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CNN Live Event/Special
CNN Covers The Democratic National Convention. Aired 11p-12a ET
Aired August 21, 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]
PETE BUTTIGIEG, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION: And if all of that sounds naive, let me insist that I have come to this view, not by way of idealism, but by way of experience. Not just the experience of my unlikely career, someone like me serving in Indiana, serving in Washington, serving in uniform. I'm thinking of something much more basic. I'm thinking of dinnertime at our house in Michigan.
(CHEERING)
BUTTIGIEG: When the dog is barking and the air fryer is beeping and the mac and cheese is boiling over, and it feels like all the political negotiating experience in the world is not enough for me to get our three-year-old son and our three-year-old daughter to just wash their hands and sit at the table. It's the part of our day when politics seems the most distant.
And yet the makeup of our kitchen table, the existence of my family, is just one example of something that was literally impossible as recently as 25 years ago, when an anxious teenager growing up in Indiana wondered if he would ever find belonging in this world.
(APPLAUSE)
BUTTIGIEG: This kind of life went from impossible to possible, from possible to real, from real to almost ordinary in less than half a lifetime.
(APPLAUSE)
BUTTIGIEG: But that didn't just happen. It was brought about through idealism and courage, through organizing and persuasion and storytelling, and yes, through politics, the right kind of politics, the kind of politics that can make an impossible dream into an everyday reality.
I don't presume to know what it's like in your kitchen. But I know as sure as I am standing here that everything in it -- the bills you pay at that table, the shape of the family that sits there, the fears and the dreams that you talk about late into the night there, all of it compels us to demand more from our politics than a rerun of some TV wrestling death match.
(APPLAUSE) BUTTIGIEG: So this November, we get to choose. We get to choose our president. We get to choose our policies. But most of all, we will choose a better politics. A politics that calls us to our better selves and offers us a better every day. That is what Kamala Harris and Tim Walz represents. That is what Democrats represent.
That is what awaits us when America decides to end Trump's politics of darkness once and for all. That is what we choose when we embrace the leaders who are out there building bridges and reject the ones who are out there banning books. This is what we will work for every day to November and beyond. So let's go win this.
Thank you, Democrats.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AL BONNIFIELD, SERVED UNDER GOVERNOR WALZ IN MINNESOTA NATIONAL GUARD: Seeing Governor Walz going to Congress and then becoming governor, I see the guy that was a first sergeant. I see a guy that's full of energy, always busy. And like he says, you get enough time to sleep when you're dead.
MIKE MCLAUGHLIN, MARINE VETERAN AND ADVOCATE: I first met Governor Walz and Congressman Walz when I was transitioning out of the Marine Corps, going back to school. He really wanted to know what the experience was of those that were actually using the GI Bill and how it could be improved. It seemed to be a continuation of focus on improving the lives of veterans.
BONNIFIELD: Governor Walz and our unit always would say his catchphrase was, we'll get it done. And we always did.
MCLAUGHLIN: The way I've seen him carry himself over the years in Congress and the way he works for veterans, there's no excuse making, there's no scapegoating. It's just accomplish the mission.
BONNIFIELD: Governor Walz has been that way and always will be that way.
MCLAUGHLIN: Having Governor Walz on the House Veteran Affairs Committee was instrumental in getting the post 9/11 GI Bill not only introduced, but also passed.
MCLAUGHLIN: When Governor Walz wants change, it'll happen. Back to the Guard. We'll get it done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: Please welcome EGOT winning, multi-platinum artist and activist, John Legend, and Queen of Percussion, Sheila E.
(JOHN LEGEND AND SHEILA E. live performance) [23:05:04]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: John Legend and Sheila E. performing "Let's Go Crazy" from 1984, a song by Minnesota favorite son, Prince. And Dana Bash, another Minnesota favorite son is coming out any second.
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: And that is exactly why we just heard that song, why we see Sheila E. there. I just want to also note that the -- John Legend is the only man on stage there. All -- not just a female percussionist, but that was an amazing guitar solo by -- by a female musician. Really worthy of Prince himself.
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR: Yeah, I mean, I think this is going to be for Tim Walz, who actually somehow straddles the line between, what is he, Gen X or?
BASH: No, I don't think so.
TAPPER: He is -- he's right on the border, right on the cusp.
