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Don Lemon Tonight
VP Joe Biden Criticizes Trump's Preparedness to be President; Donald Trump Blasted for Calling on Russia to Hack Clinton's E-mails; Comparing Messages at the Conventions. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired July 28, 2016 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:01:09] DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Fired up, ready to go. Who says that?
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: You now.
BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It was actually started by Edith Childs of Greenwood, South Carolina.
LEMON: I was there when that happens.
SELLERS: We let you know.
LEMON: I actually got this hair cut in South Carolina. It did not look like this ...
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: I did not.
MCENANY: I like your haircut.
LEMON: That was back then. President Barack Obama rousing the Democratic faithful for Hillary Clinton. Tonight, this is a special CNN Tonight. I'm Don Lemon. We're so happy that you could join us. We're live at the CNN Grill at the Democratic Convention.
The joint is rocking. The joint is jumping. Who did that? Tonight with the big speeches from Joe Biden, Michael Bloomberg, and on and on, but nobody knows how to rally the troops like the campaigner in chief.
Say what you want. Last night I said about former President Bill Clinton. Love him or hate him, the man knows how to give a speech, so does President Barack Obama delivering a fervent endorsement of Hillary Clinton and hugging the candidate with her husband applauding in the crowd.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: You guys knew she was going to come out, right? Did everybody know she was going to come out? SELLERS: No.
LEMON: You didn't know?
ANGELA RYE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No.
LEMON: Angela, where have you been?
RYE: I came back over here ...
LEMON: ... 2008, 2012. Did you know that she was going to come out?
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: The president of United States supports Mark Preston (inaudible) these people.
RYE: That was epic.
LEMON: Mark Preston is here, Kayleigh McEnany is here, Peter Beinart is here, Angela Rye and some other guy.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: Sorry. Here is what I do like when I'm doing something like if I'm in the back of a taxi or do so something bad in public, I go "Van Jones everybody."
MCENANY: Oh, no.
(CROSSTALK)
MCENANY: I'm telling. I'm going to text him right now.
LEMON: Don't tell that. My producer actually says he's another producer at CNN, J. Shaler.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: So Jonathan Wald would say, J. Shaler, everyone. All right, I want to get your reaction seriously though. This was a moment for America, I think. Your reaction to this. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: OK. So, the first black president of the United States, the first woman who can possibly be president. They were rivals. He made her his secretary of state. But this was a moment for, I think, America looking forward about where the country -- not where the country is going, it's where the country is.
MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Well, she certainly -- in a primary, she embraced Barack Obama with both arms and pulled him very, very close. She realized that she was going to have to run on his record anyway.
What we saw tonight from Barack Obama is Barack Obama made a defense of his record, tried to explain the situation that he came into to try to build it up. And quite frankly, then pivot and say that we needed Hillary Clinton to continue on, to continue on with the good policies that he think that he's brought to the country. I think he was effective in passing the baton to her.
LEMON: Yeah, I was remised. I should have asked you this, Angela. Because as a woman and as a person of color ...
RYE: Yes.
LEMON: ... how did this resonate with you? By the way, we'll talk about that and as we discuss this, this is on the cover of Wall Street Journal tomorrow and cover of the New York Times tomorrow. So, how did this feel to you as a woman and a person of color?
RYE: Well, I have to say that this moment actually meant a whole lot more to me than in 2008. I never really identified with Hillary Clinton running as a woman then.
[02:05:00] It's meant a whole lot more to me now because it was important to me to see that a black person could become president. And I said for a long time it's like it's never going to happen, this country is never going to do it, and when it did it was -- when it started to look like it was possible, I was like "Oh, my god, we can do this."
And now I'm starting to feel same thing like, oh my god, this is really going to happen. Seeing these women cry during the Michelle Obama's speech. Seeing them cry today when the president was finishing up and then watching that embrace, which was so genuine, Hillary Clinton needed that moment. It was everything. I loved it.
LEMON: I meant to say the end of an era. But it is in a way because ...
RYE: It is.
LEMON: ... this is President Obama's farewell speech, and then the beginning of an era of, I think, women being even more empowered in politics whether Hillary Clinton wins or not.
RYE: Yeah.
SELLERS: There's so many people -- I mean, my father was a national field director for (inaudible). I think about my dad, I think about John Lewis, I think about Fannie Lou Hamer, I think about Shirley Chisholm, there's so many people who literally they don't have to read about what it feels like to be on jail house floor. They don't have to read about the smell of gun smoke. They don't have to read about what it feels like to have fire hoses at their back. They live that. And they could not imagine Barack Obama being the president of the United States. But for them to see that and see this, I think those heroes and sheroes, it's that important for them. Tonight, seeing those two together, I think that our generation -- I mean, no offense to the three of you guys, but our generation sometimes takes for granted. People think I'm younger than you. Don't even try it.
