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Democratic National Convention Coverage; Interview with Former Presidential Democratic Candidate Pete Buttigieg. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired August 17, 2020 - 20:00   ET

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

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: Of course, we'll see that speech tonight. Thank you so much for joining us. Our special coverage of the Democratic National Convention starts right now.

[20:00:15]

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Tonight the Democrats officially begin their fight to take back the White House at a historic time of crisis in America. The party sets to nominate Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as their ticket to defeating President Trump.

Making the case for the Democrats tonight, former First Lady Michelle Obama. Other headliners include Biden's former primary rival, Senator Bernie Sanders.

Welcome to CNN's special coverage of the Democratic National Convention. I am Anderson Cooper.

This will not be like any convention that we have seen before ever, as the coronavirus changes the way we do everything. Let's go to Wolf Blitzer in the CNN Election Center.

Wolf, it's going to be a streamlined made for TV event. What more can we expect?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Anderson, Democrats will put the pandemic and President Trump's response front and center along with other huge challenges facing the nation right now.

Speakers spread out across the country will drive those issues home. We're going to hear from governors on the frontlines in the coronavirus crisis, including New York's Andrew Cuomo. He will argue that the only way for America to recover is with new leadership.

Michigan's Gretchen Whitmer will drill down on the threat to the lives and livelihoods of workers in her state and across the United States.

We're covering it all with our political team including Jake Tapper, Dana Bash and Abby Phillip.

Jake, I understand you have new details on the big speeches tonight.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: That's right, Wolf. Michelle Obama is the headliner and we're told her remarks will be very different from what one might expect from a former First Lady, as she updates her call from four years ago, that when quote, "They go low, we go high." Unquote.

She will explain how that mantra applies now in the context of what she sees as four chaotic and divisive years under President Trump.

We will soon find out just how pointed she is willing to get in her criticisms. We know she will serve as a sort of character witness about Joe Biden, the man she saw tested during his eight years as her husband's Vice President, tested during policy fights and of course, when his son, Beau, died of brain cancer.

We also will hear from Senator Bernie Sanders who will call for progressives who backed him and backed Elizabeth Warren and other more liberal candidates to join together and unite behind Joe Biden to defeat Trump no matter who they supported during the primaries as the Democratic Party struggles to win over progressive skeptics of Biden.

We're told that Sanders will validate Biden's economic vision or try to do so at least and argue that the former Vice President is committed to fixing healthcare, even though, of course, Sanders and Biden have many strong disagreements on the subject.

Dana, the Democrats are looking to draw some sharp contrasts between Joe Biden and of course, President Trump.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, and that is including Republicans. There are Republicans who are going to speak tonight and that includes the former Ohio Governor, John Kasich, who is an outspoken opponent of President Trump going back to their 2016 primary fight.

But tonight, he is going to argue that by going beyond just criticizing the President actually backing his Democratic rival that Kasich who is a self-described lifelong Republican is putting the country before politics and he's going to encourage Republican voters like him who don't like the President that are worried about the ideological differences with Joe Biden to put that aside the way that John Kasich will.

We're also going to hear from several prominent G.O.P. women who support Biden including former Congresswoman Susan Molinari. She even gave a keynote address at a Republican convention and now in the words of one Democratic source I spoke with, she represents exactly the kind of voter the Biden campaign is hoping to win over.

So the Democrats are making a very strong, very open appeal to Republicans tonight knowing that the outcome of this election could hinge on 2016 Trump voters now turned off by the President and Abby, Democrats have more on their focus tonight.

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Dana. They are devoting a considerable amount of time to the fight for racial justice and presenting it as a crisis that's as urgent and important as the battle against the coronavirus and the nation's economic slides.

So we'll hear tonight from a family that has come to symbolize that struggle very publicly. We have learned that the relatives of George Floyd will address the convention from Texas and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser will speak from the balcony overlooking Black Lives Matter Plaza just a couple of blocks from the White House where peaceful protesters were violently teargassed and she'll talk about how she went up against President Trump during that time, and in her words, he was plotting to send troops in camouflage into the streets and Federal helicopters into the air -- Anderson.

[20:00:11]

COOPER: Abby, I want to check in with our correspondents, Jeff Zeleny and Arlette Saenz, covering the convention from Joe Biden's home base in Delaware. First to you, Jeff, what more are you learning about Michelle Obama's speech?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, we're learning that Michelle Obama will be giving what's described to me as the most overtly political speech she has given in her public life, really a crescendo of what she has been doing since leaving the office four years ago, but so different than her speech at the Convention in 2016.

I am told she is going to directly challenge and confront the President. She is going to say this, I'm told, that he is wrong for a country and in over his head, that it simply is not a time to reelect him.

Now, this is something that is a stark departure from her previous convention appearances. We can all remember in 2008 when she came into that Denver Convention, still, you know, the wife of an Illinois Junior Senator, introducing herself to the country.

