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Democratic Party Prepares for Democratic National Convention in Chicago; Trump Campaign Holding Events During Democratic National Convention; President Biden to Speak at First Night of Democratic National Convention. Biden to Pass Torch to Harris in Opening Night Speech at DNC; Tight Security at DNC in Chicago Amid Protests War in Gaza. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired August 19, 2024 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: But because is FDA approved, it can be used in this way. But doctors are worried about this because there are tight guardrails around how you can use Spravato, the treatment resistant depression nasal spray. You have to be monitored by health care professional for two hours afterwards, including for things like slowed breathing. And you're not supposed to drive until you've had a good night's rest, and the next day you can drive because of the effects of ketamine. So doctors say this can be risky and needs to be done in a controlled way.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, it's definitely getting a lot more attention now. Meg, thank you so much for helping us with some of the facts around it all.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Top the hour and good morning to you. I'm Sara Sidner with John Berman. Kate Bolduan is in New York for us, John and I here in Chicago. This is the big dance for Democrats in the belly of the bold in Blackhawk stadium. Democrats later today will be kicking off a historic Democratic National Convention. History will happen here inside the United Center. It will become the home to the first ever formal nomination of a woman of color, black and Asian, as a major party presidential candidate.

In the coming days and hours, we will see past presidents, current Republicans, social media influencer, and Hollywood stars speak at this convention as Kamala Harris's agenda, messaging, and momentum take clear shape with just 78 days to go to Election Day. But tonight, it is President Bidens night, who just four weeks ago thought he would be the one accepting the nomination.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Even mentioned the bulls. I think the roster tonight might be able to beat the Bulls.

SIDNER: I think you're right.

BERMAN: As they are currently constructed. I was just trying to figure out if I could name one player for them right now. The Zach LaVine convention.

With us now, CNN senior political analyst Mark Preston. Mark, it's great to see you. This is the Democrats big moment, so different than what they thought it would be four weeks and one day ago. But now they've got a clear mission for these next four days. What do you think it is?

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, look, there's no question, John, that where we were four weeks ago and where we are right now are in two totally different places. Tonight you're going to see the beginning of the selling of Kamala Harris to America. You know, she's been the vice president for several years right now, but she's really played a low profile role. She hasn't been out there on many of the big issues, has been criticized for that. But we're going to see tonight the beginning of, again, the selling of Kamala Harris.

We'll see also the passing of the torch. We will see Joe Biden tonight come on, take the stage, which interesting, by the way, John, he didn't have his own balloon drop four years ago, if you remember, because of covid. But tonight, he'll kick off the convention. He will pass the torch to Kamala Harris. It will be interesting to see how he talks about what he has done over the past four years and what she's going to do to build upon that.

SIDNER: Can I just ask you to, for us, take a step back and give us a sense of what we have all been through in this country, and what the Democratic Party in particular has been through as they ramp up for the beginning of this convention? It has been mindboggling what has happened.

PRESTON: I'll tell you what, Sara, let's pull up a bottle of bourbon and maybe start smoking cigarettes, because it's been one of those crazy summers, right? No, I mean, I will tell you this is a Democratic Party right now that is entirely different than what, again, we saw just a few weeks ago, depressed, demoralized, didn't think they could take on Donald Trump.

But what they're doing now, we should start to see this energy, this energy, and I think we heard it from the Illinois governor yesterday where he talked about he hasn't seen this type of enthusiasm since Barack Obama 2008. And I think he's correct about that, because what we're seeing is young people, especially young women, who are becoming energized, engaged. I mean, look at the segment we were just talking just a few minutes ago, you guys were talking about who were the celebrities who were going to come out? Was Taylor Swift going to show up? Was Beyonce going to show up? If Kamala Harris wasn't going to be on stage on Thursday night as this was going to be Joe Biden's convention, you wouldn't have that kind of excitement.

