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CNN This Morning
"We Love Joe": President Biden Delivers DNC Address; Hillary Clinton Touts The Progress of Women In Politics; Former Rep. George Santos Pleads Guilty To Federal Charges. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired August 20, 2024 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:41]
KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: It's Tuesday, August 20th.
Right now on CNN THIS MORNING.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(CROWD CHANTING "THANK YOU JOE")
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: A warm welcome for Joe Biden on the first night of the DNC as he passes the torch to Kamala Harris and warns of the danger of Donald Trump.
Plus, this --
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HUNT: It wasn't all cheers and phrase. Outside the DNC, pro- Palestinian protesters breaching the perimeter, leading to a number of arrests.
And later --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm not a showman. I don't believe I am a showman.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Not a showman.
Why Donald Trump, the former reality TV star, trying to rebuff a claim that he is a provocateur and a showman.
(MUSIC)
HUNT: It's 4:00 a.m. here inside the United Center in Chicago. It is 5:00 a.m. on the East Coast. This is a live look at the convention hall where I don't even know it
was that many hours ago that there were people on that stage. They cleanup -- underway as we prepare for day two.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.
Night one of the Democratic National Convention was a night for President Joe Biden, but he did get some help from the new top of the ticket.
(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)
HUNT: His vice president and the now Democratic nominee, Kamala Harris, setting the tone with that surprise onstage appearance, cheering on and thanking the man who elevated her as his running mate four years ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I want to kick us off by celebrating our incredible president, Joe Biden, who will be speaking later tonight.
Joe, thank you for your historic leadership, for your lifetime of service to our nation and for all you will continue to do, we are forever grateful to you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: That surprise appearance let off a parade of speakers who praised President Biden for his leadership and time as president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHAWN FAIN, PRESIDENT, UNITED AUTO WORKERS: And I want to say thank you to Joe Biden for making history by walking the picket line with the UAW!
REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ, MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, NEW YORK: And thank you, Joe Biden, for your leadership.
SEN. RAPHAEL WARNOCK (D-GA): President Biden, America is so much better because of you, a true patriot who has always put the people first.
SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE): Thank you, Joe, and God bless you. We love you. We love Joe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: President Biden's family, of course, playing a critical role. His daughter introduced him for an emotional ending to the night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ASHLEY BIDEN, DAUGHTER OF PRESIDENT BIDEN & FIRST LADY JILL BIDEN: Your 46th president of the United States, Joe Biden.
(CHEERING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: It would be another four minutes from his introduction before President Biden was able to start speaking. The crowd cheering, and chanting for the man who stepped aside just four weeks ago.
During his 48-minute speech, he highlighted his time in office, went after Donald Trump and ended by quoting the song, "American Anthem".
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Let me know in my heart when my days are through, America, America, I gave my best to you."
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: All right. Joining us now to talk about all of this, Jackie Kucinich, Washington bureau chief for "The Boston Globe", Leah Wright Rigueur, CNN political historian, Shermichael Singleton, Republican strategist, and Meghan Hays, former director of messaging at the Biden White House, who has worked also working on this week's Democratic National Convention.
Welcome to all of you.
I don't know how many of you are just off the party circuit arriving here. I certainly I can see swap when we were on our way in here.
[05:05:02]
But, Meghan Hays, let me start with you. This was a very emotional night. You could see President Biden wiping away tears after his daughter Ashley introduced him there, and clearly, this message of thanks was so important for so many Democrats to send to him.
They were also thanking him for this decision that he made to step aside.
MEGHAN HAYS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah. I mean, I don't think its by accident that the people who spoke yesterday beforehand or people who've been loyal to him, who have been having his back through this entire process when in 2020 and now.
So, it's -- you know, it wasn't emotional night for everyone. It's extremely moving, also watching Ashley who's, you know, mostly stayed out of the spotlight for the most part, that was incredibly moving and incredibly special, but also at the very end when the vice president and her and the second gentleman came up, that was also an incredibly emotional moment. I think she said, I love you and mean it to him when they before they embrace.
So, the night was special. I thought it was a really incredible night. He laid out what they did, and what he hopes for the vice president. So, you know, I think there's a great night for the president.
HUNT: Yeah. Shermichael, there was some talk of Donald Trump throughout the evening. Obviously, President Biden focused on it as well, although I think in the end, by the time that there was a cap on the evening, it did seem mostly to be framed in the positive.
