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CNN International: Harris To Formally Accept Nomination On DNC's Final Night; Walz Rallies Democrats In Fiery, Emotional Acceptance Speech; Parents Of Hamas Hostage Plead For Ceasefire Deal. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired August 22, 2024 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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RAHEL SOLOMON, HOST, "CNN NEWSROOM": Good morning or good evening, depending on where you're watching. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York.
Ahead on CNN Newsroom, all eyes turn to the DNC tonight, that's where Kamala Harris will formally accept her party's nomination for the presidency. Coming up, we'll look at how she is preparing for her biggest political moment yet. And as negotiators continue to try and push for a ceasefire deal, the U.S. President calls the Israeli Prime Minister, stressing the need to get a deal done. We are live in Cairo and Tel Aviv with the very latest here. Plus, the search goes on for the last person still missing in the sunken yacht tragedy off Sicily.
Well, we begin this hour in Chicago. That's where, just hours from now, Vice President Kamala Harris will take that stage in Chicago to give the biggest speech of her political life. Harris will formally accept her party's nomination for President, something that seemed unimaginable just weeks ago, just months ago. Last night at the DNC, her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, was in the spotlight, and there was a very Minneapolis flavor to the evening.
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Musicians John Legend there and Sheila E. performing a tribute to prince. They were just two of the many celebrities who helped introduce Tim Walz, including this surprise guest, who couldn't help reminding everyone about childless cat ladies.
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OPRAH WINFREY, MEDIA MOGUL: When a house is on fire, we don't ask about the homeowner's race or religion. We don't wonder who their partner is or how they voted. No. We just try to do the best we can to save them, and if the place happens to belong to a childless cat lady, well, we try to get that cat out too.
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SOLOMON: And former football players from the high school where Walz once coach joined him, as he was formally nominated.
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GOVERNOR TIM WALZ (D-MN), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You might not know it, but I haven't given a lot of big speeches like this, but I have given a lot of pep talks. So, let me finish with this team. It's the fourth quarter. We're down a field goal, but we're on offense, and we've got the ball. We're driving down the field. We got 76 days. That's nothing. There will be time to sleep when you're dead. We're going to leave it on the field. And as the next President of the United States always says, when we fight --
(AUDIENCE CHANTING "WE WIN")
WALZ: When we fight --
(AUDIENCE CHANTING "WE WIN")
WALZ: When we fight --
(AUDIENCE CHANTING "WE WIN")
WALZ: Thank you. God bless.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOLOMON: And now Kamala Harris is making history as the first woman of color to be formally nominated by a major political party.
Let's bring in CNN Senior White House Reporter Kevin Liptak, who joins us now from the convention. So, Kevin, let's start with last night's big moments and Walz there accepting the Democratic VP nomination, and it was at times quite the emotional speech.
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah. And he is really kind of trying to act as an envoy from the Democratic Party to disillusion voters who may not just see a place for themselves within their ranks, people who view the party as one of coastal elites. His message is very much that, I'm a person who hunts. I'm a person that fishes. I was a coach. I talk in this Midwestern way. And if there is a place for me in this party, there can be a place for you as well. And he is trying to relay that message sort of through his own person. And that's why, in that speech last night, you didn't hear much about his record as governor or as a congressman. It was very much about his time as a social studies teacher, his time as a football coach, and certainly having those players on the stage beforehand tried to relay that message as well.
And when he talked in those football metaphors about the end of this election, that's a type of language and that's a way that's really going to appeal to a wide swath of Americans, particularly American men who may not have been watching the convention earlier this week and heard anything that related to them, and that, in the end, is what Democrats hope Tim Walz can do, is to try and bring in this swath of the electorate that has been essentially fleeing the Democratic Party, white, rural, working-class men, and try and bring them back into the fold and show them that look, I'm someone who looks like you and talks like you and does the things that you do, but I also have this progressive record, and I'm essentially just trying to be a good neighbor and a good American.
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And it was interesting how much he talked about his family last night, including what I thought was the emotional high point of the entire evening. Let's watch a little bit of that.
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WALZ: It took Gwen and I years, but we had access to fertility treatments, and when our daughter was born, we named her Hope. Hope, Gus, and Gwen, you are my entire world, and I love you.
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LIPTAK: So, you can see in that clip, his son, Gus Walz, standing up and he is mouthing. I don't know if you could see it, but he is mouthing. That's my dad, sort of a vision of filial pride that I think was so heartwarming, and I think really quite resonant on the TV screens, but also here in the arena.
SOLOMON: It is really fascinating, right, Kevin, is that moment off stage that really seems to have struck a lot of people, at least based on the conversations this morning.
Kevin, let's talk about Kamala Harris now. I mean, all roads, all the days, all the nights, all the speeches have led --
LIPTAK: Yeah.
