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New Day

Review of Day Three of the Democratic Convention; Examining Convention Speeches. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired July 28, 2016 - 07:00   ET

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

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[07:00:07] BARACK OBAMA, CURRENT PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Elect Hillary Clinton and show the world we still believe in the promise of this great nation.

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ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. Welcome back to your New Day. Chris and I are live here in Philadelphia at the CNN Grill. Of course, we're at the site of the Democratic National Convention.

So, for Democrats, it was the night steeped in symbolism and history. President Obama saying that he's ready to pass the baton to Hillary Clinton, America's first black president there embracing his one-time rival and making the case for her to also make history.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: I like this line so much, I will use it twice. But before he passed the baton, he used it to beat Donald Trump over the head.

The president making a constructive case for why Hillary is the only choice in this election, while others took to the podium last night to give the GOP nominee a beat down.

We have all that was said and what landed and what missed covered for you. Let's begin with CNN White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski, still inside that convention hall. Just can't tear yourself away.

MICHELL KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, now the excitement is building for tonight and remember it was only a couple of weeks ago, we saw President Obama delivered a speech with Hillary Clinton in Charlotte. So, I kind of made you wonder, well how is this speech going to be any different when he seemed to put everything into the last one? But this was different in a number of ways. It was emotional and that in turn drew out so much emotion from that crowd.

This seemed to be the first time, really, we heard the goodbye from President Obama, the "I'm really leaving and soon", and "Here's what I need you to do for me".

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KOSINSKI: You could almost see the weight of this moment and of America's choice on President Obama's face as he tried to connect past with present, with future.

OBAMA: While this nation has been tested by war and it's been tested by recession and all manner of challenges. I stand before you again tonight after almost two terms as your President to tell you I am more optimistic about the future of America.

KOSINSKI: Optimism the focus, in a speech the president delivered almost with an almost constant smile, even as he ripped into Republicans, laying out a stark contrast.

OBAMA: But what we heard in Cleveland last week wasn't particularly Republican, and it sure wasn't conservative. What we heard was a deeply pessimistic vision of a country where we turn against to each other and turn away from the rest of the world.

There were no serious solutions to pressing problems, just the fanning of resentment and blame and anger and hate. And that is not the America I know.

The America I know is full of courage and optimism and ingenuity. The America I know is defense and generous.

KOSINSKI: And this time President Obama didn't hold back. Yes, saying the name.

OBAMA: And then there's Donald Trump. Don't boo, vote.

The Donald is not really a plans guy. Do not really a facts guy either.

The choice isn't even close, there has never been a man or a woman, not me, not Bill, nobody, more qualified than Hillary Clinton to serve as President of the United States of America.

We're not a fragile people. We're not a frightful people. Our power doesn't come from some self declared savior promising that he alone can restore order as long as we do things his way. We don't look to be ruled. And the American dream is something no wall will ever contain.

KOSINSKI: And making the point that unity and democracy work, not to be overlooked.

OBAMA: We all need to be as vocal and as organized and as persistent as Bernie Sanders supporters have been during this election.

KOSINSKI: He urged this crowd to vote and for gun control advocates to be as vocal as the gun lobby, becoming emotional as he started to tell some real stories of American struggle, compassion, and perseverance.

OBAMA: And I'll tell you what's picked me back up every single time. It's been you, the American people.

It's the painting I keep in my private office, a big eyed green owl with blue wings made by a 7-year-old girl who was taken from us in Newtown, given to me by her parents, so I wouldn't forget.

[07:05:14] Time and again you picked me up and I hope sometimes I picked you up too.

And tonight, I ask you to do for Hillary Clinton, what you did for me. I'm asking you to join me, to reject cynicism and reject fear and to summon what is best in us to elect Hillary Clinton as the next President of the United States and show the world we still believe in the promise of this great nation. Thank you for this incredible journey. Let's keep it going.

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KOSINSKI: So on Hillary Clinton's e-mails, he approached the subject very gently. He seemed to soften her responsibility, saying, yes, she has her critics, but that's what happens when you put yourself out there and try to effect change, that's what happens when you're under the microscope for such a long time, and everybody makes mistakes.