She has grown during this period of time and she believes now is the time when she should be speaking out forcefully. She's also going to I'm told, continue on the line that we all remember from 2016 saying when they go low, we go high of course, referring to the birtherism comments and so many years of attacks on her family.

I am told, she is going to explain what that means, saying going high does not mean sitting on the sidelines. Going high does not mean ignoring these, it means, you know, getting in the arena voting first and foremost.

So her speech is going to be a bit of a continuation of former President Barack Obama's speech that he gave at John Lewis's funeral, urging young Americans to vote. That is the takeaway from her speech tonight.

Of course, it's prerecorded. Most of the speeches are live, but it'll be about 18 minutes long, and I am told that again is the sharpest political speech she's ever given -- Anderson.

COOPER: All right, to Arlette Saenz now we go. Arlette, what can you tell us about Bernie Sanders's speech tonight?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson four months after he bowed out of the presidential race, Bernie Sanders speaks tonight with the goal of uniting Democrats around Joe Biden, speaking over eight minutes from back home in Vermont.

An aide says that Bernie Sanders will talk about, you know, urging the country to unite behind Biden to, quote, "remove the most dangerous president in history" and select Joe Biden.

Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden haven't seen each other in person since that one on one debate back in March, but an aide says they do speak regularly as their two teams have worked closely since about April on policy and efforts trying to unite the Democratic Party.

It's a bit of a different approach for Sanders, who had that long drawn out fight with Hillary Clinton back in 2016.

But tonight, Sanders is expected to rally progressives and all Democrats around Joe Biden's candidacy speaking directly to those voters who voted for other candidates during the primary and maybe even voted for President Trump back in 2016.

Sanders is expected to argue that the future of democracy and the economy is at stake, and he will warn, quote, "The price of failure is just too great to imagine."

COOPER: Arlette Saenz, appreciate. We've got a lot to watch for when bring in David Axelrod.

David, you know Michelle Obama well, obviously. I'm wondering what you are expecting from her tonight based on what we know from early, you know, releases of some of her comments, but also from prior speeches that she has given before at these conventions?

DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, well, first of all, the thing that makes Michelle Obama the figure that she is, is that she's authentic, she is honest and she is passionate.

I think back, Anderson, to Inauguration Day of 2017 and the coldness that you could sense between her and Donald Trump and she expressed herself in her book on this subject.

I expect a very powerful emotional and edgy speech. I don't think she is going to you know, as Jeff said, I think she is going to demonstrate what going high means against someone who she believes has gone relentlessly low. And I think, this is going to be a different kind of speech than we've seen from her before.

She is going to -- she's going to make very clear what she thinks the stakes are and she's going to create that contrast between the character of Joe Biden and the character of Donald Trump, which is going to be a theme that runs through this entire convention.

So I expect a high -- a high level emotional kind of speech from her, I should say, highly emotional speech from her about the stakes in this election.

COOPER: Nia-Malika Henderson, how involved do you expect Michelle Obama, former President Obama to be moving forward after tonight?

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: I imagine they will be very involved. If you flashback to 2016, they were out on the stump campaigning. Michelle Obama, in fact, gave a very impassioned speech denouncing the "Access Hollywood" tape after that came out.

You know if you think about somebody like Michelle Obama, she really is kind of a thread and a bridge across many different demographics across many different generations, too.

She's got a lot of issues that you can connect with some of these young folks, and particularly talking about the need to vote.

In some ways, I think she can play it differently than the President -- the former President, President Obama, who is in some ways been loath to get out there, particularly in the early months of Donald Trump's presidency.

There was always a fear that him speaking out would sort of shed more heat than light, and now, I think with Michelle Obama, she is going to bring the heat and she is going to bring the light tonight and really I think rally all sorts of voters, people who not might not be completely sold on this ticket and then some of those suburban white women voters that we've heard so much about that are so important to Joe Biden's fortune. She's going to speak directly to them.

And then oftentimes, you see with First Lady's a humanizing of a candidate. That's the role she played in 2008 for her husband, who in some ways was seen as too cerebral. And you'll see that I think tonight as well when she talks about Joe Biden in such an empathetic way, telling stories that a lot of Americans might not know about Joe Biden.

COOPER: Gloria, it is a remarkable, you know, kind of milestone, just comparing tonight to four years ago at the beginning the Democratic National Convention then.

I mean, then, Republicans were upset at the Obamas for, you know, executive orders for deficit spending. I mean, those are things which Republicans clearly don't have a leg to stand on anymore.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Right. They don't and what the Democrats are going to try and prove at this Convention, is that unlike Republicans at this point, many of whom do not like Donald Trump, many of whom don't want to spend the money.

He wants to spend, many of whom are against the stimulus package, for example, is that they're going to try and say Democrats are unified.

