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Inside Politics

Tonight: Doug Emhoff, Barack Obama, Michelle Obama To Address DNC; Tony Goldwyn's New Film "Ezra" Explores The Challenges Of Raising Children With Autism; Warriors Coach Fires Up DNC Crown, Takes Shot At Trump. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired August 20, 2024 - 12:30   ET

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

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[12:32:21]

REP. JASMINE CROCKETT (D-TX): He became a career prosecutor, while he became a career criminal. With 34 felonies, two impeachments, and one porn star to prove it. Kamala Harris has a resume. Donald Trump has a rap sheet.

SEN. RAPHAEL WARNOCK (D-GA): Kamala Harris and Tim Walz represent the new way forward. We're not going back. Forward on voting rights. Forward on affordable housing and access to health care. We are moving forward.

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DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: That was a few rising stars in the Democratic Party drawing a contrast between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. Joining me now to chat about day one and what is going to happen day two, three, and four, here at the DNC, co-hosts of the Pivot podcast, Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway.

How excited am I?

KARA SWISHER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Are you?

BASH: Are you kidding?

SWISHER: We're influencers, you know.

BASH: I'm influenced by you.

SWISHER: Yes.

BASH: You've influenced me. Both of you.

SCOTT GALLOWAY, CO-HOST, "PIVOT": Yes, that's literally the worst title in the world.

SWISHER: Yes.

BASH: Yes. So what do you want to be called?

GALLOWAY: I don't know.

SWISHER: I don't know. Irritating (ph).

BASH: Master of the universe.

GALLOWAY: No, podcasters, irritants.

BASH: Masters of the universe. No, no, irritants are not good. OK, so let's talk, you were here, just your broad takeaways.

SWISHER: Well, it was exciting. It was, you know, interesting. I interviewed David Axelrod this morning, who's on CNN. And one of the things I agreed with him was it's discordant. They were trying to sort of move Biden along. And at the same time, talk about Kamala Harris and who she is. And I think it should all be about her, because it's shifted from the Biden conference to that.

And so they were having a little hard time doing that. And then at the same time attacking Trump a lot, but it was good. It was exciting. It was fun. And some of the speeches like you just showed were amazing.

BASH: Yes. What do you think, Scott?

GALLOWAY: I think it's mostly about the perception. It's made for TV. The energy is amazing. The visuals are great. A lot of really emotional moments, kind of the beginning of the long goodbye for Biden. But I think the energy and the vibe, if this is kind of the vibe election, the vibe was very strong last night.

SWISHER: Although it was a short goodbye. It's going to be a -- you're not going to hear about Biden again, I think.

BASH: Yes. I mean, I was just thinking, you know, it's true about the first night, but now they have three more nights.

SWISHER: Yes.

BASH: It's obviously going to be very focused on Kamala Harris and on Tim Walz and the contrast with Donald Trump. You talked about the sort of marketing, the made for TV.

GALLOWAY: Yes.

BASH: I mean, it did used to be, before the three of us were born, that they actually did real business in these halls.

GALLOWAY: Yes.

BASH: That's -- this is where they decided who the nominee was. Now it is all about marketing. Assess their marketing so far and their campaign.

GALLOWAY: Visuals, super strong. I think they're missing some key points. I think at some point if you look at, I mean, the electorate, you got to figure out who your audience is. The electorate has changed substantially.

[12:35:03]

About half of eligible voters are now Gen Z or millennials. We have lost 20 million people from the voter rolls. Mostly older, mostly whiter, mostly more conservative, and we've had 32 million new voters. Mostly non-white, mostly college educated, or more college educated, more leaning left.

But what's interesting is in the polls assessing what's important to them, what came up repeatedly, which we haven't heard a lot yet, is the economy. And what really struck me, especially among young voters, was the D word. The word deficit kept coming up.

So I hope over the next couple nights they turn their kind of focus to what is the one issue that Trump is still tied or leading on, and that's the economy. And I think there's an opportunity to talk about that.

SWISHER: Yes, I thought the AOC did that. And, you know, it's the idea here is Scott says not everyone's watching it on television. They're watching it in pieces. And so you have to see -- and not just those viral moments that are exciting. It's what's the messaging.

I thought AOC did the best job. She's just a perfect candidate for that age because she was talking about the economy in a different way and also attacking Trump.

BASH: They're talking about being a waitress and not having any --

SWISHER: But you could see how she constructed it. It was so snackable, like how she did --

BASH: Yes.

SWISHER: -- the different pieces and I could see where the cuts were and she knew them without knowing them.

BASH: She is --

SWISHER: She didn't know them.

BASH: She is an incredible communicator.

SWISHER: Yes.

BASH: But there are -- they did try to construct this convention for the modern age of influencers.

GALLOWAY: Yes.

