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Soon: Obama Expected to Rebuke Trump Ahead of Midterms; Obama Stumps for Candidates in Anaheim, California. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired September 8, 2018 - 15:00   ET

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


[15:00:00] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks so much for being with me this Saturday. I'll see you again tomorrow. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

The news continues right now with Erica Hill.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. I'm Erica Hill, in today for Ana Cabrera.

You are about to witness a marquee moment for former President Barack Obama continuing to break his silence and also breaking the presidential tradition as he attacks the man who took his place in the White House. For months, well over a year and a half, President Obama has in order said the number you Donald Trump in public. That all changed yesterday. He is now calling out the president and also his party on multiple levels.

Usually a former president does not comment on the actions of his immediate successor. Obama though is expected to be even fiercer, more fiery today than he was yesterday. This, as he hits the campaign trail for the first time this year. Midterm elections now 59 days away.

Obama first hitting on Trump of course on Friday. The president then counterpunched a few hours later. Here is the recap.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is not normal. These are extraordinary times. They are dangerous times. In two months, we have the chance, not the certainty, but the chance to restore some semblance of sanity to our politics. Because there is actually only one real check on bad policy and abuses of power. And that is you. You and your vote.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I watched it, but I fell asleep.

(LAUGHTER)

I found he is very good, very good for sleeping.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: CNN's Dan Merica is joining us live from Anaheim. Dan, you've been reporting that former President Obama is set to push

today even harder against President Trump. What more have you learned?

DAN MERICA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Think about that split-screen moment you just played where a former president is campaigning, attacking the current president and the current president is responding. It really is a remarkable moment in history, one that we haven't seen because so many former presidents have avoided criticizing their successors. That will end behind me today again when President Obama takes the stage back there. This is all about taking back the House of Representatives. There are seven candidates here that President Obama will be stumping for. They are all fighting to represent districts that Hillary Clinton won in 2016. So these are really the front-line candidates the Democrats believe they can win in 2018 in November.

Now, Republicans think they could benefit from the fact that Obama has returned to the campaign trail. They say that he invigorates their voters in a unique way and they think that could happen again as he reemerges from what was an absence from the campaign trail for months. He had tried to hue to that traditional and not criticize his successor and that obviously ended yesterday in that fiery speech where he basically indicted the Trump administration for all they have done for the last 20 months.

He is about to -- President Obama is about to take the stage behind me. We'll have to listen to see how his message changes, but we're expecting a more blunt and correct campaign style message from the former president.

HILL: Dan Merica, with latest for us from Anaheim. We'll check back in with you a bit later on.

Joining me now, CNN political commentator, S.E. Cupp, host of "S.E. CUPP UNFILTERED" on CNN. And also with us, CNN presidential historian, Tim Naftali, former executive director of the Nixon Presidential Library, and Lanhee Chen, who served as Mitt Romney's public policy director.

Good to have all of you with us.

It is remarkable to see, as we're hearing from Dan, whether former President Obama will be a little bit perhaps more fiery today. Interesting to see what lessons he took, S.E., from the reaction he got yesterday.

S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR & CNN HOST, "S.E. CUPP UNFILTERED": I think it would be hard to top yesterday's. This was a guy who went from silence, basically, not to dipping a toe in the water, but to doing a giant cannonball. Took the gloves off. The restrictors were off. And I think he felt pressured by Democrats who took his silence, which is tradition, less as an act of respect and more as a mark of sort of this privileged indifference, that they didn't think he had sort of a right to a luxury to because of the, quote/unquote, "extraordinary times." And so I think he kind of caved to that pressure and came out swinging. I think the speech had a lot of mixed messages in it. We'll see today if he can clean some of that up and sort of focus in more on a singular message. There was maybe eight of them yesterday that he was trying to swing at.

HILL: Go ahead, Tim.

[15:05:03] TIM NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: I think yesterday's statement was remarkable. I agree with S.E. that if it were stained to be a partisan stump speech, it had mixed messages. But a former president is in a unique position in our country. And it is true that they rarely attack their successors, although they have. What he was doing, it seemed to me from listening to and reading the speech, is he was laying out an argument for a bipartisan resistance to the politics of fear. He was saying we have to find common ground, we have to find common ground with evangelical, we have to find common ground with working class folks who might not otherwise vote for the Democrats. He was saying to Democrats, do not be sectarian. And he was saying to Republicans, are you sure you agree with the politics of fear. It was not quite a stump speech. It was the kind of speech you would expect from a former president who was actually trying to speak to the nation as a whole.

