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CNN Live Event/Special

Clinton to Accept Historic Nomination Tonight; Only Female Hispanic Sheriff in the United States Takes the Stage. Aired 8-9p ET.

Aired July 28, 2016 - 20:00   ET

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

[20:00:02] JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: So let us first take a moment to acknowledge that.

Second of all, this is the most important speech in the life of Hillary Clinton, and I don't think that we can overstate that. This is the critical speech for her. All eyes will be on her, she will have an opportunity to introduce herself to the country in a way she has not had -- not had ever before.

There are two challenges that she has. One, she needs to convince the American people that they can trust her. This is an issue for her. She needs to rally support, yes, but she also needs to go to all of the skeptics out there and there are millions and say this is why you can trust me. This is why I deserve your vote. And then she needs to contrast herself with Donald Trump and there is a lot of material there when it comes to issues, when it comes to style, when it comes to policy.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: And millions and millions of voters will be watching tonight. Let's get to Dana Bash. She's getting new information right now on what we can expect from Hillary Clinton and her speech tonight, Dana?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, what they say inside the Clinton campaign is they believe what Donald Trump did in his speech a week ago was to try to unify the party and not really try to appeal beyond the Republican base, and what they say is that Hillary Clinton will try to do the opposite. Get beyond the people in this hall, get beyond the people who are, you know, sort of traditional Democratic voters and try to appeal to independents, try to appeal to Republicans who might not be comfortable with Donald Trump.

To Jake's point, they understand inside the Clinton campaign, even though they don't admit it publicly that her biggest Achilles' heel at this point is the trust issue, the honesty issue and she is going to try to at least start to turn that around tonight.

BLITZER: She has a huge, huge challenge ahead of her and we'll see how she does. Anderson, over to you.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Wolf, thanks very much. As we await some of the first speakers, let's talk with our panelists. David Axelrod, what are you expecting tonight? I may add, it's hard to imagine topping the speech from President Barack Obama last night.

DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah and I don't think -- I really don't think that's what she should be thinking about. That's a losing game if you're going to try to compete with, you know, Barack Obama or even Bill Clinton. She has to be herself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right.

AXELROD: And I think the most important thing she can do here is speak in a genuine way about -- we heard what people said about what she's done. Now she needs to connect that to why she did it, what her motivations were, what in her life led her to this moment in a very genuine way, and if she does that the speech will be successful, I think.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: You know, people don't trust someone unless they feel like they know you and even though she's been in public life for decades, people don't feel like they know her and in order to begin to trust her, they have to have a sense of who she is and it's a tough job. Everybody's been talking about it all week.

Now she has to talk about it and she's also kind of got to thread the needle on policy a little bit. She's got to hug the president and acknowledge that there's got to be change coming. So, it's very difficult to soar when you're trying to check all these boxes which she has to do.

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: I think she's got to tap into some of that optimism and vision that Obama laid out very nicely, all last night. She's not great at the kind of soaring rhetoric. I don't think she should attempt to do that. I think she has to create a sense of intimacy in the room, tell a story rather than giving a speech.

But I also think again, she's got to hit ISIS, she's got to talk about herself as the commander-in-chief, as a strong leader. So that what they, people have trouble visualizing her in that way and I think that the part of the ISIS kind of portion of this so far I think kind of fell flat.

MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: We eat, sleep and drink this. We're like junkies here, right? We spent four nights together in Cleveland, fourth night now in Philadelphia. I think it's important to keep in mind that tonight the whole country is tuned in. She gets a reset, she gets the mow (ph) again and it's important for her to reintroduce herself and also I think Anderson, to lay forth a plan for the future. She cannot be proceed that the end of the night as a continuation of status quo in a changed cycle.

VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Absolutely I mean, part of thing about is that, this village theme coming back to that. That kind of underscores the inclusivity. You know, it takes a village but she can't just be inclusive. She's got to show that she's got an answer on the economy. She's got an answer on security and that's going to be the big change. COOPER: Governor John Hickenlooper from Colorado, he's been governor since 2011 speaking now. Let's listen.

GOV. JOHN HICKENLOOPER (D), COLORADO: Thirty years ago almost to the day I lost my job. Now whether it's being laid off, downsized or fired, it's not funny. And it's not a reality show punchline when it happens to you. And it wasn't just me, a whole generation of geologists lost their careers in that recession.

[20:05:07] It is hard when you feel that you aren't wanted anymore. After many months looking for work with hardly an interview, a buddy and I decided to start the first brewpub in Colorado. We had no money, even my own mother wouldn't invest. Finally, 18 months later we opened in an abandoned warehouse district in downtown Denver.

We got 34 small investors, two bank loans, a loan from the city, and a loan from the SBA. But we opened and slowly but surely we grew and thrived and expanded. Now I've -- I've never hosted a reality TV show, but I know that the true mark of a successful businessman is not the number of times you say you're fired. It's the number of times you say, you're hired" that's right. That's right. I'm the business guy. I am the business guy, but unlike Trump's businesses, my business didn't go bankrupt six times. Now one thing I've learned is that success is sweeter when it's shared and that's just as true in business as it is in life.

In our neighborhood there were a handful of other entrepreneurs trying to develop laws or start businesses, together we worked with the downtown Denver partnership, the tourism board and the city to create a sense of place. More entrepreneurs arrived to start more businesses, and the neighborhood took off, and so did Denver. Sure, it was my buddy and I that took the risk, but as Hillary Clinton says it takes a village, businesses, government, non-profits working together to create opportunity.

She understands that even in Colorado, land of rugged individualism, our economy is stronger together. And the small businessman then mayor of Denver and now governor, I see how partnerships drive economies. Today, Denver is the fastest-growing big city in America and Colorado has the second strongest economy in the country. Compare that -- compare that to Donald Trump's trickle down economics where he doesn't pay his bills and small businesses go out of business. I spent some time with Hillary and I can tell you from a small business perspective, she gets it.

Tremendous changes in our economy are making people feel that they aren't wanted anymore, and I remember that feeling. Many of the skills that would have been tickets to the middle class are no longer needed and that's why we discussed not only the importance of education and training, but streamlining regulations, expanding access to loans and incentivizing innovation and how to support the transformation of new ideas into new jobs. I've told her about Colorado's new apprenticeship initiative that allows kids both work and it takes classes that help them be more successful in their jobs.

And Hillary Clinton understands that especially in these economic times partnerships can lead to opportunity which is why she wants to offer tax incentives to companies that offer apprenticeships in underserved areas. Now she's going to make the largest single investment in jobs since World War II. And she'll cut red tape and taxes so it's easier to start and grow a small business. Hillary Clinton is going to work for the young entrepreneur who wants to start a brewpub or launch a start-up or even create a drapery business just like her dad Hugh Rodham did all those years ago in Chicago.

But tonight, Hillary Clinton accepts the nomination for president of the United States of America. And tomorrow, we're going to get down to business. So I say to you, put down your Pokemon Go for just a second and go to hillaryclinton.com. If you sign up before midnight, you can have a chance to win an opportunity to be with her on the campaign trail. We all have a job to do electing Hillary Clinton. So let's go to work! God bless you!

[20:10:04] COOPER: John Hickenlooper from the state of Colorado, continuing to talk here with our panel, Paul Begala. What are you expecting from Chelsea Clinton tonight?

PAUL BEGALA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Boy, Chelsea -- you know, Chelsea is like her mom. She's a wonk. She's a nerd and she has a PhD rock star but she's not a political hack like me.

She's not sought the limelight, but she's not somebody who likes to be the center of attention. Here's nobody that loves her mom more than that. Young woman (inaudible) she gets mad at me if I call her a kid.

