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Democratic Convention; Clinton's Speech. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired July 28, 2016 - 14:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:00:17] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Here we go. Let's take a live look outside. Pretty pictures of Philadelphia. Although I've got to say, a little ominous out there on this Thursday afternoon. Could see some rain. That's why we are inside the CNN Grill on this fourth day of the Democratic National Convention here. Live pictures, we can just sneak a peek inside the Wells Fargo Center, and you can see the podium, the stage is set. Here we are in Philadelphia, our nation's first capital. Will live up to its legacy tonight as the first female nominated for president by a major political party will deliver her acceptance speech.

This is the coup de gras. This is the finale, if you will, to the DNC. And even for Hillary Clinton, who has spoken on the Senate floor, at the United Nations, the pressure could not be more intense. Yes, she will feel the love from the throngs of Democrats inside of that center, but will she change hearts outside for the millions who will be watching her? Many here say her party could not have given her a better set-up, especially after the leader of the free world embraced her. I mean what a moment and a speech from not just President Obama last night, but also I'm referring to the hug that sealed the deal as he figuratively here passed the baton to the woman he hopes will become his successor.

(VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: And just like we saw in Cleveland last Thursday with her rival, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton will also showcase her daughter tonight. Chelsea Clinton will be the one introducing her mother. And the campaign says Hillary Clinton then will speak of her own experiences, her motivation. She'll also refer to her book, "It Takes a Village." That's a quote we've heard multiple times this week, and bring in her slogan, stronger together.

Now, it's not clear how much Hillary Clinton will actually mention the "t" word, Trump, Donald Trump, but the Republican presidential nominee just got slammed by well just about everyone else. Even President Obama weighing in, in his speech last night, calling out Trump multiple times by name. It was the vice president, though, last night, Joe Biden, that got it all rolling.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Let me talk about something that I am deadly serious about. No major party nominee in the history of this nation has ever known less.

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!

He has no clue about what makes America great. Actually, he has no clue, period.

SEN. TIM KAINE (D), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We're going to build a wall and make Mexico pay for it. Believe me. We're going to destroy ISIS so fast. Believe me. There's nothing suspicious in my tax returns. Believe me.

Our nation, it is just too great to put it in the hands of a slick- talking, empty-promising, self-promoting one-man wrecking crew.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And then there's Donald Trump. Don't boo, vote.

He cozies up to Putin. Praises Saddam Hussein. Tells our NATO allies that stood by our side after 9/11 that they have to pay up if they want our protection. Well, America's promises do not come with a price tag.

America is already great. America is already strong. And I promise you, our strength, our greatness, does not depend on Donald Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Let's bring in a number of amazing voices I have with me here in the CNN Grill. Anita Dunn is here, former White House communications director under President Obama. Next to her, Trump supporter and Republican strategist Boris Epshteyn. Brad Woodhouse who served as communications director for the Democratic National Convention. And CNN national political reporter, who's been zigzagging on the trail for months, Maeve Reston is here.

So great to see all of you.

BRAD WOODHOUSE, FORMER COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE: Yes.

[14:05:00] BORIS EPSHTEYN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Good to be here.

BALDWIN: Anita, first to you. It's so nice to meet you and have you on.

ANITA DUNN, FORMER OBAMA WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Thank you, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Just beginning with, listen, wherever you fall, left, right, center, I mean, I just want to take a beat to appreciate you have the first African-American president essentially hugging, passing the proverbial baton on to who could be the first woman.

DUNN: And, Brooke, it really is amazing when you think about, you know, kids who were born in, you know, 2004, 2005 who have grown up really seeing Obama as their president, possibly followed by Hillary Clinton. Let's say she gets re-elected. There's a 16-year span there where they see an African-American president, a woman president. And America is going to be different. It's not clear exactly how, but there's no turning back from this.