The other thing that was interesting about his speech was it was so different from Candidate Trump's speech in Cleveland where Candidate Trump said I can fix things. At the end of the speech, former President Obama said don't look for a savior. I can't fix this. You can. And he was making a plea for democracy. A powerful plea.

HILL: You know what is interesting though, one common message that both Barack Obama and Donald Trump had was, it is on you, right? And this is something we off hear from politicians. It is on you the voter, you have to show up, you have to turn out. But it's interesting that they both made that plea that said, if you don't get out there, this is really all on you, and it's important. And it is fascinating, Lanhee, to hear that message, slightly different tone, from both of them.

LANHEE CHEN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It is. But to get down to brass tacks here for a minute, really the interesting question is, look at where they are sending President Obama. They are sending him to California. Obviously, Orange County is going to be competitive. There's one House race in Orange County. And anyway, the point I want to make is that President Obama --

(CROSSTALK)

HILL: I'll stop you because former President Obama is coming up.

(CROSSTALK)

HILL: We'll pick it up afterwards.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: Hey. Hello, California!

(CHEERING) OBAMA: Well, it is good to -

(CHANTING)

OBAMA: Thank you everybody. Thank you.

(CHANTING)

OBAMA: It is good to be back in California.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: It is good to be back. I love you, too.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: I do.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: I just -- I just had time to spend with some amazing Democratic candidates for Congress.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: You're going to hear more about each of them in a minute from some of the people that they are running to represent. They will testify to how wonderful these candidates are.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: But I'm going --

(SHOUTING)

(LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: But I'm going to talk about them anyway.

But before I do so, I just want to mention, I was telling them that I went to Disneyland twice when I was younger. The first time was when I was 11 years old. Now, there's no better time to go to Disneyland than when you are 11 years old. And I lived in Hawaii, so this was my first big trip to the mainland. And I was with my grandmother who at that a point her health was starting to fail a little bit and her eyesight was starting to go. I was with my mom and my baby sister who was two years old. And we traveled from Seattle all the way down to Anaheim and cut across to Arizona and looped up. It was an amazing trip. Went to Yellowstone. But Disneyland was the highlight.

(SHOUTING)

OBAMA: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

And I went and did all the bear-necessity thing.

(LAUGHTER)

And, you know, the small world. I mean, it was the bomb.

(LAUGHTER)

[15:10:01] Second time, I was in college and I was going to Occidental College --

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: -- up between Eagle Rock and Pasadena. We came down here not to go to the Matterhorn or to do Pirates of the Caribbean but to see Kool and the Gang.

(LAUGHTER)

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: So I'm dating myself a little bit here. Those of you who were not born yet when Kool and the Gang was popular, you should check it out.

So we came down, me and a bunch of friends. After the concert, because we were teenagers, we -- you could still kind of hang out in the park, so we went into the gondolas. And I'm ashamed to say this, so close your ears young people, but a few of us were smoking on the gondolas.

(LAUGHTER)

No, no, these were cigarettes, people.

(LAUGHTER)

Terrible thing. At the time, I'm a teen, I'm rebellious. And as we're coming in, there are two very large Disneyland police officers. And they said, sir, can you come with us. And they escorted us out of Disneyland. This is a true story, everybody. I was booted from the Magic Kingdom.

(LAUGHTER)

But what I remember about it was, at the end, they said, you're going to have to leave, sir, for breaking the rules of the Magic Kingdom, but you are well I don't to come back anytime.

(LAUGHTER)

Which I thought, well, that was nice of them. Anyway, those are my memories of Disneyland. I was -- just giving you a little context for my appearance here today.