But she -- it'll be emotional. It has to be. I mean she adores this woman. She's seen her pirolate (ph) for all these years and she'll get that one chance to stand up and say look here's my mom and God bless her. I mean I can't wait to see it. She's a very impressive young woman.

COOPER: Patti, who do you think is the audience that Hillary Clinton most needs to reach tonight?

PATTI SOLIS DOYLE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, first of all, I want to take a step back because this has been a remarkable journey for this woman. It's been a long journey and at times very difficult journey for her. And so for her just to even get on that stage and stand behind that podium and accept this nomination, it's just going to touch a lot of people. It will really resonate with a lot of people in our country.

As to who she really needs to talk to, look, let's face it, her biggest issue right now is trust, right? And we've heard a lot of powerful testimonies these past three days. We're going to hear some more powerful testimony from Chelsea, but the real testimony that the American people are going to want to hear is from her.

I think she -- I agree with David. She's going to need to reveal some things about herself that we don't know why she's up there, why she wants the presidency.

COOPER: Jeffrey Lord, do you think there are still a lot of independents a lot of Republicans out there who can be swayed by what she says tonight and what happens moving forward?

JEFFREY LORD, TRUMP SUPPORTER: I don't think so. I think if they're anti-Trump, they're already there. I don't know that this speech is going to change their mind.

One of the things that I find very interesting is they're talking about experience as her sort of major chip in all of this. I welcome all of you to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania where we produced exactly one president of the United States, James B. Cannon who was successively a state legislator, Congressman, United States senator, ambassador to Russia, Great Britain and Secretary of State was advertised as the most experienced man of the day and is today rated as one of the worst presidents in American history.

I don't always think that that is a selling card. If that were the case John McCain would have been president in 2008. I really do think they've got to be careful with that. They've got to have more than just the experience because that is not necessarily a big sell.

BEGALA: I think that hits at the way to do that, which is show how each of those experiences reveal her true character. You heard President Clinton talking about how when she was a college kid going door to door in Massachusetts helping children with disabilities to make sure they get a good education.

That through line, and yes, she has to wear the years as a badge of honor, and she's earned every one of them, and she's earned every attack she's gotten too by the way, by fighting all of these battles. But you're right it has to be backed character in the end. Her experience, I think, is illustrative of her character and that's what this convention is about.

AXELROD: Jeffrey, I don't think it's experience. I think the experience is part of it. I think it's temperament for the job that they're selling.

And, you know, Donald Trump went out today in response to last night and said I was going to hit one guy about the speakers last night in particular very little guy. I was going to hit this guy so hard his head would spin. He wouldn't know what the hell happened, apparently talking about Mayor Bloomberg.

So I think that's kind of what they're getting at on this temperament thing like presidents can't do stuff like that.

COOPER: We're going to take a quick break. Still ahead, Katy Perry performing her hits singing Hillary Clinton's praises then Chelsea Clinton, she's up her mother's big speech. We'll see if the Democrats new presidential nominee can wow this crowd and the country. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:18:02] COOPER: Everything happening in this convention hall right now, all of the speeches you're going to be seeing tonight leading up to one pivotal speech. We are getting closer to Hillary Clinton on stage accepting her historic presidential nomination, more with the panel right now. Paul, in terms of how Secretary Clinton prepares for a speech like this, what do you know about her process? Patti?

DOYLE: Well, for a speech like this, weeks ahead of time it is written by committee, basically. You've got a lot of hands dabbling with a lot of ideas and a lot of suggestions, but in the very end it's usually Hillary and her speechwriter, in her room, in her house, in her suite. Really, she hand writes notes on the margins. They talk it through. They work it out and nobody gets the final draft until she's about to give it. I wouldn't be surprised if she's tinkering with it right now.

BEGALA: Compared to her husband who I worked for, somewhat more disciplined.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's still tinkering on his Tuesday night's speech.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He still wants to finish his 1988 speech.

