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Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama Speak in North Carolina. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired October 27, 2016 - 14:00   ET

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


SPEAKER: FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE

[*] CLINTON: Hello, Winston-Salem.

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Hello, Wake Forest.

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It is so great to be here in this beautiful city at this extraordinary time and...

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... to have a chance to be with so many, including the Wake Forest family.

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And it doesn't get any better than being here with our most amazing first lady, Michelle Obama.

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I want to thank -- I want to thank everyone who has filled this arena and I especially want to thank Dr. Hatch and the staff team and students at Wake Forest University.

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I will never forget visiting here with the legendary Maya Angelou...

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One of the most powerful voices our country has ever heard. So I couldn't think of a better place to come back to with another woman who's voice we need now more than ever.

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I want to say what I think is obvious, but can't be said enough and that is, this may be one of the most -- if not the most -- important elections of our lifetime. No matter our age, but for young people it will be so consequential, because every election is about the future and this one is about whether we build on the progress we've made, the legacy that President Obama has built, or rip it away and go backwards.

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So we have a lot of work to do and I don't mean just in the presidential race. Let's be sure to elect Roy Cooper, the next governor of North Carolina.

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He will always put the people of North Carolina first and he will repeal HB2.

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Because he knows that discrimination is wrong, it's bad for business and it's against North Carolina's values.

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And let's send Deborah Ross to the United States Senate.

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You know, she will be an independent voice for the working families of this state and she will help break through the gridlock in Washington. And unlike her opponent, Deborah Ross has never been afraid to stand up to Donald Trump.

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And remember, it is not just Roy's name and Deborah's name or my name that's going to be on the ballot. So much of what we care about, so much that's at stake in the election is too. Voting rights are at stake and if you care about this sacred right and want to make sure our leaders of both parties do their part to protect and strengthen it, not chip away at it, you've got to vote in this election. And so I hope...

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... after all North Carolina has gone through with the efforts to suppress people's votes, you will turn out in the biggest numbers ever to say, no, we demand the right to vote.

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And supporting our veterans is at stake.

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CLINTON: If you believe that America should stand with those who's served because they served us, then you've got to vote. And so when you think about yourselves, your families, people you know who've worn the uniform of our country, the best way to make clear that we respect the military and we will do everything we can to make sure they and their families have what they need as they sacrificed for us is to show up and vote.

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And -- and you know, climate change is at stake.

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Now, I should not have to say this in 2016, but I will. If you believe in science, right? And you know that climate change is real.

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And demands action right now, you've got to show up and vote in this election.

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Immigration is at stake. If you believe we need to fix our broken system, keep families together, and give people who love America a path to citizenship, you have got to vote.

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And you know, marriage equality is at stake, too.

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If you believe everyone deserves to be treated equally in America, no matter who they are or who they love, then you've got to turn out and vote in this election.

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Good jobs that pay good wages are at stake. Investing in our roads and our bridges and our water systems and all the work that needs to be done in our country, that really matters and we can put millions of people to work and have a more competitive economy. That's why we proposed a very big jobs program. Because I don't want anybody willing to work in this country not to have a good job with a rising income to support themselves and their families.

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If you believe that, then you've got to come out and vote.

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And particularly for all of the students here, affordable college education is at stake.

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And not only that, relief from student debt that you already have is at stake.

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So if you believe, as we do, that everyone should be able to afford to go to college and graduate. And that everyone should have a chance to pay down and pay off your debt, then you have got to get out and vote in this election.

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And you know, dignity for women and girls.

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Again, I wish I did not have to say this. Right?

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But indeed, dignity and respect for women and girls is also on the ballot in this election.

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And I want to thank our First Lady for her eloquent, powerful defense of that basic value.

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So I think you are getting the idea here that I believe everything we care about is at stake in this election. So you've got to vote and get your friends and your families and your neighbors to vote, too.

And don't just take it from me. Because I think you've heard some really compelling voices say the same thing. And one of them is with us today. Right?

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There are so many things I admire about our First Lady.

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You know, Michelle reminds us to work hard. Stay true to our values. Be good to one another. And never, ever stop fighting for what we believe in.

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CLINTON: She has spent eight years as our first lady advocating for girls around the world to go to school and have the same opportunities as boys.

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She has worked for healthier childhoods for our kids here at home. Better nutrition, more exercise and we're seeing the results. We actually are seeing kids who are healthier, something that she was determined to try to achieve. She's encouraged more young people to go to college and follow your dreams and she has supported America's military families who serve and sacrifice as well for our country.

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Now, it hasn't been all hard work. She played a mean round of carpool karaoke.

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And among the many real privileges I've had is to see the president and the first lady dance.