(SHOUTING)

OBAMA: I do, I love you, too.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: Today is a different role. Today really, what I want to do is highlight the extraordinary collection of candidates who have decided to step up and --

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: -- bring out the best in our country. As I said yesterday, we're in a challenging moment. Because when you look at the arc of American history, there has always been a push and pull between those who want to go forward, and those who want to look back. Between those who want to divide and those who are seeking to bring people together. Between those who promote politics of hope and those who exploit politics of fear. And there are times, I think, where we see enormous changes taking place, economic changes, technological changes, demographic changes. And people feel unsettled. People feel scared. People get a sense that it we didn't don't change things fundamentally, maybe our kids won't have as bright a future as we do. People are worried about whether they can retire. Whether their child can afford a college education and if they do, the mountains of debt that will handle per them buying that first home or starting a business. People are concerned about climate change and preserving the incredible natural beauty that California represents. People are worried --

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: -- about a whole range of particular issues.

But I think what I said yesterday, and I deeply believe, is that there are no set of problems, no set of issues that we can't solve if we're working together and we're try to the traditions that are best in America.

(APPLAUSE)

(CHEERING)

[15:15:17] OBAMA: But it is always tempting for politicians at their own game and for people in power to try to see if they can divide people, scapegoat folks, turn them on each other, because when that happens, you get gridlock and government doesn't work and people get cynical and they decide not to participate. And when people don't participate, then that vacuum is filled by lobbyists and special interests, and we get into a downward spiral where people get more and more discouraged and they think nothing will make a difference. And that, unfortunately, has been a spiral that we have been on for the last couple years.

(BOOING)

OBAMA: And the only way we reverse that cycle of anger and division is when each of us, as citizens, step up and say we're going to take it upon ourselves to do things differently. (CHEERING)

OBAMA: We're going to --

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: We're going to fight for the things that we believe in.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: We're going to fight for the idea that every child in America should get a decent education.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: We're going to fight for the idea that anybody out there who is willing to work hard should be able to get a job that pays a living wage.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: We're going to fight for the idea that women should be paid the same as men for doing the same work.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: We're going to fight for the notion that our seniors should be able to rely on Social Security and Medicare and be able to retire with dignity and respect. We are going to make sure that the men and women in uniform who fight on our behalf when they come home, they are not just given lip service to, but they are actually also getting the benefits and support that they have earned.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: We'll fight for the notion that we are all in this together. And that what makes America unique is that, from all around the world, people, our grandparents, our great grandparents, generations, ago or in some cases fairly recently, came here because they believed in a certain set of ideals. We hold these truths to be self-evident, all of us created equal endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights. What that means is that we are not bound by bloodlines or not by what we look like, not by the way we practice our faith, not by our last names, not by our sexual orientation. We are bound by a set of ideas.

(APPLAUSE)

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: And that when - finally, we are bound by the notion that this is a government of and by and for the people.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: We don't have a permanent elite. We don't have a situation where some are more equal than others. Or some have more say in our democracy than others. Or you've got to -- you got to pay a million dollars or have high-priced lobbyists in order to have your voice heard and your interests represented in the halls of Congress and in the White House and in the state legislature and in every office of the land.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: This is a government for everybody. It is not for sale. That is what we believe in.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: And the good news is -- and the good news is we have candidates who represent those values.

(CHEERING)

[15:20:03] OBAMA: They have stepped up. They are fired up. They are ready to go.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: And I'm just going to talk about them a little bit here, about the way some of them have their families here. So, you know, their moms are here, dads are here. They are very proud of these candidates.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: Their spouses are here. Their kids are here. So this is a family affair.

When you step up and run for Congress, it is not just you. You are dragging a whole bunch of -- all your old friends from high school, you are calling them up, come on out here, let's get going.

Josh Herder --

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: -- is running in the central valley. Where's Josh? There he is. Josh went to public schools. Worked his way through college and business school. Spent his career helping entrepreneurs create new jobs. Here in California, he is young, he is dynamic. He has some corny jokes that I really like. He's told me about them.

(LAUGHTER)

First time I met him, he says, I work harder.

(LAUGHTER)

I said, I love that line, man, keep on using that stuff. People remember that.

