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President Obama Fires Up Party's Faithful with Speech; Dems Launch Blistering Attacks on Trump; Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired July 28, 2016 - 10:00   ET

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


[10:00:14] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: We are live in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the site of the Democratic National Convention.

Good morning to you. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

Just hours from now Hillary Clinton gives the most important speech of her career when she formally accepts her party's nomination for president capping off the Democratic National Convention. It will be a big, big night and her daughter Chelsea will be the one to introduce her. Both will be -- trying to step out from a large shadow cast last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you so much, everybody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: President Obama delivering a rollicking speech, firing up the party faithful and reaching out to the viewers and voters who are still undecided. The choice he says is striking. The power of optimism offered by Hillary Clinton, or the politics of fear pedaled by Donald Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: What we heard was a deeply pessimistic vision of a country where we turn against each other and turn away from the rest of the world. There were no serious solutions to pressing problems. Just the fanning of resentment and blame. And anger and hate. And that is not the America I know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: All right, let's go inside the convention hall to talk about -- to talk more about President Obama's speech. CNN's Michelle Kosinski is following that.

Hi, Michelle.

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. Right. This was a big one for President Obama. He himself kept talking about, you know, the speech leading up to last night that he had done this iconic speech in 2004, 12 years to the day of last night, so he was almost, you know, under the pressure to top his own speech.

He was speaking after Michelle Obama and Bill Clinton and Joe Biden. So he'd worked on this speech for weeks. And the White House was telling stories about how, you know, after he heard Michelle Obama's speech on Monday night, he stayed up until 3:30 in the morning to hone it further and there were six drafts of this.

So last night, you could really see the crafting that went into this. And not only even just the speech but also the video that preceded it that highlighted President Obama's accomplishments. But also kind of laid the framework for presidential temperament and the demands of the job, the tough decisions that needed to be made, so you see how that again sets up the contrast that they're making between President Obama/Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

Here's some of the case he made for Clinton.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Eight years ago you may remember Hillary and I were rivals for the Democratic nomination. We battled for a year and a half.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Four more years.

OBAMA: Let me tell you it was tough because Hillary was tough. I was worn out.

(LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: She was doing everything I was doing, but just like Ginger Rogers, it was backwards in heels. No matter how daunting the odds, no matter how much people try to knock her down, she never, ever quits.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: That is the Hillary I know. That's the Hillary I've come to admire. And that's why I can say with confidence there has never been a man or a woman, not me, not Bill, nobody, more qualified Clinton to serve as president of the United States of America.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSINSKI: And that's the crux of his argument right there that Hillary understands the jobs, she's seen it first hand, she's been there, she's been part of those tough decisions, that she is imminently qualified in contrast to Donald Trump.

And you know, we heard President Obama tackle him directly, naming him. And actually at one point saying that he is dangerous to national security. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: And then there's Donald Trump.

(AUDIENCE BOOS)

OBAMA: Don't boo. Vote.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: The Donald is not really a plans guy. He's not really a facts guy either. He calls himself a business guy, which is true, but I have to say, I know plenty of businessmen and women who have achieved remarkable success without leaving a trail of lawsuits and unpaid workers and people feeling like they got cheated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[10:05:11] KOSINSKI: It was an emotional speech. And that drew out so much emotion from this crowd. Now Hillary Clinton tonight has to follow not only the people we mentioned before but now President Obama as well. To see how she takes that baton from him will be interesting. We know she's going to highlight her personal story and her values -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Michelle Kosinski reporting live for us this morning, thanks so much.

For more on President Obama's speech last night and Hillary Clinton's speech to come, I'm joined by former Michigan governor and senior adviser of the Hillary Clinton super PAC Correct the Record, Jennifer Granholm, columnist for the "Daily Beast" and Roll Call, Patricia Murphy, and co-chair of Women vote Trump, Amy Kremer.

Thanks to all of you. Jennifer, I will start with you. Wow, Democrats were talking about American exceptionalism. At times I thought I was at a Republican National Convention.

