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Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Is Interviewed About Harris To Formally Accept Presidential Nomination; Source: Harris Will Go After Trump, Project 2025 In Acceptance Speech. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired August 22, 2024 - 14:00   ET

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

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[14:01:45]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Welcome to CNN special coverage of the fourth and final night of the Democratic National Convention. I'm Brianna Keilar in Chicago. My friend and colleague, Boris Sanchez, is in Washington.

And tonight, Vice President Kamala Harris will be delivering the most important speech of her political career, attempting to reintroduce herself to the American people while accepting her party's nomination for president, becoming the first black woman and woman of South Asian descent to lead a major party ticket. We have CNN's Priscilla Alvarez with some new details on some of the policy points that Harris will try to hit tonight during her speech.

First though, I do want to go to CNN's MJ Lee, who is here at the United Center. MJ, this is the grand finale after three days of what have really been electrifying speeches. This crowd has been so engaged on these evenings. What should we expect to hear tonight?

MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. The Vice President is going to be -- I'm so sorry, Brianna, I forgot to hold the mic. The Vice President is --

KEILAR: You got it.

LEE: -- preparing to -- I got this, preparing to close out the DNC with her acceptance speech tonight, after three days of exactly what you described, a burst of energy and enthusiasm on display here in Chicago. And we know that there's no question. This is the biggest speech that the Vice President has given so far in her career. And you'll notice that her public schedule today and yesterday were clear so that she could spend as much time as she would have wanted finalizing those preparations to deliver this speech.

And a campaign official tells us that there are really three major things that she would like to accomplish with this speech. First and foremost is just giving that introduction to the American people tuning in about the Kamala Harris story. We know that she plans on talking about her middle class upbringing, her relationship with her mom, and the influence that she had in her career, and the decision that she made to become a prosecutor. We also know that there's going to be a portion of the speech that really gets into that contrast with Donald Trump and particularly Project 2025. I suspect that this is going to be the piece that will really lean heavily into some of the policy decisions and positions that she has taken and what she envisions in a Harris-Walz administration.

And finally, we are told that she is going to say that underlying all of this, what is fueling all of this, including her candidacy, is going to be a sense of patriotic duty. She will say, unlike Donald Trump, she wants to be president for all Americans. She has been working on the speech for weeks, so we suspect that really, most of the speech is written, and what is going to be happening in the final hours is practicing delivery, making those final tweaks and edits.

And as one advisor put it to me, as she has been practicing, what she has really been thinking about is how every sentence is going to land and is going to be received by people tuning in. That, of course, includes everybody here in the United Center, but also millions of Americans that are going to be tuning in from their homes.

KEILAR: All right. And Priscilla what policy is she going to be tackling in this address tonight?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Multiple policies, but immigration, of course, has been a prominent issue over the course of this presidential election cycle. Look no further to today, when on the final day of the Democratic National Convention, former President Donald Trump is counterprogramming on the U.S.-Mexico border, hammering her and the administration over their immigration policies.

[14:05:10]

And a source tells me that the vice president is expected to stress a balanced approach to immigration, meaning addressing border security, but also the immigrants already residing in the United States, while also casting Trump's policies as extreme.

Now, this may not sound like a novel argument, but it is very notable given where the Democratic Party is today. Just look at the Democratic Party's platform. In 2020, that platform included and talked about immigration and the U.S. as a beacon of hope with no mention of asylum limits. You're looking at the 2024, immigration platform there. This does include a crackdown on asylum.

It includes the asylum limits that this administration has put into effect because they have grappled with so many crises over the last several years. So there has been a shift in the party, and so immigrant advocates and allies are looking for the Vice President to sort of put -- center the message on immigration and talk about it in a balanced way.

Of course, the other thing that's going to be coming up quite a bit is that border measure, that bipartisan border measure. The campaign has noted that they're going to go on the offensive on this. This is, of course, the measure that former President Donald Trump scuttled earlier this year. It's already come up multiple times during the course of this convention, and it's something that we're going to hear about likely again tonight and in the weeks to come by this campaign.

KEILAR: And MJ, many other speakers, of course, this is a very busy evening that we're going to see here, including Senator Elizabeth Warren taking the stage.