PHILLIP: Right on the cusp of -- yeah. And the TikTok generation, I think that this kind of sets up a little bit more of a joyful moment. I mean, there was actually some somberness with the video that was more about his military service. And I think Walz has been able to do both things, to speak to an older generation and a younger generation, to have a sense of fun. And I think that this performance is part of that setup.
BASH: And look, that's what you have to do when you're a teacher. You have to be able to straddle.
TAPPER: So, here's another favorite daughter of Minnesota, Amy Klobuchar, who ran for president herself, about to speak. And let's listen in. She's going to introduce her governor, Tim Walz.
SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN): Okay, that was a warm-up act.
[23:10:02]
On behalf of the great state of Minnesota --
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
KLOBUCHAR: -- where purple rains --
(APPLAUSE)
KLOBUCHAR: -- I stand before you in support of our next Vice President Tim Walz.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
KLOBUCHAR: In Minnesota, we trust a coach who turned a team that was zero and 27 into state champions.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
KLOBUCHAR: In Minnesota, we trust a hunter who has stood in a deer stand in 10 degree weather. In Minnesota, we trust a candidate who has made a viral video on how to change a burnt out headlight.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
KLOBUCHAR: And I know we aren't alone. But in Minnesota, we love a dad in plaid.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
KLOBUCHAR: So Tim and I go way back. He taught high school, right down the road from where my husband John grew up. My mother-in-law even brought him and Gwen, a parmesan chicken dinner when their son was born. That's what we do in America. We look out for our neighbors. Tim has been doing that his whole life on the farm and in the factory with his students and his fellow service members. And the truth is that matters.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
KLOBUCHAR: Who better to take on the price of gas than a guy who could pull over to help change your tire? Who better to serve our nation than a guy who has served in uniform? Who better to find common ground than a guy with Midwestern common sense?
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
KLOBUCHAR: A former football coach knows how to level the playing field and a former public school teacher knows how to school the likes of JD Vance.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
KLOBUCHAR: What you've done with your life matters. And what you do with power matters too. Tim has delivered paid leave, school lunches and the biggest tax cut in Minnesota history.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
KLOBUCHAR: A Democrat from a red district in a purple state, Tim has brought Minnesota together and together with Vice President Kamala Harris, I know he will do the same for our nation.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
KLOBUCHAR: America, there is so much that we share, so much that connects us way up north in Minnesota, out of Lake Itasca flows the Mississippi River. It starts small and it grows wider. It flows down to Wisconsin --
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
KLOBUCHAR: -- and to Iowa. It goes down to Illinois --
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
KLOBUCHAR: -- and to Missouri.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
KLOBUCHAR: It goes to Kentucky and Tennessee.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
KLOBUCHAR: It goes to Arkansas, and it goes way down to Mississippi, and then it goes all the way down to New Orleans, Louisiana, where the spirit of our nation's resilience abounds. So let us commit here and now to cross the river of our divides to get to a higher ground, and let us Join together to elect Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
ANNOUNCER: Please welcome Ben Ingman from Minnesota.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
(MUSIC)
[23:15:00]
BENJAMIN INGMAN, FORMER STUDENT OF GOV. TIM WALZ: Tim Walz is the kind of guy you can count on to push you out of a snow bank. I know this because Tim Walz has pushed me out of a snow bank.
(LAUGHS)
INGMAN: I grew up next door to the Walz's in Mankato. Mr. Walz was also my geography teacher and my coach. Not for high school football but for 7th grade basketball and track.
So what was a high school football coach doing, coaching seventh grade basketball and track? Well, there was a kid in the high school who couldn't afford to pay for lunch. And he ran up a lot of debt. And Tim and Gwen decided they'd help pay it off. They started calling around the district to see if there were any positions they could fill to make a little extra money and that's how he wound up coaching us seventh graders.
(APPLAUSE)
INGMAN: That's right. Coach Walz got us excited about what we might achieve together. He believed in us and he helped us believe in each other. And his leadership stuck. That track team went on to win a state title just like the football team.
(APPLAUSE)
INGMAN: That's right. Speaking of which, come on out, Scarlets. Yes!
(MUSIC)
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
INGMAN: You know, all this got me thinking about the kinds of leaders we need. We want the people in charge to be genuine, compassionate and trustworthy. The thing is, there are people in our neighborhoods who fit this description. The kind of people who display quiet leadership by helping kids pay for their lunches. By bringing teams together. To believe in each other. And when we're stuck in the snow, they push us out.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
INGMAN: Well, in my neighborhood, we always wish that people like that would run for office. Well, in my neighborhood, someone like that did run for office.
