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CNN Live Event/Special

Live Coverage of Democratic National Convention; Sarah Silverman & Al Franken Introducing Paul Simon; Silverman: Bernie or Bust People are Being Ridiculous; Bill Clinton Attending Convention; Widow Who Spent Thousands on Trump University Speaks. Aired 9-10p ET

Aired July 25, 2015 - 21:00   ET

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

[21:00:02] GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: I think what we are waiting for is Elizabeth Warren first because when she start taking on Trump, these audience in particular is going to respond to it. I mean it just hasn't -- I don't know if you agree, but it hasn't kind of caught on with this group yet.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: David.

DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah, but no I do. Look, I thought Franken was very, very good, but, you know, a lot of these arguments have been tested and they haven't done particularly well. But I expect that Warren and that Bernie Sanders will be much more frontal in their critique of Trump's economics.

COOPER: Does it ...

AXELROD: And how it might affect people.

COOPER: Do you think it turns off some viewers who are watching at home, I mean sort of the identity politics ...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yup.

COOPER: ... with something.

MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well ...

COOPER: Jeffrey talks about.

SMERCONISH: ... I think that. I think that for many, last Monday and Tuesday night were too harsh and probably the Democrats in watching what happened in Cleveland wanted to dial that back. I'll say this, there has been a sea change in the arena. Those of us who were here in the afternoon I think would notice the signs have changed, the Bernie, Bernie, Bernie chants have dissipated. It seems like the measures undertaken to quell those concerns were successful.

COOPER: Jeffrey Lord, what do you ...

JEFFREY LORD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I must say, I found it amusing that Al Franken thinks that a businessman is not qualified to be president of the United States but a comedian from "Saturday Night Live" is qualified to be a United States senator from Minnesota. I really do think that, you know, the political class is having a hard time with this for reasons that have nothing necessarily to do with ideology.

COOPER: It is interesting when you juxtapose this to the Republican Convention. Get some speaker after speaker that convention was talking about, you know, we are all Americans and sort of decrying the idea of identity politics, which you ...

(CROSSTALK)

LORD: Right, right, right. I mean that is the difference. Van and I, we have had this discussion on one occasion. There is a difference here. Are we going to keep dividing people by race, all of the time, instead of treating everybody as Americans?

VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: As you know, I see it different, especially tonight. Nobody came out here and did anything but speak to their own experience, and for some reason, if a Latino speaks to their own experience, they are playing identity politics. If Donald Trump speaks to his experience, he's just being Donald Trump.

COOPER: We should point out Anastasia Somoza is about to speak, it can be a video about her, she's diagnose with cerebral palsy and spastic quadriplegia when she was born. Obviously this is play in reference to Donald Trump making fun of the disabled "New York Times" reporter. Let's watch the video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: See this guy, I don't know what he said. I don't remember.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Quote, it is unacceptable for a child to mock another child's disability on the playground, never mind a presidential candidate mocking someone's disability.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When people make fun of the disabled, I become furious. It is despicable. And there is no excuse for it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He will not apologize and even said that the journalist should stop using his disability to grandstand.

HOWARD KURTZ, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: This time I think it's evident that he stepped over a line.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a reprehensible human being. I'm not even talking as a political candidate anymore. If you were a Democrat I'd say the same thing. You do not mock the disabled. And it's not the first time he knew exactly what he was doing. It's disgusting. He should apologize.

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE, (R) NEW JERSEY: He shouldn't be making fun of people's disabilities. It's just not worthy of someone running for president of the United States. TRUMP: I don't know what I said, ahh, I don't remember. He's going -- I don't remember. Maybe that's what I said.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please welcome Anastasia Somoza from New York.

ANASTASIA SOMOZA, ADVOCATE FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES: I first met Hillary as first lady on a visit to the White House. I was 9 years old and I listened to her and my mom discussed health care and early intervention for children with disabilities.

