Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Michelle Obama Electrifies the Convention; Trump Addresses Veterans Group; Americans with Disabilities Act. Aired 9:30-10a ET
Aired July 26, 2016 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:30:46] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and thank you for joining me live from outside the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, site of the Democratic National Convention. I'm Carol Costello.
Today kicks off day two of the convention. Any minute now, DNC and Clinton staffers are expected to hold their daily briefing. Of course, we'll keep an eye on that for you and bring you the latest developments as soon as that gets underway.
Let's talk about last night, though. No vicious attacks. No low blows. But, still, Michelle Obama brought the DNC to its feet last night, making her case for Hillary Clinton, with one simple personal story, her girls' first day of school in D.C.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: When they set off for their first day at their new school, I will never forget that winter morning as I watched our girls, just seven and 10 years old, pile into those black SUVs with all those big men with guns. And I saw their little faces pressed up against the window. And the only thing I could think was, what have we done? See, because at that moment, I realized that our time in the White House would form the foundation for who they would become. And how well we managed this experience could truly make-or-break them. That is what Barack and I think about every day as we try to guide and protect our girls through the challenges of this unusual life in the spotlight. How we urge them to ignore those who question their father's citizenship or faith. How we insist that the hateful language they hear from public figures on TV does not represent the true spirit of this country. How we explain that when someone is cruel or acts like a bully, you don't stoop to their level. No, our motto is, when they go low, we go high.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: All right, with me now, CNN political analyst Ron Brownstein, CNN Politics executive editor Mark Preston, and Patricia Murphy, columnist for "The Daily Beast" and Roll Call.
Welcome to all of you.
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning. Patricia, I'll start with you. It was -- a lot of people had tears in their eyes in the audience. It was a very powerful speech. Just from a purely female perspective, how did it hit you?
PATRICIA MURPHY, COLUMNIST, "THE DAILY BEAST": I thought it was terrific. And it was incredibly apolitical in the way that she delivered this speech to a Democratic convention. And when she brought people into her lives and talked about sending her children off on the first day of school, any parent was with her in that moment watching them drive away. And she said, these children are our hearts. They're the most important things in our lives. And the next president is going to on responsible for them, for the next four or eight years. So we know how important it is for her, to every parent, every mom, and then she said, I trust Hillary Clinton with that time in their lives. And that, I thought, was so effective for anybody watching, especially any mom.
COSTELLO: Ron, did it resonate, though, with those independent voters that Hillary Clinton needs?
BROWNSTEIN: It was an apolitical speech with a clear political strategy and subtext. If you talk at people at Priorities USA, the super PAC that is spending tens of millions of dollars for Hillary Clinton, their primary overwhelming goal are reaching suburban white collar parents and to make Trump unacceptable to those voters. They believe by far the most effective ad has been the grace ad with the -- with the two parents talking about their daughter with spina bifida and how outraged they were at Donald Trump mocking a disabled reporter. This was in that same vein, where you were trying not to disqualify Donald Trump on policy grounds, but as a role model and as a king of a cultural signal for the country. And I thought it was remarkably effective. Really, it was kind of a drop the mike kind of speech. And, by the way, a reminder of how few character testimonials there were for Donald Trump at the Republican primary from other prominent -- the Republican Convention, from other prominent elected officials. This is the beginning of something we did not see there, you know, where most of those testimonials came from people named Trump.
MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Right.
COSTELLO: OK. So before we get to you, Mark, I want to play a bit more of what Michelle Obama said last night, because her speech was so well received. Let's listen.
[09:35:03] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves. And I watch my daughters, two beautiful, intelligent black young women, playing with their dogs on the White House lawn. And because of Hillary Clinton, my daughters, and all our sons and daughters, now take for granted that a woman can be president of the United States. So, look -- so don't let anyone ever tell you that this country isn't great. That somehow we need to make it great again. Because this right now is the greatest country on earth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: All right, so before we talk about that, we have to go to Bernie Sanders again, because he's talking to Wisconsin delegates at a breakfast meeting and he's talking about the boos. He's now talking to California. That man gets around. OK, all right, let's listen to what he's saying about the booing.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: To Republicans having bad policy. Nothing new there. Nothing new that he thinks that climate change is a hoax. Nothing new that he doesn't want to raise the minimum wage. That's nothing new.
What is new is that this man is a demagogue who does not believe in the Constitution of the United States. That is dangerous stuff. So our job is to do two things. It is to defeat Trump. It is to elect Clinton. But is not to end on Election Day. We keep the political revolution going forward.
And that means we fight for the progressive agenda. That means we make certain that we get young people involved in the political process and get them running for office. It means that we run people, that we're going to start an organization designed to do this, run people at the school board level, the county commission level, the state legislative level. Politics is not easy stuff. You don't get everything you want tomorrow. Ask the people who fought in the civil rights movement.