RYE: Today by Don.
LEMON: He does magic.
SELLERS: But I just think for our generation, oftentimes on both sides to aisle, whether or not it's Marco Rubio or Joni Ernst, whether or not it's Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, people take for granted the strides we make. And people think that the facts that Hillary Clinton is the first female nominee of a major party in over 200 years, somehow it's just, "walla", like we didn't have to struggle for it, we didn't know what it is. But Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are the epitome of what it means to have protests and then to have progress. That is powerful.
LEMON: OK. But speaking honestly, I'm joking, but -- so we have millennial on this side and then -- you're not a millennial, right?
PRESTON: I am not a millennial.
SELLERS: I'm not a millennial.
PRESTON: I color my hair.
(CROSSTALK)
PRESTON: I want the gray.
LEMON: I think I'm the oldest on this one. I was born in 1966. And so I remember when there were segregated schools. I just passed a generation where there were segregated schools. But as matter or fact, my high school was segregated just a couple years before I went to my high school. So when you have a sort of different perspective on things that the world hasn't always been this way, when you look at this moment, this is not just a Democratic moment.
RYE: Right.
LEMON: This is an American moment. This is an iconic moment. The only thing that would have been different on that stage if you had someone who was, you know, a black transgender, whatever, when you do like, wow, you know, your heads will pop up. But this is one of those moments that is bigger than a Democratic moment, it's an American moment.
PETER BEINART, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Sure. And one of the, I think, really important in a way Hillary Clinton ran this time versus the way she way she ran in 2008, was she embraced that historic element.
RYE: Yeah.
BEINART: In 2008 she was kind of afraid of being associated too much with her gender but I think she has embraced that now and it's becoming important because it's hard for her to be the change candidate, right? She's a political insider, she's a de facto incumbent. This allows her to be a change candidate.
I think the one thing that we have to remember, and I don't want to be a downer here, is that you look at American history. History didn't always march forward. We at their period, we had -- and slavery, we had reconstruction and then we had redemption. We had over 100 years of return of white supremacy to the south. We had the Civil Rights Movement and then we had the southern strategy ...
RYE: Yes, he does.
BEINART: And Ronald Reagan. That's where I grew up, in the backlash against that. So, what we have seen is remarkable but let's not kid ourselves. There's going to be -- just like we had a ferocious backlash against Barack Obama on Reagan. We are in the midst and we're going to see a ferocious backlash on gender to Hillary Clinton.
LEMON: Go ahead.
MCENANY: Have you think -- Look, people watch speeches through different lens. And we have to be careful about that. We all on the stage have very nice jobs. So it's easy to watch their speech through t he lens of history.
LEMON: I don't mean just the speech. Hold on, I want you to understand the question, not just the speech, not exactly what they said but the symbolism of the moment of a country that has the racial history that America has.
MCENANY: Sure.
LEMON: The history of misogyny that America has to see the first black president who is a man who has been called a Kenyan and a Muslim -- by the way, if he's a Muslim, who cares, that'd be great because that's American as well. And then a woman who has been demonized for being a woman regardless of what you think about her to have those two embracing on stage in front of a world audience, one of them who is leaving the White House soon and one who may be entering the White House. Not the speech, not the idealogy of it but what it means for America. That is the question.
MCENANY: Sure. And we've been celebrating the history for eight years. We will continue celebrating this history. It's an amazing thing that we have had our first black president. No one will ever take that away from President Barack Obama.
[02:10:07] But there are a lot of men -- black men -- who 58 percent more on food stamps, 20 percent more in -- you know, don't have jobs. So there is a big problem for a lot of people who watch this moment. We can take in the history but it doesn't change the reality.
SELLERS: But I need to comment on that, because one thing that Kayleigh is missing right now -- and it's purely perspective and I get that. So, this is not knocking you by any stretch, but I always tell people that you cannot tell a kid to go and be a black doctor -- a black kid to go and be a black doctor if never seen a black doctor. You can't tell a kid who's growing up, wherever they may be growing up, a black kid to go and be a lawyer if they have never seen a black lawyer.
LEMON: A conservative lawyer or a liberal lawyer.
(CROSSTALK)
SELLERS: So now when you look at a young African-American kid that's growing up in Chicago, Oakland, Denmark, South Carolina, wherever they may be, they realize now that they can be president of the United States. And I think sometimes, people -- when you had 43 straight white men to be the president of the United States, people missed that.
But even more importantly, now I can go and tell Kai (ph) who's hopefully asleep right now, who's 11 years old -- I pray that she's sleep but she's not watching CNN, we know that. She, too, can be president of the United States. So, that -- taking the politics away from him. I mean, if this is one of the Bush daughters, so be it. Same thing, like that means a lot.
