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VP Nominee Walz To Take Center Stage For Acceptance Speech; Republican Speakers To Highlight Violence On January 6; Obama's Wow Crowd While Urging Dems To Act To Get Harris Elected; Obamas Lay Out High Stakes Of This Election In Electrifying Speeches; Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) Discusses About Where Campaign Is Headed; Michelle Obama Warns Dems About Developing "Goldilocks Complex"; RFK Jr. To "Address The Nation" On Friday As He Weighs Dropping Out And Endorsing Trump. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired August 21, 2024 - 15:00   ET

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

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[15:01:10]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Welcome back to CNN special coverage of the Democratic National Convention here in Chicago. I'm Brianna Keilar and my colleague and good friend Boris Sanchez is in Washington.

The DNC is entering day three with vice presidential nominee, Tim Walz, as the headliner. He's going to try to keep the energy flowing after last night's fiery speeches from Barack and Michelle Obama.

Before Walz introduces himself to the nation tonight, prominent Democrats like Bill Clinton, Nancy Pelosi and Pete Buttigieg will also take the stage.

And we have learned that parts of tonight - the part of tonight's programming will focus on protecting democracy. It's going to focus heavily on the January 6th insurrection and Trump's role in trying to overturn the 2020 election results. CNN's Eva McKend is with us now.

Eva, what are the stakes for Gov. Walz tonight?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, this is Gov. Walz's opportunity to introduce himself to the country before the biggest audience that he'll ever have in his political career. The campaign telling us that he will uplift his small town values, that he will detail his career starting with a teacher and then becoming a congressman, governor and now running to be vice president of the United States.

We'll also hear him talk about the importance of protecting fundamental freedoms. Freedom, of course, has become the battle cry of this campaign last night during that Milwaukee rally. All peppered throughout the arena, you saw banners that said freedom - replacing the banners that typically say Harris-Walz. That is because they are really confident in the strength of this argument, talking about reproductive freedom, talking about the significance of being able to live in your community free from gun violence. And then I'll end with this, Brianna: We're also going to hear a lot about January 6th, that horrific day. They're going to use that to argue that the former president is a threat to democracy, and they're going to have Republicans offer that message. And that is just an indication that they're not trying to leave any part of the electorate on the table. They want this speech to appeal to a broad base of Americans. Brianna?

KEILAR: All right, Eva, thank you so much.

Let's talk more now about this with CNN Political Analyst and National Political Reporter for Axios, Alex Thompson. I do want to talk about kind of what's ahead. But first, let's talk about some of what we saw last night. What did you think and particularly that sort of bridge between Joe Biden and Kamala Harris?

ALEX THOMPSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, it was so interesting. You know, Barack Obama really gave like sort of a fulsome appreciation for Joe Biden and said it was one of the best decisions he had ever made.

It was notable to me, though, that Michelle Obama never mentioned Joe Biden. And, you know, I reported previously in the last two months that there was some tension between Michelle Obama and the Bidens, and part of that is personal. You know, Michelle Obama also doesn't like to get into politics. But Michelle Obama, one of her best close friends is Hunter Biden's ex-wife.

And, you know, that personal relationship has affected that the larger family dynamic because, you know, Michelle Obama resented the way the Biden family sort of exiled Hunter's ex-wife.

KEILAR: And you've also been doing a lot of reporting on some of the challenges that Harris faces here in the last two months and change for the election, that she's been very deliberative. She's been very careful. How is the campaign thinking about how they need to proceed here? And how are some people even on the outside, Democrats who really want her to win, thinking she needs to proceed?

THOMPSON: I mean, listen, we have a Democratic nominee that has not sat for an interview, that has not laid out her big policy priorities, has not done a press conference.

[15:05:06]

And some of that's just the unprecedented nature. But she had over 30 days to do one of those three things, and she hasn't, so there is some nervousness among Democrats of what - because some of her worst moments as vice president and on the campaign trail in 2019 were in those unscripted moments.

Now, the campaign seems to know that, which is why they're choosing this disciplined, risk-averse approach. But the question is, what does she do when she actually gets out there and has to be more nimble? And we just don't know.

Now, the campaign, in terms of what they're thinking, they're going to get away with this as long as they can, right? They want to keep her scripted in safe spaces. Now, the question is, you know, with reporters and the media, does it get worse and worse the longer it goes.

KEILAR: Alex, thank you so much. Alex Thompson, we appreciate it.

And I want to bring in now Minnesota Attorney General and former DNC deputy chair Keith Ellison.

And, sir, it's hard to compete with John Legend performing Prince's numbers behind me, but we're going to give it a try here in this interview.

First off, just what are you hoping to hear tonight from Tim Walz as he and Harris are trying to broaden the appeal of this ticket for key voters?