Over the past 23 years, she has continued to serve as a friend and mentor, championing my inclusion and access to classrooms, higher education and the work force. She has never lost touch with people like me. She has invested in me, she believes in me and in a country where 56 million Americans with disabilities so often feel invisible, Hillary Clinton sees me.

[21:05:20] She sees me as a strong woman, a young professional, a hard worker and the proud daughter of immigrants. My father from Nicaragua and my mother from Ireland.

She has shown me that all these aspects of my identity are strengths which will help me effect change. I fear the day we elect a president who defines being American in the narrowest possible terms, who shouts, bully and probably impossible normal Americans.

Donald Trump has shown us who he really is and I honestly feel bad for anyone with that much hate in their heart. I know we will show each other and the world who we really are in November when we choose genuine strength and thoughtful leadership over fear and division. Donald Trump doesn't see me. He doesn't hear me. And he definitely doesn't speak for me.

I am confident that as our president, Hillary will do everything in her power to promote the rights, empowerment and humanity of all Americans. She knows that when we support access to education and employment opportunities for absolutely everyone, more of us will be able to live happy independent lives and to remote still and contribute to this great country.

As president, Hillary Clinton will continue fighting and inspiring us all with her brave decision (ph) and tireless efforts on our behalf. On the eve of the 26th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, I'm proud to be with you, Hillary. Thank you for showing me how to live boldly with a courageous heart.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: A very moving speech by Anastasia Somoza. She going to be (inaudible) long time, she met them with Bill Clinton town hall, Jake, this is a powerful moment in this hour.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: A powerful moment, a moving speech by a very brave young lady. There's an ad by a Democratic PAC -- Super PAC, priorities USA that shows the family of a girl with a disability reacting to when Donald Trump made fun of that reporter with disabilities. The guys behind that ad say in a focus group, that action making fun of that "New York Times" reporter was the thing that bothered voters most about Donald Trump, of everything they laid out.

BLITZER: Coming up next, the performance by the music legend Paul Simon. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:12:57] COOPER: Welcome back to the first night of the Democratic National Convention. Paul Simon, the singer, is going to be coming out shortly. He'll first be introduced by the comedian Sarah Silverman and Senator Al Franken.

David, you were talking about why that Trump market reporter.

AXELROD: Yeah, I think that people, supporters of Donald Trump, people who are drawn to him, they enjoy when he kicks the high and mighty in the butt, but mocking someone with disabilities is way beyond the pale. And I think that's why it tests the way it does. That young lady, now I'm a parent of a child with disabilities so I have a -- I'm drawn to that myself but she was so inspiring.

And, you know, we all want to feel as a country like our president it has a heart for the vulnerable, and disabilities cuts across all categories, you know, racial categories, economic categories, geographic categories. We're all touched, all our families are touched by these issues.

So, it's not surprising to me that this is in certain ways the most revealing episode about Donald Trump that's hurt him.

COOPER: Well, also, I mean the sheer number of people in the United States who have some form of disability ...

AXELROD: Yes.

BORGER: Yeah.

COOPER: ... is extraordinary in the tens of millions of people.

BORGER: Right, and you know, one of Bob Dole, a Republican nominee for president, one of his crowning achievements was the Americans with disabilities act. And, you know, I think that when you look back on it, there have been a lot of low moments in this campaign. I think that was perhaps the lowest moment of this campaign.

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Yeah, and had Chris Christie there essentially chastising of Donald Trump in the video about this comment. And I thought it was also effective because this is a woman who knew Hillary Clinton way back when, when she was first lady and they had the picture of her meeting her in the White House.

COOPER: And that was something priorities USA, your organization, used in an ad. PAUL BEGALA, HILLARY CLINTON SUPPORTER: Right. Our Super PAC contacted a family in North Carolina with (inaudible) I mean grace, and they watched the tape and it broke your heart, and the father said, Donald Trump showed me something about his heart and I didn't like it.

[21:15:04] COOPER: Sarah Silverman, Al Franken.

SEN. AL FRANKEN, (D) MINNESOTA: Remember me? I'm Senator Al Franken and this past year, I have been #I'mwithher.

