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Final Day Of DNC; Hillary Clinton To Accept Nomination Today; Sanders' Supporters Vocal Over Clinton Nomination; President Obama's Speech And Hillary's Surprise Visit To DNC; Intel Briefings for Nominees; E-mail Breach by Russia; Trump's Sarcastic Remarks; Democratic Convention Optimism. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired July 28, 2016 - 13:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer. It's 1:00 p.m. here in Philadelphia. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us.

We're just a few hours away from the gavel opening this, the final day of the Democratic National Convention. And after a week of stars, both political and otherwise, it's down to the final pitch right now for Hillary Clinton. She'll accept the historic nomination as the first woman to lead a major political party here in the United States as its presidential nominee.

This was her last night, making her convention hall debut with President Obama.

Right now, Katy Perry is rehearsing a bit on the convention floor. She's a main performer tonight. Let's listen in for a second as Katy Perry gets ready to perform for the convention and the nation later tonight.

It's going to be one of the highlights of the night, Katy Perry performing. She's rehearsing right now. The Hillary Clinton speech tonight is expected to focus in on families and the future. She's also expected to harken back to her famous "It Takes a Village" narrative and how it plays today.

She'll be introduced tonight by her daughter, Chelsea, who talked about the differences and similarities of her role tonight and the role Ivanka Trump played last week at the Republican convention.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHELSEA CLINTON: I think it was clear last week when Ivanka introduced her dad that she's so proud of him. I hope it will be at least as clear why I'm so proud of my mom when I introduce her here in Philadelphia. And yet clearly, Ivanka and I have very different views about who we think should be our president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: A week ago was Donald Trump's turn, now it's Hillary Clinton's turn to try to fill in the blanks for the American people.

Jeff Zeleny is here with me at the CNN Grill in Philadelphia at the convention. Joe Johns is out there on the convention floor right now. How important, Jeff, is Hillary Clinton's speech tonight?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: I think it's incredibly important. Easily to say, the most important speech of her life so far here, her political life at least.

What she wants to do, I'm told, is really sort of bring these themes together that we've been talking about all week. But a couple things else to the stronger together theme, that is something that is actually going to be practiced as well.

She's surrounded by so many Democrats now. President Obama certainly gave her a big validation last night. She's going to continue that, but also she has to show why she would not be a third term of the Obama administration. In a sense, she is, but she wants to show she's a change-maker.

When she stands up on stage and says, I accept your nomination to be president of the United States, that is a history-making moment. So, there is change in that respect.

But also, I am told and expect a tough speech as well about America's safety in this world, and she wants to continue the Clinton campaign theme that Donald Trump is simply an unacceptable alternative. It's gone from risky to dangerous.

BLITZER: All week, we've seen those signs in the convention. People raising those signs, change maker, certainly one of the themes she's going to have.

Jeff Zeleny, we'll see you on the convention floor --

ZELENY: Right.

BLITZER: -- later tonight. Thanks very, very much.

I want to go to Joe Johns. He's on the convention floor right now. I know it's still early out there in the hall, but what's the feeling, what's the expectation, for example from the Bernie Sanders' supporters, some of whom -- some of whom still are showing some disapproval?

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Right, there were concerns, especially after last night when the former DOD secretary as well as the intelligence director were speaking. And there were chants of no more war over top of his speech, ruining an important part of this convention for Leon Panetta and for the campaign.

So, the question tonight, of course, is whether -- when retired General John Allen appears here at the podium, a former deputy director of central -- I'm sorry, of central command in the United States, whether he's also going to get the same kind of treatment that Leon Panetta did. There's concern here on the floor about that. Also concern about the fact that a number of Bernie Sanders supporters actually disrupted a breakfast this morning with the California delegation. I've talked to people here on the floor who are expressing hope that those Bernie Sanders' supporters who showed up will not show up tonight and ruin this most important moment for Hillary Clinton.

[13:05:02] I did reach out to the Sanders' people, and Michael Briggs, the spokesman for Bernie Sanders, told me they've already made their views known on this issue. And he didn't answer the question essentially, as to whether Bernie Sanders is going to do anymore as he did a couple days ago to try to quell the dissent in order to give Hillary Clinton her big night.

So, Wolf, we're still watching Katy Perry out here on the floor and certainly looking for the Democrats to put on a big show this evening -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, Katy Perry continuing to rehearse a little bit, get a feel for that huge stage at the Democratic convention.

Joe johns, thanks very much.

Let's discuss this and more. Kristina Schake is joining us. She's the deputy communications director of the Hillary for America campaign. Katy Perry getting ready.

KRISTINA SCHAKE, DEPTY COMUNICATIONS DIRECTORY, HILLARY FOR AMERICAN CAMPAIGN: Yes.