JENNIFER GRANHOLM, SR. ADVISER, CORRECT THE RECORD SUPER PAC: You know what -- that's frustrating because -- what's frustrating for me to hear as a Democrats that you say that because the Republicans I know have tried to claim that mantle but here last night you heard full-throated pro-American exceptionalism, patriotism. It just made us all so proud that patriotism and love for country can come in all shapes, sizes, colors, loves, and together that's what makes us exceptional. American exceptionalism is the fact that we are stronger together. Meaning all people. It was fabulous.

COSTELLO: So, Amy, as you were listening to President Obama's speech last night what went through your mind?

AMY KREMER, CO-CHAIR, WOMEN VOTE TRUMP: He's one of the greatest orators of all time. And I actually enjoyed listening to him. The only person that I think gave a better speech was Michelle Obama. But he is a great orator. And you know, he's a likable guy, Carol. I like him. I'm sure he's a fun guy to be around. I just don't like his policies. And I think that four more years of the status quo is not going to work. I think that the DNC has a serious problem. They are trying to bridge Hillary with Obama to give us four more years but they talk about she's going to be the change agent.

So there's a conflict there. And I think that the American people, the end of the day, are going to vote on what affects them personally. And when you look at the economy and Obamacare, those are issues that are -- that are front and center as well as our national security.

COSTELLO: I think, Patricia, some voters listen to that speech and said, wow, that's really a sunny outlook and I'm not feeling quite so sunny. Could it have been too optimistic, the tone last night?

PATRICIA MURPHY, COLUMNIST, THE DAILY BEAST: Well, I don't think -- I don't think it was too optimistic. I think it was very important after the Republican convention for Democrats to take an opening and I think Republicans that did leave an opening there. And President Obama said they see what is wrong with America, I see what is right with America. And if we know anything about American voters of either party, it's fundamentally optimistic and they want to respond to a message that is hopeful.

Donald Trump had a message that was very dark but said, don't worry, I can fix it, I'm the one who can fix it. And Barack Obama said no, that's not right, we can fix it. And so I think -- I think it was a very deft touch on his part. I do think Republicans left an opening for him. And he said, you know, we -- we have changed but we need to change more. Let Hillary Clinton continue to be that change agent.

COSTELLO: You mentioned what President Obama said that we have to fix our problems together. We have the moment he said that so let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: We're not a fragile people. We're not a frightful people. Our power doesn't come from some self-declared savior promising that he alone can restore order as long as we do things his way. We don't look to be ruled.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: Our power -- our power comes from those immortal declarations first put to paper right here in Philadelphia all those years ago. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that we, the people, can form a more perfect union. That's who we are.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: And I understand, Jennifer, where the president is coming from, but I also think that Americans want that towering figure that they can look to for guidance and many Americans feel they don't have that.

GRANHOLM: Well, I do know that Americans want to make sure that their leader is steady for sure, and that they can trust that their leader is going to keep them safe. I think that is true. But what you've seen over the past, whatever, year, with Donald Trump, he is so unstable and unsteady, and having somebody with such a thin skin with his -- with access to the largest military power in the globe is frightening.

[10:10:04] So I don't -- he's not the answer. I mean, and the notion -- and I really appreciated what you were saying about Americans believe that optimism trumps fear and love trumps hate, and hope trumps anger. And that side of the equation which the Republican convention was on, which is fear and anger and pessimism, nobody wants to be affiliated with that. People want to believe that we are going and we are going -- we have problems but we're going to fix them and we're positive and we love this country. That's what was so perfect about this.

COSTELLO: OK. So I'm going to leave it here, and I want you guys to stick around because we're going to talk about something else after Manu Raju because there were plenty of other Democrats on that stage. And boy, did they bring -- I guess they brought the bird in many different ways. They zinged Donald Trump as everything from a homegrown demagogue to an immigrant-bashing carnival barker.

Manu Raju has that part of the story. Hi, Manu.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Carol. Of course yesterday was all about tearing down Donald Trump and propping up Hillary Clinton. They're trying to make the case that maybe you don't support Hillary Clinton, nearly 7 in 10 Americans according to that new CNN/ORC poll say they don't trust Hillary Clinton, but Democrats are going to say, well, you probably trust her a little more than Donald Trump.