He also said, you know, it's not even close between these two candidates, that it shouldn't be close, but we all know in the polls it is extremely close. So, for Democrats, broadening that message, trying to get it to resonate more broadly is the challenge.

Chris and Alisyn?

CUOMO: Well, that is the proposition from the Democratic perspective. How did it resonate? What will it mean? Let's discuss. CNN Political Analyst and Washington Bureau Chief for the Daily Beast Jackie Kucinich, CNN Political Analyst and host of the David Gregory Show Pod Cast, David Gregory and CNN Political Commentator and Political Anchor for Time Warner Cable News, Errol Lewis.

The theory of the case, we are better than they say and she is better than he is. Did it go far enough?

JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: You know, this really was about getting that Obama coalition really excited, especially from the President. And some of the other speakers were bringing in Republicans and some other demographics, but for President Obama's speech, that's who it was aimed at. You can trust this woman. She's going to carry on my legacy. You kept on hearing, "yes, we can", chanted in the arena last night.

CUOMO: So, you support it?

KUCINICH: Yes, as Chris says.

DAVID GREGORY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: And Tim Kaine.

KUCINICH: And that alone, if this is Obama's legacy and he's saying that she's the only one who can carry it on.

CAMEROTA: Errol, you're new to the panel this morning. What were your impressions of President Obama last night?

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I was struck by the way he kept going back to the 2004 speech where he sort of burst on to the national scene. I remember being in the rafters at the fleet center, there all the way in the last row. And it was remarkable and he was the state senator at that time and nobody knew, you know, really, he was just coming from relative obscurity. But I thought he put together the coalition that night.

That was when he said, there's no liberal America, there's no conservative America, there's only the United States of America. People really sort of clued in and tuned in and so he assembled the coalition there. And today or last night rather, he was really trying to sort of hand it over to Hillary Clinton.

CUOMO: But he's also presided over a time when politically the country is even more divided, even more entrenched.

CAMEROTA: He was wrong about there being no liberal America and no conservative America back in 2004.

GREGORY: Right, and this is part of his legacy. And the legacy is not over. There's no question that he's still on the ballot. And he is passing the baton and what he was saying last night is let's sweep Hillary Clinton up into this project of the new America that he spoke to and that he marshaled to the polls in 2008 and again even more powerfully in 2012. Let's continue some of this work. So he's got to own that legacy. She's got to own it as well.

The other thing that struck me is how they've made a decision to separate Donald Trump from the Republican Party, to cast him as an outsider and an outlier, uniquely unqualified based on temperament, based on intelligence, based on the work that he has or has not done to get up to speed. That he's uniquely unqualified and dangerous.

I think that's interesting probably other Democrats would like to sweep him in with the rest of the Republican Party, but it's that outlier argument that is a pitch to other Republicans to say, look, you have a permission to reject this guy. He's not one of you.

CUOMO: Jackie, what do you think of this idea that the speeches, they did what they were supposed to do essentially.

That video before President Obama took the stage of all the things that he has had to deal with, not so much as a referendum on him and his notable equanimity, but what you deal with as President, do you think that that made the Democrats' best foot forward in terms of why you choose Hillary Clinton over Trump despite the 68 percent trust problem that she has?

KUCINICH: Yes. I mean, just showing everything that a commander in chief has to deal with day to day, month to month that stretched out in the that video because you forget. I mean it's easy to forget as you go about your life. So, that serves as a reminder. I wouldn't be surprised if you see that again at some point in the campaign.

[07:10:02] GREGORY: You know, we saw with the -- as our friend Ron Brownstein there. We saw that in terms of President Clinton that despite a lack of trust, people believed that he would fight for, you know, that pole question, do you care about people like me? And if you close your eyes, can you imagine Hillary Clinton in the White House dealing with these tough things?

I do think that's an advantage for her. It's something that Donald Trump has to overcome. And I do think that's the argument you're going to hear over and over again.