BERMAN: Mark Preston, thank you very much. Everyone go check out Mark's Twitter where you can see him with his dress shirts laid out on his bad in Chicago Saturday night, getting ready to iron all of them so he can look as good as he does this morning and the rest of the week. Mark, thank you very much.

SIDNER: That was so nice, John. (LAUGHTER)

SIDNER: Today, the Trump campaign is doing its best to counter program, to get eyeballs. Donald Trump and J.D. Vance kicking off a tour of five battleground states starting in Pennsylvania today. Trump is also having surrogates hold news conferences right here in Chicago. The Trump team is planning events every day during the convention with a spokesperson saying Harris will have, quote, no free shots on goal.

[08:05:00]

CNN's Kristen Holmes joining us now. What more are you hearing about the plans that Donald Trump has, clearly trying to get people to pay attention to him and not as much to the convention here.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. They just want to somehow be able to break into weeklong coverage that is technically Kamala Harris's week, which they know is her weeks. So what you're seeing now is Donald Trump going every single day to a different battleground state with a different theme all along his whole Make America Great Again theme.

Here's where he's going. Monday, he'll be in York, Pennsylvania, to talk about the economy, that's Make America Wealthy Again, Tuesday, Howell, Michigan, that as a suburb of Detroit, he'll be talking about crime and safety, So Make America Safe Again. Wednesday, Asheboro, North Carolina, that is Make America Secure Again, or, excuse me, that one is Make America Strong Again. They're going to be talking about national security. Then he's going to go to the border in Arizona on Thursday, Friday, back to the economy in Las Vegas, then he has a rally in Glendale, Arizona, on Friday night, all part of Make America Great Again.

as you noted, he's going to have various surrogates in Chicago giving press conferences. Today, it is Rick Scott and Ron Johnson, two senators. They want them focusing on the economy. But even if they are trying to get Donald Trump to focus on the issues, particularly every single day, a separate issue, just a reminder, these are not rallies. These are what are being internally called messaging events. That means smaller crowds, smaller venues, and a way to have Donald Trump just stick to the message.

But even with those kind of runway that they are giving him, Donald Trump is still likely to veer off course because that's what we've seen time and time again. This is him in Pennsylvania over the weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Have you heard her laugh? That is the laugh of a crazy person. As soon as she laughs, the election is over.

I'm a better looking person than Kamala.

It was a coup of a president. This was a coup, and they stole the presidency of the United States from him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: "I am a better-looking person than Kamala Harris" is definitely not the message that I have been hearing from Republican allies they want to hear from the former president. What they have wanted to hear from him is talking about immigration, the economy, and crime, again, the things that are laid out this week. We will see if Donald Trump in these smaller venues with these smaller crowds, with this runway to just focus on the issues, will do that.

SIDNER: Thank you for keeping a straight face on that last bit there, Kristen Holmes. I really appreciate it.

BERMAN: So with us now are CNN political commentators Kate Bedingfield, Bakari Sellers, also S.E. Cupp is with us. Bakari by the end of this week the Democrats need to accomplish what? Vice President Harris needs to accomplish what?

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: That's a good question. I haven't really thought about that because --

BERMAN: That's why I'm here.

SELLERS: Thank you for asking that probing question. Go ahead and give us a Pulitzer right now.

(LAUGHTER)

SELLERS: You know, one of the things that I've been thinking about is we have to leave this convention ready to work. I think that -- and I keep reminding Democrats of 2016, I mean, yes, 2016 when people were already choosing jobs and saying I was going to be this ambassador, that ambassador because we saw the polls and Hillary Clinton was up 12 points. But Kamala Harris is an underdog. Even as we take the stage today, I think you're going to have a clear message. I think that people are going to be able to go back to their respective communities, and they have to be apostles of joy. Everyone who is in this room or watching this speech has to go back to their respective communities and be those apostles and be those apostles of truth, and be able to share the message that Kamala Harris presents over the next four days.

SIDNER: Apostles of joy. You brought that at 7:08.

