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Moments Away, Night Three Of DNC Kicks Off In Chicago; CNN Exclusive, Oprah Winfrey Set To Be Part Of DNC Tonight; Tonight, V.P. Nominee Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) Headlines DNC Night Three; Democratic National Convention. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired August 21, 2024 - 18:00   ET

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

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the hub of the heartland, a son of the Midwest is getting his biggest stage yet, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, aiming to show voters who he is and why he's Kamala Harris' choice for vice president.

GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN), U.S. VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: When we fight.

CROWD: We win.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tonight in Chicago, the Harris-Walz ticket puts forward its vision for America. One of the most consequential and tradition-shattering presidential contests ever entering an urgent new phase with these high-profile speakers in the spotlight, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, former President Bill Clinton, and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz accepting his nomination.

Night three of the Democratic National Convention begins on CNN right now.

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WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Hello again from Chicago, where Democrats are facing yet another defining moment as the third night of their convention is about to get underway this hour. In the arena tonight, Vice Presidential Nominee Tim Walz will introduce himself to the nation and be tested like never before.

Welcome to this special edition of The Situation Room. I'm Wolf Blitzer. We're right near the convention floor along with Erin Burnett. She's in the CNN skybox above the convention hall. Erin, we're standing by for another round of prominent Democrats to take the stage, but this is clearly going to be Tim Walz's night.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: That's right, Wolf, and you know, it's only been two weeks, I believe 15 days, since the nation all heard about the Minnesota governor and heard that he was going to be Kamala Harris's running mate. And the truth is many Americans still do not know a lot about him. So he's going to try to fill some of those blanks in tonight. We're told he'll highlight his personal biography. He'll talk about being a teacher, a congressman, governor, and of course, football coach. Walz is expected to describe how his Midwestern values helped shape his service in the National Guard. He is working to counter Republican attacks on his military record.

And we are getting, Wolf, as well, a preview of another crucial speech tonight, and that is the former president, Bill Clinton. An aide says that he wants his speech to match. They're using the word joy that we've heard so much from Democrats, that they want to be sort of a three letter code name for their Harris-Walz ticket. He wants to focus on that. And we're going to hear a lot more of that through the night tonight, Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, we certainly will, Erin. Our political team is covering all of this for us, including Jeff Zeleny and his post just off the stage, and John Berman and Kaitlan Collins, they are in the middle of the action on the convention floor.

I want to go to Kaitlan Collins first. Kaitlan, you're there with Minnesota delegates as they get ready to cheer on their own governor.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, Wolf. I can tell you we've been hanging out with the Minnesota delegation a lot this week and they are probably one of the most excited here on the floor. Of course, it is their home state governor, Tim Walz, who is on that ticket, who will be speaking on that stage tonight. We've been speaking with a lot of the delegates.

And I will tell you, I am joined now by Isaac Winkler, who is the youngest delegate here, not just for Minnesota, for all the delegates. He is 17 years old. He turns 18, just three days before the 2024 election. Isaac, obviously your first convention, how's it been being a delegate so far?

ISAAC WINKLER, YOUNGEST DELEGATE AT CONVENTION: It's been super exciting. I mean, getting to listen to the great speakers of our time down at the convention floor has been just a treat. And then I'm sitting right behind the senators for Minnesota, so I've been able to interact with Amy Klobuchar, and that's just been an incredibly amazing experience.

COLLINS: And how does it feel seeing Governor Tim Walz up there tonight?

WINKLER: Well, we love our governor. Everyone's saying that he is what he presents himself as, and I can't agree more with that. I mean, he's had a history of being a teacher, and that's why we have free lunches for students in Minnesota.

[18:05:01]

That's an issue he cared about, and that's why we have it. And that's the kind of person he is, taking his own personal experience and really using that to help drive the policies that he's implementing. COLLINS: Isaac Winkler, thank you very much. And of course, Wolf, as we were standing here in the Minnesota delegation, they haven't had a Minnesotan on a major party's presidential ticket in four decades. So, they are understandably excited about what they're going to be seeing tonight.