LEE: Yes. And, you know, this convention is one that has given a -- a voice and speaking slots really to a wide range of people, younger speakers, older speakers, elected officials and regular people that have nothing to do with politics and across the ideological spectrum as well. And Elizabeth Warren, of course, represents a leader of the progressive movement. She was Harris' former colleague in the Senate, and ran against Harris back in 2020. That was the presidential campaign that I covered four years ago.

When Warren was on with Dana, earlier today, Brianna, I noticed she was sort of reflecting on the past eight years. You know, she noted that back in 2016, a woman was nominated for the presidency. In 2020, so many women actually ended up running for the presidency. Of course, all of them were not successful. Joe Biden ended up winning that primary. And she said, look, even in the last four years, we have had a woman serving as vice president, Kamala Harris.

The intention there seemed to be sort of a reminder for any woman that was watching that there has been sort of this arc of progress that women may not necessarily always feel like they have everything that they want, but that it was important to keep in mind the progress that we are seeing on display, and particularly, of course, will be on display tonight as Kamala Harris is trying to become the first woman, the first black and South Asian woman, to win the presidency, Brianna.

KEILAR: All right. MJ, Priscilla, thank you so much to you both.

Let's talk a little bit more about all of this with our political experts. Alex Thompson, to you first, she has more jobs to do tonight than I think normally a candidate has. How is she going to approach this?

ALEX THOMPSON, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, AXIOS: I mean, this is what happens when you inherit the Democratic nomination four weeks before the convention, and you are famous, but not necessarily known. Now I can tell you that over the past three and a half years, some Kamala Harris aides have been very frustrated by the fact that they -- when they try to get her to introduce herself as in -- in terms of her biography, she's often resisted. She's really preferred to stay on policy.

Now what I'm told is this speech is going to really lean in much more into her biography. You are going to hear the story about her mom. You're going to hear the story about how her mom's dream was to cure cancer. You're going to have Maya Harris, her sister, introduce her. They are, you know, as hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent on T.V. right now trying to, quote unquote, define Kamala Harris from both sides, you are going to really see them lean into her biography in a way they haven't before. Now, in terms of immigration, you're going to see Senator Mark Kelly speak tonight. Arizona border state has been critical the Biden administration. They're going to talk about that border bill. Now, of course, part of the problem is that they didn't really do much on the border, spend much political capital trying to pass a bill the first three years. So how do they thread that needle? Be really interesting.

KEILAR: Yes, what are you expecting, Karen?

KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: So a couple of things. Number one, tonight, it's going to be about vision and value. So talking about her story, talking about these experiences, that's about her values, that's about kind of that shared American value, about who we are as a nation, where we're trying to go as a country, and an America that is for everyone.

It's often really hard for women candidates to talk about themselves, because we're used to thinking, let's not talk about ourselves. Let's talk about the policy. Let's talk about other people. So I think I'm glad she's going to lean into some of that. But then also a vision, a vision about America's role in the world, about how to keep Americans safe. This is a woman who has been battle tested over the last three and a half years, both because she's faced attacks and because she has been, you know, in The Situation Room with President Biden on some of those critical moments.

[14:10:11]

Obviously, the border and immigration are important, but also an economic vision about how do you build the middle class and how do you continue to strengthen the economy lower costs for Americans. I will venture to say that it's going to be more detailed than we've heard from former President Trump, who has given us lots of anger points and fear points, but less meat on the bones in terms of other than, you know, mass deportations, what he would plan to do. But there will be a contrast, obviously.

KEILAR: What do you think about that, David?

DAVID URBAN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Listen, I'd say Madam Vice President, you know, she -- if she's had a vision, she's been in the job, her title is literally Vice President of the United States. He points out correctly, for the first three years the immigrate -- they did nothing on immigration. They -- they -- if we were just kept the Remain in Mexico policy that President Trump had, you wouldn't have these current --

KEILAR: Well, Mexico rejected it.

URBAN: OK. I -- I understand. But I understand -- hold on, Karen, it's my turn. You know, she has been the Vice President of the United States. She's not a potted plant. If she has these visions, as she spoken up about them in the -- in the -- in the Biden White House, why are they taking place now? She's had three and a half years to implement her vision. She is a very powerful woman currently. So why hasn't she at least -- why haven't we seen her the tip of the spear on something, any of these issues, right?

