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Erin Burnett Outfront

Democratic National Convention. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired August 21, 2024 - 19:00   ET

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

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[19:00:31]

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: And we are live in Chicago with you on the third night of the Democratic National Convention.

Tonight's program is well underway here. We are inside United Center and it is a packed crowd already. A lot of big speeches coming up. Delegates hearing speeches by another key lineup of party leaders and the main event which tonight is the speech by Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to accept his party's vice presidential nomination.

And you can hear it. We are coming to you live from inside the convention on this special edition of OUTFRONT.

Welcome to all of you. I'm Erin Burnett, along with my friend Wolf Blitzer.

And, Wolf, organizers say they're leaning into tonight's convention them. They tried to do a nightly theme. Tonight, they're calling it fight for our freedoms.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: You're absolutely right, Erin. We're told that January 6th and the threat to democracy here in the United States will be a major focus this evening.

Another primary goal, to introduce Governor Tim Walz to voters, not only here, but around the country. Campaign insiders tell us Governor Walz will stress his small town values in his speech, and former players coached by Governor Walz will be on hand to underscore his work as a mentor and a teacher.

Other prime time speakers include former President Bill Clinton and the former House speaker, Representative Nancy Pelosi.

And two vice presidential prospects who lost out to Governor Walz, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, they will also speak. We're also expecting more celebrity appearances, including musical performances by both Stevie Wonder and John Legend.

And CNN has exclusive new reporting that Oprah Winfrey will be part of the DNC program later tonight -- Erin.

BURNETT: And that development learning about Oprah, you know, they do have a big celebrity component, performance component, and Pink is going to be performing tonight as well.

I want to go to John Berman, though, for details on a celebrity appearance expected at tomorrow night's big finale as well. So, John, and that is Pink.

So, what are you learning about what she's going to do here?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you're mentioning the person Pink. I'm actually surrounded by a lot of people wearing pink. I'm in the California delegation, Erin, as the focus on the stage over the last few minutes has been on reproductive rights.

And I'm here with Nicole (INAUDIBLE)

Why are you all wearing pink here?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're all wearing pink, San Diego, because we stand with women unequivocally having the freedom to choose. And when people can see in the community, that we are hearing Pink and we are standing with them, that they are not alone. This is not a choice made by anybody but them.

BERMAN: And we see a lot of pink. Thank you so much, Nicole. I've been sitting here in the delegation. Everyone has been really polite standing up and down, got them surrounding me.

There are few other reasons people are wearing pink here tonight in addition to the people here in the delegation. One, we're told there's a mean girls tie-in on Wednesday, wear pink, they say. Floor managers also wearing pink, so they're easily spotted so they can help control each delegation.

And finally, all over the floor, we are seeing members of Alpha Kappa Alpha. That is a sorority that Vice President Harris was in at Howard. Their colors are pink and green. They've been wearing it all week long. I am told, tomorrow night especially, you can expect that pink, that green to be very, very visible.

Not do mention, Erin, as you were mentioning, the artist Pink will be performing.

BURNETT: Everywhere you look.

BERMAN: Everywhere you look.

BURNETT: All right. John Berman on the floor.

Let's go to Kaitlan. She's also on the floor.

And, Kaitlan, what are you hearing from delegates?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN HOST: Well, Erin, I'm standing right by the Minnesota delegation, obviously, understandably excited to see their governor on stage tonight, introducing himself to America. They know him very well. The lieutenant governor is standing right here to my left. Of course, she could be in a prime position if he does win, and she may replace him as the governor of Minnesota.

I just want to tell you, though, we've been hearing that Tim Walz is going to be talking about his bio tonight. You're seeing it represented in the Minnesota delegation. We have got the camouflage Walz hats here. You see the shirts. We've got the flannel shirt as well that President Obama was talking about in his speech last night, saying that is basically what you always see Governor Walz wearing.

You see the shirts that have Walz on the back. Those are when Walz and Flanagan ran. You can see they're wearing those. Obviously, they're styled like a football jersey. You can see here that everyone is wearing and the lieutenant governor is making her way around saying hi to everyone.