(LAUGHTER)

And T.J. Cox is running in the central valley.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: Son of immigrants. Started two companies of his own. Works to bring opportunity to neighborhoods where Wall Street and big banks don't go, don't invest. He's investing, he is creating jobs, that is why we need to send him to Congress.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: Josh and T.J. may be running in different districts, but they are running for the same reasons. Make sure every central valley kid has the same opportunities that they had.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: Then you have Gill Meadows (ph) --

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: -- running to make sure our kids can access the same ladders of opportunity that this country and the Navy, the United States Navy gave him. More Navy medals for his service than he has years in politics.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: Spent those years since he was in the Navy fighting for our veterans and for our kids in public schools. And I should add that he worked with Michelle on her Reach Higher Initiative to help more kids access higher education. We could not be prouder of Gill.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: Just like we couldn't be prouder of Katie Porter, who is here.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: Spent nearly 20 years as a consumer protection attorney. That means she was fighting for you.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: And 20 years standing up to the powerful special interests and instead working on behalf of California families.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: Directly helped thousands of families who had been wronged by big banks, by predatory lenders. And now she's fighting for every Orange County family to hold those powerful interests accountable. That is the kind of advocate you need in Congress.

(CHEERING) OBAMA: Just like you need Harley (INAUDIBLE).

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: A successful entrepreneur, philanthropist, helping all sorts of companies start up and grow and create opportunity. He is not running for Congress just to be in Congress. He has already been successful. He knows that when you go to Congress, you better be less concerned about being there and more concerned about what you're going to do on behalf of the people who sent you. He will use that seat to advance the interests of all the people of the 48th congressional district. So we're proud of Harley.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: And also I'm here with Mike.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: Spent his career trying to protect this planet for our kids to make sure that they are able to enjoy the incredible bounty that is this beautiful state of California. He is the kind of champion that we will need in Congress right now, somebody who will be a leader on environmental issues, a leader on climate change, a fighter to make sure everybody is getting hire wages. Working to prevent gun violence, working to protect our health care because there are people out there right now that are counting on us to make sure they still have health care after this election.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: That is on the ballot. And Mike will make sure that he is fighting to keep it.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: And even though Katie Hill can't be here today --

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: (INAUDIBLE)

(CHEERING)

[15:25:02] OBAMA: A local nurse and police officer, educating the public schools. Now she is running to take the values of her community to Washington and make real change.

So these are some of the men and women --

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: -- many of them who never imagined running for office. What they understood is the stakes are high in this election. This is a consequential moment in our history. And the fact is that if we don't step up, things can get worse. When there's a vacuum in our democracy, when we are not participating, we're not paying attention, when we're not stepping you up, other voices fill the void. But the good news is, in two months, we have a chance to restore some sanity in our politics.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: We have the chance to flip the House of Representatives and make sure that real checks and balances are in balance.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: And I cannot -- (INAUDIBLE). We're putting on our marching shoes.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: We will go out and start taking some clipboards out.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: And we'll start knocking on some doors.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: And we'll start making some calls.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: We'll volunteer.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: We're going to talk to our family members. We're going to talk to folks who have been sitting on the couch being a little lazy when it comes to their responsibilities and duties as citizens.

And by the way, we are reaching out not just as true-blue, diehard Democrats. I want to talk to Independents --

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: -- who may have felt cynical about politics generally. But now you've got candidates here who, regardless of party affiliation, you can say you know what, that person will fight for me that person is honest, that person is in it for the right reasons.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: I trust that person.

I want to reach out to some Republicans, who kind of harken back to the values of a guy named Abraham Lincoln, first Republican president.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: And who say to themselves, I don't recognize what is going on in Washington right now. That is not what I believe. That is not who we are as a people and as a country.

The biggest threat to our democracy I said yesterday is not -- it is not one individual. It is not one big super PAC billionaires. It is apathy, it is indifference. It is us not doing what we're supposed to do.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: So this amazing collection of volunteers and activists and moms and dads and police officers and nurses and teachers and small business leaders.

As I look at this group that is representative of the state and representative of this nation, people who are young and who are young at heart --

(LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: -- I cannot help but feel optimistic because, if you are doing what you need to do, if you are active, involved, hopeful, optimistic, energized, fearless, if you are going out there between now and election day and doing everything possible to make sure that this government reflects the goodness and decency of the American people, I am absolutely confident these candidates are going to win.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: And if these candidates win, I'm absolutely confident that Washington will start working better.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: And if Washington starts working better, we're going to solve the problems that this country faces.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: And we're going to deliver to our kids the kind of brighter future that they deserve.

Are you ready to get to work?

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: Are you ready to get to work?

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: Are you ready to get to work?

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: Let's go get this done.

