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Obama Headlines Convention; Trump Talks Hack; Obama at DNC. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired July 27, 2016 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00] WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: All night long we'll be bringing you the latest from the Democratic National Convention. Our special coverage continues right now.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And here we go. We are live in Philadelphia. Pretty pictures of the skyline here as we swoop on across to the set just outside of the CNN Grill on this third day of the Democratic National Convention. Great to be with you on this Wednesday. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Let's begin, shall we, with this. In a matter of hours, the nation will see President Barack Obama do his part to try to make a case to try to help Democrats make history for a second time. The first time just happened when the party's first - with the party's first female nominee. The second time everyone in this convention is hoping will be November 8th when the election of Hillary Rodham Clinton as the first woman president.

President Obama is to cap a night of major heavyweight speakers, including, in order of appearance here, we'll be looking for Vice President Joe Biden, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Clinton's running mate, Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia.

President Obama is slated to speak sometime after that 10:00 Eastern mark, prime time for him. Make no mistake, the president has a lot riding on this, not just for his party, but for himself, his legacy, his last eight years. His pitch for Hillary Clinton is also about preserving just that, his legacy.

For more on what the president is expected to say, let's begin with our White House correspondent Jim Acosta.

Jim, talk to me about how he walks the line between, you know, promoting Hillary Clinton, but also defending his eight years?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Right, he is the surrogate in chief, no question about it, Brooke. And I think what you're going to hear from President Obama tonight is a defense of Hillary Clinton, why she is the most qualified person to be president in his view and the view of the Democratic Party, why she is a continuation of his policies, how she is best equipped to defend his legacy, protect his legacy. That is in some measure a direct response to those Bernie Sanders supporters who are still uncomfortable with supporting Hillary Clinton. And then I think finally what he's going to do, there's going to be

some kind of pushback and rejection of Trumpism. Whether or not he, you know, cites Donald Trump by name, he doesn't do that very often, or whether he does it obliquely in the way that Michelle Obama did the other night remains to be seen. I think the other question about the president's speech tonight is whether or not he gets into what Donald Trump talked about earlier today at this press conference here in Miami, Florida, when he talked about Russia potentially being able to hack into Hillary Clinton's e-mails and revealing those to the public. So no, you know, firm answer from the White House as to whether the president's remarks will be tweaked to address that, but it's certainly something that people will be listening for tonight.

BALDWIN: Let's talk more about, you alluded to it, the news conference and all the questions and the controversial comments made by Mr. Trump. Here's a piece of it, in case you missed it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: What do I have to get involved with Putin for? I have nothing to do with Putin. I've never spoken to him. I don't know anything about him other than he will respect me. He doesn't respect our president. And if it is Russia - which it's probably not. Nobody knows who it is. But if it is Russia, it's really bad for a different reason, because it shows how little respect they have for our country when they would hack into a major party and get everything. But it would be interesting to see - I will tell you this, Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 e- mails that are missing. I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: On that, Hillary Clinton's campaign has responded to precisely what you just heard, to Mr. Trump's call for Russia in finding her 30,000 or so missing e-mails. I can tell you that her senior policy advisor, Jake Sullivan, says, and I'm quoting him, "his has to be the first time that a major presidential candidate has actively encouraged a foreign power to conduct espionage against his political opponent." He goes on - "that's not hyperbole, those are just the facts. This has gone from being a matter of curiosity and a matter of politics to being a national security issue." And I want you to listen to former CIA Director Leon Panetta, who just talked to my colleague Christiane Amanpour.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEON PANETTA, FORMER CIA DIRECTOR: I find those kinds of statements to be totally outrageous, because you've got now a presidential candidate who is in fact asking the Russians to engage in American politics. And I just think that that's beyond the pale. There are a lot of concerns I have with his qualities of leadership, or lack thereof. And I think that kind of statement only reflects the fact that he truly is not qualified to be president of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP) [14:05:19] BALDWIN: All right, let's jump right into it. I have Howard Wolfson with me, who was New York deputy mayor under Michael Bloomberg, who is set to speak this evening, CNN's senior political analyst David Gergen, CNN political commentator Scottie Hughes, a Trump supporter, and CNN International anchor Hala Gorani here from London.