You can just feel the excitement from this delegation. I mean, every delegation here has been excited this week. Minnesota, though, stands out, and especially tonight from what we have been hearing from all of them, waiting for their governor to get up on the stage, Erin.

[19:05:00]

BURNETT: Kaitlan, thank you very much. And, of course, that's going to be happening in these next few hours.

Right now, here, I'm joined by the Kentucky Democratic Governor Andy Beshear.

And, Governor, I appreciate your time.

So, just to take everyone inside the room of what a day is like here, you're now going on, essentially day four. But, you know, we're sitting here speaking, coming into these big prime time speeches and events. This is after, what, 12 hours of meetings? And, you know, what's it like?

GOV. ANDY BESHEAR (D-KY): It's a marathon. You start out speaking at three or four different breakfasts, getting people fired up for a convention that's going to start many hours later. You then go to some of the caucuses. I've been to the rural caucus, for instance.

You then do some meetings. You then get over here, maybe do a little bit of press, then you're here for the prime time.

BURNETT: All right. So, you do all of that. Is there a part of you, and I know you're all in enjoying every breakfast and every meeting. Just a little part of you that is what could have been? What might have been? Very close to have happening?

BESHEAR: Now, Tim Walz is a great friend of mine. He's a great man, he's a great governor, and he helped me get reelected last year. We are all behind him.

You see every other person that was considered up there on that stage, the full-throated support of Governor Walz. He's that good of a guy. He's that good of a leader. We are all in.

And for me, I've got a great job. Kentucky is in my DNA. I can't wait to further implement the bipartisan infrastructure law, the BEAD program, the Inflation Reduction Act. That's creating a lot of jobs and there's a lot more to do.

BURNETT: What's your view of what happens when as if he does what's expected, RFK Jr. endorses Trump on Friday morning?

BESHEAR: Well, then, it does --

BURNETT: What does that do to the race?

BESHEAR: It just reminds people this is a choice between A and B. A choice between going forward and a choice -- or a choice between backwards.

Donald Trump is so focused on the past, of retribution, of vengeance of his own personal enemies. Vice President Harris is focused on building out the middle class, providing more tax credits, more affordable housing. It's about do you want someone focused on himself, or do you want a president focused on you?

BURNETT: I want to ask you about just a controversy out there, when you had spoken and you've obviously spoken here, and one of the topics that you took head-on was abortion. All right. So when you did that, you went on with my friends Joe and Mika and you said, talking about J.D. Vance, think about what some people had to go through because of these laws, J.D. Vance calls pregnancy resulting from rape inconvenient, I mean, make -- it is -- make him through this. Someone being violated, someone being harmed, and then telling them they don't have options after that, that fails any test of decency, of humanity. That's what you said.

J.D. Vance went on Twitter and said, what the hell is this? Why does Andy Beshear wishing that a member of family would get raped? What a disgusting person.

What did you mean to say?

BESHEAR: Well, obviously, I'm not wishing harm on anybody. That's not who I am.

What I was talking about is J.D. Vance will never have do go through any of this as a man. He will never be faced with very difficult decisions, yet he lacks the basic empathy, to try to put himself in Hadley Duvall's position.

But here -- this is all deflection. J.D. Vance knows he's wrong and is trying to make himself the victim. J.D. Vance is not a victim. Hadley Duvall is a victim. I'm trying to stand up for her. I'm trying to stand up for women all across the United States of America and that's why we have to elect the vice president.

BURNETT: And you say you're standing up for women. But do you believe that this as an issue that matters to men like yourself? BESHEAR: Absolutely.

BURNETT: The white -- white middle aged males, right, that have become a crucial part of the Trump coalition?

BESHEAR: What you see is the extremism has gotten so bad that there are laws in places like Kentucky where there is almost a total ban, no exceptions for rape, incest, non-viable pregnancies.

I mean, you see 85 percent of Kentuckians thinking that's gone way too far. This is a constitutional right that Donald Trump's Supreme Court ripped away from my mom, my wife, and yes, my daughter. There are a lot of men out there that think, again, it's gone way too far and we have to make a change.

BURNETT: All right. Well, Governor Beshear, I really appreciate your time. And thank you very much. Good to see you here in Chicago.

