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CNN Live Event/Special
CNN Covers the Democratic National Convention. Aired 11p-12a ET
Aired August 20, 2024 - 23:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[23:00:00]
MICHELLE OBAMA, FORMER FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: -- you, no, I'm telling y'all, to do something.
(APPLAUSE)
(CROWD chanting "Do something.")
M. OBAMA: Because this election is going to be close. In some states, just a handful, listen to me, a handful of votes in every precinct could decide the winner. So, we need to vote in numbers that erase any doubt. We need to overwhelm any effort to suppress us.
Our fate is in our hands. In 77 days, we have the power to turn our country away from the fear, division and smallness of the past. We have the power to marry our hope with our action. We have the power to pay for the love, sweat and sacrifice of our mothers and fathers and all those who came before us.
(AUDIENCE CHEERING AND APPLAUDING)
M. OBAMA: We did it before y'all and we sure can do it again. Let us work like our lives depend on it. And let us keep moving our country forward and go higher -- yes, always higher than we've ever gone before, as we elect the next president and vice president of the United States, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. Thank you all. God bless.
(AUDIENCE CHEERING AND APPLAUDING)
M. OBAMA: Now, before I go, I have one more job tonight.
(AUDIENCE CHEERING AND APPLAUDING)
M. OBAMA: Yeah, one more job. You all, thank you for all the love. But, it is now my honor to introduce somebody who knows a whole lot about hope --
(AUDIENCE CHEERING AND APPLAUDING)
M. OBAMA: -- someone who has spent his life strengthening our democracy. And let me tell you, as someone who lives with him, he wakes up every day -- every day, and thinks about what's best for this country. Please welcome America's 44th President and the love of my life, Barack Obama. (AUDIENCE CHEERING AND APPLAUDING)
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Hello, Chicago.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: Oh. Thank you.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, everybody. Thank you. Thank you. That's enough.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: Thank you. Thank you. Chicago, it's good to be home.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: It is good to be home, and I don't know about you, but I'm feeling fired up.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: I am feeling ready to go --
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: -- even if, even if I am the only person stupid enough to speak after Michelle Obama.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
[23:04:56]
B. OBAMA: 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.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE) B. OBAMA: Because we have a chance to elect someone who has spent her entire life trying to give people the same chances America gave her, someone who sees you and hears you and will get up every single day and fight for you, the next President of the United States of America, Kamala Harris.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: It's been 16 years since I had the honor of accepting this party's nomination for president. And I know that's hard to believe because I have not aged a bit.
(LAUGHTER)
B. OBAMA: But it's true. And looking back, I can say, without question, that my first big decision as your nominee turned out to be one of my best. And that was asking Joe Biden to serve by my side as vice president.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: Other than some common Irish blood, Joe and I come from different backgrounds, but we became brothers. And as we worked together for eight sometimes pretty tough years, what I came to admire most about Joe wasn't just his smarts, his experience. It was his empathy and his decency, and his hard-earned resilience, his unshakable belief that everyone in this country deserves a fair shot.
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: And over the last four years, those are the values America has needed most. At a time when millions of our fellow citizens were sick and dying, we needed a leader with the character to put politics aside and do what was right. At a time when our economy was reeling, we needed a leader with the determination to drive what would become the world's strongest recovery, 15 million jobs, higher wages, lower health care costs.
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: At a time when the other party had turned into a cult of personality, we needed a leader who was steady and brought people together, and was selfless enough to do the rarest thing there is in politics. Putting his own ambition aside for the sake of the country.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: History will remember Joe Biden as an outstanding president who defended democracy at a moment of great danger. And I am proud to call him my president. But I am even prouder to call him my friend. (CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
(CROWD chanting Thank you, Joe!)
B. OBAMA: Thank you. Now, the torch has been passed. Now, it is up to all of us to fight for the America we believe in. And make no mistake, it will be a fight. For all the incredible energy we have been able to generate over the last few weeks, for all the rallies and the memes.
