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Inside Politics

Tonight: Tim Walz Takes Stage To Formally Accept VP Nomination; Obamas Skewer Trump In Back-To-Back DNC Speeches; Vance Attacks Walz For Saying His Family Used IVF To Have Kids; Tonight: Bill Clinton To Address Democratic Delegates; Doug Emhoff On His Wife: "Her Empathy Is Her Strength". Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired August 21, 2024 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:00]

DANA BASH, CNN HOST: Welcome to Inside Politics. I'm Dana Bash live from the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where tonight, Kamala Harris's running mate will take center stage. We got a preview of Tim Walz's message at a rally last night in Milwaukee, the same arena where Republicans gathered four weeks ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN), 2024 VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Not only do we have massive energy at our convention, we got a hell of a lot more energy at where they had their convention, right here. That convention had one purpose to coronate one man. It's not a celebration of a coronation of one man over there, it's a celebration of all of us over there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Among the other speakers tonight, party elders like Bill Clinton and Nancy Pelosi, along with the next generation of Democratic leaders like Pete Buttigieg, Josh Shapiro, Amy Klobuchar and Wes Moore. They all have an incredibly tough act to follow after two of the biggest political stars and best speakers, frankly, ever made impassioned pleas for Kamala Harris to a roaring crowd here in their hometown.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, 44TH U.S. PRESIDENT: I am feeling hopeful, because this convention has always been pretty good to kids with funny names who believe in a country where anything is possible. Because we have a chance to elect someone who has spent her entire life trying to give people the same chances America gave her. She won't just cater to her own supporters and punish those who refuse to kiss the ring or bend the knee. She'll work on behalf of every American, that's who Kamala is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: The former president may have adjusted his famous 2008 slogan for Kamala Harris, but it was the former First Lady Michelle Obama, who gave the most blistering attack of someone who is not just the Republican opponent, but also the man who pushed racist conspiracies about her and her husband.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELLE OBAMA, FORMER FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: For years, Donald Trump did everything in his power to try to make people fear us. See his limited narrow view of the world, made him feel threatened by the existence of two hardworking, highly educated successful people who happen to be black. Who is going to tell him that the job he is currently seeking might just be one of those black jobs?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Joining me here in Chicago are some of the best in our business. CNN's Jeff Zeleny, and Bloomberg and CNN's Nia-Malika Henderson, and Carl Hulse and Maureen Dowd of The New York Times. Happy day three, everybody. Feels like these days are getting longer and longer, is it me or no? OK.

Maureen, what were your thoughts on last night, particularly the Obamas?

MAUREEN DOWD, COLUMNIST, THE NEW YORK TIMES: I thought last night was one of the best convention nights I've ever seen. Michelle Obama came out there like a Quentin Tarantino, ninja assassin, the black -- the cool black suit, the cool braid. She had her target in view, and she brought him down.

BASH: I mean, she was very, very focused. And I have to say, you guys, obviously you were at the podium. It was hard to actually hear like your ears hurt at that line that we just played, the way that the crowd roared. I've never actually been in an arena with that kind of response.

I want to Nia play just a little bit more, both from Michelle Obama and Barack Obama, the specific messages that they were trying to put out there, not just about the Republicans, but perhaps to their own party.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELLE OBAMA: We cannot get a Goldilocks complex about whether everything is just right. And we cannot indulge our anxieties about whether this country will let someone like Kamala.

[12:05:00]

BARACK OBAMA: If a parent or grandparent occasionally says something that makes us cringe, we don't automatically assume they're bad people. We recognize that the world is moving fast, that they need time and maybe a little encouragement to catch up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now, my parents here, I just want to say for the record, they never say anything that makes them cringe ever, not. But for those out there who might have that experience, in all seriousness, I thought that was -- both of those points were really noteworthy, particularly what President Obama said. He's acknowledging that society and culture are moving very, very fast, and young people in particular don't have a lot of tolerance for those who can't keep up.

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Right. I mean, you know, one of Obama's sayings when he was in the White House and running for office was, don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good, right? Sometimes you have to settle for half a loaf. And that's essentially what they're saying here.