BEGALA: She's just a much disciplined, focused person and she doesn't have Michelle Obama, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Bill Clinton's oratorical speech, she just doesn't. But I do think that there's a simple authenticity in her very walky (ph), very sort of clear-minded, her credo, I believe.

Patti knows her better than I do, but 25 years on her, she loves this quotation attributed to John Wesley, Christian Methodist, the founder of her religion, John Wesley says this. Do all the good you can. By all the means you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can. If I had a nickel for every time Hillary quoted that to me, I wouldn't need the super PAC. That's her philosophy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Will she use it tonight?

BEGALA: Bet you a dollar.

DOYLE: Bet you a dollar.

BEGALA: What do you think? She just use it all of the time.

DOYLE: Yeah.

BEGALA: That's her view of life.

COOPER: I want to pick on some...

DOYLE: Tim Kaine incorporated that. You know, Tim Kaine also incorporate.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.

DOYLE: He used it in...

AXELROD: Well, and I think he has the same sort of motivation, different, you know, he's Catholic, but he has the same sort of deep faith.

[20:20:04] I want to pick up on something Michael said, there aren't -- there are hardly any opportunities in a presidential campaign in which you get an unfiltered opportunity to speak to an audience this size. This is really it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yup.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.

AXELROD: The next time this many Americans will see Hillary Clinton at once it will be in debate.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah, that's right.

AXELROD: When you don't have a clear shot, and so that's why this is so important. You don't get too many chances to do this, and this is her chance in her own words, in her own way to speak to a large number of Americans and you wanted the most of that opportunity.

BORGER: And let's not forget the historic moment. I mean, she is going to be the first woman to accept the nomination of a major party at a major convention in the history of the United States.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah.

JONES: Which means a lot of those millions of people that are watching are young people.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah. Right.

JONES: You've got a lot of parents. You've got a lot of grandparents, you got a lot of uncles and aunts saying "Put the screen down. No, no, put the screen down, watch this."

(CROSSTALK)

SMERCONISH: I'm sorry. We were all so caught up on Monday in Debbie Wassermann Schulz and whether she was going to come out with the gavel and come on we love that stuff, right? Those of us at this table, but in the grand scheme of things I think that was inconsequential. Tonight matters. It's the super bowl of this presentation.

HENDERSON: Yes, yes and I don't care when she implores some humor right? I mean even you saw it last night with Barack Obama when he talked about Donald Trump. It was in some ways humorous. Humor is not her thing

(CROSSTALK)

COOPER: Governor Tom Wolf from Pennsylvania has just been introduced. Let's listen in.

GOV. TOM WOLF, (D), STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA: Thank you. As governor of Pennsylvania, it has been an honor to host you here in Philadelphia this week. Two years ago I ran for governor on the fundamental belief that society can only succeed when we build prosperity and share it broadly. You know, this wasn't a lesson I learned in politics. It was a lesson I learned in business. After serving in the Peace Corps and earning a PhD at MIT, I surprised my family and friends by coming home to Central Pennsylvania to work in the family business, a building materials company where I started out driving a forklift. Eventually I bought the company along with two of my cousins, and we became one of the largest suppliers of kitchen cabinets in North America. One of the keys to our success was that we recognized that in business you were only as good as the people you have in your company, and thus, you had to treat everyone like they mattered. Why? Because, in fact, they do matter.

Now, I understand that not all business people see it this way. When we contracted with a vendor we paid that vendor. Donald Trump, he stiffed hundreds of small businesses from plumbers to painters, ruining their companies as he saw to enrich himself. At our company like at many others all across this country, we treated our employees with respect. When they had kids, we celebrated them and we gave new moms paid leave. Donald trump said that pregnant workers were an inconvenienced so it's no surprise that he has put forward no plan for paid family leave.