CAMEROTA: President Obama did go back to some comment themes that he has hit on for, you know, the past now 12 years even from his launch. And one of them is hope. So let's listen to that moment last night.

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OBAMA: Time and again you've picked me up, and I hope sometimes I picked you up too.

And tonight I ask you to do for Hillary Clinton what you did for me. I ask you to carry her the same way you carried me, because you're who I was talking about 12 years ago when I talked about hope. It's been you who fueled my dogged faith in our future, even when the odds were great, even when the road is long.

Hope in the face of difficulty, hope in the face of uncertainty, the audacity of hope. America, you've vindicated that hope these past eight years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Errol, what do you think?

LOUIS: Almost directly lifted, by the way, from the 2004 speech.

CAMEROTA: They're driving himself.

(CROSSTALK)

LOUIS: Historical foot note in fact that was borrowed from a guy named Jeremiah Wright. We won't get into that this morning. But I thought it does tough remind me of the gaps between the high-flown rhetoric that he's talking about there.

He's really trying to talk to the civic soul of America. And the actual deliverables that in a divided congress, in a divided Washington, you know, I mean, you know, you've got a subsidy here and a program there and an underfunded program over there. And it really in some ways contributes to I think a lot of the frustration that the pollsters are picking up, that people want to be at that level that he's talked about. They've always wanted to be at that level. But then you look at the deliverables, and it's very hard to come anywhere near that.

GREGORY: And this is who Donald Trump is speaking to, is that voter who feels that they don't have the same shot, that even the Elites in the Democratic Party have a shot at. You know the highly educated, upwardly mobile.

COUMO: Tell them what Ron Brownstein keeps reminding us of.

(CROSSTALK)

GREGORY: He's talking about how the Democratic took it, they all met each other they the Ivy League schools. You know, that say whether there's, you know ...

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CUOMO: ... Harvard. And you know and then met ...

(CROSSTALK)

GREGORY: So I do think there's a danger in this, the message discipline of the Democrats. Are they failing to speak to a lot of the supporters of Donald Trump who feel completely outside the political system and experience and who don't have faith in the kind of status quo that's being talked about here.

COUMO: And how do you become a champion for people who are suffering through things that you don't seem to speak to with as much strength as the Republican does, right, the Republican.

I know he's the insurgent, but he's saying it's too hard for too many. Culturally, they're taking things away from rate s. It doesn't mean the same thing to be American anymore. And then Democrats are saying, for better or worse, they're saying hey things are pretty good here. Things are pretty good here you know.

KUCINICH: Look away, look away. No, but I think that was kind of Joe Biden's role.

Joe Biden has been the spokesman to the blue-collar worker. And I think that's what part of his speech was last night. But when Joe Biden goes away, who's that messenger?

GREGORY: A reminder why a lot of people wanted Joe Biden to run for president. He's ability to speak to that group.

CAMEROTA: He used three words. Ma-lar-key.

GREGORY: Yeah.

CAMEROTA: Thank you very much panels.

Meanwhile, President Obama not the only one as we've been talking about unleashing on Donald Trump last night, vice president Biden and the -- his possible successor Tim Kaine among the other speakers making their thoughts known last night as well.

CNN's Manu Raju joins us with that part of the story. What did you hear, Manu?

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: You know, actually, this convention really started off not the exact way that Democrats wanted. There were those leaked e-mails that caused so much turmoil within this party, the sudden resignation of the party chairwoman, and all those outbursts and angry protests from Bernie Sanders supporters. But we founded that this party unites when they all start going after Donald Trump.

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JOE BIDEN, CURRENT VICE PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES: He has no clue about what makes America great. Actually, he has no clue, period.

RAJU: The Democratic Party unleashing, launching their most blistering attacks to date.

SENATOR TIM KAINE, (D) VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: You cannot believe one word that comes out of Donald Trump's mouth.

LEON PANETTA, FORMER DEFENSE SECRETARY: In an unstable world, we cannot afford unstable leadership.

MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, (I) FORMER NEW YORK MAYOR: I'm a New Yorker, and I know a con when I see one.