Maybe the Biden administration just relegated her corner. I don't know. But the -- the question is, all these policies are coming about now. Where have they been for the past three and a half years? Why today, all of a sudden epiphany?

FINNEY: Can I just mention, number one, President Biden put forward immigration reform proposal on day one, had trouble getting Republicans to join in that effort. Obviously, we know what happened. And look, part of the role of the Vice President is to be someone who is in the room making suggestions, not necessarily out there. She's been obviously very out front on reproductive freedom and on connecting the idea of freedom -- our basic freedoms, to both the 2022 election and this election.

But she has been a leader on a number of issues, but your job as VP isn't always to be out front on that in front of the cameras, but to be leading behind the scenes. And so now she's able to talk more about what her role has been in some of these critical moments. And that's what a lot of this is based on.

KEILAR: I want to listen to a moment from last night. This is what Bill Clinton, former President Bill Clinton, said, sort of a -- a little dig that he made at former President Trump. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now, let's cut to the chase. I am too old to gild the lily.

(LAUGHS)

CLINTON: Two days ago, I turned 78, the oldest man in my family before generations.

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

CLINTON: And the only personal vanity I want to assert is I'm still younger than Donald Trump.

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: David, do you think that the age thing for Donald Trump? I mean, before, if you compared him to Joe Biden, it -- it wasn't a problem. He's obviously a -- a more spry man of -- of sort of the age category. But now he's got a very young vice presidential running mate, and he's up against Kamala Harris, significantly younger than him. Is this going to be an issue?

URBAN: Yes. Listen, I don't think so. I don't think, I -- I mean, look, he's very vigorous guy, age is a state of mind. People age at different -- age at different rates. The guy plays 18 holes of golf out every day. I've run up flights of stairs behind the man. The -- that -- you can bang on Donald Trump for lots of things, being vigorous and sharp, probably not one of them. Energetic, those aren't -- those aren't things that attack Donald Trump on -- on his vigor.

KEILAR: Do you see it being an issue?

A. THOMPSON: I mean, polls show that it is an issue. The fact is that there were always significant concerns about Donald Trump's age. The problem was there were much more significant concerns about Joe Biden's age. And you're going to see Kamala Harris really lean into this. That's why you're seeing the frame of past versus the future. And even though there have been some concerns in Democratic polling groups about this, we're not going back.

Chant has really become a rallying cry. You heard it last night. You're going to hear it on the trail. Kamala Harris has really leaned into this. And they're really trying to present her, sort of ironically, given that she is, as David pointed out, the Vice President of the United States, they're trying to present her as the change candidate between a former president.

KEILAR: Project 2025, I want to talk about this. I don't know that sort of policy prescriptions from a conservative PAC or a conservative nonprofit has ever gotten such a starring role at a Democratic Convention. But our Kaitlan Collins is actually reporting that Trump and his campaign have been particularly infuriated by how Democrats have been tying him to Project 2025 which he has disavowed. It's this kind of Iliad of what are really transformational policy proposals for a second Trump term outlined by the conservative Heritage Foundation.

Here is one moment where comedian, Keenan Thompson actually highlighted these literal proposals. Here it is.

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[14:15:05]

KENAN THOMPSON, SNL COMEDIAN: She is an OB-GYN that delivers babies. Uh-oh.

(LAUGHS)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Uh-oh. Yes. It's bad news, isn't it?

K. THOMPSON: It sure is. On page 459, Project 2025, resurrects a law from the 1800s called the Comstock Act to ban abortion nationwide and throw healthcare providers in jail.

(BOOING)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my God. That is awful.

K. THOMPSON: She's a proud civil servant. Well, unfortunately for you, on page 78, Project 2025, calls for President Trump to purge the civil service of everyone who isn't a MAGA loyalist. Are you a MAGA loyalist?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, Kenan. Absolutely not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: He said he didn't want to make assumptions. But trump, obviously, I said he disavowed. He's tried to distance himself at every turn from this. But do you think, David, the Democrats are effectively tying him to it?