Finally, another important part of our business model was that we had a profit-sharing plan. We knew our employees -- thank you. We knew that our employees contributed to our growth. So in addition to good wages, good family-sustaining wages and really good benefits, we shared between 20 percent and 30 percent of our profit with our employees directly.

Just to give you an example, in 2013 which was a turnaround year for our company, all of our workers, hundreds of them received an average, on average, $5,000 each in profit sharing that they could use for college tuition, a well-earned vacation or they could spend it on anything else they wanted. How about Donald Trump? He runs his businesses so that they only help who? You guessed it. Donald Trump.

[20:25:04] In his six, six bankruptcy filings, he used the process to protect himself and even enrich himself while his employees were left out of luck. We didn't do what we did because we were looking for awards. We did it because it was the right thing to do for our workers and we did it because it was great for our companies' bottom line. It was smart business, plain and simple.

We were a stronger, more successful business because we were all in it together. Hillary Clinton believes that, too, and that's why as president, Hillary Clinton will reward companies that share profits with employees, not just executives.

Under her proposal, companies will get tax credits worth 15 percent of the profits they share with their employees. The credits would last two years and would be larger for smaller businesses because Hillary believes that if you work hard you should share in your company's success.

She will also fight to raise the minimum wage. She will ensure equal pay for women and guarantee up to 12 weeks' paid family leave, plus affordable child care. That's fair, it's smart and it's great for our economy because it's good for workers and it's good for businesses. At this moment, when we need to restore the fundamental American idea that if you work hard, you can get ahead and stay there, we need a president who recognizes that an economy that doesn't work for everyone doesn't work at all. We need a president who believes that our society can only succeed when economic prosperity is shared broadly. We need Hillary Clinton. Thank you very much.

COOPER: Coming up now is former governor Jennifer Granholm from Michigan. She (inaudible) this crowd four years ago at the Democratic National Convention. Let's see if she can do it again for Hillary Clinton this time around.

JENNIFER GRANHOLD, (D) FORMER MICHIGAN GOVERNOR: All right, Democrats. I actually want to speak tonight to those Americans who feel you've been left behind. The Americans who believe you've been cheated, who believe that those at the top don't care about you. Now I know a little something about this because I was governor of Michigan, the epicenter of America's manufacturing rise and its painful fall and its resurgence. Michigan built the automobile and the automobile built America, but when the manufacturing industry fell on hard times so did Michigan. So did many of your states, and we were angry about it. About jobs going to low-wage countries, about unfair trade, but we were also determined, determined to build the industries of the future.

We said we wanted advanced manufacturing. We wanted new jobs, so we started this hard process of moving in that direction, and then in 2008 we elected a democratic president to work with us, and you know what he did? He saved the American auto industry. Right, and then that renewed auto industry paid America back in full and that is what we can do together.

Now I, like many of you, am a fierce democrat, but I know -- I know there are Democrats and Republicans all across this country who want to create jobs in America. Liberals and conservatives, public sector and private industry because we are not in this alone. We are all in this together. One candidate gets that and one candidate, as Joe Biden said last night, doesn't have a clue.

[20:30:00] Some people are worried. Some people are angry. I get that. But the answer is not to tear our country down. It's to build our country up. Not to build walls that keep out the rest of the world, but to keep building the industries and universities that the rest of the world which is they could get into.

Hillary Clinton gets it. And that's why she has huge plans to create good-paying jobs in America. Imagine that. Imagine that, actual plans. I must have missed that night at the Republican convention. Detailed plans, people, written down. Plans with numbers that add up. You want to see them? You can actually see them. Just text JOBS to 47246.

Now, last week, we heard about Trump's hopeless vision of our country, and then he said, "I alone can fix it." So imagine Donald Trump's version of the Constitution? "I, the person, in order to form a more perfect union" or centuries later, "I shall overcome," or "Ask not what I can do for my country, ask what my country can do for me." Donald, Donald, you're so vain. You probably think this speech is about you, don't you now?