And this kind of strange convention that we have tonight with Bernie Sanders speaking may make it easier for them to make that point because if you recall, four years ago, when Bernie Sanders spoke, there was kind of a demonstration on the floor for Bernie, Bernie. And that that Bernie-Hillary thing was still going on.

And I think -- I think now, without the audience there, with Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden having a real relationship and I think we noticed this during the campaign, they disagreed with each other, but they liked each other.

They were in Congress together forever. They trust each other. The Biden campaign has brought in the Sanders people. They didn't agree on Medicare-for-All. That's a problem.

But tonight with having Bernie Sanders speak without any people out in the audience to disrupt a nomination process for Joe Biden might actually help the Democrats look like they are unified.

COOPER: John King, I'm so curious just to see how this is produced, because, I mean, it runs the risk of being, you know, three-hour long infomercial that people don't particularly want to watch or perhaps it's a very intimate kind of very compelling presentation that's very well-produced and brings people to places emotionally that they haven't been on.

I don't -- I have no idea, do you?

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No, and nor do they, and that's the challenge here. Are they picking the right people? Are they targeting the right people? Is bringing these Republicans in a good idea.

They have their sense of what the map is, what it will take to beat Donald Trump. But Anderson, let's just start with the basic premise. It is incredibly hard to defeat an incumbent President of the United States.

Bill Clinton was the last person to do it back in 1992. That was the wild Ross Perot year. This year, we'll have two candidates. This is Trump versus Biden, but the coronavirus is the wild card. Will the virus look as tough for the country in a month or two as it does right now? That's one calculation, as Biden prosecutes the case against him.

The other thing though, is to use every moment to your opportunity, because go back through those races, right. John Kerry came a lot closer than most people remember, but he couldn't get there. That was the first. That was 2004. The first election after 9/11.

David remembers this. Mitt Romney at times looked very competitive, it didn't turn out that way in the electoral map in the end, but there were moments in that race where Mitt Romney looked like a competitive candidate. Can Joe Biden put together the electoral map to defeat an incumbent President?

The one advantage he has is he goes into this convention with a pretty comfortable national lead and a pretty healthy lead in most of the battleground states. Some of them are very close, they will get tighter, but at least Biden has the advantage going in.

The challenge for this convention is to maximize that advantage. That's why rally the African-American base, especially your most reliable voters, African-American women, and then try with Kasich, with Susan Molinari, with Christie Whitman, with other Republicans to try to recreate the coalition from 2018 that made Nancy Pelosi Speaker.

If Joe Biden can hold the suburbs and turn out voters in the urban areas, he has a pretty good chance to be the next President of the United States, but he has a healthy lead now, but it will not be easy.

[20:15:13]

COOPER: Yes, we're getting closer to the start of the Democratic Convention. Michelle Obama's tougher than ever criticism of President Trump.

We're going to hear from Bernie Sanders. We're going to hear him go farther in uniting Democrats behind his former rival, Joe Biden.

Also ahead, a revealing interview with Joe Biden about how he survived family tragedies and a promise he made to his son, Beau, before he died.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESUMPTIVE DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: He said, Dad, look at me. Look me in the eye, Dad. Give me your word as a Biden, Dad, you're -- I'll be okay.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: We're waiting for the start of the Democratic National Convention and Michelle Obama's star churn tonight. We're told it will be the sharpest and most political speech of her life.

Bernie Sanders and other headliners promising a fiery call to action to send President Trump packing.

We expect the Democrats to drill down on the life and death consequences of the pandemic, what President Trump has done wrong and what they believe Joe Biden will do right.

Tonight, more than 170,000 Americans have died and the number of coronavirus cases in the U.S. is pushing toward 5.5 million.

This as President Trump says he is enthusiastic about another unproven coronavirus treatment, a plant extract that is being touted by of all people, the creator of My Pillow.

There's valid reason to be optimistic about a new saliva test for COVID-19. That would be fast and inexpensive and just got emergency approval from the F.D.A. I want to bring in our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

So talk about the saliva test. Could it make a dent in our under testing problem?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think so, Anderson. I mean, this is a, as you mentioned, a swab-less test. So you don't need the swabs which sometimes are in short supply. You don't have the discomfort with that.

The test results can come back in just a few hours. It costs about 10 bucks. This is the fifth saliva test that has gotten Emergency Use Authorization. And, you know, if we can get these more widespread to people in various locations, even schools or places of employment, you know, you could start to have a significant dent overall in testing, which as you know, is still, you know, woefully behind.

Ultimately, there may be even better tests coming, Anderson, even over the next several weeks, which would be point of care testing. You wouldn't need to go to a lab. You get your results right there within minutes. That would be the key.

And I think, you know, hopefully, you know, we've been reporting on that a lot. Hopefully, we'll see that soon.

COOPER: President Trump has been asked now about this thing that the creator of My Pillow, I guess has invested in. He is now on the board of and he is certainly out there, I guess, promoting it, an extract. It is an extract of called oleandrin. What is this?