COSTELLO: OK, so I was talking during the time he was addressing the booing thing. He said, and people started to boo when he, you know, mentions Hillary Clinton. But he said that, you know, you boo all you want, but boo Donald Trump's policies, because that's what you ought to be booing. So that's what Bernie Sanders said about the booing.
But back to Michelle Obama and that very -- that moving -- that was the most moving part of her speech, I think. But when she began that paragraph, when she said, "I live in a house built by slaves," I started to think, for some white voters, this isn't going to go over well. But then she turned it into a positive.
PRESTON: Right, so her speech last night, I mean, it was amazing. There were so many interesting parts that came out of that speech that people could relate to. The first clip that we showed about the children going off to school, I felt that. You know, I have young children. And that's something that really resonated with me. I was with Bakari Sellers, an African-American from South Carolina, a friend of ours, a colleague here at CNN and he was extremely moved by what she said about the slaves in the White House. And we were all taken off-guard by it.
Here's the thing about Michelle Obama. A couple of things. One is, she has been in the spotlight but she's been out of the political spotlight for the past eight years. So when we saw her deliver so well last night, people all of a sudden raised their eyes again and said, wow, she really is talented. Second thing is, what is she going to do for Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail the next couple of months?
COSTELLO: Yes. PRESTON: She could be extremely powerful and very, very helpful.
COSTELLO: Because, you know, Donald Trump's secret weapons is Ivanka Trump, right? And Michelle Obama, I would -- well, I guess she -- she presented a contrast to that, because I thought Ivanka Trump was very strong during the Republican National Convention. Michelle Obama, does she sort of have to be out there to counter Ivanka?
MURPHY: I don't know that it's to counter Ivanka. It's almost to counter Hillary. Hillary's own negatives. People don't trust Hillary Clinton by a wide margin right now. And you heard Michelle Obama say it twice, I trust Hillary Clinton. And so when you can get drawn in, in such an emotional speech, and then she can just convey that over to Hillary Clinton, and it sounded very believable and very sincere, there's almost nothing that Hillary Clinton could do for herself that Michelle Obama did for her last night.
[09:40:15] BROWNSTEIN: Carol, you made an important, though, when you were saying, you're wondering whether white voters would react unfavorably to the idea of, you know, "I live in a house built by slaves." In fact, I mean, attitudes toward racial diversity and changing demography really are one of the key fault lines between the parties in the Democratic coalition. You know, the Democratic coalition's Stan Greenberg (ph), the Democratic pollster, once said to me is, diverse America and the portions of white America most comfortable with diverse America, in the universe of white voters who Democrats can appeal to, they -- diversity is not something to be accepted or tolerated, it really is something to be welcomed and celebrated and I'm being reminded of the extraordinary story that the Obama's -- whatever you think of their politics, representing kind of the history of America -- is something that brings together that Democratic coalition.
COSTELLO: All right, I have to leave it there. Ron Brownstein, Mark Preston, Patricia Murphy, thanks to all of you.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Donald Trump hits the campaign trail. He's in North Carolina now. He's speaking at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Convention. Mike Pence introducing him. We'll take you there, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Donald Trump and Mike Pence keeping busy while all eyes are on the Democrats this week. Right now, Mr. Trump is addressing the Veterans of Foreign Wars National Convention in Charlotte. It's the very same group that heard from Hillary Clinton yesterday. CNN's Sara Murray is there live.
Good morning.
SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Good morning, Carol. Thanks for having me.
We already -- we just heard from Mike Pence. He and Donald Trump are on the campaign trail together. Now you see Donald Trump speaking behind me. And Pence opened this with a knock against the Democrats, criticizing them for going through the entire first day of their convention without even talking about ISIS. You can expect to hear Donald Trump talk more about this. He has really tried to bring a more muscular message on national security, on protecting the homeland to the campaign trail as he tries to cast himself as sort of the toughest candidate in the race, auto as he is running against a former secretary of state.
[09:45:11] Now, Hillary Clinton was here addressing this group just a day earlier. She was talking about the importance of our NATO allies. I think it's unlikely that you're going to hear Donald Trump talk about that today. Instead, I think you're going to hear him hammer home what we're hearing him talk about just behind me, the notion that the VA system has failed our veterans, and we need to sort of protect them better, take care of them better when they come home and that we need to do a better job sort of putting America first, even as we project this image of strength to anyone out there who expects to harm us.
So, this is just the first stop for Donald Trump and Mike Pence today. They're going to be continuing on to Florida for some fundraisers later. And we'll be hearing much more from him. you can see he's speaking right behind me.
Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Sara Murray, live from Charlotte, North Carolina, thanks so much.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the inspiring speech you may have missed, but you have to see.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:50:32] COSTELLO: All right, welcome back to Philadelphia. The Democrats are holding their daily briefing. Clinton staffers are taking questions from reporters now. We're keeping an ear and eyes on this for you. If anything breaks, of course, we'll tell you all about it.
