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CNN LIVE EVENT/SPECIAL
Fourth Day of Democratic Convention; Hillary Clinton Acceptance Speech. Aired 11p-Midnight ET
Aired July 28, 2016 - 23:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[23:00:11] HILLARY CLINTON (D) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION: Democrats, we are the party of working people.
[Cheering and Applause]
CLINTON: But we haven't done a good enough job showing we get what you're doing through and we're going to do something to help. So tonight I want to tell you how we will empower Americans to live better lives. My primary mission as president will be to create more opportunity and more good jobs, with rising wages, right here in the United States.
[Cheering and Applause]
CLINTON: From my first day in office to my last, especially in places that, for too long, have been left out and left behind, from our inner cities to our small towns, Indian country to coal country, --
[Cheering]
CLINTON: -- from communities ravaged by addiction, to regions hollowed out by plant closures. And here's what I believe. I believe America thrives when the middle-class thrives. I believe our economy isn't it should because our democracy isn't working the way it should.
[Cheering and Applause]
CLINTON: That's why we need to appoint supreme court justices who will get money out of politics and expand voting rights, not restrict them.
[Cheering and Applause]
CLINTON: And, if necessary, we will pass a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United.
[Cheering]
CLINTON: I believe American corporations that have gotten so much from our country, should be just as patriotic in return. Many of them are, but too many aren't. It's wrong to take tax breaks with one hand and give out pink slips with the other.
[Cheering]
CLINTION: And I believe Wall Street can never, ever be allowed to wreck Main Street again.
[Cheering and Applause]
CLINTON: And, I believe in science.
[Applause]
CLINTON: I believe climate change is real and that we can save our planet while creating millions of good paying, clean energy jobs. I believe that when we have millions of hardworking immigrants contributing to our economy, it would be self-defeating and inhumane to try to kick them out.
[Cheering and Applause]
CLINTON: Comprehensive immigration reform will grow our economy and keep families together, and it's the right thing to do.
[Applause]
CLINTON: So, whatever party you belong to, or if you belong to no party at all, if you share these beliefs, this is your campaign.
[Cheering and Applause]
CLINTON: If you believe that companies should share profits, not pad executive bonuses, join us. If you believe the minimum wage should be a living wage, and no one working full time should have to raise their children in poverty, join us.
[Cheering and Applause]
CLINTON: If you believe that every man, woman and child in America has the right to affordable health care, join us.
[Applause]
CLINTON: If you believe that we should say "no" to unfair trade deals, that we should stand up to China, that we should support our steelworkers and autoworkers and homegrown manufacturers, then join us.
[Applause]
[23:05:10] CLINTON: If you believe we should expand Social Security and protect a woman's right to make her own health care decisions, then join us.
[Cheering and Applause]
CLINTON: And, yes -- yes, if you believe that your working wife, sister or daughter deserves equal pay, join us.
[Cheering and Applause] CLINTON: That's how we're going to make sure this economy works for everyone, not just those at the top. Now, you didn't hear any of this, did you, from Donald Trump at his convention.
CROWD: No.
CLINTON: He spoke for 70 odd minutes, and I do mean odd.
[Laughter]
CLINTON: And he offered zero solutions, but we already know he doesn't believe these things. No wonder he doesn't like talking about his plans; you might have noticed I love talking about mine.
In my first 100 days we will work with both parties to pass the biggest investment in new good-paying jobs since World War II.
[Applause]
CLINTON: Jobs in manufacturing, clean energy, technology and innovation, small business and infrastructure; if we invest in infrastructure, we not only create jobs today but lay the foundation for the jobs of the future and we will also transform the way we prepare our young people for those jobs.
Bernie Sanders and I will work together to make college tuition free for the middle-class, and debt free for all.
[Applause]
CLINTON: We will also -- we will also liberate millions of people who already have student debt.
[Applause]
CLINTON: It's just not right that Donald Trump can ignore his debts and students and families can't refinance their debts.
[Applause]
CLINTON: And something we don't say often enough, sure, college is crucial, but a four-year degree should not be the only path to a good job.
[Applause]
CLINTON: We will help more people learn a skill or practice a trade and make a good living doing it. We will give small businesses, like my dad's, a boost, make it easier to get credit. Way too many dreams die in the parking lots of banks. In America, if you can dream it you should be able to build it.
