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CNN NEWSROOM

VP Nominee Tim Kaine Does DNC Walk-Through; Democratic Heavyweights to Address DNC Tonight; Charges Dropped for Final Cops in Freddie Gray Case; Reagan Shooter to be Released from Mental Hospital; Interview with Representative James Clyburn; Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired July 27, 2016 - 10:00   ET

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


[10:00:00] ROBERT WOLF, OUTSIDE ECONOMIC ADVISER FOR PRES. OBAMA: Have been more adamant where they are against TPP. So there's no question to me, I know there's a lot of people who want to make that she's for trade or she's for that. Business people, elected officials, need to be for smart trade, OK, when it's fair and balanced. The secretary, although I disagree on with her, and I agree with President Obama on this, I am for TPP, but she is not.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Definitely not.

WOLF: She is not for TPP.

COSTELLO: She's not going to, like, negotiate a better deal just like -- you know, Terry McAuliffe said that, like, yesterday.

WOLF: Listen, in life, we should always negotiate better deals. We cannot put a moat around the United States of America. We have to trade with our partners. We also need to make sure they're fair and balance.

COSTELLO: OK. Thanks for stopping by.

WOLF: Thank you for having me.

COSTELLO: I do appreciate it, sitting there in the heat.

WOLF: Always enjoy it.

COSTELLO: Thanks so much.

The next hour of NEWSROOM starts right now.

And good morning. Thank you so much for joining me, live from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the site of the Democratic National Convention. I'm Carol Costello.

All right, let's go right to the convention floor. Our senior political reporter Manu Raju is there. Tim Kaine is going through his run-through right now for his big speech tonight. Tell us about it, Manu.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. Tim Kaine walking through the stage right now, Carol, talking about Virginia. One of the things you just see a message that he just gave to us here is that look how close Virginia is to the convention floor. He said that, look, this was not the case several years ago. Virginia used to be way, way far back but now things are different. And I shouted a question to him, well, do you think you can win Virginia this year, , he said, I think we'll do well.

Also a question I posed to him was, are you concerned about some of the Bernie supporters. And he said, well, I love them. And that was about another question -- another reporter shouted out as, well, are you opposed to TPP, he didn't respond to that. And he still -- walk around the stage and assessing the situation.

This will be the biggest moment of his political career, introducing himself to the nation. That CNN-ORC poll from early this week -- earlier this week, Tim Kaine just waving to some supporters right now. That CNN-ORC poll from earlier this week found that about 48 percent of the country does not know who Tim Kaine is so this will be his opportunity to introduce himself.

Now, Carol, it's not just Tim Kaine's night, it's also President Obama's night. He'll have to defend his record over the past 7 1/2 years. And also present Hillary Clinton as an agent of change, sort of balancing that line between continuing Obama's policies and talking about Hillary Clinton as someone who could do something different if she were to come to Washington.

Listen to how he described his approach when he was asked about that earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I hope my headline is that the president of the United States is profoundly optimistic about America's future. And is 100 percent convinced that Hillary Clinton can be a great president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: So now of course this will come as Tim Kaine here prepares for his big speech on this stage right now. Interestingly his aides are sort of assessing it appears to be his wardrobe. Ties, different ties that they're holding up in the light to see how they look, so no detail is too small right now for such a big moment, not just for Tim Kaine, but President Obama, also on this major, major national stage, probably the biggest stage, probably the biggest stage he'll have before he leaves office here -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I'm sitting next to Hilary Rosen who said, couldn't they have, like, tested out the ties and not on television?

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: Now Tim is standing there. And wouldn't he be wearing like a blue tie?

RAJU: That's probably one of the things that they're assessing at this very moment, Carol.

COSTELLO: An important issue.

RAJU: No detail is too small.

COSTELLO: I'm glad we're talking about -- no detail's too small. Manu Raju, thanks so much.

RAJU: I mean, they probably have three, four ties right now. Thanks, Carol.

HILARY ROSEN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Just like you, Manu.

COSTELLO: Yes, exactly. All right, thanks, Manu Raju, thanks so much.

Bill Clinton of course rocking the DNC last night, at Hillary Clinton's historic night. So let's get right to that and Michelle Kosinski. She's inside the convention hall as well.

Good morning, Michelle.

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. Yes, that was an extraordinary moment, too. I mean, this is Bill Clinton, former president, but here in the role of Hillary Clinton's husband. And it wasn't Bill Clinton talking about policy or on the issues. That was very much more Bill Clinton telling us a story about Hillary Clinton, the woman. The mother. The person driven by public service.