BESHEAR: Thanks for having me.

BURNETT: All right. And just ahead, one of the Democratic Party's top progressives, Senator Elizabeth Warren is going to join us as our coverage continues here. You're watching the DNC right here live on CNN.

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[19:13:30]

BURNETT: Welcome back to night three of the DNC live from Chicago, and the keynote address tonight will be the Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.

Just a few moments ago, we were talking to Daniel Clement, who was a high school student in the 1990s says he only graduated because of Coach Walz, at the time, who got him on track. He said I would have run through a brick wall for that guy.

That high school teacher who changed Daniel Clement's life. And it is that, that Tim Walz is trying to bring to the stage tonight for the country.

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY: And so, message wise first, before I get to the map and some of the places where Governor Walz might be helpful. The point they're trying to make is when you travel, you meet Democrats, you meet Republicans, you meet independents.

You meet people who are so disaffected, they don't think Washington does anything for them, this is bi -- it's a bipartisan feeling.

So anytime you can make a case, this guy helped me, right? This guy helped me. He did things to change my life. That -- you get a listen. It doesn't mean you get a vote, but you get a listen, right?

So, where is he from? He's from Minnesota. So, you come into Minnesota. You see Joe Biden got 52 percent, Donald Trump 45, you think, okay, well, that's a blue state. It's a blue state, but it does have an aging, whiter population.

Trump has tried it a couple of times. It's one of those places where Trump thought he could get. George W. Bush used to think it's Pennsylvania, never got it, Donald Trump thinks its Minnesota.

But this is Minnesota. So you'll see Minneapolis-Saint Paul, let's go over, what's sort of the neighbors, right? Kamala Harris -- when she's in Wisconsin, is going to spend most of her time down here in Milwaukee, because that's where the people are.

VPs don't make a huge difference. There's no evidence in history a VP pick has changed somebody's vote.

[19:15:02]

But Democrats have enthusiasm right now. You want people turning out, you want them volunteering.

Walz is an interesting different figure. So he's going to go to the Eau Claire, he's going to go to Lacrosses, he's going to the Erie, Pennsylvanias, the places where the candidate probably doesn't go. He's going to do a ton of small market TV. That's important for a ticket.

Are you going to get an exit poll data that says, you know, I voted for the Democrats because of Tim Walz? Probably not a lot of that. But you're going to see people who maybe stay engaged, stayed volunteering, went to -- you can have fundraisers. Money matters in a close race. You're going to have more fundraisers if you have more bodies to go to them.

So, he's an asset at the moment, because he's different. The Harris/Walz campaign is trying to tap into voters on change and they don't like traditional politicians. That's why so many people were disaffected by the Biden-Trump race.

Now, can they make that? Can they race to define themselves as different, before Trump uses his money to try to define them as far left? He's going to say San Francisco, Minnesota.

BURNETT: Yes.

KING: Nancy Pelosi, Walter Mondale, he's going to try to stir up all the California and the liberal stuff there. So, this is a race for definition. If he can be the plaid shirt guy, that helps.

BURNETT: Does that intangible work?

DAVID URBAN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It does, but it has to be authentic, too, right? So, it's not like -- you can't just put -- you've seen candidate after candidate, they break out a blaze orange vest, they just bought the day before, and they go out in a field with a gun, and it looks inauthentic.

If Walz is that guy, if he's truly that guy, and can be wearing that plaid shirt and be the coach and, you know, those personal stories are very persuasive. If he can be that guy, he will be an asset. But you're only going to know -- you're only going to know that once he's out there on the stump. You're not going to know it before.

ASHLEY ALLISON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I guess, you know, it's a yes/and. You have Oprah coming, right, to your point earlier. She came into our homes for four days.

You didn't really feel like Oprah was an extreme radical in her days as a talk show host or now. So, she validates them.

So, as Donald Trump tries to say Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are so different than you, you have someone like Oprah, and then you have someone who can also go into a small town like a Tim Walz who says this is a coalition, this is a diversity, everyone belongs here, and we're not the extreme. We're the everyday Americans.

JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Can I just add to your point? We've seen him out on the stump already. He is likeable. He is a great retail politician.

