Return to Transcripts main page

CNN NEWSROOM

President Obama Speaks at Opening of African American History Museum; Presidential Debate Coming Monday; New York Times Endorses Clinton. Aired 12-1p ET

Aired September 24, 2016 - 12:00   ET

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


BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: -- how it's told, and about what can be cast aside. On a stone where day after day, for years, men and women were torn from their spouse or their child, shackled, and bound, and bought, and sold, and bid like cattle, on a stone worn down by the tragedy of over 1,000 bare feet.

For a long time, the only thing we considered important, the singular thing we once chose to commemorate as history, with a plaque, were the unmemorable speeches of two powerful men. And that block, I think, explains why this museum is so necessary, because that same object reframed, put in context, tells us so much more.

As Americans, we rightfully passed on the tales of the giants who built this country, who led armies into battle, who waged seminal debates in the halls of Congress and the corridors of power, but too often we ignored, or forgot, the stories of millions upon millions of others, who built this nation just as surely, whose humble eloquence, whose calloused hands, whose steady drive, helped to create cities, erect industries, build the arsenals of democracy.

And so this national museum helps to tell a richer and fuller story of who we are. It helps us better understand the lives, yes of the president, but also the slave, the industrialist but also the porter, the keeper of the status quo but also the optimist seeking to overthrow that status quo, the teacher, or the cook, alongside the statesman.

And by knowing this other story, we better understand ourselves and each other. It binds us together. It reaffirms that all of us are American, that African-American history is not somehow separate from our larger American story, it's not the underside of the American story.

It is central to the American story, that our glory derives not just from our most obvious triumphs, but how we've wrested triumph from tragedy, and how we've been able to remake ourselves again, and again, and again, in accordance with our highest ideals.

I, too, am America. The great historian John Hope Franklin, who helped to get this museum started, once said "good history is a good foundation for a better present and future". He understood the best history doesn't just sit behind a glass case. It helps us to understand what's outside the case. The best history helps us recognize the mistakes that we've made, and the dark corners of the human spirit that we need to guard against. And yes, a clear-eyed view of history can make us uncomfortable. It will shake us out of familiar narratives.

But it is precisely because of that discomfort that we learn, and grow, and harness our collective power to make this nation more perfect. That's the American story that this museum tells, one of suffering and delight, one of fear, but also of hope, of wandering in the wilderness, and then seeing, out on the horizon, a glimmer of the Promised Land.

It is in this embrace of truth, as best as we can know it, in the celebration of the entire American experience, where real patriotism lies. As President Bush just said, a great nation doesn't shy from the truth. It strengthens us, it emboldens us, it should fortify us.

It is an act of patriotism to understand where we've been, and this museum tells the story of so many patriots. Yes, African-Americans have felt the cold weight of shackles, and the stinging lash of the field whip, but we've also dared to run north, and sing songs from Harriet Tubman's hymnal.

We've buttoned up our Union blues to join the fight for our freedom, we've railed against injustice for decade upon decade, a lifetime of struggle and progress and enlightenment that we see etched in Frederick Douglass' mighty leonine gaze.

Yes, this museum tells the story of people who felt the indignity, the small and large humiliations of the whites only sign, or wept at the side of Emmitt Till's coffin, or fell to their knees on shards of stained glass outside a church where four little girls died.

But it also tells the story of the black and white youth sitting alongside each other straight-backed, so full of dignity, on those lunch counter stools, the story of 6-year-old Ruby Bridges' pigtails, fresh-pressed dress, walking that gauntlet to get to school, Tuskeegee Airmen soaring the skies, not just to beat a dictator, but to reaffirm the promise of our democracy, and remind us that all of us are created equal.

This is the place to understand how protests and love of country don't merely coexist, but inform each other. How men can probably win the gold for their country, but still insist on raising a black-gloved fist. How we can wear an I Can't Breathe T-shirt, and still grieve for fallen police officers. Here, the American wear the razor-sharp uniform of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, belongs alongside the cape of the Godfather of Soul.