(LAUGHTER)
B. OBAMA: This will still be a tight race in a closely divided country. A country where too many Americans are still struggling. Where a lot of Americans don't believe government can help. And as we gather here tonight, the people who will decide this election are asking a very simple question. Who will fight for me?
[23:10:01]
Who's thinking about my future, about my children's future, about our future together?
One thing is for certain, Donald Trump is not losing sleep over that question.
(LAUGHTER)
B. OBAMA: Here's a 78-year-old billionaire who has not stopped whining about his problems since he rode down his golden escalator nine years ago. It has been a constant stream of gripes and grievances that's actually been getting worse now that he's afraid of losing to Kamala.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: There's the childish nicknames. The crazy conspiracy theories. This weird obsession with crowd sizes.
(LAUGHTER)
(CHEERING)
B. OBAMA: It just goes on and on and on and on. The other day I heard someone compare Trump to the neighbor who keeps running his leaf blower outside your window every minute of every day.
(LAUGHTER)
B. OBAMA: Now, from a neighbor, that's exhausting. From a president, it's just dangerous. The truth is, Donald Trump sees power as nothing more than it means to his ends. He wants the middle-class to pay the price for another huge tax cut that would mostly help him and his rich friends. He killed a bipartisan immigration deal written in part by one of the most conservative Republicans in Congress. That would have helped secure our southern border because he thought trying to actually solve the problem would hurt his campaign. He doesn't --
(BOOING)
B. OBAMA: Do not boo.
(LAUGHTER)
(CHEERING)
B. OBAMA: Vote.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: He doesn't seem to care if more women lose their reproductive freedom since it won't affect his life. And most of all, Donald Trump wants us to think that this country is hopelessly divided. Between us and them. Between the real Americans, who of course support him, and the outsiders who don't. And he wants you to think that you'll be richer and safer if you will just give him the power to put those other people back in their place.
It is one of the oldest tricks in politics, from a guy who's act has, let's face it, it's gotten pretty stale.
(LAUGHTER)
B. OBAMA: We do not need four more years of bluster and bumbling and chaos. We have seen that movie before, and we all know that the sequel is usually worse.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: America's ready for a new chapter. America's ready for a better story. We are ready for a President Kamala Harris.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: And Kamala Harris is ready for the job. This is a person who has spent her life fighting on behalf of people who need a voice and a champion. As you heard from Michelle, Kamala was not born into privilege. She had to work for what she's got. And she actually cares about what other people are going through. She's not the neighbor running the leaf blower, she's the neighbor rushing over to help when you need a hand.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE) B. OBAMA: As a prosecutor, Kamala stood up for children who had been victims of sexual abuse. As an attorney general of the most populous state in the country, she fought big banks and for-profit colleges, securing billions of dollars for the people they had scammed.
[23:15:07]
After the home mortgage crisis, she pushed me and my administration hard to make sure homeowners got a fair settlement. Didn't matter that I was a Democrat, didn't matter that she had knocked on doors for my campaign an hour, she was going to fight to get as much relief as possible for the families who deserved it.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: As Vice President, she helped take on the drug companies to cut the cost of insulin, lower the cost of healthcare, give families with kids a tax cut. And she is running for president with real plans to lower costs even more and protect Medicare and Medicaid. And sign a law to guarantee every woman's right to make her own healthcare decisions.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: In other words, Kamala Harris won't be focused on her problems.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE #1: That's right.
B. OBAMA: She'll be focused on yours.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: As President, she won't just cater to her own supporters and punish those who refuse to kiss the ring or bend the knee.
