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VP Kamala Harris To Officially Accept Dem Presidential Nomination; Trump: "I Have Nothing To Do With" Project 2025; Former GOP Lt. Gov. Duncan to Republicans: Time To "Dump Trump". Aired 9- 9:30a ET
Aired August 22, 2024 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:00]
REP. PAT RYAN (D-NY): I'm going to talk -- I'm speaking tonight. I'm going to make him own that. Every American should make him own that. So we've got to pick those points to draw the contrast that can be done in a still respectful, civil way. We can't get him -- let him get away with that kind of stuff, though.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Congressman Pat Ryan, Congresswoman Angie Craig, Minnesota, New York here, appreciate you both being with us together, really interesting perspective from the front lines in congressional races around the country.
And a new hour of CNN News Central begins right now.
SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: That was great.
BERMAN: All right, good morning everyone. I'm John Berman with Sara Sidner, who's still working her sources right here on set. We are at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Kate Bolduan is in New York. And now we are turning the corner to tonight, which you know, everything that's happened until this point, the Democrats have pulled out the celebrities. They pulled out the former presidents and everything.
But really, honestly, these four days are about one moment. And that moment is when Vice President Harris takes the stage and speaks not just to the people in this room, but to the American people.
BOLDUAN: And look, she has so far been teed up, as you heard John say, by one huge name, the Obamas, right? But we've also now seen Oprah, we've seen Patti LaBelle, we've seen Stevie Wonder. But here is a two word name who got his big moment last night, that two word name Coach Walz.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: It's the fourth quarter.
(CHANTING) WALZ: We're down a field goal. But we're on offense and we've got the ball. We're driving down the field.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
WALZ: And boy, do we have the right team. We got 76 days. That's nothing. There will be time to sleep when you're dead. We're going to leave it on the field.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
WALZ: That's how we'll keep moving forward. That's how we'll turn the page on Donald Trump. That's how we're going to fight. And as the next President of the United States always says, when we fight --
CROWD: We win.
WALZ: When we fight --
CROWD: We win.
WALZ: When we fight --
CROWD: We win.
WALZ: Thank you. God bless.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: And now for a double negative, because John, we cannot -- not play the moment Oprah riled up the crowd like only Oprah can.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OPRAH WINFREY, AMERICAN HOST AND TELEVISION PRODUCER: We won't be set back, pushed back, bullied back, kicked back. We're not going back. Together, let's all choose Kamala Harris.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
WINFREY: Thank you Chicago.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: So that was last night. Let's talk tonight. CNN's Eva McKend somewhere in this hall behind us. I'm looking for you.
SIDNER: She's up there.
BERMAN: Maybe, oh, you're up there. Listen, you've got the skinny on what we might see on that stage tonight. What are you learning?
EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: You know, John and Sara, this is going to be a historic night in this arena. You can feel it. And it is all the more remarkable given that this was inconceivable a little over a month ago. We know that the Vice President is going to talk about a new path forward. That is, of course, something that so many Americans have told us time and time again that they desire with little appetite for Biden or Trump and her advisers also saying that tonight she has the opportunity to introduce herself to Americans in her own voice.
We also expect that she will talk about how she will bring the country together, a message of unity. She got a boost from Oprah last night talking about respecting and uplifting Americans, regardless of party affiliation. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WINFREY: When a house is on fire, we don't ask about the homeowner's race or religion. We don't wonder who their partner is or how they voted. No. We just try to do the best we can to save them. And if the pace -- place happens to belong to a childless cat lady --
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
WINFREY: -- well, we try to get that cat out too.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCKEND: And John and Sara, we also expect that she's going to lean heavily into this theme of freedom. Freedom, of course, has become the battle cry of this campaign.
BERMAN: Yes. In -- in the way that the Democrats have been using it also very, very interesting. All right, Even McKend, great to see you. We'll let you get back to reporting. Keep us posted as to what you learn.
[09:05:02]
With us now, Democratic strategist, James Carville, and political strategist, Bradley Beychok. Bradley is the co-founder of the Democratic Super PAC, America Bridge 21st century. And Mr. Carville, you will recognize from past campaigns, and, of course, a senior advisor to American Bridge. James first, I want to start with you. You've been to a few of these conventions. You've seen them develop over three or four nights. But you do know it's the last night, it's the final speaker that matters the most, the nominee. So what is it that you think that after these three nights, Vice President Harris needs to do on the fourth night? JAMES CARVILLE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: You know, I thought that most people really don't know who she is. The great thing about tonight, she has that chance. And at the end of this speech, if you say, I think I -- I got to know her the better, then that's going to be the test of -- of a really great speech. And I -- I think she's been set up very well for this task. I -- I really expected to do quite well tonight. My expectations -- high expectations for this convention. And so far, these expectations have been met.
