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The Situation Room
Biden & Harris Appear Together For First Time As Running Mates; Harris Slams Trump COVID Response In First Speech As Running Mate. Aired 5-6p ET
Aired August 12, 2020 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[17:00:00]
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Kamala and I both know that all folks you're looking for as my dad would say is an even shot. Just give me a shot, a fair shot. A shot at making it. And it will be the work of our administration to make sure they get a fair shot.
Working families need someone on their side in this nation because they certainly don't have anyone in the president now on their side. That's going to change in a Biden-Harris administration. It's going to be gratifying to see the strong, enthusiastic reaction to Senator Harris as our next vice president.
You know, it comes from people all over the country, it's already occurring all over the country, all ideological views, all backgrounds. Events, of course, we are predictable some of them. It comes from all over, except, of course, from Donald Trump's White House and his allies. You all knew it was coming. You could have set your watches to it.
Donald Trump has already started his attacks calling Kamala, quote, nasty, whining about how she's, quote, mean to his appointees. It's no surprise because whining is what Donald Trump does best better than any president in American history. Is anyone surprised Donald Trump has a problem with strong woman or strong women across the board?
We know that more is to come so let's be clear. If you're a working person worried about whether or not you'll have a job to go to, whether or not you'll be able to pay your mortgage, pay your rent, worried about the poison in the air you breathe, the water you drink, worried about your civil rights, even your basic right to dignity, which is under attack with this administration, Kamala Harris has had your back and now we have to have her back.
She's going to stand with me and this campaign and all of us are going to stand up for her. On January 20th, 2021, we're all going to watch Senator Harris raise her right hand and swear the oath of office as the first woman ever to serve in the second highest office in America in this land.
And then we're going to get to work fixing the mess that President Trump and Vice President Pence have created, both at home and abroad through four years of mismanagement and coddling of terrorists and thugs around the world. Not only will America did itself out of this hole they've put us in.
We're going to build back and we're going to build back better. We have a public health crisis while he's in court trying to do away with healthcare. With more than five million reported infections, a 160,000 people dead and climbing as a consequence of COVID-19. And still months later no real leadership or plan from the president of the United States how to get this pandemic under control.
No real help for the states and local governments trying to fill the vacuum of leadership from the White House. No real help for children and educators, for small businesses and front line workers that holding -- they're the ones holding our country together. Instead, he's issuing executive orders and making promises that in the end will defund the social security system while insisting that this virus will disappear.
The Joe Biden and Kamala Harris administration will have a comprehensive plan to meet the challenge of COVID-19 and turn the corner on this pandemic. Masking, clear science-based guidance, dramatically scaling up testing, getting states and local governments the resources they need to open the schools and businesses safely.
We can do this. We just need a president and a vice president willing to lead and take responsibility. Not as this president says, it's not my fault, the governors should thank me more. As an old saying goes, give me a break. We have an economic crisis with more than 16 million Americans, 16 million still out of work.
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Donald Trump is on track to break another record. On track to leave office with the worst jobs record of any American president in modern history. But instead of doing the hard work, of meeting face to face with congressional leaders, Democrats and Republicans in the White House like every other president done in a crisis, to get Americans the relief they need and deserve, Donald Trump is on the golf course. If I had told you these three years ago, you'd look at me like I was being crazy. He hasn't even met with the leadership. He doesn't have time it appears.
We have a climate crisis that Donald Trump refuses to even acknowledge. When he thinks about climate change, all hear -- we hear is the word hoax. The Biden-Harris administration is going to meet the climate crisis, protect the health of the American public, and along the way, we're going to deliver one word, jobs, good-paying jobs.
We have a racial justice crisis. Donald Trump seeks only to inflame it with his politics of racist rhetoric and appeals to division. You know, today is not only the day I'm proud to introduce Senator Kamala Harris as the vice presidential nominee of the Democratic Party. It's also the third anniversary of that terrible day in Charlottesville. Remember?
Remember what it felt like to see these neo-Nazis? Close your eyes, and those Klansmen, white supremacists, coming out of fields carrying lighted torches, faces contorted, bulging veins, pouring into the streets of a historic American city spewing the same anti-Semitic bio we heard in Hitler's Germany in the '30s. Remember how it felt to see a violent clash ensue between those celebrating hate and those standing against it? It was a wake-up call for all of us as a country. For me, it was a call to action.
My father used to say, silence is complicity. Not original to him but he believed it. At that moment I knew I couldn't stand by and let Donald Trump, a man who went on to say when asked about what he thought he said, there are very fine people on both sides. Quote, very fine people on both sides. No president of the United States of America has ever said anything like that.