URBAN: I mean, they're trying their best. I can tell you. Listen, I was at the former president on Saturday and had a discussion about this exact Project 2025 document, and I cannot say what he said to me on -- on this now, even on cable, I can't tell you what he said about OK.

KEILAR: It was the bleep version.

URBAN: I can't even give you the bleep version, because bleep, there's going to be no words. So he -- he -- he's so strong, he disavows it and the people put it together, and they -- and they --

KEILAR: But does he disavow it -- does he disavow it because of how bad it is for him, or because he actually --

URBAN: Right. No, I think some of the -- some of the ideas are crazy. He -- he said, there's a lot of things that are crazy. Look, this is a -- this is a dream of a group of very conservative people of what the universe would look like if they -- if they were king. And that -- that none of these things are going to come to pass. Now, some of these things, listen, there's always been a call in the Republican Party to kind of take a look at the -- the civil service, right, that incredibly, you know, I always find it amazing when you're in Washington, D.C., and you hear non-essential personnel, please don't report for work and that, you know --

KEILAR: I don't think that means what you're making --

URBAN: No. But I'm saying, like, who -- who shows up? Like, how does the government still run where all these non-essential personnel? So I think that's kind of what the Republican Party's like. Can we streamline the federal government? There for the wealthiest counties in America surround Washington, D.C., lot of very -- lot of very wealthy, GS-15 dual couples, you know, come from their income. So I think we can streamline the government. I think that's a particular thing that the American people like to see.

FINNEY: So that was a very valiant effort, having written a piece for cnn.com about one of the areas in this. The problem for president, former President Trump, is that not only are former loyalists like Stephen Miller part of it, but for example, the healthcare section that was written by a former Trump HHS administration official, one of the -- and he wrote about exactly what Kenan talked about, this is a piece I wrote, about abolishing abortion and about how to use that law also to limit access to contraception, and, you know, some other that might be sent through the mail. And so the problem, and the reason it's been so hard, I think, for Trump to distance himself, is that you've got former administration officials actually writing it, and the groups that are out there selling it happen to be groups that are putting a lot of money into the Trump election. They did so in 2020. And they will expect to be rewarded for those efforts.

KEILAR: This is a hot topic. We have to leave it there unfortunately. Hot topic, I can tell.

URBAN: We're -- we're -- we're going to hear lots more about it tonight and in the coming days, I'm sure.

FINNEY: Yes.

KEILAR: And -- and weeks and months. You guys, thank you so much. Really appreciate it. Appreciate your reporting as well.

[14:18:39]

We have much more of our special coverage live at the DNC. Ahead, we're going to speak to Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow about what Harris needs to do to win her crucial battleground state.

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KEILAR: Back here at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago and not too far from where I am sitting, the critical battleground state of Michigan is going to be looming very large. Recent polling shows Kamala Harris and Donald Trump neck and neck in the state, no clear leader, a state that Joe Biden, of course, flipped away from Trump in 2020 after he had flipped it away from Democrats in 2016 to beat Hillary Clinton.

This is video from earlier today, it was a sit in that was taken outside of the DNC by the uncommitted national movement that is supporting Palestinians in Gaza. This is coming after party officials told the group they're not going to get a speaking slot. So obviously, there is a lot that is going on in Michigan that Democrats are keeping their eye on. So we now have Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan to talk with us about all of this. Thanks for being with us.

SEN. DEBBIE STABENOW (D-MI): Hello. Well, thank you. Thanks for having me.

KEILAR: Thank you for being here. What do you want to hear from Vice President Harris that you think is really essential to winning over Michigan voters?

STABENOW: Well, there are a number of things. And it frankly, starts with the economy. And, you know, we -- we've had the big things being done, rebuilding America, moving to -- we bring jobs home, and so on. But the everyday costs for people are still too high. And so what people want to know is, how do you help me afford my house, which she's going to talk about, how do we do more on prescription drugs? How do we do more on healthcare? How do we do more of my energy costs and so on?

[14:25:03]

So people need to hear her story about growing up in a working class family, how she gets it, and how she's going to be laser focused. And then, of course, in a place like Michigan with huge diversity of every kind you can think of, people need to feel they're heard and that they're supported in our diversity. And -- and that's something I feel very confident.