(CHANTING)
B. OBAMA: She'll work on behalf of every American.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE #2: Yes.
B. OBAMA: That's who Kamala is. And in the White House, she will have an outstanding partner in Governor Tim Walz.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: Let me tell you something. (CHANTING)
B. OBAMA: Let me tell you something. I love this guy.
(LAUGHTER)
B. OBAMA: Tim is the kind of person who should be in politics.
(CHANTING)
B. OBAMA: Born in a small town, served his country, taught kids, coached football, took care of his neighbors.
(CHANTING)
B. OBAMA: He knows who he is and he knows what's important. 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.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: They have been through some stuff. That's right.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: Together, Kamala and Tim have kept faith with America's central story, a story that says we are all created equal.
(CHEERING)
B. OBAMA: All of us endowed with certain inalienable rights, that everyone deserves a chance, that even when we don't agree with each other, we can find a way to live with each other.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: That's kamala's vision. That's Tim's vision. That's the Democratic Party's vision.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: And our job over the next 11 weeks is to convince as many people as possible to vote for that vision.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE) B. OBAMA: Now it won't be easy. The other side knows it's easier to play on people's fears and cynicism, always has been. They will tell you that government is inherently corrupt, that sacrifice and generosity are for suckers. And since the game is rigged, it's okay to take what you want and just look after your own. That's the easy path. We have a different task. Our job is to convince people that democracy can actually deliver.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: And in doing that, we can't just point to what we've already accomplished. We can't just rely on the ideas of the past. We need to chart a new way forward to meet the challenges of today.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE #3: That's right.
B. OBAMA: And Kamala understands this. She knows, for example, that if we want to make it easier for more young people to buy a home, we need to build more units and clear away some of the outdated laws and regulations that made it harder to build homes for working people in this country, that is a priority, and she's put out a bold new plan to do just that.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: On healthcare, we should all be proud of the enormous progress that we've made through the Affordable Care Act.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
[23:20:00]
B. OBAMA: Providing millions of people access to affordable coverage, protecting millions more from unscrupulous insurance practices. And I noticed, by the way, that since it's become popular, they don't call it Obamacare, no more.
(LAUGHTER)
B. OBAMA: But Kamala knows we can't stop there, which is why she'll keep working to limit out-of-pocket costs. Kamala knows that if we want to help people get ahead, we need to put a college degree within reach of more Americans.
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: But she also knows college shouldn't be the only ticket to the middle class.
(APPLAUSE) B. OBAMA: We need to follow the leader of governors like Tim Walz who said, if you've got the skills and the drive, you shouldn't need a degree to work for state government. And in this new economy, we need a president who actually cares about the millions of people all across this country who wake up every single day to do the essential, often thankless, work to care for our sick, to clean our streets, to deliver our packages. We need a president who will stand up for their right to bargain for better wages and working conditions!
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: And Kamala will be that president.
(APPLAUSE)
CROWD: Yes, she can!
B. OBAMA: Yes, she can.
(APPLAUSE)
(CROWD chanting Yes, she can!)
B. OBAMA: Yes, she can.
(CROWD chanting Yes, she can!)
B. OBAMA: A Harris-Walz administration can help us move past some of the tired old debates that keep stifling progress. Because at their core, Kamala and Tim understand that when everybody gets a fair shot, we are all better off. They understand that when every child gets a good education, the whole economy gets stronger.
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: When women are paid the same as men for doing the same job, all families benefit.
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: They understand that we can secure our borders without tearing kids away from their parents, just like we can keep our streets safe while also building trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve, and eliminating bias, that will make it better for everybody.
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: Donald Trump and his well-heeled donors, they don't see the world that way. For them, one group's gains is necessarily another group's loss. For them, freedom means that the powerful can do pretty much what they please, whether it's fire workers trying to organize a union or...
(BOOING)
B. OBAMA: ... put poison in our rivers or avoid paying taxes like everyone else has to do.
Well, we have a broader idea of freedom. We believe in the freedom to provide for your family if you are willing to work hard. The freedom to breathe clean air and drink clean water and send your kids to school without worrying if they'll come home.