(APPLAUSE)
INGMAN: And he's going to be a wonderful vice president. Thanks very much. (CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GWEN WALZ, WIFE OF GOVERNOR TIM WALZ: Out here in the wide open spaces, we are reminded of the values we share. A commitment to community, country, and standing up for what's right.
Tim Walz grew up in a small town in Nebraska where he spent summers working the family farm. There were just 24 students in his graduating class.
His dad served during the Korean War and that meant a lot to Tim. So he enlisted right after his 17th birthday and served 24 years in the National Guard. Rising to command sergeant major.
Tim went to college on the G.I. Bill and became a social studies teacher. That's where Tim and I met. We shared a classroom with a divider right down the middle. His classroom was a lot louder than mine but I could hear how engaged his students were.
Tim taught for over 15 years. And he coached football. Helping lead the team to a state championship after zero wins just a few years before. Tim taught them how to believe in themselves. And that we're all in this together.
When one of our students started the school's gay-straight alliance, Tim agreed to serve as faculty adviser because he knew how impactful it would be to have a football coach involved. He inspired his students and he changed lives.
[23:20:00]
NOAH HOBBS, FORMER STUDENT: He's so joyful in everything that he does but I think also standing up for, you know, what he believes to be right. Stands up to bullies.
G. WALZ: Then Tim's students inspired him to run for Congress in Southern Minnesota. Tim spent a lot of time working with Republicans. Fighting to help farmers and expanding veterans' benefits. Whether it was in Congress or as governor, his focus has always been helping working people like those he grew up with. That's why he fought for the largest tax cut in Minnesota state history.
TIM KESS (SP?): But Tim Walz was there for small businesses like ours.
NICOLE SMITH (SP?): With the urging of Governor Walz, we were able to pass the Alex Smith Insulin Affordability Act, and it has saved lives in Minnesota.
G. WALZ: With Tim as Governor, Minnesota is one of the best places to raise a family and one of the best states for business. Tim's a lifelong hunter and gun owner, but after the Sandy Hook School shooting, he knew that we had to do something. So, he's fought for background checks and red flag laws. But of all
the things he's done, Tim loves being a dad. We struggled to have kids, and fertility treatments made it possible. There's a reason our daughter is named Hope. Hope and Gus mean the world to us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Governor Walz making good on a promise to his son and family yesterday by getting them a puppy.
GOV. TIM WALZ, (D)-MN AND VICE PRESIDENT CANDIDATE: Then we're gonna go get some food. Corn dog?
HOPE WALZ, DAUGHTER OF TIM WALZ: I'm vegetarian.
T. WALZ: Turkey then. And then --
H. WALZ: Turkey's meat.
T. WALZ: Not in Minnesota. Turkey's special.
G. WALZ: He's as at home on a farm, a fishing boat, a football field or a factory floor as he is on the floor of Congress. Tim's commitment to service all comes back to the values we grew up with. Love your country, help your neighbor, and fight for what's right, because that's what America is all about.
Two middle class kids, one a daughter of Oakland, California, the other a son of the Nebraska Plains. Only in America is it possible for them together to make it all the way to at the White House.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
ANNOUNCER: Please welcome the Democratic nominee for Vice President, Governor Tim Walz.
(MUSIC)
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
TIM WALZ, (D) GOVERNOR OF MINNESOTA AND VICE PRESIDENT CANDIDATE: Thank you.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
WALZ: Thank you.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE) WALZ: Thank you.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
WALZ: Wow. Well, thank you. Thank you. First of all, to Vice President Harris, thanks for putting your trust in me and for inviting me to be part of this incredible campaign.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
WALZ: And a thank you to President Joe Biden. For four years of strong, historic leadership.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
WALZ: It's the honor of my life to accept your nomination for Vice President of the United States.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
WALZ: We're all here tonight for one beautiful, simple reason. We love this country.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
WALZ: So, thank you to all of you here in Chicago and all of you watching at home tonight. Thank you for your passion. Thank you for your determination. And most of all, thank you for bringing the joy to this fight.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
WALZ: Now, I grew up up in Butte, Nebraska, a town of 400 people. I had 24 kids in my high school class.
[23:25:00]
and none of them went to Yale.
(LAUGHTER)
WALZ: But I'll tell you what. Growing up in a small town like that, you learn how to take care of each other.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
WALZ: That family down the road, they may not think like you do, they may not pray like you do. They may not love like you do. But they're your neighbors --
CROWD: Yeah.