PRESTON: You know, to that point as well. I mean, let us take politics out of this. I know it is very difficult. But last night when Hillary Clinton came on and the glass ceiling shattered and she talked straight to camera and then it panned out. You saw her surrounded by little girls saying, you know, I may be president but, you know, one of you will be -- or something along those lines.
I got to tell you, as a father, I teared up. And it didn't matter that she was a Democrat or Republican -- it could've been Republican. But to me, remember what we're talking about though. Let's bring politics into this now. It's all a message. There was a message being said last night by how well they produced that. But for me personally, having an 11-year-old girl who better be asleep right now, I think myself, that means a lot to me, again.
LEMON: There's always politics and then we'll bring politics back in and then Kayleigh will make her point (inaudible) the break. No, because there's always politics.
SELLERS: There's always politics.
LEMON: Right. There are a lot of people hurting in the country, not all of them agree with that moment on the stage this morning -- I mean, last night. And not all of them agree with the Barack Obama and the Hillary Clinton. We'll discuss that.
Everybody stay with me. We're live from the CNN Grill where Bakari has been drinking a lot of beer by the way.
RYE: Oh, no.
LEMON: I just want to say ...
SELLERS: You're not going to address me.
LEMON: Not coming -- he does.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:16:32] LEMON: Kayleigh, we're going to get your drink in a minute. Hang on.
MCENANY: All the family ...
LEMON: Live from the CNN Grill in Philadelphia at the Democratic National Convention where Kayleigh McEnany keeps ordering drinks.
MCENANY: That's not true. That's a lie.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: Back now with Kayleigh, Bakari, Angela, Peter, and Mark. OK. So, let's talk -- can we go over to some of those speeches? Mark brings up a very good point he did in the break. He's like the only person we haven't really talked that much about that much is?
PRESTON: Hillary Clinton.
LEMON: And this is her convention.
PRESTON: Right. I mean, this is her convention. This is her night. I mean, it's interesting because it's s an embarrassment of riches for her because she has a lot of good speakers out there speaking on her behalf and they've done a very effective job of delivering a message about her, but their effectiveness has put our focus on them. Michelle Obama, as we're talking about. You know, Bill Clinton who was a little bit slow last night but then came on strong at the end.
LEMON: I don't think you understood his purpose, Mr. Political.
PRESTON: No, no. I ...
(CROSSTALK)
PRESTON: Listen, I will say this.
LEMON: This is a whole big thing ...
(CROSSTALK)
PRESTON: Tomorrow night, there are high expectations going into tomorrow night. They'll never match this except for this.
LEMON: Yeah.
PRESTON: 5:06 tomorrow, p.m. in the Eastern Time. That guy will be on the stage at the Democratic National Convention.
(CROSSTALK)
SELLERS: I know, I know.
LEMON: What you're going to say?
(CROSSTALK)
SELLERS: ... going to make every word count. I mean, I only have like four minutes. So, I don't know ...
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: I mean, talking how I made you a story.
RYE: Wait. Four minutes might have been longer than Martin O'Malley ...
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: Are you feeling the pressure?
SELLERS: No, I'm not ...
MCENANY: Can you give us a little taste?
SELLERS: No, I'm not doing that either. I am speaking to more people tomorrow night than from my hometown. So there are a lot of people who are the reason that I'm here, like the proverb it takes a village to raise a child. And I just want to -- I literally believe that my job is to make people proud ...
RYE: Are you going to say that?
LEMON: Run it through a plagiarism ...
(CROSSTALK)
SELLERS: ... the same words.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: All right. Listen, I got to get to this. Speaking of the president talking about Trump being a demagogue, let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What makes us American, what makes us patriots is what's in here. That's what matters. And that's why we can take the food and music and holidays and styles of other countries and blend it into something uniquely ours.
That's why we can attract strivers and entrepreneurs from around the globe to build new factories and create new industries here. That's why our military can look the way it does. Every shade of humanity forged in the common service. That's why anyone who threatens our values whether fascist or communist or jihadist or home-grown demagogues will always fail in the end. That is America. That is America. Those bonds of affection. That common creed. (END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: That wasn't even a veil swipe was it at Donald Trump?
MCENANY: No. And certainly when you pair it with a number of times he called out Donald Trump out by name, we were told going into this there's a lot of speculation that he wouldn't mention Donald Trump by name, much like the First Lady didn't mention him by name.
[02:20:04] And I thought that would have been a more effective way to go about it because he's the first sitting president to really call out another nominee by name ...
LEMON: That's not true at all.
MCENANY: ...attack him. So vigorously we talked about the how the Reagan speech writers had portion to this sound it like Reagan although one person that didn't was the number of times he attacked viciously Donald Trump.
SELLERS: No, no, that's also not true at all. I mean, I do -- I can't say I remember, but I have.