BALDWIN: Maeve, to you. I thought it was interesting the way sort of President Obama last night pivoted into, you know, talking about Hillary Clinton and using humor as a device to say, you know, listen, we didn't always get along, yes she was my rival. Talk about eight years ago. How bitter and difficult was it for them?

MAEVE RESTON, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER: Well, let's all just remember that moment in the debate, you know, where he said, "you're likable enough," right? I mean that -

EPSHTEYN: I remember that very well, very well, very well.

BALDWIN: Yes. Yes.

EPSHTEYN: Fantastic moment.

RESTON: So I mean, obviously, that was a, you know, tough battle between the two of them, but they really have developed a mutual respect, an admiration over the years. I think in a recent interview, you know, they acknowledged they're not bosom buddies. They don't go on vacation together. But certainly you could see that warmth last night and it was - it was such a moment of, you know, she came in and did what he asked her to do. Now he's stepping in and doing what she needs done for her campaign.

BALDWIN: I thought it was - just as bill Clinton was telling the person story, you know, I had to ask her three different times to marry me, just as President Obama had to ask multiple times, please be my secretary of state. The question I have, Boris, is, it is so obvious to me, sort of, if you juxtapose the - I don't know if you want to call it the more fearful picture or the darker picture, some adjectives people have used to describe, you know, how the stage was set by the Republicans and Mr. Trump last week, versus, you know, you could call it American exceptionalism, but you could also call it not realistic.

EPSHTEYN: Right, and that's what I would call it.

BALDWIN: I'm wondering, if the truth lies somewhere in between for a voter on November 8th -

EPSHTEYN: Well, 79 percent of Americans feel this country's going in the wrong direction. So with the words coming out of Barack Obama's mouth last night did not represent those 79 percent. The words that were spoken by Donald Trump represent those voices.

So, you know, I'm sorry to bring up - break up this Kumbaya rah-rah moment, but in reality - the reality of it is that the reason Donald Trump is leading right now, not just nationally, but in the battlegrounds as well, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, is because Americans agree with Donald Trump. They agree this country is in a bad place. And it's in a bad place because of Barack Obama and because of Hillary Clinton.

And, by the way, speaking of positivity -

BALDWIN: Yes.

EPSHTEYN: There wasn't much positivity from Joe Biden there or from Tim Kaine. For somebody who's so positive, pretty willing to use epithets and use personal attacks against Donald Trump. So I guess what's good - you know, what's good for the goose is good for the gander, right?

BALDWIN: Well, it's - I would say there was a bit at Hillary Clinton and "lock her up" last week, so let's just call a spade a spade.

EPSHTEYN: Right. But when it happens on our sides, there's, you know, screams and shouts, oh, the Republicans are so negative. When the Democrats do it, I'm not hearing the same.

WOODHOUSE: Look - look - I didn't - look, I didn't see anybody suggesting that Donald Trump should be locked up. Now -

EPSHTEYN: He was called a slickster (ph).

WOODHOUSE: You know, no look -

EPSHTEYN: A con man?

WOODHOUSE: Let's be - Let's be - let's be - let's be clear here. You are living in an alternative reality if you think that the 79 percent right track/wrong track is what's going to determine this election. In those numbers, a lot of people and those numbers think the country is on the wrong track because the Republican Party just nominated Donald Trump to be their nominee. That's why they -

EPSHTEYN: Those numbers were the case before Donald Trump was nominated.

WOODHOUSE: That's why - hold on, Boris. Calm down. That -

EPSHTEYN: You're incorrect.

BALDWIN: Let him finish.

WOODHOUSE: That is why - that is one reason people think it's the wrong track. If you look at Nate Silver (ph) or others, they say the predictor for future success in an election is presidential approval. This president has an approval rating 30 percent higher than the last Republican president had at this same time.