We have shown the world we can float like butterflies, and sting like bees, that we can rocket into space like Mae Jemison, steal home like Jackie, rock like Jimmy, stir the pot like Richard Pryor. And we can be sick and tired of being sick and tired like Fannie Lou Hamer, and still rock steady like Aretha Franklin.

We are large while (ph) wouldn't have told us, containing multitudes. We are large, containing multitudes full of contradictions. That's America. That's what makes us gold (ph). That's what makes us extraordinary. And as it's true for America, so it is true for the African-American experience. We're not a burden on America, or a stain on America, or an object of pity, or charity for America. We're America.

And that's what this museum explains, the fact that our stories have shaped every corner of our culture, the struggles for freedom that took place made our constitution a real and living document, tested, and shaped, and deepened, and made more profound its meaning for all people.

The story told here doesn't just belong to black Americans, it belongs to all Americans, for the African-American experience has been shaped just as much by Europeans and Asians and Native Americans and Latinos. We have informed each other. We are polyglot, a stew.

Scripture promised that if we lift up the oppressed, that our light will rise in the darkness, and our night will become like the noonday. And the story contained in this museum makes those words prophecy. And that's what this day is about, that's what this museum's about.

I, too, am America. It is a glorious story, the one that's told here. It is complicated, and it is messy, and it is full of contradictions, as all great stories are, as Shakespeare is, as Scripture is. And it's a story that perhaps needs to be told now more than ever.

A museum alone will not alleviate poverty in every inner city, or every rural hamlet. It won't eliminate gun violence from all our neighborhoods, or immediately ensure that justice is always color- blind. It won't wipe away every instance of discrimination in a job interview, or a sentencing hearing, or folks trying to rent an apartment.

Those things are up to us, the decisions and choices we make. It requires speaking out and organizing and voting, until our values are fully reflected in our laws and our policies and our communities. But what this museum does show us, is that even in the face of oppression, even in the face of unimaginable difficulty, America has moved forward.

And so this museum provides context for the debate of our times, it illuminates them, and gives us some sense of how they evolved, and perhaps keeps them in proportion. Perhaps they can help a white visitor understand the pain and anger of demonstrators in places like Ferguson and Charlotte.

But it can also help black visitors appreciate the fact that not only is this younger generation carrying on traditions of the past, but within the white communities across the nation we see the sincerity of law enforcement officers and officials who, in fits and starts (ph), are struggling to understand, and are trying to do the right thing.

It reminds us that routine discrimination and Jim Crow aren't ancient history, it's just a blink in the eye of history, it was just yesterday. And so we should not be surprised that not all the healing is done. We shouldn't despair that it's not all solved. And knowing the largest stories should instead remind us just how remarkable the changes that have taken place truly are -- just in my lifetime. And thereby inspire us to further progress.

And so hopefully this museum can help us talk to each other. And more importantly, listen to each other. And most importantly, see each other -- Black and White and Latino and Native American, and Asian American -- see how our stories are bound together. And bound together with women in America, and workers in America, and entrepreneurs in America, and LGBT Americans.

And for young people who didn't live through the struggles represented here, I hope you draw strength from the changes that have taken place. Come here and see the power of your own agency. See how young John Lewis was. These were children who transformed a nation in a blink of an eye. Young people, come here and see your ability to make your mark.

The very fact of this day does not prove that America's perfect. But it does validate the ideas of our founding. For this country born of change, this country born of revolution, this country of "we, the people," this country can get better. And that's why we celebrate. Mindful that our work is not yet done, mindful that we are but on a weigh station on this common journey towards freedom, and how glorious it is that we enshroud it here on some of our nation's most hallowed ground.

The same place where lives were once traded, but also where hundreds of thousands of Americans of all colors and creeds once marched. How joyful it is that this story takes us right from a place alongside Jefferson, who declared our independence, and Washington, who made it real. And alongside Lincoln, who saved our union, and the GIs who defended it. Alongside a new monument to a king gazing outward, summoning us towards that mountaintop. How righteous it is that we tell this story here.