BURNETT: They used the word affable.

GANGEL: Affable, he does come across as authentic.

And I've talked to -- there's a Democratic strategist I know who's actually from Pennsylvania, his family, his father, hardcore Republican. His father looks at someone like Tim Walz and says, I know that guy, I like that guy. I'm going to vote for that guy.

He doesn't hurt the ticket, and he may help.

URBAN: No he's got to answer tough questions. He's going to have to answer tough questions. He's going to show up in Erie, he's going to show up in Westmoreland County and they're going to ask him about fracking. He's going to ask him these really hard questions and he's going to have an -- he's going to have to do a little political jujitsu the vice president might not be able to do.

BURNETT: All right. Let's listen to Lisa Blunt Rochester, running for Senate in Delaware, would be Delaware's first women and person of color to win if she does.

Let's listen to the current Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester.

REP. LISA BLUNT ROCHESTER (D-DE): I'm Lisa Blunt Rochester, mother, grandmother, and congresswoman, and hopefully the next senator from the great state of Delaware!

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

BLUNT ROCHESTER: The proud home of President Biden. We love you, Joe!

In Delaware, we know that when small businesses thrive, communities thrive. We know that when our roads and our bridges are strong, communities are strong.

When everyone has a fair shot at a better future, America is limitless.

Now Democrats, we know this. But you know who doesn't know it? Donald Trump.

He has with his friends said the quiet parts out loud, but not only said them out loud, he wrote a book about it. What's it called? Project 2025.

So with so much on the line, we've got to turn our biggest challenges into our greatest and brightest of hope.

For me, Bright Hope was the name of a church that my grandmother attended for 70 years in Philadelphia. It's not just a name. It's how I approach my life. Its how I'll lead as Delaware senator.

And it's how Kamala sees the future of America.

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

BLUNT ROCHESTER: Now there are some who think our politics are too broken for bright hope. But if you want to see hope, just look, bright hope is record numbers of black and brown entrepreneurs starting businesses.

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

[19:20:00]

BLUNT ROCHESTER: Bright hope is an opportunity economy where we invest in our communities and build affordable housing.

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

BLUNT ROCHESTER: Ladies and gentlemen, bright hope is four words -- Madam President Kamala Harris!

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

BLUNT ROCHESTER: Are you ready for bright hope? Are you ready to fight for our freedom? Are you ready to flip the house, protect the Senate, and send Kamala to the White House? Then let's go!

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE) BLITZER: Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester speaking very passionately. She's running for the Senate from the state of Delaware as well.

Kaitlan Collins, I understand you've got some news. I want to go down to you. Go ahead, Kaitlan.

COLLINS: Yeah, Wolf, I'm standing here with Senator Elizabeth Warren. We are in front of the Massachusetts delegation before us, you see.

They are quite excited to have their home state senator here.

Senator, what specifically do you want to hear from Governor Walz on that state tonight?

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA): You know, I mostly want to hear from it a public school teacher. I want to hear about 20 years in the lunch room. I want to hear about all of his time in public service as a public school teacher, as someone in the National Guard, as someone who then ran for Congress and has done a terrific job as a governor.

A man who believes that we can make those investments in our future and that's how we'll build a stronger country.

COLLINS: You and Vice President Harris both ran in the 2019 Democratic primary for the 2020 election, I should say, in 2019. She has changed her position on Medicare for all, banning fracking, things that you once were in agreement on.

I wonder what you make of that? Is that -- are you okay with that? Or is it just cold hard political calculus of where the electorate is now? What do you make of that?

WARREN: You know, I see it right now as were dealing with the issues that are right in front of us, and the big issue right now for us is, first, that we need to protect access to Roe versus Wade, access to abortion across this country. Let's keep in mind, 30 percent of all women in America now live in a state that affectively bans abortion.

And if Donald Trump and J.D. Vance make it into the White House, it won't be 30 percent, it will be 100 percent.

The other thing that we are all tightly focused on, and that President Harris is going to lead us on is how to cut down costs for American families. She's put out some really strong plans like those on price gouging. Donald Trump's got nothing.