BLITZER: Whose idea was that?

SCHAKE: I have to say, she's a long-time supporter of Hillary. She's been out on the campaign trail for her from the very beginning, actually. And so, this is going to be an incredible night where she's going to come out and perform and show her support for Hillary.

BLITZER: Yes, I'm sure there's going to be a lot of viewer interest in that --

SCHAKE: Yes.

BLITZER: -- as well. So, how is the former secretary, the Democratic nominee --

SCHAKE: Yes.

BLITZER: -- been preparing for this big speech tonight?

SCHAKE: You know, Wolf, she's been working on it for a long time. She's been thinking about this and writing it for weeks now. She spent a lot of time with her speech writers and also with her husband who knows her voice so well and is such an incredible speech writer on his own.

So, she's been spending a lot of time. She's actually working on it right now.

BLITZER: Really? And what's her biggest challenge tonight?

SCHAKE: Well, you know, all week, Wolf, you've heard people step forward and talk about the Hillary they know. You've had from Michelle Obama talking about the important role that Hillary has always played fighting for children, to President Obama last night talking about the Hillary he knows from making tough calls with her in the situation room. And everyday Americans talking about the difference that she's really made in their lives, from passing children's health insurance, to working on getting health benefits for our 911 first responders.

And tonight, you're really going to see Hillary do that in her own words. She's going to talk about the fights she's taken on her entire life. And she's also going to talk about what she does as president. You know, Hillary really believes that when you're running for president, you owe it to the American voter to talk about your real plans to make a difference.

BLITZER: Will she go after Donald Trump tonight?

SCHAKE: She's certainly going to draw a contrast. You know, she's certainly going to talk about -- we saw in his acceptance speech last week what he thinks of America right now and what his vision is for the future. And the truth is, he really talked about dividing Americans and not standing with our allies. And she -- that's not the America she knows and that's not the America she's going to lead.

BLITZER: I know she knows she's got some tough acts to follow.

SCHAKE: Yes.

BLITZER: Michelle Obama the first night, her husband, the president last night. These were all very, very powerful, well-received speeches. And she's now -- on day four, she's got to follow those acts.

SCHAKE: You know, she's had an incredible setup. You've had people out there vouching for her, talking about the work they've done with her, how they know her as a person, the real difference she's made in people's lives. So, she's had quite a setup.

But this is her moment. This is a historic moment tonight. She is the first woman to ever be a nominee for president, and she's going to give an incredible speech.

BLITZER: I want to show you and our viewers some video. When President Obama was finished speaking last night, there was a surprise to the 20,000 or so people who were inside, millions of people watching outside, when, all of a sudden, Hillary Clinton showed up on the floor there. She is together with the president of the United States, his former secretary of state. She was beaming --

SCHAKE: Yes.

BLITZER: -- throughout that.

And for those of us who were watching, we can't help but notice and recall, he happens been our first African-American president. She might be the first woman president in the United States. There, they give a big hug right there. She was thrilled. And I'm sure the history is very, very much on her mind.

SCHAKE: You know, Wolf, as your viewers know, these are two people who started out as rivals, became allies and become close friends. And you saw how happy she was last night to stand with him.

And, really, after such an enthusiastic, powerful speech he gave on her behalf, it was a real moment. And that's a real vision of the America that President Obama has helped build for us and Hillary will continue to lead.

BLITZER: Well, she's going to have a tough campaign because these polls show it's very close right now. We'll see what happens, if she gets much of a bump out of this convention.

SCHAKE: You know, Wolf, we know it's going to be close. And we know the stakes are so high. And that's what she's going to be talking about tonight. But she's going to get out there and work her heart out to earn every vote.

BLITZER: Kristina Schake of the Clinton campaign. Thanks very much --

SCHAKE: Thank you.

BLITZER: -- for joining us.

SCHAKE: Thank you.

BLITZER: Coming up, Donald Trump under fire for challenging Russian hackers to find Hillary Clinton's missing e-mails. Some critics are accusing him of endangering national security. We're going to tell you how Donald Trump is now responding and what the Obama administration may do about Russia's hacks when we return.

We're live here at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Katy Perry continuing to rehearse for tonight.

[13:10:04]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: From the hacking of DNC e-mails, to Donald Trump heightening the rhetoric, supposedly challenging Russia to hack into Hillary Clinton's e-mails and the controversy over Hillary Clinton's private e-mail server. Both political parties are pointing fingers insisting neither candidate should have security briefings.

For more on that, let's go to our Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr and our Global Affairs Correspondent Elise Labott. They're both joining us. Barbara, will the candidates start receiving classified security briefings following these conventions?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: The answer, Wolf, is yes. A U.S. intelligence officer familiar with all of this tells us that as soon as Hillary Clinton formally become the nominee tonight, that they will then reach out to both camps and offer what is expected which is classified intelligence briefings. Those briefings could start as soon as next week, as soon as the arrangements are made, a secure government facility is identified that both candidates can go to and receive these briefings. This is standard practice.