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: We believe that true freedom gives each of us the right to make decisions about our own life, how we worship, what our family looks like, how many kids we have, who we marry. And we believe that freedom requires us to recognize that other people have the freedom to make choices that are different than ours. That's okay.
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: That's the America Kamala Harris and Tim Walz believe in, an America where "we, the people" includes everyone. Because that's the only way this American experiment works. And despite what our politics might suggest, I think most Americans understand that.
[23:25:02]
Democracy isn't just a bunch of abstract principles and dusty laws in some book somewhere. It's the values we live by. It's the way we treat each other, including those who don't look like us or pray like us or see the world exactly like we do.
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: That sense of mutual respect has to be part of our message. Our politics have become so polarized these days that all of us across the political spectrum seem so quick to assume the worst in others, unless they agree with us on every single issue.
We start thinking that the only way to win is to scold and shame and out-yell the other side. And after a while, regular folks just tune out, or they don't bother to vote.
Now, that approach may work for the politicians who just want attention and thrive on division. But it won't work for us.
To make progress on the things we care about, the things that really affect people's lives, we need to remember that we've all got our blind spots and contradictions and prejudices, and that if we want to win over those who aren't yet ready to support our candidates, we need to listen to their concerns and maybe learn something in the process.
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: After all, 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. Our fellow citizens deserve the same grace we hope they'll extend to us.
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: That's how we can build a true democratic majority.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE #4: That's right.
B. OBAMA: One that can get things done. And by the way, that does not just matter to the people in this country. The rest of the world is watching to see if we can actually pull this off.
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: No nation, no society has ever tried to build a democracy as big and as diverse as ours before, one that includes people that over decades have come from every corner of the globe, one where our allegiances and our community are defined not by race or blood, but by a common creed.
And that's why when we uphold our values, the world is a little brighter. When we don't, the world is a little dimmer, and dictators and autocrats feel emboldened. And over time, we become less safe. We shouldn't be the world's policemen, and we can't eradicate every cruelty and injustice in the world, but America can be and must be a force for good.
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: Discouraging conflict, fighting disease, promoting human rights, protecting the planet from climate change, defending freedom, brokering peace. That's what Kamala Harris believes, and so do most Americans.
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: Now, I know these ideas can feel pretty naive right now. We live in a time of such confusion and rancor, with a culture that puts a premium on things that don't last. Money, fame, status, likes. We chase the approval of strangers on our phones.
[23:30:00]
We build all manner of walls and fences around ourselves, and then we wonder why we feel so alone. We don't trust each other as much because we don't take the time to know each other.
And in that space between us, politicians and algorithms teach us to caricature each other, and troll each other, and fear each other. But here's the good news, Chicago. All across America, in big cities and small towns, away from all the noise, the ties that bind us together are still there.
We still coach Little League and look out for our elderly neighbors. We still feed the hungry in churches, and mosques, and synagogues, and temples.
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: We share the same pride when our Olympic athletes compete for the gold.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: Because the vast majority of us do not want to live in a country that's bitter and divided.
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: We want something better. We want to be better. And the joy and the excitement that we're seeing around this campaign tells us we're not alone.
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: You know, I've spent a lot of time thinking about this, these past few months, because, as Michelle mentioned, this summer we lost her mom, Ms. Marian Robinson. And I don't know that anybody has ever loved their mother-in-law any more than I love mine. Mostly it's because she was funny and wise, and the least pretentious person I knew.
That, and she always defended me with Michelle when I messed up.
(LAUGHTER)
B. OBAMA: I'd hide behind her. But I also think one of the reasons Mary and I became so close was she reminded me of my grandmother, the woman who helped raise me as a child.
And on the surface, the two of them did not have a lot in common. One was a black woman from right here, south side of Chicago, right down the way --
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: -- went to Englewood High School. The other was a little old white lady born in a tiny town called Peru, Kansas.
