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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Interview with Martin O'Malley; Sanders Supporters Won't Rule Out Protesters Tonight; Clinton to Accept Historic Nomination Tonight. Aired 4:30-5p ET

Aired July 28, 2016 - 16:30   ET

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

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Star Swain, the assistant principal at Jefferson County middle high school in Tallahassee, whose a cappella rendition of the national anthem earned her more than 35 million Facebook views.

[16:30:09] A viral video.

We're going to have much more from the Democratic National Convention and its last night coming up. Stay with us.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARTIN O'MALLEY (D), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's time to put a bully racist in his place and a tough woman in hers -- the White House.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD.

We're live from the Democratic National Convention. You just heard there, the feisty former governor of Maryland, Martin O'Malley, testifying for his former rival and against Donald Trump.

And joining me, here he is. I don't know if you recognize him, he has a sports jacket on.

[16:35:01] But you usually do the shirt sleeves thing.

O'MALLEY: Mayoral habit.

TAPPER: What do you think as a former rival of Hillary Clinton's, as somebody who studied her vulnerabilities, what a do you think she needs to say this evening to win over the American people?

O'MALLEY: Well, I think this is the culmination tonight of these last few nights. And I believe what she needs to do is to bring it home to the kitchen tables across America. What does security mean when you're a mom and dad who is remembering how you felt when 9/11 happened and you just had this instinct to grab your kid out of school? What does it mean when you hear people say, well, our economy is doing better but we still have work do? Does Hillary Clinton know that my wages haven't gone up even though my husband and I were working harder on three jobs than we ever have?

So, Hillary Clinton has the opportunity tonight to take all of this positive -- all of these positive thematics culminating with the truth that we're stronger together that no man or woman is an island and bring it home to the kitchen tables of America.

TAPPER: Maryland, the state where you were governor for two terms, an interesting state. It's a blue state, but there are some big red swathes, especially in the western part of the state. What does Hillary Clinton need to do to reach out to those white working class voters and that part of the state?

Obviously, she's probably not win them every entirely ever. They've been voting Republican for sometime. But she needs to improve her standing with them.

O'MALLEY: Well, look, there are areas all around the Baltimore metro area that are in play in every general election, whether no governor or whether for president of the United States. And these are the places that have seen the big transformations in our economy, the loss of manufacturing jobs, the creation of new jobs, but with skill levels that many of our people do not have.

These are the places where increasingly we're seeing wages flat line or decline, where people's bills and their college tuition are going up. So, these are all of the bread and butter issues that speak to the most -- one of the more difficult things we have to address as Democrats is this, that country is doing better, but 70 percent of American families are not feeling it --

TAPPER: Right.

O'MALLEY: -- or seeing it in their checkbook. I think to have credibility, we have to acknowledge the truth that this has been a more prolonged recession than anyone can ever remember. But we're on the right track. When an economy and a country creates more jobs, what follows on that, if we restore common sense wage and labor policies, equal pay for equal work, make it easier not harder for people to join unions and bargain collectively, raise the minimum wage, we can get wages now to go up.

TAPPER: And this is the thing. You appealed to those voters when you ran and won the governorship in Maryland twice. And I bet that while you've been campaigning you've heard from some of those voters saying that they're voting for Donald Trump.

O'MALLEY: I have heard from some of those voters voting for Donald Trump. On the way up here, I ran into a few people. I'm picking up dry cleaning and the like as we got on the road for Baltimore.

You know, I saw Vice President Gore who came to Maryland a month ago, he said, what surprised you most about your journey, your experience, your candidacy? I said, what surprised me most was not the depth or breadth of people's anger, but the patience of it. That a lot of people want to just pull into the angry lane and throw the keys out the window. But, look, we have work to do. We can pout and throw a temper

tantrum, we can say we're mad as hell and we're not going to take it anymore, or we can make our country better and stronger and get wages to go up again, do the common sense things we used to that make college affordable instead of pricing out in the race of most families, and asking the wealthiest among us to actually love their country enough to be willing to pay a hire rate of taxes to make these long term investments that only we can make together.

