Harris Makes History
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for every life-saving treatment, for every next step, for every care in the world. Cleveland Clinic. It's Friday, August 23rd, right now on CNN This Morning. The most momentous night of her career, Kamala Harris accepts the historic nomination to lead the Democratic Ticket Plus. I will bring back the bipartisan border security bill that he killed, and I will sign it into law.

Harris tackles some key issues in her pitch for her vision of a new way forward and... All of these things that she talked about, we're going to do this, we're going to do that, we're going to do everything, but she didn't do any of it. Donald Trump doesn't hesitate to give his reaction to Harris' acceptance speech and then... Who's going to tell him that the job he's currently seeking might just be one of those black jobs? With the DNC wrapping up, we take a look back at the week's biggest moments.

5 a.m. here in Chicago, Illinois. Most of the balloons have been popped. The confetti has fallen. It is 6 a.m. on the East Coast. You're looking live at the United Center here in Chicago, where just a handful of hours ago, Kamala Harris accepted that nomination. Good morning, everyone. I'm Casey Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us. The 2024 election now entering a new phase. Just hours ago, Kamala Harris making history on the stage behind me. On behalf of everyone here,

whose story could only be written in the greatest nation on earth. I accept your nomination to be president of the United States of America. In the biggest speech of her life, on the biggest stage of her life, Kamala Harris telling the story of her childhood in California, pointing to lessons that she learned from her father, a professor from Jamaica, and her mother, a scientist from India.

She taught us to never complain about injustice, but do something about it. Do something about it. She also taught us and never do anything half-assed. And that is a direct quote, a direct quote. Harris attacked her opponent, Donald Trump, for his actions on January 6th, his threats to jail, his perceived opponents and his bragging about the overturning of Roe versus Wade.

In many ways, Donald Trump is an unserious man. But the consequences, but the consequences of putting Donald Trump back in the White House are extremely serious. Harris framed her vision as rooted in the middle class, and she framed the election as one of the most important in American history. It is now our turn.

to do what generations before us have done, and to uphold the awesome responsibility that comes with the greatest privilege, Earth, the privilege and pride of being an American.

And together, let us write the next great chapter in the most extraordinary story ever told. Thank you. God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America. Thank you all.

All right, our panelists here, we're not going to count up the collective hours of sleep at this table because it would simply be depressing. Kate Bedingfield, CNN political commentator, former Biden White House communications director, Bakari Sellers, CNN political commentator, former South Carolina Democratic state rep, Elliot Williams, CNN legal analyst, former federal prosecutor, and Scott Jennings, CNN political commentator, former special assistant to President George W. Bush. Welcome to all of you. So grateful to have you here. Bakari, are you okay? Yeah.

Caffeine. Caffeine. Caffeine. Casey, before we were on, I actually added it up. It's about eight hours and 45 minutes among the four of them. I don't know what you added to that. You can put like three and a half on top for me. And Kate got three. So she bumps up her app. I did. I did. I don't know where I am or what I'm doing, but I'm apparently here. Just a little concerned.

little concerned. But Kate, let me start with you. Last night we heard from Harris, her presentation in particular stood out to me in terms of the decisions they made about how to frame her, how to present her. There wasn't as much policy as maybe there could have been. What was your evaluation of what we saw last night? Well, it was a huge night for Vice President Harris. I mean, I think she had a high bar to clear and she cleared it.

You know, I think one of the things that's so challenging about a nomination speech is they can be a really sprawling affair. There's so much business you want to do. You want to do some of the personal bio. You want to do some of the forward looking agenda. You want to frame up your opponent. And I thought one of the things she did so effectively was just tie all of that into a narrative that just felt like common sense. I mean, she told her own story in a way that I think resonated with people across the country, talked about her family, talked about women's

why she's motivated by the things she's motivated by in public life based on, on her own growing up, um, you know, and then kind of, I think pretty effortlessly transitioned into how that will, uh, shape her term if she's elected to office. And I think at the end of the day, it felt like a speech that I think to a lot of people was just reasonable and common sense. And I think that contrast, uh, with Trump, uh, is powerful, but I also think she just did a terrific job, uh,

introducing herself, selling herself in a moment where it's not always easy to do that. But Kari, they made some really interesting choices. She didn't wear white. I think Ron Brownstein was here last hour, said her suit was out of law and order, right? When the crowd was behind her in suffragette white, that was a decision. It was very clear to me they wanted to send a message of strength in the way they presented her, the themes that they chose to really focus in on and talk about. What did you see in that and how did she do?

