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CNN Live Event/Special

First Night Of Historic DNC Underway; Interview With Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA); Democrats Take On Project 2025 In First Night Of DNC. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired August 19, 2024 - 20:00   ET

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

[20:00:05]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Other featured speakers include this evening, First Lady Jill Biden and a Democrat who knows firsthand and about the challenges of running against Donald Trump, former Secretary of State and First Lady Hillary Clinton.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny is seeing it all up close from this podium position and CNN's John Berman and Kaitlan Collins are getting reaction from delegates on the convention floor.

Let's go live there right now to the convention floor, where CNN's John Berman is standing by.

John, what is the feeling in the room there?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: Jake, I'm here by the New York delegation and it's clear they are energized. This was not the convention they were expecting four weeks and two days ago back when President Biden was still the nominee, but it's the convention they got now that Vice President Kamala Harris is.

It's even hard to move around now. People have started filling in as the primetime part of this event really kicks off, and you can see there's New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand right there, part of the New York delegation.

On the floor here you have delegates, party activists who may be grassroots activists side-by-side, rubbing elbows with sitting US senators. You've also got volunteers who are working the floor to make sure we're all going to the right place or not in the wrong place

And then you have the events that are happening up on the stage, where the Democratic Party is trying to lay out for the people here in the convention and also for the American people, the message they want to send.

This is union messaging right now. That's actually the New York delegation. We just walked by Randi Weingarten, teachers union, is sitting there. So the unions here are represented. The grassroots activists and the elected officials as well, Jake, and it's filling up.

There were some empty seats here about 20 or 30 minutes ago, but now there are few and far between at this point -- Jake.

TAPPER: John, I think you walked by John F. Kennedy's grandson there. I don't know if you -- did you see him?

BERMAN: You know, it happens all the time at a Democratic Conventions.

TAPPER: Schlossberg, do you want to go say hi to Schlossberg -- he seems, he was looking at you. He thought you were going to come in and get a -- it's the tall, handsome chap.

BERMAN: I didn't see with the eyes at the back of my head. But next time we'll book him.

TAPPER: Oh, Berman, all right.

Let's go live now to CNN's M.J. Lee.

M.J., the stage is set for some major speeches this evening and for the rest of the week.

M.J. LEE, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right and we are going to be hearing tonight from the couple that currently occupies the White House. Of course, Jill Biden, the First Lady and President Joe Biden, he is going to be making an aggressive case for why Democrats must elect Kamala Harris come November and we expect plenty of emotional tributes to the president.

But tomorrow night, Jake, we are going to be hearing from the couple that occupied the White House eight years ago. This is former First Lady Michelle Obama, and of course former President Barack Obama and they are going to be speaking as a couple that can speak to the importance of the presidency, the high stakes of the election coming up in November.

And what I'm being told by a source is that when it comes to former President Barack Obama, he will very much lean into why he believes Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are ready to lead the country at this moment.

As for Michelle Obama, the First Lady who we haven't heard actually much from during this campaign cycle, she is going to lean into this idea that she believes Kamala Harris is absolutely ready for the job and that she can help the country turn the page, I'm told, on fear and division. And she's really going to stress that she believes Harris is one of the most qualified candidates to ever seek the presidency.

Now, we do expect both Obamas to be involved in different ways throughout the course of the campaign, as we get closer to November. The former president, in particular is looking for ways to zero in on those persuadable voters in areas where he might be able to move the needle, I am told, but all of that of course, is quickly being reconfigured because we now have a new person at the very top of the ticket -- Jake.

TAPPER: That's right, M.J. Lee, and there is -- let me bring in Dana Bash and Abby Phillip. I mean, the president does have a task before him, not only to pretend that this is how he wanted this all to go, which is obviously not the case.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: No.

TAPPER: But also, there are pockets of the country where he would do better --

BASH: That's right.

TAPPER: -- than Kamala Harris, at least according to polling today, would do. Now, Kamala Harris has obviously energized, the party, and there are young people that are far more excited, all sorts of other groups, Latinos, African-Americans, women, but there are also some White working class voters in areas like Wilkes-Barre, Scranton, where Trump was the other day where Joe Biden might still be more popular than her.