Kamala Harris and Tim Walz might not match what they -- these young folks want to see on every single issue, but she's probably 90 percent there, maybe 75 percent there. And then drawing, obviously, the comparison with Donald Trump, who they were essentially saying was sort of an aberrant force in American culture, right, almost, that he was like un-American. His trafficking in division and hatred.

At some point, Barack Obama said this, you know, this is a sort of an old tire. It's a familiar act, but it's very stale. And then you had Michelle Obama really wrap Kamala Harris's story into the American story, specifically the black American story, right? She talked about Shyamala Harris being very much like Marian Robinson, of course, passed away just recently.

So, I thought they did, you know, a masterful job last night. Some people said, well, maybe Michelle Obama should have been the closing speaker, because she is just such a masterful speech. Sort of the distance between Barack Obama and Michelle Obama as orders, I think it's growing, right? I think she has gone to a level that I've rarely seen in American politics.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: I mean, that's long been what's been on the minds of a lot of Chicagoans, going back 20 years. That shouldn't Michelle Obama be the one who's the closer or the candidate, she has no interest in it.

HENDERSON: No.

ZELENY: I mean, in fact, I almost didn't believe it a few days ago, and people said she really did not want to do that speech. But I thought how she talked about her mother, Marian Robinson, how that compelled her to come out and use her powerful voice. I thought that was so interesting. And also, former President Obama talking about Mrs. Robinson, of course, she delivered the eulogy at her funeral, not long ago, a few months ago, right here on the south side of Chicago.

But talking about how she was not pretentious, talking about really bringing it all together, it reminded me of when he was talking about his grandmother, who we referenced last night at one of his final campaign rallies in North Carolina, when she passed away just shortly before the election.

So taken all of this together, I thought we heard a pragmatic streak that really was one of the soundtracks of the Obama presidency. It infuriated a lot of liberals on immigration policy, on other things, but they were really making the point that guys like focus on the election.

And Michelle Obama saying, there are people out there who like Donald Trump. There are people out there who don't want us to win. When she said, I'm Michelle Obama, I'm calling you to act. I mean, it was not a call to unity as much as a call to action.

HENDERSON: Yeah, literally. I mean the rallying cry, do something, do something.

BASH: Yeah. And he had his famous that he's used so many times, don't boo vote.

CARL HULSE, CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Yeah. And I thought that this was an example of why Republicans fear Michelle Obama so much is because she is so powerful, because she's unencumbered by this. You know, need to be a political figure. And so, she says it what it is.

I do think the Goldilocks reference was somewhat in reference to -- there's going to be things that come out now in these remaining months of the campaign, as people really dig into these candidates. And, you know, with Walz and the vice president, it's like, don't be put off course by something that pops up that you think isn't perfect, right?

And I think that was a little bit of a warning. You know this campaign, the shot out of the gun aspect of this campaign and the vetting that's going on now. I mean, there's going to be some rough spots ahead here for the Democrats, and this is their moment to say, all right, we can persevere and get through that.

DOWD: But also, I think what was so effective about Michelle was she went straight for the race issue, and she took on Trump on that. And as long as I've covered Republicans, they have been using the same trope, which is black and brown people are coming to get you be very afraid. And of course, Trump more than any of them, and personally, with the Obamas, and she just went right at that.

BASH: I want to play another moment from Barack Obama last night, and we can watch it. And then Maureen, I'd like you to react on the other side.

[12:10:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA: There is the childish nicknames, the crazy conspiracy theory. This weird obsession with crowd sizes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOWD: I think again, that's hitting at the heart of Trump's pure all obsession with size. The first time I interviewed him in '99, I said, why do you think you could be president? And he said, because I get big ratings on Larry King. I have a lot of stories in my skyscrapers. Melania gets on a lot of magazine covers. It's nuts, but it is. They're going right at his heart. And with anyone else that might have seemed, you know, childish, but with Obama, because he's so classy, it seemed really funny to make the anatomy joke.

(CROSSTALK)

BASH: And he did it with serious deliberations.

(CROSSTALK)

DOWD: And also, it's Trump's talking, yeah. And also, Trump has earned it.

BASH: You mentioned things that are to come. Well, things are happening now. And I like the way that you put it, Carl, that because this happening so -- happened so fast that some of the vetting is being done in public that normally would have been done in private, and they would have been more prepared for.