SOLOMON: -- to this moment. What kind of speech can we expect to hear from her tonight?
LIPTAK: Yeah. It's all building up to this. There is no question. This is the most important moment of her entire political career. She has been working on this speech really from the moment that Joe Biden stepped aside as the Democratic nominee. Actually, she has probably been working on it before that, because she was going to deliver a speech at this convention, no matter what. Obviously, she will have had to tweak it somewhat. She has s been rehearsing with the teleprompter at her hotel. She has been practicing in other places over the last couple of weeks.
When you talk to her officials, there are a couple of themes, or three themes, I think, that she is going to strike, one is to try and introduce herself to the American people, which has been a theme throughout this convention. But, she'll rely on her background, as a working class background, as a prosecutor, and try and present that as a case for why she should be President. She will, of course, make the contrast with Donald Trump and try and present herself as a President for the future, as opposed to some of the darker themes that we have heard from the Republicans. And she will try and evoke this patriotic message that she'll be a President for all Americans. She does have a tightrope to walk somewhat. She wants to be the
changed candidate and the candidate for the future, but of course, she is also the sitting Vice President. So, she'll have to manage that somehow. This isn't going to be a policy speech. These convention speeches are not designed for that. So, we're not going to hear a laundry list of what she would do as President, but certainly thematically, she is going to talk about what kind of President she should be, really trying to turn the momentum that she came into this convention with into a movement that will propel her into November.
SOLOMON: A lot to watch. Kevin Liptak, thank you, reporting live there in Chicago.
Let's turn now to our panel and discuss this even further. Rachel Palermo is the former Deputy Communications Director and Associate Counsel to Vice President Kamala Harris, and Lanhee Chen served as the Policy Director for Mitt Romney's 2012 Presidential Campaign. He is currently a Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution. Good to see you both.
Rachel, let me start with you. As we just talked about there with Kevin, I mean, the whole week was a pretty big buildup to this moment. Viewership, I imagine, will continue to be high. The stakes could not be higher. What does she say to meet the moment?
RACHEL PALERMO, FMR. DEP. COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR TO VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: It's really important for her right now to tell her story to the American people. She often talks about how those first words when she ever stepped into a courtroom as an attorney was Kamala Harris for the people, and she is going to talk about her story and how her life has informed the way that she is fighting for people. And as a part of that, she is going to talk about her record as District Attorney of San Francisco and Attorney General of California, U.S. Senator and, of course, Vice President.
But, she is also going to talk about the way that she was raised. She was raised in a middle class household, raised by a single mom, and a lot of those experiences has informed why she wants fighting for the middle class to be such a defining part of her presidency.
SOLOMON: Lanhee, we heard Walz last night lean into his background to perhaps attract voters who may not identify as Democrats. He is from the Midwest. He is a former high school teacher, a former football coach. Take a listen to just one clip from his speech last night.
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WALZ: I grew up in Butte, Nebraska, a town of 400 people. I had 24 kids in my high school class, and none of them went to Yale.
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SOLOMON: So, Lanhee, sort of pushing back against that critique you hear about Dems, that it's a party for coastal elite, how much should Walz and what he brings to the table, how much of that worry Republicans?
LANHEE CHEN, FORMER MITT ROMNEY POLICY DIRECTOR: Well, look, I think first of all, the goal of a convention is always twofold, one is to ensure that your base is properly motivated, and certainly we've seen that this week, and the other is to tell the story of who the nominees are, in an effort to appeal to voters who are not part of the Democratic Party or who maybe would consider voting for Donald Trump this year but aren't sure what they want to do.
And I think last night, that effort to introduce Governor Walz in those ways, I thought they did that well. I think the challenge is really going to be, can you then ignore the record that Governor Walz has had as governor? There was not much discussion about that last night, as your reporter mentioned.
So, I think the big defining question in these next several weeks is going to be, to what degree is Walz put in the frame of a sort of Midwestern coach dad, all the things that I think would make him appealing, versus a governor who has had a quite progressive record, probably to the left of where most swing voters are. So, I think that's going to be the big battle, and we'll have to see how that gets defined over these next several weeks.
SOLOMON: Yeah. That's interesting. Rachel, Trump and Vance have been counterprogramming this week. They've been hitting the battleground states. They've been holding rallies. And this morning, Trump appeared on Fox and had this to say. Take a listen.
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DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (VIA TELEPHONE): I think they mentioned me 297 times. They mentioned the border once. They mentioned crime twice. They don't mention the economy because the economy is horrible.
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SOLOMON: So, Rachel, I wonder, I mean, does he have a point? I mean, should Harris sort of shy away from perhaps attacking Trump so much and focus perhaps on some of the issues that voters care about?