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Wow. One could only hope.

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Now she also planted an amazing vegetable garden at the White House.

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And I can promise you if I win, I will take good care of it, Michelle.

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And boy -- thank you. And boy didn't she dazzle the world with that wise and beautiful speech at the Democratic National Convention this summer?

(APPLAUSE) And you know, I have now -- I have now stood on the debate stage for four and a half hours with Donald Trump.

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And if you see any of those debates, well, that has proved once and for all I have the stamina to be president...

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But there were times during those three debates when I'll tell you, the loop running in my head was what Michelle said to us at the convention, right, when they go low, we go high. And on top of all of this, just by being herself every day, never missing an opportunity to honor her parents for the hard word and sacrifice that sent her on her way. She has shown every little girl and boy in America that there are no limits to what they can achieve if they work hard and do right and believe in themselves.

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Seriously, is there anyone more inspiring than Michelle Obama?

(APPLAUSE) And maybe -- maybe it's especially -- especially meaningful to me because I do know something about being first lady of the United States.

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And you know, I'm going to state the obvious, it's not easy. You've got so many people counting on you, you've got the eyes of the world on you and when you're trying to raise your children as she is and I did and give them the space and support they need to have as normal and safe and fulfilling childhoods as possible, that makes it even harder. You know I used to hang out in the main hall on the second floor of the White House around the time Chelsea would come home from school just to be sure I got to see her and see what happened that day and try to figure out what I needed to be thinking about and doing for her.

And let's be real, as our first African American first lady, she's faced pressures I never did.

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And she's handled them with pure grace.

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CLINTON: By any standard, she has been an outstanding first lady who has made us all so proud.

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And she and the president -- she and the president have been such wonderful friends to me and my family. It's meant the world -- the world to me, it really has. And I want to say just one more thing about the first lady's work. I mentioned that military families -- she's been their fierce champion, and military families have come up against a lot in this election. It just made me boil when Donald Trump disrespected a Gold Star family, Mr. and Mrs. Khan.

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He still hasn't apologized to them, he actually made it worse. Just yesterday he said again, that if America had only made him president years ago, their son, Captain Khan, would still be alive. Honestly, I don't understand how anyone would want to rub salt in the wounds of a grieving family -- and he keeps insulting our military. Yesterday when he heard that a retired Army colonel and former dean of the Army War College said, that Donald doesn't understand military strategy, Trump said, I'll teach him a couple of things.

Well actually Donald -- you're the one who's got a lot to learn about the military and everything else that makes America great.

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Starting by learning about the dignity and sacrifice of our men and women in uniform and their families, and he should learn from Michelle Obama how a leader supports them, not disrespects them.

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So no one knows more about what's at stake in this election than our first lady. Because all the progress that we've achieved under President Obama's leadership is at stake. He pulled our economy our of the biggest ditch that it was in when he became president.

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He saved the auto industry, he cracked down on Wall Street, he has tackled health care, education, climate change, civil rights and so much else. And all the work that we've done to strengthen our relationships with other countries and secure our leadership in the world is also at stake.

Now I for one, and I hope all of you, do not want that hard work by our president and our first lady and millions of Americans to be wiped away, we cannot let that happen. We've got to do everything in our power to get everyone out to vote, to understand no matter what issue you care about, it truly is on the ballot.

Now this has been a hard election at times. It's gotten pretty ugly, hasn't it? And we've all felt it, especially kids. I hear this from parents and children across our country. Kids write me notes, they hand me little cards and notes when I shake hands with them. Their parents write me, teachers talk to me. Kids are scared -- kids are scared by the rhetoric they're hearing, right? I see the educators' heads nodding.

Little girls hear the ugly things that have been said about women in this campaign and it makes them feel terrible and doubt themselves. And that's why it's important for voices like our first lady's to stand up and say, wait a minute, respecting women and girls is important. And it's especially important to send that message to our children, boys and girls alike. Our kids are actually scared they're going to be sent out of the country because their parents are immigrants, or they're immigrants. They're scared if they're Muslim or they have a disability.

I got a letter from a parent, a mom in Wisconsin I think, who adopted her son Felix from Ethiopia when he was a toddler. He just turned 11 years old. He wrote my campaign to let me know that he was now 11 years old -- I love it when little kids do little birthday remembrances. America is the only country he's ever known, and one day he turned to his mom and he asked, "If Donald Trump becomes president is he gonna make me go back to Ethiopia?"

CLINTON: Now, that honestly breaks my heart. We've got to make sure all of our kids know America has a place for you. The American dream is big enough for you.

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And then we've got to make sure they learn the right lessons about how to treat people. I saw that sign, I believe in love and kindness, right?