For almost eight years I have been blessed with the extraordinary honor of serving you in this office. And time and again -- time and again I've flown low over this mall on Marine One, often with Michelle and our daughters. And President Clinton, President Bush, Laura, they'll tell you, it is a incredible sight.

You pass right across the Washington Monument, it feels like you can reach out and touch it. And at night, if you turn the other way, you don't just see the Lincoln Memorial, Old Abe is lit up and you can see him, his spirit glowing from that building.

And we don't have many trips left, but over the years I have always been comforted as I have watched this museum rise from this earth into this remarkable tribute. Because I know that years from now, like all of you, Michelle and I will be able to come here to this museum and not just bring our kids, but hopefully our grandkids. I imagine holding a little hand of somebody and tell them the stories that are enshrined here.

And in the years that follow, they'll be able to do the same. And then we'll go to the Lincoln Memorial. And we'll take a view atop the Washington Monument. And together we'll learn about ourselves, as Americans. Our sufferings, our delights, and our triumphs. And we'll walk away better for it. Better because we better grasp the truth. We'll walk away that much more in love with this country -- the only place on earth where this story could have unfolded.

It is a monument, no less than the others on this mall, to the deep and abiding love for this country and the ideals upon which it is founded. For we, too, are American. So enough talk. President Bush was timing me. He had the over/under at 25. Let us now open this museum to the world.

Today we have with us a family that reflects the arc of our progress. The Bonner family, four generations in all, starting with gorgeous, 7- year old Christine and going up to gorgeous 99-year old Ruth.

Now, Ruth's father, Elijah Odom, was born into servitude in Mississippi. He was born a slave. As a young boy, he ran though, to his freedom. He lived through reconstruction and he lived through Jim Crow. But he went on to farm and graduate from medical school. And gave life to the beautiful family that we see today, with a spirit reflected in beautiful Christine. Free and equal in the laws of her country, and in the eyes of God.

So in a brief moment, their family will join us in ringing a bell from the First Baptist Church in Virginia, one of the oldest black churches in America, founded under a grove of trees in 1776. And the sound of this bell will be echoed by others in houses of worship and town squares all across this country. One (ph) echo of the ringing of bells that signaled emancipation more than a century-and-a-half ago. The sound and the anthem of American freedom. God bless you. God bless the United States of America.

(BELLS RINGING)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right, the bells toll there. The official opening of the Smithsonian Museum of African-American History and Culture and helping to ring those bells right there, 99- year-old Ruth Bonner and her 7-year-old Christine, four generations of the Bonner family.

You heard the president of the United States underscore this museum represents all of America, quoting him now, talking about among the things, the keepsakes in grandma's attic helping to be central to the American story.

He says through this museum, it helps to tell a richer and fuller story of who we are. It reaffirms all of us are American and it really did appear to be an emotional President Barack Obama reflecting on his tenure coming to an end.

He only has a couple times more to enjoy the beautiful view as his green one would makes its way over the landscape of Washington Mall there on the way to the south lawn of the White House.

e says over time, he's been watching the building of that African- American museum from a space to an imprint to the building of it, now to the opening of the Smithsonian, magnificent, 400,000 square-foot museum there in the shadow of the Washington Monument.

He also talked about even in difficulty, he said America has moved forward. He made reference to Ferguson. He made reference to Charlotte. He said our history is not perfect, but this museum helps to underscore the importance of appreciating the flaws and the fabulous moments of American history.

He also made reference to hearing President George W. Bush, who is responsible for signing the 2003 legislation to get this project under way and President George W. Bush saying earlier, he said, quote, "I hope all our citizens come to see this place, it is fabulous."

Even President Bill Clinton was in the audience there. On this weekend, two days ahead of the presidential election while his wife is at home, Hillary Clinton in Chappaqua, preparing and Donald Trump is getting ready for their showdown here at Hofstra University, which is where we are.

[12:30:03] Hello again everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield, here at Hofstra University, which will be the stage set for presidential debate if two days, but there is people who are enjoying photographs there at the historical landmark now of the Smithsonian museum, African-American History and Culture.