PALERMO: Well, I've been here at the convention this week. I have seen a lot of focus on substance. I've heard a lot about fighting for opportunity. That's economic opportunity. And I've also heard a lot about fighting for fundamental freedoms, like the right to make decisions about your own body. And so, the way that I see it, Donald Trump is trying to be a distraction here to point out the fact that he views his vision of this country as something that should move us forward. But, the reality is, Donald Trump wants to take us back. His campaign has been flailing, and the Democrats are here to fight for a future where everyone can have the opportunity to not only get by, but to get ahead.
SOLOMON: Lanhee, last question, independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. rumored to be dropping out of the race tomorrow. If he does, how much does that change the race? And if he endorses Trump, which is also rumored, how much does that help Trump, if at all?
CHEN: Yeah. I don't know that it impacts the race too much, because really the question is not so much what RFK does himself. I mean, I think RFK is quite fringy in many ways. It really is a question of what people who intended to support him do. And there, the issue is, were people supporting RFK because they didn't want to vote for Biden or Trump, in which case they have another alternative now. If they were supporting RFK because of his views on certain issues that align better with Donald Trump, and that would benefit Trump.
So, I think we have to see. It's going to be a state-by-state dynamic, but I don't think it's nearly as impactful now as it would have been several months ago, or if Joe Biden had remained in the race. So, I think it's a very different dynamic, very different outcome, and I'm just not sure how much of a difference it's going to make.
SOLOMON: Yeah. You have to wonder if in fact he does drop off, if that was part of the decision making, sort of the changed landscape now that Harris is actually at the top of the ticket.
OK. We'll leave it here. Rachel Palermo, thank you. Lanhee Chen, good to see you as well. Thank you.
And still ahead for us, the search continues in Italy for the last missing person after the sinking of a super yacht. Plus, Italian authorities confirm the recovery of one high-profile victim. Plus. U.S. President Joe Biden intensifying efforts to broker a Gaza ceasefire. Coming up, we will tell you about his call with the Israeli Prime Minister. We'll be right back.
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SOLOMON: A very emotional moment there at the Democratic National Convention. That's Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg-Polin, who took the stage to call for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal. For them, it is clearly excruciatingly personal. Their son is being held in Gaza by Hamas. Hersh Goldberg-Polin has been held captive for 320 days. He lost an arm when he was kidnapped from a music festival. Listen to the words of his father last night.
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JON POLIN, FATHER OF HOSTAGE: -- inflamed Middle East, we know the one thing that can most immediately release pressure and bring calm to the entire region, a deal that brings this diverse group of 109 hostages home and ends the suffering of the innocent civilians in Gaza.
(END VIDEO CLIP) SOLOMON: And ceasefire talks to end the war are at an impasse despite
intense U.S. diplomatic efforts. Negotiations are expected to resume this weekend in Cairo with high-level mediators, including CIA Director Bill Burns. The White House says that President Joe Biden quote "stressed the urgency" of a Gaza ceasefire in a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. But, so far, no words have been able to stop the war.
We do want to warn you that the video you're about to see is disturbing, people carrying these small body bags away from the scene of an Israeli strike in Beit Lahiya. The hospital director says that 12 people were killed in one house, including six children, two of them 16-month-old twins. Some of the bodies were burned in the intense fire triggered by the strike. CNN has reached out to Israel's military for comment.
Meanwhile, families of hostages still held by Hamas, they're also desperate for a ceasefire in the hopes that their loved ones can come home. Some families plan to boycott the Israeli government's upcoming memorial on October 7th, frustrated by the lack of progress in freeing the hostages.
We do have team coverage for you. We're joined now by Nada Bashir, who is in Cairo, and Jeremy Diamond, who is in Tel Aviv.
Nada, let me start with you. What does appear to be the latest on these ceasefire talks?
NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, Rahel, discussions have been ongoing since those high-level delegation talks that we saw last week in Doha in Qatar, focused on the technical issues at hand, as opposed to the current state of the ceasefire negotiation. We know that a broader framework was essentially agreed upon. We certainly heard that message from the U.S. earlier in the week, saying that the Israeli government had agreed to that broader framework, but crucially, it also agreed to these bridging proposals put forward by the Biden administration to try and narrow the gaps between Israel and Hamas, and those final sticking points, areas that we haven't been able to see either side come to any sort of agreement.
But, of course, there had been reports as well in Israeli media that the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, had agreed to the terms of withdrawing Israeli forces from specific areas of the Gaza Strip, namely the Philadelphi Corridor, that buffer zone separating Egypt from Gaza in the south of Gaza. That is something that the Hamas organization has been calling for. They want to see a full withdrawal of Israeli forces. But, following those reports, we've heard from the Israeli Prime Minister's Office, describing those reports as, in their words, incorrect. They have said that maintaining that presence on the Philadelphi Corridor is crucial to Israel's long-term security. Now, that is something that Hamas will not accept. They have said so in the past.