Thank you very much, everybody. I love you. God bless you.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: Come on, everybody.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: Let's go out there and do this thing.

(CHEERING)

[15:30:14] HILL: Former President Barack Obama speaking there.

One thing noticeable to point out here. There's a name that Barack Obama did not mention. He did not mention Donald Trump today. We heard it yesterday in Illinois. We did not hear it today. That is a definite departure from yesterday. We don't know whether that was a conscious choice, whether that came from advisers, this didn't play well. But it is fascinating to note that that wasn't there. This was a speech very much he laid it out there, hope versus fear, a push and pull of going forward and back, it is about your children's future. And it is a broader bipartisan message.

And this is one of the things that you all were bringing up in the break before we started.

And, Lanhee, I'll start with you because we left off with you.

You were also pointing out that he is in California, a place where he can motivate. Although it is an interesting spot being that it is Orange County, not the bay area.

LANHEE CHEN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, this is actually the area I grew up in. And my sense is that obviously demographics have changed. You have many more Independents. And Republicans are much more moderate. This was a speech designed to motivate Independent and moderate Republican voters to get out there and support Democratic candidates. These are districts that are either open seats where Republicans are retiring all the ones that the president mentioned, in addition to seats where Republican are vulnerable because Hillary Clinton won those districts in 2016. So this was a targeted message. I believe not mentioning Trump was entirely deliberate.

HILL: Yes.

CHEN: This was a tone and one designed to motivate the voters Democrats need to take back the House from California.

HILL: Is, Tim Naftali, Barack Obama though, is he the right person to put out there to go after Independents for Democrats?

TIM NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: I'm not sure I'm the right person to respond to that. But let me tell you why he would want to perhaps. He makes the case clearly. He is not on the ballot. And he is using some of the playbook from '08 where he is saying to everybody this is your chance to change the world. What he is attacking today and what he attacked yesterday was the politics of fear. And what he is saying is, if you don't want this country to face what Hungary and Poland and Russia and France and maybe Sweden face, if you don't want nationalism, anti-Democratic, not partisan, anti-Democratic nationalism to shape this country and undermine our Constitution, you got to step up. And he is the person to make that case. Everybody else who would make that case is running for something. He doesn't have to run for anything anymore. So I think if you want that message delivered, and I think it is a good message my personal feeling, he is the right one to make it.

Now, whether he is the right messenger to go into different districts and can motivate more Democrats to vote than Trump people to vote, because you know he is always motivating the Trump base when he talks --

HILL: Absolutely.

NAFTALI: -- I leave that to the experts. I'm just saying it is healthy for the country for somebody to make the case that Independents and Never Trumpers should consider maybe voting Democrat this time around so that you at least have one House that is doing its constitutional duty by putting a check on the executive.

(CROSSTALK)

HILL: S.E., I do want you to weigh in on the fact that this is a gamble for Democrats. There's not a clear leader or clear message in the Democratic Party, but it is a gamble in respect that, as we saw from Lindsey Graham in a tweet, he could bring out more Republicans. He could bring out more Trump supporters. He could be a reminder of what main people wanted a change from in 2016.

S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR & CNN HOST, "S.E. CUPP UNFILTERED": That was definitely true of yesterday's speech. This was, I think, a total 180. Yesterday was a roast. Today was a celebration. He talked mostly about Democrats today. Yesterday he talked mostly about Republicans. Today was positive and optimistic. Yesterday was a little smug, a little condescending. He mocked a lot of Republicans. Today he was relaxed. So this Obama I don't think is going to motivate a lot of Trump people to come out. Yesterday certainly did because they felt almost defensive in response. But I've always found this idea from the Never Trumpers, who are Never Trump because they are deeply conservative or somehow will turn out for Democrats and switch out all of their long-held belief, but I do think that there was an appeal that he did beautifully. That positive message I think is appealing especially to Orange County Independents. He knew his audience very well today. In that, I don't think there's a ton of risk. Is he going to run the country in terms of campaigning? Trying to blend those two campaign messages? That will be more difficult.

[15:35:17] HILL: We will get in a quick break here.

Stay with us.

Just a reminder for folks at home. Don't forget to tune in tonight. S.E. Cupp will have complete coverage of the speech at 6:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN. And it was a rather wild week in Washington. S.E. will have it all covered 6:00 p.m. eastern.