What I saw was flawless execution. I mean, I think that one of the things that Kamala Harris wanted to do yesterday and the campaign wanted to do yesterday was show strength. That was what yesterday was about. That's what the speech was about. Usually when you look poll after poll after poll, Donald Trump is winning on who is the strongest, who portrays the most strength. And yesterday was her opportunity to take that away. And also,

Also, I mean, I think Kate was absolutely correct. And what she was trying to do yesterday was weave in these personal narratives about who she is, frame her opponent, and also say, look, I am Kamala Harris and I'm for the people. And yes, she didn't wear white, right? And one of the things that I believe everybody recognizes at this table is this campaign has not been a campaign about identity.

You know, you can see the history in who she is. But not one time did she mention that she's going to be the first of anything. Not one time did she talk about, "I'm going to be the first this or that." You can see that history. What she wanted people to understand though is that while I am a historical figure, I'm also someone who's going to make your life better because just because I am going to be the first African American woman to be president of the United States

or the first woman to be president of the United States does not mean that your life will be better. Let me show you how. Scott Jennings, I saw what you had to say late last night. I didn't. I was at the club. I didn't see nothing. I texted it to you. I knew you were watching. Oh, yes.

I admittedly, I did watch it at about three 30 this morning. I did not watch it in real time. So you were up later than I was, but tell us, I mean, this, there were elements of this that, that seemed to me are likely to be very effective. I'm curious if you agree with that, you know, do you see that in this and, and what's the next, you know, how does this push the ball forward? Yeah. I think the, the convention for Democrats was effective. I mean, they wanted to come out of here feeling like they had a chance to win. They

They didn't have a chance to win with Biden. Now they have a chance to win with Harris. So that was mission accomplished on that front. I think on the speech, look, she's gotten much better behind the podium. She used to not be all that great at this. She's an improving person on that front.

She delivered from behind the podium last night. She's been doing that since she got into the race. So that was also another box check. She seemed plausible. The speech, I agree with Kate. It did portray her as someone who sounded like a reasonable person. Now,

What she did not do was take any amount of responsibility for her current job, which is vice president of the United States for the last three and a half years under Joe Biden. There was not an ounce of humility about the inflation gripping the country. She talked about immigration without talking about all the things that happened right up until this border bill that they have hung all their hats on over at the Biden White House. So to me, where the Republicans are going to be headed is

All the pablum, all the platitudes, all that aside, you cannot leave the same people in charge. If you believe the country is on the wrong track, if you believe they made all the mistakes on the economy and on immigration, you cannot leave the same people in charge that have run the country off into the ditch. Until she comes up with a good answer for that, which I suspect will have to be litigated at the debate on September 10th, Donald Trump is still in a very good position. The problem that you have, however, is that

Respectfully to you and my brother, Shemichael, who are oftentimes on that side of the table at this hour, is that you all are more disciplined of a messenger than Donald Trump is. And Donald Trump has an inability at 78 years old to prosecute any message similar to what you're talking about. And we can debate. We can debate the merits of that. And I would love to debate the merits of immigration with you or inflation with your economic policy with you.

But Donald Trump and one of the things this week showed Donald Trump's not capable of that. He's a diminished individual. And he also doesn't want to do that because he represents the chaos. He represents many. And I'm sorry, he represents many of the things that we're betting the country wants to move away from. And I think your point's well taken, Scott, that.

uh, by being in power for any number of years you own, you're holding the bag. The, the, the problem with that is that you would be giving the bag back to the person who had the bag before. Um, and part of the message was, do you wish to go back to that chaos and disorder? It's a really, it's a, it's a good question, but people have a,

Right now, Donald Trump's more popular than he's ever been. And the view of his presidency is as good as it's ever been. I mean, in some of the polling, he's over 50 percent in terms of do you think he did a good job? The Biden-Harris results, the job approval of this presidency is still quite low. There is a reason for that. So to me, there's really only one question left to answer in this campaign.