WALZ: -- and you look out for them and they look out for you.
(CHEERING)
WALZ: Everybody belongs and everybody has a responsibility to contribute. For me, it was serving in the Army National Guard.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
WALZ: I joined up two days after my 17th birthday and I proudly wore our nation's uniform for 24 years.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
WALZ: My dad, a Korean War era Army veteran, died of lung cancer a couple years later. He left behind a mountain of medical debt. Thank God for Social Security Survivor benefits.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
WALZ: And thank God for the GI Bill that allowed my dad and me to go to college and millions of other Americans.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
WALZ: Eventually, like the rest of my family, I fell in love with teaching.
(CHEERING)
WALZ: Three out of four of us married teachers. I wound up teaching social studies and coaching football at Mankato West High School. Go Scarlets!
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
WALZ: We ran 44 defense. We played through to the whistle on every single play and we even won a state championship.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
WALZ: Never close the yearbook, people. But it was those players and my students who inspired me to run for Congress. They saw in me what I had hoped to instill in them. A commitment to the common good, an understanding that we're all in this together.
(CHEERING)
WALZ: And the belief that a single person can make a real difference for their neighbors.
(CHEERING)
WALZ: So, there I was, a 40-something high school teacher, with little kids, zero political experience and no money, running in a deep red district. But you know what? Never underestimate a public school teacher. Never.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
WALZ: I represented my neighbors in Congress for 12 years, and I learned an awful lot. I learned how to work across the aisle on issues like growing the rural economies and taking care of veterans. And I learned how to compromise without compromising my values.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
WALZ: Then I came back to serve as governor and we got right to work, making a difference in our neighbors' lives. We cut taxes for the middle-class.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
WALZ: We passed paid family and medical leave. We invested in fighting crime and affordable housing.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
WALZ: We cut the cost of prescription drugs and helped people escape the kind of medical debt that nearly sank my family.
(CHEERING)
WALZ: And we made sure that every kid in our state gets breakfast and lunch every day.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
WALZ: So, while other states were banning books from their schools, we were banishing hunger from ours.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
WALZ: We also protected reproductive freedom, because in Minnesota, we respect our neighbors and the personal choices they make.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
WALZ: And even if we wouldn't make those same choices for ourselves, we've got a golden rule. Mind your own damn business.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
WALZ: And that includes IVF and fertility treatments. And this is personal for Gwen and I.
If you've never experienced the hell that is infertility, I guarantee you, you know somebody who has.
[23:30:01]
And I can remember praying each night for a phone call. The pit in your stomach when the phone had rang, and the absolute agony when we heard the treatments hadn't worked. It took Gwen and I years, but we had access to fertility treatments. And when our daughter was born, we named her Hope.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
WALZ: Hope, Gus, and Gwen, you are my entire world, and I love you.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
WALZ: I'm letting you in on how we started a family, because this is a big part about what this election is about, freedom. When Republicans use the word freedom, they mean that the government should be free to invade your doctor's office.
(BOOING) WALZ: Corporations free to pollute your air and water.
(BOOING)
WALZ: And banks free to take advantage of customers.
(BOOING)
WALZ: But when we, Democrats, talk about freedom, we mean the freedom to make a better life for yourself and the people that you love.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
WALZ: Freedom to make your own healthcare decisions.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
WALZ: And yeah, your kids' freedom to go to school without worrying about being shot dead in the hall.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
WALZ: Look, I know guns. I'm a veteran. I'm a hunter, and I was a better shot than most Republicans in Congress, and I got the trophies to prove it.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
WALZ: But I'm also a dad. I believe in the Second Amendment, but I also believe our first responsibility is to keep our kids safe.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
WALZ: That's what this is all about, the responsibility we have to our kids, to each other and to the future that we're building together in which everyone is free to build the kind of life they want.
(CHEERING)
WALZ: But not everyone has that same sense of responsibility. Some folks just don't understand what it takes to be a good neighbor. Take Donald Trump and JD Vance. Their Project 2025 will make things much, much harder for people who are just trying to live their lives. They spent a lot of time pretending they know nothing about this. But, look, I coached high school football long enough to know, and trust me on this. When somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they're going to use it.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
WALZ: And we know if these guys get back in the White House, they'll start jacking up the costs on the middle class. They'll repeal the Affordable Care Act.