BASH: I know whatever we're going to call them Gen Z. They invited a lot of them here. There was a brief speaking slot for one or two of them earlier. I mean if they were to say Scott Galloway, how do I reach the not only those voters, but the message that the voters want to hear, what would your tagline be? What would your 32nd might be? GALLOWAY: Well, every election has a medium. Kennedy and TV, Obama and Google, Trump and Twitter. This feels like a combination between TikTok and Zoom. A lot of behind the scenes fundraising on Zoom. But I think just as the Olympics wasn't about medals, it was about moments, I think this is about a series of moments and they're pretty savvy.

They're trying to figure out a series of moments. There was some really nice ones yesterday with AOC. I thought the most powerful moment in the entire, yes, convention so far was the young woman from Kentucky talking about the importance of bodily autonomy. That was very --

SWISHER: That was striking.

GALLOWAY: Yes, that was a moment where I think a lot of the nation just kind of stood still. So, and those moments are incredibly snackable and you can see the production of the people other than these things going on too long. There are a series of moments. We're going to see last night over and over in small snack size consumable bits for the next week.

SWISHER: I thought the best moment actually was Kamala Harris coming out for that little --

BASH: Yes.

SWISHER: -- surprise speech. And it was short, it was sweet --

BASH: Yes.

SWISHER: -- it was focused.

BASH: Yes.

SWISHER: And I thought that was great.

BASH: I want to play Hillary Clinton. And a moment that was -- I was on the edge of my chair, I don't know if you were, when she was speaking and the crowd started chanting, "lock him up."

SWISHER: Yes.

BASH: Wasn't sure if she was going to shut it down. She did not.

SWISHER: She did not.

BASH: Yes. Let's watch.

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HILLARY CLINTON, 2016 DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: He made his own kind of history. The first person to run for president with 34 felony convictions. As vice president, as vice president, Kamala sat in the situation room.

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BASH: I don't think I've ever seen her enjoy a moment as much as that moment, Kara.

SWISHER: Yes. You know what? Let's give it to her because she deserves it, kind of thing. At the same time, this was a goodbye to Hillary, too, right? It's a goodbye, it's a closing chapter on Biden, closing chapter on Hillary, and closing chapter on Trump. And that's what Kamala has to do here.

Even though she's the incumbent, she doesn't feel like the incumbent. And Trump feels like the incumbent. So that's what, you know, let her have that. I -- it's not tasteful, but you know, she's put up with a lot, so.

BASH: Let me talk about men and about masculinity, which you talk about a lot, Scott.

SWISHER: He's a man, by the way.

BASH: You are.

GALLOWAY: Thanks for that.

BASH: She's full of compliments.

GALLOWAY: Yes, there we go.

BASH: Or maybe you're a trained observer. The question about how Kamala Harris in particular is going to reach some of the men, particularly white men --

GALLOWAY: Yes.

BASH: -- particularly white working class men, or even young men, Gen Z --

GALLOWAY: Yes.

BASH: -- men who are gravitating Towards Trump and towards --

GALLOWAY: Yes.

BASH: -- Republicanism because of everything that they've done online.

GALLOWAY: Yes.

BASH: What does she need to do to get them back and are you seeing it here or seeing it in the program to come?

GALLOWAY: One word, Walz. There's competing images or displays of masculinity here. I think the right or the Republican convention is Hulk Hogan. It's, you know, ultimate fighting championship. There is an appeal to masculinity around being very straightforward, even being on the verge of being course, maybe even being a little bit offensive, like saying it how it is.

[12:40:08]

And there's huge demand for it because young men have become more conservative. And also a lot of people sense there's a real problem in our nation. Four times likely to kill themselves. Three times likely to be addicted. 12 times likely to be incarcerated.

Contrasting that with the modern form, I think of masculinity here. And that as someone who served in the National Guard for 24 years is a high school football coach. I mean, that's kind of the definition of masculinity.

You're a high school football coach, but at the same time, he rallies those young men in an effort to protect LGBTQ students who claim they're being bullied. That is a nice modern vision of masculinity.

SWISHER: It's protector. It's the protector which you talk a lot. And she had that word, I'm the protector, too. And that's -- that is appealing. It's the -- you know, people joke about he's sort of the dad, you know, the dad jokes, which I spent a lot of time listening to. But there is appeal to that, to young men.

GALLOWAY: Well, a candidate who can fix your car.

BASH: Yes.

GALLOWAY: Right?

BASH: Well, I mean, anybody who could fix my car, that would be good.

SWISHER: I can fix your car.

BASH: Really? OK, we'll talk.

Kara Swisher, Scott Galloway, so good to see you. Thank you so much.

SWISHER: Thank you so much, Dana.

GALLOWAY: Thank you so much, Dana.

BASH: OK.

Up next, Hollywood turns out for Kamala Harris.

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TONY GOLDWYN, ACTOR & DIRECTOR: She has a message for us. It is a message that's joyful, not mean spirited. A message of public service, not self-service. A message of optimism and opportunity, not chaos and division. A message that has woken us up to who we are.