SARAH SILVERMAN, COMEDIAN & ACTRESS: And I'm Sarah Silverman. And this past year, I've been feeling the Bern. Relax. I put some cream on it.

FRANKEN: What you'd say?

SILVERMAN: I said I put some cream on it.

FRANKEN: Right. You see, Sarah is the comedian so she gets the joke and I'm the politician now, so I get to make what's known as an ask. But trust me, its a good ask.

You see, if you go to hillaryclinton.com before midnight tonight and join the team, you can be not just #I'mwithher in spirit but #I'mwithher literally, as in you could win a trip to Philadelphia to be here on Thursday night when Hillary accepts the nomination.

And see, Sarah? That's even more fun than getting to get the joke.

SILVERMAN: Well Al you still got it. So while we're on the subject, can I make my speech now?

FRANKEN: Go roughly, go ahead.

SILVERMAN: Thank you. Al, get out of my frame. As some of you may know, I support Bernie Sanders and the movement behind him. And Bernie's already succeeded in so many ways. He proved that citizens united is in fact not a necessary evil and by the way, citizens united isn't that such a beautiful name for something that means billionaires buying politicians?

Good Lord. Rails against the very spirit of our democracy. And I'm very glad that Hillary has vowed to overturn it. Not only did Bernie wake us up, he made us understand what is possible and what we deserve. You know, my shrink says we don't get what we want, we get what we think we deserve, and Bernie showed us that all of America's citizens deserve quality, health care and education, not just the wealthy elite.

I know, it sounds so obvious, who wouldn't agree with that? But yet it's not what's been happening. You know, I happen to believe the crazy notion that people who maybe weren't born with the same opportunities as you and me should be given the same opportunities as you and me. And all it takes to accomplish this is everyone, is all of us, or as a pretty kick-ass woman once said, it takes a village. This Democratic primary was exemplary. No name calling, no comments about the size of candidate's hands or ethnicity or how much they sweat or if they go to the bathroom. Inside secret, they do. That stuff is for third graders. Come on. That's like major arrested development stuff. I'm still emotionally for and calling people names from my gold-encrusted sand box because I was given money instead of human touch recouping tool to stop. But I digress. I have just been told to stretch.

Hillary heard the passion of the people, the people behind Bernie, and brought those passions into the party's platform and that, that is the process of democracy at its very best and it's very cool to see.

Hillary is our Democratic nominee and I will proudly vote for her. It's so inspiring, it's so inspiring, just a few years ago, she was a secretary and now she's going to be president.

I mean, come on. She's like the only person ever to be over qualified for a job as the president. So I tell you this, I will vote for Hillary with gas stove as I -- as I continue to be inspired and moved to action by the ideals set forth by Bernie, who will never stop fighting for us.

[21:20:19] I am proud to a part of Bernie's movement and a vital part of that movement is making absolutely sure that Hillary Clinton is our next president of the United States.

FRANKEN: Gee, I was -- that was pretty good, Sarah.

SILVERMAN: Hillary, Hillary, Hillary.

FRANKEN: Hillary, Hillary.

SILVERMAN: To Bernie -- can I just say to the Bernie or bust people, you're being ridiculous. They told us to stretch so I figured I'd add that. They made me cut off my speech and now we have to stretch. Oh I have so much I want to say.

FRANKEN: Well, OK, we. You know, listen to that. Listen to what you did. This is a comedian. This is the power of comedy.

SILVERMAN: Thank God they can fix this in post.

FRANKEN: You know, we -- we have been -- I want to thank you, because Sarah and I have been asked to stretch, because we are about to introduce someone that we're both huge fans of. How we doing, guys? We close? Or we'll see.

You know, Sarah, what I love about us both being here is that, you know, you're -- it's like we're a bridge. A bridge.

SILVERMAN: How do you figure that, Al? How do you figure that we're a bridge?

FRANKEN: Well, you were for Bernie.

SILVERMAN: Right.

FRANKEN: I'm for Hillary. So we are like a bridge over troubled ...