We're taking a quick break here. We'll be right back.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm proud to nominate this judge to be the 107th justice to the United States Supreme Court.

(APPLAUSE)

RUTH BADER GINSBURG, U.S. SUPREME COURT JUSTICE: We may be in trying times, but think how it was in those days. The judges didn't think sex discrimination existed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ruth knew what she was doing in laying the foundation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put women on the same plane as men.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The goal was equality and civil rights.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ruth Bader Ginsburg changed the way the world is for American women.

GINSBURG: What has become of me could happen only in America.

(SINGING)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She has become such a rock star.

(SINGING)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She is really the closest thing to a super hero I know.

(SINGING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She is known the world over as the notorious RBG.

GINSBURG: All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[15:40:51] OBAMA: We're at a challenging moment. Because when you look at the arc of American history, there has always been a push and pull between those who want to go forward and those who want to look back, between those who want to divide and those seeking to bring people together, between those who promote politics of hope and those who exploit politics of fear.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Thanks for staying with us. Former President Obama, moments ago, stumping for candidates in Anaheim, California.

What is fascinating is we heard a lot from Barack Obama today about hope, about the vision of a bipartisan America, where everyone is fighting for the same ideals. And he is talking about hope versus fear then.

Lanhee, you made a great point that, as lovely as today's speech was -- and everybody liked it, you all thought this is a great message -- it is not a message of hope that gets people to the polls.

(CROSSTALK)

CHEN: Certainly not at a midterm election. In a midterm election, what we expect is you have the bases of the two parties and the question comes down to which base is more motivated. That speech did not do a whole lot of work in motivating in my mind the Democratic base. His speech yesterday motivated the Democratic base and also motivates Trump's base. But at least that speech does something. That speech makes everyone feel better about democracy, but as a tool to motivate for a midterm election, was not particularly effective.

CUPP: And he knows that because he's very smart, President Obama. He knows it sounds good to say we're optimistic and we're looking forward, but he is also smart enough to know that fear works. So he says but these are dangerous times. So he says we're basically at the precipice of all of this unraveling. So there's a communication of fear in his messages. It didn't sound anything like Donald Trump's fearmongering. It sounds different, but he knows just as well as any other skilled politician that fear drives turnout and not hope.

HILL: And it will be interesting to see how much some of perhaps Friday may start to creep into Saturday.

NAFTALI: Well, Friday's speech was high minded and it was a very powerful indictment of the direction our politics has gone in. But it is a long speech. And the question is, how do you take pieces of it that are useful to candidates around the country.

What I'll be looking for, and we discussed this earlier, is the extent to which the Democratic Party uses Obama for what we might describe as nationalized congressional elections, congressional elections where a national politician like Obama could be helpful. There are a lot of Democrats running in districts where they don't want this to be nationalized. They want to run on local issues. Because if they run on national issues, they will probably lose.

So it will be very interesting to see the strategic decision made whether to move Obama, for example, to Missouri, whether you will move Obama to North Dakota.

CUPP: I don't think so.

NAFTALI: I don't think so either. (CROSSTALK)

CUPP: Also because I think as we noted in the break, Barack Obama has not been great at getting other people not named Barack Obama elected. And midterms, because of the cyclical nature of politics, are usually benefiting the party out of power. Democrats have a natural advantage. They might not need to throw Obama in every state to sort of double down.

CHEN: And their frame will be a national frame anyway because they will be running against Trump. Republicans, on the other hand, they want their local members of Congress to be able to say this is a member that has served you in Orange County. Yes, he is a Republican, but he's also had these differences with Trump. They don't want those associations this close.

CUPP: Yes.

CHEN: And again, it depends on the state because North Dakota, West Virginia where President Trump did well, you want to be tied to Trump.

(CROSSTALK)

[15:45:04] NAFTALI: I want to say, I want to know -- people talk about there's sort of a pattern of what happens in midterms. Is there a ceiling on the percentage of Americans who will vote in a midterm? Because part of the strategy I think behind what Obama is saying he wants to break that ceiling. He wants to get more people to vote in a hid term than historically we've seen. Is that just really possible?

CUPP: Not with that speech today.

CHEN: No.

(LAUGHTER)

(CROSSTALK)

HILL: What would be remarkable is if within any election this country could get a higher turnout.