I mean, it's the core issue. I mean, Jake, in our country's history, there has always been a yin-yang, this back and forth, this dichotomy between a self-made, independent and reliant persona and the fact that that person can only be strong in a country that's stronger together.

TAPPER: Right.

O'MALLEY: Where there is a common good that we share, and regardless of our political difference, at the end of the day, we want to solve our problems because we all want the same thing essentially for our kids. And that's what Hillary Clinton has the opportunity really to drive home after three remarkable days here.

TAPPER: All right. Governor Martin O'Malley, it's always good to see you, sir.

O'MALLEY: Jake, thank you.

TAPPER: Thank you so much. Really appreciate it.

The last day of the Democratic National Convention is now under way. A familiar face is about to at that time stage. Our live coverage continues next.

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[16:44:21] ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA, FORMER LOS ANGELES MAYOR: They put food on our table.

TAPPER: Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is speaking right now. Let's listen in.

VILLARAIGOSA: They build, repair and clean our homes. They take care of our children when they have no one to care for their own. They're hardworking people, toiling in the toughest jobs with little to show for it.

They fight in our wars and defend our freedom. They're God-fearing, faithful, and family people. They crossed our borders like so many before them answering mother liberty's call.

[16:45:08] They come, dreaming of a better place, a place that we all call home.

But these 11 million people have no credentials to this hall. They don't even have a vote. But they must have a voice in our party and our nation. Donald Trump proposes the greatest mass deportation in our nation's or

any nation's history. It's patterned after Operation Wetback, a shameful episode in our nation's history when one million Mexicans were deported. He would not only deport our neighbors and our families, he would vanquish the dream. The dream they carry in their heart when they answer that beacon of hope and light to dreamers from all over the world.

And so, in this City of Brotherly Love, we must stand up and fight for these 11 million, for we are our brother's keeper. We have always been stronger when we integrate, not segregate, when we join hands and work together to solve our challenges.

And we will be stronger when we elect a woman who has fought for the forgotten children, given voice to the unrepresented. A woman who is like the good shepherd and wants to bring all the flock in. Not just the white flock, but the black flock, the yellow flock, the brown flock, the Muslim flock, the Jewish flock, every single one of us.

A woman who fought for health care it for all, and who will fix our broken immigration system. A woman who will tear down a wall and build a bridge to a great generous America that we all know and love. That woman is Hillary Clinton, our nominee and the next president of the United States. Thank you so much.

TAPPER: Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who was backing Hillary Clinton presidential run back in 2008.

Now, we're going to hear from a family voice and face to CNN viewers, former South Carolina state senator, Bakari Sellers, also a CNN contributor.

BAKARI SELLERS (D), FORMER SOUTH CAROLINA STATE REPRESENTATIVE: Tonight, I join you just a kid from Denmark, South Carolina where we have three stoplights and a blinking light. To stand here at this crossroad in our nation's history as proof that anything is possible.

I join you tonight born out of struggle, a product of the civil rights movement, the son of Gwendolyn Sellers and Cleveland Sellers, who missed the birth of his oldest child, my sister, because he was in prison for fighting for what he believed in. They taught me not only the words of Frederick Douglass, "without struggle there is no progress," but also the words of our state motto, "Dum spiro spero", "While I breathe, I hope."

I am a product of their struggle. I am a product of that hope. And I'm not the only one. The truth is, every single one of us is a product of struggle. Our lives were made possible through struggle and hope.

And now, Democrats, more than ever, we must continue to embrace our history, recognizing that the party of Barack Obama was first the part of Fannie Lou Hamer and the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. That before there was a Hillary Clinton, there was a Shirley Chisholm.

(APPLAUSE) [16:50:06] That once we fought just to be seated, but now I stand before you ladies and gentlemen, unbowed, unbroken, and unafraid. That's what America is. It's an unlikely story of struggle and hope that joins us together as we dare to march forward.

And I'm here to tell you that Hillary Clinton knows that cause she's been part of it her entire life. Now, Democrats, throughout her life, Hillary as stood for the best of who we are. But she can't do it alone. She needs all of us to stand together.