[Applause]
CLINTON: And we will help you balance family and work. and you know what? if fighting for affordable childcare and paid family leave is playing the woman card, then deal me in.
CROWD: Deal me in.
[Cheering and Applause]
CLINTON: Now here's the other thing -- now, we're not only -- we're not only going to make all of these investments, we're going to pay for every single one of them and here's how: Wall Street, corporations and the super-rich are going to start paying their fair share of taxes.
[Applause]
CLINTON: This is, -- this is not because we resent success but when more than 90-percent of the gains have gone to the top 1-percent, that's where the money is and we are going to follow the money.
[Cheering and Applause]
[23:10:05] CLINTON: And if companies take tax breaks and then ship jobs overseas, we'll make them pay us back and we'll put that money to work where it belongs, creating jobs here at home.
Now, now I imagine that some of you are sitting at home thinking, well that all sounds pretty good but how are you going to get it done; how are you going to break through the gridlock in Washington?
[Chanting "Hillary"]
CLINTON: Well, look at my record. I've worked across the aisle to pass -
[Chanting "Hillary"]
CLINTON: -- laws and treaties and to launch new programs that help millions of people, and if you give me the chance, that's exactly what I'll do as president. But then I also imagine people are thinking out there, but Trump, he's a businessman; He must know something about the economy.
CROWD: No.
CLINTON: Well, let's take a closer look, shall we? In Atlantic City, 60 miles from here, you will find contractors and small businesses who lost everything, because Donald Trump refused to pay his bills.
[Booing]
CLINTON: Now remember what the President said last night; don't boo, vote.
[Applause]
CLINTON: But think of this, people who did the work and needed the money, not because he couldn't pay them but because he wouldn't pay them. He just stiffed them. And you know that sales pitch he's making to be president, put your faith in him and you'll win big? That's the same sales pitch he made to all of those small businesses. Then Trump walked away and left working people holding the bag.
He also talks a big game about putting America first. Well please explain what part of America first leads him to make Trump ties in China, not Colorado; Trump suits in Mexico, not Michigan; Trump furniture in Turkey, not Ohio; Trump picture frames in India, not Wisconsin? Donald Trump says he wants to make America great again. Well he could start by actually making things in America again.
[Cheering and Applause]
CLINTON: Now, the choice we face in this election is just as stark when it comes to our national security.
[Chanting "Hillary"]
CLINTON: You know, anyone - anyone reading the news can see the threats and turbulence we face, from Baghdad to Kabul, from Nice and Paris and Brussels; from San Bernardino to Orlando. We're dealing with determined enemies that must be defeated. So it's no wonder that people are anxious and looking for reassurance, looking for steady leadership, wanting a leader who understands we're stronger when we work with our allies around the world and care for our veterans here at home.
[Applause]
CLINTON: Keeping our nation safe and honoring the people who do that work will be my highest priority.
I'm proud that we put a lid on Iran's nuclear program without firing a single shot.
[Applause]
CLINTON: Now we have to enforce it; and we must keep supporting Israel's security. I'm proud that we shaped a Global Climate Agreement. Now we have to hold every country accountable to their commitments, including ourselves, --
[Chanting "Hillary]
CLINTON: -- and I'm proud to stand by our allies in NATO against any threat they face, including from Russia.
[Applause]
CLINTON: I've laid out my strategy for defeating ISIS. We will strike their sanctuaries from the air and support local forces taking them out on the
[23:15:02] ground. We will surge our intelligence so we detect and prevent attacks before they happen. We will disrupt their efforts online to reach and radicalize young people in our country.
[Applause]
CLINTON: It won't be easy or quick, but make no mistake, we will prevail.
Now Donald Trump, -- Donald Trump says, and this is a quote, "I know more about ISIS than the generals do." No, Donald, you don't.
[Cheering and Applause]
CLINTON: He thinks, -- he thinks he knows more than our military because he claimed our armed forces are a disaster.
[Booing]
CLINTON: Well I have had the privilege to work closely with our troops and our veterans for many years, including as a senator on the Armed Services Committee, and I know how wrong he is.
