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Inside Politics
Georgia Steals The Show During DNC Roll Call; NYT Poll Shows That Harris Trails Trump By Seven Points In Georgia; Tim Walz Will Take The Stage To Formally Accept VP Nomination Tonight; JFK's Grandson Says Young People Will Take Harris Over The Finish Line. Aired 12:30-1p ET
Aired August 21, 2024 - 12:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[12:31:27]
DANA BASH, CNN HOST: Last night's roll call at the DNC here was very memorable. But there is no state that stole the show quite like the state of Georgia.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LIL JON, AMERICAN RAPPER AND RECORD PRODUCER: VP Harris, give it a wow (ph). VP Harris, give it a wow (ph).
REP. NIKEMA WILLIAMS, (D-GA) CHAIR, GEORGIA DEMOCRATIC PARTY: Mr. Secretary, the south got something to say. In the spirit of good trouble, Georgia cast 123 votes for the next president of the United States, Kamala Harris.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Here with me now is the woman you just saw there, Georgia Congresswoman Nikema Williams who represents John Lewis' old district in Georgia, also serves as the Chairwoman of the Georgia Democratic Party. You have many, many hats.
WILLIAMS: Many hats.
BASH: One of the hats I didn't know that you wore is DJ because we have a photo -- we have a photo of you with Lil Jon on Monday night, so the night before we saw that amazing moment here. How did you even do what you just did? We saw that you did the very important job of announcing Georgia's delegates when you just had that incredible moment with Lil Jon.
WILLIAMS: So we -- Lil Jon came up to celebrate with the Georgia delegation at our party on Monday night. My executive director, he puts all of my visions into fruition and makes them happen. Could not do it without the team, but we like to be intentional, and we want it to make sure that our state was represented in a way that people would remember.
BASH: I think that kind of worked out. WILLIAMS: And I think they'll remember.
BASH: Yeah. I think (inaudible).
(CROSSTALK)
WILLIAMS: We won the roll call, Dana, but now we got to win the election.
BASH: OK. So on that, let's look at the latest polling in Georgia.
WILLIAMS: Yeah.
BASH: The latest New York Times/Siena College Georgia Poll showed the Vice President Harris is improving on what President Biden was looking like in Georgia. But Donald Trump still has a seven-point lead compared to a ten-point lead over Biden in May. She needs to climb a lot more to get to that.
WILLIAMS: We got to do the work and we heard First Lady Michelle Obama last night talk about the polls. When you see the polls, the polls will go up, they will go down, they will change. But we have to continue to do the work, we are a battleground state. We don't expect to be high up in any poll and we know that VP Harris is the underdog in this race. Even with all of the momentum and excitement, we have to have direct conversations with the voters about the issues that matter to them.
And what I'm hearing from Georgia Democrats and Georgians across the state is that they are concerned about their freedoms and it is not just Democrats, it is Democrats and Republicans as you'll hear tonight when our former Republican lieutenant governor will take the stage. But fighting for our reproductive freedoms, fighting for our freedom to vote, and this could not be more central to the district that I hold and the seat that the late Congressman John Lewis held. But we are fighting for our freedoms.
BASH: One of the big -- one of the tricks to winning for a Democrat in Georgia, I don't need to tell you, is getting out the African-American vote because (inaudible) did it back in 2020, which is what made history in allowing Joe Biden to take the state. But, Kamala Harris is underperforming Joe Biden's 2020 election result among black Georgia voters. Donald Trump is aggressively trying to make inroads, particularly with black men. Why do you think that if he is successful, it would appear -- it appears according to polls that he is. Why is that? And what do you need to do message-wise to turn that around and to make, particularly black men, maybe even young black men, because that is really the demo that Donald Trump is going for, to say you need to vote for Kamala Harris?
[12:35:00]
WILLIAMS: So, we are doing the work on the ground and what I have heard from -- we are talking with black men. But we are engaging multi-racial coalitions, but black man don't want much different than other communities. They want to be able to raise their families safely in safe environments and they want to be able to provide and not just get by, but to get ahead. And so we need to focus more on our economic agenda and how we are helping people get ahead in this country. And that's exactly what we are doing, having those direct conversations.
And we are seeing that our president or are soon to be president has only been the nominee or presumptive nominee for right at a month.
BASH: What do you want --
(CROSSTALK)
WILLIAMS: So we got a lot of work to do.
BASH: Forgive me. What do you want her to say specifically to address the issues that you just laid out, that you believe that the people you need to vote are looking for answers on?