[13:15:05] Despite all the political rhetoric, the Republicans saying Clinton shouldn't get the briefings because of her e-mail situation. The Democrats saying Trump shouldn't get the briefings because of some of his statements, being too cozy with the Russians. Forget all of that.

The director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, is going to follow past practice. What will these briefings include? They will be classified. They will talk about the latest about worldwide threats, the challenges that the U.S. faces. They will not cover covert operations or sensitive sources and methods of gathering intelligence. That will be reserved for the president elect after election day.

Wolf.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: So they'll get - they'll get classified information, various degrees of classification, from confidential to secret to top secret and SCI, secure compartmented information. They're going to get some level, but it's not going to be the top.

STARR: Let me - let me clarify for everybody. You raised a great point, Wolf. They will get classified information. But as you say, not the top. That sort of secure compartmentalized information, code word, access required to get into that kind of information, not very likely to be offered.

The idea here is that both camps will get exact parity. They will get the same information. Even if they ask a follow-up question, that follow-up answer will be provided to both.

What perhaps is most interesting, look at Senator Tim Kaine. He is already a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Of all four both presidential and vice presidential candidates that will get the briefings, it may be Tim Kaine who goes into that secure room already knowing the most about it.

Wolf.

BLITZER: Good point.

All right, thanks very much.

I want to go to Elise.

Elise, U.S. officials have said Russia is almost certainly behind the e-mail hacking of the Democratic National Committee. So what will the U.S. response be?

ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're pretty sure, Wolf, that the Russian intelligence is behind the hacking. But the motive, whether the Russians were actually trying to interfere in the election is an open question. You know, this started a year ago before Donald Trump was really the front-runner. And so officials say, if you look at the timing, you connect the dots, it does appear to influence the election.

I think the policy response is very tricky because they want to hold Russia accountable for the hacking, but, you know, they might do something symbolic, like sanction elements of the Russian military intelligence that could have been responsible. A lot of what they do, I think, will be covert in cyber areas, where a lot of things that we don't know about. They want to be effective, but they also don't want to limit their options.

I think they're also going to be talking about dealing with the Europeans, trying to get them on board, because this is all in the context of what Russia has been doing for Russia-friendly parties across Europe. They're supporting these type of anti-U.S., anti-NATO, anti-EU parties.

I think also, Wolf, they're going to be looking at the connection between WikiLeaks and Russia. You know, starting with everybody's focused on Donald Trump, but the connections between Edward Snowden, Julian Assange, the U.S. does feel that Wiki - Russia has crossed a line between hacking the information, which everybody does, and leaking it. So I think that nexus between WikiLeaks and Russia is something that the U.S. is going to be looking at very carefully.

BLITZER: I'm sure they are. Elise Labott, Barbara Starr, guys, thank you.

After Donald Trump learned of Russia's possible involvement, he invited them to launch what he described as an attack against Hillary Clinton in an attempt to find deleted e-mails. That was the initial interpretation. Trump's call was immediately slammed by both sides of the aisle. And, today, Donald Trump is defending his statement saying he was never really serious about all of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: And when I'm being sarcastic with somebody, they don't even know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Were you being sarcastic?

TRUMP: Of course I'm being sarcastic. But you have 33,000 e-mails deleted. And the real problem is what was said on those e-mails from the Democratic National Committee. You take a look at what was said on those e-mails. It's disgraceful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: I want to bring in David Gregory to talk a little bit more about this. He's our CNN political analyst, the host of "The David Gregory Show" podcast.

So when he now says he was simply being sarcastic, yesterday Newt Gingrich said he wasn't really being serious about that. Does he have a fair point?

DAVID GREGORY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: No, I think he has no fair point. Nobody's going to believe that he didn't say what he meant and meant what he said. What candidate for the presidency would be sarcastic or would joke about something like that. And if he was being sarcastic, why did the campaign immediately release a statement by his running mate Mike Pence to clean up what Trump had said and say well, you know, that the - you know, Russia's dangerous and they would face serious questions if they did this. I think this is - this is a big moment.

[13:20:07] BLITZER: What kind of relationship does he, Donald Trump, have with Vladimir Putin?

GREGORY: Well, that's not totally clear to me. I mean I think they've had maybe some dealings or some business dealings that Trump apparently had in Russia, but it seems like they've had very limited exposure. I think what's telling is a kind of political naivete, to assert that he said - he asserted that Putin will respect him. Based on what? I mean we've had two successive administrations. President Bush, who said he looked into the soul of Putin and knew that he could trust him, only to be really exploited by Putin in many ways after 9/11. And President Obama and Secretary Clinton talking about a reset with Russia when the Russians didn't make good on that. So it's a very dangerous game to get into the business of thinking that you can carve out a new relationship with Russia based on asserting that, you know, he'll disrespect you.