BASH: I think he will dig in even a little bit more to a demographic, older White working-class people, older White men and even some, some Black men who are not totally sold on Kamala Harris, which is why I talked to a Biden ally earlier this evening who said that what the president's goal is tonight is an unqualified enthusiastic, and affectionate endorsement for his vice president.

They are keenly aware, despite, as you said, the very real enthusiasm that you're seeing, very different from what we saw for Joe Biden himself.

They are aware that she, right now, has a bit of a hurdle with certain demographics in the Democratic coalition and he is determined to help her along with sectors of the party.

[20:05:41]

TAPPER: Abby, we've heard a lot of reporting in the last week or so, some of Biden's inner circle, Ron Klain, Anita Dunn, have been making the rounds talking and acknowledging to their credit that there is some bitterness, some anger, not against Vice President Harris who to a person they all praise and say she was with him till the very end. But there is some anger and bitterness towards President Obama, towards Speaker Pelosi et cetera.

So, it probably won't be too much of a tall order for him to express his affection and love for her, for Vice President Harris. But he still does have some anger, perhaps understandable.

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR AND A SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, look, he's a human being who spent most of his life seeking this office that he's now been forced to step aside from. I mean, that is a visceral moment for Joe Biden.

On the other hand, what I've been hearing from people who are involved in the convention planning is that the moment for Joe Biden tonight is going to about heralding him honestly as --

BASH: Yes.

PHILLIP: -- a hero of his party.

BASH: Right.

PHILLIP: It's going to be giving him a sendoff into this era of his legacy, where he will be looked back on as someone who did something selfless. That's how everybody is describing it to me, as selflessness.

So, I think there is the hope here that, not just what he's going to say, but how he's going to be received by this room might be a salvo for some of those wounds that are still really to raw for him and for his allies.

Look, there are a lot of people who are enthusiastic Kamala Harris supporters who, yes, are really angry about how the party kind of came together to push Joe Biden out. They are holding both of those things in their minds at the same time. And it's kind of incredible, but you will see Joe Biden get a hero's welcome in this room tonight.

BASH: You know, Anita Dunn said to me earlier today on "Inside Politics" that tonight's speech is not about Joe Biden's legacy, it is about Kamala Harris. But what you just said is so -- very well said, Abby, that you can hold them all together. That maybe he'll speak the words about Kamala Harris, let's not to overuse the word "vibe," but the vibe in here is no question going to be about him and about the gratitude that the Democrats have for him.

TAPPER: All right, Anderson Cooper.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "ANDERSON COOPER: 360": Jake, thanks very much.

Here with David Axelrod, Audie Cornish, Van Jones, and Scott Jennings.

David Axelrod, we talked about this a little bit last night, but how does this work? Would the Harris-Walz campaign have read the Biden speech before it's given?

DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I am given to believe that there has been a reading of the speech and there's an awareness of the speech and people seem happy with what he's going to do.

But you know, this is a really hard exercise. We've talked about this last night. There's not really a precedent for this because on the one hand, yes, he ought to claim credit for some of the really important in accomplishments he made and he should say very positive things about his vice president.

But, you know, you want it to be a handoff, not a death embrace. You don't want him to sow -- make her a part of his legacy that it seems like a seamless handoff, but not a change in direction.

You saw a thing on their posters on Friday at her speech that I think you may see around here saying "a new way forward." Well, implicit in that is it's not going to be the same and how you navigate that tonight, I think will be interesting to watch. COOPER: There was a moment the other day when a reporter asked President Biden words the effect of, you know, how will you feel if she's -- breaks away from your economic policy? He said words to the effect of she wouldn't do that. I'm not sure if that's based on anything, I am assuming, maybe from the Harris campaign.

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Right, I mean it's hard. So much of this is out of his hands. I mean, imagine if you were supposed to be a headliner and you find yourself the opening act. It's a different energy you have to bring to that.

She also has this interesting way to walk where she's got to say she's a change candidate, even though she's part of a sitting administration and that transition is also something I think they're going to seek to make over the course of the week, making it seem like she is a change agent, that this is a movement, not a moment, but to do that they have to build a story over the course of the week.