Are the American people going to hold her accountable for that? And yes, you're right. Is Donald Trump going to help them reach that conclusion? But see, that's it. Just quickly. That's why I would argue that the way she addressed these things last night was smart. I mean, she didn't. You're right. She didn't address them in the way that you as a Republican strategist would like to see her address them. But she did talk about immigration and she said, hey, Donald Trump blew up our best option to, you know, to make progress on this issue. So if you're an independent voter and you're trying to sort out, you know, left from right in this race, you're

You say, oh, well, that that seems like actually she's making a good point here. Like there's there. It's not that she didn't address these issues. It's that she actually took them on in a way that was smart and on the offensive. You're asking the independent voters to all get collective amnesia and not remember all of the actions that are inactions that Biden and Harris did or didn't do for three and a half years leading up to the political fight over the border bill. The reality is everybody believes this administration made the border weaker.

this legislative thing is a political argument. And you're asking people to forget that she had the job. But it's also true that border encounters have dropped since the E.R. We want to start debating the merits here. If you want to run your campaign on immigration, go ahead. I wouldn't advise it, but go ahead. I don't think we want to...

I don't want to get into weeds per se, and I'm not asking anyone to have amnesia, but what we are asking people to do is make a choice. And I think that that people forget that this is a referendum on both candidates. And oftentimes we like to get up here and prosecute that case and kind of one in a vacuum. And

Look, it's Kamala Harris versus Donald Trump, period. What we displayed this week is that you have a resounding choice. Do you want to go back to what was chaos or January 6th? Or do you want to go back to the buffoonery? And I think that one of the things that the Democratic Party did this week that was actually so well done was they took away this...

kind of nemesis feel that Donald Trump had. Like he had a knife to the throat of democracy and instead they just castigated him as this buffoon, right? He is this bumbling kind of idiot who- - He was small and selfish. - I thought- - He was a Michelle Obama patriot. - Unserious man, but serious consequences was the articulation of that strategy. I thought that was such a good- - Oh, and by the way, we were talking about her outfit. She looked absolutely flawless. - She did, the navy was- - And she was beautiful. And if any beautiful woman looks in the camera

and calls Bakari sellers unserious, I'm going to have to reevaluate my entire life. On the image question, this is actually really important. She looked young. She looked calm. Yeah. And she looked...

Yeah. And these are all the things Joe Biden does not, did not. She was like the anti-Biden on the image front. She gave Democrats an image of something they lacked for the entirety of this campaign. That's obviously a win. And moreover, she looked young, she looked competent, but was out there talking about police and veterans and foreign policy in a way that Democrats, frankly, have not

certainly in any of our political lives, where it almost felt like I was talking to Scott about this. I felt like a mid 2000s Republican moderate Republican. Yeah, it was not sort of your typical cut and run Democrats that the Democrats have been criticized for for so many years. Well, and actually, Scott, can I ask you that to weigh in on what your view of that was? Because I thought everything that built up to a speech that did

emphasize foreign policy in all the ways that are important, I think, image-wise in addition to substance-wise. But everyone was waving American flags in the crowd. There were veterans on stage ahead of her introduction. She was introduced by Roy Cooper from North Carolina, not exactly an example of one of the country's most progressive Democrats. There was a lot there. He's one of the biggest pop stars of our era, Roy Cooper. You want

I don't understand what I mean. If the goal is a couple thousand independent voters in swing states. Yeah, look, the power of patriotism is real. When I saw these American flags in here, I was thinking, what have we identified with the left for the last few months in this country? Waving around the Palestinian flags, the Hezbollah flags, everything we've seen on campuses and out in the streets. They did not permit any of that to permeate the hall. That was an important thing. Republicans ought to pay attention to this.

The Democrats are obviously not going to cede this ground. And the American flag waving still means something to every single one of us. I thought it was really smart to hand them out. Even at the end, they had larger, the big ones up there. They got bigger as the night went on. That's a powerful image. Look, if we're going to have more patriotism in our politics this fall, I'm for it no matter which party's doing it. So I thought that was a wise choice. And I think it's good because we've seen some disturbing stuff on the streets of America for the last...

several months and i'd like to do away with that and i thought that was a good thing they did you had you had a woman standing on stage saying this is a paraphrase in the battle between us and tyranny i know where i stand and where the usa belongs that is the rhetoric that's margaret thatcher dude i mean that's no it is it is powerful rhetoric in in a in an arena where people were chanting usa usa something you don't hear at democratic rallies a lot and waving these flags i i

it was almost shocking to see. Yes, and at a moment where there is a question about whether the Republican nominee, if he becomes president again, stands on the side of democracy or tyranny. That's another sort of mind-blowing backdrop here. I mean, she was able to articulate the stakes

in a way that made the Democratic platform and her position muscular, but also highlighted that this is not just rhetoric in this moment, and that is potentially very frightening. And something that came up, and I can't remember who, I'm tired, who made the point, though, at a few times, we all love America, right?