It was basically a series of anecdotes about how she has tried to help people virtually throughout her entire life and her story began with the moment they met. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[10:05:09] BILL CLINTON, 42ND PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In the spring of 1971, I met a girl. The first time I saw her we were, appropriately enough, in a class on political and civil rights. She had thick blonde hair, big glasses, wore no makeup. And she exuded this sense of strength and self-possession that I found magnetic.

After the class, I followed her out, intending to introduce myself. I got close enough to touch her back, but I couldn't do it. Somehow I knew this would not be just another tap on the shoulder.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSINSKI: The story got very personal there. I think much of the crowd, you could tell, was just -- I mean, many hadn't heard any of these details before. They were poignant. He talked about how it took three tries to get Hillary Clinton to marry him and he described each of those tries and how they went. He talked about the day their daughter Chelsea was born.

Now, still, I mean, maybe you couldn't help but think while he's talking about this lengthy relationship that they've had some problems in this relationship, too. Haven't they? Caused by him. But none of that of course was ever mentioned. But even so, even if you had that thought in your head, even that would have played into the point that he was making that Hillary Clinton has been through a lot in her life but she has kept trying and she has persevered, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Michelle Kosinski, reporting live, as we continue to look at Tim Kaine going through his run-through tonight. It appears he's leaving the convention hall right. But let's talk about that and more. I'm joined by former speechwriter for President Bill Clinton, Don Baer, CNN political analyst and Washington bureau chief for the "Daily Beast," Jackie Kucinich, CNN political commentator and Hillary Clinton supporter, Hilary Rosen, and the co- chair of Donald Trump's New York campaign, Joseph Borelli.

Welcome to all of you.

Don, I want to start with you, because as we watched Tim Kaine go -- where are you? There you are.

DON BAER, FORMER SPEECHWRITER FOR PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON: Hi, there.

COSTELLO: I'm looking at Joseph. It's like --

JOSEPH BORELLI, CO-CHAIR, DONALD TRUMP'S NEW YORK CAMPAIGN: I changed.

COSTELLO: Oh, my goodness. As we watched Tim Kaine preparing for tonight, what do you -- what do you tell the candidates, you know, that the speech is ready to go? What do you tell the candidates to do in that convention hall pre-speech?

BAER: That they've got to feel the crowd. I mean, these things are interactive experiences, right. That's the great thing about a speech like this is that they actually can play off of the crowd and understand what's going on from the audience. And of course, these are very skilled speakers, right? I mean, Tim Kaine has done this many times. You're speaking to a large -- he's spoken to large audiences before.

But hopefully the speech is done. And a lot of today is about really making sure that he's hitting the lines that he wants to hit right and that it does express what he wants to express.

COSTELLO: I would imagine, though, that when you're speaking to such a large excited crowd and there could be several boos, who knows, how do you -- how do you tell a candidate how to handle boos?

BAER: You move past them, right.

COSTELLO: Just ignore them?

BAER: Well, you just move past them, you keep going. But by the way, they've anticipated all of that. They know where the lines are that maybe are going to draw those and they understand. But this is about getting up there and being optimistic and positive and keep moving forward. You know, there's a message. There's a message here to this campaign. You saw it last night with Bill Clinton. And I thought -- a friend of mine has talked about this, that for Hillary Clinton, her one big chance is much like George H.W. Bush's in 1988.

She needs to convince this country she's better than the image of Hillary Clinton they've been led to believe and this is her opportunity to do it. Bill Clinton went a long way towards doing that last night. You think about the real audience for that speech last night, I don't think there's been much talk about this. Millennials seeing Hillary Clinton as someone that they can relate to and understand. That they want to be like. You know, we know from surveys millennials say they want their work to have a sense of purpose, they want to be sort of helping to make change.

She is the person who's been doing that since she was 23 years old and all of a sudden they understand that in a way that they have not seen before.

COSTELLO: Is that why, Hilary, the speakers talk so much about Hillary Clinton's work in other countries and her work with children and things like that, to attract the millennials?

ROSEN: Well, here's the campaign thinking, and Don's right, which is, you know, there are certain things that Donald Trump has effectively made Hillary Clinton vulnerable on. One of them is that she's just another old politician having been a politician for many, many years. Another is that she is -- he's pushed back on her strength in foreign policy and tried to turn that into a weakness. So what you see is -- and that she's not trustworthy.