And I will note, Wolf, if you were listening closely to President Obama's speech last night, he was talking about Governor Walz and just who he is. And he was talking about the flannel shirts that he wears. And he was saying those are not flannel shirts that any political consultant urged him to wear to be more relatable. Those are just the shirts that he owns. His wife shook her head and said, yes.

Looking around the delegation tonight, I see several Minnesota delegates wearing flannel shirts like the one that you're seeing now. I've counted about five of them so far. So, obviously, they are channeling his, of course, Minnesotan, his flannel shirts.

What I'm hearing that we're going to hear from Governor Walz on stage tonight is a lot about his bio. He is going to be seeking to tell people not here in the Minnesota delegation who know very well what his story is from Mankato, Minnesota, and, of course, being born initially in Nebraska. He is going to be introducing that to the world, though, and telling that story to the world, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. Thanks very much, Kaitlan. I appreciate it.

I want to go to CNN's M.J. Lee right now. You're also there on the floor, M.J. And I understand you have some new information about Governor Tim Walz's speech and how he's actually preparing for it.

M.J. LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf. This is an acceptance speech that Governor Walz has been working on since he got named running mate to Vice President Kamala Harris. He has been writing some sections on his own, certainly getting input from advisers and others. And, really, in the final stages, I am told that the process has been about putting his own spin on the language. I'm told by one senior adviser that it has been very important to the governor that the speech feel true to him, so that he feels like he is authentically telling the story that he wants to tell.

The stakes, of course, are incredibly high in large part because most Americans don't know very much about Tim Walz. And tonight is likely going to be one of the best opportunities for him to speak to a big audience and really tell that story about himself to Americans as they are really trying to define this ticket. And as we know, and as we have been talking about, he is going to be leaning heavily on his biography.

And I should note, just for color, we know that the governor has been learning to use the teleprompter, which is something that he hasn't been using as governor. I am told that that remains a work in progress. They have been recently trying to fine tune and play around with finding the exact, right font size for the teleprompter for the governor, Wolf.

BLITZER: M.J. Lee, you're up in the skybox, high above the convention floor. Thank you very much. We'll get back to you.

Kasie Hunt and Chris Wallace are with us right now. Kasie, Governor Tim Walz, relatively unknown to most of the people out there who will be watching the speech tonight, what do you think he needs to do to introduce himself?

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, a significant moment for him since so many people really have never had a chance to hear from him before. And, you know, I think that one of the things that Walz can do and one of the reasons I think that Harris chose him and from talking to Democrats about how she went through that is that he does have an authentic way of speaking to some of the voters that, quite frankly, Democrats have lost in recent elections, rural voters, white working class voters. He has authentic experiences on, you know, working on the farm, as being part of the National Guard, as a public school teacher.

And that is something -- it's a profile that kind of expands beyond where Democrats have seen the most growth among their voter shares. Suburban -- if they'd gone with Josh Shapiro, for example, he cuts a much more suburban, well-educated profile.

So, I'm interested to see how he leans into that. I thought the joke that President Obama seemed to make at his expense last night, where he said, ah, those flannel shirts he has, they've seen some stuff. That clearly is part of this as well.

And you started to see those hats appear, camouflage hats, like the one that he was wearing, that he -- where he took that phone call from Kamala Harris accepting the nomination. I think it all -- you know, it adds up to a lot of opportunity. There's also, of course, some risk. He's never done this before.

CHRIS WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: You know, it's interesting, Wolf, the Republicans really seem to be going after and targeting Tim Walz. You know, you've had J.D. Vance, his counterpart as a vice presidential nominee on the Republican side, talking about the National Guard and whether he went into war or not. There's been the question in the 90s his DUI arrest, and even, I must say, I thought pretty offensively, the question of the insemination of his wife, how they had their children. It wasn't IVF, it was some other thing.

But what it really is a tell to me that the Republicans are worried about Tim Walz, and that Tim Walz could give this Democratic ticket, Kamala Harris, and some credibility with exactly, as Kasie says, some voter groups that may be the Democrats might be in trouble with, Middle America, you know, to writ large, and some of those swing voters, that's 6 percent of the seven swing states.