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: Now, I know there aren't that many people from Peru. And yet, they shared a basic outlook on life. They were strong, smart, resourceful women, full of common sense, who regardless of the barriers they encountered, and women growing up in the 40s and 50s and 60s, they encountered barriers. They still went about their business without fuss or complaint, and provided an unshakable foundation of love for their children and their grandchildren.
In that sense, they both represented an entire generation of working people, who through war and depression, discrimination and limited opportunity, helped build this country. A lot of them toiled every day at jobs that were often too small for them, and didn't pay a lot. They willingly went without, just to keep a roof over the family's heads, just to give their children something better. But they knew what was true. They knew what mattered. Things like honesty and integrity, kindness and hard work.
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: They weren't impressed with braggarts or bullies. They didn't think putting other people down lifted you up or made you strong. They didn't spend a lot of time obsessing about what they didn't have. Instead, they appreciated what they did.
[23:35:01]
They found pleasure in simple things. A car game with friends, a good meal and laughter around the kitchen table, helping others, and most of all, seeing their children do things and go places that they would have never imagined for themselves.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: Whether you are a Democrat or a Republican or somewhere in between, we have all had people like that in our lives, people like Kamala's parents, who crossed oceans because they believed in the promise of America, people like Tim's parents, who taught him about the importance of service, good, hardworking people who weren't famous or powerful, but who managed in countless ways to leave this country just a little bit better than they found it.
As much as any policy or program, I believe that's what we yearn for, a return to an America where we work together and look out for each other.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: A restoration of what Lincoln called on the eve of civil war our bonds of affection, an America that taps what he called the better angels of our nature.
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: That is what this election is about. And I believe that's why, if we each do our part over the next 77 days, if we knock on doors, if we make phone calls, if we talk to our friends --
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: -- if we listen to our neighbors, if we work like we have never worked before, --
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: -- if we hold firm to our convictions, we will elect Kamala Harris as the next president of the United States, --
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: -- and Tim Walz as the next vice president of the United States.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: We will elect leaders up and down the ballot who will fight for the hopeful, forward-looking America we all believe in.
And, together, we too will build a country that is more secure and more just, more equal and more free.
So, let's get to work.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
B. OBAMA: God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
(MUSIC)
JAKE TAPPER, CNN CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: The 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama. Twenty years and three weeks since he burst onto the national scene with the 2004 Democratic Convention speech, when John Kerry was being nominated. This was almost a bookend of that speech in which he talked about there being one United States of America. This was also a speech about the promise of the United States of America.
You can see why the crowd here loves him so much. Obviously, a successful Democratic president, but also a once in a generation political talent and one of the most gifted orders to have ever held the office.
He testified in favor of the election of Vice President Kamala Harris, his friend of 20 years, made a plea to the Democratic voters to be patient with those voters that he's going to -- they're going to be talking to in the next 77 days to not just reject them, to speak to them, to hear them, to listen to them.
He had the innate and enviable task of following his wife, first lady Michelle Obama, who also gave perhaps even a more fulsome discussion of why Kamala Harris is the best choice for November and also had quite a few zingers related to her Republican opponent, Donald Trump.
And Dana and Abby, one of the things that was so interesting is amidst all of that, both of them were giving the unmistakable message to the crowd, yes, this is fun, we're having a great time, this is very exciting, but this is not what the next 77 days are going to be like.
[23:40:09]
It's going to be tough, your candidates are going to make mistakes, the other side is going to fight like hell, and both of them said in different ways, let's get to work because this is not going to be easy even if we're all having a good time right now.
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. And they were both clearly trying to speak to the base, to speak to the energized grassroots and to keep them completely energized.
But there were so many points in both of their speeches, particularly as you said, President Obama's speech, where they were talking to the swing voters, they were talking to the undecided voters, they were even talking to the voters in President Obama's case that came over to his side but were, you know, Republicans or Reagan Republicans before, depending on where they lived. And --
TAPPER: The people who allowed him to win Indiana.
BASH: Exactly.
TAPPER: That happened, kids. You can Google it.