So, stand up if you believe working families deserve affordable health care, good schools and a living wage. Stand up if you're ready to close the loopholes in our gun laws and pass common sense reforms. Stand up if you're ready to keep our communities and our cops safe and end the structural racism that keeps sending our kids to prison instead of sending them to college.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

Stand up for "Black Lives Matter."

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

Stand up for progress. Stand up for justice. And stand up if you know like I know that we're stronger together.

Thank you and God bless America.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

TAPPER: Bakari Sellers, former South Carolina state legislator and CNN contributor, speaking strongly.

There has been disunity here. Largely, the convention seems unified, but there has been it is unity. Sanders supporters having a difficult time rallying around Hillary Clinton.

Let's go to Jeff Zeleny who's on the convention floor to bring us more up-to-date news on this.

Jeff, what are you hearing?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Jake, I can tell you, after talking to so many Sanders delegates throughout this week here, there is a difference in mood based on where they're from. I just came from the California delegation. Some of those supporters are planning protests tonight. Some may walk out.

A far more practical mindset is shaping up here in the battleground state like Florida behind me. I just talked to a Sanders delegate who said, look, I will vote for Hillary Clinton, I have to, the battleground state votes matter.

A Virginia delegate of Sanders I talked to yesterday said the same thing. He said in 2000, I voted for Ralph Nader. I can't do that in Virginia. I have to vote for Hillary Clinton. So Jake, my big takeaway after talking to so many Sanders' supporters this week, if you're from battleground state where this presidential campaign will be won or loss, they are siding with Hillary Clinton and doing it in a hurry -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Jeff Zeleny, thank you so much.

Let's bring our panel.

Nia-Malika, I've been talking to Sanders delegates all week and most seem to be reluctantly getting behind Hillary. But there are still holdouts.

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Yes, there are some holdouts. And you saw some of the speakers last night trying to get them on board. President Obama made reference to Bernie Sanders and his as did Tim Kaine. So they still have work to do.

Bernie Sanders is going to be out on the road campaigning. And I think he'll be useful in states like New Hampshire. It's only four electoral votes.

But in this close election, likely be a close election, in states like that, he's going to matter. He's also going to matter with white working class voters. They're about 36 percent of the electorate in 2012, Obama got about 36 percent of those voters.

And at this point, Hillary Clinton is under performing a Barack Obama with those voters. So, a lot of work to do, and I think they started off well here, but still work do and still time. I mean, we're going to have hundred days?

TAPPER: About a hundred days on Saturday, yes.

HENDERSON: Yes, on Saturday, but it's going to be a full court press.

MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I thought last night that this was crystallized when Secretary Panetta was speaking. Right after he made what I think was the only reference to the priest whose throat was slit near Normandy literally at the altar, very soon there after, there was a chant of "no more war". I thought the optics were bad of that.

And as I looked to the floor, it seemed to be coming primarily from the California delegation. So, that was not a good moment in my view for the convention, generally, but as the days have progressed, you have seen less of those out bursts.

TAPPER: It was coming from California, I had a different view. It was also coming from Oregon and Washington. So spread throughout, but definitely California has been a problem.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: I think Hillary Clinton gets a do-over with Sanders voters tonight. And I think Bernie Sanders has blessed her candidacy and Sanders voters don't trust her, a lot of them. And she has to tell them who she is all over again and point out

issues on which she will be trustworthy, that they care about, because she has to now say, OK, you've moved me.

[16:55:04] You have changed me. And here is why. And she has to kind let them in.

TAPPER: But, David Gergen, that is problematic when you have people like Terry McAuliffe, the governor of Virginia, saying to a reporter, oh, no, after the election, she will come out in the Pacific trade deal. He had to walk it back.

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: He spun around on that one.

I think they made about as much progress as they're going to make in the convention with the Sanders voters. She will reach out tonight. But tonight is largely about reaching beyond the Democratic Party, to wavering independents and potential Republican voters.

She faces two issues. One is the big elephant in the room which is the distrust. How will she confront that? And the second one is, how do you take this theme stronger together? I would call organization.

TAPPER: OK. David Gergen, thank you so much.

The final day of the Democratic National Convention now under way. We have much more live coverage right after this.

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