GUPTA: Well, it is a - oleanders is a bush, the shrub, which is if -- you know anything about it, it's typically thought of as a toxic sort of substance. You can get this toxic leaves from it.

There's been, you know this movie "White Oleander," which is about actually killing somebody using an extract from that plant. This is one of those extracts that has absolutely no data behind it in terms of being useful for coronavirus.

It has known detrimental effects including a negative effect on the heart.

It's strange, Anderson. You know, Deborah Birx and Anthony Fauci haven't been in the Oval Office talking to the President, but instead this guy is talking about the supplement which has no data behind it.

There was a lab study basically that stuck some of this stuff in a test tube and some monkey kidney cells with coronavirus in the test tube, and it seemed to inactivate the virus.

Again, according to this non-peer reviewed study, of course, bleach or lots of substances would do that. I can't believe we're talking about it. Bottom line, Anderson, there's so many more important things to talk about. There's nothing here that substantiates this.

COOPER: And yet the guy gets, I guess, a meeting in the White House with the President to discuss this with him.

GUPTA: Yes, I know and where's the Taskforce? You know, I mean Ambassador Birx wasn't in the Oval Office. Dr. Atlas, the My Pillow guy is. We have really important problems going on right now with this pandemic, as you well know.

This is startling to me. This just seems to keep putting us backwards.

COOPER: Sanjay, appreciate it. Thanks.

I want to go to John King to take a look at how the politics of the virus, how things may impact the election -- John.

KING: Anderson without a doubt this is the pandemic election and you have an incumbent President and his handling of the pandemic is going to be issue number one. Issue number two and issue number three with the voters.

Let's just go back through some of the history with Sanjay, if you look at the map, this is cases per 100,000 residents. This is back in March. You don't see much color on this map, a little bit of yellow, if you look closely out on the West Coast.

Remember Washington State was first, in California a little bit in the northeast.

But let's move forward a little bit. Now, you move into April. New York and New Jersey starting to show up. Remember we started to talk about New Orleans back then. Again, a little bit still out on the West Coast, but the virus was concentrated in a few areas back in April.

Remember? The President said it was about to disappear. That was in April. It was about to disappear. Well, this is May, you still see a lot of yellow meaning a pretty low case count, but you're starting to see more orange and red. You're starting to see it across the south here. You see it out in Arizona.

This is May, remember, around Memorial Day. The reopening started, right?

Let's fast forward from May into June. You're starting to see more red and orange that means more cases per 100,000 residents in these states.

You see Arizona, you see a lot of the South now. The Northeast still going through a bit of a problem here, right?

Now let's fast forward. The reopening is accelerating. The holidays. People are going to the beach. This is July 15th, a month ago and here we are right now. This is data from just two days ago.

Look at all the red. Look at all the orange. The coronavirus is everywhere in America.

Now, you want to come to the politics of this. Number one, it was President Trump who green lighted the reopening. This is his country. This is his pandemic when you look at it this way.

If you want to get to the raw politics of it, look how red Florida is. Look how red Georgia is. Look at the problem they have in the State of North Carolina. It's persistent.

Come up here to Wisconsin. Not quite as bad, but a persistent issue in the Midwest and then Arizona, one of the big drivers of the summer surge. Look at all the red out there in Arizona. [20:25:10]

KING: Why did I circle those states? Well, let's come back and look at it from this perspective. Those are the six states I just circled that we view as the toss up states in this electoral map.

Joe Biden right now favored, 268 electoral votes. He's a strong Democrat, leaning Democratic at the moment. Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, I should have circled Ohio as well. Wisconsin and Arizona.

In the toss up states, all of them -- all of them have had to deal with a sustained coronavirus problem, still a big deal in Florida, a big deal in Georgia. A big deal in Arizona. Improving somewhat out there.

But there's one other way to look at it. Let me clear this off and come back to it. Just take a look at this. This is the country right now. Coronavirus is everywhere.

But if you look at all of this red around the south, come up through here and you look at it this way. If you just think about it, as we've had the summer surge, and we have persistent cases now even though the baseline is down a little bit around 50,000 cases a day. That's amazing, Anderson.

We were down to 18,000 in June. It took off in the summer. One other way to look at this map is to just look at it this way. A lot of the places where we're dealing with the coronavirus, still see all of that red? Those are states Donald Trump carried.

I'm not saying they're going to leave him. I'm not saying they won't be loyal to him. But the coronavirus is now everywhere in America, including in Trump country.

COOPER: Especially in the hot summer months when a lot of people said that's when it's going to be at its best and dissipate more.

KING: Well, you raise you raise a very key point and the experts can march better on this than I can be and Dr. Gupta is, that now, in the summertime, there are experts who think it actually -- it could have been worse without the heat.

And now we're heading into the flu season. Kids are going back to school. We're starting to see the issue.

