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CNN Live Event/Special

Day Two of the Democratic National Convention Features the Obamas and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff; Obamas Fire Up Democrats with Energetic Endorsement of Harris. Obamas Speak at Democratic National Convention; Examining the Historic Nature of Kamala Harris's Candidacy; Fact Checking Night 2 at the DNC. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired August 21, 2024 - 00:00   ET

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

[00:00:23]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: We're back live in Chicago, the 312, where Democrats are heading into the third night of their convention after hearing some powerful advocates for the election of Vice President Kamala Harris as the next president of the United States.

We heard just minutes ago from former first lady Michelle Obama. And of course then from her husband, former president Barack Obama, firing up delegates tonight as they both spoke about the hope they believe Harris is giving to voters and the fears that they have about Donald Trump potentially returning to the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELE OBAMA, FORMER FIRST LADY: That's what we've seen from Kamala Harris, the steal of her spine, the steadiness of her upbringing, the honesty of her example, and yes, the joy of her laughter and her lights.

BARACK OBAMA, 44TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: we do not need four more years of bluster and bumbling and chaos. We have seen that movie before, and we all know that the sequel is usually worse.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: The Harris camp recruited the vice president's husband, Doug Emhoff, to give a highly personal speech about his life and his wife, and the love and strength he says she brings to their blended family.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOUG EMHOFF, SECOND GENTLEMAN: Kamala Harris was exactly the right person for me at an important moment in my life, and at this moment in our nation's history, she is exactly the right president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Vice President Harris spoke to delegates from a campaign rally in nearby Milwaukee, Wisconsin, about 90 minutes away, after a very lively ceremonial roll call reaffirming her presidential nomination.

And Kaitlan Collins was watching it all from her position on the convention floor.

And Kaitlan, you're getting some reaction from delegates.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, Jake. I mean, we were in the heart of this as we are watching these speeches from the Obamas tonight, making the case for Vice President Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. And I did not know that Latonya Reeves is from Minnesota and is a Minnesota delegate, but I saw her during Michelle Obama's speech as she was on stage speaking, and you were standing right over there and you just had tears coming out of your eyes.

What made you so emotional while you were listening to her?

LATONYA REEVES, MINNESOTA DELEGATE: First of all, she's a wonderful, beautiful spirit. The words that she said tonight, let us know we have work to do. We have to go back into our community and we had to organize people to vote. We don't have the opportunity to sit on the sidelines. It is time for us to go. So let's go, and I'm energized to go back.

COLLINS: And what was it about the speech that had you in tears?

REEVES: She talked about the experience of women. She talked about the experience of our vice president and how there has been challenging for her but she said it's time to keep going no matter what. You don't give up, you keep pushing. And that's what I want to see our vice president do.

And it spoke to me because it's been difficult in terms of some things I've had to experience as well. So it hit home.

COLLINS: And I think the, I mean, the crowd went wild when she came out on stage. I know this is your first time actually seeing her speak in person. But I think the loudest applause line that I could hear from standing over here in front of the Minnesota delegation was when she was turning Trump's comments back on him, and saying that his comments about black jobs, that the one he's seeking might very well be a black job. What did you make of that?

REEVES: As she said, our black job is voting. I screamed so loud I lost my voice but when she said that that is our job, our ancestors fought for us to be here. We don't have the opportunity to sit on the sidelines and not vote. It's time for us to get out and show our political power that we are a community that wants to be heard, that we have a right to have a seat at the table. It's time for us to get up and let's go.

COLLINS: Latonya Reeves, thank you very much. Thank all of you for sticking around.

Jake, back to you.

TAPPER: All right. Let's go to M.J. Lee right now.

And M.J., you have some new information about what has been happening behind the scenes. MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, the vice

president was returning to Chicago after having campaigned in Milwaukee earlier in the day, and she was on Air Force Two when her husband, Doug Emhoff, the second gentleman, began speaking at the convention. So the plane actually circled for an extra 15 minutes, we're told, in the skies so she could finish watching his speech.

