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Interview With Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe; Democratic National Convention Day Two. Aired 15-15:30p ET

Aired July 26, 2016 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:52]

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, my goodness, it is so nice to be in Philadelphia. Look at this for gorgeous set here. We're kicking it outside the CNN grill on this Tuesday afternoon here, 3:00 hour Eastern.

We are day number two here covering special coverage of the Democratic National Convention. I'm Brooke Baldwin. So nice to be here.

And in a matter of hours, Hillary Clinton is to become the star of an event 96 years in the making, when women were granted the right to vote. Hillary Clinton will officially become the first woman to be nominated for president by a major political party, an historic event that she actually won't be present for.

She is not here in Philadelphia yet, but I can tell you that her former rival, a man who's now fervently endorsed her, Bernie Sanders, will be in attendance, and he may play a role in part of this process.

We will talk about that in a second. Sources say the two camps are working on a plan for Sanders to play a role in the nomination in just a little bit here. But will that sort of quell any concerns from Bernie Sanders' supporters? Excellent question. Their Bernie chants persisted throughout the convention's opening night.

Senator Sanders still today pleading for their cooperation and support.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (VT-I), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What we must do, or forever look back in regret, is defeat Donald Trump and elect Hillary Clinton.

(BOOING)

SANDERS: In my view, it's easy -- it's easy -- it is easy to boo, but it is harder to look your kids in the face who would be living under a Donald Trump presidency.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So, let's begin with CNN political director David Chalian, who can explain in 60 seconds or less, and then we will bring a panel in, what to look for in the roll call.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Roll calls are always a fascinating process to watch. Every state and territory gets their...

BALDWIN: And 57 of them.

CHALIAN: ... say and gets their say and gets to say why they're the best state in the union and deliver their votes. It is a fun dynamic obviously here.

Why today is going to be particularly interesting to watch because in these negotiations between the Sanders camp and the Clinton camp, they have agreed to the full 57 states and territories going through the full roll call, so that every state has their chance to vote, and that every vote is counted. They don't want to short-circuit that process so that they -- everyone feels that all the votes were counted.

BALDWIN: As far as who might go Hillary Clinton or...

CHALIAN: Or to Bernie Sanders. There's no doubt about that.

So, both Bernie Sanders will be placed into nomination from some of his supporters, and the Clinton campaign just announced that Barbara Mikulski and John Lewis, barrier breakers in their own right, as the Clinton is calling them, will place her name in nomination.

And then we will see, as you just said. Manu Raju has been reporting that there are on these ongoing discussions to see if Bernie Sanders himself, somewhere along this process, has a role where he can deliver the...

BALDWIN: The big punch.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: The big line, it's Hillary.

CHALIAN: Right. We will see.

BALDWIN: OK. Stand by, Mr. Chalian.

CHALIAN: Yes.

BALDWIN: I have more for you.

But the boors and the jeers from Sanders supporters have some worried about party unity, but not the number two Democrat in the nation, Vice President Joe Biden. He says folks need to give the Sanders supporters some space.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEPH BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They're going to be fine. Look, they worked hard. We got to show a little class and let them be frustrated for a while. It's OK. Hey, they're all going to end up voting for Hillary. Come on, man.

You think any of these guys are going to walk in and vote for Trump? Raise your hand if you think any of the people who are protesting or hollering are going to vote for Trump?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some say they will. Some say they will.

BIDEN: Well, then they didn't support what Bernie stands for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Let me bring my panel in.

I have CNN political commentator Dan Pfeiffer, a former senior adviser to President Obama. Jackie Kucinich is back. She's a CNN political analyst and bureau chief for Daily Beast in Washington. CNN political commentator Scottie Nell Hughes, who supports Donald Trump, and David Chalian is back.

[15:05:17]

Before we actually chat, just to show some folks a visual, because I have been reading about eight years ago what happened on the floor at the DNC with then Hillary Clinton who obviously lost it to then Senator Barack Obama. This is what happened eight years ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, 2008)

HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In the spirit of unity, with a goal of victory, with faith in our party and our country, let's declare together, in one voice, right here, right now that Barack Obama is our candidate and he will be our president.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: All right. So, Dan Pfeiffer, let me just turn to you first, having been on team Obama. Why do it that way? What did that mean for then Senator Obama moving forward?

DAN PFEIFFER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, it is important to remember that the primary in 2008 was much closer than this one in terms of delegate count, in terms of popular vote.