So the question is, between now and the election 11 weeks from now, we get through the fall and the flu season, will it look better or will it look worse?

COOPER: John, thank you. We're getting new details on what to expect when the Democratic Convention begins at the top of the next hour, just a little bit more than 30 minutes from now.

We expect Bernie Sanders who will make his most direct appeal yet for his progressive supporters to back Joe Biden.

But next, Jake will talk live to another former Biden rival, Pete Buttigieg on how to win over Trump voters in the Heartland.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:31:06]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: We're awaiting the start of the very unconventional Democratic Convention. We've learned Michelle Obama won't hold back at all levels directly challenged President Trump in her big speech tonight. And former Republican governor John Kasich will urged GOP voters to put party aside and elect Joe Biden and oust President Trump.

Let's check in once again with our correspondents. Jeff Zeleny and Arlette, they're covering the convention from Joe Biden's home base in Delaware. Jeff first to you.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, if we are learning tonight that there is going to be a moment of silence during this virtual convention for George Floyd. Mr. Floyd's brother Philonise Floyd will be joining the convention virtually from the state of Texas. He will be giving brief remarks, I'm told that are not deeply political, but simply recognizing and remembering his brother's name, who of course put his own name on this call for systemic racism and anti-Semitic racism and calls for racial justice that sparked the protests across the summer. So we will be hearing from George Floyd's brother tonight at the convention. Of course, Joe Biden spoke with him and spoke with the family before the funeral back in June. So there is that connection there. But tonight, a moment of silence for George Floyd. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right. Arlette, I understand you're learning more about how the Democrats will showcase the controversy over mail-in voting?

ARLETTE, SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf, if at least one Democrat tonight is expected to highlight mail-in voting as it's come under attack from President Trump. Democratic officials in Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto is expected to highlight the need to protect mail-in voting and issue a rebuke of President Trump as a legal battle plays out in her home state of Nevada. She's expected to specifically call out the President for requesting absentee ballots of his own as well as warning quote, Mr. President, Nevada is not intimidated by you. This of course, all constant Democrats are concerned about President Trump's efforts to cast doubt over mail-in voting heading into the election.

BLITZER: Yes, Arlette. Arlette, thank you very much, Jeff, thanks to you as well. We'll get back to both of you. Jake, this is going to be a very dramatic convention.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: That's right next to here, the Amtrak Trains in the background there from Wilmington. The Democrats are looking to try to unite the party at the convention. And they're going to get some help from Joe Biden's former primary opponents and we're joined down by one of them. Former Democratic presidential candidate, former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Pete Buttigieg. Mayor Buttigieg, good to see you. Thanks for joining us. PETE BUTTIGIEG (D) FMR PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Same here. Nice to be back.

TAPPER: So, I want to start with a comment President Trump made just earlier today at an event in Wisconsin, he said quote, the only way we're going to lose this election referring to him and so often his campaign, the only way we're going to lose this election is if this election is rigged, unquote. What's your response?

BUTTIGIEG: Well, first of all, he's losing the election right now. Let's remember this. Donald Trump is historically unpopular President, he's losing to Joe Biden, that doesn't mean that he'll automatically lose. We got to do the work, we got to earn this victory. But that's the state of play. And for him to try to preemptively attack the legitimacy of the election, by definition, if he loses it, on one hand, not surprising, and something we need to prepare for as a country.

And on the other hand, extremely disturbing, because it strikes at the heart of our system. Now part of what makes democracy work, is that when you lose an election, I've won elections, and I've lost elections and losing elections is no fun. But when you do, you stand aside because there's something so much more important than your own political success. And that's -- this democracy, this country and listening to the will of voters, that the President of the United States is not committed to that. That's bad news for democracy itself. And of course, it's bad news for America,

TAPPER: You have an interesting position in the sense that you have debated against Senator Kamala Harris and also before Mike Pence was Vice President Pence, he was Governor Pence of Indiana when you were Mayor, so you know both of them. What tips since I know you want Kamala Harris to win the debate, when they debate they square off on October 7th. What would your advice for Senator Harris be?

[20:35:19]

BUTTIGIEG: Well, she's a terrific debater, and I don't think she'll need much advice from me. But you're right. I know both of them. And I'm looking forward to seeing that debate. And I'm looking forward to seeing her replace Mike Pence as President. I think the most important thing is to point to the fact that this presidency flies in the face of every conservative value, as well as every progressive value that we hold dear in this country, knowing her, knowing how skilled she has been, for example, in Senate hearings, not letting people off the hook when they're contradicting themselves are not being truthful. I think she is the perfect person to hold Vice President Pence to account somebody who claims to be an evangelical Christian, but also believes that somebody who is caught sending hush money to a porn star ought to be the moral as well as political leader of the United States, just to take one example. That's going to be a debate where the contrast couldn't be clear. I'm looking forward to watching.