Our military is a national treasure. We entrust our commander-in- chief to make the hardest decisions our nation faces, decisions about war and peace, life and death. A president should respect the men and women who risk their lives to serve our country including, --
[Cheering and Applause]
CLINTON: -- including Captain Kann and the sons of Tim Kaine and Mike Pence, both Marines. So just ask yourself, do you really think Donald Trump has the temperament to be commander-in-chief?
CROWD: No!
CLINTON: Donald Trump can't even handle the rough and tumble of a presidential campaign. He loses his cool at the slightest provocation. When he's gotten a tough question from a reporter, when he's challenged in a debate, when he sees a protester at a rally. Imagine, if you dare, -- imagine, -- imagine him in the Oval Office facing a real crisis, a man you can bait with a tweet, is not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons.
[Cheering and Applause]
CLINTON: I can't put it -- I can't put it any better than Jackie Kennedy did after the Cuban Missile Crisis. She said that what worried President Kennedy during that very dangerous time was that a war might be started, not by big men with self-control and restraint but by little men, the ones moved by fear and pride.
[Applause]
CLINTON: America's strength doesn't come from lashing out. it relies on smarts, judgment, cool resolve and the precise and strategic application of power and that's the kind of commander-in-chief I pledge to be.
[Cheering and Applause] CLINTON: And if we're serious about keeping our country safe, we also can't afford to have a president who's in the pocket of the gun lobby.
[Applause]
CLINTON: I'm not here to repeal the Second Amendment. I'm not here to take away your guns. I just didn't want you to be shot by someone who shouldn't have a gun in the first place.
[Cheering and Applause]
CLINTON: We will -- we will work tirelessly with responsible gun owners to pass commonsense reforms and keep guns out of the hands of criminals, terrorists and all others who would do us harm. You know, for decades people have said this issue was too hard to solve and the politics too hot to touch; [23:20:02] but I ask you, how can we just stand by and do nothing? You heard -- you saw family members of people killed by gun violence on this stage. You heard, you saw family members of police officers killed in the line of duty because they were outgunned by criminals.
I refuse to believe we can't find common ground here. We have to heal the divides in our country not just on guns but on race, immigration and more.
[Applause]
CLINTON: And that starts with listening, listening to each other, trying as best we can to walk in each other's shoes. So let's put ourselves in the shoes of young black and Latino men and women who face the effects of systemic racism and are made to feel like their lives are disposable.
[Applause]
CLINTON: Let's put ourselves in the shoes of police officers kissing their kids and spouses' goodbye every day, heading off to do a dangerous and necessary job. We will reform our criminal justice system from end to end and rebuild trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve.
[Applause]
CLINTON: And, we will defend, -- we will defend all of our rights, civil rights, human rights and voting rights, women's rights and worker's rights, LGBT rights and the rights of people with disabilities.
[Cheering]
CLINTON: And we will stand up against mean and divisive rhetoric wherever it comes from.
You know, for the past year many people made the mistake of laughing off Donald Trump's comments, excusing him as an entertainer just putting on a show. They thought he couldn't possibly mean all of the horrible things he says, like when he called women pigs or said that an American judge couldn't be fair because of Mexican his heritage, or when he mocks and mimics a reporter with a disability or insults prisoners of war like John McCain, a hero and a patriot who deserves our respect.
[Applause]
CLINTON: Now at first, at first, I admit, I couldn't believe he meant it either; it was just too hard to fathom, that someone who wants to lead our nation could say those things, could be like that but here's the sad truth. There is no other Donald Trump. This is it, and in the end it comes down to what Donald Trump doesn't get. America is great because America is good.
[Applause]
CLINTON: So enough with the bigotry and the bombast. Donald Trump isn't offering real change; he's offering empty promises. And what are we offering? A bold agenda to improve the lives of people across our country, to keep you safe, to get you good jobs, to get your kids the opportunities they deserve.
The choice is clear, my friends. every generation of Americans has come together to make our country freer, fairer and stronger. None of us ever have or can do it alone. I know that at a time when so much seems to be pulling us apart it can be hard to imagine how we'll ever pull together, but I'm here to tell you tonight, progress is possible. I know -- I know because I've seen it in the liv, of people across America who get knocked down and get right back up.