KEITH ELLISON, MINNESOTA ATTORNEY GENERAL: I hope Tim just shares his story. I mean, we're talking about a really relatable fellow who really cares about public service: 24 years in the Army National Guard, teacher, coach and congressman, and now the governor - very successful governor.

And he is animated by small-town values, which translate everywhere, whether it's in the inner city of Minneapolis or the farms across the state of Minnesota or in the mining areas of our state. Tim can walk anywhere and find friends because he's a friendly fellow, cares about people and he's a great listener. And I hope he can really let that show.

KEILAR: He has been criticized for, I think what can be charitably described as some inexact language related to his military service, specifically to his rank, to whether he covered - carried a weapon of war in war. He did not, of course, to whether it was IUI versus IVF that he used. I think that looking at, say, one of those things, no big deal, but you kind of have this list of things.

I wonder if you have concerns about the effect of this, and if you have any concerns about that list growing. Do you think voters care about this?

ELLISON: Well, look, we live in 2024. Republican game plan is to search and search for anything to try to tear down another person's character. Don't forget, they tried to make a big deal out of Barack Obama wearing a tan suit. They - that is their game plan. Their game plan is character assassination.

No, I'm not worried about any of this stuff. Twenty-four years in service to your country as a National Guardsman is good service. They can try to nitpick something you said at one point or another. The bottom line is when he was talking about weapons of war, he was talking about how weapons of war don't belong on our streets and that we need to stop the mass shootings. That's the point.

So I just asked my friends in the media to, you know, don't get distracted by every shiny thing that Republicans throw out there. I mean, the point about the weapons of war is about mass shootings. The point about his service is 24 years of it. I mean, the point about anything that he has mentioned is to the greater good of the public interest. And that's what's really going on here, not some straight thing that they're trying to get you guys to chase around.

KEILAR: So you have been a key Muslim American voice in Democratic politics. You certainly were - when you were elected to Congress. And I wonder, as you are looking at this uncommitted movement, which is represented by some of the delegates here at the convention, how big of a challenge do you think this is going to be for Democrats in - specifically, I'd say, Michigan?

ELLISON: Well, let me tell you, these are people who are animated by their sincere concern for the people suffering in Gaza and in Israel and they want to see a policy change. How do you get a policy change in America? Well, you use your First Amendment rights, and you use the political process to try to persuade people. That is what they're doing. I think that that is important.

But here's the lesson, they're - they are getting the attention of the Democratic Party. On Monday, we had a really robust panel discussion, very important, highly well attended and people were able to make their case. We've had several speakers speak sympathetically about the plight of people in Gaza right now. I think Bernie Sanders mentioned it. I think Sen. Warnock mentioned it and maybe others as well.

And so I think that what they're doing is getting the attention of the world and of our country and that is how change is made.

[15:10:03]

That's how it's always been made. That's how we got civil rights, women's rights, environmental change. That's how change is made.

KEILAR: They want her to commit to an arms embargo on Israel. The campaign has been clear she's not going to do that. Where's the middle ground on that?

ELLISON: Well, I mean, there's a lot of middle ground. Look, I think it's real clear, Kamala Harris and Joe Biden have been working hard on a ceasefire, very hard. But both of them understand that we need more than a ceasefire. We need a durable peace between Israelis and Palestinians over time. We can't have these kind of conflicts crop up every two years, as we have been for about the last 12, 13, 14 years.

So they're working on not just a ceasefire, but a durable peace moving into the future. And I think that there's a lot of room around that. I think a lot of people want to see that. I also - and I can't speak for the Harris or Biden now, but I think that, you know, it's important to recognize that there is no diplomatic presence for Palestinians in America today. Trump kicked them out. There's a lot of things we can do that ultimately add up to not just ceasefire, but a durable peace.

KEILAR: Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, thank you so much.

And you hear John Legend behind us there. You get a performance as you come on to join us today. Thank you.

ELLISON: All right, thank you.

KEILAR: All right. So we're going to open up this conversation with CNN anchor Chris Wallace, who also served as a presidential debate moderator in 2020 and 2016.

He's seen a few political conventions, which I think that insight is incredibly helpful, as - especially in Chicago, going all the way back to 1968. You know, you can talk a little bit about that. But how do you think things are going so far as we head into this night with Tim Walz speaking?

CHRIS WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR, THE CHRIS WALLACE SHOW: You know, I've been thinking about this a lot. As far as this convention is going, I think it's going fine. Particularly last night, I thought the Obamas were very strong. I thought Michelle Obama was particularly effective.

Having said that, it's a strange situation, as we all know. We've had this nominee over the course Kamala Harris for - the 30 days. And usually a convention is the end of a process. They've gone through an entire six months, a year of a presidential campaign, New Hampshire, Iowa, all the primaries. This one is the beginning of a process in a sense.