RAJU: Deploying about party's high-profile stars, and independent billionaire businessman Michael Bloomberg to deliver with ring. Multi chair attacks on Trump's readiness to be president.

BIDEN: How can there be pleasure in saying you're fired?

[07:15:10] RAJU: Vice president Biden using his blue-collar background to question Trump's dedication to the working class.

BIDEN: He's trying to tell us he cares about the middle class. Give me up break that of much to malarkey.

RAJU: New York City's Former mayor challenging Trump's record as a businessman.

BLOOMBERG: Trump says he wants to run the nation like he's running his business? God help us.

RAJU: Former defense Secretary Leon Panetta taking on Trump's foreign policy credentials.

PANETTA: Donald Trump says he gets his foreign policy experience from watching T.V. and running the miss universe pageant.

If only it were funny. But it is deadly serious.

RAJU: And condemning Trump's challenge to Russia to hack Hillary Clinton's e-mails.

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Russia if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 e-mails that are missing.

PANETTA: It is inconceivable to me that any presidential candidate would be that irresponsible.

RAJU: Clinton's running mate Tim Kaine stepping into the attack dog role, mocking the Republican opponent.

KAINE: He's got a way of saying the same two words every time he makes his biggest, hugest promises.

Believe me. It's going to be great, believe me.

RAJU: While painting Trump as untrustworthy, inciting his refusal to release his tax returns as proof.

KAINE: Hey, Donald. What are you hiding?

RAJU: The Virginia senator also extending an olive branch to Republicans disenchanted with their party's nominee.

KAINE: If any of you are looking for that party of Lincoln, we've got a home for you right here in the Democratic Party.

RAJU: An effort echoed by Bloomberg, who went off script to question trump's mental clarity.

BLOOMBERG: As an independent, I am asking you to join with me. Together let's select a sane, competent person.

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RAJU: Now, Chris, last night the Trump campaign wasted no time pushing back in a statement, they said, "Tonight the Democrats offered only more rewards for the rich, powerful, and well-connected and more angry, demeaning, sniping attacks against all decent Americans who want change for their families."

The Trump campaign does not think that these attacks from, what they do as political insiders, will work in a year in which voters are frustrated with Washington. Chris?

COUMO: All right Manu, so we had all these big story lines coming up last night. You had first black president saying he's ready to pass the baton to Hillary Clinton, who would be the first woman president.

How big is that move? This hug, how important will that be for the Democratic base that the Democrats so sorely need to come out? DNC speaker, famous Maryland Congressman Elijah Cummings joins us next.

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[07:22:06] CAMEROTA: Tonight Hillary Clinton will accept her party's nomination. She hits the stage after President Obama's speech last night which was knit symbolism and history.

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OBAMA: And that's why I can say with confidence, there has never been a man or a woman, not me, not Bill, nobody, more qualified than Hillary Clinton to serve as president of the United States of America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Here to discuss all of the themes that came up last night and tonight, U.S. Congressman Elijah Cummings. Congressman, thanks for being here.

REPRESENTATIVE ELIJAH CUMMINGS, (D) MARYLAND: Good morning.

CAMEROTA: What does Hillary Clinton need to say tonight?

CUMMIONGS: She needs to say that she's on the side of Americans. And that she's going to do everything in her power to deal with the issue of income inequality and give people a sense of hope that their children will do better than what they're doing.

One of the reasons why Bernie Sanders has done as well as he's done is because so many people feel that government has left them and that government doesn't hear them. And in some instances, government is doing them more harm than good, I.E., Flint, Michigan.

And so, she has to come and say, OK, he's now passed the baton on to her. She's got to be in a position to say, I've got this baton, and I'm going to run with it.

CUOMO: So, what do you say to the voters out there still making up their minds who are looking at the problems?

You come from Baltimore. I walked those streets with you. You know that the prosecutor just said no more charges in the Freddie Gray case. I'm dropping them. People see what appears to be racial tension between the blacks and police.

What do you say to them when they say, "Look at what the country is, look at the status quo, we need someone else."

