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Michelle Obama Campaigns With Hillary Clinton in North Carolina. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired October 27, 2016 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:03]

MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY: As Hillary says, the stakes in this election could not be more clear.

And let me tell you, this is not about Republicans vs. Democrats. None of that matters this time around. No, no, this election is about something much bigger. It is about who will shape our children and the country that we leave for them, not just for the next four or eight years, but for the rest of their lives, because...

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: ... as Hillary pointed out, we all know, we know the influence our president has on our children, how they turn on the TV and they see the most powerful role model in the world, someone who shows them how to treat others, how to deal with disappointment, whether to tell the truth. They're taking it all in.

And, as Hillary says, when you raise children in the White House like Barack and Hillary and I have, you are reminded everyday of the impact that you have. You start seeing the images of every child in this country in the face of your child.

So, when people wonder how Hillary keeps her composure through the overwhelming pressure of not just this campaign, but of her career, or how Barack and I have dealt with the glare of the national spotlight these last eight years, that's the answer.

With every action we take, with every word we utter, we think about the millions of children who are watching us, who hang onto our every word, looking to us to show them who they can and should be.

And that's why, every day, we try to be the kind of people, the kind of leaders that your children deserve, whether you agree with our politics or not.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: And when I think about this election, let me tell you, that is what I'm thinking about. I am asking myself, what do my girls, what do all our children deserve in their president? What kind of a president do we want for them?

Well, to start with, I think we want someone who's a unifying force in this country, someone who sees our differences not as a threat, but as a blessing.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: As Hillary said, we want a president who values and honor women, who teaches our daughters and our sons that women are full and equal human beings worthy and deserving of love and respect.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: We want a president who understands that this nation was built by folks who came here from all corners of the globe, folks who worked their fingers to the bone to create this country and give their kids a better life.

We want a president who sees the goodness in all our communities, not just the brokenness, someone who understands that communities like the one where I was raised are filled with good, hardworking folks, folks who take that extra shift, who work that extra job because they want something more for their kids.

And, finally, we want a president who takes this job seriously...

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: ... and has the temperament and maturity to do it well.

(LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: Someone who is steady, someone who we can trust with the nuclear codes, because we want to go to sleep at night knowing that our kids and our country are safe.

And I am here today because I believe with all of my heart -- and I would not be here lying to you. I believe with all of my heart that Hillary Clinton will be that president.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: See, over the years, I have come to know Hillary. I know her, not just her extraordinary professional accomplishments, but I know her personal values and beliefs.

[15:05:01]

I know that Hillary was raised, like Barack and I, in a working family. Hillary's mother was an orphan abandoned by her parents. Her father was a small business owner who stayed up late night poring over the books, working hard to keep their family afloat.

So, believe this. Hillary knows what it means to struggle for what you have and to want something better for your kids, see? And that's why, since the day she launched her campaign, Hillary has been laying out concrete, detailed policies that will actually make a difference for kids and families in this country.

She said she plans to make college tuition-free, to help young people drowning in debt. She's going to handle making sure that our climate is protected.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: And let me tell you this about Hillary.

She's involved and engaged in every policy issue that she's developed. You go on her Web site, she's going to raise the minimum wage. She's going to cut taxes for working folks. She's going to do her best to help women get equal pay for equal work.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: And if you want to know more, just go on her Web site, HillaryClinton.com, because here is the thing about Hillary.

Thankfully, Hillary is a policy wonk. And let me tell you, when you are president, that's a good thing...

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: ... because policies matter. They really matter. They determine whether our kids have good schools, whether they can see a doctor when they are sick, whether they are safe when they walk out the door on their way to school. Policies matter.

And that's why Hillary has fought so hard for children's health insurances as first lady, for affordable child care in the Senate. That's why, as secretary of state, she's gone toe-to-toe with world leaders to keep our children safe.

And that is why, day after day, debate after debate, she has shown us such strength, such grace, refusing to be knocked down, refusing to be pushed around or counted out.

Hillary does all of this because she is thinking of children like her mother, children like her daughter and her grandkids, children who deserves every chance to fulfill their God-given potential.

That's why Hillary is in this. She's in this race for us. She's in this for our families, for our kids, for our shared future. So, let me tell you, that is why I am inspired by Hillary. That's why I respect Hillary, because she's lived a life grounded in service and sacrifice that has brought her to this day, that has more than prepared her to take on the hardest job on the planet.

She has run an extraordinary campaign. She has built an impressive grassroots organization. She has raised the money. She has won all the debates.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: So, Hillary has done her job. Now we need to do our job, and get her elected president of the United States.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) OBAMA: Because here is what I want to get real. If Hillary does not win this election, that will be on us. It will be because we did not stand with her. It will be because we did not vote for her.