So I think these are the two big contrasts and they tell us the most about who Kamala Harris is, and what kind of a president she will be.

COLLINS: And, of course, Trump says he won't sign a national abortion ban. I know that you have said -- you voiced disbelief in that. But I have to ask you about new reporting today that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is --

WARREN: Actually, can I just say one more thing about Donald Trump on that? Because he just said this week, he's not at all sorry, has absolutely no regrets, about having put in an extremist Supreme Court that put Dobbs in place and that now women told when they go to the emergency room in a middle of a miscarriage, that gee, you aren't close enough to death to get the medical treatment you need, go out to the hospital and hemorrhage a little while longer in the parking lot.

You know, that is a problem and all of us have to address head-on on what means.

COLLINS: Senator Elizabeth Warren, thank you for your time.

Wolf, back to you.

BLITZER: All right. Kaitlan, thank you very much. Thank the senator for us as well.

Coming up, our special live coverage will continue. Stay with CNN for tonight's prime time speeches, including the special appearance by Oprah that CNN just learned about. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:27:43]

BLITZER: The excitement is clearly building here big time at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago as we approach some of the biggest speeches of the night. Vice presidential nominee Tim Walz and former President Bill Clinton among those preparing to take the stage.

CNN's MJ Lee has more reporting right now on Bill Clinton's upcoming speech.

What are you learning, MJ?

MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Wolf, what I have learned is that the former President Bill Clinton who is speaking tonight actually ended up ripping up his copy of the convention speech that he had been working on after watching the first night of the convention here and feeling the energy and sort of speaking to the people that are here in the United Center, because remember, he has been here since the weekend, given that his wife Hillary Clinton spoke on the first night.

He felt that he needed to start a new draft of the speech to make it more fun, youthful, and give it a more joyful approach I'm told by a Clinton aide. This person says that he's going to have fun. I can't stress this enough, which is interesting given that Kamala Harris and her campaign have very much tried to stress the joyfulness that they believe is possible even in the 2024 election.

I'm also told though, by an aide to the former president, that if this speech is going to try to capture and join in that joyful energy, it is also going to be the former president's most critical public remarks about the former President Donald Trump. I'm told that when he says as we've reported based on the excerpts that 2024 represents a choice between we, the people, versus me, myself, and I, that latter message is going to be about Donald Trump.

He's basically going to say that he sees Kamala Harris as having been somebody that for years worked to expand the definition of us, but that Donald Trump is somebody who at every turn has been singularly focused on himself. Now one reference though, when it comes to the former President Donald Trump that Bill Clinton is not going to be making is about 2016 and that presidential election, where of course, his wife, Hillary Clinton, lost to Donald Trump -- Wolf.

BLITZER: MJ, thanks for that very, very strong reporting. Appreciate it very much.

And you know, Kasie, its been a while since all of us have heard a major address speech by Bill Clinton, which he's about to do tonight.

[19:30:05]

And it's presumably going to be designed to have a big impact on the upcoming election.

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: You know, MJ's reporting here is really interesting, because I think it reflects the broader change in this convention as a whole. I mean, originally, he would be writing a speech for a Joe Biden election, where Biden's message was a lot darker, it was fear-based. It was, we need to protect our democracy, it's at risk, and that's why you need to vote for me.

The tenor and tone of this convention has been completely different, and if he had a speech that he perceived to be kind of a downer, it wouldn't fit the mood that's been permeating this room for this -- the entirety of this convention. I also think the Democratic Party is clearly changing.

You saw Michelle Obama, I think, was kind of the embodiment of this, right? It was no longer when they go low, we go high. It was going right at Donald Trump in sort of a feisty way that she simply wasn't able to before. And it makes sense to me, that he may need to change how he approaches this.

CHRIS WALLACE, CNN HOST: I was talking with a top convention organizer this morning, who said this crowd, these delegates are eating up inspiration. They want to be taken on a journey, they want to be entertained, they want to be fired up, and Bill Clinton is enough of a politician, is enough of a person who, you know, has a tactile sense of what people want, that he's going to give it to them.