RYE: Correct (ph).
SELLERS: I actually have read about Ronald Reagan coming to the defense of George H. W. Bush many times and attacking George H. W. Bush opponent by name many times. So this is not, this is not rare. And yes it is different to see Barack Obama punch him down because that what it is. But you also have to stand how -- understand how personal this is for Barack Obama.
Donald Trump, he's not only is his legacy on, on line but Donald Trump has insulted him as a human being. He's question who he is. He's question his birth. He's question is ethnicity and today Donald Trump even said that he's the most ignorant person in the world.
(CROSSTALK)
PRESTON: As we talk about messaging, just very quickly. I'll pass the baton. Talk about messaging Bakari Sellers there, Barack Obama punching down.
SELLERS: Right, right
BEINART: Remember also when -- let's not forget that Donald ...
SELLERS: There's a fact.
BEINART: Let's not thought forget who Donald Trump suggested in Barack Obama will be got into law school because of informative action.
RYE: And he wanted to see he's Harvard transcript so I just think it is deeply personal but I also think that it's so important for us not to use -- I don't think it's OK to use the word attack when someone is literally being judged on their records and the words that are coming out of their mouth.
Now, I think that's very different than saying "lock her up" or someone is inherently criminal or something else when that's not all the way substantiated by fact just first perception.
LEMON: Yeah. I want to play the President talking about Hillary Clinton and mistakes. Hillary Clinton mistakes, can we play that one, please?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Hillary got her share of critics. She has been caricatured by the right, and by some on the left. She has been accused of everything you can imagine and some things that you cannot. But she knows that's what happens when you're under a microscope for 40 years. She knows that sometimes during those 40 years she's made mistakes, just like I have, just like we all do. That's what happens when we try.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PRESTON: I don't make mistakes.
LEMON: Was he the only one who could tackle that issue?
PRESTON: Listen, I think again from a messaging standpoint he is trying to make her likeable to folks and that's what he was trying to do. He's like listen I made mistakes but you were behind me.
LEMON: We all know what he was probably talking. He's talking about the e-mail thing.
PRESTON: Right, well of course absolutely.
LEMON: What were you thinking?
BEINART: I was thinking about the Iraq War but oh...
SELLERS: It could have been a plethora of things.
LEMON: Let's not talk start running down ...
(CROSSTALK)
PRESTON: Get it back on track.
RYE: And Kayleigh is like let me break out my.
BEINART: There's something broader as well. He was actually defending the idea of democracy. Remember, Donald Trump said only I can solve these problems. And then he said very quickly I will solve, I will get rid of crime very quickly. Barack Obama was trying to say that's not the way our system works. Remember one of his signature line was, we do not look to be ruled, right? He's point was ...
LEMON: Oh that was a ...
MCENANY: Yeah.
BEINART: ... that was a warning about the danger of a thought would be authoritarian who say put power all power in me and just trust me and I will solve it. And he would say yeah. Hillary Clinton's way may be slower there maybe flaws, it may not always be perfect but this is the way we, as country progress. Don't fall prey to the siren song of authoritarian.
LEMON: You know what that made me think off, and maybe think of 2012 when President Bill Clinton said not even I could have done that. It was a very similar moment about it, "I make mistakes or would have you" but Kayleigh, go ahead.
MCENANY: Yeah, I mean I think that we've better remember that as hope and change was sold eight years ago. People bought into it hook line and thinker. There was a woman running out of an Obama rally saying, I'm not going to have pay for gas anymore. The expectations where here ...
LEMON: But where is the gas prices now though?
MCENANY: And when we have economic record were more Americans are in poverty, more Americans on food stamps. So you can round down a bit, I know Bakari like says that the stock market and jobs about not taking into account. Real unemployment but the reality of Americans is they are hurting, hope and change did not work and selling the idea of four more years of this. It will finely work.
LEMON: OK
MCENANY: It falls on a lot of deaf ears.
LEMON: I guess I got to get some break but we're going to talk about this.
RYE: This happens to me every time.
LEMON: No not every time because people like on, why do you cut Kayleigh off and I may because I got to get to break and something.
MCENANY: You don't cut me off, Don.
LEMON: Oh, OK I know is that people at home see what they want to see. So listen, we're going to talk about all these things and also Michael Bloomberg one of the strongest critics.
SELLERS: That even the best piece.
LEMON: For last night...
MCENANY: Probably good
[02:24:53] LEMON: ... of Donald Trump and we're going to fact check what he said. We'll be right back. Don't go anywhere.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: Back live now at the CNN Grill in Philadelphia. The Democratic National Convention. This is my favorite part of the show. Not that you guys are bad. The reality check on what some of the things that we heard tonight. So I want to bring in the affable and always correct, always factually correct Mr. Tom Foreman.
FOREMAN: Always factually correct.