[Cheering]
CLINTON: And I know it, I know it from my own life. More than a few times I've had get back in the game.
[Cheering and Applause]
CLINTON: Like so much else in my life, I got this from my mother too. She [23:25:02] never let me back down from any challenge. When I tried to hide from a neighborhood bully, she literally blocked the door. Go back out there, she said and she was right. You have to stand up to bullies. You have to keep working to make things better, even when the odds are long and the opposition is fierce.
We lost our mother a few years ago, but I miss her every day and I still hear her voice urging me to keep working, keep fighting for right no matter what. That's what we need to do together, as a nation, and though we may not live to see the glory, as the song from the musical "Hamilton" goes. Let us gladly join the fight; let our legacy be about planting seeds in a garden you never get to see. That's why we're here, not just in this hall but on this earth.
The founders showed us that and so have many others since. They were drawn together by love of country and the selfless passion to build something better for all who follow. That is the story of America and we begin a new chapter tonight. Yes, the world is watching what we do. Yes, America's destiny is ours to choose. So, let's be stronger together, my fellow Americans.
[Cheering and Applause]
CLINTON: Let's look to the future with courage and confidence. Let's build a better tomorrow for our beloved children and our beloved country, and when we do, America will be greater than ever.
Thank you; and may God bless you and the United States of America.
[Cheering and Applause] [Katy Perry's "Firework" plays] [Sara Bareilles "Brave" plays]
[23:33:45] WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Hillary Clinton needed to deliver a strong speech and she certainly did tonight. For nearly an hour she offered very specific proposals; she repeatedly ridiculed Donald Trump and his ideas; she embraced so many of Bernie Sanders' ideas; she laid out a specific plan.
She's celebrating up on the stage, Jake, with her family and with Tim Kaine and his family, her vice Presidential running mate. History was made. She's now accepted the Nomination of a major political party in the United States. First time in American history a woman has done that.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 96 years after women got the right to vote, we are marking this historic occasion where a woman has finally been able to achieve what many others before Hillary Clinton have attempted. and it's really quite a moment in history. We see the first family, would be first family, past first family, the Clintons, on the stage.
Chelsea Clinton having given an address earlier today. The nation first met her when she was 12 years old. She's 36 and a mother herself. Hillary Clinton's speech, as you say, was delivered forcefully. It's quite a departure from the kind of speech we heard from the current President, Barack [23:35:03] Obama. It was -
Mario Cuomo once said that one campaigns in poetry and governs in prose. This was more of a campaign in prose but that is perhaps the Hillary Clinton that she is most comfortable being; utilitarian, worker bee, saying she is more comfortable with the "service" part of public service than with the "public" part of it.
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely; there's going to be so much to digest about her speech; a lot of different points. I think just for mothers and daughters out there watching, not just this moment but the moment at the beginning of her speech when her daughter Chelsea introduced her and the mother and the daughter embraced and you could almost see, it looked like, Hillary Clinton didn't want to say a word because she didn't want to lose it.
TAPPER: Yes, she looked away.
BASH: She looked away, which I think everybody kind of got because this is a moment she need to keep it together and to have -- for a woman to understand the power of that moment by having her daughter standing there was again something I think mothers and Democrats, Independents or Republicans, probably soaked in, as a moment, as a human moment, which is something that you know you can't underestimate right now in American history.
BLITZER: And she kept saying we are stronger together; the country needs to work together and she said that Donald Trump, he thinks he can fix everything by himself and she really went point after point after point, she
spent a lot of time criticizing him, blasting him, basically saying the man
doesn't know what he's talking about.
TAPPER: And not just that, that what he's proposing and what he's suggest suggesting is almost un-American. She invoked the Founding Fathers, the Continental Congress, how the country almost didn't come together but compromise was necessary and said that the nation didn't -- wasn't founded to have a ruler. It was all about all of us together.
There was also in this speech clear, clear outreach to the Bernie Sanders supporters -
BASH: Yes.
TAPPER: - in the room, praising Bernie Sanders, talking about having the need to get a progressive platform into action; real appeals on issues that Sanders' supporters have been looking for. We obviously heard a few Sanders supporters, very determined, protesting throughout the speech but the crowds overwhelmingly drowning them out with chants of "Hillary, Hillary" or "USA, USA" earlier in the night.