We've got our Suzanne Malveaux who is there reporting on this. And I'm also joined by a host of people. Errol Louis is also with us, political commentator to help reflect on this historical marker, Ron Brownstein, CNN senior political analyst and Larry Sabato, director for the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.

So let me begin with you, Suzanne because it's a beautiful gathering of people right there on the Washington Mall at this new museum. And there were so many poignant moments, references to history. This is a journey taking you from slavery to the present day, set the stage for us. And what it is like being there for the many who have turned out.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sure, Fred. I mean it really is emotional. It's amazing because you have thousands and thousands of people who have gathered here on the mall and it feels like a family reunion. It feels like home. So many people with their stories, just going down and talking to people, seeing the members of the Obama administration but also that numerous musicians, the celebrities, the journalists and thousands of people who gathered on the mall who have just came out to see this remarkable moment.

And thought what really resonated was the president's call for unity. This was a speech that was about patriotism, it was about love of country and it really was about embracing such as a difficult struggle, a hard story to tell, which has happened here, which has unfolded in this very special place in this museum and use its a rallying cry to understand. That is what the president was talking about. And he said, "We are all American. I, too, am American. The African-American is not a burden, not an object of pity. But I too, am America." And that is what he is trying to do in typical Obama fashion, to use this to enlighten people and to say, "Look, for those of you who don't understand the frustration and anger of the protester, take a look inside and see the context, the history of what is behind that." The same thing the African-American youth, Black Lives Matter that are also depicted inside of this museum to try to understand the benevolence of the police officers, of those who are trying to do their best to bridge those gaps.

I just found that it's quite remarkable. And Fred, something that you actually mentioned too, is that it's clear that he's getting ready to say good-bye. I mean we have not seen or heard this kind of speech where he is acknowledging that his days are numbered, that this is a blessing that he has enjoyed this office. And then he really is enjoying it. You can tell that he is fully embraced that. That part of his job, that part of his identity. And he made it very clear today, that he is trying to use this experience, use this place, use this moment to unify the country. Fred.

WHITFIELD: And Suzanne, while we're watching and listening here, while the president and first lady Michelle Obama are inside touring the museum, we're listening to Denise Graves here and this children's choir. It's quite remarkable. Errol, your impressions particularly, I feel like I saw the president, perhaps wiping away a couple tears. His voice certainly sound like he was quivering particularly when he talked about, you know, we are better because we grasp the truth.

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, absolutely. I thought it was an important moment for his presidency as well as for the nation. You know, Barack Obama, we think of him as the president. Before that, he was a community organizer. Before that, he was a constitutional law professor. But really in the end he's an author. He is the author of his own career. He is the author of himself. That's really what his two autobiographies are about.

And I saw this as him sort of stepping back into that role, trying to tell his story, our own story. It reminded me frankly of being 14- years-old and this miniseries, "Roots" comes on.

And for the very first time slavery in particular is dealt with on television. And they planned as an eight-day miniseries back then, Fredricka, because they thought nobody wanted to watch it and they wanted to get it over with. They thought it was going to be flop.

The first night, 29 million people watch it. It builds every single night. In the end was a record large audience. I think of this as maybe something along those lines. You know, it kind of snuck up on me. You would see a special once in a while saying, "Oh, they're building this thing on the mall. And it was a zoning fight or it was a fund raising fight."

Now it's here. It sounds like it's going to be so much more. And I think the president really was explaining that.

[12:34:59] WHITFIELD: Yeah, and it really did. I think the president also tried to explain what a journey it has been for that museum. Just as you mentioned, you know, you would see fences around this space and then suddenly, you would see a framework of a building. And the next thing you know, you saw this bronze-like figure. And then you saw a fence removed. And it was just this incredible mass that has just blossomed out of the earth there.

You know, Ron, when the president was reflecting there on his own journey and parallels, I feel like he was making sort of parallels to the blossoming of this building. You know, he said, this is the only place on earth where story could be true. And I felt he was talking about both that museum as well as his own personal journey of becoming president of the United States. Ron, is that something of what you, perhaps, heard?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: That's a very good point. Look I thought it was a profound argument that the president made and really the extension, the continuation of the argument that he made at the Democratic convention in his speech there in which he essentially made the case that true patriotism especially in a diverse country is not simply blindly celebrating your nation. It is facing directly at the flaws of your nation and trying to deal with them.