Of course, Emhoff, as we saw, leaned into this speech, the idea of this blended family that they have. And he said what the vice president has done for their family is something that he believes she can now do for the country. You know, we were watching also the Obamas speech from the floor. This is something that the vice president ended up watching from the Osprey, again, as she was returning from Milwaukee.

The level of energy, the kinds of things that were being said on the floor completely different energy than I think what we would have seen a number of weeks ago that had to do with of course the Obamas and the celebrity that they bring but clearly about the fact that this is now a convention that has to do with Kamala Harris.

[00:05:10]

Again, there's just the energy that we saw tonight, just completely different than anything we could have imagined, Jake, even a couple of weeks ago.

TAPPER: All right. Thank you so much, M.J.

Tonight, Democrats gave a prized speaking slot to Maryland Senate candidate Angela Alsobrooks. She delivered the keynote speech just as a then rising star named Barack Obama did 20 years and three weeks ago when he was an Illinois state senator. Here is some of Angela Alsobrooks' remarks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANGELA ALSOBROOKS (D), MARYLAND SENATE CANDIDATE: Kamala Harris knows how to keep criminals off the streets. And come November, with your help, she'll keep one out of the Oval Office.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Angela Alsobrooks is with CNN's Abby Philip on the convention floor -- Abby.

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR: Jake, I'm here with Angela Alsobrooks, who by the way is from my home state of Maryland, my home county of Prince Georges County as well.

I want to get your take on what you heard here from the former president and former first lady, Barack and Michelle Obama. How was it for you to experience that?

ALSOBROOKS: Oh, my gosh, she was wonderful. It really was. There was excitement and joy in this arena tonight, and I think that really was the message of the first lady and former president was that we're all ready to turn the page, that it is high time, I think, as a country that we should move forward and move out of this era that we've been in, one where the fear has really gripped the country in so many ways.

And really just explaining to us that we do have the opportunity to choose another path and move forward, and that we can experience joy again. And so this was a forward-looking message, I think one they said also we shouldn't take anything for granted. I think that was especially clear is that the Democrats were reminded that we're going to have to work for it and we cannot take it for granted.

PHILLIP: So I'm going to be honest. The state of Maryland is not usually a place where we get a lot of political action. It's a pretty Democratic state, but you are running in one of the most closely watched and competitive Senate races in this cycle. Your opponent is Republican, former governor Larry Hogan, who called himself a maverick. He has broken with Trump, but, first of all, does he deserve credit for that? And how do you run against someone who is not a garden variety Republican?

ALSOBROOKS: Well, you know what I mean. I think the thing we can't forget when we talk about a maverick is Mitch McConnell is the person who invited my opponent into this race. And what he said was that it was his interest that he would flip the Senate red and thought that Maryland was one of the best opportunities that the Republican Party would have to gain a majority.

And this is after Larry Hogan said for many, many months that he had no interest whatsoever in running for the Senate. At Mitch McConnell's invitation, he came into the race. And so we have to take it very seriously because we know that the majority, whoever has the majority in the Senate controls the agenda. So Maryland now is central to holding the majority. I believe that that Marylanders will look at this race and realized that the Supreme Court, the confirmation of Supreme Court justices, the committee chair, chairs like the Judiciary Committee where Lindsey Graham would be chair, Senate majority leader.

These are all decisions that are made on really early on. And so it's going to be critically important that for Kamala Harris, who will be our next president, has to have a Senate majority in order to get her agenda forward. And so this is -- and nobody knows that better than Vice President Harris because she was a senator.

PHILLIP: And she's been breaking tie-breaking votes for the last three years. You guys go back pretty far. You were both prosecutors. She mentored you as you talked about in your speech. What has it been like for you to see her now suddenly the Democratic nominee and to be essentially on the ballot with her, two black women in this election cycle?