[10:10:03] So you see this progression all week where, you know, the first night, you had Michelle Obama, I trust her with my own life, with my own children, and we can trust her with America's children. Last night, you saw a number of women out there making the case what she's done behind the cameras, before the cameras ever started shining on her, fighting for women and families and this, you know, powerful moment of these mothers of gun violence victims talking about how she relates to them.

And then Bill Clinton talking about those moments, as Don said, that show that she hasn't been a politician her whole life. She's been a servant her whole life, but not a politician. She has cared and done things and found ways to get to helping people that young people today are actually interested in doing without entering politics. So, you know, tonight we're going to see the guys, right. So we had to -- you know, we've led up to women, we've led up to some of --

COSTELLO: OK.

ROSEN: Tonight's the men's turn to say, you know what, guys, you can feel good about Hillary Clinton, too. You're going to have Joe --

COSTELLO: OK. So one of the guys --

(CROSSTALK)

ROSEN: Regular Joe Biden. You're going to have Tim Kaine. COSTELLO: Right.

ROSEN: You're going to have Mike Bloomberg.

COSTELLO: And you're going to have, you know.

ROSEN: And the president of the United States.

COSTELLO: And the president of the United States. And by the way, Joseph, President Obama was on the "Today" show this morning. He's already on the attack against Donald Trump. I just want our viewers to listen to a bit of that before I ask you the question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Where some strong man orders people around, banishes enemies.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you see shades of that with him?

OBAMA: Well, I think that it is important for us to remember that we live in a democracy. And by definition then, the way we solve problems is by everybody participating and arguing. And occasionally having to compromise.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: And Joseph, President Obama also called Mr. Trump intellectually incurious. He said Trump doesn't even care to spend time to figure out the difference between Sunni and Shia.

BORELLI: Look, Carol, it's laughable that the president is talking about open democracy in the wake of this e-mail scandal which shows that his own party was essentially validating what Bernie Sanders has said all along, which is rigging the system against an open and democratic process. And you saw this walkouts last night during the speech.

To Don's point. Don, I don't know as a millennial if you're the best person to convey the message to millennials, I'm one of them. I'm not really sure --

BAER: I'm a father of two of them. So I know a little bit about it.

BORELLI: Good. Good.

BAER: And I work with about 1,000.

BORELLI: Well, I'm --

BAER: But that's fine, go right ahead with your attack. That's good.

BORELLI: But, you know, Tim Kaine --

BAER: You don't know how old I am either, but go ahead.

BORELLI: I think you look great. BAER: Thanks.

BORELLI: Tim Kaine, you're sort of seen this sort of disjointed message of the campaign because last night you had this change, and I think it's a change reacting to some of the polls. 10 out of the last 13 polls saw Donald Trump ahead. And now the Clinton campaign is sort of in a little bit of disarray --

COSTELLO: Ten out of the last 13?

BORELLI: If you count separate polls --

COSTELLO: We just saw his bump.

BORELLI: We saw his bump which is fine. But you see the Clinton campaign reacting to that and tried to become now Hillary Clinton as the change-maker. If she's now becoming the change-maker, why did she pick someone who's sort of the embodiment of establishment long-term career politicians? I think it's an odd message.

You mentioned Mike Bloomberg tonight. Last night you had a highlight on Black Lives Matter. You have -- you know, some people would find that a little outrageous. Some people were insulted by that. Fine. But now tonight you have someone who basically took stop and frisk in the New York City Police Department, made it a quantifiable tool for cops, expanded it, and has come out and said that African-Americans were stopped less than statistically they should be. So I think the campaign -- I think they're having a convention here but Democrats is becoming disjointed.

ROSEN: You're exactly -- you're saying the right -- the right facts but the conclusion is wrong, which is that Hillary Clinton, just like Donald -- President Obama said, actually is curious and brings people together. That is very much the theme of this convention. It is inclusive. She knows how to set a table where everybody has a view --

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: Well, Jackie --

ROSEN: And get to know --

COSTELLO: I know you're itching to get in. Do the Democrats have a cohesive message?

JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Last night was completely on message. I don't think anyone was off message last night. And tonight when you look at the list of speakers there does seem to be the same thing. But, you know, Joe Biden is speaking so --

(LAUGHTER)

BORELLI: Well, the message (INAUDIBLE).