One of the things that J. D. Vance is now hitting Tim Walz, who's going to take center stage tonight on is. Walz saying multiple times that he and his wife went through IVF, and it turns out -- it was a different kind of fertility. Let's listen to what Walz and then J. D. Vance have said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WALZ: If it was up to him, I wouldn't have a family because of IVF. And the things that we need to do reproductive my kids were born through that direct, you know, that way.

SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), 2024 VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's just such a bizarre thing to lie about, right? There's nothing wrong with having a baby through IVF or not having a baby through IVF, like, why lie about it. I just don't understand that. Most of us have met people who just like to embellish a little bit up to the line, and then they cross the line. And I think that's clearly what Tim Walz is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENDERSON: I mean, he's running again -- he's running with Donald Trump. J. D. Vance is who is the biggest liar in public life we've ever seen. You know, at last count, I think the Washington Post said something like 30,000 lies. He's made up a whole new reality. So, for J. D. Vance, he just has no credibility on this to call somebody out for where there's an embellishment, whether it's an exaggeration. I mean, he's running with a serial liar.

BASH: But that's the whole, right -- but that's the whole sort of Trump playbook based on the Roy Cohn playbook, which is, take what -- you know, take what you're doing, assign it to your projection, assign it to your opponent.

ZELENY: Without a doubt. I mean, look, there are a few things that have added up that the military record wasn't quite as advertised. But all of these things on the margins, as he was saying, don't even like compared to the election denialism, et cetera. So, I think that, you know, the voters who like Trump obviously, will still like him, but voters in the middle. If it's IVF or the other, you know, form of treatment, it's IU --

BASH: IUI.

ZELENY: IUI.

BASH: Yeah.

ZELENY: Sorry.

(CROSSTALK)

ZELENY: But the point is -- the point is, I do not think voters care about that.

BASH: Yeah. I will say, and I don't want to explain too much, but just very quickly, just so our viewers understand the differences. IVF is done when you have an embryo that is done outside of the womb, and it has become a life issue for the right, which is a big reason why Democrats are warning that Republicans are going to take it away. OK. We're done explaining that.

Speaking of, coming up, the secretary of explaining stuff is back tonight. Bill Clinton got that nickname after his 2012 convention speech. But does he have the same juice today. Plus, getting to know Tim Walz. We're going to hear from two of his former students, after we got this insight into his wardrobe last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA: I love this guy. You can tell those flannel shirts he wears, don't come from some political consultant. They come from his closet, and they have been through some stuff.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:18:58]

BASH: Bill Clinton has been speaking at Democratic conventions for more than 40 years. Tonight, he'll give his sixth convention speech as a former president. One of his specialties is promoting the economic records of his successors.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, 42ND U.S. PRESIDENT: When President Barack Obama took office, the economy was in free fall. It had just shrunk nine full percent of GDP. We were losing 750,000 jobs a month. Are we doing better than that today? The answer is, yes.

Joe Biden wants to build an economy far better suited to our changing world, better for young people, better for families working and raising their kids, better for people who lost jobs and need new ones.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BASH: Panel is back here. Maureen, what do we think about Bill Clinton as a messenger in 2024?

DOWD: Well, there are probably some qualms among some about his issues with women, because this whole convention is framed around women, for a change, mothers, mother in laws, grandmothers, the candidate is a woman. Michelle Obama was, you know, the fours.

[12:20:00]

But on the other hand, if they had listened to Bill Clinton in 2016 if Hillary's campaign had, instead of mocking him, we wouldn't have had Trump, because he is the world's expert on rural white men and the male vote. And I think they hope that Clinton and Walz can bring some of that energy to it.

HULSE: I kind of felt last night that Obama served what the role that Clinton has in the past, you know, the explainer in chief, and laying out the rationale. So, it'll be interesting to see where Bill Clinton goes tonight. But I do think he's a fit with Walz, right? It's a -- as Maureen said, you know, it's his rural, the old appeal to the center of the country.

And you know, when you think about Bill Clinton, and you think about some of the things that they pushed back then, which would obviously be anathema to the Democrats, but I do think there's a nice synergy with Walz.

HENDERSON: Yeah. And he's airplane spoken right, in the way that Tim Walz is. He puts it where the goats can get it, as they say.