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So, I think Republicans view him as a threat, which means for Democrats, he's a real opportunity. And if he hits it out of the park tonight, or just as well, just as credibly, it could add a lot of credibility to the Democratic ticket going forward. HUNT: I think also, Wolf, you've seen, as he -- he didn't admit it in the moment, but we learned after he was selected that he was openly campaigning to be the vice presidential selection for Kamala Harris. And some of those interviews he gave, using the word weird in particular, they stuck. It seemed like he does have the possibility to be an effective messenger for them in that way.

BLITZER: Absolutely right. All right, guys, stand by. There's a lot more. We're counting down to the biggest speech of Governor Tim Walz's political career when he accepts the vice presidential nomination later tonight.

And the stage is also set for major stars to perform tonight, including music from Stevie Wonder and John Legend. It's all coming up live right here on CNN. And we'll be right back.

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BURNETT: All right. The Democratic national convention is minutes away from kicking off the third night here in Chicago. The party is about to lend its biggest stage to its newest star, the vice presidential nominee Tim Walz. But there are a lot of marquee speeches tonight, including remarks from Republicans now supporting Kamala Harris, who have become an important part of this convention as the Democrats are trying to spread a big tent strategy.

John Berman is down on the floor with two of those Republicans, familiar to many watching, former Georgia Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan and former Trump National Security Official Olivia Troye. John?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: I checked with both of them. This is their first Democratic Convention ever. And, Lieutenant Governor, let me start with you, because we're standing right in front of the Georgia delegation. And I have to believe that at some point, you ran against a lot of the people back here.

GEOFF DUNCAN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Actually, there's a lot of senators here. Gloria Butler, the current minority leader, Steve Henson, the former minority leader, Harold Jones. There's a lot of Democratic senators that we work with, and you know what, we're giving hugs and high fives, not because of tonight, but just because we're good friends.

BERMAN: What's it feel like for you to be here at a Democratic convention waiting to speak in an hour or so?

DUNCAN: I'm here as an American. I'm not here as a Republican or a Democrat. I'm here as an American that has a story to tell. I know Donald Trump is the wrong fit for this country for a number of reasons, and I'm willing to talk to the Republicans that are going to be watching tonight, the independents, that's my message, it's directly to them.

BERMAN: So the lieutenant governor was saying the Republicans who are watching tonight in the Independence, Olivia. Who are you speaking to? How many of them are out there and how do you think you can best reach them?

OLIVIA TROYE, FORMER MIKE PENCE ADVISOR: Honestly, I think there are a lot of them out there because I'm hearing from them. Even the fact that they're seeing that, you know, Geoff Duncan speaking, I'm speaking tonight, and Adam Kinzinger speaking this week, they watched Stephanie Grisham. I'm getting notes from people saying, hey, really glad to see this is happening. Keep going. You know, we are Republicans. We're with you and we want change. We want change for our own party and this is the way forward and we agree with that.

And so I think that's hopeful. I think that's a positive sign. And it's also, I think, you know, we're here in the spirit of bipartisanship in many ways, right? Here we are as Republicans talking at a Democratic Convention and where, you know, it's been very welcoming and supportive, understanding that, you know, this is a hard space to be in. At times it's been very lonely, especially being a Trump critic. But, you know, we're just here trying to make a difference.

BERMAN: Nervous at all?

TROYE: Very.

BERMAN: There are only a few thousand people in the stadium, you know, and tens of millions watching. So, Lieutenant Governor, Olivia Troye, thanks so much for being with us. Good luck.

DUNCAN: Thank you.

BERMAN: Erin?

BURNETT: All right. You know, David Urban, it's interesting, you know, John having that conversation, Geoff Duncan, lieutenant governor of Georgia, former, Olivia Troy, worked in the Trump administration, Stephanie Grisham worked in the Trump administration, Adam Kinzinger was a major rising star in the Republican Party. They're all speaking here in support of Kamala Harris. Does that move the needle for Republicans -- I mean, fine. I know they're talking about independents, but I mean, Republicans who voted for Nikki Haley, who are -- you know, how big is the group of persuadables for people like Olivia and Geoff?