He continued to attack everything that makes America, America. I knew we were in the battle for the soul of the nation. That's when I decided to run. And I am proud now to have Senator Harris at my side in that battle because she shares the same intensity I do. For she is someone who knows what's at stake.
The question is for all Americans to answer, who are we as a nation? What do we stand for? And, most importantly, what do we want to be? You know, someone who knows that the future of this country is limited only by the barriers we placed on our own imaginations because there's nothing Americans cannot achieve when we put our mind to it and we do it together.
One of the reasons I chose Kamala is because we both believe that we can define America simply in one word. Possibilities. Possibilities. Let me say it again. Possibilities. That's America. That's what sets this nation apart is that everyone, everyone, the ability for everyone, and we mean everyone, to go as far and dream as big as hard work and their God-given ability will take them.
When I agreed to serve as President Obama's running mate, he asked me a number of questions as I have asked Kamala. But the most important one he said to me, what -- he asked me what I wanted, most importantly.
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I told him I wanted to be the last person in the room before he made important decisions. That's what I asked Kamala. I asked Kamala to be the last voice in the room, to always tell me the truth which she will, challenge my assumptions if she disagrees, ask the hard questions. Because that's the way we make the best decisions for the American people.
I got a chance to spend some time at my home today with Kamala and Doug. And I want to thank -- I thanked them then but to thank them publicly for agreeing to join and take this journey with Jill and me. Doug, you're going to have to learn what it means to be a barrier breaker yourself in this job you're about to take on.
America's first second gentleman. And although they're not with us here today, I want to thank Ella and Cole as well. I had a chance to speak to Doug's mom and dad and Ella and Cole. We're going to get our kids together to let them know what's coming. My grandchildren are about the age of their children. I got to speak to them.
My campaign has always been a family affair, every campaign I've run. So I've got some news for you, you're all honorary Bidens. And here's the best part. Kamala, you've been an honorary Biden for quite some time. You know, I came first to know who Kamala was through our son Beau Biden. They were friends.
They served as attorneys general at the same time. They took the same big -- they took on the same big fights together. Kamala in California, Beau here in Delaware. Big fights that helped change the entire country. I know how much Beau respected Kamala and her work. And that mattered a lot to me, to be honest with you as I made this decision.
So now we need to get to work, pulling this nation out of these crises we find ourselves in, getting our economy back on track, uniting this nation. And, yes, winning the battle for the soul of America.
My fellow Americans, now let me introduce to you for the first time your next vice president of the United States, Kamala Harris. Kamala, the floor is yours.
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), PRESUMPTIVE VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Thank you, Joe.
BIDEN: Thank you.
HARRIS: Thank you, Joe. As I said, Joe, when you called me, I am incredibly honored by this responsibility, and I'm ready to get to work. I am ready to get to work.
After the most competitive primary in history, the country received a resounding message that Joe was the person to lead us forward. And Joe, I'm so proud to stand with you. And I do so mindful of all the heroic and ambitious women before me whose sacrifice, determination, and resilience makes my presence here today even possible.
This is a moment of real consequence for America. Everything we care about, our economy, our health, our children, the kind of country we live in, it's all on the line. We're reeling from the worst public health crisis in a century. The president's mismanagement of the pandemic has plunged us into the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.
And we're experiencing a moral reckoning with racism and systemic injustice that has brought a new coalition of conscience to the streets of our country demanding change. America is crying out for leadership. Yet, we have a president who cares more about himself than the people who elected him. A president who is making every challenge we face even more difficult to solve. But here's the good news, we don't have to accept the failed government of Donald Trump and Mike Pence.
[17:15:06] In just 83 days, we have a chance to choose a better future for our country. So, Joe, Dr. Biden, thank you for the trust you've placed in me. Jill, I know you will be an incredible first lady. And my husband Doug and I are so grateful, grateful to become a part of your extended family. And ever since I received Joe's call, I've been thinking, yes, about the first Biden that I really came to know, and that, of course is Joe's beloved son, one of his beloved sons, Beau.
In the midst of the Great Recession, Beau and I spoke on the phone practically every day, sometimes multiple times a day. Working together to win back billions of dollars for homeowners from the big banks of the nation that were foreclosing on people's homes.
And let me just tell you about Beau Biden. I learned quickly that Beau was the kind of guy who inspired people to be a better version of themselves. He really was the best of us. And when I would ask him where did you get that, where did this come from? He'd always talk about his dad.