[20:10:23]

COOPER: Well that's the thing, Van, the Republicans are painting this picture that she was the prime force in the Biden White House. It's obviously not the role of the vice president and yet at the same time, she wants to claim credit for things that she felt she had a big hand.

VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, first of all, I just can't wait to see him, bring him out, bring out Joe Biden. I can't wait to see him.

He is doing something honorable tonight. He is doing something hard.

You can't get interns to leave the White House voluntarily -- leave the White House voluntarily is not something people do. Joe Biden's willing to do that because he wants so step back and let her step forward.

As far as Kamala Harris is concerned, this is not complicated. Have you ever had a boss, did you ever think your boss is doing good but you could do a little bit better? That's her. She can praise him on the stuff that she likes, but she's a different person. She's from the West Coast. He's from the East Coast. He's White. She's Black. So she's her own person.

COOPER: Is there going to be in the East Coast and West Coast theme tonight?

JONES: Hey, listen, that might be a beef. There might be a beef. So, I just think that this is a moment for him to do something extraordinary. So, it is the old lion's last roar tonight and I want to hear it and she's going to do great, but this is his moment tonight. It is his moment tonight.

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Biden is known in his career as being one of the best eulogy givers at funerals. And now they're making him come in give his own career eulogy --

COOPER: He has files of every eulogy he's ever done.

JENNINGS: Yes, and now they're making him give his own eulogy at this convention.

AXELROD: You have to give that's best, so you get to give your own.

JENNINGS: Yes, I guess. I am anxious to see how they handle -- it's a sticky wicket. I mean, he was bullied out of this race after 52 years of service to the Democratic Party. And it wasn't all about his age. He was unpopular, he was going to lose, it was Afghanistan, it was inflation, it was immigration, and now -- and he had to be dragged out by the fingernails.

I'm sorry, this is not -- he's not here in a happy moment, okay, I know this yarn that's being spun in this hall that he was popular and selfless and handing -- no, no, no, it is the opposite and everybody knows it, and yet the Democrats are engaging in this his theater of looking into cameras and saying it.

So, it's not true. I'm interested to see how they handle it tonight, but also moving forward because what the Republicans will do is say, look, this was Joe Biden's loyal lieutenant, the last person in the room on Afghanistan, helped him on immigration, which you hate, now all of a sudden proposing to do something about inflation when she hasn't for three-and-a-half years. She will be stuck to him for the election and will the voters buy that she had nothing to do with any of it?

AXELROD: The question is will they buy that the vice president was a major policy maker? Do people talk about the Pence years when Trump was --

COOPER: I don't remember the Pence years.

JENNINGS: That's a good question, but I can answer it because yes, because how much video do you think there is of her sitting in the chair of the United States Senate casting the deciding votes on the agenda that Republicans will say, delivered the inflation crisis that is what they have.

AXELROD: Right, well, okay, then you've got to give her credit for the infrastructure bill. You've got to give her credit for the health care and pharmaceutical price measures. You've got to give her credit for --

Look, I think that's the right strategy, honestly That's the best chance you have to try and turn her into an incumbent. Because right now, the worn-out old incumbent is Donald Trump, and she is the turn- the-page candidate. And this is going to be a turn-the-page convention.

COOPER: And then were actually going to see Vice President Harris. The Vice President Harris is actually going to come out on the stage at the end.

JONES: Oh, that's awesome. CORNISH: Also, I think that it's an interesting context the Reverend Jesse Jackson coming out earlier, Hillary Clinton speaking. I think there is also an effort to place her in a spectrum of these past movement candidates, candidates who maybe were dismissed in some ways because like Jesse Jackson who got very far, but it was just seen as sort of like the Black candidate.

Now, Kamala Harris has actually kind of benefiting from the fruits of the labor of those people

COOPER: It is also interesting to have Hillary Clinton here, obviously, given her campaign in 2016. Obviously, when Hillary Clinton was running she talked a lot about breaking that glass ceiling. We haven't heard that kind of language as much from Kamala Harris.

AXELROD: Which is smart, you know, I mean --

COOPER: Yes.

Axelrod: I mean, I only have the experience of having worked for Barack Obama in 2008, we never talked about the historic nature of his candidacy because we feared everybody could figure that out. You don't need to tell them.