DAVID URBAN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: So, my analysis is my take, a hot take on it is, no, it doesn't move the needle because most of those people are in a household names. But Geoff Duncan may be persuasive in the state of Georgia. He's a lieutenant governor, he got elected, he's a statewide office holder, he's a name brand, knows a lot of people in and around Atlanta and around Georgia. So, yes, Geoff Duncan may make a difference in the state of Georgia. He may give people permission to vote for Kamala Harris, who may be on the fence.

Olivia Troye, Stephanie Grisham, Adam Kinzinger, just kind of this white noise. I think Geoff Duncan's the only guy that moves a needle. No disrespect to anybody else. I just don't think they're that relevant in the greater scheme.

BURNETT: How big is the sea of persuadables?

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's tiny, but it doesn't take much. If you have a Pennsylvania won by 80,000 votes, a Georgia won by 11,000 votes, a Wisconsin won by 20,000 votes, an Arizona won by 10,000 votes, this doesn't have to be a giant sea of persuadables.

URBAN: That's why Georgia, I think --

KING: Yes. Kamala Harris has to turn out the Democratic base. You see in all the polling, huge gains with African-American voters, substantial gains, not enough yet, with younger voters. But she's making the key there. Then the next thing is it went in the suburbs. That's where you find the people. I don't know if Lieutenant Governor Duncan can speak to them. They might recognize Congressman Kinzinger if they watched the January 6th hearings where he had such a big high- profile role.

The others are lesser players, but they're still people if you follow politics and you're watching cable television. Again, are they going to sway thousands of voters? No. But if they sway 10 or 12, that helps. Math matters.

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BURNETT: And they're making January 6th a core part of tonight, too.

JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Correct. We're going to have two videos tonight about January 6th. One is about the big lie, and the next election denial. But I just want to go beyond tonight, because, yes, they're making these speeches tonight. Let's hear them. Let's see how persuasive they are. Who's watching tonight? Are independents watching, swing voters watching? But they're not going to stop tonight. Geoff Duncan, Olivia Troye, Liz Cheney, these never Trump Republicans are going to be campaigning throughout the fall in battleground states.

So, this message will continue. I don't think whether or not it persuades people rises and falls on tonight.

BURNETT: And how big of a focus is it right now for the Harris campaign to try to win over that group of people? And I kind of shorthanded to say the 20 percent of stalwarts who continued to vote for Nikki Haley well after she got out of the race who continued to do that, right? Many of them are going to vote for Trump, but some, who knows? Insignificant or significant portion of them may be who this is targeted at. How important is it for the campaign?

ASHLEY ALLISON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It's incredibly important. You know, in 2020 Joe Biden, we had Republicans for Biden. And in Arizona, right, the McCains, Cindy McCain came out and endorsed Joe Biden. That matters in a state, especially with a Kari Lake on the ballot, who is an election denier, lost already, is hopefully going to lose again this time. That margin of voters is super important. The reason why focusing on January 6 tonight is important is because a lot of voters said I'm done with Donald Trump after that, it was a bridge too far. And it has also been almost four years since that. And so while you don't forget a day like that, it can become a little lesser prominent memory. And so bringing it back to the forefront tonight, reminding people of the things he said, reminding them of the things he didn't do on that day, could actually reinvigorate those voters.

URBAN: To John's point about those small numbers, right, I saw this Betty Johnson video this afternoon of him interviewing some man on the street in the South Side of Chicago, African-American men, right? Man by man by man in a strip mall saying I'm voting for Trump. Kamala Harris has a problem with the African-American men in the city of Philadelphia, in Pittsburgh, in Pennsylvania. Those are the folks I think she should be targeting.

Adam Kinzinger is not going to win people in Pennsylvania. You need to figure out how to get those guys because we're not going to -- you know, Trump's not going to win 50 percent. But if we went 25 percent African-American men, that's a big problem.

KING: There's no data that suggests that's possible right now, none. Wait and see is absolutely right. We have 11 --

BURNETT: What do you see on that, that group had been going away from Biden, but that --

KING: We don't have enough data yet to see it. You see it in this hall African-American women, huge advantage. We've talked about soccer moms in the past, security moms in the past, or white, non college voters for Trump in the past. I think the conversation, if Kamala Harris is to put together a winning campaign, we're going to be talking about African-American women, and not only how they voted, but how they helped organize in their communities.