BASH: I mean, not to mention North Carolina. We were talking to the governor.
TAPPER: That's possible still.
BASH: Right. And so -- but it is that kind of state that they are reaching out to. I do have to say -- I mean, he -- President Obama is unmistakably extraordinary, as you said, in order. There's no Republican who would say anything different. But when Michelle Obama was speaking, we were talking about, like, we couldn't hear.
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR AND SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That was the loudest this arena had gotten.
BASH: This place was going absolutely nuts, particularly the one line when she went at -- I mean, so much for when they go low, we go high.
TAPPER: When they go low, we go high, yeah.
BASH: When she talked about the fact that he dislikes them, effectively for one reason, and that is because they are Black. I mean, that's effectively what she said. And then she had the -- she twisted the knife and said --
PHILLIP: Yeah.
BASH: -- that they have the Black jobs.
PHILLIP: Tonight, we heard from two of the best players in politics right now. I mean, two people who can speak in ways that almost no one else in the party can speak, and particularly Michelle Obama. That speech really electrified this arena. I don't even think Barack Obama, no offense to him, his speech was excellent, it was not received in the same way. I think we just have to be honest by that.
TAPPER: It also gave more of a red meat speech, we have to say. He was appealing to better angels --
PHILLIP: Yeah.
TAPPER: -- talking loftily about work to win over people to your side who you might not agree with.
PHILLIP: Yeah. I think they had different things, right?
TAPPER: Yeah.
PHILLIP: They were doing different things. I also think Michelle Obama, what she often does so well is define America in a way that she thinks that people relate to, in a way that is in contrast with Donald Trump. She has been -- actually, both of them have been doing this now since they left office. They were -- they were in this position in 2016, making this case for Hillary Clinton, and they experienced what it was like to make that case and then be there on election night when Donald Trump won.
I heard that in their speeches tonight. The admonition to not take it for granted, that this is really hard, that it's going to take a lot of work to talk to people that you disagree with, to insist on American values. I think they feel burned by their own experiences trying to convince this country to seek their better angels. They're doing it again, but they're doing it again with, I think, a kind of edge to it --
TAPPER: Yeah.
PHILLIP: -- that was not there before.
TAPPER: It's interesting you said it. You just remind me of something which is after Trump's convention speech in 2016, which described a very bleak America, President Obama, I believe, the next day, said something along the lines of, you know, the sun is shining, the birds are singing. It was kind of dismissive of the picture that Trump had painted.
And I remember getting in an argument with one of Obama's speech writers about the fact that, forget what Trump said, there are Americans who were feeling the pain, even if you don't think Donald Trump is the cure.
BASH: And they acknowledged that.
TAPPER: That -- that tone that Obama took that morning when he kind of was dismissive of what Trump was trying to appeal to is very different from what Trump said.
BASH: Yeah.
PHILLIP: Yeah. I think they understand --
TAPPER: Yeah.
BASH: They definitely do.
PHILLIP: -- now better. And look --
(CROSSTALK)
I mean, the whole country does now. They understand the challenge that is there. I mean, they're no less optimistic or idealistic about what the country ought to be, but I think they understand that Trump is appealing to so many Americans --
[23:45:00]
TAPPER: Yeah.
PHILLIP: And that the pitfall of Democrats, you know, eight years ago was not understanding that.
TAPPER: So, Anderson, one of the things that's interesting, I asked Maggie Haberman of "The New York Times" the other day about the more blatantly racist social media posts that have come from the Trump campaign, painting contrasting pictures of the world that Trump wants to provide Americans in the world that the Kamala Harris does. And the one that Kamala Harris does is full of people of color who are either homeless, migrants or murderous thugs, etcetera, etcetera.
And Haberman's response was that she thought there was actually strategy to it, Donald Trump had been trying to bait Kamala Harris and Kamala Harris campaign into an argument about race, that there actually was rhyme in reason, a method to the madness, if you will.