LEMON: Yes
FOREMAN: That'll be news to my wife. She's (inaudible) sometimes. You know who was an interesting voice tonight?
LEMON: Yes
FOREMAN: Michael Bloomberg was interesting voice because he came into the room. I told a whole bunch of Democrats I don't always agree with your nominee, but I think that Donald Trump is a Con Man. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, (I) FORMER NEW YORK MAYOR: He says he wants to put Americans back to work but he gains the U.S. visa system so we can hire a temporary foreign workers at low wages.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOREMAN: Wow, there's a big claim here in tough claims. Let's look at the facts here though. When you look at the question of jobs Trump -- CNN did an investigation into Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort down in Florida from 2013 to fall off 2015. It had 250 jobs available. Americans got four of them, 246 went to H-2B visas. These are visas to bring in foreign workers to do the jobs.
To do this you must prove to the government that you could not get American workers to do that work and Trump said he couldn't get American workers to do it. And his company did prove it but only to a bear minimum in our investigation, basically what they found is that, yeah, he advertise at the newspapers but only little newspapers had a very little circulation only for two days that bear a minimum.
[02:30:05] So it was enough that he wasn't breaking the law but if you look at that you have to say that basically the claim that he did try to bring people and then sort gain the system. Yeah, that's true. That's how they got this people hired.
But then look (ph) at the second part where basically Bloomberg was saying that the purpose of this was to pay them lower wages. And if you look at what he was paying according to our investigation, our housekeepers, this is a kind of job were talking about. We give them about $10 an hour, waiters about $11 an hour, cooks about $13 an hour and that is equal to or above the average in the area.
So, if Donald Trump was trying to game the system, it wasn't for lower wages. It doesn't look like it because he's paying as much or more than anybody else there. So wrap says a second part of what he said was false. You can find out a whole lot more as I say every night, Don, go to our website cnn.com/reality check. We look at many, many different things out there. Take the time to read it. You will find some things you don't like. You will find some things you do but hopefully you'll find of some of the truths about all of the things this people say.
LEMON: Hey, Tom Foreman. The facts, just the facts, where is that from?
FOREMAN: That's from Dragnet. The monsters? I don't know. Of something.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: It was the Adams family, who knows.
FOREMAN: Oh the Adams family, yeah.
LEMON: Oh my gosh. Thank you Tom Foreman, I appreciate it. And back now to the millennials, and the kids here on the panel. I don't know all these. Do you remember "The Brady Bunch"?
SELLERS: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
MCENANY: That -- Yeah, of course.
(CROSSTALK)
MCENANY: Marsha, Marsha, Marsha.
SELLER: And they make it like by -- what is that? Snickers commercial.
LEMON: Was that ...
RYE: That's not ...
LEMON: Like Dragnet. Oh, this is Dragnet.
RYE: But you just said Brady Bunch. I say it, Don.
LEMON: Anyway ...
RYE: But the bear down.
LEMON: So everyone calls him Uncle Joe, right?
PRESTON: Right, right.
LEMON: He spoke tonight. Peter, this is for you. Look at this -- with his favorite word, by the way.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, UNITED STATES VICE PRESIDENT: Just listen to me a second without booing or cheering. I mean this sincerely, we should really think about this. His cynicism is unbounded. His lack of empathy and compassion can be summed up in a phrase I suspect he's most proud of having make famous, "You're fired". I mean, really, I'm not joking. Think about that. Think about that.
Think about everything you learned as a child, no matter where you were raised. How can there be pleasure in saying, "You're fired"? He's trying to tell us he cares about the middle class. Give me a break. That's a bunch of malarkey.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Peter, "You're fired", "malarkey", you know, all in one description about Donald Trump. This is what everyone likes about Joe Biden, correct?
BEINART: Right. You know, the Democrats are the "Denver Broncos" right? Denver. Denver Broncos went in fairly a week question with quarterback Peyton Manning. How do they win the Super Bowl? They had a bunch of defenders who destroyed the other team's quarterback.
LEMON: They deflated the footballs outgoing?
BEINART: OK. You know, I've (inaudible) to listen that side. But -- that the point is the Democrats know that Hillary Clinton cannot -- is not going win this on her own, right? She is a questionable political talent even though I, you know, I support her. But what they are -- what they have done is they are sending Devon Miller relentless pressure tonight against Donald Trump to knock him out to say, you know what, Hillary Clinton may not be the changed candidate but this is unacceptable change and Donald Trump -- I mean, Joe Biden was a big part of that effort.
LEMON: All right, Mark more of Vice President Joe Biden. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: We never bow, w never bend, we never break when confronted with crisis. No, we endure, we overcome and we always, always, always move forward.