BASH: Absolutely; and, you know, the big thing to keep in mind though is this a (inaudible) to the theme we heard all week long, which is that this is a party and this a candidate and a nominee who wants to approach America, and approach governing, in a positive way as opposed to what they perceive as a very negative and angry way, last week in Cleveland.
BLITZER: Anderson, she kept saying love trump's hate, no one gets through live alone. She says she'll be the president for all Americans together, trying to contrast what we heard from Donald Trump last week. Anderson?
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Not only trying to project a warmth but also strength and steadiness in comparison to what she has said or how she described Donald Trump. John King?
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And mocking the Trump campaign. She was trying to - to Dana's point, this is Hillary Clinton. Patti and Paul know her well. She did go through a lot of policy. She said, that's who I am. She did it in a way to say I have plans. I'm a doer, not a talker. Donald Trump is a fraud.
Look, let's be honest upfront, an impressive speech tonight. She made a case and she closed what Democrats believe is a highly successful convention. Now we go to 102 days where they're still in an environment where people think the country is off track. People are open, dramatically open to change. So, as she made her case for herself in great detail, and I have Donald Trump's speech here as well, there's just not much policy in it, very little policy in it. She had a lot of policy, and that's the comparison she wants to make to voters on the fence.
But, she also aggressively tried to disqualify him because she understands that the wind is in the face of the Democrats keeping the White House after eight years.
COOPER: It was interesting; I remember the night of the Trump speech, many of Trump's supporters were saying, look, this is not a speech where you give details. That's not what you do. clearly they went about this differently.
NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes; they did, and she explained why details matter for the average person and she told that story about --
COOPER: If it's your kid --
HENDERSON: If it's your kid, the details matter.
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Right.
HENDERSON: And the details that went into this whole evening, I think, proved that point. She very much, I think, grounded her story in the Hillary Clinton who was 4 years old and whose mother told her to go back out there and confront a bully and in some ways, I mean, I think it echoes with how they're framing Donald Trump; right? I mean, he's the bully. I think there was humor in this, particularly when she was talking about Donald Trump. There was this mocking tone, and I think this was a through line really throughout this entire convention. She talked about, you know, if he could [23:40:01] be provoked with a tweet; no, Donald you don't know as much as the generals do.
DAVID AXELROD, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think if there was one line that probably scored, offensively, against Donald Trump more than any other, it was this one: imagine him in the Oval Office facing a real crisis. A man you can bait with a tweet is not a man you can trust with nuclear weapons.
VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: That's the whole campaign right there.
AXELROD: I really think that that is. Look, I think there were so good, really good moments in here. She did a lot of business, and Van can speak to this more readily than I, with the Bernie Sanders supporters, on campaign finance reform, on some populous economic issues. She invoked the historic moment in way that was inspiring; but I really think the race comes down to this. this is the critique I think that has the power to move the most people.
JEFFREY LORD, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORT: Well, you know -- let me just -- let me - let me just say, I'm looking at the "Military Times," which is saying that the troops prefer Trump to Clinton by a huge margin, almost two to one. In other words, General Allen made this point, she's trying to make this point but the very people she's talking about think that she doesn't have the judgment, judgment here, to sit in the Oval Office, based on her performance as Secretary of State.
BORGER: Can I - on -
PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: But the bigger question is not who do the troops support but who supports the troops; and she made the case she'll be better for the military than Trump.
BORGER: Can I just say that when you take a look at this speech, as a whole, and listening to Hillary Clinton, and we know who she is, the words that came to my mind were kind of sturdy, steely, right, and it was not an oratorical masterpiece. It did have its great moments, as David points out, but she answered the question of why, and she also was most passionate, to David's point again, on going after Donald Trump: case by case, issues by issue; on his temperament; on his world view; on the fact that she is a unifier; on this notion of American exceptionalism.
I think here the Democrats got handed the baton, after the Republican Convention, and what we've seen for the past four days, culminating in this speech is that they ran with it. They ran with it.
PATTI SOLIS DOYLE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: For me - for me though, I --
COOPER: Also her line about America is great because America is good stuck out with me.