But to the point about Pennsylvania, I just want to show you something, if I can bring this into the conversation a little bit. That's what she got in the primary, 158,000 votes in Pennsylvania, a month after dropping out of the race, right? Donald Trump lost the state by 80,000. So, we're having this conversation, can Harris get them? It's more important. Trump needs them. So, every one of them you keep away from Trump. There's addition and subtraction in politics.

And so you come over here. Let me just turn this off. Give me one second here. And you come over here. You come close to Philadelphia, Chester County, she gets 24 percent. That's an ex-urban county as you move past the suburbs, 24 percent. That's 9,000 votes. You move in Delaware County, 8,000 votes. You come up here to Montgomery County, 12,000 votes.

So, can Kamala Harris get all of them? I've spoken, some of them are Republicans.

URBAN: Montgomery County is going to be tough. KING: Right. Some of them are Republican by DNA, and they don't like Trump, but they're going to come home. But others are open to her. And every one she gets is taking away from Trump. It's like two votes, because you're taking one away from him.

BURNETT: On both sides of the ledger.

All right, I'll pause for a moment. We're going to be back with much more of our special coverage of the Democratic National Convention live from Chicago.

Tonight, big night, please stay with us. Bill Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Vice Presidential Nominee Tim Walz, and others coming up tonight.

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BLITZER: Welcome back to our special live coverage. This is the DNC on CNN. Night three is about to officially gavel in here in Chicago as we count down to the main event tonight, Tim Walz's acceptance speech for the vice presidential nomination.

We're also getting new details about another major speech coming up later tonight, a speech from the former president of the United States, Bill Clinton.

CNN's M.J. Lee has more for us on this. What are you learning M.J.? Wolf, we have just gotten the first excerpts of the former president's speech tonight. Here are two things that he will say. For one, in 2024, he'll say, we have a clear choice. We the people versus me, myself and I. And then he will say this about the presidency, quote, even on the bad days, you can still make something good happen. Kamala Harris is the only candidate in this race with the vision, the experience, the temperament, the will, and, yes, the sheer joy to do that on good and bad days to be our voice.

That reference, Wolf, to sheer joy is really interesting, because a Clinton aide, excuse me, that I had talked to said that he very much recognizes the enthusiasm and the energy that Kamala Harris has brought to the Democratic Party, and that he very much wanted this to be a speech that was fitting for that moment. I should also note he has done this many times before, a Clinton aide telling us that this will be his 13th time speaking at the Democratic National Convention. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right. M.J., thank you very much.

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I want to go to see this. Kaitlan Collins, she's on the convention floor for us right now and joined by a special guest from Governor Walz's home state of Minnesota. We're talking about Senator Amy Klobuchar. Go ahead, Kaitlan.

COLLINS: Yes, Wolf. And she will be part of the process nominating him as the vice president on the ticket, officially the vice presidential candidate, I should say, at least, Senator Klobuchar. I was just noting, you know, it's been four decades since Minnesota has had someone, a Minnesotan on a major party's presidential ticket. Obviously, Tim Walz is going to be introducing himself to the country tonight. How critical is it for him to, you know, kind of drive home his story?

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN): Well, not everyone knows him, and I think people that have gotten to know him love him. I was telling you right before we started here, maybe they don't know him because he was actually doing his job as governor. And he is a humble guy, comes from a humble background. I was thinking last night when Michelle Obama talked about not everyone is blessed with generational wealth and couldn't go bankrupt over and over again. This is a guy that came from a rural background, little town, grew up on a farm, and then becomes a teacher, joins the National Guard for 24 years, and then runs for Congress and governor. That's basically he had a life and worked hard before he served.

COLLINS: Have you spoken to him? How's he feeling about getting on that stage tonight, following the Obamas, following former President Bill Clinton?

KLOBUCHAR: I talked to him today. He was in amazing spirits, gave an impromptu speech at a women's lunch with absolutely no notes and was having a lot of fun.

