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Inside Politics

RFK Jr. Expected To End Campaign, In Talks To Endorse Trump; DNC Crowd Chants "Bring Them Home" As Hostage Parents Speak. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired August 22, 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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[12:32:35]

DANA BASH, CNN HOST: The campaign known for brain worms and dumping a dead bear is coming to an end. Sources tell CNN, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will make an official announcement tomorrow and may endorse Donald Trump. The former president was asked about it on "Fox" this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: So I've known him for a long time. He's a diff -- he -- as, you know, he's a little different kind of a guy. Very smart guy and a very good person. If he endorsed me, I would be honored by it. I would be very honored by it. He really has his heart in the right place. He is a respected person. Women love some of his policies and I guess some people don't like some of his policies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: The panel is back. He's a very different kind of a guy.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: I mean, there's -- that -- that is so classic Trump.

BASH: Classic.

CHALIAN: First of all, he's totally correct.

BASH: Yes. Like it's a proper assessment, but then he just throws it out there while welcoming his potential endorsement. Let's just look at -- at look, his -- his campaign didn't take off. That's why he is --

CHALIAN: Well, it took off. It crashed.

BASH: Well, OK.

CHALIAN: Yes.

BASH: Fair. That's a better -- much better way to describe it. That's why you're the political director and I'm not. So, the latest poll, though, shows that he does have 5 percent. This is an ABC News/Ipsos poll, 5 percent in a -- this is a national poll. But still, if you look at some of the states, particularly Michigan, where he was already on the ballot, margins matter tremendously in a razor's edge race.

CHALIAN: Yes. I mean, when you look at those six battleground states, they're not going to be decided by more than a few points at the end of the day. That's why they're battleground states, so his presence on them could have an impact. I -- I thought it was interesting, though, you know, Michael Tyler of the Harris campaign said, we -- we want to welcome his people that found an appeal early on in his campaign, right? Because there's a difference.

He has gone way down. And he really, most of his supporters align with Trump's side now. And I think that those folks that may have found him interesting beginning, sure. Maybe the Harris people want to talk to them.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: And one of those areas would be climate change or on environmentalism, that they think they can appeal to him. But, you know, Democrats are feeling pretty good about this lately because of the fact that when Harris became the nominee, they saw the third party threat shrink a lot. So they -- they're feeling, I think, pretty good despite the fact that they do need to eat -- eat away.

BASH: And -- and Jill Stein still has 1 percent which again?

[12:35:03]

ZOLAN KANNO-YOUNGS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: The voters on the margins matter.

BASH: Yes.

KANNO-YOUNGS: They -- they do matter here. And, you know, the strategist that I would talk to always said that if he were to drop out, or rather, if RFK were to stay in the race, that that might impact the Trump campaign more just because those are voters that, similar to 2016, have somewhat lost faith in the government, and we're looking for an outsider to come in as well.

So, you know, look, if he does decide to endorse the -- the Trump campaign, I'm sure that's something they're -- they will welcome. And, again, the voters on the margins matter, especially when this only comes down to a couple of states.

BASH: Thanks. We'll be watching tonight. Very exciting here in the hall.

And up next, you get an endorsement and you get an endorsement. How'd I do?

CHALIAN: Really well.

BASH: OK. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OPRAH WINFREY, AMERICAN HOST AND TELEVISION PRODUCER: We can't wait to leave here and do something.

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

WINFREY: And what we're going to do is elect Kamala Harris as the next president of the United States.

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: How much do celebrity endorsements really matter? We're going to check with the people behind Barack Obama's 2008 run after a quick break.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[12:40:50]

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I realize that I'm not the likeliest candidate for this office. I don't fit the typical pedigree. And I haven't spent my career in the halls of Washington.

And at defining moments like this one, the change we need doesn't come from Washington. Change comes to Washington.

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: I believe that as hard as it will be, the change we need is coming because I've seen it, because I've lived it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: That was, of course, Barack Obama introducing himself to the wider electorate, America and the world back in 2008 at the DNC. That happened after a lengthy and bruising primary battle against Hillary Clinton. Joining me now are two people who helped Obama craft that introduction. Jon Favreau, former speechwriter for President Obama and current host of the podcast, Pod Save America, and David Axelrod, former senior advisor to President Obama and current CNN senior political commentator. Hello.

JON FAVREAU, "POD SAVE AMERICA" HOST: Hi.

BASH: Or as we call you, Favs and -- and Ax, Favs and Ax. Yes. That's a lot of words.

FAVREAU: Saves time.

DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: That's right.

BASH: A lot of words. Yes. Can you just talk about the moment that we were -- we are in now not just with, you know, the President Obama speech, which I do want to talk about in a second, but looking ahead to tonight if you were crafting the speech. What would be the most important message, or even words, or phrase that we're going to clip and -- and -- and share?

FAVREAU: Yes. I mean, convention speeches are -- there's always a lot of business to get done in a convention speech for the -- for the nominee. Because you want to define yourself, you want to define your opponent, you want to make sure the country knows as much about you as possible. Kamala Harris has an additional challenge is that she's a new nominee, and everyone knows her as Vice President, but there's still a lot she has to talk -- talk about, about herself, about her bio, about her values.

So, but I -- I do think that the probably the most powerful message here is that this is a moment to turn the page on the politics of the Trump years, which extended into the Biden years because Trump is still in our lives. And it's an opportunity, I think, for her to talk about how Donald Trump is someone who fights for himself. She is someone who has always fought for people, and she is going to continue to fight for people as president, and she's going to lift up the middle class.

And it's just been a theme of this convention, and I think that she'll probably carry that forward tonight.

AXELROD: Yes, looking at -- watching that clip aside from the fact that Obama was really young then.

BASH: Yes.

