convention?

MOOK: Well, my understanding is that the DNC is reviewing all of the information. It's important to recognize when hackers dump something, sometimes the information is doctored and so on. So there's a process in place to review this information and they will take appropriate action.

RAJU: Do you think there should be anyone else fired or anyone else should --

MOOK: I just --

RAJU: -- face any repercussions?

MOOK: They're doing that review right now and we'll just have to see what comes out of that. There are systems in place to do that.

RAJU: Any concerns with her speaking in light of the way she was received this morning before the Florida delegation?

MOOK: Look, the -- you know, the chairwoman put out a statement yesterday that she plans to gavel in and that's what she said that she plans to do.

(INAUDIBLE QUESTION)

MOOK: I -- the chairwoman's statement yesterday speaks for itself, that's what she plans to do.

[10:25:06] Look, you know, as I said earlier, our convention could not be a greater contrast to what we saw with the Republicans last week where you had speakers coming who barely talked about the candidate. You had one of his opponents from the primary who wouldn't even endorse him. And you had utter, you know, discord outside the convention hall because you had former presidents, governors, senators, who wouldn't even show up. Our party is coming together here to unify to elect Hillary Clinton

and defeat Donald Trump and that's what you're going to see today.

(INAUDIBLE QUESTION)

(LAUGHTER)

MOOK: First of all, again, in contrast to Ted Cruz, Senator Sanders has already endorsed Secretary Clinton. He gave an outstanding speech in New Hampshire a few weeks ago. I expect us to hear a very similar speech tonight. I'm going to leave it to Senator Sanders to talk about, you know, how he goes through the process of drafting that speech but we're excited. We think it's going to be a great way to close out the evening. I just work here.

BRIAN FALLON, PRESS SECRETARY, HILLARY FOR AMERICA: I think you'll be continuing to see Secretary Clinton answer questions in a variety of formats including probably press conferences before the whole thing is over. So -- but she continues to take questions on the road, do interviews, and so she's been answering questions on any number of topics including e-mails and everything else for a long time now. Josh.

(INAUDIBLE QUESTION)

MOOK: Again, I think we're simply reflecting what experts are telling us. They think it's up to Donald Trump to decide what he thinks of it. I think that voters need to take a look at this.

(INAUDIBLE QUESTION)

MOOK: Well, I would argue the lasting damage out of their convention was to Donald Trump because he failed to present a clear plan about what he's going to do to help get this economy working for everyone. And, boy, was it depressing. I mean, it was all doom and gloom and he failed to bring his party together.

All that said, when there's a clear trend historically in polling that after your convention you always get a bump, so I would -- I would kind of suspend any polling analysis until after our convention and then we can interpret once voters have had a chance to see both sides of the argument and both sides have had four days of convention and the communication that happens during that, you know, and then we'll see where we are but I wouldn't read anything into what you're seeing right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll do two more.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Just to be clear on Debbie Wasserman Schultz --

(INAUDIBLE QUESTION)

MOOK: Look, I'm not going to get into, you know -- there's a plan in place. She was clear yesterday about what she plans to do and I'm much more excited about the incredible speakers, the talent that's going to be up there tonight, making the case about the choice the voters face than I am concerned about -- with all due respect, parliamentary procedure and gaveling in and all that. What matters here is the message to the voters.

(INAUDIBLE QUESTION)

MOOK: I don't know the senator's comments -- I can't comment on that. But, again, what we are pointing to as a campaign is the reporting that all of you are doing on this topic and what the cyber security experts are saying, so thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks, everybody.