BALDWIN: But how do you answer - how do you answer to - I mean, listen, I was on the floor and I heard the chants about drones. I heard "no more war." I mean it was not all, you know, unicorns, lollypops, and puppy dogs inside that arena last night. EPSHTEYN: But Nate Silver said we are going to win. Nate Silver said

that we were going to win this election. So if you want to quote Nate Silver, he's saying that Donald Trump has got a large (INAUDIBLE) right now.

BALDWIN: Well, let me - let me hear from Anita. What do you think? You're listening to these two guys.

DUNN: Well, I'm listening to these guys and, you know, they both - they both have some truth in what they're saying. But the reality, Brooke, is, that we're not going to have a sense of where this election is until a couple of weeks after these conventions. There's no doubt Donald Trump got a bump from his convention last week.

BALDWIN: He did.

DUNN: Those of us who watched it, you know, heard democrats really don't understand that. But Boris is right, there are definitely voters out there responding to that. But we're having a great convention here. Tonight Hillary Clinton needs to close the deal with American voters. You know, Barack Obama -

BALDWIN: Her likability, her trustworthiness.

DUNN: Absolutely.

BALDWIN: I know you don't want to hear me say this, but it's not so great.

DUNN: Well, but - but she's had three days now of people attesting both to her personal character -

BALDWIN: Huge speakers.

DUNN: And her public values. How she uses her all. The public service. She needs to come in here now and it needs to be a "yes, she can" moment for her tonight.

BALDWIN: You wanted to jump in?

[14:10:00] RESTON: Well, I just think that, to both of their points, I mean there - there are so many people that we talk to out there on the campaign trail that do not like either candidate at all and are fully plugged into the election, paying attention, polls show us this, but do not feel comfortable with Donald Trump, don't know who he's going to surround himself with, you know, and then have trust issues with Hillary Clinton. I think the big question after these two conventions is, where will those people be? Will they be energized? Will they be active - will they respond more to the Donald Trump message of last week, tapping into that anxiety, or, you know, the positivity of this week's convention? And I think that's fascinating.

BALDWIN: Let me just jump in and throw another voice in, Harry Reid, who is critical. I was just talking to Manu Raju, who is our Hill go- to guy. Listen to what Harry Reid said. And, Boris, I want you to respond. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HARRY REID (D), MINORITY LEADER: It's obvious that he doesn't know what he's talking about. It's obvious he can't control his mind or his tongue. And what I've suggested, if now because he's the nominee for the party, and he gets - he's entitled to briefings from the CIA, for example, I told - I said publicly, gave him fake briefings. Pretend you're briefing him. Don't tell him anything that you don't want to get out. And that's how I feel about it. I think that the man is a loose cannon. I think he's done so much to hurt our country with our international relations already.

MANU RAJU, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: But he's the Republican nominee. Isn't he entitled to get those briefings?

REID: Give him fake briefings.

RAJU: What does that even mean?

REID: It means they'll tell him stuff. He won't know the difference.

RAJU: You're basically telling the intelligence community to lie to him.

REID: No. No, you don't - I am not going to lie to you, but that's why I don't (ph) tell you everything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Yes. Boris and then Anita. Go ahead.

EPSHTEYN: Sure, more personal attacks. Of course Harry Reid, who is a life-long way left liberal is going to be negative against Donald Trump. Even though the state Harry Reid is from is likely going to vote for Donald Trump. We feel very good about Nevada. As you - as you look -

WOODHOUSE: Whoa, whoa, whoa.

EPSHTEYN: As you look - as you look across the liberal spectrum, of course these voices are coming out and they're being very negative. Again, not a lot of positivity there and using personal attacks against someone in Donald Trump who is a life-long success in - in business.

BALDWIN: I mean it was just (INAUDIBLE) ago that he was suggesting espionage and says he was being sarcastic.

EPSHTEYN: Well, that is not what he was suggesting, if I could address that. What he was saying is that if anyone out there, including any folks here or anyone else, have those 33 e-mails supposedly about yoga, but we're not children, we don't believe that, they should turn those over to the FBI.