ALSOBROOKS: Oh, my god, it's been so powerful and so exciting to see a person that I've come to know, who I know to be a very principled, a deeply principled person. I've had many, many conversations with her and so I feel that I know what her values are. I know how hard she's worked. I know about her record. I'm a former prosecutor. One of her programs Back on Track is one of the programs we replicated

in my county but I know that she's been not only tough, but compassionate. That she's a person who cares about the progress of every family. She's demonstrated it not only as the district attorney, but attorney general. She's been a senator. She's been a vice president. She's served our country and our families and she's going to continue to do so and will be an outstanding president of the United States.

PHILLIP: So I called your race competitive, closely watched, but you defied expectations in the Democratic primary. You ran well ahead of where people thought you would run in that primary. Is your race being underestimated right now?

[00:10:06]

ALSOBROOKS: Well, you know what, we worked really hard in the primary. I'm working hard in this race, too. We will take nothing for granted. We have worked seven days a week over the last year and a half. I'm going to continue to do that through November 5th. I understand the stakes of this election. It's about the future of our children. It's about having choice, the choice and the freedom and privacy to make our own healthcare decisions. And we know the Republicans don't share this view.

We know as well that where gun safety is concerned, making sure that we are no longer allowing gun violence to be the number one killer of children in our country. So these issues are ones that are front and center. I'm going to fight hard because we're going to -- and we're going to win this election in November, and it's going to be important to have the majority. So we're not taking anything for granted.

The primary as you've mentioned was a tough one as well, but Maryland is very savvy, and they will decide, I believe, to keep the majority in Democratic hands, but we're going to have to work hard to make sure that it happens.

PHILLIP: All right. Angela Alsobrooks, from, Jake, gorgeous Prince Georges as we said.

ALSOBROOKS: Gorgeous Prince Georges County. Hello.

PHILLIP: Back to you.

TAPPER: All right. To Queens from PGC.

Much more of our coverage from the DNC in Chicago ahead. Up next JFK's grandson Jack Schlossberg is going to join us. He addressed the convention earlier tonight. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:15:19]

TAPPER: We're back live in Chicago breaking down tonight's big speeches here at the Democratic National Convention, night two. Looking ahead to what's coming up tomorrow night, night three.

Tonight, delegates heard from a new generation of Democrats with remarks from the grandsons of two presidents, Jimmy Carter and John F. Kennedy are the presidents. Here are the grandchildren. Listen to JFK's grandson, Jack Schlossberg.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACK SCHLOSSBERG, PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNDY'S GRANDSON: Tonight JFK's call to action is now ours to answer because once again the torch has been passed to a new generation. To a leader who shares my grandfather's energy, vision and optimism for our future. That leader is Vice President Kamala Harris.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: And we're joined now by Jack Schlossberg, who is a delegate from New York state -- Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: Nice to see you. Great to have you here. That is a pretty big statement from you, the grandson of JFK, to say that the torch has been passed to the woman running on the Democratic ticket.

SCHLOSSBERG: I think this is -- thank you for having me. I think this is a historic election and I could not be more excited about Kamala Harris's candidacy. I think it is a really big moment for our country, and that's why I chose that language.

BASH: Yes. You are somebody who has made your own name for yourself on social media, especially. You do some unorthodox videos.

SCHLOSSBERG: Yes. That's right.

TAPPER: Characters of sorts.

BASH: Characters of sorts. Exactly. You obviously understand maybe more than the two of us --

TAPPER: Certainly more than me.

BASH: I'll speak for myself. More than me.

TAPPER: Certainly much more than me.

BASH: How this campaign in particular, you said you're kind of on the young side of the millennial generation, but millennials and Gen Z in particular is really using the mode of communication that you are using online.

Can you just kind of describe how you think that they're doing and maybe what they could do more of?

SCHLOSSBERG: Well, I think the Harris campaign is doing a great job with social media. I think that young people are like all other people and they need to be given -- they need to be equipped with good arguments and reasons to vote for a candidate. And I think on social media there's an opportunity to do that in authentic way, and to give people the chance to tell the difference between someone who's genuine or not.