But what did you make of the balance that Democrats struck between attacking their Republican opponent and celebrating Joe Biden?
SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, I think President Biden spoke with many of his points when he was an actual candidate, the head of the ticket. I want to say this though. I thought it was really insulting that the president spoke at the very last minute when people on the east coast were mostly asleep.
I was texting with four individuals from a previous focus group. I did several months ago, all Democrats, but went on to Pennsylvania and she said something interesting to me, Kasie. She said, what if we lose this election? And another lady reply to the group texts and she said, well, two of my neighbors who are moderate Republicans, who were voting, who voted for Biden before, were preparing to vote for him again, are now on the fence that they may actually vote for Trump.
And so I think there's an interesting dilemma here for Democrats. I thought the presidents speech was great politics aside. I kind of felt bad because I thought to myself as a younger person at some point, I'm going to get older and I cant imagine spending half of my life working for something and then people sent up, Shermichael, you're too old buddy, you got to go and that's sort of what I saw and felt for the president just as a person taken off the partisan hat. And so I think him for his multiple decades of service.
And I do hope that people look at the moment and say, you know what? Yeah, we have differences. But this man literally gave everything to this country despite where we may differ.
HUNT: I do appreciate some good anecdata. It's always great to the text messages from people on the ground. I will say though that the Trump campaign I think is grateful to be -- or upset to be running against Kamala Harris as opposed to Joe Biden.
SINGLETON: Yeah, it makes it difficult. I don't disagree it makes it difficult, but I think, Kasie, if the president can somehow and this is difficult, but if he can somehow moderate himself and become a more disciplined person, I know --
(CROSSTALK)
HUNT: Shermichael, the evergreen clip.
SINGLETON: I know we've been saying this for years and years, but I do think that there is still potential, at least on two fronts, the economy and immigration that could change this dynamic in a couple of weeks.
HUNT: Sure.
Jackie Kucinich, I -- Chuck Schumer I know who I know you've covered for many years in Washington was asked by a reporter on the floor what his message was to president Trumps. So in this vein, I don't -- I don't really want to characterize it. Let's just watch it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: What's your message to former President Trump tonight?
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): You can't always get what you want.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Classic.
HUNT: But if you tried some times --
KUCINICH: Yeah, right. Well, I mean, so I think back to the Republican convention and just how -- how much there was, a lot of spiking the football. There was just absolute certitude of their position in the race and, you know, where it was going, which was the White House again and having Harris at the top of the ticket has shaken that up.
We've seen it in polls. We've seen it in state polls. We've heard it from voters on the ground. And gumming in -- before for this shift happened, there was a lot of trepidation among Democrats -- I spoke to about -- about if that speech was given on the last night of the convention.
That's not what happened. And I think what you saw from Chuck Schumer is that elation that the dynamics have changed at this minute, Shermichael is right, there's a lot of time left to go.
HUNT: Yeah, there is.
Leah Wright Rigueur, can you just big picture here? I mean, as you look at what unfolded last night, I mean, the reality is we haven't seen anything like this since LBJ stepped aside. He didn't even go to the convention that year. He did very little to try to help his number two campaigns in the subsequent election.
[05:10:03]
This is obviously a very different moment, but it's something that we have not seen in decades. What's your perspective on what we saw play out last night?
LEAH WRIGHT RIGUEUR, CNN POLITICAL HISTORIAN: What we saw play out last night was history. And I actually think it was really important in part of the centerpiecing of Joe Biden at the end of the night, despite all of our East Coast friends, it was great for our West Coast friends. But despite all our East Coast friends, it's the idea that this was a
lead-up to passing the baton. This was a lead-up to passing the torch, that surprise appearance by Kamala coming up, Kamala Harris coming out later, coming out at the end of Biden speech, this idea that they are working together, that they are a team, but that this is also highlighting everything that Joe Biden has done and given to this party.
There is a reason that it wasn't just Joe Biden who got emotional. I'm pretty sure that we saw Tim Walz crying in the audience as he was watching as he was watching this play out, we saw people kind of wistfulness from the audience that was trying to -- the original delegates who had cast all of these votes for Joe Biden, who almost immediately turn their attention to Harris, but did so with the knowledge that they had put Biden there and that they had been ready to support him despite the debacle of the age thing.