And so you had very strong feelings on the side from a lot of Clinton delegates who thought that they wanted her to be the nominee. And it sent a powerful signal to them that while we might have had our disagreements in the primary, what it is ultimately most important is winning the election.

If Bernie Sanders can do this tonight, I think it would go a long way toward quelling some of the minor distractions we have seen thus far.

BALDWIN: So, Jackie, unlike eight years ago, where they started going through the states and territories and ultimately she just declared by acclamation, the was Hillary Clinton saying it's Barack Obama.

Tonight, they will be going through everyone.

JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. That's another concession to the Bernie Sanders folks, because they wanted to see every vote counted.

And they're something bending over backwards this convention to make them comfortable with this decision. But this resentment toward Hillary Clinton wasn't built in a day, and it is going to take more than just a convention to unring that bell, which is why you're going to see Bernie Sanders keeping on this message through the summer as he campaigns for Hillary Clinton to sort of try to ease his supporters into her camp, if he can.

BALDWIN: Do you think they're bending over backwards a tad too much? What do you make of all this?

CHALIAN: So, I really do think the Clinton folks made a strategic decision going into this convention that at least these two days, where the business of convention getting done -- yesterday was passing the platform and the rules and then today with the roll call vote -- to allow this to be almost as much of a Sanders convention as it is a Clinton convention.

It really feels that way in terms of what's going on, on the floor and the business. It doesn't feel that way in prime time last night, the big speeches. That's all about a Clinton convention. But this part of the party business, they made a strategic decision to let the Sanders folks breathe and have the space to move through each step of this, rather than trying to come in with an iron fist and shut it down and, no, we won, and, as Dan was saying, saying we won by even more than Barack Obama did last time.

That's not the approach they took. And I think that was deliberate to try to have his be as noncontentious as possible.

BALDWIN: Were you in the hall? Were you in the Wells Fargo Arena for Michelle Obama? I think -- I saw you earlier in the night. But just to feel that, there were sort of the Bernie chants that were pervasive through the evening, but the jeers turned to cheers for the first lady. Here's a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY: When a crisis hits, we don't turn against each other. No, we listen to each other. We lean on each other, because we are always stronger together.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: And I am here tonight, because I know that that is the kind of president that Hillary Clinton will be, and that's why in this election, I'm with her.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) (END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Now, Scottie, I know this is tough to answer, but, still, I mean, just, as a woman, can you give it to Michelle Obama? I mean, even some folks who said she's a better surrogate than Hillary Clinton is for her own self.

How did you think she did?

SCOTTIE NELL HUGHES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think she did a phenomenal speech, exactly what was expected.

You have never heard Michelle Obama give a bad speech. She definitely engages the crowd, she energizes them, she make her points, she talks in sound bites. She is perfect. And I think she will be someone they're really going to utilize and they need to utilize out on the campaign trail.

The one thing that I think Michelle Obama did though is that she did sit there and try to at least cross over and say, listen, we might have had our times in the past. Go back and look at what Michelle Obama said in the past about Hillary Clinton. It showed that she actually grew up and she got over that and the piece of unity.

Today's roll call vote, at the end of the day, no matter what, Hillary Clinton will be the nominee. What happens between the beginning and the end is the narrative and the headlines that we talk about. It can be very simple. We can move and celebrate Hillary Clinton.

Or we can talk about any of the sort of contention that might happen between different states. The ball is actually in the Bernie Sanders -- the P.R. ball is in the Bernie Sanders court right now.

[15:10:04]

It will be real interesting to see who actually shoots for the hoop.

BALDWIN: You know, I had five very strong Bernie Sanders supporters on the show a bit ago. And you used the word earlier, I think they would have been saying, I don't know, resentment. It may seem that way with some of the boos and the Bernie chants, but I felt it sitting with all five of them. They feel like they were part of a revolution and they're sad. They're emotional.

It was fascinating to hear them describe them in letting that go, right, on the acceptance spectrum, from grief to acceptance. What more -- just about Michelle Obama and tonight Bill Clinton? There could be more Bernie chants.

PFEIFFER: Right. I think we will hear some of that all week.

And I'm very sympathetic to the feelings of the Bernie delegates, if not the behavior of them, right? If you're heckling Elizabeth Warren, then something's gone horribly wrong, if what you care is about progressive policies. But I'm sure that if it had been flipped, if Hillary Clinton had

barely beaten Barack Obama, I would have felt the exact same way that a lot of these Bernie delegates feel right now.