KUCINICH: Say again?

BORELLI: The message is a departure from reality that Hillary is somehow all of a sudden is changing.

KUCINICH: I mean, were you at the Republican convention?

BORELLI: I was there. Trust me. We talked about that last week in fairness.

KUCINICH: Right.

BORELLI: But this is a departure from the steady hand Hillary that we saw. This is now Hillary the change-maker. Bill Clinton had to go back to 1970s to even present a time when Hillary was this young vibrant change agent in the movement.

ROSEN: That's not true.

BAER: But he brought it all the way forward like 10 minutes ago. I mean, it's interesting coming from your side of this. For decades you have attacked her because she was a change maker and you didn't like the change she was making which the American people did like. Now you're saying she's not a change maker. Bill Clinton's narrative, that's what it's called, he told the story of his life and her life together, is that she has been making this change consistently, persistently for 45 years.

[10:15:03] She's never given up because she doesn't give up into the face of the kinds of things thrown at her that almost no one can imagine, and she has been committed and is going to continue to be committed. The message --

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: Jackie, last word.

KUCINICH: But I do understand what Joe is saying in that she is a pragmatist. And that is -- compared to Bernie Sanders who wanted to throw the whole thing out, that had been one of her issues during the campaign.

BAER: Progressive who gets things done. And that's the country we live in. And to Hilary's point, she knows how to bring people together from diverse points of view, left, right, high, low, it doesn't matter. Because at the end of the day, we have to get to solutions and we have to stop everyone wanting their pure answers to these questions because we're not doing anything.

COSTELLO: OK.

ROSEN: And what we'll see tonight, people want to stay safe as change is being made.

COSTELLO: OK. I got to leave it there.

ROSEN: And Donald Trump doesn't offer that.

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: Thanks to all of you. I got to leave it there.

Don Baer, Jackie Kucinich, Hilary Rosen, Joseph Borelli, thanks to much. Because I do have more breaking news this morning.

Again it's such a busy morning this morning. The breaking news comes out of Baltimore. All charges have been dropped against the remaining officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray. The Baltimore prosecutor or the state's attorney, that's what they called them in Baltimore, Marilyn Mosby, is slated to speak to the press in just about 10 minutes or so.

Miguel Marquez has more for us. What can you tell us, Miguel?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Where she will hold that press conference, it's at least scheduled for 1700 Presbury which is the exact spot where Freddie Gray was arrested and then died seven days later after being critically injured in a police van.

The three remaining officers, another officer, Garrett Miller, was up for trial today. The prosecutor stood up and asked the judge to dismiss all charges against all officers going forward. Garrett Miller, Alicia White, she was a sergeant on the scene during the time that he was being transported that day, those charges will be dropped, as well as Officer Porter. He had earlier had -- he was the only officer to face a jury that ended with a hung jury and he was going to be tried again, last.

All of this getting very, very complicated legally because of the issues with the prosecutor and with evidence. But it is a stunning, stunning turn of events for Baltimore given the way that the state's attorney came out over a year ago and said she was going to prosecute these officers, had the evidence and clearly along the way realized she did not and now is dropping charges and trying to move on -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Miguel Marquez, reporting live for us on this breaking news out of Baltimore City, this morning.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, he tried to kill President Reagan and now he's about to be set free. More on the breaking news on John Hinckley, Jr. next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:21:53] COSTELLO: All right, more breaking news to tell you about this morning. John Hinckley, Jr., the man who shot Ronald Reagan, is set to be freed from a mental hospital after 35 years.

Brian Todd, live in D.C. to tell us more. Hi, Brian.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, good morning. Yes. Judge Paul Friedman of the U.S. District Court issued this order this morning that John Hinckley, Jr., 61 years old now, is no longer a danger to himself or others and can be released from the St. Elizabeth's Mental Hospital here in Washington, D.C. That hospital also has a detention facility attached to it where John Hinckley has been staying for 35 years since he attempted to assassinate President Reagan in 1981.

Among the restrictions placed on John Hinckley, he cannot approach the news media. He actually is being barred from any contact with any member of the Reagan family, any member of James Brady's family. James Brady, the presidential aide who was seriously wounded in that attack. Also he cannot contact the families of Thomas Delahanty, Timothy McCarthy, the two Secret Service agents who were wounded in that attack, and he is barred from any contact with Jodie Foster, Jodie Foster. The actress who he tried to impress 35 years ago when he tried to assassinate President Reagan. She of course now is a successful Hollywood director.