WOODHOUSE: You know, you know, Brooke, Brooke, you folks are really good at telling us what Donald Trump actually meant instead of us being able to talk about what he actually said. He said that the Russians should spy -

EPSHTEYN: I saw the same speech.

WOODHOUSE: He said the Russians should spy on Hillary Clinton.

EPSHTEYN: He did not say that.

WOODHOUSE: He did - he did say that and -

EPSHTEYN: Verbatim? (INAUDIBLE).

WOODHOUSE: And he is suggesting - you know, he is suggesting espionage against a political opponent. He suggested the Russians should influence our elections.

EPSHTEYN: Well, you're saying that she has those e-mails.

WOODHOUSE: And you folks are standing by and saying that's OK. And they've just -

EPSHTEYN: Are you suggesting she has those e-mails then? If someone else could hack into it, that means she has the e-mails, right?

WOODHOUSE: I'm not suggesting - I'm suggesting that he shouldn't be asking the Russians to interfere in a political election in the United States.

EPSHTEYN: He was not. He was saying, if someone has the e-mails, they should turn them over. And that's the case with all - all of America -

WOODHOUSE: You know, I - like I said -

BALDWIN: We're arguing syntax and meaning. I wish - if only Mr. Trump were here and he could fully explain because -

WOODHOUSE: That's right. Right.

BALDWIN: We would like - we would like -

EPSHTEYN: And he did send tweets out and he did that.

(CROSS TALK)

BALDWIN: But what was it, what you were going to say a moment ago.

DUNN: I just wanted to say, you know, Boris, three weeks ago you had people in your party who were arguing that Hillary Clinton shouldn't be given classified briefings. I think the outrage here, the faux outrage is a little too much today.

Here is - here's the reality is that Donald Trump, on any given day, is capable of saying things that are national security concerns for any of our allies around the globe. I believe quite recently he suggested defunding NATO, which is one of our oldest, most important alliances that's helped keep peace in the world. So I think that one of the concerns voters have - and frankly it's a very valid concern - is whether - not just weather Donald Trump has the experience to be commander in chief, but whether he actually has any interest in learning the issues about being commander in chief. And Harry Reid's comments probably go to this concern about whether he can be trusted with this kind of information.

Now, we all know he's the nominee of this party. He will get these briefings, OK? So he'll get these briefings. But the reality of the situation is, he has shown no interest in even learning the minimal amount about foreign policy that a presidential candidate should know in order to run.

EPSHTEYN: Well, debate rules, may I - may I respond?

DUNN: Yes. Of course.

BALDWIN: Quick. Twenty seconds.

EPSHTEYN: Really quickly. First, on the briefings, the reason Clinton shouldn't be getting them is because she was proven to be violating rules, regulations and laws with her private server. So she's already endangering Americans and American lives.

As far as Donald Trump goes, he absolutely knows the issues. And on NATO, he didn't say defund it. The scrip goes - the whole transcript said that he wants to support our allies, but if they do not pay their share, if me and you bought a house together, you were going to put up 50 percent, I was going to put up 50 percent, but you didn't, I'd have the house.

DUNN: But just - here's the thing. It's not a real estate deal, Boris. This - you know, foreign affairs is not a real estate deal.

WOODHOUSE: Right, it's not -

EPSHTEYN: It's business - it's business like anything else.

DUNN: It's absolutely different. OK.

EPSHTEYN: I'm a (INAUDIBLE) foreign service veteran.

DUNN: That's right. So you -

EPSHTEYN: I will tell you, that over entanglement of alliances is also a problem.

BALDWIN: OK, Boris, Anita, Brad, Maeve, no, it's healthy. Let's continue in the commercial break as we have all week long. Thank all so much. Have to hear all sides.

[14:15:01] Expectations sky-high for Hillary Clinton's speech this evening, right? This is what we're all looking for. We have new details about what she will say and we will show you her convention moments since 1996.