And that is the essence of patriotism. And he kind of told that story. He connected that story very explicitly through all American history right through today. As you note in Ferguson and Charlotte. And the other kind of secondary point that he touched on, I thought it was very relevant to where we are in this election, is that America's story is always a story of diversity, it's always a story of diverse cultures coming together in what he called a stew and creating something new.

And that, you know, that African-Americans are intrinsically part of the American story. That we are all part of the American story and that is a very relevant set of arguments in an election that as we talked about before seems to be revolving more than anything else about how and if really we live together in an inextricably diversifying country.

WHITFIELD: And Larry, on the importance of these president's being present, in unity there, we saw President Bill Clinton in the audience, we saw Vice President Biden as well as his wife and on stage President's George W. Bush and President Barack Obama.

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR FOR THE CENTER FOR POLITICS: Well, it was all of it was moving, the ceremony, President Obama's speech. But I was struck by the bipartisan tone having President Bush who signed the legislation in 2003 as Laura Bush joined President and Mrs. Obama. What a nice thing to see in the midst of this horrible, polarized very partisan election.

It is possible, from time-to-time to achieve bipartisanship. And when we do, we can accomplish great things.

WHITFIELD: And Errol, you know, here we are, just two days away from the presidential debate, you and I here in Hofstra University. And the timing of the opening of this museum and in many ways will be revealing and it's a teaching instrument for so many people who really don't have a clear understanding about the breath of the impact African-Americans have made in this nation. And this museum celebrates a multiculturalism. It's not just those who have contributed to the African-American story, black American stories. But they are stories of white Americans, of Jewish, of immigrants and all.

I mean, the impact is great. And here we are, just two days away from a debate in which a nation is asking for unity from, again, you know, the person who is going to end up in that White House.

LOUIS: Well, absolutely. I mean, look, what are the three big stories this week and then going to it Monday? It's the debate that's is going to be right here, if the opening of this museum, is the riots going on Charlotte and all of the issues that led up to that unrest.

So, yeah, this is a time for people that really try and figure these things out. We'll do the best we can as media to try to present it. But, you know, the context is really important. And the importance of that museum really cannot be overstated. There is a very famous expression that if you don't know your history, you're like a leaf that doesn't know which part of a tree.

And that is true for so many people. I teach part time. And the number of young people I ran into where you want to sort of take somethings for granted and start building on it. You realize, you know, they don't know the first parts of the story. And so you have to go back by definition with young people, you have to go back again and again and again, which is what a good museum does. I can't wait to go visit it myself.

WHITFIELD: And Suzanne, real quick, if could ask you to button it up. I know you have been inside the museum. I had the opportunity to tour the museum as well and talk to people over the last couple weeks. Give me an idea what kind of emotion you were seeing from people in the audience who were hearing the president's words, hearing Lonnie Bunch's words and also eyewitness to the unveiling of this magnificent building.

[12:40:14] MALVEAUX: People are in tears. People are laughing. People are crying. People are praying. And when you go inside of the museum, I know, Fred, you were inside as well. It is such a validation of one's history. I can hardly wait to take my parents. Because really, so much of their story, their life story growing up in a segregated self, when you hear those stories. But you don't really feel it, the impact, until you actually see it in this museum. You see those fountains for colored only. Or you see this railroad car for whites only. I mean you can touch it, see it and you can feel that it inside of this museum.

And I think it's incredibly powerful for so many people who I talked to here today to have that sense of validation, that their story is real and that it wasn't long ago that there is still work to be done. There's still a struggle that is ahead. And I think people are going to feel like this is a place that they go to, but they keep coming back. It's not a place that we can cover, Fred, as you know in a day. It's going to take a couple of ...

WHITFIELD: Oh, gosh, you can't do it in one day, no.