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[12:46:08]

BASH: The stars are aligning in Chicago this week as Hollywood mobilizes behind Kamala Harris. My guest now may have played a Republican president on TV, but last night he took on a different role as the emcee on night one of the Democratic convention. Here with me now is actor and director Tony Goldwyn.

Thank you so much for being here.

GOLDWYN: Dana, so happy to be here.

BASH: What made you want to be so involved in this event?

GOLDWYN: Well, I was honored to be asked, and this is an incredibly important election, and we find ourselves surprisingly in the past month in this sort of sea change in the American political culture. So, you know, I want to do everything I can to help tell Kamala Harris's story and do what I can to kind of, you know, help present that to the American people because a lot of people know about Kamala, but they don't really know Kamala, so.

BASH: What should they know?

GOLDWYN: Well, she has spent her entire career in public service motivated, you know, driven first by getting into going to law school because her close friend had been sexually assaulted and that was a profound motivator for her.

BASH: And you've been active, I'm sorry to interrupt, you've been active in criminal justice issues for some time.

GOLDWYN: Yes, criminal justice reform has always, you know, been, you know, on the board of the Innocence Project, which is sort of the foremost organization in the country promoting innocence, but also, you know, promoting to prevent innocent people from being put in jail in the first place. So, yes, it's an arena that's familiar to me.

BASH: You were way back a month ago when President Biden was still running, you and other actors who played presidents did kind of an online video for President Biden, and I wonder what your thoughts are. You mentioned that there's kind of a new energy.

Your thoughts are about the transition, and I assume you thought it was the right thing to do, but given the fact that you were clearly all in for President Biden, the change.

GOLDWYN: Yes, I mean, for me, you know, I think people's -- I sense a lot of amnesia about where we were in the fall of, you know, November of 2019 and the winter of 2020 and, you know, in the catastrophe that was COVID and the chaos and the shocking reality of January 6th and, you know, an economy that was in free fall and, you know, people saying it was the next depression.

And I really, you know, it seems clear to me that President Biden through sort of calm, steady leadership pulled us out of that and the, you know, NATO was fractured and he did a lot of just incredible quiet work that he does not get credit for.

So -- and then, you know, with the Supreme Court that Trump appointed, we now have the reality of the Dobbs decision and, you know, a third of American women living under an abortion ban, so I felt I had to get involved. And you know, we did that funny little bit, you know, TV movie precedents before his State of the Union speech, and at that point he killed it.

You know, he had an incredible State of the Union, but, you know, that first debate was incredibly rough. And, you know, the realities of being 83 years old, you know, we're working against him, and I thought he made an incredibly courageous and must have been a very painful decision. But it suddenly, you know, through, you know, quite a selfless act, he has shifted the tide. And by acting so fast and the Democratic Party so quickly coming around to Kamala.

BASH: I want to ask you about a movie that you directed and stared in called "Ezra" about a boy with autism and how -- and the relationship that he has with his parents, mostly his father.

[12:50:00]

A lot of families in this country can relate to that. It is a part of a broader issue of child care and of help with dealing with people and kids, especially who are neurologically different. What made you want to do this film?

GOLDWYN: Well, this was a film that came out at the end of May, and it's still in theaters, but now --

BASH: Yes.

GOLDWYN: -- on on-demand. "Ezra's" was inspired by the screenwriter who's my oldest friend in the world. I've known him for 43 years. We've been best friends. He has an autistic son, and is a wonderful screenwriter, but wanted to write a film inspired by his story. So it's really about three generations, you know, Robert De Niro and Bobby Cannavale and Rose Byrne play the grandfather, father, and mother of this 11-year-old autistic boy.

And, you know, they're struggling to figure out parenthood. And it's -- we were -- it was a beautiful experience. And --

BASH: And you can get it on -- it was in theaters. You can watch it on-demand now.

GOLDWYN: Right.

BASH: Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

GOLDWYN: So good to see you.

BASH: Nice to see you.

GOLDWYN: Yes.

BASH: We'll be right back.

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[12:55:26]

BASH: Tim Walz isn't the only coach firing up the crowd here at the DNC. Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who played right here as a star of the Michael Jordan era, Chicago Bulls in the 1990s, gave quite a pep talk last night. Just nine days after coaching Team USA to thrilling Olympic victory, Kerr invoked his star player's iconic moment after the clutch three pointer that guaranteed the team's gold medal as a metaphor for November 5th.

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STEVE KERR, GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS & TEAM USA COACH: After the results are tallied that night, we can, in the words of the great Steph Curry, we can tell Donald Trump, night, night. Thank you

(CHEERING)

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BASH: And thank you for watching INSIDE POLITICS today. Stay tuned because "CNN NEWS CENTRAL" will start after a quick break.

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