Speaker after speaking laid into Donald Trump saying he's not ready to be commander-in-chief. Take a listen to what some of these speakers said last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Think about everything you learned as a child. No matter where you were raised. How can there be pleasure in saying you're fired? He's trying to tell us he cares about the middle class. Give me a break. That's a bunch of malarkey.

LEON PANETTA, FORMER CIA DIRECTOR: Donald Trump says he gets his foreign policy experience from watching TV and running the Miss Universe Pageant. If only -- if only it were funny, but it is deadly serious.

MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, FORMER NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: Trump says he wants to run the nation like he's running his business? God help us. I'm a New Yorker. And I know a con when I see one.

SEN. TIM KAINE (D), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: When you want to know something about the character of somebody in public life, look to see if they have a passion that began long before they were in office. Hillary has a passion for kids and families.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

KAINE: Donald Trump has a passion, too. It's himself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Now the question is now whether or not these coordinated attacks can change the dynamic of his race. Of course we've seen several polls saying that voters actually trust Donald Trump more on national security issues and on economic issues.

So, Carol, that's part of that effort to try to sow some doubts in the eyes of voters. And after Clinton speaks tonight, both her and her running mate Tim Kaine will hit the road and go to Ohio, and Pennsylvania, try to attract some of those blue-collar workers, white working class voters who right now are overwhelmingly voting for Donald Trump.

COSTELLO: All right. Manu Raju, reporting live, thanks so much.

So still to come in the NEWSROOM, how will those punches land with voters? Our panel will weigh in next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:17:33] COSTELLO: We're live at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia where Donald Trump took quite a beating from one of the most powerful Democrats in the country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: No major party nominee in the history of this nation has ever known less or has been less prepared to deal with our national security.

We've had candidates before attempted to get elected by appealing to our fears. But they've never succeeded because we do not scare easily. We never bow. We never bend. We never brake when confronted crisis. No, we endure, we overcome and we always, always, always move forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: All right, so let's talk about that and more. I'm joined again by former Michigan governor, Jennifer Granholm, columnist Patricia Murphy and co-chair of Women Vote Trump, Amy Kremer.

Jennifer, there were a lot of putdowns of Donald Trump last night. And you know, the big rub during the RNC was there were so many putdowns of Hillary Clinton that we didn't get to why we love Donald Trump. Are Democrats in danger of that?

GRANHOLM: No, I don't think. I mean, obviously you've got a huge number of speakers who are up there to talk about her and her personally and to, you know, vouch for her and to give a history of her background. But Donald Trump, I mean, he's such a target-rich environment in terms of having so much material to work with. It is a little bit irresistible. Plus, I do think that the fear of Donald Trump being president is very palpable. It's palpable in that room but I think it's palpable in a lot of places. It's difficult not to be able to go after him.

COSTELLO: OK, so Joe Biden was dissing Donald Trump to attract blue- collar voters.

GRANHOLM: Yes.

COSTELLO: Michael Bloomberg was dissing Donald Trump to attract independents. Let's listen to a bit of what the former New York mayor had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLOOMBERG: Whatever our disagreements may be, I've come here to say we must put them aside for the good of our country.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

BLOOMBERG: And we must unite around the candidate who can defeat a dangerous demagogue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So, Amy, you heard what Michael Bloomberg called Donald Trump, a dangerous demagogue. He also called him a con man. He called him a bad businessman. This was an attempt by Michael Bloomberg to get independents to vote for Hillary Clinton.

Do you think it resonated?

KREMER: Well, this is what I'll say. What the governor said about all these people up there vouching for Hillary Clinton.

[10:20:04] People make decisions based on the candidate themselves. Not based on who says that they need to vote for Hillary Clinton. And I think this convention, the build-up is more than what the candidate is going to be, quite honestly, Carol. And when you talk about safety and security of this nation, there's nothing that's demagoguing about what happened in Benghazi. When four Americans lost their lives. There's nothing that's demagoguing about when Hillary Clinton said on November 15th on CBS "Face the Nation" that she would increase the number of Syrian refugees to 65,000 from the 10,000 that this administration has it right now, allowing those Syrian refugees to enter the United States.