TAPPER: Back to the primary days. If I can take us back to the earlier this year, you used to point out that when the Democratic Party nominates a young, outsider candidate, they win. And when they nominate somebody who's older and insider, they don't. Your party's about to nominate Joe Biden, he would be the oldest nominee your party's ever had, the oldest person elected president in American history. Do you still have concerns about that issue about appealing to voters as with a nominee who is older and an insider?

BUTTIGIEG: One of the things I really appreciate about Vice President Biden is how clear he's been about his vision of including everybody and creating a sense of everybody belonging in this future, he's been very outspoken about his desire to create a presidency that will be transformational, that will bring in a new generation. And I think when he says that he doesn't just mean people he will surround himself with inside the administration and the government, but really more broadly, that he will speak to people of every generation. And you can see that in his policies. Look, if you're young in this country, think about what's at stake for you in the future. We're either going to do something about climate or have a president who says it's a hoax. We're going to finally be the generations to witness this country, live up to the truth that black lives matter. Or we're going to have a president who claims that systemic racism doesn't even exist.

We are either going to prepare for the future, or we're going to have this behavior from this current president that really sinks any future chances for younger generations. The choice couldn't be clear. And the choice is one of the reasons why, you know, I think for young Democrats, we're, we're not just Democrats because of idealism. We're Democrats because of our reality.

TAPPER: So I've interviewed a bunch of times interviewed you a bunch of times, so I'm well aware of how skilled you are at not answering questions. And I mean that in the best, most complimentary possible way. So I'm just going to say, just for the benefit of our viewers just, just for smiles, if you could just answer this one, would you like to serve in a Biden-Harris administration? And what position would you take if it were on your list? V.A. secretary, Defense Secretary, just humor me. Just give me an answer on this one?

BUTTIGIEG: Oh, the answer your question is yes. So I would love an opportunity to return to public service. Now, that's not up to me. That's going to be up to the next president. And it may or may not make sense in the judgment of the next president. First of all, we got to make sure there actually is a Biden-Harris administration. And when there is I'll do everything that I can to support it and make sure that it's successful, whether that's a role within in government or whether it's from the outside.

TAPPER: And just what would the job be? Just get the quick answer on what the job would be?

BUTTIGIEG: Again, that's not something that is up to me. And it's also, you know, a little bit ahead of us when we've got fewer than 80 days to make sure that --

TAPPER: So close.

BUTTIGIEG: -- we have a Biden-Harris administration and not a second term of the Donald Trump (INAUDIBLE). TAPPER: So close and yet so far. Mayor Buttigieg, good to see you as always. Thank you so much.

We're closing in on the start of the Democratic National Convention. Up next, Joe Biden in his own words on the personal tragedies that have helped shape him and how he has managed to pick himself back up and carry on. Stay with us.

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[20:43:25]

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: We're back with our coverage, the Democratic Convention ahead of a powerful speech expected by former First Lady Michelle Obama. We're told, she'll directly challenge President Trump as being unfit and in over his head. Democrats will send a message tonight saying, according to them that Americans can overcome anything like they believe Joe Biden has. It's been shaped and tested by the death of his first wife and a one-year-old daughter in a car crash, and the more recent passing of his son Beau from brain cancer. In a revealing new documentary, Biden opens up to CNN's Gloria Borgia, about how he suffered and survived since his family was first touched by tragedy in 1972.

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GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST (on-camera): You said you went around kind of looking for fights.

JOE BIDEN (D) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I did.

BORGER (on-camera): And you wrote that you even understand why people consider committing suicide.

BORGER: I thought about it not doing it by me. I thought about what would it be like just to go to the Dell Memorial Bridge and just jump off and end it all, but I didn't ever get in the car and do it when you're close. I don't drink at all. I've never had to drink in my life. And -- but I remember taking out a fifth of I think it was gin and put it on a kitchen table, but I couldn't make myself take a drink. And it was saved me was really my boys.

BORGER (voice-over): More than 40 years later, one of those boys Beau Biden was stricken with brain cancer and was worried about his dad.

TED KAUFMAN, FMR U.S. SENATOR: I absolutely believe and I believe it to the day I die. That the thing that Beau was most afraid of was not dying. What he's most afraid of is his dad, the impact would have on his dad. That that really takes that out.

[20:45:00]

BORGER (on-camera): Did he tell you that?

KAUFMAN: Oh, yes. Oh, yes, all the time. And it's like, what am I going to do? How do I do it? What do I do? What should I do? What am I going to do? And he was generally concerned that it would barely be a blow.

BIDEN: Beau just made me promise. So Dad, I'm going to be OK. No matter what happens this was just before he died. His (INAUDIBLE) you got to promise me you're going to be OK. I said Beau, he said, Dad, look at me. Look me in the eye Dad. Give me a word as a Biden Dad, you could. It can be OK.

BORGER (on-camera): Are you OK?