DOYLE: For me, though, this speech, you know, you all know I'm going to come clean, I love this woman and I feel a lot of pride and a lot of sheer joy after today; but whether you like her or not or love her or not, she's a fighter. That's what came out to me. She will stand up there and fight for you.
She's devoted her life to public service. She commits to those fights that she takes on. She sticks with the people that she's fought with over the last 40 years. She talks about them. She keeps up with them. She sticks with you; and you know what? You saw that in that speech. She is strong. She is fierce and she will fight for you and that's what resonated with me.
JONES: And I think it's important to note, and, I mean, I'm going to try to speak a little bit for the left wing of this party.
It took some guts for Hillary Clinton to walk out on that stage. That stage -- she's talking about and talking to 43-percent of people who voted against her. There were people wearing yellow, "Enough Is Enough" t-shirts out there in large numbers. People weren't sure if they were going to stand up, if they were going to walk out, what they were going to do. It was a restless crowd.
But you know what? If you look at the speech, you actually see the impact, positively, of every one of these sort of movements of these young people. You see the Black Lives Matter impact; you see the Sanders supporter impact; you see the Young Dreamers impact; the Fight for 15 impact; The Climate Solutions impact; the LGBT impact; even Occupy Wall Street. All of the things young people have been doing show up in the speech in an authentic way.
I think that when this thing boils back down, I think the young people in this country that have been pushing and pushing and pushing have a lot to be proud of tonight and it shows a level of political genius - I will say that word, genius and also heart to embrace those young people as she did tonight.
BEGALA: And yet this was her. Patti's right; this is the woman I've known. Unity. Unifying. It takes as village. This is a core value of hers. She led with that and made it the through line. It was more populous on economics, and I think most people realize, as I've said before, back in '92 she was against - she was against - I mean, I was there. I was in the room. It was very stern on national security, as Gloria points out, and that's where I thought she hit her stride stylistically, at the best; and then it was kind of an old-fashioned, God help me, Reaganesque way, optimistic and patriotic. Patti knows at midnight on New Year's Eve, you know who Hillary Clinton does? She sings "God Bless America".
[23:45:08] LORD: I noticed she didn't start talking about trade deals until Donald Trump started talking about them.
BEGALA: Right; she was against (inaudible) in 1992. So --
JONES: But -
LORD: Here's one line that I think is typical of the problem here. She says "I believe Wall Street can never, ever be allowed to wreck Main Street again." Of course, in the real world, it was Bill Clinton's housing policy that planted the seeds for the financial crisis. She's never going to own up to that fact and that -- this goes, again, to the whole honesty factor.
I mean, what she's saying is, we're going to get the government involved. They did get the government involved and they crashed the economy. So this is going to be a problem going ahead here. You're going to have to have some serious conversation about this and now that the campaign is on, you can bet that Donald Trump is going to do what other Republican nominees have been afraid to do. He's going to come out slugging here -
[Laughter]
LORD: -- if he's not already typing on Twitter this minute.
COOPER: The question is does Donald Trump know enough to slug effectively, other than with bombast? I mean, you know, he said today he wanted to go after a little person you know who spoke the other night. I don't know why he didn't. He didn't really -
LORD: Right.
COOPER: I mean for a guy who supposedly, you would think he had some ammunition if he actually -
LORD: Anderson, he's the Republican Nominee for President, over sixteen, you know, seriously qualified governors and senators. Yes, I think he knows how to do it.
KING: But he hasn't made that --
AXELROD: Jeffrey, he's going to have to do better.
BORGER: Right.
AXELROD: The bottom line is I understand you've got a role to play and you're playing it, and you're playing it valiantly -
[Laughter]
AXELROD: -- but objectively -
LORD: -- No role playing.
AXELROD: -- he has to do better than he's done because the tests -- I've said it before; the tests get harder. You're going to have three debates.
BEGALA: Will you? Will you?
AXELROD: He's going to have to do better.
BEGALA: Some reporters are already speculating that he will back out. Most bullies are cowards. I want debates.
LORD: Let's address this.
BEGALA: I just (inaudible). There's a lot of people who think Trump may weasel out of the debates.
LORD: Wait a minute.
BEGALA: When you watch that woman -
JONES: I wouldn't debate her.
BEGALA: I kind of hope he does.