COLLINS: Can we talk about your delegation, because they are wearing Black and red flannel-checked shirts. They're wearing camouflage hats. I mean, they've got two feet size Tim Walz's heads. A lot of pride from this delegation, a lot of excitement it seems like to have this position on the floor and to have their governor up on the stage.

KLOBUCHAR: Yes, they're very excited. They got here early, got their seats. You notice we're the only one with covered seat covers with our names. We are very excited. The plaid shirts, it's really Minnesota, Paul Bunyan. It was one of the themes of One Minnesota, that we were going to cross the river of our divides and bring people together. So, that plaid is about Minnesota, especially Northern Minnesota, but it is also a theme of our campaigns, which is, we're all one.

COLLINS: Senator Amy Klobuchar, thank you for that. You've got a busy job tonight. Wolf, back to you.

BLITZER: All right, Kaitlan. Thanks very much. Thank the senator for us as well.

I want to go back to Erin right now. I understand, Erin, you've got some news.

BURNETT: Yes, we do, Wolf. And Jamie Gangel, sitting next to me, has some news in terms of who's speaking tonight. We have a new addition.

GANGEL: We do. So we have Stevie Wonder singing tonight. We have John Legend. You've heard all the excitement on the floor. Get ready, Oprah Winfrey, we have a surprise guest tonight. Oprah Winfrey will be part of the program tonight. She will be talking about the Harris-Walz ticket.

And, you know, she has this history in politics with the Obamas, with Biden, and I think that the energy in here is going to be out of sight.

URBAN: Wait, do we get a free car?

GANGEL: Only if --

URBAN: I'm just wondering, because now I'm really going to be excited.

BURNETT: So can I ask you, because you were talking about just the palpable enthusiasm and energy of black women in this room and as being so central core to the Harris campaign, and yet Oprah obviously goes so much broader than that, right, touching every demographic that we're talking about, suburban white voters. So, what's the impact of this?

KING: The impact is, number one, you keep that energy going. Enthusiasm matters in close races. Number two, I think the Obamas last night, Oprah Winfrey tonight, forget black. America loves them. America likes them. Donald Trump mispronounces her name, says is she Indian or is she black, he's trying to disqualify her. They're saying, what? What's the problem here? You like us. In Oprah's case, you invited me into your home every day for years. We're good here.

BURNETT: Yes. All right, I'll pause for a moment. With that development, Oprah will be speaking tonight. Our Jamie Gangel reporting as we are digging for more information about Governor Walz's speech, which will be the keynote this night.

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(NATIONAL ANTHEM LED BY JESS DAVIS)

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BLITZER: Beautiful rendition of the National Anthem, Jess Davis, a school teacher. And we're told, Kasie, she also sang the National Anthem at Governor Walz's inauguration in Minnesota. So, you know, no matter how many times I hear our National Anthem, I still get goose bumps.

HUNT: I do too. And, you know, the performances that they've done for the first night with the choir that sang, they've all been very touching, as, you know, candidly the sort of level of performance at this convention as a whole, Wolf, I also think it's a pretty significant storyline here. I mean, with Jamie's reporting about Oprah Winfrey, I have to say watching the roll call last night, it was a pretty stark, frankly, contrast with how they did it at the Republican National Convention. It felt like they were having a big party here, and that seems likely to continue tonight.

And I think my question is, how much does that break through in ways that aren't traditional because that's something I think the Democrats are really trying to do?

WALLACE: I'll tell you, one of the ways it plays, it breaks through, is the ratings, and they just came in for the second night of the convention.

BLITZER: The T.V. ratings?

WALLACE: Yes. More than 20 million people watched. And by comparison, 14 million plus watched the Republican Convention on the second night. So, people are watching this convention, even though it's going late. Barack Obama didn't come on until after 11:00 in the east. But you talk about the performances at this convention. One of the joys of being here during the day has been that we heard John Legend, who's going to be performing later tonight. He was doing Prince. Let's go crazy. You might say, why is he doing Prince? Because Prince was a Minnesota artist, and Tim Walz is the governor of Minnesota. Stevie Wonder, his performance with singers, and, I mean, with dancers, and that's going to be great. And Maren Morris, the great country music star, was also performing.