SELLERS: Oh, my goodness, I'm writing it down.

(LAUGHTER)

SIDNER: You were quite strong there, Bakari.

I do want to talk to you about something I know, because you talked about Hillary Clinton and where she was. When Hillary Clinton was running as the potential first female president of the United States, everyone was talking about that she was the first female. We have not heard that in such a robust way. Is that because of something that Kamala Harris doesn't want to run on, she really wants to run on other things? What is the difference? What has changed? I really noticed that this time around.

KATE BEDINGFIELD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think Kamala Harris has been really smart about this. She is putting forth her vision for the country. When you see her out, you see her talking about issues. You saw her making her case on the economy on Friday. You saw her, frankly, as she was kind of thrust into this moment, you saw her really rising to the moment, landing very quickly on this message about freedom that I think really resonates with people.

So what she's done that I think is so smart is she has made this campaign over this now almost month and she's been the nominee, she's made it about the voters, she's made it about you at home and not about her. And you, as you watch her doing this, you see she's a historic candidate. You see she's a woman. You see she is a person of color. She doesn't have to say it. You see it. It's show, not tell. And I think she's using the opportunity and the attention and the platform that she has right now to tell people this campaign is about them, not about her. And I think that's very smart.

[08:10:01]

BERMAN: S.E. Cupp, Bakari was praising my question before. I'll try to one-up, I'll try to top that question.

(LAUGHTER)

S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: That's a high bar.

BERMAN: I asked him what Democrats need to accomplish. What do you think the biggest mistake the Democrats can make this week is? What is it you think that they should avoid?

CUPP: Well, there's a couple of audiences here. I mean, for inside the room, lean into those, lean into those three celebrities that are hosting those nights. Lean into your Democratic surrogates. You're playing to a crowd that is already with you. And I know this is now cliche, but this is all reminding me, very 2008 convention. There's just a lot of momentum and energy. Lean into that.

But outside the room, people tuning in might include swing state voters, might include undecideds, independents. They are still clamoring for an agenda, for problems and solutions, to be told more specifically what your vision is. And that means Tim Walz, too how are you guys merging? Your visions. Do you guys want to make America look more like Minnesota, because Minnesota is bit more progressive than the country is nationally, at least according to polls.

So I mean, those are a lot of unanswered questions. They have to do it over the next four days. But with all these eyeballs on them, I would be making a parallel push for those independent, undecided swing-state voters.

SIDNER: Bakari, I do want to ask you about, because there may be folks in the crowd that are going to protest, the uncommitted group. There are 100,000 people that police are expecting to take to the streets and to protest. And I just want to show people what Kamala Harris has said sort of when this has happened, while she's speaking in other venues. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, (D) VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm here because we believe in democracy. Everyone's voice matters, but I am speaking now. You know what? If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that. Otherwise, I'm speaking.

(CHEERING)

HARRIS: And let me just say this, on topic of what I think I'm hearing over there, let me just speak to that for a moment. I have been clear. Now, is the time to get a ceasefire deal and get the hostage deal done.

(CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: How do you think she should address this if it comes up in the convention?

SELLERS: So there are a couple of things. The first thing is you saw how she addressed at the second go-round, and I think that many of us had conversations about that with people around the vice president, about the better way to handle it than the first moment in which she scared me because it reminded me of my grandmother, aunty, when they give you that look --

SIDNER: She gave you Kamala --

SELLERS: She gave you a look like you need to sit you butt down. And so I think they're a couple of things. I think she has to be very firm in what her position is, and she articulates that very well, that she wants a ceasefire, she wants to bring the hostages home.

My advice for those uncommitted voters is you do more detriment to your movement by attempting to step on her night. If in fact we see those protests in this arena, which I don't think we'll have a lot of -- there have been a lot of things going on behind the scenes with Mignon Moore and Leah Daughtry and Donna Brazile having those conversations, having those meetings happen with those uncommitted delegates, et cetera. But I think you do more damage than anything else to your movement and what you want to do.