JONES: I wouldn't debate her.
LORD: And let's - I'll throw you one thing he will bring up; as a matter of fact, he tweeted it out last night, when she talks about bullies, let's just remember that there are women out there, Juanita Broderick being one, who say that she is the bully. So you can bet that Donald Trump is going to start injecting all of this kinds of things.
KING: I can say something?
COOPER: Go ahead. KING: The interesting thing, we talked about this the other night.
We have not heard this yet from Donald Trump. If Paul Ryan were the Republican nominee, he would look at the speech and say, you have great intentions. I don't doubt your intentions, but you want the government to do everything. He would go through it saying that can be -- the state should handle that; the church and the faith community should handle that; that's not a place for the federal government to be involved. If Paul Ryan or Mitt Romney picked up this speech --
DOYLE: Yes, Donald Trump is not Paul Ryan.
KING: That's not Donald Trump. He's not done that in this campaign.
COOPER: But, also, --
KING: And Ivanka, in her speech, talked about the childcare stuff that Hillary Clinton talked about.
HENDERSON: And he's moving on the minimum wage, apparently.
COOPER: Returning to her speech, I mean, it was interesting. There was -- I mean she's not somebody who traditionally has a huge public sense of humor. Apparently her friends seem to know that she does.
BEGALA: She is funny.
DOYLE: Yes.
COOPER: But that doesn't necessarily come out a lot of times, but there did seem an almost sense of glee that she expressed, whether she feels it or not, about the fight ahead of going after Donald Trump; the idea that, you know, he gets upset by a tweet, she's been knocked down and knocked around time and time again over 40 years.
JONES: There were many moments like that. Listen, this is a tough building. The great speech makers got destroyed in this build. You're not talking about people you expect to be talking about. Obviously Michelle Obama, others did well. This is a tough building to speak to. It's a tough crowd, but there were moments of complete relaxation, authenticity, humor, connection. I think that she did - I think this was probably the best speech Hillary Clinton has ever given and she delivered tonight.
COOPER: And for somebody who is often accused of shouting or (inaudible) during a speech, if you compared the tone of Donald Trump to the tone of Hillary Clinton here, I would be, you know, you could make an argument that Donald Trump was the shouter --
BORGER: Shouter.
COOPER: -- this time around.
BORGER: She modulated - she modulated this time around; and look, a speech sets the tone for the campaign. It establishes the predicate upon which the campaign is built. It doesn't change the world in a day. DOYLE: Right.
COOPER: Fair enough.
BORGER: It does not change the world in a day, as Jeffrey Lord will attest.
so we leave this -- and don't forget, you know, Mitt Romney gave his convention speech, the conventions were late last time around. This is the end of July. There's a lot of time between now and the election. But what she did for the American public tonight is say this is who I am. This is why I do the things that I do. Yes, I'm a wonk; but I believe that details matter when it comes to people's lives. So if this isn't what the
American people want this year, fine.
COOPER: Right
[23:50:01] BORGER: I'm not so sure there's anything more than she could have done in this speech.
[Cross Talk]
LORD: I want to say something that I find amusing here; we all know Sean Spicer. He has just tweeted out, bearing in mind all of the controversy we spent on Melania Trump; he has just tweeted out that her line America is great because America is good was from Hillary Clinton and Alexis de Tocqueville said America is great because she is good.
There was no reference to Alexis de Tocqueville in there.
[Cross Talk]
AXELROD: Any case, here's a reality check; okay? This is not Hillary Clinton's event. This is a -- if presidential races were decathlons, giving a speech like this is not her strength.
BORGER: Right.
HENDERSON: Right.
AXELROD: And she didn't give a great speech tonight. She did not give a great speech tonight but she hit some ground that is very, very valuable to her. I think the argument against Trump, particularly the one I mentioned on commander-in-chief, the other one is going after the "I alone can fix it," which I think we heard the President work that last night. I think that's a damaging argument against him and not just with -
COOPER: Authoritarian.
AXELROD: -- Democrats or Independents, but with Conservatives and Republicans.
I think on the economic, she probably scored very, very well because people were looking for real proposals that they think might help them, not -
LORD: Defeat.
AXELROID: -- just trust me, I can do it. I suspect she scored well with that. Was it a great speech; no.