MALVEAUX: Absolutely not. But it is quite an amazing journey. And it is true. It's an American journey, really.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Suzanne Malveaux, thank you so much. Larry, Sabato, Ron Brownstein, Errol Louis, thanks to all of you. And yes, best advice, when you do make plans to go to that museum, you've got to do it in small doses. It's a huge emotional impact. And you got to feel fit because it's huge. It will take you some time, spread it out over of course of many days, if not months.

We'll be back from Hofstra University.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. I'm at Hofstra University, the place of the first presidential debate.

[12:45:04] And now, this breaking news just two days ahead of that debate, The New York Times editorial board just announcing that they are endorsing Hillary Clinton for president. The editorial, which will appear in print in Sunday's paper, the day before the first presidential debates emphasizes national security insights Clinton's experience as secretary of state.

The paper says, she is better qualified to shape U.S. foreign policy than her Republican challenger, Donald Trump. The Times also backed Clinton during the Democratic primary fight. So never have the stakes been so high.

We are just now two days away from the showdown that we've all been waiting for, the first presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump here at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York.

Both Trump and Clinton canceled their trips to Charlotte, North Carolina, which has seen protests and unrest after the fatal police shooting after an African-American. The mayor of Charlotte pleaded with the candidates to reschedule. And while Clinton has been vocal about the recent police shooting there and in Tulsa, she is off the campaign trail, preparing for Monday night. But Trump is holding a rally tonight in Roanoke, Virginia. So sticking to his mantra, he doesn't want to over prepare for the debate, so much to talk about here.

With me here on the Hofstra University campus, CNN senior media correspondent, Brian Stelter and CNN political commentator, Errol Louis. Oh, and there is Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics. He is back, yehey, good to see you, University of Virginia.

All right, gentlemen, let's talk about this. So Brian, you first, New York Times editorial board now endorsing Hillary Clinton. This, just a few hours behind Ted Cruz now endorsing Donald Trump, so, both have that in their back pocket on the eve of this presidential debate, how influential?

(CROSSTALK) BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: People, news outlets, they are lining up where they belong, right.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

STELTER: In New York Times always liberal editorial board, always supporting Democrats. But what's key about this editorial today appear in Sunday's paper that it's meant to persuade reluctant or resistant people to come over to Clinton's side. It's not meant to rally people or her supporters, it's meant to persuade more people to come on Clinton side.

You know, almost every single newspaper in the country they've endorsed a candidate so far, has endorsed Clinton. Trump is going to end up with almost no endorsements except for maybe the New York Post and a couple of other papers that always support the Republican, so the interesting to see how kind of the media elites the editorial boards are lining up for Clinton.

WHITFIELD: Overall, Errol, these candidates are hoping the debate is going to be influential. Will it encourage particularly the undecideds that they are the one that you want to see in the White House.

LOUIS: That's right. In fact every word out of every -- out of both candidates mouths, you have to interpret it as, you're talking to undecideds in Ohio. They're talking to undecideds in Florida. Because it's not just generic of this side, it's those key swing battle ground states that they're going to really be focused on. And so different policies, different approaches, different sort of demographics, the millennials, I think we're going to hear Hillary Clinton talking directly to them and maybe past the rest of us. It's going to be a very interesting 90 minutes.

WHITFIELD: So Larry, measuring a successful debate night that can come in so many different forms. It can be the quick, you know, quip, you know, that either of the candidates is going to be known for. It can be something in body language that is being evaluated whether it's be advantageous or whether it send the wrong message. So talk to me about how the consciences these candidates are going to be about either showing humorous side, showing their intellect or perhaps their character in the way in which they conduct themselves.

SABATO: Fred, they'll try to do all the above. This is an unusual debate. Because I think you really do have one candidate, Hillary Clinton, who is over prepared and another candidate, Donald Trump, who is under prepared. And sometimes I wonder if it's going to be like matter meeting antimatter and it's the end of the universe. But I doubt it. I think we'll all get through it.