But, there are also other areas of focus as well, including the terms surrounding the release of Palestinian prisoners. That was another key stipulation in force (ph) for that ceasefire agreements we put into force. Now, Hamas has said it doesn't want to see Israel holding any sort of veto power over which Palestinian prisoners are, in fact, released if a deal is agreed upon. But, of course, Israel has pushed back on that. They do want that control over who is released. So, clearly, there are still significant gaps between either side.
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Hamas has said it would -- Hamas officials earlier in the week saying that the current state of the ceasefire proposal on the table does not stipulate the terms for a full and lasting ceasefire. That is something that they want to see in that agreement. But, of course, we've heard from Israel in the past, saying that while they may agree to a temporary truce, a temporary cessation in violence, this war will not come to an end until Hamas, as an organization, is fully eradicated.
But, of course, these are key issues that have been on the table for some time. Now, the U.S. and other mediators have been trying to bring both sides of negotiating tables together to agree on what has been described as these bridging proposals. But, at this stage, it doesn't feel as though we are any closer to a finishing line. We know that technical talks have been ongoing. As you mentioned, we are expecting to the CIA Director, Bill Burns, arriving in Cairo tomorrow. Those talks, according to sources, are expected to continue into the weekend.
We heard earlier in the week from U.S. President Joe Biden, following those talks in Doha, saying that Hamas, according to the U.S. assessment, appeared to be backing off from the deal. That notion has been rejected, denied by Hamas officials, who have said that mediators involved, namely Qatar and Egypt, know where Hamas stands, that they are still keen to see a deal, but that they have accused the Biden administration of conforming to Israel's demands. They've also accused Prime Minister Netanyahu of putting forward new conditions, new terms to try and stall the progress of these ceasefire negotiations and other new conditions that Hamas doesn't want to see.
In fact, what they have been clear about is that they want to see the agreement as it was proposed by President Joe Biden in late May. They say they agreed to that broader framework in early May. But, again, it is those final sticking points that the U.S., Qatar and Egypt, are really trying to hammer in over the course of these negotiations, and particularly over the course of the next few days, as we see high- level delegations engaging in these talks. We know as well that Qatari officials will also be traveling to Iran to speak with officials there, again, a huge concern to the potential for this to spread into a broader regional conflict.
The region has really been on a nice edge, waiting for Iran's possible response to the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas' political chief in July. They have, of course, accused Israel of carrying out that assassination, although Israel has either claimed or denied responsibility for that assassination.
But, again, there is a huge amount of pressure on getting some sort of agreement on the table as soon as possible. That has certainly been the message from the Biden administration. They want to see a conclusion to these talks and a lasting ceasefire agreement as soon as possible.
SOLOMON: Well, OK. Nada Bashir live for us in Cairo. Nada, thank you.
Let's get over to Jeremy now, who is live in Tel Aviv. Jeremy, talk to us a little bit more about what we know about this conversation between Biden and Netanyahu on the phone Wednesday.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, it was obviously a critical conversation coming at a precarious moment in these negotiations. We have watched over the course of the last week, particularly since last Friday, when the U.S., Qatar, Egypt put forward this bridging proposal that the U.S. has invested enormous political capital, enormous effort in the region to try and not only bring together a deal, but to try and ensure that the momentum of these negotiations very much continues.
And so, we saw earlier this week, the Secretary of State meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu, coming out of that meeting, saying that Israel had accepted the bridging proposal. But then, we also heard the Israeli Prime Minister, according to sources, making remarks privately behind the scenes, indicating that he wasn't sure if a deal could happen, suggesting that he wasn't going to give away Israel's strategic assets obtained during the war, and that there might be a major sticking point over Israel's demand that Israeli troops retain control of that critical Philadelphi Corridor between Gaza and Egypt.
And so, President Biden speaking on the phone with Netanyahu about all of those issues and trying to stress the urgency of getting to a ceasefire deal, expressing his hope, according to the White House, that there could be serious progress towards a deal at this next summit in Cairo. There is no question that this is kind of a do or die moment for these ceasefire negotiations, at least for some time, and that's certainly the way that the United States has been trying to frame these negotiations.
And we know that even as these negotiations are ongoing, every day that there isn't a ceasefire is another day that the hostages remain in captivity, another day that they risk dying in captivity, as we have seen the bodies of hostages recovered this week by the Israeli military from Gaza, brought back to Israel. And of course, it is another day where we see Palestinians dying in Gaza, including women and children. Over the course of the last 24 hours, there have been a series of Israeli strikes in northern, central and southern Gaza, killing dozens of Palestinians. The Israeli military, for its part, says that they killed about 50 Palestinian militants. But, one strike in particular, for example, that I want to draw your attention to, in northern Gaza, there was a strike that killed 12 people.
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Of those 12 people, six of them were children, according to local Palestinian officials, and also according to video that we saw from the scene of these bodies being removed from the scene and prepared for burial, six little bodies that will not see another day and that could have, had there been a ceasefire in place.