KEILAR: Michigan, is -- is -- it's always been kind of tricky here in recent years --

STABENOW: Right, right.

KEILAR: -- because of some of the realignment --

STABENOW: Right.

KEILAR: -- that we've seen of, you know, some of the, I think, rank and file auto workers and some of the working class folks in -- in Michigan, where they are deciding where they feel that they are most heard. And now you have the uncommitted movement --

STABENOW: Yes.

KEILAR: -- with Democrats. How do you see all of this interacting? How do you see where Harris needs to win people over, where she can or cannot lose people?

STABENOW: Well, we are a wonderfully deserve -- diverse and complicated state. I mean, we always have been. And let me first say that the 33 delegates in the hall that are uncommitted, of -- of course, need to be listened to and heard. I appreciate that they've given them space for press conferences and roundtables and meetings and more, certainly, you know, I know that they're looking at so they're heard.

The larger question, sort of on the economy, and how you talk about union workers and -- and over the years, what's happened? For a long time, folks were really sold on trickle down economics, which never got to the pockets of anybody in Michigan but -- and -- and policies that were taking jobs overseas. What I love about the Biden-Harris administration is that they're doing we've -- what we've been all talking about for years, which is, you want to get tax cuts, then you're going to make the product in America. You're going to bring the jobs home.

We're going to invest here. We're going to -- my buy America provisions that I tried to get passed under Trump. He would never support. Joe Biden immediately picked up. And Kamala Harris says, of course, of course, you're going to take American tax dollars and put it into buying American products. So we're starting from a position there's so much better. And then when you add to that, they want people to have good union jobs, they're willing to put their convictions on the line and stand on the picket line. And people know that they care about working people.

KEILAR: I wonder. Robert Kennedy Jr., had -- he's having an event tomorrow. You've heard this buzz, public --

STABENOW: Right, right.

KEILAR: -- private dialog from his campaign --

STABENOW: Right.

KEILAR: -- about possibly dropping out endorsing Trump.

STABENOW: Right.

KEILAR: What do you think that would mean for the race, specifically in Michigan, even if he's just pulling off some folks on the margin for Trump?

STABENOW: You know, I think his time has gone on for me, I think it means less than I was worried about in the beginning. I thought there was going to be a broader impact. It wasn't clear whether that was going to be his name and people on the left, or it was going to be, you know, his craziness and people on the right. It looks like he's gone for the craziness on the right.

But I -- I think in the end, it will have very little impact. What's going to have impact in Michigan is enthusiasm and turnout. We've worked hard to get no abs -- no excuse absentee balloting, which actually starts the end of September. We've worked hard to get nine days of early voting. I mean, pep -- we are laser focused on getting people out.

And don't underestimate, and I'm sure you don't. But, you know, the craziness and the hatefulness of Donald Trump versus the joy and moving forward in this hall. Donald Trump was in Michigan yesterday. He's had around him in Michigan, white supremacists carrying signs that say, we love Hitler. We love Trump. People are exhausted. We don't want more of that. I mean, it's awful. So this is the place that's going to bring joy.

KEILAR: And -- and just finally, as someone who made history back in 2000 becoming Michigan's first female Senator --

STABENOW: Right, right.

KEILAR: I'm sure watching a former fellow female Senator make history tonight is -- is a very big deal for you.

STABENOW: It's huge. You know, Kamala and I became good friends, and the Senate worked a lot together on healthcare and mental health issues and so on. And I've worked with her as Vice President, and she's -- she's the real deal. I mean, she's totally prepared, on the one hand tough, on the other hand, empathetic and caring and connecting with people.

And it's pretty exciting, I have to tell you. It -- it's actually very exciting. This whole week has been exciting for all of us, and tonight will just be the icing on the cake as they say.

KEILAR: Senator, we are grateful for your time. Thank you so much.

STABENOW: Thank you. Thank you.

[14:29:52]

KEILAR: And still ahead, we have some more news from the DNC, plus securing a deal in the Israel-Hamas ceasefire talks, that's looking more grim. The U.S. dispatching top officials to get a deal done. But what if it doesn't come through? We are live from Tel Aviv, next.

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