And that's exactly what her opponent is hoping will happen. That's the strategy, to make this election so dirty and ugly that we don't want any part of this. So, when you hear folks talking about a global conspiracy and saying that this election is rigged, understand that they are trying to get you to stay home.

They are trying to convince you that your vote does not matter, that the outcome has already been determined, and you shouldn't even bother making your voice heard. They are trying to take away your hope.

[15:10:05]

And just for the record, in this country, the United States of America, the voters decide our elections. They have always decided. Voters decide who wins and who loses, period, end of story.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: And right now, thankfully, folks are coming out in droves to vote early. It is amazing to see. We are making our voices heard all across this country, because, when they go low...

AUDIENCE: We go high!

OBAMA: And we know every vote matters, every single vote.

And if you have any doubt about that, consider this. Back in 2008 -- and I say this everywhere I go -- Barack won North Carolina by about 14,000 votes...

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: ... which sounds like a lot, but when you break that number down, the difference between winning and losing this state was a little over two votes per precinct.

See, I want you to all take that in, because I know that there are people here who did not vote. Two votes. And people knew people who did not vote. Two votes. If two or three folks per precinct had gone the other way, Barack would have lost that state, could have lost the election.

And let's not forget, back in 2012, Barack actually did lose the state by about 17 votes per precinct, 17. That's how presidential elections go. They are decided on a razor's edge. So, each of you could swing -- in this stadium, just think about it. Each of you could swing an entire precinct and win this election for Hillary just by getting yourself, your friends and your family out to vote.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: Just doing what you are supposed to do. You can do this. But you could also help swing an entire precinct for Hillary's

opponent with a protest vote or by not voting at all. So, here is what I am asking you: Get out and vote. Get out and vote for Hillary. Vote early. Vote right now. Leave here, go vote.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: And don't let anyone take that right away from you. As Hillary mentioned, you may have seen in previous weeks that folks were trying to cut early voting places and cut the hours they were open, but that didn't stop people in this state. That's beautiful.

Now I understand there are more locations that are opening. And I want you to all crowd those places. I want you to remember that folks marched and protested for our right to vote.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: They endured beatings and jail time. They sacrificed their lives for this right.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: So, I know you can get yourselves to the polls to exercise that right, because make no mistake about it. Casting our vote is the ultimate way we go high when they go low. Voting is our high. That's how we go high. We vote.

How do we go high?

AUDIENCE: We vote!

OBAMA: How do we go high?

AUDIENCE: We vote!

OBAMA: That's it.

And after you vote, volunteer. No, no, no, no, we need you to volunteer, roll up your sleeves, make calls, knock on doors, get people to the polls. It is turnout that is going to make the difference. We have to turn our people out.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: Do not let yourself get tired or frustrated or discouraged by the negativity of this election.

As you are out there working your hearts out for my girl...

(LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: ... here is the thing that I just want to tell you all, because this has been a draining election.

But I urge you to please, please be encouraged. And I want our young people to be encouraged, because we still live in the greatest country on Earth.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: We do.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: And I have never felt more hopeful about the future. And I want -- our young people deserve that.

Be encouraged. I feel that way because, for the past eight years, I have had the great honor of being this country's first lady.

[15:15:03]

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: First ladies, we rock.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: But I have traveled from one end to -- this country to the other.

And I have met people from every conceivable background and walk of life, including folks who disagree with just about everything Barack and I have ever said, but who welcome us into their communities.

Remember, our neighbors are decent folks. These are -- we are all good people who are open-hearted and willing to listen.

And while we might not change each other's minds, we always walk away reminded that, when it come to what really matters, when it comes to our hopes and dreams for our children, we are just not all that different.

And I want you to remember that it is that part of us as Americans, it is that piece of us that is in all of us, that's what drives folks like Hillary's mother, who said to herself, I may not have grown up in a loving family, but I will build a loving family of my own. I will give my children what I never had. I will pour my heart into raising a strong, smart, loving daughter.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: That's what drives people like my father, who kept getting up and putting in those long hours, who said, I may have not gone to college, but I am going to keep working, because maybe my son, maybe my daughter will, because, in this country, anything is possible.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: As we walk away from this election, remember, that is what makes us who we are. Remember that.

It's a country where a girl like me from the South Side of Chicago whose great, great grandfather was a slave can go to the finest universities on Earth, a country where a biracial kid from Hawaii, the son of a single mother, can make it to the White House.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: A country where the daughter of an orphan can break that highest and hardest glass ceiling, and become president of the United States.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: That's who we are. That is possible here in America, but only, only when we come together, only when we work for it and fight for it.