Howard Wolfson, to you first. First on directly what Trump said about Hillary's e-mails directing that to Russia. How dangerous is that?

HOWARD WOLFSON, FORMER NEW YORK DEPUTY MAYOR FOR BLOOMBERG: I think very dangerous. I think that we should reasonably expect that there should be a broad consensus in our politics, whether you're a Republican or a Democrat, that it's not a good idea to invite or encourage the leader of a foreign power to break our laws and engage in espionage. I mean that seems so basic, obviously, putting it that way, and yet here we have a major party nominee who is, in fact, encouraging a leader of a foreign power who is either our antagonist or our adversary or competitor, depending on your perspective, but clearly not somebody who was our best friend, to engage in this kind of behavior. It's - it's really unprecedented. I mean we - we spent a lot of time talking about Donald Trump's unprecedented comments and his positions, but, you know, this is just the latest one.

BALDWIN: Scottie, espionage. How do you defend that?

SCOTTIE NELL HUGHES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, it's not defending because there's nothing there. Hillary Clinton - let's be clear what this is all about. This is about an illegal server that was not given permission for that she knew she did not have permission for. Talk about unprecedented. You have the leader of a Democratic Party that was under FBI investigation. That's the issue here. This is just trying to (INAUDIBLE). And when we talk about espionage -

BALDWIN: He asked Russia, who is not a friend, to, you know, cyberattack, espionage, hack into Hillary's e-mails.

HUGHES: But that means that they're there. Hillary's already said, she deleted 33,000 e-mails. They're not there. This just shows right now whoever, if they have any access to them.

Now, Hillary has time and time again said it was just yoga, it was cookie recipes, it was her wedding plans were on there. Obviously not, especially considering (INAUDIBLE) this is all to detract from the idea that Hillary Clinton did an illegal action, she knew what she was doing and she should have been prosecuted by the FBI in the first place.

BALDWIN: David Gergen, weigh in, please, sir.

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I must tell you, it's bizarre. At first when I heard him, I thought this must be a poor, tasteless joke. You know, that he's basically saying, hey, Russians, as long as you're hacking us anyway, why don't you go over and see if you can find Hillary Clinton's missing e-mails. Nobody else can. Why don't you guys do it. I thought, that's a terrible joke. But now it may be that it's serious. And if it's serious, it's outrageous. And he is - that crosses way over the line and it's the second time in a week he's done things that are dangerous to national security. The first time was on NATO. When he went to North Carolina and doubled down in the last few days on his statement -

BALDWIN: Talking to veterans.

GERGEN: A wavering commitment on NATO, the most important alliance we have in the world, it sent real shockwaves through Europe. And then he doubled down and said, I think I'm - we'll just walk out if I'm president and that will force them to pay up. You know, think about how carefully the British tried to resolve the issue of Brexit. They had weeks and weeks and weeks of thinking about this. He casually says, we're going to walk out of NATO. That's what dangerous about this. And I - that's where I think he leaves himself so vulnerable. Your point is well-taken, but it's still - he has so many thoughts that are reckless that most people would hold to themselves and he just blurts them out.

BALDWIN: There have all - you know, been allegations flying, Hala, and I'm looking at you, you know, is Trump in cahoots with Putin? He says he's never met him. What has the Kremlin said in response to all of these allegations?

HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR & COMMENTATOR: So the Kremlin is essentially saying they, at their level, are in no way responsible for this. However, it appears as though Russian hackers, whether they are under the direct orders of the Kremlin or whether they're acting unilaterally and independently, are behind this. But I want to talk a little bit about the international reaction here -

BALDWIN: Sure.

GORANI: Because as you mentioned, David, what he said to Donald Trump about NATO has dismayed NATO allies, especially Baltic states, because essentially in a "New York Times" interview he was very clearly saying, unless you pay up, unless you pay your bills -

BALDWIN: U.S. may not come to your defense.