BIDEN: I am because it is still emotional. But I knew what he meant. He was worried I'd walk away from everything I've worked in my whole life the things I cared about, he knew I'd take care of the family. He never wanted about that. But he didn't want me walking away. And I think put is done. It's give me the purpose.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: You know, Gloria, I mean, his ability to speak about grief and about loss. I mean, it's not only a very difficult thing, obviously for a parent who has suffered through that to do, but it's just not something a lot of people talk about. And it's incredibly powerful.

BORGER: It is very powerful. And he talks about it to other people as well and in a way to comfort them. He's, there's sort of a pastoral nature to Joe Biden right now. He's a man who's 77. If he were to win, it'd be 78 years old, he never thought he would be here now. He thought he would never seek elective office but decided to do it because of Donald Trump, particularly after Charlottesville. And I think there's a sort of a sense of calm about him in a way that I haven't seen over the many years that I have covered him. And he feels that, you know, this now, this race is part of his purpose and Part of what I think is inside his head and he spoke about that a little bit is that I think he thinks Beau would want him to do this.

COOPER: David Axelrod, I mean, you know he has run before. He certainly is no stranger to campaigning. Do you see a difference in him this time around?

DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, there's no doubt that Beau is very much on his mind. He talks about it a lot. But, you know, what's interesting, he could not have known when he began this campaign, what state the country would be in right now. 170,000 Americans have lost their lives, and countless others have lost loved ones, their jobs, their livelihoods. And so, that pastoral nature that Gloria is talking about, all of a sudden is more relevant than ever. People are looking for a president who can connect with their loss, connect with their struggle and make them foremost in the policies of the government. And Joe Biden, you know, his personal strength, his personal struggle and journey have now linked up with the country's in a way that's really powerful. And you're going to hear a lot about that this week at this convention.

COOPER: Yes. We are just minutes away from the start of the unprecedented Democratic Convention with headliners. Michelle Obama, Bernie Sanders as well as Republican John Kasich, we're going to hear from the former First Lady, take on Trump. We're told like she hasn't before. We'll be right back.

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[20:51:13]

COOPER: And welcome back to our special coverage of the Democratic Convention begins just minutes from now. The party making its first big primetime pitch for presidential running mate Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

The headliner tonight, former First Lady Michelle Obama, learning she will not pull back and arguing that President Trump is unfit and wrong for America. Senator Bernie Sanders is another top speaker. He'll make an appeal for unity warning his supporters and other Democrats that the price of losing this election is too great to imagine. His convention has been reinvented because of the coronavirus. Wolf?

BLITZER: You know, the Democrats, Anderson they're centering this opening effort on the pandemic the huge challenges facing the United States right now. The party hopes to convince Americans that those challenges can in fact be overcome if Joe Biden is in the White House. And President Trump is out of the White House. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo will address the urgent need for leadership in the coronavirus crisis.

We'll also hear from George Floyd's brother on the fight for racial justice in America and in support of Joe Biden. And the Democrats have been listed the former Republican governor of Ohio, John Kasich to call on GOP voters to back Biden despite policy differences they may have. Anderson back to you.

COOPER: It's going to be a fascinating night just minutes from now. Want to bring in Van Jones and our other guests, Governor Granholm, Andrew Yang, Scott Jennings.

Van, what are you expecting for tonight? And what do you think the big challenges are for the Democrats?

VAN JONES, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, listen, they're going up against Donald Trump. And look, the summer numbers are high, the poll numbers are high. Don't take that too seriously, because this guy is very tough to beat. Where is the flaw in the Death Star for Donald Trump? Donald Trump has this passionate base. It's this rabid, don't crawl through broken glass to vote for the guy, but it's narrow. That's what opens the door for Biden to build something that's broad and passionate.

Look, tonight, you can see the opening act of this thing. Left, right and center. Left, you got Bernie Sanders, you've got the racial justice left, right, you've got the Republicans in the center, you've got Michelle Obama, that is signaling to you. The strategy for the Biden campaign. They've got four days to make the case. They can build a passionate, broad coalition. Usually, if it's broad, it's (INAUDIBLE). If it's passionate, it's narrow. If they can build a passionate, broad coalition, through the next four days, they can take out Donald Trump, it will not be easy. COOPER: Scott Jennings, for both Republicans and Democrats. Democrats this week, Republicans next week. I mean, these are conventions, unlike any we see. What do you think the challenges are just in the format of this kind of a convention?

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, the challenge for any speaker you know, you expect to go to a convention and give like a sweeping speech, and you get applause and you feed off that energy. Well, you don't really have that. If you're recording something, or if you're just talking into a camera. So I will be anxious to see how the speech writers have handled that. And for the Democrats this week to play off something Van just said, he's talking about the idea of building a broad coalition, but I'm anxious to see how they handle the push and pull of this. There's some Democrats that want to portray Biden- Harris, as moderates, but at the same time today, you know, for instance, you had Alexandria Ocasio Cortez herself a convention speaker, and I think a star of the Democratic Party, just hammering John Kasich who's speaking tonight for being pro life.