And so, it's clear -- the urgency of a ceasefire is clear right now. The question is, is the political will there on the Israeli side, on the Hamas side, to actually get to a deal, and how much does this bridging proposal that the U.S. has put forward actually narrow the gaps, and will Hamas sign onto it at the negotiations this weekend? Rahel.
SOLOMON: Yeah. Clearly, still those big questions that linger. Jeremy Diamond live for us there. Jeremy, thank you.
The Italian government says that the body of British tech tycoon Mike Lynch has been recovered from a sunken yacht off the coast of Sicily. Six people were initially reported missing, including Lynch and Morgan Stanley Executive Jonathan Bloomer. Officials say that Lynch's daughter is still missing. The yacht went down on Monday after being hit by a tornado off Sicily.
Joining us now from Sicily is CNN's Barbie Latza Nadeau. So, Barbie, now a fifth body recovered a short time ago. I mean, what can you share with us about that, and what's the focus for divers today, because one person is still missing?
BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN REPORTER: This morning, earlier, just before nine o'clock, we saw the -- these divers bring back this fifth body. They had located where it was in that sunken vessel last night, but it was too dark and too dangerous. So, they brought it in early this morning. But, since that time, we've seen the divers come back and forth three times now without having retrieved this 18-year-old daughter of Mike Lynch. And they're searching under very extreme circumstances there because they're underwater. This giant yacht is filled with sort of electric cables and debris inside the yacht. So, they've got to navigate that to try to figure out where this young girl is, presumably in one of the sleeping suites inside the yacht.
As they go back and forth, though, we've just seen different types of divers going back and forth. Whether they're trying to bring in extra different types of specialists, is a bit unclear. Before, there were cave divers, people who were expert in underwater rescue. Now, we've seen a kind of -- it what looks like a different contingent of divers going out. So, the authorities have been very quiet about the operation, let's say, until they retrieve this last body. But, we expect and hope for the sake of the family and those other survivors that they can retrieve this 18-year-old girl soon.
SOLOMON: Absolutely. And Barbie, what more are they saying, if anything, about just sort of what happens next in terms of what happened here?
NADEAU: Yeah. I mean, this is the focus of a criminal investigation. Now, this is fairly common within the Italian system, especially when there is a foreign ship or a foreign accident, a foreign entity involved. This was a British-flagged ship. So, this gives them more access to the information and allows them to more easily interview all the people. One of the people, obviously they're spending a lot of time interviewing, is the captain. We understand that he is a 15-year- old -- 51-year-old man from New Zealand. We understand he was interrogated for several hours yesterday, unclear if he has been interrogated again.
But, we did hear from the ship maker, who said that this was a quote, unquote, "unsinkable vessel", which then begs the question, if it was unsinkable, was it in fact human error, some decision made by the captain or those on board the ship when this quite extraordinary tornado hit the ship? There were other large vessels and yachts in the area that didn't go down. So, everyone is wondering why this one did. Rahel.
SOLOMON: OK. Barbie Nadeau live for us there. Barbie, thank you.
And in Canada, freight railroads have shut down, setting up a potentially devastating blow to the North American economy. Management at two of the country's major companies in freight railroad have closed their operations, locking out 9,000 workers. Both companies operate cross-border services to and from the U.S. Industries like agriculture, autos, energy and home building are likely to be disrupted. Canada's Labor Minister has met with management, negotiators and the union, but could not get them to reach a deal in the labor dispute.
Well, still to come, as Kamala Harris prepares for tonight's historic address, we will take a look back at Democratic Convention speeches from the past eight decades. Plus, American voters are watching. A former Obama speechwriter will join the show with his thoughts on what Harris will likely focus on for tonight's speech.
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WALZ: Look, we got 76 days. That's nothing. There will be time to sleep when you're dead. We're going to leave it on the field. That's how we'll keep moving forward. That's how we'll turn the page on Donald Trump.
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SOLOMON: Welcome back. You're watching CNN Newsroom. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York.
So, everything we have seen in Chicago this week has been leading up to tonight. Tonight's keynote address, all of the speeches, all of the music and the surprise guests, building momentum to the historic moment when Vice President Kamala Harris will formally accept the Democratic Party's nomination for President, the first woman of color to do so.
Here now is a look back at memorable moments from the past eight decades of Democratic National Conventions. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT, 32ND U.S. PRESIDENT, & 1944 DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: What is the job before us in 1944? First, to win the war, to win it fast, to win it overwhelmingly.
JOHN F. KENNEDY, 35TH U.S. PRESIDENT, & 1960 DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: The New Frontier of which I speak is not a set of promises. It is a set of challenges. It sums up not what I intend to offer to the American people, but what I intend to asking them. The New Frontier is here, whether we seek it or not.