AXELROD: But watching that clip reminds me, you know, obviously every era is different. Trump is unique. But there are some similarities, because that was a period of time where people really wanted to flip the page on the con -- politics of Washington.

There was deep concern about -- about the middle class. And middle class had deep concerns about their economic well-being. He was new and needed to introduce himself. He was a change in a, you know, he was unique in the sense that he was the, you know, someone no one had ever voted for a black man running for president. All of these things are swirling around today. I mean, there are parallels between her job tonight and his job back in 2008.

BASH: One of the biggest differences, of course, is that 2008 he was running against John McCain, who --

AXELROD: Yes. BASH: -- I covered that campaign from -- from start to finish. And he would do things like tell people in his audience and crowds who came to see him who said things that were either conspiratorial or racist to stop it. That's not where we are right now. Go ahead.

AXELROD: No. I -- what I wanted to say was, yes, John McCain was a -- a different person. We weren't really running against John McCain.

BASH: Yes.

AXELROD: We were running against the incumbent politics of Washington. Donald Trump represents the politics we're running against in a way that John McCain didn't.

BASH: Well, I -- I want to play something that Bill Clinton did last night because he tried to draw attention to there -- the -- the fact that there are dark parts of Trump's rhetoric, but to look beyond that and more look at his character and who he's going to fight for.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[12:45:05]

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The other guy who's proved even more than the first go around that he's about me, myself and I.

What is her opponent do with his voice? He mostly talks about himself.

So the next time you hear him, don't count the lies, count the eyes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Ax?

AXELROD: Great line.

FAVREAU: Yes.

AXELROD: It was a great line and it does go to a core thing that Favs mentioned before which is he -- Donald Trump is fundamentally self- interested. And people know that. And the contrast between someone who's going to think and fight for -- for people think about and fight for people every day, rather than thinking, how can I advantage this for myself? I think that's a powerful theme here that has real traction.

BASH: Which flies in the face of what Donald Trump tries to do on the campaign trail, which is to say, you know, that those convictions that it -- it could be you tomorrow, I -- I'm you, I'm here for you. And with the big swath of America, that works.

FAVREAU: Yes, though, I think, especially since Kamala Harris has become the nominee, Donald Trump can't help himself. And every day he's complaining, he's whining, and this is what President Obama also was talking about in his speech this week, which is similar to what President Clinton just said, which is who's going to fight for you is the central question of the election.

Who's going to think about my family? Who's going to think about my future? And when people hear Donald Trump only talking about his problems just whining more and more and more, as long as Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are out there talking about the people that they want to represent, and what they're going to do for them, and how they're going to make their lives a little bit better, that's probably the sharpest contrast.

AXELROD: There is this tension between depicting Donald Trump as this big, scary force out there, and this small and petty man who's self- interested. And I think what people are discovering is maybe that depiction of him is the more powerful one.

BASH: Which one?

AXELROD: People get the other one, the small and petty guy who's completely consumed by himself and -- and, you know, so.

FAVREAU: And, you know, people like that, with a lot of power, can be dangerous.

AXELROD: Yes.

FAVREAU: You know, both things can be true.

BASH: I know that you helped the former president, Obama, work on the speech that he delivered last night, brought the house down. Maybe not quite as much as his wife --

FAVREAU: No.

BASH: -- but that's -- but that's a -- a discussion for another time.

AXELROD: We're not going to get into that.

BASH: No, we're not talking about that. There was one line that maybe one of the most memorable from his speech. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: There's the childish nicknames, the crazy conspiracy theories. This weird obsession with crowd sizes.

(LAUGHS)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: I mean, the delivery on that --

FAVREAU: Yes.

BASH: You obviously practiced that over and over again.

FAVREAU: I -- I'm telling you, I swear, saw every draft of that speech, and crowd size, the line kind of came in towards the end, and he -- he put that line in, but we had no idea he was going to do that. I -- I -- I think he just -- unless he -- he might have thought in his own head he was going to do that before he got on stage, but he just did that.

AXELROD: I mean, maybe he was inching towards something.

BASH: OK.

FAVREAU: Yes. Maybe you're right. Yes. Maybe he was just, I don't know.

BASH: You would have disappointed me if you did not --

AXELROD: I know. I'm here to serve.

BASH: Thank you.

AXELROD: Yes.

BASH: I really appreciate it. David Axelrod, John Favreau, thank you so much. It's always good to see you both. Come back soon. We'll be right back.

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[12:53:06]

BASH: It has been 321 days since hundreds of innocent people were kidnapped by Hamas terrorists on October 7th during their brutal assault inside Israel.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CROWD: Bring them home. Bring them home. Bring them home. Bring them home. Bring them home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Last night, the convention crowd here stood and began chanting, bring them home, as Israeli Americans, Rachel Goldberg-Polin and Jon Polin took the stage to appeal for the release of hostages, including their only son being held in Gaza.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RACHEL GOLDBERG-POLIN, SON BEING HELD HOSTAGE BY HAMAS: At this moment, 109 treasured human beings are being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza. They are Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists. They are from 23 different countries. The youngest hostage is a one-year- old red headed baby boy. And the oldest is an 86-year-old mustachioed grandpa. Among the hostages are eight American citizens. One of those Americans is our only son. His name is Hersh. He's 23 years old.

JON POLIN, SON BEING HELD HOSTAGE BY HAMAS: 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. (APPLAUSE)

[12:55:02]

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

(APPLAUSE)

POLIN: Bring them home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: For an issue that has become politicized and divided parties, including the Democratic Party, this was a remarkable unifying moment here in this convention, particularly when Jon Polin said that there is should not be a competition for pain because there are no winners.

Thank you so much for watching Inside Politics today. Don't go anywhere because CNN News Central will pick it up with Brianna Keilar right after a very quick break.

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