And I think people are really smart and my generation is good at telling the difference. And so I think that people -- young viewers I think reward people who take risks. And I think Vice President Harris walks the walk and talks the talk in terms of young people on what they care about. And so I'm feeling good about it.

TAPPER: You had a chance to meet with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi yesterday. We're going to show some pictures of you guys meeting yesterday. She talks quite a bit about your grandfather and her memories. Let's look at -- that's a such sweet picture. She talks about being at your grandfather's inauguration in 1961. Obviously, people might not know this, but Nancy Pelosi is herself the product of a Democratic royalty. Her father was the mayor of Baltimore.

What did she tell you in that meeting? Did she talk about being there in '61 and all that?

SCHLOSSBERG: Well, you know, this convention is so incredible. I walked in the door and I just happened to run into Speaker Pelosi, who I -- who is a hero of mine, who I think is the most significant, important woman in American political history. And I think that she's the backbone of this party. So it was such an honor to meet her and it was complete happenstance. And we just told each other that we really care about each other and I told her that she meant a lot to me and she said some nice things about my grandfather.

TAPPER: Do you sense -- and I know that you're supportive of the accomplishments of President Biden, but do you sense that the Democratic Party, when it comes to enthusiasm, when it comes to young voters, are in a better place now than a couple of months ago?

SCHLOSSBERG: I think we're in absolutely great place now. I think young people are going to take this election over. Young people are going to take Kamala Harris over the finish line and we're going to win this election. I feel confident.

TAPPER: That's a pretty confident statement.

SCHLOSSBERG: Absolutely.

TAPPER: Do you see it online? Do you see it when you go out?

SCHLOSSBERG: Yes. Everyone is pumped. Everyone is pumped about this. We're going to elect an amazing president, the first female president ever. Young people are excited. They understand the picture. It's not that complicated.

BASH: There is -- you know, I've heard some people talk about the fact that despite the fact that there's a huge presence online, what you're talking, about concern that it's almost too much online to make sure that that is translated to boots on the ground and getting people out to vote. Are you going to be involved in that?

SCHLOSSBERG: I'd love to be. I would absolutely love to be. I'll do anything I can to help the campaign. I think it's not an either-or, it's both.

[00:20:02]

You need both social media and boots on the ground operation. And whatever I can do to help, I would love to help.

BASH: You obviously are very well aware of your cousin, RFK Jr.'s campaign. He has been flirting with the idea of endorsing Donald Trump. You obviously do not want Donald Trump to be president again. Do you have a message to --

SCHLOSSBERG: I think my cousin should do whatever he thinks is the best interests of our country.

BASH: That's it?

SCHLOSSBERG: Yes.

BASH: What if it's endorsing Trump?

SCHLOSSBERG: Well, then we would disagree about what the interests of our country are. But that's his decision.

BASH: OK. Thank you so much for being here.

SCHLOSSBERG: Thank you.

BASH: Really appreciate it.

TAPPER: Jack Schlossberg, good to see you.

SCHLOSSBERG: Thank you.

TAPPER: Thanks so much. Anderson?

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks so much. We were just talking about -- we've been talking about the Obamas' speeches. I do want to talk about Doug Emhoff's speech a little bit because he did something which I've never really seen the spouse of a candidate do so effectively. I just want to play some of sort of his storytelling about their relationship in a way that was very quirky and humble and just well-told. So let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMHOFF: Now, for generations, people have debated when to call the person you're being set up with. And never in history has anyone suggested 8:30 a.m.

(LAUGHTER)

EMHOFF: And yet, that's when I dialed. I got Kamala's voicemail and I just started rambling. Hey, it's Doug.

(LAUGHTER)

EMHOFF: I'm on my way to an early meeting. Again, it's Doug. I remember I was trying to grab the words out of the air and just put them back in my mouth. And for what seemed like far too many minutes, I hang up. By the way, Kamala saved that voicemail and she makes me listen to it on every anniversary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: And, I mean, he did something which Michelle Obama also did brilliantly well, which is not get intimidated by the hall and talk to -- shout into the hall.

DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes.