(BOOING)
WALZ: They'll gut Social Security and Medicare
(BOOING)
WALZ: And they will ban abortion across this country, with or without Congress.
(BOOING)
WALZ: Here is the thing. It's an agenda nobody asked for.
(CHEERING)
WALZ: It's an agenda that serves nobody except the richest and the most extreme amongst us.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
WALZ: And it's an agenda that does nothing for our neighbors in need. Is it weird? Absolutely.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
WALZ: Absolutely. But it's also wrong and it's dangerous. It's not just me saying so. It's Trump's own people. They were with him for four years. They're warning us that the next four years will be much, much worse. You know, when I was teaching every year, we'd elect a student body president, and you know what? Those teenagers could teach Donald Trump a hell of a lot about what a leader is.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
WALZ: Leaders don't spend all day insulting people and blaming others. Leaders do the work. So, I don't know about you. I'm ready to turn the page on these guys. So, go ahead. Say it with me, "we're not going back."
(CROWD chanting We're not going back!)
WALZ: We've got something better to offer the American people. It starts with our candidate, Kamala Harris.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
[23:35:00]
From her first day as a prosecutor, as a district attorney, as an attorney general, as a United States Senator and then our Vice President, she has fought on the side of the American people. She has taken on the predators and fraudsters. She has taken down the transnational gangs, and she stood up to powerful corporate interests. She has never hesitated to reach across that aisle if it meant improving your lives, and she has always done it with energy, with passion and with joy.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
WALZ: Folks, we've got a chance to make Kamala Harris the next President of the United States.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
WALZ: But I think we owe it to the American people to tell them exactly what she'd do as President before we ask them for their votes.
So here, this is the part, clip and save it and send it to your undecided relatives so they know. If you're a middle class family or a family trying to get into the middle class, Kamala Harris is going to cut your taxes.
If you're getting squeezed by prescription drug prices, Kamala Harris is going to take on big pharma.
If you're hoping to buy a home, Kamala Harris is going to help make it more affordable.
And no matter who you are, Kamala Harris is going to stand up and fight for your freedom to live the life that you want to lead.
Because that's what we want for ourselves and it's what we want for our neighbors. You know, you might not know it, but I haven't given a lot of big speeches like this. But I have given a lot of pep talks.
So let me finish with this, team.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
WALZ: It's the fourth quarter. We're down a field goal, but we're on offense and we've got the ball. We're driving down the field. And boy, do we have the right team. Kamala Harris is tough. Kamala Harris is experienced and Kamala Harris is ready. Our job, our job, our job, our job for everyone watching is to get in the trenches and do the blocking and tackling.
(CHEERING)
WALZ: One inch at a time. One yard at a time. One phone call at a time. One door knock at a time. One $5 donation at a time.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
WALZ: Look, we got 76 days. That's nothing. There'll be time to sleep when you're dead. We're going to leave it on the field.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
WALZ: That's how we'll keep moving forward. That's how we'll turn the page on Donald Trump. That's how we'll build a country where workers come first. Healthcare and housing are human rights.
And the government stays the hell out of your bedroom.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
WALZ: That's how we make America a place where no child is left hungry, where no community is left behind, where nobody gets told they don't belong. That's how we're going to fight.
And as the next president of the United States always says, when we fight --
(CROWD chanting We win!)
WALZ: When we fight --
(CROWD chanting We win!)
WALZ: When we fight --
(CROWD chanting We win!)
WALZ: Thank you. God bless.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
(MUSIC)
[23:40:00]
TAPPER: Minnesota Governor Tim Walz after greeting his wife, Gwen, the first lady of Minnesota, his wife. Hope giving him a hug. He just gave a hug to his son, Gus, who was in tears during the speech, as was his daughter. You get an idea why Vice President Harris picked him. His fighting style, his down home, plain speaking style, of the Nebraska and Minnesota National Guard, a teacher, an assistant football coach, a six-term congressman from a red district, a Republican district, and a two-term governor of Minnesota. He is taking the fight to Republicans and talking about the need for people to treat each other with dignity and care.
It is a speech that here at the United Center, people are still on their feet all the way in the rafters holding signs that say "Coach Walz." A barn burner of a speech. Pretty amazing that he has never given a speech quite like this and was --
BASH: Yeah.
TAPPER: -- doing the interviews with Vice President Harris. His big confession was he did not know how to use a teleprompter.
BASH: That's right.
TAPPER: That speech for a guy who doesn't know how to use a teleprompter was pretty remarkable.