And for people for whom that was important, they would vote accordingly and there were probably people who were so put off by that, that they were going to vote the other way. But he used to say, I'm proudly of the Black community, but I'm not limited to it and I'm running for president of this whole country and that's the right posture to take and that's the posture that Kamala Harris is taking now.

[20:15:15]

JONES: And I think it's remarkable because I hadn't thought about that. Reverend Jesse Jackson open a lot of doors for Black candidates, Hillary Clinton did, but she doesn't have to ring those bells the same way.

We ring them, we talk about it all the time. She's not moved by that.

CORNISH: Yes.

JONES: She's not talking about herself at all. She's talking about the future of the country. She's talking about working families and I think it's smart for her to do that. But for me, I'm going to talk about but for me, I'm going to talk about it.

CORNISH: But it's based on a lot of lessons learned and a lot of Clinton staffers and aides now work for the Harris campaign. I'm seeing the reporting that even some of the speech writing that -- who wrote the concession speech for Hillary is involved with the speech for Harris this week.

JONES: Full circle. CORNISH: So, there's some overlap. Hillary Clinton has truly been very supportive of Kamala Harris and the Clintons are among the first to come out that weekend after Biden stepped out, to say, we support her.

They didn't say open primary or town halls across the land. They said that she should be the best bet.

JONES: Though that would have been fun.

JENNINGS: How do you all take the Clinton's now though? Hillary, I sort of get her place in this, but Bill Clinton after all these years and everything that's happened and everything we know and everything this country has evolved on, how is it that he still gets to come to this hall, uncancelled?

And you and I have discussed this at the 2020 convention, and you said everybody believes in second chances?

JONES: Yes.

JENNINGS: But is it still -- is this still okay in the year 2024?

JONES: Well, I'm sorry, Donald Trump, you've got to stay --

JENNINGS: Okay, but Trump, but Trump, all right.

JONES: I've got to say he's got 96 second chances with these conviction and indictments. By the way --

COOPER: -- the Mayor Karen Bass is speaking. Let's listen in

MAYOR KAREN BASS (D), LOS ANGELES: Hello, Democrats.

(APPLAUSE)

BASS: Hello, Democrats.

(APPLAUSE)

BASS: Are you as excited as I am?

(APPLAUSE)

(CHEERING)

BASS: I've known Kamala Harris for almost 20 years. Our bond was forged years ago by a shared commitment to children, a belief that it is everyone's responsibility to care for every child, no matter where they come from and no matter who their parents are.

Kamala knows that each generation has an obligation to the next. That's why, when I was speaker of the state assembly and she was a prosecutor, we fought to address youth homelessness and reform the child welfare system.

(APPLAUSE) BASS: We wanted to make sure that California's foster youth aren't cut off and left on their own the day they turn 18. As attorney general, Kamala created our state's Bureau of Children's Justice and worked to give children in the juvenile justice system the support they needed.

(APPLAUSE)

BASS: And when I asked her to swear me in, the first woman vice president swearing in the first woman mayor of Los Angeles --

(APPLAUSE)

(CHEERING)

BASS: -- we knew we were sending a message to young girls everywhere that they too can lead.

(APPLAUSE)

BASS: Now, I know Kamala. And she feels the importance of this work in her bones. When Kamala meets a young person, you can feel her passion. You can feel her heart. And you can feel her fearlessness. That is what defines a commitment to children, being willing to fight fiercely for every child.

And trust me, Kamala has done that her entire life.

So this November, we're going to fight to elect Kamala Harris as the next president of these United States.

(APPLAUSE)

(CHEERING)

(CROWD chanting Karen!)

ANNOUNCER: Please welcome Grammy-nominated country music star Mickey Guyton.

[20:20:07]

(APPLAUSE)

MICKEY GUYTON, COUNTRY SINGER: How you doing?

(MICKEY GUYTON LIVE PERFORMANCE)

GUYTON: Thank you so much.

(APPLAUSE)

(CHEERING)

COOPER: Still ahead, an interview with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. And later, speeches by other prominent Democratic women, New York Governor Kathy Hochul and New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez.