WILLIAMS: Well, I need her to come to Georgia, have those direct conversations. We have to do more of the retail politics and we are going to do the big rallies. But the vice president will be back more than one time in Georgia before the Election Day. And we are going to take the show on the road outside of Atlanta, over the entire state. We are not ceding any part of any county as we do this work because every vote counts.
BASH: I want to play a moment from Michelle Obama's speech last night, talking about Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE OBAMA, (D) FORMER FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: His limited narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hard-working and highly-educated successful people who happen to be black.
(CROWD CHEERING)
M. OBAMA: Who is going to tell him that the job he's currently seeking might just be one of those black jobs?
(CROWD CHEERING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: So aside from your moment with Lil Jon, that was being here last night, the moment that brought the house down. How much do you think that, you know, sort of going forward, outside of this arena, is going to help push your strategy and push your message forward?
WILLIAMS: First Lady Michelle Obama is one of the best messengers and deliverer of the messengers that we have in this party. And so people were tuned in last night, the Georgia delegation filled up with people who are not even from Georgia, just trying to get a view of the stage. And so we know that message resonated across the country outside of the halls of this convention, and we know that we have a job to do between now and the election. And my black job is to make sure that I save democracy.
(LAUGH)
BASH: Well, that's a big job.
(LAUGH)
WILLIAMS: I am up for it. I'm ready.
BASH: Congresswoman, Chair, all the things that you are, thank you so much for being here.
WILLIAMS: Thank you so much.
BASH: Appreciate it. And Minnesota Governor Tim Walz could be America's next vice president. Nobody is more enthusiastic about that than his former students from his small town classroom. To them, he is just coach.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. TIM WALZ, (D-MN) VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Public schools are the foundation of our country. And I have to tell you, anybody who tells you that it is just a game, this is more than just a game. This is about building character. It is about doing something bigger than yourself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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[12:42:35]
BASH: Tonight, the nation will get its first real introduction to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, the military veteran, former teacher, high school football coach, hunter, and middle-class Midwestern dad. That person will take the stage at the Democratic National Convention.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WALZ: I had the privilege of teaching public school social studies and coaching football. It was my students who encouraged me to run for office. I never thought that much about it, but they saw in me what I was hoping to instill in them. This idea of a commitment to a better board, a common good, a belief that one single person can actually make a difference.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Tonight, he will officially accept his party's nomination to be Kamala Harris' running mate, but to his former students, he is just Mr. Walz. Two of them are here right now, Jacob Reitan and Doug Vose, students of Governor Walz at Mankato --
JACOB REITAN, FORMER STUDENT OF TIM WALZ AT MANKATO WEST HIGH SCHOOL: Mankato. BASH: Oh my gosh, I'm never going to be allowed back in Minnesota again -- West High School and you are here in Chicago. I want to start with you.
REITAN: Yeah.
BASH: And I want to play what Kamala Harris said when she was announcing her then new running mate.
REITAN: Yes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, (D) VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Under those Friday night lights, Coach Walz motivated his players to believe they could achieve anything. Around that same time, Coach Walz was approached by a student in his social studies class. The young man was one of the first openly gay students at the school, and was hoping to start a gay-straight alliance. At a time, when acceptance was difficult to find for LGBTQ students, Tim knew the signal that it would send to have a football coach get involved.
(CROWD CHEERING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Did you know she was going to talk about?
REITAN: No, I was at a watch party in Minneapolis and someone said, hey, she is talking about you.
(LAUGH)
BASH: What was that like?
REITAN: Surreal, but it is an important part of Tim's story. It is important part of what makes him so special.
BASH: And what was that story? Can you talk a little bit more about what it was like to be a student wanting to start the gay-straight alliance?
REITAN: Yeah, the '90s was not an easy time to be a gay student in America.
[12:45:00]
And Tim and Gwen Walz made Mankato West High School a safe place for me to come out and to start the gay-straight alliance.
BASH: How so?
REITAN: Well, he was the faculty advisor. Gwen was my teacher. Tim actually wasn't my teacher, but when Gwen started English literature class, when I was a sophomore, she started by saying this is a safe place for gay and lesbian students. I had never heard a teacher say something positive about gay students from the front of the class, and that signal is the reason why she was the first adult that I told that I was gay. And from there, we had a series of discussions both with her and Tim about their beliefs on gay and lesbian issues, and why they were a source of support for gay students.
BASH: Wow, that's a fascinating story. And Doug, you recently wrote an opinion piece for the "Star Tribune" praising the now governor --
DOUG VOSE, FORMER STUDENT OF TIM WALZ AT MANKATO WEST HIGH SCHOOL: That's right, ma'am.
BASH: Your former teacher saying that he encouraged you to be curious.