BASH: He figured it out, figured it out quickly. You said down home. The entire speech was wrapped in language and words that people can relate to if they live in New York City, if they live in the Midwest, if they live in the Pacific Northwest and, you know, on the coast or in the middle of the country.
And that was clearly the goal, that he is a dad, he is a coach, but he is somebody who understands the economic struggles that Americans still have even and especially during these four years that had been run by a democratic administration.
And that was the challenge of the Biden-Harris ticket, trying to get past saying, oh, we have all these accomplishments, and breaking through the fact that people were still feeling a lot of pain. And this was a way to try to turn the corner and make that connection.
I also just have to say, Gus --
TAPPER: Gus, his son, crying and standing up and saying, that's my dad.
BASH: I mean, that is the clip and save moment, what everybody is going to be seeing. You know, if you didn't get moved by that moment --
TAPPER: It was pretty -- there he is. There's the moment right there. Gus applauding.
BASH: I don't even know. I mean, look at that. That's my dad. PHILLIP: Such a sweet moment from him.
TAPPER: What a remarkable moment in just an American life, to see that boy standing up and proudly saying, that's my dad.
PHILLIP: And I think that Tim Walz's entire biography, it reflects the fact that Americans are so many things all at once. I think that that's what he really talks about. He's a gun owner, he's a hunter, he wants more gun control, he's a former teacher, a coach, he was someone in the military. In a way, it's a message to the American people, that you don't have to be forced into one particular box.
And that is probably one of the reasons why he rose so high to the top of the list of the vice-presidential search. He embodies, his family embodies all of the different things that Americans are and that they can be. And he's able to communicate with Americans based on that reality.
That's the most powerful part of how Tim Walz communicates. It is not that he's a great orator or anything like that, but he can talk plainly, just the way that you and I talk to each other regularly. And that has been the most needed thing for Democrats in the last several cycles, frankly.
TAPPER: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, he is a guy who hunts. He is a guy who fishes. He is an assistant football coach. He talks like a guy, Anderson, who hunts and fishes, and is assistant football coach. It works.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: It certainly did in this room. I want to check in with Kaitlan Collins who's on the floor. Kaitlan, I mean, the energy, I was watching in the stands --
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN HOST: Yeah.
COOPER: -- people standing up for all this. What was it like down on the floor?
COLLINS: I mean, Anderson, right now, this is the Minnesota delegation behind me. Clearly, they are still quite excited about their governor and his speech. You see they have cutouts of his head. They have signs that say "Coach Walz," an allusion to his football coaching pass, as you saw his team come out.
I mean, I just want you to know Anderson, every delegation is leaving the floor right now. The Minnesota delegation is not leaving.
[23:45:00]
They're still here, still chanting for Tim Walz as he is exiting the stage, Anderson. And I'll note, you hear that music playing in the background. It is Neil Young's "Rockin in a Free World." That is a song, I'm told, it is Walz's favorite and that he personally asked and was granted use by Neil Young to play it tonight as he exited stage. Notable given Neil Young previously sued the Trump campaign for using this song. But you can see the energy here for a state that has not had a Minnesotan on a major party's presidential ticket in four decades, Anderson.
COOPER: Yeah. Kaitlan Collins, thank you. David Axelrod, I cannot think of another vice-presidential nominee like Tim Waltz, who has given a speech like that, that is as sort of relatable and energetic and plain spoken.
DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah, he has kind of had a central casting. If this gig doesn't work out for him, they can just have like a sitcom called "Coach Waltz."
(LAUGHTER)
I mean, really, he is sort of the portrait of middle America in so many ways. You know, a lot of what we've heard during this convention and the speeches that we heard last night from the Obamas, you know, they really centered Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party in the mainstream of American life.
And Tim Walz speaks to that. I mean, he is the guy that -- he is a guy people can relate to. He is the neighbor who comes over and mows your lawn when you're on vacation, even though you didn't ask him.
And I think that it is very grounding. It is very, very noticeable, this whole convention --
COOPER: Yeah.
AXELROD: -- playing within that theme.
COOPER: It is also interesting, I mean, his record in Minnesota, being able to be elected to Congress from a red district.
AXELROD: He was -- we should note that he was -- he is a moderate candidate for that office. I think he became more progressive as governor of the state. But, you know, it'll be interesting to see how all of this plays out because a lot of these progressive policies, I think, are quite popular. I don't think that -- you know, they're not going to lose because Tim Walz wants to give kids lunch at school.
VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Right.
AXELROD: You know --
JONES: I'm just blown away. First of all, before he comes out, I'm thinking to myself, why did we pick this dude to be our V.P. nominee? You had Shapiro come out. He was powerful. He commanded the stage. Wes Moore, centered, grounded, military bearing. You had Pete. You know, it's incredible.
And then he comes out here and is a cut above the best in our party in a way that you just haven't seen. It is so relatable. It is so real. He creates opportunities for this party that we probably haven't had since Bill Clinton. I think this guy could go anywhere and talk to anybody and get people to take this ticket.
This is a dangerous ticket for the Republican Party because if he can just do this for the next 70 days and you add that to what the Obamas can do, what the Clintons can do, what Kamala can do, I mean, this is an unbelievable ticket.
AXELROD: So, you're in enthused.
JONES: I'm a little bit enthused.
SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I agree with halfway you said, it is a dangerous ticket.
(LAUGHTER)
JONES: David, you guys, how do you see it?
JENNINGS: Well, this guy is -- nobody tonight said anything.
(LAUGHTER)
Nobody tonight said a damn thing. They want you to vote for a ticket based on absolutely no concrete idea about what they would do once they get in office. You said he got more progressive when he got elected governor. So, you're saying every time he gets another office, he gets more and more progressive. I think that's exactly what would happen.
Tonight, you did hear people say, well, we may not agree with them on everything, but at least it'll be joyful as they tax us into oblivion. I think the idea that you could run an entire presidential campaign based on the idea of vote for me to find out what's in it --
COOPER: Wait a minute, Scott. Scott, your candidate has done that his entire political career.
(LAUGHTER)
I mean, Donald Trump does not talk about any policy issue.
JENNINGS: Sure, he does.
COOPER: Yeah, he's going to lower inflation. He's going to eliminate inflation, excuse me, on day one. He's going to take away Obamacare on day one. I mean --
JENNINGS: He's going to be -- he's going to be tougher on immigration.
COOPER: Your argument -- I understand your argument, but it doesn't -- given the candidate who you are backing, it rings a little hollow because there is no flesh on the bone of anything he's talking about.
JENNINGS: First of all, I'm the only person who doesn't sign up to work for candidates, okay?
(LAUGHTER)
I work for CNN. I'm here to analyze the news, that's number one. Number two, I think -- I think what they are telegraphing to the American people is, we know if we told you what we were going to do, it would be monumentally unpopular. Also, on Walz --
JONES: I see it differently --
JENNINGS: -- he has been -- he has been something of a gaffe machine lately. Everybody here knows it.
[23:50:00]
We've glossed over it tonight. The IVF thing alone ought to concern you. He has lied about it. He did it a little bit in his speech again tonight. And the IVF attacks on the Republicans that he has been leading are false. And it has been based on a false story. He has been telling about himself.
COOPER: Audie?
AUDIE CORNISH, CNN HOST AND CORRESPONDENT, PODCAST HOST: The problem is certainly on that conversation for Republicans. You don't want to be talking about fertility treatments the way that the party has been.
JENNINGS: Who in the party?
CORNISH: I think it's alienated.
JENNINGS: Donald Trump supports IVF. The Republican Party supports IVF.
CORNISH: But you recall it is an issue because there was a state that actually --
JENNINGS: And what happened? The Republican Party --
CORNISH: -- had a ruling. Yeah. I don't -- it is not me. The gender gap exists for a reason. I think it's just something to consider. When Oprah gets up and makes a child lady joke, it means that there has been a message that has been sent.
COOPER: Cat lady.
CORNISH: Oh, sorry, cat lady. Sorry, cat lady. That means a message has been sent that it is not dialed back yet. And to your point --
AXELROD: So, let's --
CORNISH: I don't know. It sounds like what you're saying is that J.D. Vance, etcetera, they've done such a wonderful job doing a policy heavy road trip around the country that people are going to look at this and somehow hold it to a similar bar. That's not what's happening.
COOPER: We haven't heard from John King. I want to bring him in. John?
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, the speech by Governor Walz just, to me, he personifies how Kamala Harris has broken from Joe Biden on a very big issue: How to run against Donald Trump. Joe Biden is all darkness and all threat, all fear against Donald Trump. Kamala Harris, the joy, the talk, but also just a different message. You heard the snippet that was played in the introduction. Middle-class girl, daughter of immigrants from the Bay Area in California, and a guy from the prairie in Nebraska who's now governor of Midwestern state.