And at the end of the day, I think that this is going to be a celebration. I think you'll have some protests that go on on the outside. The media will cover it as such, and let those people's voices be heard. But the leader of the party, and this is what I tell people, there are two things you need to know. We haven't had a more Zionist president in the history of America than Joe Biden. There is no space between the Democratic Party and Israel. Kamala Harris, there still is no space, but she also is talking about the plight of the Palestinians in a way that has a level of empathy in the fact that we don't want any more Jewish babies dying, we don't want any more Palestinian babies dying. That is the message that she is saying.

And so with that being said, I think that we can lift her up and say on this issue, if you care about this issue, the way that you are marching and protesting, do you want Kamala Harris or do you want someone whose son-in-law said that Gaza will be Trump property? Those are the contrasts we have. It's a delicate issue, but I'm here to drink Casamigos and celebrate Kamala Harris. And so hopefully that's what we do all week.

BERMAN: So Kate, we don't know the full lineup of speakers tonight, but what we do know is President Biden, Hillary Clinton, Dr. Jill Biden, this is not the for the future part of this convention, as I think a lot of Democrats would conceive it. And I don't mean to be glib there.

SELLERS: But you were.

BERMAN: But maybe I was.

(LAUGHTER)

BERMAN: But in all seriousness, how do Democrats -- and tonight, I know it's four nights and they could do that other nights, but tonight they also, I'm sure, want to send that message. So how do you send that for the future message tonight?

BEDINGFIELD: Yes, I was going to say, I actually dispute a little bit certainly that President Biden's speech tonight isn't going to be about the future, because I think what's going to happen tonight is you're going to see President Biden is certainly going to talk about the things that he accomplished in his four years that he and Vice President Harris were able to get done.

I think he's going to talk about the things that have long animated him, what he's done to protect democracy, what he's done to re- establish America on the world stage.

And I think that that resonates both, I think will certainly resonate with Democrats in the audience here tonight. But I think also with a lot of swing voters who are watching, who are kind of looking at what do I want the next four years look like?

I think he will make a case that's rooted in what he's been able to achieve. But will also crucially be about passing the baton to her and saying, you know, this is what's at stake and here's what she's going to be able to do to carry forward these values that we, as Americans care about.

And the other thing I would just say about his remarks tonight, I think there's been a lot of discussion of policy and kind of how he's going to talk about his own accomplishments. But I think another thing that is going to be on display tonight is this core sense of decency that is a fundamental contrast with Donald Trump in the way that he -- the way he conducts himself. But he's also going to remind people that Joe Biden is somebody who

made ultimately a selfless decision to hand over the nomination that he believes Kamala Harris is the right person to carry forward the values that we care about and I think having that kind of innate sense of decency on display tonight is going to be really powerful thing for Democrats. That also says to swing voters, hey, what do you want the future of this country to look like? Do you want to look like Donald Trump, or do you want it to look like Joe Biden?

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Now, to you S.E., usually I think at this time you understand or have a good idea of the policy priorities of the nominee or the presumptive nominee. But when you look at this new poll that came out, CBS/YouGov poll, it showed that more people think they know what Trump stands for compared to Harris.

Now, granted, she's been in the position for less than a month running as the presidential nominee. How do you think that she should try to define herself this week when you look at those numbers?

S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, that's what I was saying. I mean, people especially in the all-important swing states, I talk to them all the time. They want to know how this government, Harris-Walz administration will solve their problems.

And they want specifics, not just on inflation and on the border, but on housing prices, and mortgage rates, the cost of goods, all kinds of things, abortion. What are you going to do specifically and listen, you're right. She's only been there a little while, but I'm a prosecutor, he's a criminal, that's not a policy. That's a bumper sticker.

And again, this is a week to celebrate Democrats, but it's also an opportunity to lay out a message for people who are still waiting to hear that.