LORD: Did -
AXELROD: Was it an effective speech moving the ball forward; I think yes.
LORD: Did I miss it or -- and I'm asking it seriously, I don't recall anything in here about the debt. Does anybody -
BEGALA: She did not declare herself the "queen of debt."
LORD: What I'm saying is the Obama administration, which was critical of George W. Bush for that, has since doubled the debt and I see no reference in here to reducing it.
BEGALA: Can I come back to something Anderson raised a minute ago, because I want to ask you, Axe, because I don't know because I can't communicate with her; it's driving me crazy. I bet you -- I already won a dollar on this speech. I'll double down.
AXELROD: Live it up, Brother.
BEGALA: I bet she called her old boss about how to dismantle Trump. No one - no one has had Trump's number better than President Obama. He understands how to use ridicule as a weapon.
BORGER: Yes.
BEGALA: He has carved up Trump going all the way back to that 2011 White House Correspondence Dinner. I really believe she called your old boss, and her old boss, and he coached her through how to use that. She has a wicked sense of humor and sometimes it can be edgy. That's why I think she doesn't like to use it publicly. I believe President Obama probably tried to draw that out of her for this speech.
AXELROD: Maybe so. I'm sure they talked about this speech, but, again, I think that these lines go to some fundamental problems with his candidacy, the kind of mission I'll take care of it, trust in me he said in a speech a few months ago. I will give you everything you've been asking for for 50 years -
HENDERSON: Yes.
AXELROD: -- that is what scares conservatives; that's what scares Republicans. This issue, this fundamental issue of temperament when you're handing someone the nuclear codes and they have to make these judgments and they have to have the restraint to know what to say and when to say it, but -
[Cross Talk] AXELROD: -- that is a big critique.
DOYLE: I think -- I think that goes to the relishing this fight, in the general, point because Donald Trump, at least in the primaries, Jeffrey, his point has been to, you know, make fun of -
LORD: like she just did?
DOYLE: -- the childish - no, no, no -- mock and hands and all that kind of stuff. Hillary is going to fight on the issues. She's going to debate him on policy; and when he goes after her in a debate, by mocking her or bringing up Juanita Broderick, it's only going to prove her point that he does not have the temperament to be the president.
LORD: But -- wait, wait, wait. She's making all these things - her campaign, that she's the first woman president, she's standing up for women, etcetera. Here's a serious woman, a former Clinton supporter who has made the accusation that Hillary Clinton was an enabler, you know, in rape. I mean, this is her accusation, not me; and suddenly now this is not serious.
JONES: I just - there's so much -- I know that's stuff that you want to get into, and that's great. I know John was trying to say something and I'm desperate to hear from the guy because he knows --
KING: David made a point about with trying to go after what she sees as Trump's fundamental problems. We should be ready and acknowledge she has fundamental problems, too. Part of them are hers, the people -- whether they're exaggerated by Republican investigations or whatever, but people don't trust her. That's a fundamental problem when you're running for [23:55:01] president. Some of them are environmental, that after a two-term Democratic president people still feel the ditch about the economy.
She's running in a tough environment, so I did think it was interesting she did try to say, you know, a lot of you don't understand me and explain herself a little bit. Then people will decide whether or not they accept that, but at least she tried.
Right off the top, she acknowledged the issues with her husband.
DOYLEL: Right.
KING: She acknowledged, you know, them getting through tough times together. A lot of people said why didn't he talk about that? She did; but I do think it would disqualify him and try to make people comfortable with her, both as commander-in-chief and then making the point, Donald Trump talks a lot but he's not offering you real change.
[Cross Talk]
KING: One implicit criticism of the President which was interesting, she didn't mention him by name but she embraced him wholeheartedly throughout most, but she said we Democrats -- he's the President of the United States -- have not done a good enough job talking to people about their economic anxiety and understanding it. LORD: And that's the number one issue.
[Cross Talk]
COOPER: Still ahead, our instant poll Americans who watch Hillary Clinton's speech; did she hit the right notes or did she change anyone's vote. Find out in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Coming up, the results of our instant poll. We questioned people who watched this debate - this convention tonight, the Hillary Clinton speech to give us their reaction.