Economic populism. Donald Trump has his own brand of populism. This was -- Bill Clinton was here tonight. I covered his campaign in '92, and they said he couldn't win an election. He survived character crises in the primaries, and then won a very strange election with Ross Perot in the third party, running as the candidate of the forgotten middle class.
Scott says they have no policy agenda. He's right, they're going to have to fill it out. They're going to have to say how they're going to pay for it. But they're talking about, you know, the guns, the gun issue, not popular with Republicans, but popular in the suburbs. Giving kids lunches and breakfast at school, protecting health care, reproductive rights, those are popular issues. Those are issues on which Democrats are in the majority.
But it's not just the issues, it's the tone. It's a -- it's a -- let's take the case to Donald Trump and J.D. Vance who has a very compelling beginning, but the Democrats are going to say that he became buddies with the tech billionaires out in Silicon Valley, and that we are the two middle-class people who should be your leaders at this time of economic uncertainty. Will it work? That's why we've got 76 days to go.
But the switch in how the party is running against Donald Trump is striking, and Kamala Harris, ignoring what Washington said, as Vance said about Josh Shapiro or maybe Senator Kelly, and going with this guy from the Midwest who nobody knows but now everybody is going to want to get to know, is proof of that. She just wants to run a very different campaign against Trump. Now, we see if it works.
AXELROD: Yeah. Now, look, I'm -- well, John said a lot of what I was going to say but, you know, abortion right is a -- is a very specific issue. They're running to protect abortion rights.
Republican ticket is not going to protect abortion rights. They're running to guarantee health care, access to health care through the Affordable Care Act. Republicans would repeal the Affordable Care Act, or least that's what's Trump said in this campaign. He hasn't said it lately because someone must have told him not to say it again. But he tried to do it. He'll probably try to do it again.
And on and on, there are issues that are very distinct between the two. On the gun issue, gun safety laws are, in fact, popular in this country. So, there will be a clash of ideas in this race, Scott, and you can call these ideas radical, liberal, progressive. But when you get under the hood, they're very popular, they're mainstream, and that's a problem for the Republican Party right now. This was a problem for the Republican Party in 2022 as well. JENNINGS: I -- there's one other issue, if I might just -- something he does that is so weird to me. The constant attacks on J.D. Vance for going to Yale. I don't understand this. I've heard Walz proclaim to be a small-town guy who wants everybody to get an education and succeed. And he spends a fair amount of time attacking J.D. Vance, who grew up poor, worked hard to get an education, and rise above his station in life. And he has used it as a punchline on the campaign trail.
And I don't understand what he's trying to communicate to every small- town poor kid out there saying, if you choose to work hard and go to an Ivy League school, you somehow abandon your hometown. I don't get it.
[23:55:00]
JONES: Speaking as one of those small-town kids who actually went to Yale --
JENNINGS: Yes.
JONES: -- I do take exception to that. I think you are correct on that.
JENNINGS: Yeah.
JONES: But I think that you are missing something. I just want to suggest a couple of things. One is you are correct that there's a lack of specificity about how to pay for this stuff, and it does leave the door open for some fear or fear mongering about how far is this going to go, are we going to have more inflation, what have Democrats learned. I think all that is correct.
But I think that -- that you have to trust the pilot of the plane in the first place. And the problem right now is that Donald Trump is not a trustworthy pilot. And what these guys are winning, they're winning the babysitter contest. Who do you want, whose values do you want to be in charge of the plane? Before we get where we're going. And I think you're getting smoked on that. And I think that's --
JENNINGS: Van --
JONES: How do you see it?
JENNINGS: My brother --
JONES: Yes, yes.
JENNINGS: My brother, I have to tell you --
JONES: Please.
JENNINGS: -- the current pilot of the plane is Kamala Harris. Donald Trump is not the pilot of the plane. She's right here!
JONES: She's the vice president. She's a co-pilot. CORNISH: People have talked about decency and tone. You know, the way you came at me about the fertility thing, this is the energy that a lot of people on stage were actually saying, hey, what if we just take a beat? Hey, what if we don't talk to each other in that way? And I do think that is a meaningful request to the American people.
COOPER: Just ahead, we're getting new reactions to the Democrats' message tonight and the Governor Walz's speech. Stay with us. You're watching CNN's special coverage of the Democratic National Convention. We'll be right back.
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