Right now, different people have different ways of expressing their love for America. Patriotism means different things to different people. But no one owns the mantle of patriotism in this country. And when you saw a room of people who might have been pilloried for some time for not loving their country or not being true patriots, it was a powerful reminder of what it means to love. Let me also say this. One of the things that Kamala Harris's campaign internally has done and one of the things that's a little different

then what happened in 2019 is you kind of have this collective effort of every, where's my voice going? What Bakari was going to say was that all of her positions from 2019 are going to come back to haunt her. And it was all this and this. All right, go Bakari. I was going to say, let's get the commercial break. Let me take about three, four minutes. Wait, are you covered?

and glitter? What is going on? So I was with Westmore last night, Governor Westmore. One of the things that Governor Westmore... Obviously. As one is wont to do. So I was with Governor Westmore last night after the balls dropped and we were in some clandestine place enjoying what this week had been. But he actually is the person who

just advised Kamala Harris and advised the campaign to make sure that you envelop yourself in that patriotism. You envelop yourself in the American flag. You talk about these issues in a way that frame it, that,

If you are a black guy in Milwaukee or a white guy in Peoria or you are somebody who's Hispanic down at the border, I mean, you still believe in the promise of what this country can be. And there's no fear of Democrats. Like for a long period of time, things like religion and patriotism, we ceded that ground to the Republican Party. What happened last night is Kamala Harris took that back.

- Yeah, all right. Coming up next here on CNN this morning, Donald Trump takes the airwaves to react in real time and list his complaints with Kamala Harris's acceptance speech. Plus, family members of the vice president took the stage to try to set the record straight on how to correctly pronounce her name. And we'll take a look back at some of the most memorable moments from the DNC. - This weird obsession with crowd sizes. It just goes on and on.

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With the Democratic National Convention now concluded and the race for the White House beginning in earnest, we wanted to take a look back at a week that was filled with big names and some significant moments. Let me know in my heart when my days are through, America, America, I gave my best to you. The only personal vanity I want to assert is I'm still younger than Donald Trump.

The first person to run for president with 34 felony convictions. Who's gonna tell him that the job he's currently seeking might just be one of those black jobs? This weird obsession with crowd sizes. Together, let's all choose Kamala Ha-- As soon as our kids started calling her "Mamala," I knew we'd be okay.

Gus and Gwen, you are my entire world and I love you. I accept your nomination to be President of the United States of America. And together, let us write the next great chapter in the most extraordinary story ever told.

So that is what Democrats wanted to tell America this week. We have just over 70 days left in this campaign. Very quickly, we're running out of time here. Who has the football? Who has the edge heading into this sprint? Kate Trump or Harris? Hard to argue. Democrats don't have the momentum coming out of this last month, frankly, and this week. Now, then the question becomes, how do you translate that momentum? Momentum has to actually get you to getting votes in the swing states on Election Day. So it's going to be an intense couple months. Harris or Trump?

No, we're still underdogs. Uh,

But while we're in here, I'm still waiting on, I mean, I think Beyonce and Taylor Swift should be joining us. It's happening. It's coming. They're coming. They're joining us at any moment. We're going to keep that. We're just going to sit here and keep waiting. At 5 a.m., we're just going to keep waiting. We still have them. And the joke will be on all them. I have it on good authority. I have it on good authority. Any minute. There was an energy in that room that Joe Biden could not have produced. Right now, Democrats have momentum. But to Bakari's point, it's just hard to see that.

you know, they're underdogs. I'm still thinking about Pennsylvania. I think obviously Democrats are in a better spot, but I still think Trump is in a slightly better position in Pennsylvania and the candidate that wins it is most likely going to be the president. I don't disagree with that. What you have to say about Pennsylvania, that is for sure. All right, guys, thank you so much for the early, early morning after a long, long week. Really appreciate it. Thanks to all of you for joining us as well. I'm Casey Hunt. Don't go anywhere. CNN News Central is going to be next right here from Chicago.