SILVERMAN: Oh, good Lord. Are they ready? Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Paul Simon.

[21:28:16] COOPER: Paul Simons singing "Like a Bridge Over Troubled Waters". Sarah Silverman telling the Bernie or bust people, you're being ridiculous. Incredible. We're going to talk about that. We're going to take a short break.

Coming up, Michelle Obama, Senator Warren and Bernie Sanders. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:31:22] COOPER: And coming up, Eva Longoria is going to be introducing Senator Cory Booker. We're also going to have obviously Michelle Obama, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. We got to talk about Sarah Silverman saying point blank to the Bernie or bust people you're being ridiculous. Van, what do you think?

JONES: Well you know. That was awkward.

BORGER: Yeah.

JONES: That would go in the awkward.com moment. Here's what happened. This is a real convention. This is -- you have two or three times as many people as the Republic convention, people are trying to come together but it's not easy, part of what we are having to deal with is there were earlier opportunities to try to fight for unity, frankly, on both sides and people didn't do it.

So now all the hard work ends here. But I'll tell you one thing, if you didn't have Simon, Paul Simon come out there and sing ...

AXELROD: Well, I think I mean, I think it was all calculated. She wanted to create troubled water so that he came out, he could build the bridge. Is now what happened?

LORD: I thought it was a bridge too far.

COOPER: Like listening to Eva Longoria

EVA LONGORIA, ACTRESS: Hello Philadelphia. Oh, man, I am so honored to be here then and I am proud to say I'm with her. You know, like many of you, this election is very personal to me. I'm from a small town in South Texas, and if you know your history, Texas used to be part of Mexico. Now, I'm ninth generation American. My family never crossed a border, the border crossed us.

So when Donald Trump called us criminals and rapists, he's insulting American families. My father is not a criminal or rapist; in fact, he's a United States veteran. When Trump cruelly mocked a disabled reporter, he was also mocking my special need sister, Lisa, and many like her. When he said that a wife who works is a very dangerous thing, he not only insulted me, he insulted my mother, who worked as a special education teacher for 30 years, raised four children while being a wife.

You know, I believe in the candidate who believes in all of us and that candidate is Hillary Clinton. Hillary has spent her whole life fighting for all Americans from health care reform to equal pay for women to gun safety to protecting the economy. She is the most qualified presidential candidate ever. She's been fighting for us for decades and now it's time we fight for her.

[21:35:01] Now, I'm very proud to be part of that fight and I'm very proud to be here to introduce my dear friend Cory Booker, but, but before I do, I want you to take a look at your convention, Philadelphia. A Latina from South Texas is introducing the first black senator from New Jersey on the week we'll nominate our first woman candidate for president of the United States.

Pretty great, so guess what, Donald, it turns out America is pretty great already. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Senator Cory Booker.

SEN. CORY BOOKER, (D) NEW JERSEY: Hello Philadelphia! Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much.

240 years ago, our forefathers gathered in this very city and they declared before the world that we would be a free and independent nation. Today, we gather here again in this city, in this city of brotherly love, to reaffirm our values before our nation and the whole world.

Our purpose is not like theirs to start a great nation, but to ensure that we continue in the best of our tradition and with humble homage to generations of patriots before, we put forth two great Americans, our nominees for president and vice president, Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine.

Now, looking back to our history, looking back to our history, our founding fathers, put forth founding documents that were indeed genius, but our founding documents weren't genius because they were perfect. They were saddled with the imperfections and even the bigotry of the past. Native Americans were referred to as savages. Black Americans were fractions of human beings and women were not mentioned at all. But those facts and ugly parts of our history don't distract from our nation's greatness.

In fact, I believe we are an even greater nation not because we started perfect, but because every generation has successfully labored to make us a more perfect union. Generations of heroic Americans have made our nation more inclusive, more expansive and more just. Our nation wasn't founded because we all look alike or prayed alike or descended from the same family tree. But our founders in their genius, in this, the oldest constitutional democracy on the planet earth, they put forth the idea that all are created equal, that we have inalienable rights and I'm so proud that it was upon this faithful foundation that we've built a great nation and today, no matter who you are, rich or poor, Asian or white, man or woman, gay or straight, any religion or none at all, you are entitled to the full rights and responsibilities of citizenship.