And so, the kind of voters that Kasich would want to attract would be probably disaffected pro life Republicans. And yet you have another convention speaker hammering him saying those views don't have any quarter in the Democratic Party. I think trying to merge that coalition together is easier said than done. And I think Biden has his hands full and trying to maintain the idea that he's a moderate who is not going to be controlled by radical voices.

COOPER: Governor Granholm, what do you expected tonight?

JENNIFER GRANHOLM, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, so for years, for 60 years, the Republicans have claimed the mantle of being the party of jobs in the economy. It is bull. If you go back 60 years, Democrats have created almost three times as many jobs under Democratic presidents than under Republicans. The stock market has done twice as well, under Democrats than under Republicans. GDP has grown 1.5 times faster under Democrats than Republicans.

[20:55:26]

I look forward tonight to seeing Democrats claim the mantle of the party of job creation for all, because it's Democratic policies that create opportunity for people.

COOPER: Andrew Yang, what are you expecting?

ANDREW YANG, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think it's going to be a fantastic kickoff tonight because the Democrats are in a position to argue that we need a change in leadership, in a time when 72% of Americans think we're in the worst period that we have ever experienced. I'm a parent. I don't know if my children's school is going to open this fall and millions of Americans are in the same boat. Right now, Trump is losing, make no mistake, but there's a chance for Joe and Kamala to start winning. And I think that this convention is going to go a very, very long distance, and helping Americans get excited about turning the page for our country. Because right now Americans are stressed out, miserable, and looking for a less exhausting approach to our politics and leadership.

COOPER: Andrew, do you think there's a fear that they will be focused too much on President Trump and not about, you know, to running against him as opposed to running for something?

YANG: Well, Trump right now ran as a change candidate, but no one wants to own the status quo Anderson, because like Jennifer just said, we're in a jobs, depression, 42% of the jobs that we've lost will never return. And so it's very difficult for Trump to say, hey, let's sign up for four more years of this. The Democrats can present a very compelling case that what we need is another change. For some of the voters who voted for Donald Trump looking for a change, they're going to be very, very much pushed to the Democratic column. And we're already seeing it in the polls, because right now, Trump is losing and he's having a hard time making any argument that's helping him regain any ground.

COOPER: We'll have more from our team throughout the night and after the convention. Let's go back to Wolf.

BLITZER: You know, it's interesting. We're only three minutes away from the start of this convention. And I'm curious American history. Jake about to unfold major American history. What are you looking for?

TAPPER: I guess the biggest question is, there's all the dynamics, John Kasich speaking, Congresswoman Ocasio Cortez, not happy about it, that sort of thing. But the biggest question I have is, what is the average voter watching this going to take away from the Democratic Convention as to what it will mean for them. They probably won't have any difficulty conceding the point that Joe Biden is a more empathetic individual and that he has been somebody who's led an admirable life when it comes to rising above tragedy. But what does that mean for the mom who, who works two jobs and is worried about what she's going to do? Because there's remote education for their kids? What does it mean for this person whose job is not coming back? Man or woman, as Andrew Yang just referred to. So, I'm always curious as to what people are going to sell to the voters in terms of what does this mean to them? How is this going to affect their lives?

BLITZER: And Dana, what are you looking for?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, to sort of jump on what Jake was saying. He's absolutely right. And what's striking me and looking at the excerpts of what we're seeing that the Democrats have put out, is that as much as we are hearing about the empathetic Joe Biden and more of his biography, we're hearing a lot about Donald Trump and why he should be fired. And real people being brought in tonight to explain that like a woman from California who writes that her father was a Trump supporter, who believed him on COVID. And now he is dead, because he got COVID. Those kinds of arguments, and it really is in line with what our own polling shows from last night, which is even people who say that they are going to vote for Joe Biden, the majority of them say that that vote is as much against Donald Trump as it is for Joe Biden. The Democrats understand that.

BLITZER: Yes. Abby, we're less than a minute away. What do you want to see?

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, speaking of that same sentiment that Dana was just talking about, one of the things that Democrats have now put in their very first night is this issue of mail-in voting. This has become a rallying cry for Democrats. And it seems almost as if it's this is the kind of thing that is energizing Democrats in a way that you haven't seen really since the impeachment era. They're having a purple state senator from Nevada do it and Nevada actually is one of those places where they are expanding mail- in voting, almost universally the Trump campaign is fighting that in court.

But, you know, how will that message land tonight and I can they tap into some of that energy that you're seeing all across the Democratic base where they're really fired up against President Trump on this issue.

BLITZER: All right, this Democratic Convention is about to begin. In fact, we're told this beginning right now the American actress Eva Longoria, the emcee to start, to start this program tonight. It's starting right now.