I want to go back to Oprah for a minute, though, because, you know, a lot of people may forget the role she played in the 2008 campaign when she came out for Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton. And that had a tremendous, legitimizing effect that, you know, Oprah, this kind of mainstream figure in America, and as John King said, somebody that millions of Americans invited into their home every afternoon, for her to come out and to endorse Barack Obama and really the campaign with the Obamas in Iowa and the Carolinas and across the country, had an enormous multiplying effect for Barack Obama. And I think it's a big deal that she's going to come out tonight and endorse the Harris-Walz ticket.

HUNT: And to that point, Wolf, I mean, I think one of the things that has probably been a little tough for the Bidens to take in but has been very real part of this is what you heard from Michelle Obama last night, where she talked about how there's now hope where there wasn't hope before, this kind of suggestion that this is a different situation than what the Bidens had. And part of that is what you see with an Oprah Winfrey coming to the table here.

And there have been these comparisons about Harris now and Barack Obama then. I mean, he was a cultural phenomenon in 2008. He changed the electoral map, right, that sort of landslide victory that he had there. I have sort of found that the 2012 Obama re-elect so far feels more similar to me in covering Harris events so far. But perhaps with this convention, we are seeing some turns toward kind of a cultural situation and movement that is different from a more traditional political campaign.

WALLACE: There's been a lot of talk about trying to turn this from a campaign into a movement. I have to say at this point, I think it's kind of wishful thinking. You can't manufacture a movement. It has to happen organically. It certainly happened with Barack Obama in 2008. You know, their hope, obviously, is that the support for Kamala Harris and the opposition to Donald Trump will turn into a movement. And one of the things that Bill Clinton's going to be talking tonight is to let's turn the page on Donald Trump and, you know, this idea not of not going back, but actually moving forward. But we'll see whether it becomes a movement or not. You can't manufacture it.

BLITZER: And, Kasie, that Bill Clinton speech tonight, setting the stage for Governor Tim Walz's vice presidential acceptance speech, which will follow, I suspect, that's going to be really, really an exciting moment for all these Democrats who have gathered in here.

HUNT: For sure. And, look, I think these two speeches pair together. We touched on this a little bit earlier in the broadcast. But in terms of the Democratic Party looking to wrap in and invite in more especially white working class voters who feel like they have been left behind by the economy.

[18:45:12]

Those -- they paired together very well in that because people do remember how good the economy was under Bill Clinton and Tim Walz's background lends itself to that.

WALLACE: You know, it's interesting, we talk about the fact that this is -- that Bill Clinton has spoken at 12 Democratic conventions. I remember in 2012 he spoke at the Barack Obama reelect convention in Charlotte and gave a long speech, and the point of it was to explain the legitimacy and reasons to reelect Barack Obama.

And a lot of people said afterwards, he made a better case for Barack Obama then Barack Obama made for himself.

HUNT: The explainer in chief.

BLITZER: We expect he's going to make a strong case for this Democratic ticket tonight.

Everybody, standby.

Coming up, the party is just getting underway in Chicago for night three of the Democratic National Convention.

Stay tuned for celebrity sightings, prime time speeches, and tonight's main event, Governor Tim Walz accepting the nomination for vice president of the United States.

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[18:50:18]

BURNETT: Welcome back to the DNC here in Chicago.

We are underway right now on night number three. It is the biggest stage yet for Tim Walz, the Minnesota governor who has now been elevated 15 days ago to the Democratic ticket by Kamala Harris.

And we've got new reporting on a significant development in the presidential race. Phil Mattingly has that on the campaign trail -- Phil.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CHIEF DOMESTIC CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Erin Burnett. I am here in Asheboro, North Carolina. It's the third stop in a weeklong blitz of counterprogramming in the swing states for the former president and his running mate, J.D. Vance. The most consequential moment of this week, the Trump campaign may not involve Trump directly at all, but it will take place in Arizona on Friday where Trump will be. And that is that Robert F. Kennedy right now and the Trump campaign are in intensive discussions about a potential endorsement.

It is clearly been heading this way over the course of the last couple of weeks. The running mate of RFK Jr., Nicole Shanahan, mentioned this as a distinct possibility yesterday on a podcast. But we're told behind the scenes with our colleagues, Kristen Holmes, Alayna Treene, leading the way for our reporting on this, is there have been discussions for several months really picking up in earnest to the course of the last five or six weeks.