Here's what I know. We have got to stop Donald Trump.

Our great country spans a continent, but we are all connected to each other no matter where we live. So when a miner in Virginia has the dignity of a new job in the advanced steel industry, we all have dignity. When the engineering student in the Sunshine States builds the solar panels of the future, we all succeed. When the autoworker in Detroit builds the electric vehicle that drives us forward, we all win, right? Whether you're in Michigan or Maryland or Missouri or Montana.

And this, too, when Flint's water poisons its children, it hurts all of us. These are our children. We are all Flint, right, Philadelphia?

Our next president knows that a nation is a village, that we are one family. And in a family, no one gets left behind. Not the steelworker in Pennsylvania. Not the farmer in Iowa. Not the dreamer in Nevada. Not the factory worker in Ohio.

As our next president says we are stronger together.

We're stronger. How?

We're going to keep America great. How? Together.

And we're going to work our hearts out to elect Hillary Clinton president. How? Together.

Let's do this, brothers and sisters. Together.

COOPER: Jennifer Granholm, former governor of Michigan. Coming up now, just as last night, we saw former mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, an independent reaching out to independents as possibly other Republicans.

Two Republicans tonight now speaking, Doug Elmets, a Reagan administration official. Let's listen.

DOUG ELMETS, FMR. REAGAN WHITE HOUSE OFFICIAL: It's an honor to be here. Candidly, it's also a shock not because of the momentous nature of this event or the size of the crowd. It's a shock because unlike many of you, I'm a Republican.

40 years ago, I cast my first vote for president, voting republican that day like I would do time and again.

[20:34:59] I haven't just voted Republican, I worked in President Reagan's White House. I recently led an effort to place a statue of Ronald Reagan in California's Capitol.

I am here tonight to say, I knew Ronald Reagan. I worked for Ronald Reagan. Donald trump, you are no Ronald Reagan.

President Reagan famously said "Tear down this wall," Trump says "Build the wall" because that will make America great again?

Reagan saw nuance, and Trump sees the world as us versus them, where somebody with brown skin or a foreign-sounding name is likely to blame for our troubles.

Reagan knew that a leader needs diplomacy to steer a safe, prosperous course forward. Trump is a petulant, dangerously unbalanced, reality star who will coddle tyrants and alienate allies.

I shudder to think where he might lead our great nation. Fortunately, I don't believe he'll get that chance.

While Hillary holds many policy positions that differ from my own, her qualifications are indisputable. Hillary knows that our strength of a nation lies in uniting, not dividing.

This year's Republican platform is the most alarming I've ever seen. It's laced with anti-immigrant, anti-gay, anti-women positions that do not represent the views of most Americans. That is why this year, I will vote for a Democrat for the first time.

To my fellow Republicans, if you believe like I do, you believe loyalty to our country is more important than loyalty to party, if you want a president with good judgment, a steady hand, and a temperament to represent our nation to the world, and our children, I ask you to join me in voting for Hillary Clinton as president of the United States.

Thank you.

COOPER: This is Jennifer Pierotti Lim. She's a -- with an organization "GOP Women for Hillary."

JENNIFER PIEROTTI LIM, "REPUBLICAN WOMEN FOR HILLARY": One of my first memories is standing outside our Richmond, Virginia polling place with my dad to hand out campaign literature in support of our chosen candidates, our chosen Republican candidates.

When it comes to campaigning, I've done it all, phone banked voters and knocked on so many doors. I bet a lot of you do did the same. One difference though, I campaigned exclusively for the GOP until this election.

I voted Republican my entire life. I believe in the bedrock values of the Republican Party, liberty, equality and the belief that there are individual rights that cannot be taken away. These are values to be proud of.

And because the Republican Party has abandoned those values this year, this Republican is voting for Hillary Clinton.

In Donald Trump's America, it doesn't matter what I've accomplished as an attorney and policy expert. All that matters is how attractive I am on a scale of one to 10.