Plus, First Lady Jill Biden, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and of course, President Biden. Stay with us

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:27:41]

TAPPER: And we're back with our special live coverage of the Democratic National Convention here in Chicago. This is a night for powerful women. We heard from Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, the first woman mayor of that city, where the Democratic Party here is about to nominate its first ever African American woman to be the presidential nominee.

And we have with us of course the original trailblazer, Nancy Pelosi, former Speaker of the House, the first woman Speaker of the House in the history of this great republic.

What are you hoping to hear from President Biden tonight?

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): Well, I'm hoping that the president will just take such pride in all that he has accomplished.

We are here to talk about his legacy and I want him to talk about it as well. And also, the comfort level that he has with passing the baton to another generation.

I want him to feel the love that is in this room that it is just overwhelming. People are so grateful to him.

TAPPER: And you were at the Democratic Convention eight years ago when Hillary Clinton was nominated, the first nominee of the Democratic Party -- of a party -- to have a woman and I'm wondering if you think -- a lot of people think that one of the reasons Hillary Clinton didn't win, there were a lot of reasons, of course, but one of them perhaps was sexism, misogyny.

And I'm wondering if you think the nation has evolved as much as it would need to in that eight years to elect a woman president, whether Democrat or Republican?

PELOSI: Well, two things. First of all, Hillary Clinton, as you probably know, was one of the best qualified people to run for president, while she didn't win the election, she certainly won the campaign and laid the trailblazer for other women to come after.

Also, Kamala Harris has been the vice president of the United States. So, I think by dint of the path that Hillary put forth and the experience that Kamala has, that she's a little bit further down the road.

I have no doubt that she will be president of the United States. BASH: But just to follow up on what Jake said, what about the country and voters? Are they further along in how they feel about female leaders?

PELOSI: I always thought that we would have a woman president long before we'd ever have a woman speaker of the House because --

BASH: Really?

PELOSI: -- Congress is a very, shall we say, male-oriented body. So I always thought --

TAPPER: That's a nice -- you're being very nice. You're being very diplomatic, that's not what you -- okay, keep going.

[20:30:14]

PELOSI: But, but, I think that what is -- one other thing that is happening in this election is misogyny is so evident. The things that the Republican candidates are saying about women, I think is evoking a response. And one thing that I keep telling people to know, of course, when we put forth Roe v. Wade enshrinement into the law in the House of Representatives, we didn't get one Republican vote.

But think of this, when we put forth women shall have a right to contraception. Eight Republicans voted yes, 195 voted no. 195 Republicans voted no. So women, take that disrespect personally because it's personal. And I think that some of what they are saying about -- I mean, they say the Democratic Party has been ruled by childless cat women.

Oh I have five children, six years and seven days. I don't consider, although we have a family cat, I don't consider myself in that category. But people -- women are taking offense at that because of the extreme to which they are going.

BASH: One of the big attack lines against Kamala Harris is that she's a San Francisco liberal.

PELOSI: Yes.

BASH: You are a proud San Francisco liberal.

PELOSI: Yes, indeed.

BASH: What should she do with that?

PELOSI: Well, I think that she goes forward. As I say in San Francisco, we are very proud of our values. Song of St. Francis is our anthem of our city. When I was hungry, you fed me. Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace. So those are our values.

But you don't govern from where you are personally. You govern from the center in our country. And what she's putting out there is an economic package that let's stop and draws in the middle class, not a trickle down $2 trillion tax cut for the richest people in America to maybe trickle down. Or if it doesn't, as the Republicans say, so be it.

But I think that she is prepared in so many ways. And I'll talk about it on Wednesday to unify our country. Not to say, well, you said this and I said that. No, to unify our country. It's about the children, their health, their education, the economic security of their families, a safe environment in which they can thrive, including from gun violence, a world at peace in which they can reach their fulfillment in our countries as well.

And so it's about our unity as a country, honoring the values of our founders, the sacrifice of our men and women in uniform. This unifies us and the aspirations of our children.

TAPPER: So I interviewed you roughly a week or so ago --

PELOSI: Yes.

TAPPER: -- about your brand new book, which is a great page turner. And at that point you had not yet talked to President Biden.

PELOSI: Yes.