That's why -- that's why I can say with absolute conviction. I am more optimistic about our chances today then when I was elected as a 29-year-old kid to the Senate. The 21st century is going to be the American century. Because -- because we lead not only by the example of our power but by the power of our example. That is the history of the journey of America.
And God willing -- God willing Hillary Clinton will write the next chapter in that journey. We are America. Second to none. And we own the finish line. Don't forget it.
God bless you all and may God protect our troops. Come on. We're America. Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP) LEMON: So, Mark I said this to you but -- I mean, as we were going through this, Bakari was like, this is the "ish", was the "ish". Why do you think it was the ...
[02:35:06] SELLERS: No, no, no -- I mean, listen. Last Wednesday night, all my days are running together. We were talking about the fact that Ted Cruz came and steal the show and gave his speech. Then Thursday night, we had this, you know, Americas, basically the apocalypse, people running in your house taking your T.V.s and murdering everybody in your family.
But tonight, what you saw was the amazing part, the amazing attribute of Joe Biden, like we own the finish line. That is who we are. That is American exceptionalism. That is American greatness. That was ...
PRESTON: Let me just (inaudible) a little bit here. The angry white male. Joe Biden right there looks like he was the angry white male. Who was he angry at? He was angry at Donald Trump and those people who think that the United States has gone into the gutter.
And if you saw that -- I mean, how you could not walk away from that thinking that -- and who is he trying to reach? He's trying to reach the angry white male.
LEMON: White male here ...
SELLERS: And I'm always angry.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: Aren't ever happy, and he will be speaking tomorrow night. No, he won't.
SELLERS: That's 508.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: That will be the angry black male. But go ahead.
RYE: That speech was a BFD to use a Joe Biden term and I just think that he consistently demonstrates one relate ability. You talked about him ...
LEMON: I got to go. No, I'm kidding.
RYE: Are you kidding?
(CROSSTALK)
RYE: But I think the interesting thing is he's not just speaking to the angry male. I mean, we know that he can do that probably better than even Tim Kaine but he also spoke to a lot of people who were just like, I just needed someone to come out there and stay that in this way and just hit malarkey and make it feel like it's just the biggest cuss word. And so it's just everything
LEMON: We'll be right back everyone. I just cut Kayleigh off. We'll be right back.
MCENANY: My part is (inaudible).
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:40:10] LEMON: But now live at the CNN Grill here in Philadelphia on a big night for Hillary Clinton. Donald Trump making a few headlines himself tonight, though, this moment not may -- might not be the kind of headline that he had in mind. Today's New York Daily News blasting Trump's apparent call for Russia to hack Hillary Clinton. CNN's Elise Labott has more.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEON PANETTA, FMR. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE AND CIA DIRECTOR: As someone who was responsible for protecting our nation from cyber attacks, it is inconceivable to me that any presidential candidate would be that irresponsible.
ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Former CIA Director Leon Panetta changed his plan convention speech to send the alarm bells over a challenge by Donald Trump to the Russian hackers to go after Hillary Clinton.
PANETTA: Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 e-mails that are missing.
LABOTT: Trump laughing off claims Russia hacked DNC computers to help him win the White House.
PANETTA: It is so far fetched. It's so ridiculous. Honestly, I wish I had that power.
LABOTT: But intelligence officials have little doubt Russian Military Intelligence was behind the hack even if they won't say it publicly.
BRACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The Russians hack our systems -- not just government systems but private systems. But, you know, what the motives were in terms of the leaks, all that, I can't say directly. What I do know is that Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed admiration for Vladimir Putin.
DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDINOMINEEDATE: I said that Putin has much better leadership qualities than Obama but who doesn't know that.
LABOTT: Trump added away allegations that business ties were at play.
TRUMP: I built an unbelievable company, but if you look there you will see there's nothing in Russia.
LABOTT: He's only connection he said a Russian billionaire who bought his Palm Beach Mansion netting Trump a huge profit. He denied any dealings with the Vladimir Putin but the Russian leader has praised Trump as brilliant and talented to CNN. VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT: But there's one thing that I paid attention to and that I definitely welcome is that Mr. Trump said that he's ready to restore full fledged Russian-American relations.
LABOTT: The U.S. is already tracking Putin's support for Russia friendly parties in elections across Europe.
BIDEN: We do know that this is a modus operandi of Russia.
LABOTT: Whether Russia is manipulating, the U.S. election is an open question, but even members of Trump's own party are warning the Kremlin to butt out. A spokesman for House Speaker Paul Ryan calling Russia a quote, "Global menace led by a devious thug."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LABOTT: Even his own running mate, Indiana Governor Mike Pence, contradicted Trump warning its serious consequences if Russia is interfering in the election.
Tonight, the Clinton campaign says Trump's comments the first time a major presidential candidate has encouraged a foreign power to spy on his opponent. Go beyond politics and are now a serious issue of national security. Further evidence state say Trump is unfit to lead, Don?