GORANI: You're not going to guarantee that we will come to your defense in case of Russian aggression. He said that Erdogan turned the coup around. You will all know that the aftermath of the coup has involved the arrest, detention or firing of more than 60,000 suspected political opponents of Erdogan. Some of these comments that he's making are causing world leaders - especially the U.S.'s closest allies, to think, what will be in store for us if this man becomes president of the United States? And this is what being based in London I am hearing every single day.

BALDWIN: I'm sure you are.

GORANI: And Brexit, you mention Brexit. Pretty important. He went to Scotland and said to the Scots, congratulations, you just exited the U.K. Of course, Scotland voted to remain in the U.K. and there is a very high chance that Scotland will now conduct its own referendum and break away from the United Kingdom, therefore completely changing the country from the United Kingdom to just a conglomeration of possibly three states rather than - three nations rather than four.

[14:10:10] BALDWIN: So, international reaction, international repercussions here.

Let me just also hone in, Howard, on the tax returns. You know, he said he will not be releasing his tax returns. Just sort of within your political mind and sphere, and I'm looking at you as well to weigh in, what do you think the top three reasons are why Trump won't release them?

WOLFSON: Just to speculate, he could have ties to the Russians that we're not aware of. The Russians can be - could be significant investors in his companies. He said he doesn't have ownings in Russia, but he never said that they are not investing in him. He could have given essentially nothing to charity. "Washington Post" has done an awful lot of reporting on the fact that he makes a lot of claims about the amount of money he gives to charity but essentially doesn't really follow through and so somebody with the kind of wealth that he claims to have, if he gives no money to charity, that would be an embarrassment. And then I guess, finally, he could - he could probably - it's possible that he doesn't really have the kind of wealth that he talks about. I mean he is running on his business record, on his business acumen and if, in fact, he doesn't really have that kind of money, that would also be an embarrassment. So if I was to speculate, those would be the three reasons.

HUGHES: And, first of all, if he did have Russian ties, that would be - actually had to be said on his financial disclosures, and it's not. He just admitted in that press conference, as much as you might try to slander him in that way, he admitted that he had no ties (ph). In fact, the only candidate that does is Hillary Clinton, who received $145 million from nine shareholders of Uranium 1 when it was sold from Canada to Russia and - that went to the Clinton Global Initiative.

Now, for your comment about being, you know, national security, the national security issue happened with Hillary Clinton's server in the first place. We would not be in this situation today if there was not fear. And we've already been told that the DNC had been warned months ago that they potentially could be hacked in and they never said anything.

The - and when you talk about NATO, like I said, you hit three different points here. The NATO issue right there is one thing, he did say that he's going to get out of it. He reiterated that today in his press conference. He said he wanted to re-evaluate it. NATO was first set up at 1948 after World War II was finished. It was re-evaluated in '89 to handle Russia and terrorism. What have those countries in NATO done to help us with terrorism?

BALDWIN: And that is a point that others have brought up and I think you were even on TV last week, you know, to the point of, not everyone is paying in on their equal share. Is there any validity to that?

HUGHES: For years. We're paying double of all the other countries. GORANI: I think the idea is that NATO is not a business relationship, it is a strategic partnership.

HUGHES: What have they done for us?

GORANI: It is a strategic - it's not a question of what NATO does for the U.S., it's a question of what this group of allies will do to protect its own self-interests with regards to Russia, that is now clearly invading countries like Ukraine, annexing territories like Crimea. So they're certainly not on the same page.

HUGHES: But Russia's our biggest threat. I (INAUDIBLE) national security is not (ph).

GERGEN: (INAUDIBLE) whole different thing.

BALDWIN: Yes.

GERGEN: What has NATO done for us? The early part of the 20th century, the first half of the 20th century, we went to war twice in Europe because we got dragged in the middle of it. Millions of Americans either lost their husbands, their spouses, everything like that.

HUGHES: Absolutely. Right.

GERGEN: NATO has kept the peace for 75 years. That is a big deal for the United States. It has kept us at peace. It's enabled us to have our prosperity.