TAPPER: Obviously, it was four weeks and one day ago that he stepped aside. And I know that there, it was very difficult for him, that's been made very clear by some of his top aides, like Anita Dunn, and Ron Klain. And there does seem to be -- even though Anita Dunn said earlier today, quote, "Nobody wants to have a fight with Nancy Pelosi at this time," unquote. It does seem like there's some residual bad blood or resentment, and I'm wondering if you've spoken to him, and what your responses to that.

PELOSI: Sometimes you just have to take a punch for the children.

TAPPER: And that's what you're doing right now? You're just going to take the punch for the children?

BASH: Who's punching right now?

PELOSI: I don't know. I mean --

TAPPER: Anita Dunn said --

PELOSI: I didn't even hear this. I'm just hearing.

BASH: It was an interview with me. She --

PELOSI: Maybe he's throwing the punch. I don't know.

TAPPER: I'm not. I would never. But --

BASH: She said she doesn't want to fight.

TAPPER: Nobody wants to have a fight with Nancy Pelosi at this time.

PELOSI: Well, you know --

TAPPER: Have you talked to him, is my only question.

PELOSI: I have to do what I have to do.

TAPPER: Right.

PELOSI: He made the decision for the country. My concern was not about the president. It was about his campaign. As you -- as he has seen, the exuberance, excitement that has come forth in our country. I just did an event for one of our members in Illinois, Eric Sorensen, today. Immediately, he got 1,100 volunteers into his campaign as soon as that announcement was made.

TAPPER: Nobody is questioning the fact that the Democratic Party seems much better positioned right now than it did four weeks and two days ago. There's no question about that.

Former Speaker Pelosi --

PELOSI: So why are we even talking about it?

TAPPER: I -- they put it on my script and made me -- they made me read it. They're holding --

BASH: OK, run for today.

TAPPER: They're holding my cat hostage.

Speaker Pelosi, thank you so much.

We're about to show you a video from the Democratic Party. They are talking a lot about a thing called Project 2025. Let's take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For America's future.

[20:35:03]

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm not going to be nice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It will ban abortion nationwide.

TRUMP: I got rid of Roe v. Wade.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Raise taxes on middle class families. Gun Medicaid.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's money that funds a lot of medical treatment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Strip rights from LGBTQ plus people.

TRUMP: Wait a minute, I'm not finished.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cut overtime pay.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is going to affect workers bottom lines.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give him unchecked power.

TRUMP: And I will wield that power very aggressively.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And it begins his first day back in office.

BASH: In an exclusive undercover video, a co-author of Project 2025 saying that Donald Trump, quote, "blessed the work he's doing now."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's been at our organization. He's raised money for our organization. He's blessed it. So, he's very supportive of what we do.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He doesn't want freedom. He only wants control.

KAMALA HARRIS (D), VICE PRESIDENT AND PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I know Donald Trump's tight.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These are the stakes.

HARRIS: Project 2025 wants to take our country backwards.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is our fight.

HARRIS: We are not going back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Obviously, we should note that former President Trump denies that the plans of Project 2025 are related to his plans in his second term. Let's listen in to more from the Democratic National Convention.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CHEERING)

MALLORY MCMORROW (D), MICHIGAN STATE SENATE: Hello. Michigan State Senator Mallory McMorrow. And this -- this is Project 2025.

(BOOING)

MCMORROW: Now, over the next four nights, you are going to hear a lot about what is in this 900 page document. Why? Because this is the Republican blueprint for a second Trump term.

(BOOING)

MCMORROW: That's right. They went ahead and wrote down all the extreme things that Donald Trump wants to do in the next four years, and then they just tweeted it out. Putting it out on the Internet for everybody to read.

So, we read it. And whatever you think it might be, it is so much worse. Tonight, I want to tell you about just one aspect of Project 2025. It's planned to turn Donald Trump into a dictator. (BOOING)

MCMORROW: OK. Right here on page 535, it says, quote, "reissue Trump's Schedule F Executive Order to permit discharge of non performing employees". Now, that doesn't sound that scary, right? But here's what it actually means in plain English.

If Donald Trump gets back into the White House, he's going to fire civil servants like intelligence officers, engineers, and even federal prosecutors if he decides that they don't serve his personal agenda. They're talking about replacing the entire federal government with an army of loyalists who answer only to Donald Trump.