And so to me, it feels more like a romance where you're in the first month. It's very intoxicating. You really like the person, but you haven't fallen in love yet and that's what I feel missing from this convention. They really want her to win. They really want to beat Donald Trump. But is the personal connection to Kamala Harris that there is normally to a new nominee of a party? No, I don't think so.

And in fact, to be brutally honest about it, six months ago, there were a lot of delegates that are here and a lot of Democratic officials who were thinking, geez, maybe we could get rid of Kamala Harris and we'd have somebody else as a backup to Joe Biden.

KEILAR: Yes, completely hear you on that. A lot of them have been really surprised by some of the grassroots support that she's gotten and they're reconsidering that. But I think they have some serious concerns that can't be ignored in these crucial battleground states, right, when it comes to the economy.

I do want to note something that Barack Obama said yesterday as he's trying to make the case against Donald Trump. Let's listen.

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BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We do not need four more years of bluster, and bumbling and chaos. We have seen that movie before. And we all know that the sequel is usually worse.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Does that work? And how much now does this convention need to turn towards a vision for the economy? You know, when it comes to their argument on immigration to win over those voters in battleground states that, like you mentioned, a lot of Democrats were worried Kamala Harris would have problems with.

WALLACE: Yes. I - look, I think the convention has been particularly effective so far in terms of shoring up the Democratic base. And, you know, there was an enthusiasm gap between Republicans for Trump and Democrats for Biden. And they got to get all of the Democrats on board, plus, as you say to get some extra voters.

But on the toughest, naughtiest issues like - that Trump is going after on, like immigration, like crime, like the economy, they really have not made a very forward looking argument for why things are going to be better under Kamala Harris than they were under Joe Biden. I'm told that one of the things that Bill Clinton is going to be talking about tonight, particularly, is the economy and why a Harris economy would be better than a Trump economy.

Just on that one point about Barack Obama, I find it very interesting because one of the things that Biden did was build up Trump as a threat, an existential threat.

[15:15:05]

And as Eva was saying, talking a lot about democracy, that what you see the Harris campaign doing, and I think it's a very conscious choice, is flipping that, making it about freedom: Freedom of reproductive freedom, freedom from gun violence and diminishing Trump basically saying he's a blowhard. It's an old act. We're tired of it. This is the sequel. Why would you want to go back? Basically doing their best to make him small, not big.

KEILAR: Unprecedented number of Republicans speaking at this convention. They're kind of - they're peppered throughout the evenings, all of them. You have Adam Kinzinger with a plum spot tomorrow night. That's some prime real estate. How much does this work and who might it went over, do you think?

WALLACE: Well, they're obviously hoping it's going to win over disaffected Republicans, you could say the Nikki Haley voters. And remember, even after Haley dropped out, she was getting 15, 20 percent of the vote in Republican primary. So there are a lot of Republicans, staunch Republicans who would go out and vote in a primary when there was no competition just to register their opposition to Donald Trump.

But I'm not sure. I have real questions as to whether, you know, hearing from Adam Kinzinger or some of the other people is going to is going to get those disaffected Republicans who aren't crazy about Donald Trump, but are conservative and are very concerned about how liberal Kamala Harris is.

She has not even begun to address that yet. You know, the position she took in 2019 on Medicare for All, on mandatory gun buybacks, on the Green New Deal. She's got to address those changes and persuade people she is not the liberal that she was widely seen in 2019 and that's, I think, still seen today by a lot of conservatives.

KEILAR: Chris Wallace, we thank you so much with some backup here from John Legend.

WALLACE: Yes, I like him as my backup band (INAUDIBLE) ...

KEILAR: Yes, right? Pretty good, I will say.

WALLACE: Yes.

KEILAR: Chris, thank you so much.

We have much more straight ahead from the DNC here in Chicago, including a conversation with the first Senate Democrat to question President Biden's reelection bid. So how he views the huge shift that we've seen with Harris topping the ticket.

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[15:21:37]

KEILAR: We're back with our special coverage of the Democratic National Convention. And here with me now is Democratic senator, Michael Bennet of Colorado, who was the first Democratic senator to publicly say that then-candidate Joe Biden would lose to Donald Trump. And now here we are.

I just wonder how you're feeling about things. And as the race has tightened, where you think things are headed?

SEN. MICHAEL BENNET (D-CO): I think we're in incredible shape. You know, it is amazing to see what the last month has done. Both the patriotic decision that that Joe Biden made that no other president has ever made and the way Kamala Harris has stepped up to lead the Democratic Party, the way the Democratic Party has coalesced around her leadership. And I think we have a real chance to win the presidency now to win the Senate and to win the House as well.

KEILAR: Last night, we heard from President Obama and we heard from former First Lady Michelle Obama, and she seemed to kind of be preparing Democrats for some bumps in the road ahead. I want to listen to something that she said.