It was interesting tonight, the particular zingers that both first lady Michelle Obama and former President Barack Obama made Donald Trump because they seemed targeted and aimed at things that Donald trump might be insecure about, and I am specifically referring to his hand gestures when discussing crowd sizes. Over to you.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: I want to go actually straight to Van Jones. Van, I mean, I think Michelle Obama's speech was probably the most effective powerful political speech I've ever heard. It was rather remarkable.
VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I didn't know how much I miss them. I miss them. I miss that. I miss hearing that. You know, Biden did something important last night and he transferred the machinery of the party to Kamala Harris.
The Obamas renewed the magic of the movement. That's what they were transferring. And they did it beautifully. They did it powerfully. Obama used nostalgia in a beautiful way. He didn't say make America great again. We are going to go back. He reminded everybody of the best things about our families, about our neighborhoods. That was beautiful.
And then Michelle, she wasn't doing the minister role. She was really doing the coaching role in that she called it right out. She said, you guys, you know, she talked about the affirmative action of generational wealth. She talked about the luxury of whining and cheating that other people don't have. But she didn't stop there. She also called the left up. And she said the winding on the left needs to stop. She said the goal deluxe, they're not perfect.
This was a masterful act of leadership. It was a sacred task. They took it on well. It was like an oasis. I didn't realize I had been in a spiritual desert until they created that oasis on that stage, and they did a beautiful job tonight.
COOPER: David?
DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, campaigns operate on different levels, and one of them is on the level of issues. And certainly, they engaged in some of that, president in particular. But they also operate on a plane of values and these were value-laden speeches. And the message was -- and it's something that Kamala Harris has been saying.
There's so much that we share and, you know, democracy is in many ways an ongoing battle between cynicism and hope. And the goal of the cynics is to divide us and appeal to our worst instincts. The goal of the optimist is to inspire us to hope.
When she said right at the beginning of her speech that there was something wonderfully magical in the air and she said it's the contagious power of hope.
And so what they're trying to do here and I think what Kamala Harris has been doing in her speeches is to set up a counterpoint to this relentlessly negative, divisive, grinding quality to Donald Trump and the Donald Trump campaign. And his reaction to the Kamala Harris challenge has been -- has been to become more grindingly negative, more divisive, more appealing to people's sense of fear. And I think they are setting up a contrast in what they're saying, not just to the base of the Democratic Party, but to every American.
We're better than this. Think about the values that you grew up with, that you teach your children, that you want your children to adhere to, that we benefited from, from our parents.
[23:50:02]
We should want that in our leaders. We should want that in our government. And I think it's a very powerful, powerful thing. I've seen it. I've seen it at work. I've seen it move a country. I think it can move a country again.
AUDIE CORNISH, CNN HOST: I like the sort of dialogue with the current culture. They were kind of calling out to memes and ideas and jokes, the escalator. There were certain hand gestures that the former president did, talking about crowd sizes, kind of breaking the fourth wall, saying things we've seen this movie before the sequel is not so good.
And even the way Michelle Obama talked rebranding the (INAUDIBLE) to going small. And I thought that was a really fascinating way to put because in comparing it to the RNC, which we were at, there was something about it that was quite oyster (ph). I mean, not to compare the enthusiasm because it was after assassination attempt, but it felt small and it was so hyper-focused that it had a way of shutting out the world.
And there is a way that these speeches tonight were trying to make the world of Democrats bigger somehow. I don't know if that makes sense, Scott, but --
AXELROD: You know, this line, to your point, this line was one I underlined. Going small is petty. It's unhealthy. And quite frankly, it's unpresidential. And I think that's what people know. Donald Trump is not a popular person.
CORNISH: But they're no longer talking about him as an existential threat. Between the weird, between this kind of language, there's a kind of deflating of this bogeyman that they had been talking about for years.