BALDWIN: Yes.

PFEIFFER: But the key here is what Bernie Sanders said last night, what I think you are going to hear from Bill Clinton and then ultimately most importantly from Hillary Clinton, is why this election matters, that if you care about things like overturning Citizens United, the only way you're going to do that is put a Democrat in the White House who is going to appoint Supreme Court justices consistent with the beliefs of Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton.

If you do that, you make the case for why it matters, then I think in the end people will turn out to the polls like we expect them to.

BALDWIN: OK.

We will be watching. We started a conversation with the roll call. That happens very shortly inside that Wells Fargo Center. Stay tuned for that.

Dan, and Jackie, and David, Scottie, thank you all so much.

And just a reminder, the dramatic roll call vote set to begin a short time from now.

Also ahead, Michael Smerconish, we're in his hometown. He will be joining me to say the hottest topic on his radio show today actually was not the first lady. It was not Bernie Sanders, but the mothers, the mothers who are set to speak this evening. Why? We will ask him.

Also ahead, he is one of the Clinton family's closest and longest allies. We just learned Terry McAuliffe will be one of the people helping part of this nomination process at the roll call this evening. He will join us live, the governor of Virginia, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:16:24]

BALDWIN: All right, any minute now, the much-anticipated roll call sealing the deal as Hillary Clinton becomes the first woman to officially become the presidential nominee of a major political party.

But, first, let's go to Erin Burnett standing by with Terry McAuliffe, the governor of Virginia.

Erin, to you.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Brooke.

Well, joining me now, longtime Clinton friend Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, also chairman of Hillary Clinton's 2008 campaign, the co- chair of President Clinton's reelection campaign. We were just speaking a moment ago. Governor, you were telling me you

have know the Clintons and Bill Clinton for 36 years.

GOV. TERRY MCAULIFFE (D), VIRGINIA: Long time.

BURNETT: You know them. You know them deeply, personally. You are friends with them.

Tonight, when this nomination happens, you're going to be first one to speak.

MCAULIFFE: Yes.

I'm going to come out and be able to officially announce for the first time ever that we have nominated the first woman to be president of the United States of America. So, it's my friendship with the Clintons, but also as a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and then to have my junior senator be nominated to be the vice president of the United States of America, I will be honest with you.

I'm the happiest guy in this hall. It's pretty good. But I have known Hillary and Bill Clinton for a long time. She is spectacular. We have on vacations together. I have seen her with my children. She's seen all five of our children grow up.

I can remember her in a swimming pool for hours playing mermaid with my daughter, Sally. That's who Hillary Clinton is. I remember her when my son got out of the Naval Academy, went into the United States Marine Corps, first call he got was from Hillary Clinton. That's who she is.

BURNETT: And are we're going to -- already, those are some stories people haven't heard. But are we hear going to more of that from you tonight, some other anecdotes?

But you look at the numbers, right?

MCAULIFFE: Yes.

BURNETT: Untrustworthy, highest numbers in a CNN poll ever about her. Unfavorables, her numbers are sky-high. That's the polling. You're going to try to change...

MCAULIFFE: Right. It drives me wild because I know her so well personally.

And I will tell some of those stories. But I know her soul. I know how she thinks. She loves the country. She loves people. She wants to help children. And I have spent thousands of hours talking to her. This is what she is passionate about.

When you go on vacation, to be honest with you here, about 5:00, I have been sitting with the president talking about Medicaid, how we reform this or that.

BURNETT: And you're done.

MCAULIFFE: After about eight hours, I will say, all right, sir, it is Hillary first one to say, Mac, let's go get a drink.

BURNETT: Oh, really?

(CROSSTALK)

MCAULIFFE: Oh, no question. I love him, but she's a lot more fun on vacation.

Now, I golf with him, but she's actually a lot more fun on vacations. But that's who she is. She's a real person grew up in suburbs of Chicago. She's fun. She's got the great belly laugh.

But you're right. It hasn't come through. And you get the screen in politics and what you have today. But I know her so well. I know how she thinks about helping people. And she's passionate. You know, she once said to me not too long ago -- she and I were talking. She said, I could have been very happy sitting up at Chappaqua as a grandmother, when you think about it.

But she didn't do that. She got back in that arena. And, as you know, for 40 years, they have been on top of her on this and that. But what I love about her, Erin, is that she gets up out of bed. They beat her down every day, and she gets right back up again fighting for other people.