And I'll tell you honestly, Fred, judging from a long history of debate analysis and research, essentially, you're going to have the overwhelming number of people who were for Hillary Clinton when they tuned in, finishing the debate saying, "I really liked her, I'm for Hillary Clinton" and exactly the same thing for the Donald Trump supporters. There are a few undecideds. It's really only a few percent. I agree with Errol, Hillary Clinton has got to work on the millennials. But I think the most important thing that Clinton can do is try to excite the Democratic base because they have been under excited to this point.

For Trump, he wants to survive the debate and maybe prove to people that he knows more facts and substance than we think he does.

[12:50:10] WHITFIELD: And so Brian, are they being measured differently? So much has been said about how they are being assessed and how they are being evaluated character, you know, versus composure. And how much of that is weighing on the minds of these candidates as well?

STELTER: Well, the Clinton campaign believes the bar is set too low. For Trump of course, the Trump campaign feels that the moderator Lester Holt is under tremendous pressure to fact check which is in itself perform a bias.

All sides of course have a different preferences here. I do think in the judgment of the debate, immediately after in the next day, we're going to have to -- as journalist think about the expectations that we're setting and whether each candidate is living up to it's expectations.

The bar should be set relatively similarly. Even though Clinton is a experienced politician and Trump is not. You know, normally debates get 50, 60, 70 million viewers. I'm expecting 85 million. Some people think a 100 million viewers for this debate. And people who don't watch are going to hear it afterwards. So both Clinton and Trump, the one thing they agree on, they know Monday is the most important night of the election.

WHITFIELD: And Errol, careful is a word being used for both, careful. Donald Trump needs perhaps to contain himself, be careful about exuding too much. Careful in the matter of Hillary Clinton, that she could come across too prepared, too intellectual. It seems like the measuring stick is very different for the two. Is that fair?

LOUIS: You're right. I mean and but that's the reality of it though. Clinton has to be careful to give crisp responses that answer what people want to know, not how much she knows. You know, she can deliver more, facts in 90 seconds than most Americans. But that's not really what you want to do. You want to connect and you want to convey only the most important information, some of which is emotional information. Some of which is sort of character information. And if she can figure out how to do that, she'll be in good shape.

For Donald Trump, just the reverse, he's got to convey that he has some understanding, that he's not just kind of talking out of his head, that he, you know, that a couple of important facts like, "Who is the head of ISIS, you know, that's important to know. It's not sort of trivial. It's not abstract stuff. If he can get that together, we'll have a better debate for everybody. So we can make really informed decisions. WHITFIELD: All right.

STELTER: Yeah, this is for us isn't it, the viewers.

WHITFIELD: It is. All right, Errol, Brian, Larry, thank you so much.

We'll be right back with much more from Hofstra University.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:56:08] WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield at Hofstra University, the first presidential debate staging ground just two days away now.

So a stunning development from a man who sought the Republican nomination himself, Senator Ted Cruz says he is now endorsing Donald Trump for president.

Let's bring in Chris Frates joining us now. This is a stunning reversal.

CHRIS FRATES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Really big reversal, Fred. You know, because remember, he called Donald Trump a bully, a liar. He even called him a narcissist. And now, Ted Cruz wants Donald Trump to be president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TED CRUZ, (R) TEXAS: A year ago, (inaudible) in front of the American people. And I promise I will support the Republican nominee. That's a promise I made to the people across this country. And as I thought about it and prayed about it, what to do, what my conscience told me is I have to keep my word.

(END VIDEO CLIP)\

FRATES: Now, another fact there, Fred, according to Cruz, he didn't want to see Hillary Clinton in the White House. Fred?

WHITFIELD: What does the Trump campaign say? If anything?

FRATES: You know, not surprisingly, you know, Trump, who you might remember, Fred just a couple months ago said he wouldn't accept Cruz's endorsement even if he gave it, you know, gave -- essentially what was a rhetorical equivalent of a bear hug to Ted Cruz saying in a statement this, "I'm greatly honored by the endorsement of Senator Cruz. We fought the battle. And it was a tough and brilliant opponent. I look forward to working with him for many years in order to make America great again." So he was pretty excited to have that endorsement, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, also, unpredictable. All right thank you so much. Chris Frates, appreciate that.

FRATES: You're welcome.

WHITFIELD: We'll much more right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)