JIMMY CARTER, 39TH U.S. PRESIDENT, & 1976 DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Our country has lived through a time of torment. It's now a time for healing. We want to have faith again. We want to be proud again. We just want the truth again.
JOHN KERRY, 2004 DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I'm John Kerry, and I'm reporting for duty.
BARACK OBAMA, 2008 DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I stand before you tonight because all across America, something is stirring. What the naysayers don't understand is that this election has never been about me. It's about you.
HILLARY CLINTON, 2016 DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Tonight, we've reached a milestone in our nation's march toward a more perfect union, the first time that a major party has nominated a woman for President. Standing here as my mother's daughter and my daughter's mother, I'm so happy this day has come.
BILL CLINTON, 42ND U.S. PRESIDENT, & 1992 DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I end tonight where it all began for me. I still believe in a place called hope. God bless you and God bless America.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOLOMON: All right. Joining us now from Chicago is Terry Szuplat. He is a former Obama Speechwriter. He is also the author of the upcoming book "Say It Well." Terry, congratulations on the book. I want to actually start there something David Axelrod said about the book that I think applies to tonight. He said, your words show -- your book shows how your words can change your community, your nation and even the world.
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That is literally what's at stake for Harris tonight. So, how did she pull this off?
TERRY SZUPLAT, AUTHOR OF UPCOMING BOOK, "SAY IT WELL", & FORMER OBAMA SPEECHWRITER: Right. That's what we all have to do as speakers, whether we're speaking to a convention or speaking to our family or a town hall. Obviously, she is going to speak to her policies. She is going to explain why she believes her policies are most effective in solving the challenges for working families across America. She'll contrast her policies and her character with Donald Trump.
But, I believe the most important thing she can do tonight, the single most important thing she can do, is tell her story, introduce herself to the American people. Speakers have been doing that all week. And voters just don't vote for policies alone. They vote for a person. And we're still learning. A lot of Americans are still learning about her. So, how she grew up? She has incredible life story. The more she can share that, I think she can really position herself for a great 70 something days to go.
SOLOMON: Perhaps in a way that we saw last night with Tim Walz in his speech.
SZUPLAT: That's right. No. I've -- I thought -- I would hope that every candidate for public office, every elected official in this country, this is my appeal. I'm begging you. Please take a few moments. 16 minutes. That's all it takes. Watch his speech, whether you're a Republican or a Democrat. That's how you not only talk to voters, that's how you connect with voters. He was authentic. He spoke from his heart. He shared his own story. He didn't use all this poll- tested political word salad that we so often hear from politics, and look at the response it's getting.
So, the answer isn't to simply sit back and admire him as a speaker. It's to emulate him. And I think if Kamala Harris can, in her own way, every speaker is different, if in her own way, she can tell her story and share her story about what motivates her, she'll do a version of that tonight and be very effective.
SOLOMON: And Terry, to that point. I mean, we heard Tim Walz use a lot of football references, and I'm wondering if there is a greater strategic purpose in doing that. Is it just sort of speaking the language you're comfortable with, or is there a greater strategy there?
SZUPLAT: Well, there is -- again, that's -- he is being authentic to who he is. That's part of his life experience. It's part of how he sees the world. It's part of how he has motivated teams in the past. And he was trying to motivate the Americans and the Democrats last night. So, very natural. Again, very natural for him to do that. But, I think there is actually a larger purpose there too. Everything in this country, it seems, has been infected by partisan politics, including sports. And so, for him to use sports, not as a divisive wedge to drive people apart, but a sports metaphor to bring people together, I think are going to be very effective.
SOLOMON: I'm curious how much of a good speech is not just the words you use, but the more nonverbal parts of speaking. What do you think?
SZUPLAT: Sure. Well, it's both. I -- there is that old saying, it's not what you say, it's how you say it. Well, of course, what you say matters. You can't have a terrible speech, but have a great body language and still expect people to be interested in what you have to say. You have to have both. You have to have a great message and you have to deliver it well. That's what we saw last night, right? It was -- the content of his speech was powerful, the way he wrapped
so many of his policies and Democratic policies around the value of freedom, but also his delivery. It was sincere. It was authentic. He didn't over orate. I think one of the mistakes that a lot of leaders make is, they all want to sound like Lincoln and Kennedy and FDR and they reach for the heavens when they really should just be down to earth. And that's what we saw last night. And that's -- we should talk to voters. We should talk to each other when we present the way we would talk to them if we were sitting having a cup of coffee with them. And I think that's why one of the reasons he was so effective last night.
SOLOMON: What about the length of his speech? I'm thinking about just sort of -- it was quick, right? And you think about Clinton, and when he sort of went on for 45 minutes and he said it was painful --
SZUPLAT: Right.
SOLOMON: -- to even be there. I mean, how about that, just sort of timing of the speech?