Back to last night, though. It was one of the most inspiring moments of the night when disability rights advocate Anastasia Somoza came forward to tell her story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANASTASIA SOMOZA, INTERNATIONAL DISABILITY RIGHTS ADVOCATE: She has invested in me. She believes in me. And in a country where 56 million Americans with disabilities so often feel invisible, Hillary Clinton sees me. Donald Trump doesn't see me. He doesn't hear me and he definitely doesn't speak for me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Somoza got a standing ovation after that. And, of course, this is what she was responding to. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Right after a couple of good paragraphs, it's -- and they're talking about northern New Jersey draws the probers eye, written by a nice reporter. Now the poor guy, you got to see this guy, awe, I don't know what I said. I don't remember. He's going, like, I don't remember. I -- oh -- maybe that's what --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: A super PAC -- you know, we don't have to see any more of that.
A super PAC backing Hillary Clinton says that moment provoked the strongest negative emotion in focus groups more than any other statement made by Donald Trump. Today actually is the 26th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, signed into law today. And I'm joined now by the author and primary sponsor of that legislation, former Congressman Tony Coelho.
Welcome.
TONY COELHO, SPONSOR, AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT OF 1990: Thank you. Thank you.
COSTELLO: First of all, happy anniversary.
COELHO : Thank you. It's great. It's great. Twenty-six years of progress we've made. It's just really exciting.
COSTELLO: So when you saw Anastasia on stage, what went through your mind?
COELHO: We've come a long way because for so many years we've never really been participants. We've not been included. And all of a sudden now we are everywhere. This -- Hillary Clinton has brought the disabilities community right to the table with everybody else. We've never had it like this. And every --
COSTELLO: What do you mean when you say she's brought Americans with disabilities to the table? What does that mean?
COELHO: It means that we're at the discussion stage, policy making stage for the campaign. We are -- in a way that we have a voice. We've never really had a -- people would pat us on the head and say, we'll take care of you. Hillary is saying, come in, tell me what you need. Let's talk about it. Totally different. That's really an exciting thing for us in this campaign.
COSTELLO: There are 400 disabled Americans who are delegates at this Democratic Convention.
COELHO: Right, the largest ever.
COSTELLO: And they have some money to wield. COELHO: Yes.
COSTELLO: So tell me what -- tell me about the fundraising off of that Donald Trump moment in the disabled community?
COELHO: Well, it is -- it's the thing that give -- has given us credibility, you know, like two candidates would generally say nice things, whatever. With this situation, Donald Trump has insulted us. He has given us an opportunity to be aggressively for Hillary, even though we were, this gives us a moment to go for it in fundraising, FaceBook, everything that we're doing.
COSTELLO: So how much money was raised from that moment?
COELHO: I can't tell you how much from that moment, but we've -- our goal was to raise a million dollars and, yes, we're all right.
COSTELLO: So Bill Clinton is slated to speak tonight. And I would suppose it would be his job to attract those blue collar voters that are disenfranchised with the Democratic Party.
COELHO: Right.
COSTELLO: What must he say to do that? Because they seem to be -- they seem to be on Donald Trump's side.
COELHO: Yes. Well, Bill Clinton always was able to talk with them because he had his language. Everything he did was sort of addressing them. He came from Arkansas, and so people really related to him and so forth. I think what Hillary has to say is that -- don't be afraid, in effect. I will be there. I understand what you're concerned about and so forth. And we have time in these next hundred-plus days for her to turn around some of that.
You know, we have to be conscious of -- that this is an electoral vote and so the states are what's important. And that's what she has to go after.
COSTELLO: Well, here's the thing. Bill Clinton is also going to talk about character --
COELHO: Right.
COSTELLO: And trust.
COELHO: That's right.
COSTELLO: And Americans are having a problem with those issues when it comes to Hillary Clinton. Why do you think that is?
COELHO: Because Republicans have been successful in day in and day out. They --
COSTELLO: It's got to be more than that, though, doesn't it?
COELHO: Well -- no. I think that -- well, one thing is, is that Hillary has a tendency to be sort of closed. She doesn't open up. And she is opening up now. That's what's great about what she's doing. And disabilities helps her because she has been on our side as soon as -- when she left college to today. And so she is opening up and that's what we need to do.
[09:55:22] And I'll tell you what, Donald Trump is helping her. That's what's great about it. But the disability movement is there to protect her, to help her, to vote for her. And we're going to be aggressive.
COSTELLO: Tony Coelho, thanks for stopping by.
COELHO: Thank you, Carol.
COSTELLO: I appreciate it.
COELHO: Appreciate it.
COSTELLO: In the next -- the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