HUGHES: Are we at peace though?

GERGEN: Yes, we are - we are -

HUGHES: In 1989, when the Berlin Wall came down, it should have dissolved. That's when they were (INAUDIBLE).

GERGEN: We - we have had world peace -

HUGHES: Now we're looking at terrorism right now. We have a war on terrorism. France is being attacked constantly because they've allowed their borders to be pierced. Are we - are they actually helping us in protecting our travelers that go back and forth across borders? He's not saying he's going to withdrawal with it. He just said, we need to renegotiate the terms and let them pay their own fair share. We're holding the burden of double of all the -

GERGEN: The Trump campaign -

BALDWIN: Let (INAUDIBLE) respond.

GORANI: The Baltic states he was referring to do pay 2 percent of the GDP.

GERGEN: (INAUDIBLE).

HUGHES: There are five countries that do. There's a lot - there are three times more than that, that do not.

GORANI: Including -

GERGEN: Listen, this idea (ph), it's a perfectly fair issue to say they ought to pay their way. It's a very dangerous thing to start throwing a hand grenade into the middle of NATO in order to force the issue. Most presidents do not do that. They're more prudent and they get results. Ronald Reagan could get results without having to go to war like this over the airwaves.

HUGHES: He's not going to war. He said -

GERGEN: Yes, he is. He is - he is taking - he is -

HUGHES: (INAUDIBLE) and say, here's my card, here's all my money. No. You say, that's an option right there but I want to renegotiate. He has side time and time again, he wants to stay in and work with all of them.

BALDWIN: Let me - let me - let me ask - let me ask, Howard, with a very valid, healthy discussion, do you think President Obama brings this very issue up this evening?

WOLFSON: Oh, without a doubt.

BALDWIN: Yes.

WOLFSON: I mean this is an issue of national security for the country. It is dangerous for a presidential candidate to suggest that the United States will not honor its treaty commitments. Even though he's not president, our allies hear that in a very adverse way. And suggesting that Russia hack into the server of one of the candidates running for president is a national security issue. And I can't imagine the president of the United States not addressing a national security issue like this at his speech tonight.

BALDWIN: OK. Scottie and Howard and Hala and David, thank you.

GERGEN: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Thank you.

WOLFSON: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Next here, tonight marks what could be one of President Obama's final massive public speeches as commander in chief. How much will he talk about his legacy versus what Hillary Clinton could do for this country? We'll explore that.

[14:15:06] Also ahead, after saying Donald Trump would never be president, the president now changing his words, saying it is very possible. We'll have his precise quote for you. Might this be a new strategy for the Dems in getting folks out to the polls to vote for Secretary Clinton?

And, breaking news today. All charges dropped in the remaining cases with those Baltimore police officers accused in the death of Freddie Gray. Now, the backlash.

I'm Brooke Baldwin live in Philadelphia. Lots more in the next two hours here. CNN's special live coverage continues after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Welcome back. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

A mega, mega night expected tonight here in the Wells Fargo Center here in Philadelphia with a huge, huge lineup of speakers at the Democratic National Convention. Of course, chief among them, the sort of coup de gras, the president of the United States, Barack Obama. He, of course, will make that case for Hillary Clinton and the progressive policies he's enacted over the course of the last eight years.

[14:20:06] In fact, if I may, it was 12 years ago today that then Senator Barack Obama was introduced on the national stage for the first time as the 2004 DNC keynote speaker. And, of course, he has been back every convention ever since.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (2004): The hope of slaves sitting around a fire singing freedom songs. The hope of immigrants setting out for distant shores. The hope of a young naval lieutenant bravely patrolling the Mekong Delta. The hope of a millworkers son who dares to defy the odds. The hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him, too.

OBAMA (2008): A promise that has led immigrants to cross oceans and pioneers to travel west. And it is that promise that 45 years ago today brought Americans from every corner of this land to stand together on a mall in Washington before Lincoln's Memorial and hear a young preacher from Georgia speak of his dream.