SIDNER: I'm curious, though, should she talk about policy, or should she talk about culture and, you know, parenting and personal -- personal anecdotes?
CARVILLE: Forty percent talk about her, 20 percent culture, 20 percent economic proposals of, you know, some few things she proves to do, but it's mostly to get to know her. That's job done.
BERMAN: Bradley?
BRADLEY BEYCHOK, CO-FOUNDER, AMERICAN BRIDGE 21ST CENTURY: Yes, I think, look, it's pretty clear, she's got three goals here tonight. She, just James said, she has to tell her story. She's got an opportunity. We have an ascendant, you know, sort of momentum from the last three days. So I think, number one, she's going to tell her story. I'm middle class. Worked at McDonald's. This is my family. This is where I'm from.
Number two, she's got a benefit if she's going to be able to contrast and tell Americans what's behind door number two, it's Donald J. Trump. He's lost a lot of elections as a result, and we have to make sure that we make that contrast. And number three, then she has to provide her vision, talk about her values and connect with people. And I think she'll do that. I think you've seen that theme building the last three days.
SIDNER: Someone who did do that and really tell his story, as John notes, in a very concise way 16 minutes, was Tim Walz. And then we saw this moment that I want to show you real quickly, when he just mentions his family after he's talking about his life and how much they wanted children. Here is that moment that everybody is talking about, frankly, whether you're a Republican or Democrat or Independent, when his son reacted to being called out in the crowd.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WALZ: Hope, Gus and Gwen, you are my entire world, and I love you.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
WALZ: I'm letting you --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: He -- he says, that's my dad. That's my dad. I -- it gives anybody watching that chills and you want to -- you -- you want to cry. She -- does she need a moment similar to that? You can't redo it, but something that is that heartfelt, Bradley, to you?
BEYCHOK: No. Look, I think that what you're seeing is authenticity. And I think that we've been talking with folks here the last four days. You know, the vibes are good, and I think vibes matter in this election. We have Donald Trump saying our country's in decline. His campaign is in decline. And people are sort of tired of hearing it. So I think when you see this authenticity when you see Coach Walz with his son last night, people relate to it. And I think that's the most important thing that we can do, is ensure that people that are watching this 20, 30 million people more than the Republican Convention, relate to our folks. And I think they're doing that.
BERMAN: So James, you said to me that you, this is when Biden was running, that the campaign needed to do a better job reaching out to the football watching, hunting, camo wearing, electorate out, there largely male. How effective has the convention been? And we saw Coach Walz's old football team out on stage at one point, all wearing their old uniforms. Here it is. There they are. How effective have they been so far in that messaging?
CARVILLE: He was very effective. I noticed, like Secretary Clinton said, quote, we got him on the run, unquote. You know, you -- you don't have to be a male to like, have male say, how -- I like -- I like that campaign, or I like that. You just -- you, of course, coach is able to really use these kind of metaphors. I mean, look at it. It means a soldier, a coach, a hunter. I -- I mean, I -- I think that the Vice President campaign was listening to what people like me were saying, that the party's messaging needed to have a little more male language in it and male contrast and examples. And that's one of the things that I'm really happy about that in this convention. I think we're getting it.
[09:10:09]
SIDNER: But James, you really got lambasted when you said there were too many preachy females. And now we have been watching -- we have been watching some very strong, I'm not using the word preachy, but some very strong females take the stage, like Hillary Clinton, you know, like Michelle Obama and like Kamala Harris. So what do you say to people that were -- were -- were annoyed, if not mad at you for -- for using that kind of language, even though, as you point out, the campaign Donald Trump is gaining with men?
CARVILLE: Well, what I would say to people is, I knew my role was somewhat of a provocateur, and we had -- had a male problem. We had one. And how do I do that? Do -- do I tell marine down New York Times that, you know, close analysis of the regression group indicates that we have insufficient support among American males? No one is going to remember that. So if I say something like, our culture has too many preachy females in it, you know what, everybody remembers it.
And the thing about me, I don't care. They can attack me. All of those chairs, nothing to do with me. This is the only guy who can fire me from that, at least I have. SIDNER: Bradley is he fired? Bradley are you taking him out? That's what I want to know.