Also ahead, after Donald Trump asked Russia to hack Clinton's e-mails, he says he was being sarcastic. Words matter. Can he get away with that sort of language? Boris touched on this a moment ago. We're going to go deeper in that.

I'm Brooke Baldwin in Philadelphia. CNN's special coverage from the Democratic National Convention continues in a flash.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Welcome back. We're live in the CNN Grill here in the city of brotherly love. Good to here.

Hillary Clinton tonight giving arguably the biggest speech of her life. The convention stage is hardly unfamiliar territory for the first lady who became senator, secretary of state. Let's take a look back, shall we, starting with the 1996 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE (1996): I know, and you know, that Chicago is my kind of town.

[14:20:05] Another friend advised me that I should cut my hair and color it orange and then change my name to Hillary "Rodman" Clinton.

I decided to do tonight what I've been doing for more than 25 years. I want to talk about what matters most in our lives and in our nation, children and families. I wish -

CLINTON (2000): Bill and I are closing one chapter of our lives and soon we'll be starting a new one. For me, it will be up to the people of New York to decide whether I'll have the privilege of serving them in the United States Senate.

CLINTON (2004): I am - I am practically speechless.

I visited Ground Zero the day after we were attacked and I felt like I was standing at the gates of hell. And yet that tragedy both changed and challenged us. I know it did for me.

CLINTON (2008): To my supporters, to my champions, to my sisterhood of the traveling pants suits, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: All right, let's talk to two people who have been on the trail with Hillary Clinton since she first announced she was running for president. Jeff Zeleny, CNN's senior Washington correspondent, and Brianna Keilar, CNN's senior political correspondent, both of - both of whom have logged many a miles in the snow and hopefully frequent flyer miles covering this woman who is now, you know, the first major party ticket, female nominee.

First to tonight, Brianna. I mean you've interviewed her. What should the world expect?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: I think tonight for her is about contrast. And so she and those around her looked at last week with Donald Trump and they felt like this was a very dark and stormy picture of America that he painted. So she's going to try to come up with something more optimistic. And we've seen -

BALDWIN: Like Obama.

KEILAR: Like he did. He really previewed that for her. So that's one thing.

The other thing is, without maybe naming names, even if she doesn't name names, because we've seen her approach the criticism of Donald Trump in two days, which is to just outright say his name, says his words, or to kind of allude to him. You know who she's talking about. We're going to see that criticism. And then she also needs to acknowledge that there is this divide within the party. We've seen it on full display here at the convention and she really has to address that.

BALDWIN: What do you think?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: I think you're right about the divide in the party. I mean President Obama, that was one of his many take-away messages was, you know, unite behind her. She needs you to carry her like you carried me. I think she needs to ask. She needs to ask some of these Bernie Sanders supporters to carry her and make this - you know, she says stronger together, to say that she needs them to deliver that.

BALDWIN: Yes.

KEILAR: Like she's more humble about it, in a way?

ZELENY: Yes, I -

BALDWIN: Appeal to them. Yes.

ZELENY: I think that, you know, to expect them to come along, you know, we've heard the boos and yelling in there. But the reality here is, I think that she will - my biggest question is, will she own up to any flaws or shortcomings? I mean you know better than anyone she has evolved in her e-mail thing, and, you know, accepting responsibility, blaming others for unfair standards. How is she going to approach that tonight? I don't know, but that is my question, will she own up to any (INAUDIBLE), because I think otherwise present Trump as an unacceptable, dangerous choice, and she's tough. That's what I think tonight is what she has to do.

BALDWIN: OK, so humility. The ask. Accept the divide.

What about just looking back on the last year? I mean I remember hanging out with you for the Fourth of July weekend last year.

KEILAR: You were there when I actually got the interview.

BALDWIN: I was there when you got the - when you got the interview with Hillary Clinton.

KEILAR: Yes.

BALDWIN: I was like, see you later, I'm going to New York. You know, I'll be watching.