John Hinckley not allowed contact with her or any member of the Reagan family or the Secret Service families who were involved in that assassination attempt, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Brian Todd reporting live for us on this astounding news this morning. Thank you.

It has been a busy morning already here in Philadelphia for the vice presidential hopeful Tim Kaine. Moments ago, Kaine was on the convention floor doing a quick walk-through before his big speech tonight.

I'm joined now South Carolina Congressman James Clyburn who helped advise the Clinton campaign on their VP pick.

Welcome, sir.

REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D), SOUTH CAROLINA: Thank you so much for having me.

COSTELLO: Thanks for being here. So, Tim Kaine, it is his big night, what will Americans learn about Tim Kaine from his speech tonight?

CLYBURN: I think the Americans will get to see the Tim Kaine that I've known for a long time. I first came to know him when he was mayor of Richmond. I watched him camp in and get elected lieutenant governor and then governor of Virginia, and when he was running for the Senate, I campaigned alongside him. I went into labor unions, labor halls, and African-American churches. And he was as comfortable in every setting as any candidate I've ever campaigned with.

And so I think that Americans will get to see that here's a guy, very smart, compassionate, down to earth, very articulate, and I'll tell you, he can sing a real good tune in an African-American church, too.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: Oh, my goodness, maybe he'll do a bit of that tonight, you never know.

CLYBURN: I don't know. Definitely humanize him.

COSTELLO: Exactly. Some progressives are worried about Tim Kaine. They don't think he's progressive enough especially on things like trade. For example, TPP.

CLYBURN: Right.

COSTELLO: He talked out in favor of it just a week ago and now all of a sudden he's against it because he's the VP pick? Can you explain?

CLYBURN: Oh, yes, we all have those changes of heart, especially when we change positions -in relationship --

[10:25:06] COSTELLO: Is it a true change of heart or is he just changing the tune because he's now the VP pick for Hillary Clinton?

CLYBURN: Well, there are certain thoughts that I have about approaching things based upon my constituents and whether you can modify the TPP to fit what may be your view in the long run. But I think that what we've got here is a gentleman who I will not agree with on everything. I am totally against offshore drilling. And he has, on occasion, expressed a favor for offshore drilling.

I guess I'm more enamored with the beaches of South Carolina than he is of the beaches of Virginia, I guess. But whatever may be the case, I've been married for 55 years, and so I know what it is not to always agree.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: I wanted to ask you about this because I had some Trump supporters on this morning and they say throughout this whole Democratic convention they felt that the Democrats are pitting one group against the other.

CLYBURN: I don't know what convention they have been watching. What I've seen in this convention is an effort to reach out to the various segments. Not just of our party but of this great nation of ours. What we have seen even on the first night, you've seen more participation, more diversity of the participants, then you've seen in the entire Republican convention.

COSTELLO: I think maybe they were talking about the absence of white people.

CLYBURN: The absence of white people?

COSTELLO: Or any discussion about, you know, how blue-collar workers and middle America, specifically white workers, are feeling the pinch because of the economic conditions in our country right now.

CLYBURN: Well, you know, when you put the economic conditions on income levels, you get beyond race, ethnicity. One of the things I've been pushing for a long time, and I think Hillary Clinton, in her speeches, adopted our 10-20-30 concept. That's a concept put forward by the Congressional Black Caucus. Now what that concept is that where you find a community where 20 percent of the population is stuck beneath the poverty level for the last 30 years, at least 10 percent of all the money appropriated in that section of the budget ought to be invested in those communities. Now if you're in West Virginia or Kentucky, those are white

communities. If you're in Arizona or New Mexico, those are Latino communities. Native Americans in South Dakota or Alaska. And you don't get to black people until you get down to South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama. So if that's not reaching out to people across backgrounds, across race, I don't know what is.

And she has embraced that throughout every one of her speeches. So I don't know that you have to just identify people by skin color or hair in order to say you've got their backs. When the resident talked about West Virginia, the former president last night, I think he was reaching out to basically white people.

COSTELLO: Congressman, thanks for stopping by. I do appreciate it.

CLYBURN: Thank you. Appreciate it.

COSTELLO: All right. Coming up next, more on the stunning decision out of Baltimore City, prosecutors deciding to drop all charges against the remaining police officers in the Freddie Gray case. Any minute now we're going to hear from state's attorney Marilyn Mosby.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)