So, that's why, for the next 12 days, folks, we need to do everything possible to help Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine win this election.

Are you with me?

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: Are you with me?

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: I can't hear you. Are we going to do this?

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: We are going to vote. We are going to vote early. We are going to stand in line. We are going make our voices heard.

No one is going to take away our hope. Let's get this done.

Thank you all. God bless.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: They call her the closer, a hug of thanks of gratitude between two women who have both raised children in the White House.

Folks, this is history, these two ladies, a former first lady who would like to be president and the current first lady here, embracing, standing there on that stage in North Carolina side by side, former first lady who is now the first female to stand as a major party presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama together for the first time on the campaign trail, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the major moment strategically set in the South in North Carolina.

We will get to all of that here.

And we will stay on this, as I bring in -- I have Gloria Borger today, our chief political analyst, David Catanese, senior politics writer for "U.S. News & World Report," CNN chief political correspondent Dana Bash, and we have Kate Andersen Brower still with us, author of "First Women."

It's wonderful to have all of you on.

And, Gloria, let me just begin with you.

[15:20:00]

Even just the embrace, the way the two walked out, the embrace between the two, clearly the gratitude, the heaping of praise from Hillary Clinton to the first lady, what did you make of the whole thing?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, first of all, I think you have to say that, bar none, Michelle Obama gets the prize for being the surrogate of the year.

BALDWIN: Super surrogate.

BORGER: There's nobody who can talk about this race the way she can.

First of all, humanizing Hillary Clinton, calling her the daughter of an orphan was so striking to me, talking about how Hillary Clinton grew up and what her mother -- that her mother was the daughter of orphan -- sorry -- and how Hillary Clinton grew up and how her mother raised her.

The second thing that I think is so important and striking -- and I would love to hear what you all think -- was the way she talked about voter suppression. She said, you know, their strategy is to make this election so dirty and ugly that you won't want to get out there and vote.

And she said to voters, don't let them take away your hope.

BALDWIN: That's right.

BORGER: You get out there and you vote. And then she went on to talk about her husband's 14,000-vote margin in the state of North Carolina in 2008 and how that was down to two votes a precinct.

And so she made the closing argument, she made it personal and she talked to every voter out there by saying, they want you to stay home and we need you to come out. They don't want you out there to vote. And I think that's very effective.

BALDWIN: I want to get to your point. And I jotted down when she said voters decide who win and who lose and who she's made such a big deal about North Carolina and even calls out different precincts and vote numbers and her husband both in 2008 and 2012. I want to get to that in a second.

BORGER: Right.

BALDWIN: But, Kate, to you, who has such an incredible knowledge when it comes to first ladies, I think one of the things that really struck me on Gloria's point of humanizing Hillary Clinton, she called her my girl, a policy wonk, even Hillary Clinton, she told the story of remembering when she was on the second floor of the White House waiting for Chelsea to come home from school, and said she and the first lady have that in common, raising children under scrutiny and shielding them.

KATE ANDERSEN BROWER, AUTHOR, "THE RESIDENCE": That's true. And I loved it when she said first ladies, we rock, and turned to Hillary Clinton.

She acknowledged the point herself that this is unprecedented for a first lady, a sitting first lady to be so passionate on the campaign trail. And you're right. She absolutely humanized Hillary Clinton, talking about the fact that they're both mothers. She's the mother of two young daughters, which has really helped her when she called out Donald Trump in this election.

And she talked about what it's like to raise children in the White House and that she and Hillary Clinton have had this unique experience of living in the fishbowl of the White House. Hillary Clinton used to do homework with Chelsea over fax when her husband was running and Michelle Obama did the same thing.

She would keep in touch with her daughters, make sure she was home for dinner with them during the campaign. So they both know what this existence is like. And that's a very powerful, I think, image for voters to hear.

BALDWIN: Dana, what about also just Gloria's point bringing up the rigged talk and saying that, well, that's just -- they're just trying to keep you home?

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right.

Well, and she was pretty explicit about it. This is coming from the first African-American first lady, reminding voters that that kind of talk is not new and that people in the 1950s and '60s and even before that went through pretty tough times in order to get the right to vote and to earn the right to vote.

And so that kind of imagery and reminder I think is pretty powerful, again, given who the messenger is, but who the audience is. She's in North Carolina, but it could be for any one of the urban areas in these battleground states where she is trying, along with her husband, the president, are trying to sort of resurrect and keep together the Obama coalition, which included a huge percentage of the vote coming from the African-American community.

So that kind of attempt to use Donald Trump's talk of rigged -- the rigged election to their benefit I thought was quite interesting.