BLITZER: We just heard from the New York - former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a Donald Trump supporter, speaking out, explaining from his perspective, what Donald Trump was referring to in talking about Russia. Let's listen to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUDY GIULIANI (R), FORMER NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: Donald Trump's comment about Russia, he corrected immediately. As soon as he realized that someone was taking it seriously, he corrected it. One time President Obama said we had 57 states. He corrected immediately. The liberal media accepted it. Didn't make a big deal out of it. Hillary Clinton has made similar mistakes. When liberal Democrats make mistakes and correct it, the liberal media accepts it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: You're shaking your head.

GREGORY: I mean, honestly, that's preposterous. And I think Mayor Giuliani knows better than that. This was not a slip of the tongue. He went out of his way to say what he said. The transcript is clear. We've played the tape for people. You know, if he wants to walk it back, that's one thing. If he wants to make a hit on Clinton about what's in those e-mails, that's a fair political hit. We can have that debate. Inviting Russia to hack her private server and to assert that he was going to have a respectful relationship with Putin just because automatically he'd be respected by Trump, reflects, I think, what he doesn't know about being on a world stage and a world leader or seeking the presidency. That's why some people around him felt he had to walk that back.

BLITZER: All right, David Gregory, thanks very, very much.

Coming up, President Obama and the night's other big speakers, they used the stage to swing hard at Donald Trump. Were some attacks more effective than others? We'll break it all down with our panel when CNN's special coverage of the Democratic National Convention continues.

You're looking at live pictures from inside the convention hall here in Philadelphia. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:27:09] BLITZER: Welcome back to CNN's coverage of the Democratic National Convention here in Philadelphia.

Tonight it's Hillary Clinton's big speech. But last night this was the picture, political heavyweights, from the former mayor of New York City, to President Obama, they hit the stage to offer radiant endorsement of Hillary Clinton while unleashing blistering attacks against Donald Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Does anyone really believe that a guy who spent his 70 years on this earth showing no regard for working people is suddenly going to be your champion?

SEN. TIME KAINE (D), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: It's going to be great. Believe me. We're going to build a wall and make Mexico pay for it. Believe me. We're going to destroy ISIS so fast. Believe me. There's nothing suspicious in my tax returns. Believe me.

JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He's trying to tell us he cares about the middle class. Give me a break. That's a bunch of malarkey.

MICHAEL BLOOMBERG (I), FORMER NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: I'm a New Yorker, and I know a con when I see one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Joining us now to talk about how effective the speeches last night were, once again our CNN political analyst, the host of "The David Gregory Show" podcast, David Gregory, he's still with us. The Washington bureau chief for "USA Today," Susan Page is with us. And CNN's senior political analyst, the senior editor of "The Atlantic," Ron Brownstein is with us as well.

Were they effective in finding that balance last night, David, between going after Trump but endorsing and defending Hillary Clinton?

GREGORY: Yes, I think they got that balance right. And I thought what was interesting, and clearly a choice, is that they're really painting Trump as uniquely unqualified, but also an outlier. Not - you know, decoupling him from the Republican Party, particularly the president doing that and saying, no, he is something different, which makes the choice that much more stark.

BLITZER: The big difference, and you were there in Cleveland, all of us were in Cleveland, last night - between last night, President Obama was optimistic, saying America's got great things. It already is great. You heard him say that. Last week at the Republican Convention, Trump was very gloomy about what's going on in the country right now. That's a significant difference.

SUSAN PAGE, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, "USA TODAY": Well, no kidding. It was like they were from different planets, to look at their portrayal of the state of the country and what ought to be done about it. Now, historically, we know that the more optimistic candidate often has an advantage. Americans tend to be, even when they're feeling that there are some challenges, they tend to be optimistic to feel that Americans can address those challenges. So a little bit of a calculated risk, I think, on Donald Trump's part to portray things as quite as dark as he did.

BLITZER: Listen to how the president spoke about Hillary Clinton last night, Ron.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I can say with confidence, there has never been a man or a woman, not me, not Bill, nobody more qualified than Hillary Clinton to serve as president of America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[13:30:02] BLITZER: There you see the former president standing up and applauding.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, it goes to your first question. By the way, Thomas Jefferson, I keep thinking, Thomas Jefferson. You know, there might be - there might be one or two.

GREGORY: He was pretty qualified.

BROWNSTEIN: He was pretty qualified. But it goes to your first question, Wolf. I thought last night --