OBAMA (2012): I recognize that times have changed since I first spoke to this convention. Times have changed, and so have I. I'm no longer just a candidate. I'm the president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: That's a look back for you.

Now let's look ahead to this evening. Let me bring in, I have Mitch Landrieu, the Democratic mayor of New Orleans, Kristen Soltis Anderson, a Republican strategist and pollster and columnist for "The Washington Examiner," and Brianna Keilar is here with me, CNN's senior political correspondent.

I heard the "wows" from you just sort of looking back at President Obama, right, of so many conventions past. But looking to you first, you covered the president as a White House correspondent, now sitting here as a senior political correspondent. What do you - what are you listening for, what are you expecting out of the president tonight?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: I think we're just going to hear his full-throated endorsement of her, right?

BALDWIN: Yes.

KEILAR: Because it was clear as Hillary Clinton was getting ready to run and there was this question about whether Joe Biden was going to run, that the president and then those very close to him were leaning towards Hillary Clinton as the one who could best carry the baton. That was sort of the calculation that he was making and that those around him were making throughout the primary season. He at least tried to maintain the veneer of being a little objective. He would put his finger on the scale for Hillary Clinton just sort of speaking in a glowing way about her. But this is going to be unleashed. You know, this is - President Obama sees his legacy as tied to Hillary Clinton. I think we're going to see him giving a speech as if he is running for re-election. That's what we're expecting.

MAYOR MITCH LANDRIEU (D), NEW ORLEANS: Wow.

BALDWIN: I'm wondering, you know, if he is thinking of his eight years, and if there were to be a President Trump, how much of his legacy would just go poof. So how much of last eight years do you think we're going to hear about versus Hillary Clinton full-throated endorsement?

LANDRIEU: I think you're going to hear about both because I think that whether it's the president or a mayor, when you leave, one of the testaments to your success is whether people actually want continue with what they got and it would be a rejection if people said, no, I want to go in the opposite direction. So I think the president's going to double down tonight and talk about the success of his administration from his perspective.

BALDWIN: Go ahead.

KRISTEN SOLTIS ANDERSON, COLUMNIST, "WASHINGTON EXAMINER": This is sort of the tough spot that Democrats are in with this convention, though, is that for Republicans it was - the message was clear and consistent, things aren't going well, things are terrible, things are pretty dark. For the Democrats, there has to be this balance, how do you talk to the majority of Americans who feel less safe, the seven out of 10 who think we're on the wrong track, and speak to those folks that do feel anxious about the way the economy has gone or the way things are going with terrorism, ISIS, while also still having that message that's positive about the last eight years. How do you do both at the same time, say, everything's been great but everything's also not so great. How do you do that all at once?

BALDWIN: You have the president, but I also really wanted to talk about - because I think a lot of the nation doesn't really know Tim Kaine, right, and so this is his night to say, here's who I am. Yes, I know a lot of you think I'm boring, but here's why I'm not and here's why I would be an amazing, you know, heartbeat away from the presidency.

To you, you know, something unique that you have in common, mayors of, you know, predominately African-American cities. I mean when he was city councilman and elected by a predominantly black city council in Richmond, to then become, you know, mayor and then ultimately governor of the state, what - how will that help him?

LANDRIEU: Well, to answer your question, I mean the message is, we've done great work, but we have a long way to go. I don't think anybody said that we have formed the more perfect union that is our aspiration. And I think the president will speak to that tonight.

And I have more in common with Tim Kaine than that. I was trained by the Jesuits as well and experience really matters. And when you get into the businesses and the hard work of governing, sometimes it's just really boring. I think President Clinton spoke to that last night. But you've got a guy in Tim Kaine that was a city council member, he was the mayor of a major city, he was the governor a state, he's a United States senator. This is a guy that's ripped and ready to serve if called upon to do so. And so I think he was an excellent choice. I think he - when his - when he made his initial speech when he came up, people stepped back and said, wow, that guy's got it going on.

[14:25:10] BALDWIN: Yes.

LANDRIEU: And I think he'll display that tonight as well.