In this city, our founders put forth a declaration of independence, but let me tell you, they also made a historic declaration of inter- dependence they knew that if this country was to survive and thrive, we had to make an unusual and extraordinary commitment to each other.

[21:40:10] Look, I respect and value the ideals of individualism and self-reliance, but rugged individualism didn't defeat the British. It didn't get us to the moon. It didn't build our nation's highways. Rugged individualism didn't map the human genome. We did that together.

And so this is the high call of patriotism, patriotism is love of country but you can't love your country without loving your countrymen and your countrywomen. Now, we don't always have to agree, but we must be there for each other. We must empower each other. We must find the common ground and we must build bridges across our differences to pursue the common good.

Let me tell you, we cannot devolve into our nation -- to a nation where our highest aspirations or that we just tolerate each other. We are not called to be a nation of tolerance. We are called to be a nation of love. That's why that last line of the declaration of independence says it so clearly. It says that we must, to make this nation work, we must mutually pledge to each other our lives and our fortune and our sacred honor. Tolerance is the wrong way. Tolerance says I'm just going to stomach your right to be different, that if you disappear from the face of the earth, I'm no better or worse off, but love, love knows that every American has worth and value that no matter what their background, no matter what their race or religion or sexual orientation, love, love recognizes that we need each other, that we as a nation are better together, that when we are divided we are weak, we decline, yet when we are united, we are strong. When we are indivisible we are invincible.

This -- this is the understanding of love that's embodied in one of my favorite sayings. It's an African saying and it says if you want to go fast, go alone but if you want to go far, go together. This, this is the reason why I am so motivated in this election because I believe this election is a referendum on who best embodies the leadership we need to go far together. Donald Trump is not that leader. We've watched him try to get laughs at other people's expense, try to incite fear at a time we need to inspire courage, try to rise in the polls by dragging our national conversation into the gutter.

We've watched him mock, cruelly mock a journalist's disability. We have watched him demean the service of my Senate colleague, saying he's not a war hero. He was a war hero because he was captured. Trump said I don't like people who get captured. Would he say that to POWS from World War II? Would he say that to POWS from Vietnam? Would he say that to the brave men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan right now risking capture or worse? That's not the commander in chief. We've watched Donald Trump paint with a broad divisive brush saying that Mexican immigrants who came to build a better life in America are, in his words, bringing crime, they are bringing drugs. He called many of them rapist. He said that an Indiana-born federal judge can't be trusted to do his job because of his Mexican ancestry, a statement that his fellow Republicans have described as racist.

We've watched Donald Trump, our children, our daughters, our nieces and grand kids have watched Donald Trump and heard him calling women degrading and demeaning names, dog, fat pig, disgusting animal. It is a twisted hypocrisy when he treats other women in a manner he would never, ever accept from another man speaking about his daughters or his wife.

[21:45:20] In this great nation, where our founders put a fundamental principle forward of religious freedom, he says ban all Muslims don't let certain people into our America because of how they pray.

Now, I take particular interest in the fact that Trump says he would run our country like he run his businesses. Well, I'm from Jersey, and I'm from the great garden state and we've seen how he leads in Atlantic City. He got rich while his companies declared multiple bankruptcies yet without remorse, even as people got hurt and lost jobs by his failures, he bragged and I quote. "The money I took out of there was incredible." Yes, he took out a lot of cash, but he stiffed contractors, many of them small businesses, refusing to pay them for the work that they've done.

You know, we in America have seen enough of a handful of people growing rich at the cost of a nation descending into crisis. America at our best, we stand up to bullies and we fight those who seek to demean and degrade other Americans. In times of crisis, we don't abandon our values, we double down on them.