And let me just add one thing, I think Kate Bedingfield is totally right that Joe Biden will talk about decency tonight. That's important. That's a great contrast. However, this is just on a side, you can take it as you will. But I don't know why Bill Clinton is still at these DNCs.

He is a problem. He is a bad look for Democrats. He has been at every DNC since he was elected, and there's no good reason for it. Quit Bill Clinton, finally, please.

SIDNER: S.E. Cupp, Bakari Sellers, Kate Bedingfield, thank you both, all, everyone.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Everyone, both is inclusive --

SIDNER: We are the world.

BERMAN: -- it means, perhaps dozens. All right, Kate, let's go back to you in New York.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, friends. So, security measures, they have been tightened around the convention

site in Chicago. Protests have already started with crowds gathering Sunday night.

How law enforcement are planning now to keep it all safe and secure over the next four days.

And Ukraine bombing a key supply route inside Russia, taking out a bridge with a precision airstrike.

Both countries are warning people living along the border to evacuate now.

An extreme flooding in the northeastern part of the United States is leading to rescues and evacuations, just look at this video, what the threat now is today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:23:42]

BERMAN: So where there are political conventions, there are protests, and we have seen the first ones here already in Chicago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(PROTESTERS MARCHING AND CHANTING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So this was this week's first permitted demonstration. Protesters called for a ceasefire and Gaza. Tens of thousands of people are expected to protest near the convention perimeter this week.

SIDNER: And I was out there yesterday and I saw some of them starting very early in the morning. CNN's Whitney Wild is here in Chicago for us, looking at the security apparatus.

Give us some sense of what that looks like and what you're expecting protest-wise.

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Sara, what we see around the United Center is blocks and blocks of this eight-foot non- scalable fencing here. And this is really what they call the hard perimeter, you have to have a credential to get past this location.

In addition, Sara and John, you see that there are a vehicle blockades for blocks around the United Center and this is very similar to the scene at the other DNC location, the McCormick place. So this is a dynamic security set up here.

This is as much a physical game as it is, a game of -- the number of bodies you have on the ground, Chicago Police say that thousands of Chicago Police officers are going to be on the ground as well as hundreds of mutual aid officers. In addition, Governor J.B. Pritzker said, that at around 250 members

of the National Guard has been authorized. They are very much on standby though, not something that they're going to deploy unless there is a major critical incident.

[08:25:11]

There are expected to be tens of thousands of protesters. The major protest is set to kick off around noon and the big question is, how was that protest going to look? And right now, what we know is that this city has a wide -- a map that is a mile long. This is the protest route they have said.

So this is a protest route they've set to the protesters, here's where you can be. It's about a mile long. Protesters say that's not enough with tens thousands of people. They think the route should be more like two-and-a-half miles long. So, there's some discrepancy there. They've been in court battling with the city to try to get a longer route. They have not succeeded so far.

The protest organizers have made very clear, they plan to walk that longer route. Meanwhile, if this does verge into issues such as criminal activity which Chicago Police, as well as Illinois' governor have made very clear is they will not tolerate criminal activity.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. J.B. PRITZKER (D-IL): If there are troublemakers, they're going to get arrested and they're going to get convicted. But the fact is, the vast majority of people who are protesting and we've seen this before are peaceful protesters. They want to have their voices heard. They're going to be heard, no doubt about it, and were going to protect that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILD: This is a heavy burden for the individual officers who are out here. Chicago Police say that they have done extensive training and that includes stress inoculation and they say they're ready for any potential problems -- John, Sara.

SIDNER: We have been seeing a huge police presence, not just around that sort of hard perimeter but all for the city, Michigan Avenue. You really see it and feel it.

CNN's Whitney Wild reporting here in Chicago just outside. Thank you so much, appreciate it -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Awesome. Just ahead for us, dozens of people rescued from raging waters in the northeast. We're tracking the flood threat across the region that continues this morning.

And, rescue crews are searching for survivors after a tornado sank a luxury yacht.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [08:30:00]