CUMMINGS: First of all I'll say, the president said it best. We need to back off for a moment and realize the great country that we do have. Sometimes I think you can have so many blessings that your problems block your vision. But I would say, let's see what we can do about having somebody who will bring us together.

When I hear Donald Trump, to be frank with you, I feel like there's somebody who is almost trying to divide us. And I think what we need to be doing is having somebody like a Hillary Clinton who will cause us to look at each other, be honest with each other, face our problems, come up with practical solutions, and talk to each other as opposed to past each other.

CAMEROTA: And congressman, specifically, what do you think Hillary Clinton would do about the tension that people in black communities feel with the police and vice versa?

CUMMINGS: First of all, I think she will hear them. See, I don't even think Donald Trump even hears them or even sees them, the Freddie Grays of the world.

So, Hillary Clinton has a balance. She -- The other night, they had the mothers who had lost sons because of gun violence.

[07:25:02] And then, on the other -- but just before that, they had the police officer who was great. And that's the balance. That's what we need. We need people who understand that and Hillary does this. She understands we need to protect our police and we need to respect them, but at the same time, when African-American men are being afraid to even get in a car because they're afraid of being killed, that needs to be respected too. And what Donald Trump has done is tried to divide us. He put one person, the police in one corner, the community in another corner.

I'm telling you, and I've said it over and over again. And the American people got to get this. Donald Trump, we -- I'll spend a lot of time talking about Donald Trump.

I see Donald Trump as someone who's about the business of destruction and distraction. Destruction with regard to people who run against him and their reputations, distractions from the things that affect people on a day-to-day basis, health care, education, things of that nature.

So I think Hillary Clinton, again, she has that history. She will -- she has own she s those concerns. But, you know who said probably best? Bloomberg.

When Bloomberg, an independent, got up there and said this is not about Democrat or Republican, this is about what we want for America. You know -- I mean, Bloomberg, I'd suddenly became a major fan. Really, because he was like the guy in the middle.

CUOMO: Right, but here look, he to your point about discussion of Trump. Bloomberg was there last night to bash Trump.

The Democrats can't stop talking about Trump at all, especially when it comes to this latest wrinkle, this gift that you guys say he gave you about asking Russians to hack Hillary Clinton's e-mails, to release them.

You guys are calling it treason. He went on T.V. this morning, said I was being sarcastic. This is the Democrats trying to frame me.

CUMMINGS: We have to stop excusing him when he says these nasty things. We really do because words do matter.

CUOMO: But is it treason?

CUMMINGS: I'll let the FBI and others to decide that. My point is -- and by the way, no matter what it is, it should not have been said. If I did, I've out of office or in jail. And he should not be held to some different standard.

I don't know how we get this through. We're talking about the president of United States of America going around saying these kinds of things. That's ridiculous. But again, we've got to the concentrate on what we are fighting for, not what so much who we're fighting against.

Donald Trump, if he loses, he'll go off and make more millions. And I guess establish more universities. I want somebody like a Hillary Clinton who's going to go in there and hear me, see me, understand me, bring folks together so that we can be the very best country that we can be.

And by the way, let me make it clear. America's going to miss President Barack Obama. He is one of the most brilliant human beings I have ever met. I have never been in a room. In a meeting with the president where I've been walk out saying he's the smartest one in the room. But we're going to miss him. And that quite, and you saw at Michelle. They have shown us what a president ought to be about. And the idea that this great man who has been bashed over and over again and i know it because I've been defending him.

Even with all that opposition, he's been able to accomplish the things he's been able to accomplish. And then he says, this is the person that I think ought to run with the ball on there. You can't get too much better than that.

CAMEROTA: Congressman Elijah Cummings thanks so much, great to have you re.

CUMMINGS: Thank you.

CUOMO: Pleasure, as always.

CAMEROTA: Which message will resonate? The DNC's one of hope or the RNC's message of America in crisis.

We'll ask someone who's been through a presidential race, former Democratic Presidential nominee Michael Dew Caucuses is going to join us live, next.

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