Even amidst the crisis of the civil war, Lincoln stood up and called out to all of our country, saying with malice towards none and charity towards all. This is our history. This is the history that I was taught. My parents never wanted my brother and I to get too heady. Gratitude was our gravity. So they never stopped reminding my brother and I that our blessings sprang from countless ordinary Americans who showed extraordinary acts of kindness, decency and love.

People who struggled and sweat and bled for our right. People who paid the ultimate price for the freedoms we all enjoy. I was told that we can't pay those Americans back for their colossal acts of service but we have an obligation to pay it forward to others through our service and our sacrifice.

I support Hillary Clinton, because these are her values and she has been paying it forward her entire life. Long before, long before she got in politics, she was in Massachusetts going door to door collecting the stories of children with disabilities.

In South Carolina, she fought to reform the juvenile justice system so that children wouldn't be thrown in adult prison. In Alabama, she helped expose the remnants of segregation in schools. In Arkansas, she started a legal aid clinic to make sure poor folks could get their day in court. She has fought for the people and she's delivered. That's why we trust her to fight and deliver for us as president.

But let me tell you, we have a presidential nominee in Clinton who knows that in a time of stunningly wide disparities of wealth in our nation, that America's greatness must not be measured by how many millionaires and billionaires we have, but how few people we have living in poverty. Hillary knows that when workers make a fair wage, it doesn't just help their families, it build a stronger and more durable economy that expands opportunity and makes all of us Americans wealthier. She knows that in a global knowledge-based economy, the country that out-educates the world will out-earn the world, out- innovate the world and will lead the world.

She knows that debt-free college is not a gift, it's not charity, it is an investment. It represents the best of our values, the best of our history and the best of our party, all of our shared ideas and values together.

[21:50:03] Hillary Clinton knows that when we paid -- have paid family leave, that this is something that must happen because when a parent doesn't have to choose between being there for a sick child or paying rent, or when a single mom earns an equal wage for equal work, it empowers the most important building block in all of our nation, and that is the family.

Hillary Clinton knows that security doesn't come from scapegoating other people because of their religion, alienating our allies, stoking fear and pointing fingers. It comes when we band together to face down and defeat our common enemy, and she knows something that I fight for every day that our criminal justice system desperately needs reform. That we need to bring back fairness to a system that's still, as professor Brian Stevenson says, treats you better if you are rich and guilty than poor and innocent.

And she knows that we can be a nation that both believes police officers deserve more respect, they deserve more support, more cooperation and love, and believe that a black 20-something-year-old protester deserves to be valued, deserves to be heard, that they should be listened to with more courageous empathy and that change is needed in the system.

And Hillary Clinton knows what Donald Trump betrays time and time again in this campaign, that we are not a zero-sum nation. It is not you or me. It is not one America against another America. It is you and I together, interdependent, interconnected, with one single interwoven destiny. When we respect each other, when we stand up for each other, when we work together against our challenges, against our neighbors' challenges, be it a neighbor with a beautiful, special needs child, or one struggling with the ugly disease of addiction.

When we as Americans help them, when we show compassion and grace, when we evidence our truth that we are the United States of America, one nation, under God, indivisible, that is when we are stronger. That is when we go from an already great America to an even greater America. Now, let me tell you, let me tell you right now, when Trump spud (ph) insulting and demeaning words about our fellow Americans, I think of that poem by Maya Angelo, you all know it. You know how it begins, you may write me down in history with your bitter twisted lies. You may trod me in the very dirt but still like dust, I rise. For you all know it. You all know it.

This captures the our American history. 240 years ago, an English king said he would crush our rebellion, but Americans from around our nation joined the fight from bunker hill to the battle of Trenton, they stood and so many fell, giving their lives in support of our (inaudible) and daring declaration that America, we will rise.

This is our history. This is our history, escaped slaves knowing that liberty is not secure for some until it's secure for all. Sometimes hungry, often hunted in dark woods and deep swamps. They looked up to the North Star and said with a determined whisper, "America, we will rise." Immigrants -- immigrants risking their lives in times of sweat shops and child labors. They organized labor unions and devoted themselves to lifting the tired, the poor, and the humble masses. With fierce of grit, they shouted so all could hear, "America, we will rise."