Trump's loathsome comments about women and our appearances are too many to repeat and too crass to repeat. They are too important to ignore, though.

Trump can discount our accomplishments, he can disrespect our abilities, but come November, he cannot disregard our votes.

There are some who will say I am voting for Hillary Clinton because she's a woman. People who say that dismiss my voice and Hillary's long record of public service.

And I know there are some who are contemplating staying home this November. Your voice can help define the next chapter of American values, American policy, American leadership around the world, for better or for worse.

I'm here tonight to ask all of you to join me to not only oppose Donald Trump, but to support Hillary Clinton. Because we're not just Democrats and Republicans, we're Americans.

Thank you.

COOPER: Coming up next, Sheriff Lupe Valdez from Texas the only female Hispanic sheriff in the United States.

[20:39:59] She was previously an officer in the U.S. Army, which became the captain after that. Jennifer Loudon, a widow when Chicago police officer killed in 2010.

SHERRIFF LUPE VALDEZ, DALLAS COUNTY, TEXAS: Good evening. I am the youngest of eight children born to migrant workers. When I told my father that I was going to join the police, he got angry. You see, he and my older brothers had been beaten by the police for no legitimate reason, but I stuck with my decision. Years later, whenever I visited, he'd show my badge off to all his friends. He saw the good I was doing, and he was proud of me. And I am proud of my fellow officers.

When my officers -- when my officers report for duty, they have no idea what might come up that day. When they respond to a domestic violence call, they don't know whether a victim or an abuser with a gun will meet him at the door. When they stop a vehicle, they have no idea whether the driver is racing to the hospital to deliver a baby or fleeing the scene of a crime. They don't know whether the next 911 call will be their last, but they keep answering the call. They keep putting their lives on the line. They are doing the best they can to protect our communities. We put on our badge every day to serve and protect, not to hate and discriminate.

We lost five officers in Dallas. They were killed as they were protecting citizens protesting the police. It's been a tough time for law enforcement communities all across America who have lost officers to violence.

I've been trying to make some kind of sense out of it, but violence is not the answer. Yelling, screaming and calling each other names is not going to do it. Talking within your own group in your own language only where our groups understands leads nowhere. We have to start listening to each other.

My deputies work hard to reach out to the community we serve. We attend all sorts of events, Ramadan, Cinco de Mayo, Juneteenth, Pride, veterans' parade, Irish festivals, you name it. We show up, and some of my officers are uncomfortable at first, but the only way to serve your community is to know your community.

Last Sunday -- last Sunday after working in the morning, I went in uniform to meet my partner for lunch at a nice restaurant. As I handed the server my credit card, he smiled and said that at least four tables had offered to pay for our meal. My girlfriend and I both teared up. There wasn't a single person in that restaurant that I personally knew. The people of Dallas that even know, that even though our men and women in uniform are hurting, we never stop doing the job.

Please help me in honor of all of American's fallen officers with a moment of silence.

I am privileged to introduce to you some of the family members of our fallen officers, Wayne Walker, Wayne and Barbara Owens and Jennifer Loudon.

[20:45:48] WAYNE WALKER, MOTHER OF OFFICER MOSES WALKER JUNIOR: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. For 19 years, my son, Moses Walker, protected us as a Philadelphia police officer.

Every morning, for 19 years, Moses put on his uniform. One morning on the way home from the third shift, he was shot and killed. At Moses' living room, I found a pile of wrapped Christmas presents.

It was in August, but Moses, he always thought ahead. He bought gifts for relatives, for single parents, for strangers down on their luck. One of these presents didn't even have a name on it. I still have it. Moses didn't live long enough to give all of the gifts he had to give. While we're here, we must do the good we can.

Absolutely, we have to believe that we're stronger together.

Thank you. Thank you, John.