SZUPLAT: Right. This is one of the great lessons in public speaking, of any sort of communication, right? You don't have to say a lot. You don't have to speak a lot to say a lot. You can say a lot in a very short period of time. It only took him about 16 minutes last night. 16 minutes is also about how long it took Barack Obama to deliver his 2004 convention speech that propelled him to national spotlight. So, again, another great reminder that you don't have to speak for an hour to have an impact. In fact, sometimes the more you speak, the less impact you have.
SOLOMON: And then, one thing I've always been really fascinated about is nature versus nurture. Do you think having worked with -- I mean, you've worked with Obama. I mean, do you think that there is a nature component to it, or do you think that anyone can learn to be and to deliver an excellent speech?
SZUPLAT: I do not believe anyone is born a great speaker. I have this phrase often. That person is a naturally gifted speaker. I don't believe it. I don't buy it. And actually, you mentioned the book. One of the things I talk about in the book is how, as a young man, even Barack Obama froze up giving a speech once, and I talk about that and share that story.
[11:40:00]
He worked to get better. We can all work to get better. It's a skill. Public speaking is a skill, and the more you do it, the better you get. Anyone can become a better speaker, again, whether you're speaking in your community or to a national convention like this.
SOLOMON: And then lastly before I let you go, when you think about some of the best speeches you have heard, what are the hallmarks beyond what we've already talked about tonight, authenticity, brevity, any sort of hallmarks that just really give a speech that extra magic? SZUPLAT: Yeah. I think storytelling. Great leaders, great communicators, are great storytellers. And that actually scares a lot of people, because they think, well, I don't know any stories. But, we actually do. The most powerful story we can share is our own story, when we share experiences from our own lives. So, a lot of great speakers, first thing you should do is think about what you believe, who you are, what you're trying to achieve, what you can share from your own experience.
Again, just to bring it back to what we heard last night, that's exactly what Tim Walz did. He shared stories from his own life, and look at how it's resonated with people. We can connect with that. A lot of people here I've been talking to were surprised to hear that Kamala Harris worked at a McDonald's as a young person. That's a great little anecdote, a great little story, because millions of Americans have worked at McDonald's or had some. Millions of Americans eat there. It's a great little anecdote that really humanizes people and reminds us what we have in common. So, great speakers are great storytellers.
SOLOMON: Yeah. It sort of said -- to your point, it sort of says a lot without saying a lot. Terry Szuplat, this was so interesting and I think --
SZUPLAT: Sure.
SOLOMON: -- really practical for a lot of people, yours truly included. Thank you so much. Good to have you, and congratulations on the book.
SZUPLAT: Thanks so much.
SOLOMON: All right. Well, Chicago's United Center is hosting history tonight, as Kamala Harris accepts her party's nomination for President. A presidential historian will join us to help put the moment in perspective. But first, a little more history of DNC flashback. This is former U.S. President Bill Clinton, who spoke at last night's convention, something he has done more than a dozen times. And in 1992, it was his moment in the Sun, as he became the Democratic presidential nominee.
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B. CLINTON: Jobs, education, healthcare, these are not just commitments from my lips. They are the work of my life. I end tonight where it all began for me. I still believe in a place called hope. God bless you and God bless America.
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B. CLINTON: I wonder if those kids had been willing to trade drugs for money. Maybe they would have said no to drugs and yes to life if Mike Dukakis had been President the last eight years.
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Don't you ever forget it, Michael Dukakis will never, never, never forget it, in closing.
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SOLOMON: No. That was then-Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton in 1998 during one of his earliest speeches to a DNC crowd, one that he might want to do over. You may have noticed the crowd cheering when he said in closing. He had gone on much longer than he was supposed to. Well, fast forward to this year's DNC. That's where former President Clinton delivered his 13th speech to a convention audience, a speech he reportedly tore up and started over on Monday, wanting to strike a happier, more joyful tone after hearing the speakers on the convention's opening night.
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B. CLINTON: I'll be so happy when she actually enters the White House as President, because she will break my record as the President who spent the most time at McDonald's.
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SOLOMON: Clinton referring there to Vice President Kamala Harris' time working at McDonald's when she was in college. The former President mostly kept things light, but he did include some jabs aimed at Donald Trump.
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B. CLINTON: Now, let's cut to this chase. I am too old to kill the lily. Two days ago, I turned 78, the oldest man in my family before a generation, and the only personal vanity I want to assert is I'm still younger than Donald Trump.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOLOMON: All right. Tonight, history will be made when Kamala Harris closes out the convention by formally accepting the Democratic presidential nomination.
We are lucky to have with us now CNN Presidential Historian Tim Naftali, the former Director of the Nixon Presidential Library. Good to see you. Let's start with -- likewise. We haven't heard yet these extended remarks from Harris. Obviously, we had that impromptu appearance earlier this week. But, how do you think this DNC will be remembered? We have had a week's worth of events. How do you think this DNC will be remembered in history?