The other thing that I think is important here, too, is that where somebody like Hubert Humphrey, who becomes the nominee in 1968, has the baggage of the LBJ's administration in Vietnam and is really under the weight of that. There are people fighting on the convention floor and fighting outside of the convention when this happens. That's not happening here.
What we're seeing instead is the transition from Joe Biden from president to Joe Biden, the historical figure who gave everything for his party, who did the thing that was necessary to do when the country asked him to do it. And that is his legacy.
And we could see it on his face, too, I think at the end of the night, there's still a degree of anger over what happened, but he went out on his terms and now he has cemented his place in history.
HUNT: I don't know if I agree with you that he went out on his terms, but the historical --
(LAUGHTER)
WRIGHT RIGUEUR: Within framework of being pushed out.
HUNT: All right. Panel is going to go stick with us.
Up next here on CNN THIS MORNING: Republicans have a stark warning for their nominee Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): The showman may not win this election.
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HUNT: Trump's response to Lindsey Graham coming up and why he says he's not a showman.
Plus, how long disgraced Congressman George Santos will serve in prison after pleading guilty to fraud charges. We're going to have that in our morning round-up.
And Hillary Clinton, echoing her sentiments from eight years ago this time around, but hoping that Kamala Harris can actually shatter that grass ceiling -- with glass ceiling that she cracked.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: On the other side have that glass ceiling is Kamala Harris raising her hand and taking the oath of office as our 47th president of the United States!
(APPLAUSE)
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[05:17:30]
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H. CLINTON: Nearly 66 million Americans voted for a future where there are no ceilings on our dreams.
(CHEERING)
H. CLINTON: Millions marched. Many ran for office. We kept our eyes on the future. Well, my friends, the future is here.
(CHEERING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Hillary Clinton, the first woman to win a major party nomination, highlighting the potentially historic nature of a Kamala Harris presidency.
Clinton drew comparisons between her own story and Harris's. Having lost to Donald Trump just eight years ago, Clinton also seemed to relish discussing Trump's recent legal trouble.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
H. CLINTON: Donald Trump fell asleep at his own trial.
(LAUGHS)
H. CLINTON: And when he woke up, he made his own kind of history, the first person to run for president with 34 felony convictions.
(CHANTING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Those "lock him up" chants a shift since Clinton ran against Trump during the 2016 election. Of course, Trump rallies would often break out into "lock her up" chants aimed at Clinton.
Meghan Hays, the look on her face -- let's put that back up if we can for a second.
HAYS: Yeah. I think it's incredible. I mean, she gets that -- she didn't deserve that in 2016 to have those chance at her and she was running. And I think that it's incredible that be able to have this moment and she gets to stand up there and talk about, you know, I worked for her in 2008, 18 million cracks then and then again in 2016, just an incredible moment for her.
She had an amazing speech to the crowd, was really into it lots of chants and I think that, you know, it's really incredible that she gets to do this and for Kamala Harris.
HUNT: I will say though -- see, look, that's -- that's the thing, right? She's listening to them chant "lock him up".
Jackie, this is Kamala Harris and Tim Walz have made a point to push back against these chants --
KUCINICH: Yes.
HUNT: -- when they have broken out at Harris-Walz events, saying like this is about the future. I -- it's almost -- how uncomfortable is it to watch do you think?
KUCINICH: They've been -- they have been trying to strike a different tone with their campaign. But the Hillary Clinton, we watched last night and that speech was very uninhibited was -- I mean, I think it was really interesting speech because it had that, but it also had the historic arc at the end where she talked about she was going to be she couldn't wait to tell her grandchildren that she was here that day, really casting into the future.
[05:20:00]
But certainly, I think the Democrats that don't want the focus on the former president may have been shifting in their seats a little bit last night.
HUNT: I mean, look, there is a reality here that Kamala Harris would make history. It said against Hillary Clinton trying to do what she thought she was going to do it. She was very disappointed on election night. I mean, frankly, everybody that night on the Trump team, and the Clinton team had expected her to win going into it. That's obviously not what happened.
One of the moments stood out to me is when Hillary Clinton talked about how her mother was born before women had the right to vote. Her daughter was able to vote for her mother for president. There is a historic nature to this that frankly Kamala Harris isn't leaning in to the way Hillary Clinton leaned into it in 2016.