King pointed to mountaintop, Kennedy pointed to the moon, from Seneca falls, to those who stood at Stonewall Inn, giants before us, said in a chorus of conviction, "America, we will rise."

[21:55:01] My fellow Americans -- my fellow Americans, we cannot fall into the complacency or indifference about this election because, still, the only thing necessary for evil to be triumphant is for good people to do nothing. You know the saying. My fellow Americans, we cannot be seduced by cynicism about our politics because cynicism is a refuge for cowards, and this nation is, and must always be, the home of the brave.

We are the United States of America. We will not falter or fall. We will not retreat or surrender. Our values, we will not surrender our ideas. We will not surrender the moral high ground. Here in Philadelphia, let us declare again that we will be a free people. Free from fear and intimidation. Let us declare, again, that we are a nation of interdependence and that in America, love always trumps hate.

Let us declare -- let us declare to the generations yet on board can hear us, we are the United States of America. Our best days are ahead of us, and together, with Hillary Clinton as our president, America, we will rise.

God bless America. God bless America.

BLITZER: Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey, Jake, that was a powerful, powerful speech, an introduction to the American people.

TAPPER: He was on Hillary Clinton's short list to be VP and I think though he's not the keynote speaker of this convention, Elizabeth Warren is, that might as well have been the keynote address. That was a crowd pleaser like no speech I have seen as a convention since a young state senator named Barack Obama in 2004.

BLITZER: We're going to see a video involving Cheryl Lankford, Cheryl's husband was a U.S. soldier in Iraq watchers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHERYL LANKFORD, SAN ANTONIO RESIDENT: .. after my husband's death. And he's invested it into an organization that scams people.

In September of 2007, I woke up to a knock on the door where I had a chaplain and sergeant say that they regret to inform me that command sergeant major Jonathan Lankford had died.

I did receive money to take care of me and my son. I needed to do something good with it. I needed to be wise with it. When your spouse dies and decisions have to be made, it can be paralyzing because you don't want to make a mistake.

TRUMP: At Trump University, we teach success. That's what it's all about. Success. It's going to happen to you.

LANKFORD: What is that true (ph) makes you this program was that Donald Trump, himself, who's already successful, is going to teach other people how to be successful as he is.

ERIC SCHNEIDERMAN, NEW YORK ATTORNEY GENERAL: It was a classic bait and switch scheme. Starting with the fact that it was not a university.

LANKFORD: During the initial free seminar, they will tell you they can help your business. The only package that was offered was the $35,000 package.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Essentially preyed on poor and vulnerable people. Told them that they can make a lot of money in a real estate market and had them leverage their savings to do it.

LANKFORD: I realized this was not what I signed up for within a week. I called the person who was supposed to be mentoring me. I got absolutely no help whatsoever.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Many instructors and mentors had no experience buying or selling real estate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One sales executive testified the whole focus of Trump University was on selling.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Even the single mothers with three children who, "May need money for food".

LANKFORD: When you make a mistake like this, it's very embarrassing. I'm a single mom. I'm a widow. I have a kiddo who depends on me. I believe Donald Trump has built his empire not by treating people respectfully. I can't see him helping anyone but himself.

(END VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Cheryl Lankford from San Antonio, Texas.

LANKFORD: When you lose a spouse, you know that your life will change forever. You know that it won't be easy. But I didn't expect that on top of grieving the loss of my husband and trying to take care of my baby, I would also be the victim of a scam.

You just saw what happened to me. How Trump University cheated me out of the money I received after my husband's death. How they broke their promises. How they stopped taking my calls. How the whole thing was a lie.

By conning me out of the money the military gave me after my husband died, I felt like Trump University was disrespecting Jonathan's memory. I was furious. Frightened. And the truth is, I was embarrassed.

[22:00:09] The worst part is that I wasn't the only victim of Donald Trump's greed. Far from it.