BEYCHOK: No. We're sitting here. He's in good (inaudible). We're going to defend himself.
SIDNER: He's pretty good at it. James Carville and Bradley Beychok, thank you both so much for having a little fun with us today. Kate?
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Coming up for us, as we've been discussing, Kamala Harris is preparing for the biggest political speech of her career, and Donald Trump is preparing to try to counter program that speech. Where Trump is headed and why?
Plus, tonight is the final night of the Democratic gathering in Chicago. We know we'll hear -- we will hear from Kamala Harris. But are there more surprises in store?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[09:16:45]
REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): Donald Trump is like an old boyfriend who you broke up with, but he just won't go away.
(LAUGHS)
JEFFRIES: He has spent the last four years spinning the block trying to get back into a relationship with the American people. Bro, we broke up with you for a reason. Donald Trump can spin the block all he wants, but there's no reason for us to ever get back together. Been there, done that. We're not going back.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries there, taking on Donald Trump in his convention speech at the Democratic Convention last night. This morning, Donald Trump is heading back on the campaign trail, but also spending time complaining in a new interview about how much Democrats at the convention are talking and focused on him, and he's also responding to their focus on the contra -- on the controversial Project 2025. CNN's Alayna Treene has much more on this. Trump is going to be campaigning in Arizona at the border today, part of his continued counter programming. But talk to me about what he -- what we've heard from him today and what he's saying about last night.
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Well, Kate, there's no question that Donald Trump is paying very close attention to what is happening at the Democratic National Convention this week. Of course, this entire week where he is hitting all these battleground states, the counter programming blitz is supposed to be focused on policy. Every single day he has been tasked with a different issue. He's supposed to discuss during those speeches, which are in smaller venues, smaller crowds, really designed to keep him focused on message.
However, yesterday, he was in North Carolina, and it was a speech billed as a -- a national security speech, which he did talk about. There were some elements of national security in it, but then he went on rants about the Obamas and the speeches that they gave. And then, of course, this morning, we heard Donald Trump. He did an interview with "Fox and Friends" where he railed against how -- how many of the speakers are using their time to attack Donald Trump. He says they're going -- they're talking way more about him than they are about policy. And he also discussed their critiques of Project 2025. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I have nothing to do with it. I had no idea what it was. A group of people got together. They drew up some conservative values, very conservative values. And in some case, perhaps they went over the line. Perhaps they didn't. I have no idea what Project '25 is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TREENE: OK. So a few things there. One is that we have some reporting, and -- and Kaitlan Collins has some of this as well, which is that this line of attack about Project 2025 is really getting under the former president's skin. And also really frustrating that of his campaign. They have sought for months to distance themselves from this project, even though we know that many of Donald Trump's top allies and even people who are advising his current campaign are involved in drafting that actual blueprint for a transition.
And so this is something that is really bothering Trump. I wouldn't be surprised if you continue to hear him talk about this, not only today, but also tomorrow, when he visits Las Vegas and Arizona again.
BOLDUAN: Great point. Alayna, great to see you. Thank you so much.
TREENE: Thank you.
[09:20:01]
BOLDUAN: So at tonight's Democratic Convention, another effort to show the power of working across the aisle, Republicans, more Republicans taking the stage to throw their support behind Kamala Harris.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GEOFF DUNCAN (R), FORMER GEORGIA LT. GOVERNOR: Look, you don't have to agree with every policy position of Kamala Harris. I don't. But you do have to recognize her prosecutor mindset that understands right from wrong. Good from evil. She's a steady hand and will bring leadership to the White House that Donald Trump could never do.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
[09:25:08]
DUNCAN: Let me be clear to my Republican friends at home watching, if you vote for Kamala Harris -- Kamala Harris in 2024 you're not a Democrat, you're a patriot.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SIDNER: And Democrats ate that up from a Republican former Georgia lieutenant governor, Jeff Duncan, speaking at the National -- Democratic National Convention last night. Just so you know, I mean, we get all the best people. He joins us now along with CNN senior political commentator and former Republican congressman, Adam Kinzinger. Gentlemen, thank you both.
Were you afraid of getting up there on the stage last night? And did you get any, I was going to say a bad word, any crap from people afterwards, and I'm talking about your Republican friends and colleagues?