Why didn't she do the things that she's complaining about? All of these things that she talked about, we're going to do this, we're going to do that, we're going to do everything. But she didn't do any of it. She could have done it three and a half years ago. She could do it tonight by leaving the auditorium and going to Washington, D.C. and closing the border.

Donald Trump weighing in on Kamala Harris's acceptance speech last night. The former president was on his Truth Social platform to react in real time to Harris's address. Our intrepid producer Abby counted 56 truths, quote unquote, truths over this period. The criticism, though, did go both ways. Harris had these words for Trump in her speech. Donald Trump is an unserious man, but the consequences...

But the consequences of putting Donald Trump in the White House are extremely serious.

All right. Panel's back. Scott Jennings, I kind of want to give this one to you because Trump put these 56 posts that we counted up overnight while this was going on. He called into Fox News. Fox kind of, you know, they spoke with him. They ended the interview. Then he called into Newsmax, continued the conversation. Then he calls back into Fox News and has this to say with Greg Gutfeld. Watch. What difference does it make? We're doing well. We're leading.

All right, Mr. President. Yeah. Yeah. All right. All right, Mr. P, I got to go. Sort of seems like you're trying to get him off the phone.

But I mean, what do you what did you make of his, quote unquote, responses? He's doing his own bracketing. You know, it's an old campaign term that Kate knows. But, you know, when the other side's doing something big, you try to bracket it a little bit. And obviously the Democrats have had the attention this week. So I think that he is not wrong, that he is still in a strong position in the polls. I think where he's really got to focus on is he's got one real chance to frame up this race on September the 10th.

He had the race against Biden totally framed, totally pegged. And everybody said he was on track to win that race in a landslide. And it was strength versus weakness. And now he's got to settle on something here. I was I was thinking about how did he actually win in 16? And it was kind of inside outside.

Hillary was the insider. I'm coming from the outside. I've been thinking about this. Maybe, you know, it's going to be radical Democrat versus common sense conservative, but it may be that he goes back to the old 2016 framing. She's on the inside, literally on the inside of the White House. And we're coming back from the outside and the people on the inside. It's not going to work. I think that the most fascinating thing about this, I think the fact is she not the vice president, but is she not at the center of American policymaking? I hear you, but I, I, okay.

I don't think that's the point, though. I think the point is a lot like what Nikki Haley said. And I said this yesterday again. It's the first party that's able to actually change the person at the top of their ticket because it's not inside versus outside. Because what you saw last night was a changing of the guard. You don't have a Clinton. You don't have an Obama. You don't have a Bush. You don't have a Trump. You have a totally new figure. The country is not totally new, but she is the vice president.

But she is seizing the mantle. She is seizing the messaging mantle of change. I mean, a new way forward. Now you can look again. You can argue. That's the fight though. That's the fight. So I don't disagree with this. I don't disagree with this. You got your microphone. I know. I know. What are you doing? I didn't want to cause a scene. No, but listen.

he used to be president of the United States. The idea that he is some insurgent coming out of nowhere. That's the other problem with it for him. Well, I mean, yes. And I mean, Kate, I think my question is...

the thing that Trump was saying and has been saying last night is that, okay, if she wants to do all these things, why didn't she do them over the course of the last three and a half years? I mean, that seems to me to be the thing that, okay, like if you're a voter in a swing state, like, okay, she says the border is a problem. Like you've been, you have been part of what has been in charge. That seems to me like if,

could work. I think that, I think if he were able to stick to that message, I think that is probably the, their best shot. I think that's probably their best lane. However, you have, first of all, I would argue she has actually a very strong record to run on. I think you saw her again. We were talking about this earlier in the show, but you saw her take on the immigration argument last night, uh, by flipping it back on Trump. That will be the name of the game. And let me, that's the name of the game in campaigns generally. I mean, you are, you are trying to, uh,

you know, to move the focus generally to your opponent. You're trying to define your opponent. I mean, I don't see a world where she's going to sit back and sort of let Trump define her time in the White House and just kind of say, you know, OK, but here's you know, but there's there's we know what you're going to do. You also had four years in office. We saw what that looked like.