(BOOING)

MCMORROW: I know. All right, then. OK. Page 873. It says, quote, "conservatives have long believed in either ending law enforcement activities of independent agencies or ending their independent status". Again, that sounds pretty boring.

But what it means is that under Project 2025, Donald Trump would be able to weaponize the Department of Justice to go after his political opponents. He could even turn the FBI into his own personal police force. That is not how it works in America.

(CHEERING)

MCMORROW: That's how it works in dictatorships. And that's exactly what Donald Trump and his MAGA minions have in mind, an expansion of presidential powers like no president has ever had or should ever have.

Now, by the way, if you're asking if any of this is even legal, well, remember, thanks to Donald Trump's handpicked Supreme Court, he's now completely immune from prosecution, even if he breaks the law.

[20:40:16]

But that's not who we are, because we believe in a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

(APPLAUSE)

MCMORROW: Not the government of Donald Trump by Donald Trump and for Donald Trump. We believe in the separation of powers and the rule of law. We believe in a system built up to serve everyone, not breaking a system to serve one petty, selfish man.

The truth is, there's only one way to stop him and to stop Project 2025. How do we do it? We elect Kamala Harris this November.

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

MCMORROW: We will be back tomorrow night to tell you what Project 2025 means for your pocketbook.

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

ANNOUNCER: Please welcome California Senator Laphonza Butler.

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

SEN. LAPHONZA BUTLER (D-CA): Hello, Democrats.

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

BUTLER: California delegates, make some noise.

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

BUTLER: It's great to see so many familiar faces.

(CHANTING)

BUTLER: And I can't forget the state that I was born and raised in.

Mississippi Democrats, let everybody hear you.

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

BUTLER: Democrats, before I joined the Senate, I was a leader in the labor movement.

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

BUTLER: So, I know a champion for the people when I see one. I met Kamala Harris when she was district attorney and I was president of a large care workers union.

We hit it off right away. What really impressed me was how well she got to know my family, my wife, Neneki, but especially our daughter, Nylah. And as soon as Nylah heard that Ms. Kamala was running for president, she asked if she could be vice president. So, no disrespect to Governor Walz, but Nylah put her name in first.

Vice President Harris and I share a lot in common. We both graduated from historically black colleges --

(CHEERING) (APPLAUSE)

BUTLER: -- me from Jackson State University, the vice president from Howard University.

We were both raised by mothers who worked fiercely to provide for us. And we both believe that every single one of us has the power to change the world when we choose to do it together.

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

BUTLER: You see, Kamala Harris has always understood the assignment. No matter if she were the underdog, no matter the bullying or the name-calling, she never doubted that our best was still ahead.

She knew a better future, a better future was possible, if we stood side by side with our neighbors and we fought for it, no matter what language they spoke, no matter what country they came from, no matter the size of their bank account.

And that's what she did. As a prosecutor, together with law enforcement, she prioritized holding criminals accountable and protecting public safety. As state attorney general, together with students, she put a scam college out of business.

[20:45:14]

After the mortgage crisis, together with families who lost their homes, she took on the biggest banks in the world and won a settlement five times what was initially offered.

Every time she walked into a courtroom, she would simply say, Kamala Harris, for the people. For her, it wasn't just a professional oath, it was a battle cry. And let's be clear, to her opponents, this way of seeing the world, the idea of fighting for someone other than yourself, is unthinkable.

But let me tell you, Democrats, what's really unthinkable, conning young people who simply want a good education is unthinkable.

(APPLAUSE)

BUTLER: Stiffing hard-working laborers, like Donald Trump in Atlantic City, is unthinkable. Bragging about having ripped away a woman's freedom to choose what she does with her own body is unthinkable. And, Democrats, Americans, we deserve better!

(APPLAUSE)

BUTLER: We deserve, we deserve a president who is tough, not just tough-talking, one who shatters the boundaries of what's possible, not the boundaries of what's legal. And one who wipes the floor with cheats and fraudsters because, well, Democrats, she knows the type.

Democrats, that president, the president that we deserve, that president is my friend, Kamala Harris. Thank you all so much.