KEILAR: I was at that speech in Miami and I mean I would say that - and, look, I've sat through a lot of speeches to this point in time and I would say that that - that may have been the most compelling speech that I have seen this cycle. I will go out on a limb and say that.

BALDWIN: Really?

KEILAR: And I had been a -

BALDWIN: Why?

KEILAR: A week or so before - one, it seemed so genuine and from the heart. And I remembered back to being at Virginia Tech when Tim Kaine had spoken and I remember being wowed by that speech and the way he could connect with people. What he said was exactly what they were feeling. It was - you know.

And the other thing that was pretty - you run the risk when you're giving a speech like that of outshining the person who you're running with. And what I thought was interesting was - and I think this is a pretty difficult task for many politicians - is he didn't outshine her. He was able to sort of have -

BALDWIN: Complement?

KEILAR: Yes, he was able to complement her. And I thought that that was - you know, I think that's a big achievement. Because a lot of times - and we've seen - even Elizabeth Warren campaigning, yes, she riles people up, but there's always that comparison between Elizabeth Warren and Hillary Clinton. And he made a really compelling case for her. I think he could just re-rack that and just put it back (INAUDIBLE) here tonight -

BALDWIN: Hit play. Hit play. Hit play. So that's Tim Kaine, and I'm glad you brought up Virginia Tech. That was sort of a pivotal moment for him. At the time he was in Japan. Left Japan, flew back to Blacksburg and I'm talking to a father of a young man who was shot.

I do want to talk about Joe Biden, you know, who ruffled some folks when he said - I want to say it was yesterday, two days ago, about the Bernie folks. You know, let them be frustrated for a minute. But he's also someone who's obviously dealt with, you know, the passing of his son. Perhaps a tad wistful (ph) this evening because this was a - this was a job that he wanted and he's wanted for a really long time.

LANDRIEU: Well, he was great vice president. And you can understand that this is - maybe could be a bittersweet moment for him. But I think that the country is better off because he served as our vice president.

Last night there were actually two love stories. When Bernie Sanders' brother actually talked about what the vote was from folks overseas, you saw that as well. And Bernie Sanders last night was sent off with a great round of applause and congratulations because he did a great thing as well.

But now it's time for the country to be united and for there to be a very simple choice, Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. Who's going to lead us into the future? I mean the choice is clear for me and I think Tim Kaine's only going to help her.

BALDWIN: OK. Kristen.

ANDERSON: If you think about the type of voter that Joe Biden really appeals to, think about that kind of voter who grew up in Scranton, just like Joe Biden's story. Somebody who's maybe catholic, comes from a working class family, in a place like Scranton, Pennsylvania. That's the type of voter that Joe Biden can speak to and that's the type of voter that the Democratic party is struggling with -

BALDWIN: That she needs.

ANDERSON: That she's been struggling with.

BALDWIN: That's a great point.

ANDERSON: In CNN's polling before and after the Republican Conventions, her margins went down the most among sort of these non- college white voters.

BALDWIN: That's exactly right.

ANDERSON: That's who, I think, they should use Joe Biden to really reach.

BALDWIN: Who they had in droves in 2012, but they have not had thus far.

Kristen, thank you. Brianna, thank you. And thanks for bringing your New Orleans weather to us.

LANDRIEU: Thank you. I'm sorry.

BALDWIN: It is fair. It is just lovely.

LANDRIEU: I know it.

BALDWIN: Love it.

Coming up here from Philadelphia, my next guest was born six years before women won the right to vote. Do the math, folks. Yes, she is 102 years young. Last night she watched in person as Hillary Clinton was nominated officially. It is the moment she has waited decades for. Let me repeat, 102 years of age. Oh, my goodness. She is rocking a white suit out of the corner of my eye, Gerry Immit (ph) is joining me next.

Also ahead, let's talk about Baltimore, the major decision out of Baltimore today. Prosecutors dropping all remaining charges against three police officers in the death of Freddie Gray. Reaction, including Donald Trump's harsh words for the state's attorney, Marilyn Mosby. We've got all of that for you just ahead.

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