I just don't think there's a clean shot for Trump on this for that reason. And I also think you saw her last night really lean into this new way forward. I mean, she clearly wants to make the pivot. And I think that the country wants that too. I mean, that's the other thing. So the last thing I'll say that, yeah,

That's what the country wants. I mean, part of a successful campaign is the message meeting. The moment is meeting where the country wants to be. The country wants to see change. She's embracing that. Trump doesn't represent change anymore. He does not. If you made it a comparative, though, would you take this campaign framing? If you were Trump or if you were Harris, who would you rather be? If the people walk into the voting booth and say, who gave me better results? Trump or

or Biden and Harris. Would you take that right now? Would you take that bet? The problem is that you're framing, I think you're framing it wrong. And I think that you're framing it... Well, they're two incumbents. But that is the fundamental problem. She's never been president. He has. That's also not the point. Like...

You're wrong. You're wrong. You're wrong. You're wrong. Everybody's screwing this up this morning. Do we put this shirt button up? First of all, I am making a statement. Hang on. Hang on. Let me get my Bakari. Here we go. Bakari. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, no. Oh, no. Thank God you can barely see that. Can I talk about the fact that this race is not about what you did for me three and a half years ago?

I think that's why everybody's wrong. This race is not about what you get stuff. Can I make an actual point here? This is not what I signed up for. Yes, Elliot, please speak to something. Elliot has the floor. But to all of this, I do think the fact that Democrats pivoted a little bit away from Donald Trump as an existential threat to democracy and toward Donald Trump is not a serious person. That was a thread running through and the mock

of him and mockery of the behavior and the 56 tweets as the vice president was speaking suggests that this is a contrast between serious people and sort of an unserious clown. - And it gets under his skin. - But the election is not about what, and this is where I said Scott was wrong and this is where I'm saying that a lot of people frame this wrong. The election is not about the four years when Donald Trump was president. The election is not about the last three and a half years.

It's just not. I mean, the election is about the next four years. And that is what that's what Democrats are betting on. And one of the one of the problems with Donald Trump and being a prisoner of being 78 years old is he has a fundamentally in a fundamental inability to tell me what the future will look like under him. He has not articulated a message about politics.

four more years for Donald Trump. Sure he has. No, he hasn't. Lower inflation, lower taxes, secure border, better economy. And a lot of Donald Trump. Yeah. And a lot of circus. But how many people who have suffered

working class who have suffered under inflation would say, I'll take all of the other ancillary stuff if you'll just give me back a little bit of peace of mind about my own economic situation. That's kind of the fundamental question, right? These people that got sick of Donald Trump in 2020 were like, you know, I like the policies, but I can't handle the man. And they went and they voted for Biden or they stayed home. I mean, isn't that the ballgame?

here? Yeah, but I think people have looked back over the whole thing and said, my God, we traded in somebody who gave us a good economy for somebody who claimed to be the adults in the room and they never acted like adults one time. The economy is moving in the right direction too. So you can't suggest that people are walking outside to stagflation and red lines. The economy is moving in the right direction and that's going to undermine your argument. The country's rejected this in 18, in 20, in 22. The country is out

rejected everything Donald Trump represents. I mean, it's okay if you wanted to put it on rinse and repeat. That's what the Republican Party is now. It's a rinse and repeat party. Nobody wants to buy the same thing that was cool in 2016. I mean, Donald Trump is Tommy Hilfiger. Don't nobody wear that no more. Oh, deep cut. Man. Wow. I hope they're not an advertiser. I'm so sorry. If Bakari's not here in the next segment, it's because of that.

Get out of your salary. Scott, I mean, the reality, though, I mean, to Bakari's point, this does seem to me to be the biggest difference between the convention that we saw this week because Harris was at the top of the ticket compared to what we would have seen with Joe Biden. The flip on who is the oldest, most tired, however you want to put it, the older,

version of whatever shtick any candidate is bringing to the table right now, it's Donald Trump. And that is a significant change. Yeah, it is a change. But the question they're going to be posing is this. The last time the Biden-Harris team showed up and told you the adults are now back in the room, everything they did from that point forward proved that they were not, whether it was on Afghanistan, whether it was on the economy, whether it was on the border. They told you the competent, moderate dealmaking adults were back, just like she's arguing right now.