DUNCAN: So not afraid. I've been waiting three and a half years to tell a crowd this size my opinion, and get to talk to millions of Republicans at home. So it was -- it was an awesome opportunity to have a big, big conversation. And yes, of course, I get stuff thrown at me from folks that are just angry and mad, but it's 100 to one. I mean, the -- the reality is, this has been brewing for years, right? There's been lots of Republicans that come up to me every day and say, hey, I really like what you're doing. I agree with what you're doing. I just don't really want to want to say it out loud. It's not popular in my neighborhood. It's not popular in my district. It's OK. I get it. I wish they came out now and we had -- didn't have Donald Trump, but we're going to work through this, and we're going to be better for it.
SIDNER: All right.
BERMAN: Congressman Adam Kinzinger.
ADAM KINZINGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes.
BERMAN: He went last night. You're going tonight.
KINZINGER I was -- I was hoping he'd screw up just like, now I have such a high bar.
SIDNER: Don't mess this up.
KINZINGER: He did a great job. And I'm like, oh, no.
BERMAN: You're going -- and you're going, like, not too far before vice president.
KINZINGER: Yes.
BERMAN: So what more do you want to add to the message that -- that lieutenant governor delivered last night.
KINZINGER: He had -- he had all my high points. No, no. I -- look, I think it's just -- it's just building on to what Jeff said, which is, like, look, it's OK, right? You don't have to agree with the politics. But this is a -- this is really common decency, like the future of democracy. Now, I don't necessarily think that if Donald Trump wins, there's not going to be an election in 2028.
But every time you take a chunk out of the faith of democracy, which he does, by convincing half of the country, the election wasn't legitimate and stolen, it makes it much less effective for my kid, my two and a half year old, to have a democracy as healthy as we did. And if you really want to save the Republican Party, quit following a man off the cliff, right? Actually know what you believe and stand for your belief. So it'll be that. And talking about this frankly awkward, uneasy coalition between the same right, center and the left.
SIDNER: I -- I do want to ask you, because you -- you touched on something that I found really interesting, that -- that privately, some people are whispering to you, I really like what you're doing, but I don't want to say it out loud. We saw the same thing in 2016 where people were saying they're not going to vote for Donald Trump, but then they privately did so. Do you see a shift happening at the polls?
DUNCAN: I do. I do. And -- and I think it's accelerated since Kamala Harris has came on as -- as the nominee for the Democratic Party. I mean, certainly she was painted. And -- and rightfully so, as somebody very far left in her 2020 stances in policy positions. But she certainly walked back from some of those. And -- and I think she's right sized where the country is after a pandemic and some of the other issues that we've gone through.
And the age related issue is gone, right? The biggest push -- push back I got for --
SIDNER: Well, it is for Donald Trump.
DUNCAN: Well -- well, now -- now he's -- now he's the oldest guy in the race.
SIDNER: Right.
DUNCAN: And so I do think some of that heartburn has been taken away. This is now a dead heat. And I think that if you're -- if you're -- if you're projecting where this trajectory is going, she's got the upward trend, and he's got the downward trend.
BERMAN: All right. Congressman, I -- I have two questions to you. The first one's a short one. Can you envision yourself speaking at a Republican convention four years from now? KINZINGER: No. Well, let me say, in four years, hopefully, right? Because my hope is when Donald Trump loses the party, looks inward and says, OK, I think it's important for us to get back to what we actually believe, smaller government, strong national defense, things we all remember. At this trend, you know, I think it's going to take maybe five or 10 years, but my hope is, yes, in four years, there could be a moment.
BERMAN: And then the other part of my question is this, because you were on the January 6th Committee, and you've talked about Donald Trump being a threat to democracy for some time, it does seem as if part of the argument from Democrats has slightly shifted this week, from threat to democracy to threat to civility, to --
KINZINGER: Yes.
BERMAN: -- and how much do you see a distinction there? How important is that?
KINZINGER: I think it -- well, I think it's -- it's kind of related in a way. I think when you talk about a threat to democracy, this is something I've always struggled with, is it seems very like kind of esoteric or academic to say a threat to democracy, because for a couple 100 years, we've had a pretty awesome democracy in this country.
[09:29:44]
And so pointing out a threat to civility, a threat to decency, everybody's lived that every day. I mean, everybody has family members that you don't talk to anymore because they either didn't support Trump or they do or whatever that is, that's the threat to civility. And I would make the case once you can't treat each other with even some common decency and respect, that's when self-governance and democracy fails, because we have to have a basic contract in this country.