TIM NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Well, this DNC will be remembered for its upbeat tone. This DNC will be remembered as the site of a unified party, despite the lack of a nominating or primary process. After all, almost everything we've seen this summer in this presidential race has been unprecedented. So, this convention will be remembered for the fact that despite the way in which the first expected nominee, President Biden, stepped aside, and despite the fact that the second nominee was the real nominee now, Kamala Harris, was the product of a unifying moment.
The convention for all these historical, unprecedented elements, looked like a regular, successful, unified convention. But, we can't even think about legacy without listening to what the Vice President has to say tonight, and of course, to seeing what happens in November. That's really what's going to determine the legacy of this convention.
SOLOMON: Yeah. No. That's a fair point. Let's actually talk about it since you sort of touched on some of what makes this this election year so historic, the passing of the torch by Biden, the circumstances surrounding that decision. You even think about, and it's not just the Dems, it's also the Republican side. I mean, you think about Donald Trump becoming the first former U.S. President to be convicted of felonies. I mean, when you think about this year, how does this moment compared to previous election years? Because when you're in it, it all feels pretty historic. But, when you think about this moment compared to previous election years, how do you process this?
NAFTALI: Well, let me tell you part of my job, I mean, my professional training is to try to pull together a sense of where we've been and where we are. And when people think it's historic, they're right. It's not -- there are moments when events hit you, one after the other, and you begin to wonder, I mean, is it me, or is it the moment? And it's the moment. These events are unprecedented. And so, that's why it's very difficult, without humility, to write this history, a history that won't be written until it's all over.
[11:50:00]
But, what I -- what we can see for certain is a striving, let's talk about the Democrats for the moment, a striving among the Democrats to make clear to the American people, they're unified, despite the fact that the person speaking on Thursday isn't Joe Biden, it's Kamala Harris, and the person backing up the person speaking today isn't Kamala Harris. It's Governor Tim Walz. So, the Democrats, I think, have done a remarkable job at smoothing out, how should we put it, the rough edges of history that we've seen this summer.
SOLOMON: Yeah. You have to think about too just in terms of the convention, how much likely had to be changed or reorganized or -- since the last month alone. When you're thinking about past conventions, Tim, and the ones that go on to become cultural moments, both at the time and those that then live on in history that we continue to talk about, what seemed to be the common denominators of conventions that seem to break through?
NAFTALI: One, it's because the candidate wins. You don't remember the slogans of the candidates who don't win. So, that's the first part. The second is that the campaign gets shaped by this convention. Let's not forget that, with the exception of this year and 1968, there was a nominating process, and during that process, the winner, the eventual winner, defined his or her message to the party and won the party over. The convention was their time to speak to the nation. It was really the first time they'd spoken to the nation as the leader of the party. Kamala Harris is the leader of the Democratic Party right now. So, the speech she gives will not only define her, for many Americans who know she is famous but don't really know her at all, it also defines the campaign that follows.
We've already heard elements of the themes, change, hope, freedom. She is going to tie them all together as previous candidates have done in one speech, and that'll be the basis for what goes forward. She and Governor Walz will be repeating these themes over and over again for the next 70 odd days. So, it's really important tonight to see how she frames it all. We've had hints. We've never seen the framing, and that's what the speech is about tonight. And the successful ones, they're the ones who etch words like the New Deal and the New Frontier and the fair deal, putting people first. Yes, we can. They will etch that on our history. But, the etching occurs only if the American people agree in November.
SOLOMON: Fascinating point. So, despite everything we have seen these last few weeks, despite everything we have seen this current week, it still comes down to tonight in terms of how this night, how this year, how this moment will ultimately be remembered by historians like yourself.
Tim Naftali, good to see you. Thank you.
NAFTALI: Thank you, Rahel.
SOLOMON: All right. And one more thing before we go, the final day of the DNC will have some high-profile performances, including pop star Pink. We'll tell you who else is slated to appear, when we come back.
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SOLOMON: And before we go, one more thing, the Democrats hope that the final day of the Democratic National Convention will be a showstopper.
[11:55:00]
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SOLOMON: Pop Star Pink has been chosen for a closing night performance. She will go on stage before Vice President Kamala Harris takes the stage as the official presidential nominee. And Pink isn't the only musical performance of the day.
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Country band, The Chicks, will sing the national anthem later tonight. The group formerly known as the Dixie Chicks, previously performed at the 2020 DNC, although that performance was virtual due to the pandemic.
And tune in for our live coverage of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago starting at 06:00 p.m. Chicago time, 07:00 p.m. Eastern Time, right here on CNN. Well, we know your time is money. So, thank you for spending some time
with me today. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York. Stick with CNN. One World is coming up next.
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