COOPER: Which is remarkable because no one until -- I don't know if it's Kamala Harris, I don't know if it was Tim Walz with the weird, but no one, I mean Marco Rubio tried talking about little hands in 2016, no one has figured out a way to do that to Donald Trump until now.
CORNISH: Well, time comes for us all.
AXELROD: I mean, they tried to compete with him, insult for insult, anger for anger, and what they're saying is, we can do better than that. That's not who we are. That's not who we should want the president of the United States to be.
COOPER: Scott?
SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, first of all, I think the Democrats should be congratulated for this night. It was well produced. The music, the Obamas, the whole thing worked for them tonight.
I think the contrast that I see, and I don't know which is going to win, but we're seeing the contrast of the politics of combat versus the politics of compassion. That's what the Obamas were trying to set up tonight in my judgment.
I should warn my fellow Republicans that we heard two of the greatest communicators in the country tonight. Now we had hulk a mania. The Democrats have Obama mania. They ripped the roof off of this place tonight. These democrats are fired up. They're not playing, okay? Yes, they say things that are exaggerations, they do say things about Trump and the Republicans that are outright lies, but the convention is working for Harris, at least as of today.
The gap that I still see in all these speeches, as good as they were, is that she's in the White House right now. Democrats have controlled the White House for 12 of the last 16 years. And for all of the talk about division and the problems in the country and people are hurting, Democrats have mostly controlled this country.
Trump had it for four. The Obamas and Biden had it for the rest of the time. And somehow, it's still all Trump's fault, and somehow she hasn't been at the center of it. So to me, that's still the glaring hole in this campaign that hasn't yet been solved at the convention. How do you explain all of the problems that will be solved by the person who is currently in there for the last three and a half years who is supposed to already be working on solving it?
But bottom line tonight, this convention is working for them. Michelle Obama is -- I mean she's an incredible speaker and you cannot deny the power of what happened in the hall tonight.
COOPER: Scott? Sorry, John King, I wanted to hear from you.
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, I think you guys have covered the power of the words from the Obamas very well, certainly to rally the base. But I want to focus on something else, which I think is also very powerful tonight, is just the optics of Obama and Michelle Obama, President Obama, Michelle Obama coming on stage, the big embrace, both speeches.
What is Donald Trump doing? He mispronounces her name. He says, is she black or is she Asian? She's a radical. He's trying to disqualify Kamala Harris, to somehow make her scary, to somehow make her unacceptable.
And there you had our first Black president, our first Black first lady up on the stage. They didn't say these words, but essentially we had this for eight years. I was president, she was first lady. I was reelected. She was with me. We had a pretty blooming economy that we handed off to Donald Trump.
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This is not weird, this is not strange. We had this for eight years. And I'll tell you from my travels, the first thing Democrats have to do is turn out their base. And if Kamala Harris get the historic or near historic black turnout that Barack Obama got in his two election campaigns, then that puts her in good stead. It's not enough though. You have to compete and win, or at least break even in the American suburbs. Barack Obama did that twice.
In my travels, you meet a lot of people, a lot of Republicans who maybe didn't vote for Barack Obama, or maybe who did once, who remember the Obamas in the White House. They were dignified. They were respectful. They had those cute girls who became beautiful young women in the family.
So I think the optics tonight, given how Donald Trump is campaigning against Harris, I think the optics of, oh yeah, we did that for eight years, it was pretty good for the country. Even if you didn't like it, even if you're Republican and didn't vote for it, we're all still here, right? We weren't in any big wars at the time.
The optics to me, given how Donald Trump is campaigning against the vice president, were almost as important as the very powerful words.
COOPER: Yeah, we're going to be pulling you a lot of the comments from Michelle Obama, as well as former President Barack Obama, and also Doug Emhoff, who gave a really nuanced, really fascinating speech, like we have not heard from the spouse of any candidate, really. Stay with us as we dig deeper in tonight's speeches and talk to the keynote speaker at the convention tonight. Our live coverage continues after this break.
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