(APPLAUSE)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: We're going to have much more ahead from the Democratic National Convention here in Chicago as we expect to see Vice President Kamala Harris enter the hall. Plus, remarks by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the big finish on this opening night, a speech by President Biden. Stay with us.

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[20:51:26]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

COOPER: Listen to Jason Isbell who's performing here tonight, night one, of the Democratic Nation Convention now underway. Let's listen in.

(Jason Isbell live performance)

COOPER: Jason Isbell performing. Audie, you and I were talking about the music that they have been playing here, both with Jason and the previous performance.

CORNISH: I'm fascinated because they're two country artists who are considered boundary breaking in one way or another. Certainly Mickey Guyton has. She was one of the first black women to win a solo at a Grammy, and also has been praised by Beyonce, that matters.

But also even Isbell, he has a huge progressive following online, and we've talked about this being a very online campaign. He's someone who has really been a kind of counter voice to the conservative voice of country music, or at least corporate country music, and he's someone who's always spoken out against that.

I think him being on stage tonight is like a fascinating example of how the campaign is in dialogue with the culture, especially the culture of progressives online.

TAPPER: Let's get a quick look at Jeff Zeleny's on the floor. Jeff?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Anderson, we are awaiting Vice President Harris's arrival here to the convention center. Sorry, I'm having a little audio problems here as we are really looking out on this crowd here tonight. This is really a -- this is Kamala Harris convention, as we know. She is going to be arriving here to watch President Biden's speech tonight.

We know that this is the place she wanted to be tonight in this hall. Tomorrow night, she will be in Milwaukee at a campaign rally. Of course, a neighboring state, a battleground state. But here tonight, she'll be watching this speech. And of course, the speech from Hillary Clinton as well.

She'll be coming home to Chicago, of course, her native Illinois that speech also will be so important as she passes the torch in a different way. Vice President Harris will make her first appearance. She will not be apparent every night like Donald Trump did, but tonight is her first appearance until Thursday when she accepts the nomination. Anderson?

COOPER: All right. Jeff Zeleny, thanks very much.

I want to go to John King who is standing by. John, I mean, the Democrats now have run -- this is the third time running against Donald Trump, look at -- tell about what we have seen in the past and the path forward for the vice president.

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So let's focus on the moment of the Democratic convention because this hall is full of excited Democrats. They've seen the polling in the last few weeks. This is our map showing Vice President Harris with a modest, very modest advantage over Donald Trump. But we know from the state polls, Anderson, she has a path through the blue wall to 270.

She has a potential Sun Belt path to 270.

[20:55:02]

These Democrats are very energized because they believe she has the ball right now. She has momentum in this race and that's a fact. Let's just go back and look at the COVID year. They were weird conventions, but Joe Biden at his convention in 2020 was already on the verge of winning at 268 electoral votes in terms of solid Democratic and lean Democratic.

He went on to win 305 electoral votes in sweeping. But I just want to remind you that first campaign against Donald Trump when we were at the Democratic convention in 2016, Hillary Clinton was favored. Again, that's a modest amount, 236 to 191, but then the map just simply did not go her way. We had Pennsylvania a tossup then.

Donald Trump won Pennsylvania. We had Michigan leaning Democratic that no, Donald Trump won it. Same with Wisconsin. Donald Trump won it. Donald Trump held Ohio. Donald Trump won North Carolina. Hillary Clinton did win Virginia, but Donald Trump won Ohio.

Hillary Clinton won New Hampshire, but Donald Trump won Florida. He kept Georgia and Donald -- and Hillary Clinton did end up winning Nevada in the end, but that's how it ended up. So Democrats came into that convention in 2016, full of confidence as well.

A different story. Third party candidates, the Comey announcement late in the campaign. Democrats would say cause that, but just a cautious note. Kamala Harris is in such a better position than Joe Biden was when he was the candidate in Milwaukee by leaps and bounds a better position, but we've still got two and a half months of campaign to go.

COOPER: Yes, John, thanks for standing by for the arrival of Vice President Harris and awaiting speeches by Representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, First Lady Jill Biden, and of course President Joe Biden. Stay with us as you see the vice presidential nominee, Tim Walz.

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