She will take it on because she can help other people. I got to tell you, that's why I love her.

BURNETT: Now, tonight, you're obviously giving this speech and hopefully you are going to share those anecdotes, because even last week at the convention for Donald Trump, it was those personal anecdotes that made the huge difference.

MCAULIFFE: I agree.

BURNETT: So, that's going to be your task tonight.

President Clinton also going to be speaking. And you point out something about very fair about him, right? He loves to talk about policy and the wonkiness of it. Is that what we're going to see? Have you been working with him on his speech? Or is he going to give the personal side of her?

MCAULIFFE: I talked to him today. It should be no surprise he's probably still working on it.

BURNETT: Yes.

MCAULIFFE: I got to tell you, Bill Clinton, when he knows he's addressing the country, and he knows he's out there talking about his wife, I mean, there is nothing I have seen him take more seriously in his life.

[15:20:04]

I remember actually I was with him on vacation when he did the speech for President Obama's reelection. I remember, the whole vacation, with yellow pads. He does this. He thinks about this.

But this is so special tonight, for him to be able to get up and talk about his wife and talk about what she can do for this country. Obviously, nobody knows her more than Bill Clinton. And that's who he's going to talk about.

The only thing I regret a little bit, I always loved Hillary's mother, Dorothy Rodham. She was such a special woman. She had such great spirit. And she passed away a couple years ago. I just wish Dorothy were here to tonight. Are you kidding me? It would be unbelievable.

BURNETT: Yes.

So, Bernie Sanders, the roll call today, and the official nomination happens, there is some probably -- there's expectation -- a Hillary Clinton supporter was saying to me today, look, people aren't just going to throw their support behind her. There's going to be people who are putting in their vote for Bernie Sanders. They're passionate about Bernie Sanders.

It's been happening the past couple days. Even today, he came out, and was speaking at an event this morning. And yet again people start booing when he talks about Hillary Clinton. Here's how he responded this morning, Governor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDERS: What we must do, or forever look back in regret, is defeat Donald Trump and elect Hillary Clinton.

(BOOING)

SANDERS: In my view, it's easy -- it's easy -- it is easy to boo, but it is harder to look your kids in the face who would be living under a Donald Trump presidency.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Do you understand their anger? They are angry. It doesn't matter that he says vote for her. They don't want to.

MCAULIFFE: You know, Erin, we went through this in -- I have supported many candidates for president. I have lost more than I have won.

I chaired Hillary's campaign in two 2008. And let's remember, that was a very -- you were there. It's was a tough, long primary, went all the way to the end. It was hard in 2008, but ultimately came together for the good of the country. Hillary, they put her name in for the delegates. She then moved into acclamation.

I understand these folks here. Many of them, it is the first time they have been in politics and they loved it and they thought they could make a difference. But let me tell you something. They have made a difference on our platform. They made a difference in how the party moves forward.

And you got to understand that they made a big change they got to understand that. And Senator Sanders, let me tell you, he has been spectacular. He tweeted yesterday. His speech was great yesterday. Michelle Obama was spectacular. Elizabeth Warren. It is now time to come together.

You might have some outliers tonight. You're not going to get everybody in agreement. You might have some boos. It's OK. But vast majority, I think, Erin, you're going to see a different convention hall tonight. They realize this is about the future of the country. This is about Donald Trump.

We have just nominated the first female of a major political party to be president of the United States of America. You may have your differences, but at some point, like we did in 2008, we came together with Senator Obama and, boy, we came out of our convention.

And I remind you, Erin -- you're too young, but in 1992, Bill Clinton went into the convention in New York in third place behind Ross Perot. We came out of that convention in first place and never looked back, because Bill Clinton gave them a reason to vote for him. Where we going to take was going to change America, and people were fired up.

And that's what you're going to see with her speech on Thursday night.

BURNETT: And you of course pole position here again, because not only do you know them so well, you have your role tonight in announcing that nomination, that first speech, but also Tim Kaine. You know him, you like him.

Virginia is considered such a huge swing state.

MCAULIFFE: Yes.

BURNETT: But there are some who say Tim Kaine is not going to be able to deliver it for sure for Hillary Clinton. Are you sure? Are you confident?

MCAULIFFE: Well, I can tell you, all the public polls had us pretty much eight, nine points before Tim was selected.