I mean, that's putting the safety and security of the American people at risk. And putting these refugees above our national security. And not even to get into, Carol, what was she thinking to put a server, a private server, with no security, that can be hacked by anyone? I mean, she put our national security at risk there. And the American people are not stupid. They understand these things and they're paying attention to them.

So anybody can sit up there and say whatever they want on these conventions but at the end of the day I think the American people are going to decide on who is going to be best for America and safety and security and jobs and the economy are what is driving this election.

COSTELLO: Although, although there's another line of thought here, right, you know, these are two candidates that are unlikable by large portions of American voters. So one side has to paint the other as even more unlikable? Is that sort of what happened last night, too?

MURPHY: I think if Republicans made a mistake in their primary, they did not take Donald Trump seriously enough, his opponents didn't. I think Democrats understand that. That they have got to disqualify Donald Trump now as a legitimate president. Republicans didn't do that in the primary when they were running against him. And Democrats need to do that.

But at the same time Hillary Clinton really does need to make an affirmative case for herself because she has incredibly high unfavorable numbers. Democrats can't count on this getting down to who -- which candidate do you dislike less because Hillary Clinton right now is losing that battle so they have got to get in there. They've made the case against Donald Trump. They've set Hillary Clinton up to do this tonight. That's why her speech tonight is so important.

She has got to connect. She has a real problem connecting with many voters. Many voters do not trust her. And so that she -- the stakes for her tonight are so enormous. And I think that's why so many people are going to be watching her. And Democrats, I got to tell you, when I talk to Democrats who are at this convention, they can't really wrap their head around the fact that they might actually be tied or losing to Donald Trump right now.

I hear a little bit of denial in that room. Well, the polls are close but they're not really that close. We're going to get a bounce. It's going to be fine. They just can't believe that they would lose to Donald Trump. And so I think this summer has been a clarifying moment for them that yes, this is close, but I think Democrats need to get a lot more serious about selling Hillary Clinton and Hillary Clinton selling herself.

GRANHOLM: And tonight that's actually going to start. I mean, it's been going on all convention but tonight particularly on policies related. One thing that all Americans care about which is job creation in the United States. There are blocs that are associated with this specific plan that she's put forward to be able to do that. And in contrast that Donald Trump -- he just doesn't have anything or the plans that he does have, have been determined that they would lose 3.5 million jobs by objective sources like Moody's, so bottom line is tonight is really a night about the issues that people really care about. The middle class, we were talking about earlier with Joe Biden. People care about what is your strategy to be able to create jobs. In addition to the emotional stuff. The specifics on how she's --

MURPHY: But if they don't trust her, it doesn't matter what she says, you know. COSTELLO: OK. Wait a second, something's happening. My EP -- oh, so

let's go to the -- can we go to the floor of the convention and show folks what you're seeing? OK, let's go there right now. You can see that some of the -- Senator Elizabeth Warren is touring the stage, walking around.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: We don't exactly know why she's doing that. But it was just kind of a cool picture we wanted to show people. All right, I'm going to go to a break. We'll be back with much more in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:29:05] COSTELLO: We are live from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The site of the Democratic National Convention. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me this morning.

We are now just hours away from a speech no woman in America has ever made before. Tonight Hillary Clinton takes center stage at the DNC. Formally accepting her party's nomination to be president of the United States.

CNN's Joe Johns inside the convention hall right now with more on that. Hi, Joe.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. We've gotten a bit of a treat here on the floor even at this early stage. A number of Democratic senators have come out here for a walk- through. Apparently some of them are going to be speaking tonight. If you take a look up there. Among the luminaries on the stage at this point, Senator Warren of Massachusetts, Barbara Boxer of California, Maria Cantwell of Washington state. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Debbie Stabenow of Michigan. And some others I see back there as well. So just on the stage talking and expected to show up.

Hillary Clinton expected to be introduced this evening by Senator Barbara Mikulski of Maryland. So we're not expecting at least it's not likely right now that we will see Hillary Clinton. There had been some --