VOSE: Yeah. One of my core memories was 911 and Tim Walz poked his head in a U.S. history classroom and he said, hey, turn the TVs on and pay attention. Your generation is going to be dealing with this forever and that that plane hit the Pentagon, maybe whatever it was, an hour, an hour-and-a-half after the first plane hit. So people weren't really sure if it was news yet, but he knew right away that this was going to be a seminal moment in all of our lives.
And obviously, we all reacted emotionally to what happened in those couple of days and he was the sort of person and he is the sort of person that folks gravitate to, to kind of find how they really feel about things. And he was always very encouraging of folks to consider the context in which everything is happening and to be curious about their environment, and I think that that's eventually why he was pulled into public life.
BASH: And you did not have him in the classroom?
VOSE: Right.
BASH: What was he like in the classroom?
VOSE: It is funny. When we were kids, I married my high school sweetheart. We both had him during our senior year.
BASH: Oh, wow.
VOSE: So, we've been talking about this a ton the last couple of weeks in our home. But it was really hard when we were kids to figure out which side of the aisle that he was on. We would have bets on --
BASH: That's something that you talked about as kids?
VOSE: Yes.
BASH: That's very sophisticated.
VOSE: Well, when you are --
(LAUGH)
VOSE: When you are in public schools, usually, you kind of know which side of the aisle your social studies teachers are especially.
(LAUGH)
BASH: Got it. Yeah, that makes sense.
VOSE: And -- so he really tried to frame everything in terms of the context, in terms of complexity, consider the value of empathy with somebody that you don't necessarily agree with. Just to try to understand rather than building a point of view or building an argument, and not straying from that. So that's, I think, what a lot of us learned from both of the Walzes when we were kids that we keep with us into our adult lives.
BASH: You as well?
REITAN: Yeah, absolutely. The Walzes empowered students and they put in the work, you know, in addition to being the faculty advisor for the gay-straight alliance, Tim Walz, when I was the nerd, in the nerd (ph), Tim Walz also spent a better part of a month building the sets for the school play. So, he just -- he is just involved in students' lives and involved in their futures, and they are truly special teachers.
BASH: And what was it like? I mean, sort of the context of what the vice president's message when she talked about you in that speech was, it wasn't just that he was a teacher who -- and his wife, obviously, she was saying.
REITAN: Right.
BASH: -- that sort of opened up the possibility for you to come out.
REITAN: Right.
BASH: But that he was the football coach.
REITAN: Right. So, it was a series of discussions between my parents, the school principal, the school counselor and the Walzes about who should be the faculty advisor. Ultimately, Tim was picked because he was the football coach and because he was so well respected in the halls of West High School, that it sent an important student -- a signal to the students that inclusion and acceptance were values that we should all get behind.
BASH: What is one quick sort of characteristic or trait that you want the world to know about him?
VOSE: This is a man of character. He is as much of a (inaudible) character as he appears to be.
(LAUGH)
VOSE: He is exactly what you think he is and we are really proud of him.
REITAN: Yeah. I agree. BASH: All right. Thank you so much, both of you. Really appreciate you being here and I'm sure you guys are having the time of your lives.
REITAN: Lot of fun.
BASH: Yeah.
VOSE: Thanks, Dana.
REITAN: Thanks, Dana.
BASH: Thanks. Good to see you. And coming up, is Camelot turning into Kama-lot? JFK's grandson hit the DNC stage to draw parallels between the vice president and his famous family. That's next.
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[12:54:10]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACK SCHLOSSBERG, PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY'S GRANDSON: Tonight, JFK's call to action is now ours to answer. Because once again, the torch has been passed to a new generation, to a leader who shares my grandfather's energy, vision, and optimism for our future.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: That was President John F. Kennedy's grandson making the case for Kamala Harris to be the first woman to sit in the Oval Office. The same place, his mother Caroline once played as a young kid in the early 1960s. Now after his speech last night, I spoke to 31-year-old Jack Schlossberg, who has become a political star on TikTok and Instagram, about the impact his generation will have on this race.
SCHLOSSBERG: Young people are like all other people and they need to be given -- need to be equipped with good arguments and reasons to vote for a candidate.
[12:55:00]
And I think on social media, there is an opportunity to do that in an authentic way, and to give people the chance to tell the difference between someone who is genuine and not. And I think people are really smart and my generation is good at telling the difference. Young people are going to take Kamala Harris over the finish line and we are going to win this election. I feel confident.
BASH: Thanks to Jack Schlossberg for coming on with us. Thank you for watching "Inside Politics." Stay with us because "CNN News Central" starts after a quick break.
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