We on -- the swing states, we have always -- we got a big operation on the ground. But I tell you, Erin, you look at Virginia today. I just announced the other day a 3.7 percent unemployment rate in Virginia. It was 5.3 percent when I became governor. So, it's the steepest decline, 32-year decline of a governor at this point in their career.

I have protected women's rights. I have protected the rights of the LGBT. I'm restoring rights of felons. People are very happy in Virginia. Our economy is moving. And Tim Kaine represents Virginia. So, I think we're going to win Virginia. But she could not -- and, listen, she wanted somebody, if something

happened to her, could be the president next day. She knows that with Tim. I call him a moral progressive. He's been out there fighting on these issues to help people his whole life.

BURNETT: And you have to appoint his successor to the Senate if he wins.

MCAULIFFE: Yes.

BURNETT: This is going to be crucial here when you look at control of the Senate. Who are you looking at?

MCAULIFFE: Well, I have already had about eight best friends call me up and say they should be the next United States senator.

What I have tried to tell everybody, Erin, in fairness, I will not even have a discussion until we win this election, because we got to do that. But I tell you why it is important for Virginia. Next year, we have a governor's race, lieutenant governor, attorney general.

It will make -- that Senate seat may be control of United States Senate. So, all those voters who drop off -- when President Obama ran, it was 73, 74 percent turnout. It then goes down into the 40s for the governor's race next year.

[15:25:03]

We will have a huge turnout, because the fate of the Senate will be Virginia next year, which is so important for us.

BURNETT: And so important.

And one thing before we go, the federal investigation. Obviously, you are in the midst of one right now over campaign contributions.

MCAULIFFE: Yes.

BURNETT: One of the donations getting a lot of attention is one from a Chinese businessman donated money to your campaign, also donated $2 million to the Clinton Foundation.

MCAULIFFE: Yes.

BURNETT: Which is a large and complex organization that is under a lot of scrutiny for whether there was an implicit quid pro quo in any way for a donation and favorable treatment for the then-secretary of state. Are you concerned that that could be a problem for Hillary Clinton?

MCAULIFFE: First of all, the story is totally false.

CNN was 100 percent wrong, and they owe me an apology. This gentleman has never been under investigation. You're reporting..

BURNETT: This is the Chinese -- Wang Wenliang. MCAULIFFE: Your story was 100 percent wrong. And they actually came

out the next day and said we aren't looking at this gentleman. He's never been contacted about it, nor have I.

So, unfortunately for CNN, you got your news reporting wrong. I just tell you, the news, get your facts right before you report them.

BURNETT: All right. That's your view on him. OK? But what about the Clinton Foundation?

MCAULIFFE: What do you mean him?

BURNETT: The Clinton Foundation.

MCAULIFFE: I don't know anything about it.

BURNETT: Right, but are you concerned that it could become an issue for her?

MCAULIFFE: I think they have had a lot of stories out of the Clinton Foundation. They raised a tremendous amount of money.

But let me tell you about the Clinton Foundation, because I know very well. I served on the board there. I have traveled with Bill Clinton all over the globe. I have been to Malawi. I have been to Ethiopia. And you look at what goes on and the women that he's helping, the children he's helping.

This is a spectacular foundation. Listen, you're in politics, they're going to come after you, they going to make all these allegations. It's part of what you do when you get into public office. But I know this foundation and the millions of people they have helped around the globe, Erin.

Boy, I will tell you, you can get beaten up little bit. I will take every bit of it when you look in the eyes of these young children around the globe. The money he's put into AIDS research and trying to provide drug treatments for folks around the globe, that's what the Clinton Foundation -- and I am darn proud of it. And I tell you, everybody around the globe is proud of what Bill Clinton has done with this foundation.

BURNETT: All right, well, Governor McAuliffe, you very much for your time.

MCAULIFFE: Hey, great to be with you. Thank you.

BURNETT: Obviously, with that big speech tonight -- Brooke, back to you.

BALDWIN: All right, Erin, thank you. Governor, thank you.

Next, Bill Clinton speaking at his 10th consecutive convention this evening. And while he has delivered many, many memorable moments, many expect this speech this evening could be much different than those previous years. We will discuss next with my hometown man here, Michael Smerconish, next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want to nominate a man who's cool on outside, but who burns for America on the inside.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

B. CLINTON: And, by the way, after last night, I want a man who had the good sense to marry Michelle Obama.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)