LEMON: Elise Labott, thank you very much. My political dream team is here to talk about this. What are -- you know, it's hard to talk about political implications device. The political implications are different for Donald Trump because he's kind of Teflon. Are there political implications ...
PRESTON: So, a couple of things, you know, right after the speech I called several Republicans to find out how they took it. And I got a couple of different reactions. One was, I can't believe he just did that. He's going to take down the Republican Party.
You know, were suppose to be the party of robust foreign policy in defense and he's tearing it down. Second reaction I got was, woah, that was really smart because he has now taken the whole spotlight away from you guys in Philadelphia and has brought it upon himself. I think that is now gone because of what we've seen today but, you know, Donald Trump to him, all attention is good attention.
LEMON: OK. I want to listen now to -- this is Leon Panetta the -- more of Leon Panetta, Former CIA Director talking about this issue by his speech tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PANETTA: Donald Trump, who wants to be president of the United States, is asking one of our adversaries to engage in hacking or intelligence efforts against the United States of America to affect an election.
As someone who was responsible for protecting our nation from cyberattacks, it is inconceivable to me that any presidential candidate would be that irresponsible. I say this out of a firm concern for the future of my children and my grandchildren, Donald Trump cannot become our commander-in-chief.
[02:45:14] LEMON: Bakari, is Panetta is right?
SELLERS: I think Panetta is right. I mean, I think what Donald Trump did today was treasonous. I think what Donald Trump did today was irresponsible. I think what he did today was below the office of President of the United States. But even more importantly, I think we have to get back to a certain thing which I think journalist have kind of veered off the path of asking as they bet Donald Trump of where are your taxes.
I mean, I made a joke early today and I kind of took it back which was, if the Russians are hacking, if they're asking in for help, why don't they, you know, hack and figure out where Donald Trump's taxes are, right? But I think even more importantly, there's a connection that can be made. And I think it's very sinister, I think it's below where we are today and I think Donald Trump has as a lot of explaining to do because his connection with Vladimir Putin is more than just a home in Florida that someone bought.
RYE: So, I just think we need to draw a contrast between what Donald Trump's bet at his press conference and then with Paul Ryan and Governor Pence then I have those segments here. Paul Ryan says, Russia is a global menace lead by a serious thug, who he should stay out this election. Mike Pence, again, his running mate says, if it's Russia and they are interfering in our elections, I can assure you both parties and the United States government will ensure there are serious consequences. There is a tremendous a lot -- amount of like between those three positions and two of them are aligned with ...
LEMON: Kayleigh, I want you to respond to this so, because he said he has had nothing to do with Russia or Putin. However, all day, people have been tweeting or re-tweeting from Donald Trump's Twitter account in the past.
One of them says, do you think Putin -- this from Donald Trump -- would you think Putin will go to the Ms. Universe Pageant November in Moscow? If so, we will become -- he will become a new best friend. Will he become my new best friend? That was from June of 2013.
And then another one says, attention all hackers, you are hacking everything else, so please hack Obama's college records, destroyed question mark and check a place of birth. This was in '14. The third one is, Obamacare is a disaster and Snowden is a spy who should be executed but if it -- but if it end, he could reveal Obama's record. I might become a major fan.
And then there was one from October 2013, that was from October 2013. Does he have a bit of obsession you think with Russia and with hacking?
MCENANY: No, none of that prove that anything he said about not having a relationship with Putin or the Russians is false. And I have to go back to what Bakari said because calling my candidate treasonist is a very serious charge. When you look in the MediaLab set (ph) in liberals, particularly, take one sentence and harp on that.
They ignore the fact that Donald Trump gave a press conference. Hillary Clinton hasn't given one (inaudible) in 35 days. They find one sentence and they harp on it.
The broader context of this speech is Donald Trump said repeatedly the Russians already have the e-mails. The Russians already have the e- mails. He made one statement saying, Russians, I hope you get the e- mails and turn them over, but the broader context is he think to the Russians have the e-mails. The Russians who can't ...
SELLERS: That's treasonous.
MCENANY: ... engage in -- no, no, no, turn them over to the FBI.
(CROSSTALK)
MCENANY: Bakari, I think we all agree that if the Russians have their hands on ...
SELLERS: That is ...
MCENANY: ... secretary e-mail.
(CROSSTALK)
SELLERS: But Kayleigh, he looked in the camera. He literally looked in the camera. We're not making up words. I'm not saying that, oh my god, he were to up that piece and somehow I'm gleaning something from it. He looked in the camera.
MCENANY: You did that too ...
SELLERS: But ...
MCENANY: ... just 30 seconds ago.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: Angela, let them finish.
SELLERS: No, he looked in the camera and said please. He said, Russians, please get Hillary Clinton's e-mails. I mean, that in itself, Hillary Clinton was the top diplomat in the United States. That's ...