WRIGHT RIGUEUR: Right. And in fact, I don't think Kamala Harris is going to lean into it. She doesn't have to lean into it. There's an entire ecosystem that has already been built around the idea of the first woman president, the same way that there's an entire ecosystem around the idea of the first black president. And we've seen Kamala Harris actually sidestepping the idea of being the first Black woman or Black Indian woman president.
She doesn't have to do it. And I think part of so what we actually saw, too, in Hillary Clinton speech last night is a kind of savoring of the moment, savoring of something that wasn't able to happen for her, but also a moment where she said, you know what, I was right in 2016, all of the things that I said would happen happened. Donald Trump was this kind of president, and so I am telling you right now that you have the opportunity. We have the opportunity to lean in all of these things, to shatter the glass ceiling into a million pieces.
But I'm telling you that it has to be through the vehicle of Kamala Harris and that's the narrative that she wants to tell. That's the history that she wants to build on. Kamala Harris just has to step into it.
HUNT: All right. Coming up next after this break, a wrongful death lawsuit against Disney is back in motion. The case now headed to court. We're going to have that in your morning roundup.
Plus, protests outside the DNC forcing Chicago police to reevaluate security for the rest of the week. We'll dig into that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:26:40]
HUNT: All right, 26 minutes past the hour. Here's your morning roundup.
Former New York Congressman George Santos will serve at least two years in prison. This comes after he entered a guilty plea Monday to federal fraud charges related to his 2022 midterm campaign.
A federal judge rejecting Hunter Biden's attempt to get his tax evasion charges dismissed. Attorneys for the president's son claim the controversial ruling that ended Donald Trump's classified documents case should also apply to their case. Hunter Biden goes on trial next month.
A wrongful death lawsuit against Disney will now proceed in court. Recently, the company had argued the widower of a woman who died from allergies after eating at a resort restaurant could not sue Disney. Disney says its because the widower signed a subscriber agreement to Disney Plus, which mandates arbitration for disagreements. After backlash, Disney now waving its right. Well, its claimed right, let's say, to arbitration.
All right. Time now for weather. The Northeast now in cleanup mode after deadly and historic flooding. In Connecticut, the governor declaring a state of emergency as storms washed out roads and bridges across the state, hundreds of evacuations -- evacuations and water rescues were also needed. Let's get to our meteorologist, our weatherman Van Dam.
Derek, good morning to you. What are you seeing out there?
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yeah. Good morning, Kasie.
I mean, just to show you the sheer power of what water can do, tearing apart roadways in Connecticut. When you're talking about 10 to 12 inches of rain in such a short period of time, doesn't take much to see that flooding ensue, and of course that caused the state of emergency across the state.
Now look at this. This is the 48 hour rainfall total, and you can see the southwestern sections of Connecticut and into long island, northern long island. That is where we saw some of the heaviest rainfall totals.
Now, fortunately, the bulk of the precipitation has come to an end with the exception of extreme northern New England. So, Northern Vermont, New Hampshire, and into Maine. This is all because of an upper level low that continues to kind of meander across the area, doesn't take much to trigger off more showers across the region, but they should remain light, maybe another half an inch of rain for those northern sections.
But Connecticut into Massachusetts as well as New York, your rainfall chances pretty much diminishing through the day.
Mild conditions left in its wake. That is the good story about the Upper Midwest, but the same cannot be said, unfortunately, for today in Texas. Another hot day, and you factor in the humidity levels, that's why the National Weather Service has these excessive heat warnings in place across the majority of the state?
This is what it'll feel like as you step outside -- Austin, wow, 105 degrees today. Hope you have an air conditioner -- Kasie.
HUNT: Indeed, that sounds absolutely miserable. I will say I'm continuing to enjoy the beautiful weather here in Chicago, where it is in the mid-70s with no humidity.
VAN DAM: I know what it's like.
HUNT: It's terrific.
Derek Van Dam, thank you very much. I really appreciate it.
All right. Coming up next here on CNN THIS MORNING: Donald Trump responding to pleas from his own party to stay on message by telling one of his biggest supporters, I don't care what you think.
Plus, Chicago police re-evaluating security here at the DNC after for protesters breached a barrier fence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: Those protesters out in the street, they have a point. A lot of innocent people are being killed on both sides.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