BALDWIN: And, David, I want to hear from you. I really want to hammer home why North Carolina is so, so important.

But let's pivot into the arena.

Jeff Zeleny is now ready to roll. He was in there. He felt the crowd. Jeff Zeleny, I mean, tell me what was that like to hear it firsthand. And also I don't -- did I hear the T-word? Did I hear Trump mentioned by name? I don't know if I did.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: I'm not sure I heard Donald Trump mentioned by name either. I don't believe so, certainly not from the first lady.

But, Brooke, I think when you step back a minute in what really is a historic election, this is every bit as historic potentially as the 2008 election, the election of the first African-American president, to have the current first lady with the former first lady on stage is certainly a picture that we will remember, regardless of the outcome of the election.

[15:25:15]

And if you think back 16 years ago at the end of Secretary Clinton's time as first lady, then she was just first lady, never elected, she was already running for Senate. And you hear so many people asking, what is Michelle Obama's future?

I have talked to so many friends of hers who I have covered for a long time from Chicago who say, look, she doesn't want to be on the ballot now or ever. So I certainly believe them and take them -- their word at that.

But, boy, what a powerful person out here. And Dana was absolutely right about the Obama coalition, but there are so many young voters who were not able to vote for President Obama even in 2012, talking to those students here on the campus of Wake Forest University.

So she is someone who is inspiring people who can essentially vote for Hillary Clinton, but also give a vote for President Obama's legacy. So, that is one of the reasons he is such a powerful factor in this campaign.

And no coincidence she is here today on a day that early voting starts right in Winston-Salem. So all the people here in this arena, some 11,000 of them, they're all being encouraged and in some ways pushed toward casting early votes, North Carolina now so important. If they win this, they believe it blocks Donald Trump's path to the White House -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Let's talk North Carolina.

Jeff, thank you so much.

David Catanese, back to you. It's interesting. We're hearing the first lady throw out numbers. And I even have numbers. Specifically, they're in Winston-Salem, they're at Wake Forest. So, that's Forsyth County, which Obama won by seven points in 2012, despite losing the state to Romney by just about 100,000 votes, which when you look at Trump's -- now that the path is narrowing, the path to victory is narrowing, talk to me about how important North Carolina is in this election. DAVID CATANESE, "U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT": Donald Trump has no path

to the presidency without North Carolina. So, frankly, if North Carolina comes in when the polls close in the first wave on election night and it's towards Hillary Clinton, we will know very early in the night it will not be a very long night.

But who would have ever thought that Barack Obama would be the second best speaker in the family?

(LAUGHTER)

CATANESE: She is just so good. And I think there's a generational thing. She's 52. Hillary Clinton is 69.

When Hillary Clinton speaks to the audience, it sounds like she is reading a script and speaking to them. When Michelle Obama speaks -- and she had a script, but when she speaks, she sounds like she's speaking with an audience, there's a cadence to it, there's a chorus to it that Hillary just doesn't have.

And I think frankly she's -- because she's 52, she has a lingo that's cooler, that's relatable. I that's really important for younger voters and younger women particularly who Hillary struggled with during the primary.

And I think she helps not only having two females on the stage, not only having one of them being African-American, but I think there's a generational aspect that Michelle Obama brings. She's just a cool politician, and she talks in a way and speaks in a way that I think really relates and really is inspiring to young people and young women.

BALDWIN: So, at the White House today, they were referring to her speech as the closing argument, which just got me wondering, Dana. This isn't the last time we will see her on the stump. I know we have 12 days to go. Do you know -- do we know how much more they will put out the first lady?

BASH: My impression is as much as they think they need her.

She's availing herself, and she's really out there in a way, as we have been reporting, that she never has been before, especially and even when her husband was on the ballot. It's just clearly something that she feels passionate about.

I think she's gotten some pretty good feedback and she knows she's pretty good at it and knows that she does move some numbers and move some votes. So my understanding is that both Obamas are going to go where asked and that they see their job as, as David was saying, not just the African-American community, but those millennials, millennials who love the Obamas, who haven't gotten to vote and never could vote for an Obama, who if they're told by the Obamas a vote for Hillary Clinton is a vote for our legacy, that could go a long way.

BALDWIN: Go ahead, Gloria. Do you want to jump in? BORGER: My impression is that Michelle Obama really found her own voice in this campaign after the now infamous videotape came out. And...

BALDWIN: Well, remember her speech in, what was it, New Hampshire?

BORGER: Exactly, exactly, when she called over to the campaign and said, hey, do you mind if I give this speech?

And she then sort of stunned everybody when she spoke to women and she gave the speech, I think, of her life about what -- what that meant to her, and what that meant to her daughters, and what that should mean to women.