MCENANY: Well, personally you can't get the e-mails as you deleted them. And, by the way, obstructed justice. But you just looked in the camera and said the same thing in a joking way.
(CROSSTALK)
RYE: Obstruction to the charge that cheating kept still that is also wrong but when did he say turn them over to the FBI in the press conference today?
MCENANY: He said they already have the e-mails and they should turn them over.
RYE: To?
MCENANY: We can hack (ph) on one statement but the very question is why yourcandidate ...
(CROSSTALK)
BEINART: I disagree that it's treasonous. I wouldn't (inaudible). But I guess the question is -- I mean, Kayleigh what I don't really understand is you can support Donald Trump, that's fine, but why do you have to defend him on every single point?
MCENANY: I don't. I -- it's defending ...
BEINART: Even Mike Pence is not defending him, his own running mate. And why is that -- I don't think this is treasonous. What I think is that Donald Trump pops his mouth off about in a way that the presidential and presidential candidate should not.
It's the same thing ...
(CROSSTALK)
BEINART: I don't know whether we're going to defend the Baltic States and not depends on whether they pay us (ph). This is (inaudible) business. This has tremendous real world consequences. And this guy simply doesn't seem like ...
MCENANY: Donald Trump is a real person. Donald Trump speaks.
LEMON: But he's running for a president ...
MCENANY: Your candidate is a mannequin candidate.
(CROSSTALK)
MCENANY: No, I'm answering your question because the average person when we speak, we make mistakes, we say things that we ...
(CROSSTALK)
[02:50:05] LEMON: Kayleigh, but the average person is not running for president of United States ...
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: All right, we'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Back in Philadelphia with my political dream team. So, let's -- I want to get some final thoughts from you. So, watching the convention, can we compare and contrast when you're looking at, you know, we had Donald Trump's big speech, then we had the President's big speech tonight. And then we're going to have Hillary Clinton, which is a lot to live up too tomorrow night. Can you compare the two?
SELLERS: No. I mean, I think last week, that the Republicans stepped on their message the first three days. Donald Trump gave a different message. It was the message he wanted to give to the country, but it was one of despair. And I think what you've been seeing these days, after the Debbie Wasserman Schultz incident is totally different.
But we talked about a lot of speeches tonight and I know I need to be brief but the best speech of the tonight, I think, was Gabby Giffords. I think Gabby Giffords came up. She talked about the tragedy. I cry from where I was sitting. I mean, when she was able to sit there and say that the only two words you want to hear was madam president.
LEMON: Yeah.
SELLERS: I just -- I love Gabby.
LEMON: Mark?
PRESTON: Yeah. Look, last week, Donald Trump had to paint a bleak picture in order to try to rally, support for his candidacy. I thought it was at very bleak. It was so dark.
[02:55:03] I think -- I think what you have here is we're really -- as we said at the top of the show, he's trying to recharge hope. And that Barack Obama tried to recharge hope for -- and hands it off to Hillary Clinton.
LEMON: Peter, real quick.
BEINART: The difference here in Cleveland is that Democrats are happy. I mean, except for few kind of people -- they're happy with things that are happening in the country. The mood in the Republican -- among Republican delegates was extremely dark. These people are happy with where Americans is.
MCENANY: The Republicans stated the reality. They spoke to Americans who are suffering. And here, you're hearing a false reality. And I don't think this bright, cherry (ph) picture comports with the reality many Americans feel.
LEMON: Angela.
RYE: The thing that I love is the diversity on the Democratic stage. The fact that different is appreciated. Value -- the fact that Spanish chants were happening is something that you would have never seen last week and I value diversity. I think it is what makes America great to use your candidate.
LEMON: All right. So, the interesting thing to me was the comparison of experience and -- is there a real comparison of experience? When you're looking at -- because much as Barack Obama was hope and change, for conservatives, Donald Trump is hope and change, but there's really no comparing the resumes of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
MCENANY: Well, you judge people by successes. I don't judge people by job titles. And I think when you compare the failures that have come out with this ...
LEMON: Well, that's what I'm doing. That's what I mean, the successes of both ...
MCENANY: Yeah, success -- I mean, job titles don't make someone qualified. I think that's one of the big issue ...
PRESTON: But be careful to - but be careful, Barack Obama, you know, didn't have a very long resume when he became the president.
LEMON: That's what I mean.
MCENANY: Yes
LEMON: Exactly. Yeah. Thank you.
PRESTON: Thank you for making my ...
LEMON: I'm trying -- I appreciate it. That's it for us tonight. I'm going to see you right back here at the CNN Grill tomorrow, 1:00 a.m., 1:00 a.m.
"EARLY START" with John Berman and Christine Romans right here in Philadelphia starts in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