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MICHELLE OBAMA, FORMER FIRST LADY: No matter how good we feel tonight or tomorrow or the next day, this is going to be an uphill battle. So, folks, we cannot be our own worst enemies. No. See, because the minute something goes wrong, the minute a lie takes hold, folks, we cannot start wringing our hands.

We cannot get a "Goldilocks Complex" about whether everything is just right.

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KEILAR: I mean, there's been some elation in this arena when it is full and things are obviously going very well right now for this ticket. But how concerned are you to her point there, that, you know, when things could come back down to Earth that that could be a problem?

BENNET: Things will come down to Earth. I think her admonition is really important one. We cannot be complacent. We've got 75- or 76 days left in this election. It is going to be a close election. These swing states are tough states for Democrats to win under any circumstances and Donald Trump is a formidable candidate.

But I think we are putting our best foot forward, now we have to go out there and do the work. We can't take anything for granted.

If we do, we'll lose and will deserve to lose. And the problem is not for Democrats. The problem, in my view, is for the United States of America. We are, Brianna, in a moment of a very significant moral question, I think, about the future of our country and where we want to head as the United States of America.

And I think the idea that we would answer that question by going back to Donald Trump is certainly unacceptable to me and everybody for whom it is unacceptable. And I think that's far more Americans than not needs to get out there and make sure the election result is one that we're proud of, not just for Democrats, in fact, not importantly for Democrats, for the United States of America.

KEILAR: I will let our viewers know that what you're hearing behind us is a sound check for John Legend, who will be performing tonight the musical stylings of none other than Prince, ahead - Minnesota's Prince, ahead of Minnesota governor Tim Walz's big speech.

[15:25:11]

So that's what you're hearing behind us right now.

I want to ask you if you think that this ticket is confronting the issue of the economy in a strong enough way that appeals to enough voters.

BENNET: Well, listen, this is the, in my view, the major issue that the American people are facing, Brianna. I mean, I graduated from high school when Ronald Reagan was president. And today, in America, the bottom 50 percent of Americans have less wealth than they did when Ronald Reagan was president. They control 2 percent of the nation's wealth. The top 10 percent of Americans control 75 percent of Americans' wealth.

So this is an important debate to have about inflation and whose policies are driving inflation, not driving inflation. The reality is that we are facing profound - a profound lack of economic mobility in our country. Donald Trump proposes to continue the trickle-down economics that got here, that gives benefits to the wealthiest people and imagines they're going to trickle down to everybody else.

Kamala Harris leading with things like the child tax credit, which Sherrod Brown and I wrote, are about giving 90 percent of the American children a tax benefit to build the economy from the bottom up. So there's a lot of talk in here about Donald Trump being a threat to our democracy, and he is in my view, but I think he's a symptom of our problems.

The real threat to our democracy is a lack of economic mobility. We didn't dig ourselves into this hole in the last four years. We dug ourselves in this hole in the last 40 years. It's going to take us, I think, time to dig us out, but we need to be focused on it and I think we can make a very persuasive case that what we're proposing is going to help a lot more families than what Donald Trump is proposing.

KEILAR: RFK Jr. is going to address the nation as he's weighing whether to drop out and endorse Trump. His running mate has suggested that he's open to that. Trump has sort of waived this idea of maybe some kind of appointment in a future Trump administration for him if he does drop out. What do you think the impact of that is on this race?

BENNET: I think he's, for some reason, he wants to be - play a spoiler role here. You know, last week I was reading that he was talking about what appointment maybe - would he get in a Kamala Harris administration. This week he's talking about endorsing Donald Trump.

The reality is the situation we're facing is so serious for the American people, for the kids that I used to work for, who are the students in the Denver Public Schools when I was their superintendent, that we can't let these bumps in the road distract us. That's exactly what Michelle Obama was talking about last night.

Kennedy will do what he will do. We have to keep our eye on the prize here and make sure that we win this election in November. By the way, it doesn't hurt that John Legend is here ...

KEILAR: Not bad.

BENNET: ... and I know this - for your viewers to know that I know that John Legend doing a sound check is a lot better than listening to me talk to you.

KEILAR: Hey, listen, we get the entertainment, we get the hard-hitting information from you.

BENNET: All at one time.

KEILAR: It's just a really lovely variety show.

BENNET: It's a good way to spend an afternoon. It's awesome.

KEILAR: Oh, thank you for joining us for this thing called life, Senator.

BENNET: Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.

KEILAR: We appreciate it.

BENNET: Thank you.

KEILAR: Still to come, Ukraine targeting Moscow and other parts of Russia with a huge wave of drone attacks like these ones that you're seeing here as Russia claiming more advances in Ukrainian territory.

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