And you know, the idea that he's going to try to stay with this vibe, this joyful vibe, both in terms of the way it presents the future and what the Harris/Walz ticket can provide, and also the way they go after Donald Trump. You know, he wants to give them what they want, and I find it so interesting, because Joe Biden kept building up Donald Trump as a fearsome figure, a figure who might destroy our democracy.

And what you've been hearing, and you certainly heard it from the Obamas last night, is to diminish Trump, to make him a small person, a tired person, an over the hill person. And my guess is that you're going to hear that the same from Bill Clinton tonight, to diminish him and make him not this big, larger than life figure --

BLITZER: To ridicule him.

WALLACE: Yes, and small, the idea that he's a small figure with small values and were better and bigger than that.

HUNT: One phrase that someone used with me wolf, in a conversation I was having this morning, is they want to make him look selfish and small. Those two things together, because that's kind of a stereotype that people latch onto, you know, villains in books or fairy tales, et cetera.

And it's something that you're hearing in MJ's reporting when he's going to say that he's all about himself, right? So I think that's part of it as well, but it really is a striking shift, and it's also a shift for, frankly, from what Hillary Clinton did in 2016, where a lot of her campaign, I mean, she has come in for some criticism, I think, for that slogan, I'm with her, right? Because it made it the election more about Clinton herself and less about the people that Clinton was fighting to serve, and you've seen Kamala Harris avoid that.

BLITZER: You know, it's -- those of us who have covered Bill Clinton all those years and you and I did, so we remember. When he used to give a big speech like this, it was very powerful, and almost always very effective. I'm just hoping and wondering if he still has that ability to do so tonight.

WALLACE: Well, there has been some talk that the years have taken a toll on Bill Clinton. We know he's obviously had serious heart problems. I certainly hope he comes out here and is the Bill Clinton of old, but you know, were going to have to wait and see.

BLITZER: Yeah, I suspect he will be the Bill Clinton of old. He's pumped and he's ready to go, based on everything that I'm hearing from some of these folks.

All right, guys, stand by. Keith Ellison, the Minnesota attorney general, is about to speak. I want to hear what he has to say. This could be very, very significant. Let's listen in as soon as he begins speaking, and he's about to begin in a moment.

HUNT: Sure, understood.

BLITZER: But I think it will be important to hear what he has to say.

HUNT: Yeah, Keith Ellison, of course, attorney general in Minnesota, and it looks like he may be about to walk up here. But clearly, someone who -- I mean, he had some rough patches --

BLITZER: All right. He is walking up right now. There he is.

All right, let's listen in.

KEITH ELLISON (D), MINNESOTA ATTORNEY GENERAL: Friends, I'll never forget when I first saw the video of the murder of George Floyd. I was heartbroken.

[19:35:00]

I was angry. And that morning, my phone rang, and on that line was Governor Tim Walz. Tim Walz felt the exact same way I did. And a few days later, Tim appointed me to prosecute Floyd's murder.

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

ELLISON: Almost a year after that, minutes after the guilty verdict came down, my phone rang again. And it was Vice President Kamala Harris calling to congratulate my team and the work.

Now, Kamala and Tim, they understand the legacy of George Floyd. No one is above the law, and no one is beneath it. No one is outside the circle of our compassion.

In the Republican Party, everyone thinks they're above the law. Hell, nearly a dozen of their own lawyers are facing serious charges. Even their lawyers need lawyers.

These con artists are trafficking in the defective goods of division, exclusion, and fear, and friends, selling defective goods is a scam.

And like Kamala Harris, I am an attorney general. And attorney generals know what a scam is when they see it. Like my friend Tish James, for example, from New York.

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

ELLISON: America, we wont be scammed again. We're not going back. We are going forward.

And Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are ready to lead us there. I've worked side by side with Tim Walz for 18 years. His office is right across the hall from mine.

And I've seen him deliver for the people of the state of Minnesota every day. Everybody knows Minnesota is one of the best states to live in, to raise a family, to do business, and we got the best voter turnout in America.

Facts: Kamala and Tim, they fight for the people and they also listen, and when they say we need a cease-fire an and an end to the innocent lives in Gaza and to bring hostages home, they're listening, friends. They agree with us.