BARBARA OWENS, MOTHER OF DEREK OWENS: We hear a lot about the problems in big cities. Our son Derek Owens joined the Cleveland police force to be part of the solution.

His wife worked mornings, so he was the one who combed his daughter's hair. His friends joked and said he made it harder for the other dads because he did such a good job.

After Derek was killed, we heard from so many people about his positive influence. One woman said that when she was a troubled teenager, Derek saw in her what she couldn't see in herself, and because of him, she's a better mother. Thank you.

This was just one of the many stories we heard. Derek has left a legacy of service, integrity and love, and we -- we never want the sacrifice of Derek and all of the other fallen officers to ever be forgotten.

Thank you.

JENNIFER LOUDON, THOR SODERBERG'S WIFE: My husband and best friend, Thor Soderberg joined the Chicago police to help people. Once, he'd got a call about a boy who had stolen a belt. The boy only had a rope to keep his pants up. Thor negotiated and the charges were dropped. He also paid for the belt.

He did not want that boy to start his life with a record. Thor knew that every interaction he had mattered, that every word he spoke and yes, even every arrest he made defined what it meant to serve and protect.

He knew effective policing required treating people with kindness and respect, especially when he was most often called to their worst moments.

When I lost Thor, I had no idea it was possible to lose so much and an entire lifetime much less than a single moment. And I know that in light of recent events, some of us have lost faith.

[20:50:03] But I want all Americans to know about Moses, Derek, Thor and all the officers out there who every day risk their lives protecting all of us.

Let us honor all of the fallen officers who weren't named here today, but acting as our officers did, helping others, bridging communities and building peace.

Thank you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: And welcome back to the final night of the Democratic National Convention.

[20:55:00] They're transitioning now to a section early on diversity. The first speaker is the Reverend William Barber, who's the chairman of the North Carolina NAACP. We're also going to hear from a number of speakers, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and then moving to veterans' issues. Let's listen in.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please welcome the Reverend Dr. William Barber II.

REV. WILLIAM BARBER II, GREENLEAF CHRISTIAN CHURCH: Good evening. My brothers and sisters, I come before you tonight as a preacher, a son of a preacher, preacher immersed in the movement at five years old. I don't come tonight representing any organization, but I come to talk about faith and morality.

I'm a preacher and I'm a theologically conservative liberal evangelical Biblicist. I know it may sound strange, but I'm a conservative because I worked to conserve what divine tradition that teaches us to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God.

I've had the privilege of traveling the country with the Reverend Dr. James Forbes and Reverend Dr. Traci Blackman and Sister Simone Campbell. As we are working together in the revival and calling for a moral revolution of values, and as we travel the country and we see some things, that's why I'm so concerned about those that say so much about what God says so little, while saying so little about what God says so much.

And so in my heart, I'm troubled and I'm worried about the way faith is cynically used by some to serve hate, fear, racism and greed. We need to heed the voice of the scriptures. We need to listen to the ancient chorus in which deep calls unto deep.

The Prophet Isaiah cries out, what I'm interested in seeing you doing, says the Lord as a nation is pay people what they deserve. Share your food with the hungry. Do this and then your nation shall be called a repairer of the breach.

Jesus, Jesus, a brown-skinned Palestinian Jew, called us, called us to preach good news to the poor, the broken, and the bruised, and all those who are made to feel unaccepted.

Our constitution calls us to commit our government to establishment justice, to promote the general welfare, to provide for the common defense and to ensure domestic tranquility.

Now, to be true, we have never lived this vision perfectly, but this ought to be the goal at the heart of our democracy. And when religion is used to camouflage meanness, we know that we have a heart problem in America.

There, there have always been forces that wanted to harden, even stop the heart of our democracy, but there have also always been people who stood together to stir what Sister Dorothy day called a revolution of the heart, and what Dr. King called a radical revolution of values.

I say to you tonight that some issues are not left versus right, or liberal versus conservative, they are right versus wrong.