KEILAR: Head to Iowa next.

BALDWIN: The - you asked her, you pushed her on e-mails then. I mean is there one sort of big contrast from the woman who was sitting across from you a year ago or -

KEILAR: You know, the thing that sort of strikes me because - and I actually - I have not been covering her since she declared. I started covering her more than a year before that, assuming she would declare. If she wasn't going to, I made a really bad career decision. In the end, she ran, so here I am.

BALDWIN: You did alright.

KEILAR: What really struck me was kind of gearing up for her to declare and then was it just --- was it the month before - a few weeks before she ended up declaring, the e-mail thing came out. That was when we first realized.

And I think about that as the original sin of her campaign. It is the thing that has colored so much of it. Trust has been a big issue for her.

BALDWIN: Yes.

[14:25:00] KEILAR: It was an issue for her that people had going back to the Clinton years in the White House that she was going to struggle with anyways. And that just sort of fed into it.

So I think that's the thing that really strikes me. That July a year ago, when I asked her about it, her answers, a lot of people looking at her answers about the e-mail were sort of unsatisfactory and she's had to really stick to that, I did it for convenience. I wouldn't do it again. But I think a lot of people maybe don't take her at her word for that and she's still kind of stuck saying that. And that has been just such an uphill battle for her this entire time.

BALDWIN: So it's how she addresses that. But just finally to you, I mean folks have said she's strongest when she talks about, I am Hillary Clinton, the mother and the grandmother. I mean how much of that Hillary Clinton will we hear?

ZELENY: I think we'll see some, but she'll be introduced by Chelsea, of course, so she'll handle some of that. And we've heard a lot of the biography already. But what I'm struck by the contrasts are. She did not expect a year ago when you were sitting with her to be running against Donald Trump. That's the contrast.

BALDWIN: Surprise.

ZELENY: This is a different race. And we think we looked back to that amazing tapestry of speeches from '96 forward, this is a new - we think that she's done everything before. She hasn't done this tonight. She has not stood before this convention and say, "I accept this nomination to be your presidential candidate." This is a new moment for her going forward.

BALDWIN: It's a great point because she's been in the spotlight for decades. This is new.

ZELENY: (INAUDIBLE) someone else. This is her standing alone leading the way here. So I think - but the biggest contrast is who she's running against. And this is going to bring out the fighter in her. Everything that has developed her up and to this point -

BALDWIN: Yes.

ZELENY: She needs. And we do not know the end of this story.

KEILAR: We don't.

ZELENY: We don't. For anyone who thinks that, oh, Donald Trump couldn't possibly win or, oh, she's too sort of a dislike to win, they're both wrong. The reality is, a very divided country. So starting tomorrow, this is a story where we don't know the ending of. And everything that she has prepared for her whole life, we'll see how it ends.

KEILAR: And -

ZELENY: She's not very nimble, as you know. This has thrown her off script a little bit. She wasn't planning to run against Donald Trump. She thought she'd run against Jeb Bush or maybe Marco Rubio.

KEILAR: But you said - you said she's a fighter. And I guess the contrast for me, the takeaway is, that if this is a fight, if this is a war, the beginning was conventional warfare and now you're in basically political guerrilla warfare -

ZELENY: Yes.

KEILAR: And we don't know the outcome.

ZELENY: It's on.

BALDWIN: Da, da, da.

Brianna Keilar, Jeff Zeleny, an amazing job so far. To be continued.

ZELENY: That's right.

BALDWIN: No one knows the ending.

Coming up, aggressive counterprogramming from team Trump urging his supporters not to watch the convention tonight. Do not turn on Hillary Clinton's speech. What's that about? Is it about ratings? We'll talk to our media guru, Brian Stelter.

Also ahead, a chilling prediction from the head of the FBI. Why James Comey believes a coalition victory over ISIS could actually lead to more attacks against the west. More on that from Philadelphia, next.

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