Among those pushing for this endorsement and those conversation between the campaigns, Donald Trump Jr., the president's son who has been very concerned about the possibility of RFK siphoning off Trump's voters, donors as well. (INAUDIBLE) has been pushing for this.

What we know at this point when we look at surveys, it is clear most of those voters would go to Trump. They recognize that, and now, they are trying to close in on that endorsement. On Friday, they could end up at the same place in Arizona, but the former president and RFK Jr. will be there on Friday.

BURNETT: Obviously important as Trump is trying to regain some of the momentum here that clearly had turned around in favor of Harris in these recent weeks since the race was so dramatically changed.

Phil Mattingly, thank you.

Jeff Zeleny here in the DNC convention hall and has more details about the Minnesota governors speech, which will be the keynote of the night, Tim Walz's address.

What are you learning, Jeff?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erin, we do know this is former President Bill Clinton's 13th time addressing the Democratic national convention. He did so in Chicago, in the United Center back in 1996. This is Governor Tim Walz's first time giving a major speech like this.

But I am told there are some complements between the two speeches, between the two messages here, and that is to address Trump country. It is one of the central reasons that Governor Tim Walz from Minnesota was picked. We're going to hear a lot about his upbringing in Nebraska actually as well.

And Bill Clinton, of course, back when he won in '92 and '96, he won many swaths of the country that are now red, that are now part of Trump country. So, the Harris campaign and Democratic advisers believe the one-two punch from the Clinton message and the Walz message can start making inroads in some of these areas across the country that have been Trump country that they hope can be Harris-Walz country -- Erin.

BURNETT: All right. Jeff, thank you very much.

And I'm joined here now in the convention hall by someone who knows Governor Walz well, his former student, Daniel Clement.

So, what is the Tim Walz that you hope will show up on that stage tonight and tell the country who he is?

DANIEL CLEMENT, WALZ FRIEND: Well, it's going to be the Tim Walz that I think we all have seen recently and the one I have always known is energy, integrity, honesty. He has done such a great job projecting that to everybody. Really, until you get to know the guy, you don't get all of him. But you're going to get a great peek of that tonight.

BURNETT: You and I were talking about when you graduated from high school. And he was instrumental in that? And that actually happened? How so?

CLEMENT: Yeah. I was one of those fringe students, right, where academics were not my priority. And, you know, I was having some outside issues, personally, and football is what kept me in school, right?

So, Coach Walz, himself, was the one who would come in between class and get me to come back because he would often tell me, we need you on the football team. We need to back.

I don't know if he needed me on the football field, as much as he wanted me to finish school. But, you know, I ultimately quit the football team and he brought me back in and I'm glad he did because it was a great senior year.

BURNETT: Obviously, you are talking about him over 25 years ago. You have known him over such a long period of time. You know, what was it about him that you remember? We all look back in high school and I hope everybody watching, you have one or two people, if you are lucky who influenced you in school.

He was that for you. What was it about him?

[18:55:00]

CLEMENT: He didn't judge me, right? So, I was kind of a fringe student, like I said. For the first time in my life, I really had an adult male teacher give me attention and care without judgment, right?

And so, he just really felt -- made me feel wanted and wanted to bring me in and be a part of what he had going on. It meant so much to me at the time that I was willing to run through a brick wall for that guy if I had to.

BURNETT: And changed the trajectory of your life in some crucial ways to have that -- graduate and have that.

CLEMENT: Yeah, yeah, no doubt. I mean, no doubt I would have dropped out of high school without Coach Walz.

BURNETT: All right. Well, Daniel, I really appreciate it. It's great to see you and thanks so much for sharing this.

And, of course, we all get to see a lot more of Governor Tim Walz tonight. His delegates are packing into the United Center. We will hear some of the biggest beaches of the night and, of course, Governor Walz is the keynote. Bill Clinton also speaking tonight, Nancy Pelosi, Pete Buttigieg, Oprah, all still to come tonight.

Stay with CNN. We'll be right back.

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