And it was a total lie. They could not deliver on it. And when I was in office, yeah, maybe you don't like some of the stuff I say, but you had money in your pocket. The border was secure. America was respected around the world. That's the frame. If he can stick to it. If he can stick to it. It would be great if I were 5'10", also, but unfortunately... We have to press pause in this conversation. Could everybody please button their shirts for me? Okay.

Okay, it's 635 on the East Coast. All right, coming up on CNN this morning, convention vibes. Michael Smirconish is here to tell us who won the all-important vibe battle now that both conventions are in the books. Plus, it's been just over a month since Trump gave his acceptance speech at the RNC. We're going to take a look back at the differences about how that played out at his opponent's big night. Spoiler alert.

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custom window coverings in the world. Blinds.com is the GOAT. Shop Blinds.com right now and get up to 45% off select styles. Rules and restrictions may apply. Even though they were just one month apart, the Republican National Convention and Democratic National Convention were held in political contexts worlds apart, it seemed. The result, two starkly different, this seems to be the word of the election, vibes that were perhaps nowhere more evident during the convention's respective roll calls.

And I'd like to welcome you all to the Democratic National Convention roll call. Let us commence with the roll, with a call of the roll of the states. Iowa, 40 delegates. New Mexico.

cast all 22 votes for the next President of the United States, Donald J. Trump.

OK, that's said quite a bit. Joining me now, CNN political commentator Michael Smirconish. He's also the host of CNN's Smirconish. Michael, always wonderful to have you. Thank you so much for being here. I feel like they did a great job showing. I mean, that's kind of said it all. But I know you have some big picture thoughts about the Democratic National Convention, what you saw, what it's going to mean for the race going forward.

I've always loved, hello, Casey. I have always loved the roll call and I'm dating myself. I mean, when it came to Kansas and it was Kansas carry on wayward son, I'm like, wow, this speaks to me. Here's my big picture observation. I'm kind of an old soul. Go ahead. It brings back eighth grade memories. Um,

The Democrats are no longer ceding the flag. I have often commented that there's never been a response to Lee Greenwood's God Bless the USA. And by the way, I love that song. It gives me goosebumps. But Arlo Guthrie, this land is your land, which has usually been the Democratic response, has never worked. And what most stood out to me about the convention, big picture this week, because Casey, I've been a viewer. I've been afar. You're there in the thick of it.

is the bid for patriotism from Beyonce's freedom to the chants of USA, USA, to the intonement of love of country. These are the sort of things that normally come with Republican convention. So much so that I have done radio segments where I've asked listeners to

If you see an American flag outside of a home, do you presuppose you know the politics of the people? And many have said yes. Like, I get it. If it's a flag on the back of an F-150 and it's alongside some kind of reference to Brandon, it's probably a Trump supporter.

But this convention to me said that Democrats are no longer going to cede the flag to the Republicans and they want to wrap themselves, cloak themselves in patriotism. And I love seeing it because no one side ought to own the flag and patriotism.

For sure, Michael. And I mean, look, what do you think that means and what do you think it says about how Kamala Harris wants to present herself to America? Because this was her night. I mean, she was able to choreograph every single moment of what went on here, basically, or at least try. And that's what they decided to go with.

Yeah, and I thought she, I have to give her props. I thought that she spoke last night with poise and with conviction. I took note of the fact that she had a message she wanted to deliver about the border. She had a message that she wanted to deliver about Israel and Gaza. Now, she's got to sustain this momentum when she's questioned.

Because it still rankles me, the idea that on the 8th of August, she was asked when she'd make herself available for an interview. And she said, I think I'm going to do that by the end of the month. By the end of the month, it was the 8th of, I said October, of August when she said it. So that is the next stage. And I know it's causing confusion.

tremendous frustration on the part of former President Trump. He's like bursting at the seams watching her ascendance at the time that she's not being questioned in detail on these issues. If she's not questioned in detail on these issues before, you know, the debate, he's going to be like ready to pop. So that's what I want to see next.

Yeah, very interesting. Michael, we're going to expand this conversation out to include our panel. And one of the things that I think came up, especially right in the immediate aftermath of Harris's speech, was the contrast between her and Donald Trump and their speeches. I want to start by playing a little bit of what we heard from Donald Trump when he accepted his nomination. Let's watch. They're emptying out their insane asalams.

And terrorists are coming in at numbers that we've never seen before. Bad things are going to happen. But we become a dumping ground for the rest of the world, which is laughing at us. They think we're stupid. Our opponents inherited a world at peace and turned it into a planet of war.