(CROSSTALK)

HILL: All right, stick around. We'll continue to break this down.

A quick break here. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[15:50:10] OBAMA: We're going to fight for the things that we believe in.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: We're going to fight for the idea that every child in America should get a decent education.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: We're going to fight for the idea that anybody out there who is willing to work hard should be able to get a job that pays a living wage.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: We're going to fight for the idea that women should be paid the same as men for doing the same work.

(CHEERING)

We're going to fight for the notion that our seniors should be able to rely on Social Security and Medicare and be able to retire with dignity and with respect.

We are going to make sure that the men and women in uniform who fight on our behalf when they come home, they are not just given lip service, too, but they're actually also getting the benefits and the support that they have earned.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: We're going to fight for the notion that we're all in this together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: We're all in this together. Noticeably absent, though, some of the more divisive issues in this country, abortion rights. Let's look at how that's been playing out over the past week with Brett Kavanaugh obviously, immigration. All these far more divisive -- guns -- far more divisive topics that brings people out. Hey, if you don't come out and vote for us, come November, guess what else you're going to get on the Supreme Court. That plays to both sides. And that didn't even come up.

CUPP: He knows where he was, in Orange County California, which, in 2016, for the first time since the Great Depression voted for a Democrat for president, is not going to be amenable, say, even Democrats to the abolish ICE argument, to a lot of the far-left progressive campaign platforms --

(CROSSTALK)

HILL: But you don't even have to bring up a far left abolish ICE kind of thing. You can talk about, is it settled law or not with Roe v. Wade.

(CROSSTALK)

HILL: You can talk about child separation --

(CROSSTALK) HILL: -- not as far left and scary to some Democrats and Independents as some of those other things.

NAFTALI: I think I've noticed that so far, now that he's a former president who is playing politics, that he's still not talking about specific policies much. He's really quite general. He's talking about big ideas, big concepts, democracy, participation. Once you start talking about Roe v. Wade and DACA -- he hasn't mentioned DACA. Why not DACA, for goodness sakes? I think then, maybe, he feels that it's something he shouldn't do. We'll see --

(CROSSTALK)

CUPP: He knows his own party is divided on those issues.

NAFTALI: Maybe that's why --

CUPP: And it makes no sense politically for him to pick and choose winners.

CHEN: He's going to have to sharpen the message a little bit. I think contrast is critically important. To your point, Erica, if he's going to talk about these issues, he has to draw a clear contrast between status quo and where he thinks the Democratic Party would take the country if they were in control of the House. The question becomes, where is he going to deploy that message? Today's speech was a big advertisement for the local candidates, a ton of coverage in the local market in Los Angeles. It's a difficult market to break into. They'll be able to get coverage out of that. As a campaign message, the president has a lot of work to do, President Obama has a lot of work to do to have an effective campaign message down into the close of this campaign.

NAFTALI: I just wanted to mention this one thing. We are in such an unprecedented period in our history. I take Lanhee's point. But when was the last time we asked a former president to sharpen a campaign message as leader of a political party that he doesn't plan or she doesn't plan to run. This is absolutely unprecedented. The very fact that we're talking about Obama as perhaps the heart and soul of the Democratic Party is remarkable at this point.

HILL: That it is.

It's a discussion that S.E. Cupp may be picking up on later in her show.

CUPP: Indeed, I will be.

[15:54:27] HILL: S.E., Tim and Lanhee, I appreciate you all joining us, staying with us for the hour.

You can catch S.E., her new show, "S.E. CUPP UNFILTERED," tonight at 6:00 p.m. Eastern.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: Hello. I'm Erica Hill, in for Ana Cabrera.

We begin with former President Barack Obama back on the campaign trail. For the first time this year, he's stumping with his party for the midterm elections, now 59 days away. As he pushes hard for his candidates, a notably softer tone today when it comes to his successor. In fact, the name Donald Trump wasn't mentioned once, unlike on Friday when he assailed the president by name. Today, again, not a mention. Instead, the focus was somewhat on the politics and also what is worth fighting for.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[15:59:57] OBAMA: If we don't step up, things can get worse. Where there's a vacuum in our democracy, when we are not participating, when we're not paying attention, when we're not stepping up, other voices fill the void.

I want to reach out to some Republicans who --