COOPER: But just to talk like a regular human being and talked through the camera to people at home.

AXELROD: The most valuable commodity in communications at this level is just genuineness, authenticity. You had the sense that he was sharing stories with you that were real and authentic. And he did an incredible amount of work for her in that speech because he told stories about her that really added some depth to people's understanding of who she is as a human being. And he was completely credible doing it, and he was self-effacing and winning.

He did not look like a politician making a speech. He looked like a regular guy sharing stories about a wife about whom he was really, really proud.

COOPER: And I mean, no offense to other political spouses, but he also did not look like a political spouse.

AXELROD: Yes.

COOPER: Making a speech that somebody had, you know, sort of helped him with.

VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: To me, I felt like something was opening up in terms of a permission structure to be a man, like to be a man just completely in love with this woman. To be able to be jokey about it. You don't have to be the -- you know, like, that's, I haven't seen that before. I haven't seen that before from any male political spouse. And I thought it opened up space in the culture.

You can just be head-over-heels, stupid in love and talk about it in an honest way and be appreciative of what she's doing. He was so appreciative of what she was doing for his family, what he was doing his children that she didn't bear, that she bears up. It was really -- I thought something happened in the culture tonight around Doug.

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think it's interesting the way they're portraying him. First of all, I think self-deprecation is a powerful communications device. It works for him. His name is Doug, so it's sort of -- you know, it's like it works. But the situation he's in and the Democrats are in trying to introduce a presidential spouse to the country we haven't done this before.

You know, when Hillary Clinton was running, we were introducing the old president, you know, to the country. So we knew Bill Clinton. We don't know Doug. And they start to introduce him tonight. I thought it worked actually. I thought the video worked. I thought the self -- I mean, look, we'll leave aside Doug's dalliances that have been in the news for another conversation, but overall, I thought the way he handled it, it was funny.

[00:25:01]

The hall responded. It was a good way to portray it.

AXELROD: He wasn't -- they weren't really -- I mean, fundamentally, it wasn't about introducing Doug to the country. It was about Doug introducing Kamala to the country.

JENNINGS: Well, I hear you, but I also think that first spouses play such an integral role in our presidency. I mean, we have elevated the role of first spouse. It's always first ladies, but we've elevated the role of first spouse to a very elevated position. They have platforms. We do want to know --

JONES: It's like a cabinet position.

JENNINGS: Yes.

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN HOST, THE ASSIGNMENT WITH AUDIE CORNISH PODCAST: Can we just -- to follow up on what you had to say. You know, there is a gender gap in the voting population we know that. We know it's growing. When you look at some aspects of the pro-Trump internet, it is a great deal about masculinity and how it's performed. And there's a lot of conversation about a figure like Doug being talked about like as a beta or something like that.

So both Tim Walz and Doug, as we're all kind of calling him here, are presenting a vision of manhood that Democrats can get behind in an era when a lot of people talk about how it can be diminishing to be a young man and the culture, that you don't see -- you can't be talked about by feminists in a way that feels empowering. And they both on stage kind of display support while still retaining the parts of themselves that, yes, are about strength.

COOPER: It's also such a contrast to, I mean, you know, obviously Donald Trump and his relationship, and even just the portrayal that the, you know, the former first lady, Melania Trump, has chosen to sort of how she chooses to portray herself in the public. It's just -- I mean, the stark -- the contrast could not be any more starker.

CORNISH: I think it's because there's such an important part of the GOP platform that is about the nuclear family and the family as Americans have understood it for a very long time. J.D. Vance is great example of this. That's -- but because we're in a modern era where a blended family like the, you know, Harris-Emhoff family is the norm, it feels harsh on the ear. That's why this childlessness stuff, this cat lady stuff, it is falling flat because people look around and they're like that's not the world we live in.

AXELROD: It is worth noting that Melania Trump didn't speak a word at the Republican convention.

COOPER: Coming up more on the Obamas' convention speeches and what they plan to do now to help Kamala Harris win the White House.

Our coverage continues after this break.

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