There are people watching tonight and maybe even here tonight who aren't sure yet about Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. If you want to know where they stand on some of the most urgent issues facing our country in the world, let me assure you, Kamala and Tim hear you. They listen. They care. And everyone is included in their circle of compassion. They believe

that everybody counts and everybody matters. Let's put a stop to the scam of Donald Trump once and for all. And let's put Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the White House. Let's go win.

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

BLITZER: Very strong words from Keith Ellison, Minnesota's attorney general.

And there's much more coming up as Democrats set the stage for the final, the major events tonight, including Tim Walz's speech to delegates and to the nation, straight ahead, more high profile officials and rising stars take the stage, including Senators Cory Booker and Chris Murphy.

Lots going on. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:42:55]

BLITZER: Welcome back to CNN's live coverage of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on this, the third night of speeches and celebration of the Harris/Walz ticket.

Governor Walz getting ready to accept the vice presidential nomination tonight. We're watching what's going on very, very closely. This is a very, very important moment for the Democrats as they get ready for this presidential election. And so far, so far, clearly the speakers and all of the events in this convention have energized that Democratic base, just as the Republicans and the MAGA Republicans did in Milwaukee recently at the Republican convention.

These Democratic delegates, they are pumped, they are excited, and they think they can win the presidential election coming up in November. We're going to be hearing much more, some of the big speakers are coming back. We've got a lot of major speakers coming up, including the former president of the United States, Bill Clinton.

Cory booker is coming out, the senator from New Jersey, right now.

I want to listen in to hear what he has to say. He's coming out right now, and he's going to be pumped. There's no doubt. Here he is.

SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ): I just want to say thank you, Attorney General Nessel.

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

BOOKER: So coming up, we have Jon and Rachel. Proud, loving parents of three. On October 7th, their son Hirsh, a U.S. citizen, was at a music

festival when Hamas attacked. He was taken hostage and he is still being held today, an American citizen.

Rachel and Jon want what every parent wants, to hold their child close, to love on them, and keep them safe. I'm honored to introduce the two of them tonight.

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

(CHANTING)

RACHEL GOLDBERG-POLIN, MOTHER OF ISRAELI-AMERICAN HOSTAGE IN GAZA: At this moment, 109 treasured human beings are being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza. They are Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists.

[19:46:29]

They are from 23 different countries. The youngest hostage is a 1- year-old red headed baby boy. And the oldest is an 86-year-old mustached grandpa. Among the hostages are eight American citizens.

One of those Americans is our only son. His name is Hersh. His name is 23 years old. And like Vice President Kamala Harris, Hersh was born in Oakland, California.

Hersh is a happy-go-lucky, laid back, good-humored, respectful, and curious person. He is a civilian. He loves soccer, is wild about music and music festivals, and he has been obsessed with geography and travel since he was a little boy.

His bedroom overflows with atlases, globes, maps, and National Geographic magazines.

On October 7th, Hersh and his best friend Aner went to a music festival in the south of Israel. It was advertised as celebrating peace, love and unity. They also went to celebrate Hersh's 23rd birthday.

As rockets began to fall, Hersh, Aner, and 27 other young festival goers took refuge in a five foot by eight foot bomb shelter. Terrorists began to throw grenades into the shelter. Aner stood in the doorway and repelled seven of those grenades before the eighth one killed him.

Altogether at the Nova music festival, 367 young music lovers were killed. This was just one of the many attacks on neighborhoods and communities in southern Israel on that terrible day.

In total, 1,200 were killed, including 45 Americans. Hersh's left forearm, his dominant arm, was blown off before he was loaded onto a pickup truck and stolen from his life and me and Jon, into Gaza. And that was 320 days ago. Since then, we live on another planet. Anyone who is a parent, or has

had a parent, can try to imagine the anguish and misery that John and I and all the hostage families are enduring.

[19:50:06]

JON POLIN, FATHER OF ISRAELI-AMERICAN HOSTAGE IN GAZA: Rachel and I are comforted to be back in our sweet home, Chicago. We were both born and raised here and our families still live here.

This is a political convention. But needing our only son and all of the cherished hostages home is not a political issue.