I mean, the darkness on display there, Scott Jennings, a very stark contrast to what we saw from Harris last night. Well, I mean, Trump's going to continue to make an argument that he did have everything under control and that he turned it over to people who've let everything spiral out of control. She's obviously going to counter message that. That's part of the

But it's not just going to be about foreign policy or immigration. It's going to be right on the economy. And with Michael on here, I would just say for Pennsylvania, which is the pivotal state in the campaign, which of those issues is going to be the most important? I would argue it'll be the economic chaos that he that he says they've created the most. Don't you think, Michael? That's to you.

So the question is one of, is the race going to be about personality? If it is, he loses. Or is it going to be about policy? And if it is, I think he probably wins. Because when you look at the data and you ask people whether they appreciate more the, I'll say, the Biden-Harris record or the Trump record, they look back favorably on the Trump years.

But, you know, he's got to rein in his worst instincts. He deviates too much from that script when he looks at the audience and thinks they're getting bored. Let's not forget the Republicans had a great convention. I thought they were no perfect. And so to the Democrats. So it's still up in the air. It's still margin of error. Who the heck knows the next twist in this road?

I've never seen an election won on yesterday, ever. Every election, and I'm only 39. I'll be 40 in a couple of weeks. Casey made me button my shirt up.

So here I am. We've got 15 seconds. It looks great. I don't know. It's a little high. This one. Anyway, but what I will say is that I just think people are framing it wrong if they want to look back at the four years of Donald Trump or look back at the last three and a half years. Donald Trump is a prisoner of being 78 years old and he's unable to articulate a vision for the future.

All right. We got to leave it there, unfortunately. Michael Smirconish, always grateful to have you. Thank you so much for being here. Coming up next here on CNN this morning, four days full of big names stand out moments at the Democratic National Convention. I don't know about y'all, but but but after a week of live shows, watching all this energy and joy and purpose tonight, I feel like I just fell out of a coconut tree. We're going to hit rewind and take you back through some of the moments that stood out the most from the DNC.

With the Democratic National Convention now concluded and the race for the White House beginning in earnest, we wanted to take a look back at a week that was filled with big names and some significant moments. Let me know in my heart when my days are through, America, America, I gave my best to you. The only personal vanity I want to assert is I'm still younger than Donald Trump.

first person to run for president with 34 felony convictions. Who's gonna tell him that the job he's currently seeking might just be one of those black jobs? This weird obsession with crowd sizes. Together, let's all choose Kamala Ha-- As soon as our kids started calling her "Mamala," I knew we'd be okay.

Gus and Gwen, you are my entire world, and I love you. I accept your nomination to be President of the United States of America. And together, let us write the next great chapter in the most extraordinary story ever told.

So that is what Democrats wanted to tell America this week. We have just over 70 days left in this campaign. Very quickly, we're running out of time here. Who has the football? Who has the edge heading into this sprint? Kate Trump or Harris? Hard to argue that Democrats don't have the momentum coming out of this last month, frankly, and this week. Now, then the question becomes, how do you translate that momentum? Momentum has to actually get you to getting votes in the swing states on Election Day. So it's going to be an intense couple months. Harris or Trump?

No, we're still underdogs. But while we're in here, I'm still waiting on... I mean, I think...

Beyonce and Taylor Swift should be joining us. It's happening. It's coming. They're coming. They're joining us at any moment. We're going to keep that. We're just going to sit here and keep waiting. At 5 a.m., we're just going to keep waiting. We still have them. The joke will be on all of them. I have it on good authority. I have it on good authority. Any minute. Any minute. There was an energy in that room that Joe Biden could not have produced. Right now, Democrats have momentum, but to Bakari's point, it's just hard to see, you

you know, they're underdogs. I'm still thinking about Pennsylvania. I think obviously Democrats are in a better spot, but I still think Trump is in a slightly better position in Pennsylvania and the candidate that wins it is most likely going to be the president. I don't disagree with that. What you have to say about Pennsylvania, that is for sure. All right, guys, thank you so much for the early, early morning after a long, long week. Really appreciate it. Thanks to all of you for joining us as well. I'm Casey Hunt. Don't go anywhere. CNN News Central is going to be next right here from Chicago.

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