(CROSSTALK)

HENDERSON: Yeah. I don't know. I know that's someone is angry (Ph), but who knows what it means, but that's sure we'll have some more from him. And so, yeah, I think that's the point. And he always sort of does big picture, sort of Democrat, right? What does it mean to be a Democrat? What have Democrats done for Americans versus the Republican Party?

So, I think you'll see some of it. You know, he has aged quite a bit to see -- you know, to see him over the years from 2012 and in the 2020, you know, appearance for Joe Biden. So, it'll be interesting to see him.

BASH: I don't understand how all these people are aging, and you're not --

(CROSSTALK)

ZELENY: But it's also a party convention. I mean, former presidents go to their party convention. Talk about a difference from the Republican convention in Milwaukee. I mean, you're going to have two former presidents. Jimmy Carter, obviously, was referenced by his grandson, Jason Carter. He's too old to be here, but he's -- you know, he's experience. So that is what is so different about this. This is a Democratic Party convention. The bookend of it entirely from Bernie Sanders last night to Bill Clinton tonight, et cetera. So, it's not a Trump convention, which is what the Milwaukee one actually was. This is a Democratic Party convention, and this is the big tent party now.

BASH: So, you talked Maureen about the fact that this obviously is the convention built around women, because Kamala Harris is a woman, and she's trying to make history. The other sort of sub part of that is the men who support women. And so, I want you to listen to some of Doug Emhoff's last night talking about his wife.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOUG EMHOFF, VICE PRES. KAMALA HARRIS'S HUSBAND: I'm so proud of how you're stepping up for all of us, but that's who she is, wherever she's needed, however she's needed, Kamala rises to the occasion. And she did it for me and our family. And now that the country needs her, she's showing you what we already know. She's ready to lead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: So, in addition to sort of accepting a woman leader, it's also accepting men who are comfortable with a woman as a leader. And I've spent time with Doug Emhoff. I did a whole hour on him. And a big part of what we talked about is a new form of masculinity with men who are comfortable quitting their law firm jobs, moving in and supporting the woman who is the powerful figure.

By the way, side note, I just have to get this in there, because I love this. The video that played before his speech, which is narrated by their son, his ex-wife produced it. Who was here in the -- so that's another big theme about the big modern blended family.

DOWD: Well, I think if you've ever listened to a Taylor Swift album, you know, there's a lot of free-floating anxiety among women of all ages about how a man handles a more powerful woman. And so, I think Democratic women love the fact that this guy is handling it so well. And also, you know, he just kind of rebutted the whole pathetic, childless, cat lady thing.

And Trump and J. D. Vance have such an antediluvian attitude about masculinity, they want women back in the kitchen and the bedroom. And I think that this guy really brought a lot of new modern man energy.

BASH: Speaking of new modern man energy, Carl?

HULSE: I mean, what a contrast. The contrast they're drawing with Vance and Trump is so stark. And this is an election that's going to be decided by women voters, right? And maybe in some states we're not even thinking about right now, where women and black women are really going to turn out.

[12:25:00]

And to me, it's just been kind of incredible that Vance has seems to be working on alienating the very group that they need to win in this election and his past comments. And I think that's a real struggle for the Republicans right there.

HENDERSON: And listen, one of the stereotypes of women who are seeking higher office is that somehow they shrink under pressure that they're weak. And you saw last night them really lean into her prosecutorial background, right? There was a video about some of the people she's prosecuted, some of the people she's gone after. And so, in that way, they're sort of rebutting this stereotype.

And again, it isn't hard to see Vice President Kamala Harris as president, because we sort of see her in the trappings of the office, which I'm sure this is driving Donald Trump crazy when she's descending from Air Force Two and getting out of these black cars. And so, she has a different a road ahead of her, a less difficult one than I think Hillary Clinton had.

ZELENY: So, one thought about a woman the speech I'm watching are looking for tonight is Nancy Pelosi, who also addressing the convention and she has fingerprints all over this massive change in the Democratic Party. I was watching her the other night as she was watching President Biden, really remarkable.

BASH: We love Joe. All right, everybody. Thank you so much. Don't go anywhere because coming up, Georgia turns down the DNC roll call.

(PLAYING VIDEO)

BASH: Atlanta rapper Lil Jon, surprising the crowd. Well, he came down to join my next guest to cast the peach state votes for Vice President Kamala Harris. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)