(CHEERING)

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POLIN: It is -- it is a humanitarian issue.

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POLIN: The families -- the families of the American eight hostages meet every few weeks in Washington. We're heartened that both Democratic and Republican leaders demonstrate their bipartisan support for the hostages being released. We've met with president Biden and Vice President Harris at the White House. They're both working tirelessly and cease-fire deal that will bring our precious children, mothers, fathers, spouses, grandparents, and grandchildren home, and will stop the despair in Gaza.

(CHEERING)

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POLIN: We are all deeply grateful to them.

We're also profoundly grateful to you, the millions of people in the United States and all over the world who have been sending love, support, and strength to the hostage families. You've kept us breathing in a world without air.

(CHEERING)

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POLIN: There is a surplus of agony on all sides of the tragic conflict in the Middle East. In a competition of pain, there are no winners.

In our Jewish tradition we say (SPEAKING HEBREW) every person is an entire universe. We must save all these universes.

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE) POLIN: In an 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.

(CHEERING)

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POLIN: The time is now.

GOLDBERG-POLIN: Hersh, Hersh -- if you can hear us, we love you. Stay strong. Survive.

POLIN: Bring them home.

(CHEERING)

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BLITZER: Jon and Rachel Goldberg-Polin, the parents of Hersh, only 23 years old, 320 days he's been held a hostage in Gaza. Very, very powerful words.

You know, Erin, so many of these hostage families said we hope that there is a little opportunity at the Democratic convention for hostage families to speak out, and they certainly did speak out, and you could see the audience here, a lot of people in tears, as they were listening to these parents.

BURNETT: A silence, Wolf, that we haven't heard from anything else before. In a room where there's so much ebullience and emotion, and just the silence and -- I mean, the searing pain that that family feels.

I know, Wolf, they made the point that this isn't about politics. Of course this issue of the hostages of the war is a central one for Kamala Harris and her campaign, as we both know, and one that very much they want to connect with those families.

[19:55:11]

And you know, it will be hard to imagine hearing something more emotional and hard to hear than what we just heard now.

BLITZER: Yeah, so powerful, so emotional. If you go to Israel and speak to some of these parents and brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, and just hear what their stories are, they're going through on a day by day basis, the pain that they're feeling.

We spoke with one woman who lost a 16-year-old daughter, 18-year-old daughter, excuse me, and the other kids who were young, 8, 9, 10 years old, still come in at night, where's my sister, where's my daddy, who is being held hostage. And you hear their stories. It's so painful, it's so heartbreaking to hear that. And we can only hope, Erin, as I'm sure you and I do, that there will

be a cease-fire deal that can allow all of these remaining hostages to come home.

BURNETT: Yes. Just that searing pain continuing for that family as she said, living on another planet.

In just a moment here, Wolf, you hear Cory Booker who has been speaking. Mindy Kaling is going to be emceeing this as the night continues. In a moment, they are going can to be bringing in one of their big acts as they are trying to reach out to voters who have been seen traditionally as less Democratic, and making a broad, broad statement here. Country music stars, they are reaching out to a broader group than Democrats had historically been associated with.

Maren Morris is big Grammy-winning country music star, going to be appearing in just a couple of moments, Wolf, to try to do that, as they are trying, Wolf, here to really create the concept of big tent, in a bigger way than we've ever heard before.

Let's listen to Cory Booker, as he introduces Maren Morris.

BOOKER: That you've got to generate the joy, that hope is the act of conviction that despair will never have the last word.

And so, tonight, there are so many challenges in our nation. There are so many problems that we're facing. Heck, if America hasn't broken your heart, you don't love her enough. But yet, we will be joyful warriors. We're going to bring back to the journey of our nation, joy, and if there's any tradition in America that has helped us generate that joy, it has been the artists of America. It has been those folks bringing the rock n roll and the funk, bringing the gospel, and the hard rock.

Well, tonight, we are blessed by one of those great American artists that helps us to cleanse our spirits to raise our hearts and to bring in that joy. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you one of the true greats in America, someone to bring the joy to this incredible arena, Maren Morris.

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

(MAREN MORRIS LIVE PERFORMANCE)