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Well, here's one place to start. We know that bullying is a real problem in our classrooms, our playgrounds and online and teachers have reported that this election has made it worse. So I want you to know, we're going to launch a major new effort to help states and communities and schools and families end bullying wherever it takes place.

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And we will work together to make the internet a safer space for kids, invest in front-line professionals like guidance counselors and social workers and school nurses and psychologists to support kids who've been targeted. Like the young woman I met in Iowa who told me she was bullied because of her asthma. This has got to stop and I can't think of anything more important than making sure every single one of our children knows they are loved just as they are.

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So ultimately my friends, as Michelle reminds us, this election is about our kids, and in my case my grandkids. Their lives and their futures, nothing is more important to me than that. I've been fighting for kids throughout my career, I will fight for them every single day of my presidency.

So we have a job to do. Starting right now, let's come together, let's work together and let's be hopeful and optimistic and unify in the face of division and hate. Bring people together in a spirit of mutual respect to solve shared challenges. Let's have each other's backs, lift each other up, not tear each other down. Let's go out and win this election to make sure we do exactly that for Roy Cooper, Deborah Ross and all of us. Let's make sure you vote early, vote as soon as you can, vote this afternoon.

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I'm excited about what we're going to see happen here in North Carolina and I am so excited to be introducing our amazing first lady, Michelle Obama.

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SPEAKER: FIRST LADY MICHELLE OBAMA

[*] OBAMA: Well...

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Woah.

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Well, hey there.

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You guys are pretty fired up, right?

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I like that, I like that. Wow.

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Well, let me -- let me start. Of course, because Hillary's, you know, many tributes to me was -- taken me off of, just kind of thrown me a little bit. It was very generous. But I just want to take this moment publicly to thank Hillary. I mean there -- it takes a level of generosity of spirits to do what Hillary has done in her career in her life for our family, for this nation.

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And if people wonder, yes Hillary Clinton is my friend. She has been a friend to me and Barrack and Malia and Sasha. And Bill and Chelsea have been embracing and supportive from the very day my husband took the oath of office.

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So, I am grateful for Hillary for her leadership, for her courage and for what she is going to do for this country. So it's going to be good, it's going to be good. But I also want to take some time to recognize your former Senator, Kay Hagan, who is here. Kay, good to see you.

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And again, I just want to lend my voice to your outstanding candidate Deborah Ross.

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(Inaudible) Deborah. As Hillary said, she is someone who cares deeply about the people in this state. And she is always going to put your families first. So let's make Deborah your next U.S. senator. All right?

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And let's make Roy Cooper your next governor. How about that?

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Thanks also to all the members of Congress who are joining us and your mayor, Allen Joines, thank you, Mayor.

(APPLAUSE) But more importantly, thank you to all of you for taking the time, waiting in lines to be here today to help us support the next president and vice president of the United States, Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine!

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I don't know about you, but I'm fired up. We are going to make this happen .

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Now you may have noticed that I've been doing some campaigning for Hillary. And I know that there is some folks out there who have commented that it's been unprecedented for a sitting First Lady to be so actively engaged in the presidential campaign.

And that may be true. But what's also true is that this is truly an unprecedented election. And that's why I'm out here.

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I'm out here first and foremost because we have never had a more qualified and prepared candidate for president than our friend Hillary Clinton. Never before in our lifetime.

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I say this everywhere I go. I admire and respect Hillary. She's been a lawyer, a law professor, First Lady of Arkansas, First Lady of the United States, a U.S. senator, secretary of state.

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She has...

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AUDIENCE: Hillary! Hillary! Hillary!

OBAMA: yeah. That's right. Hillary doesn't play.

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She has more experience and exposure to the presidency than any candidate in our lifetime. Yes, more than Barack, more than Bill. So she is absolutely ready to be commander in chief on day one. And yes, she happens to be a woman.

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This election is also unprecedented because I don't think we've ever had two candidates with such dramatically different visions of who we are and how we move forward as a nation.

One candidate has a vision that is grounded in hopelessness and despair. A vision of a country that is weak and divided. Where our communities are in chaos. Our fellow citizens a threat. This candidate calls on us to turn against each other to build walls. To be afraid.

And then there is Hillary's vision for this country...

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...that you just heard. A vision of a nation that is powerful and vibrant and strong. Big enough to have a place for all of us. A nation where we each have something very special to contribute. And where we are always stronger together.

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That is the choice we face. Between those who divide this country into us versus them and those who tell us to embrace our better angels and choose hope over fear.

As we look into the eyes of our children, as we send them off to school each morning and tuck them into bed at night, as Hillary said, the stakes in this election could not be more clear.