And I will tell you the love that they shared was incredible to watch. It was the most Beautiful display of the love between a father and a son. And Beau talked about how Joe would spend four hours every day riding the rails back and forth from Wilmington to Washington so he could make breakfast for his kids in the morning and make it home in time to tuck them in bed each night.
All of this, so two little boys who had just lost their mom and their sister in a tragic accident would know that the world was still turning. And that's how I came to know Joe. He's someone whose first response when things get tough is never to think about himself but to care for everyone else.
He's someone who never asks why is this happening to me, and instead asks what can I do to make life better for you. His empathy, his compassion, his sense of duty to care for others is why I am so proud to be on this ticket. And Joe and I, yes, we are cut from the same cloth. Family is everything to me too.
And I cannot wait for America to get to know my husband Doug and our amazing kids, Cole and Ella. Because whether I'm cheering in the bleachers at a swim meet or setting up a college room dorm or helping my goddaughter prepare for her school debate, or building Legos with my godson, or hugging my two baby nieces, or cooking dinner, Sunday dinner, my family means everything to me.
And I've had a lot of titles over my career, and certainly vice president will be great. But Momala will always be the one that means the most. And, you know, my mother and father, they came from opposite sides of the world to arrive in America. One from India and the other from Jamaica in search of a world-class education.
But what brought them together was the civil rights movement of the 1960s. And that's how they met as students in the streets of Oakland marching and shouting for this thing called justice, in a struggle that continues today. And I was part of it. My parents would bring me to protests strapped tightly in my stroller. And my mother Shyamala raised my sister Maya and me to believe that it
was up to us and every generation of Americans to keep on marching. She'd tell us don't sit around and complain about things, do something. So I did something. I devoted my life to making real the words carved in the United States Supreme Court, equal justice under law.
And 30 years ago, I stood before a judge for the first time, breathed deep, and uttered the phrase that would truly guide my career and the rest of my career.
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Kamala Harris for the people. The people, that's who I represented as district attorney, fighting on behalf of victims who needed help. The people, that's who I fought for as California's attorney general when I took on transnational criminal organizations who are trafficking guns and drugs and human beings.
And it's the people who I have fought for as a United States senator where I've worked every day to hold Trump officials accountable to the American people. And the people are who Joe and I will fight for every day in the White House. And let me tell you, somebody who has presented my fair share of arguments in court, the case against Donald Trump and Mike Pence is open and shut.
Just look where they've gotten us. More than 16 million out of work. Millions of kids who cannot go back to school. A crisis of poverty, of homelessness afflicting black, brown, and indigenous people the most. A crisis of hunger afflicting one in five mothers who have children that are hungry. And tragically, more than 165,000 lives that have been cut short. Many with loved ones who never got the chance to say goodbye. It didn't have to be this way.
Six years ago, in fact, we had a different health crisis. It was called the Ebola. And we all remember that pandemic. But you know what happened then? Barack Obama and Joe Biden did their job. Only two people in the United States died, two. That is what's called leadership. But compare that to the moment we find ourselves in now.
When other countries are following the science, Trump pushed miracle cures he saw on Fox News. While other countries were flattening the curve, he said the virus would just, poof, go away, quote, like a miracle. So when other countries opened back up for business, what did we do? We had to shut down again.
This virus has impacted almost every country. But there's a reason it has hit America worse than any other advanced nation. It's because of Trump's failure to take it seriously from the start. His refusal to get testing up and running, his flip-flopping on social distancing and wearing masks, his delusional belief that he knows better than the experts. All of that is reason.
And the reason that an American dies of COVID-19 every 80 seconds. It's why countless businesses have had to shut their doors for good. It's why there is complete chaos over when and how to reopen our schools. Mothers and fathers are confused and uncertain and angry about childcare and the safety of their kids at school, whether they'll be in danger if they go or fall behind if they don't.
Trump is also the reason millions of Americans are now unemployed. He inherited the longest economic expansion in history from Barack Obama and Joe Biden. And then, like everything else he inherited, he ran it straight into the ground. Because of Trump's failures of leadership, our economy has taken one of the biggest hits out of all the major industrialized nations with an unemployment rate that has tripled as of today. This is what happens when we elect a guy who just isn't up for the job. Our country ends up in tatters. And so does our reputation around the world.
But let's be clear. This election isn't just about defeating Donald Trump or Mike Pence. It's about building this country back better. And that's exactly what Joe and I will do.
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We'll create millions of jobs and fight climate change through a clean energy revolution. Bring back critical supply chains so the future is made in America. Build on the Affordable Care Act so everyone has the peace of mind that comes with health insurance. And, finally, offer caregivers the dignity, the respect, and the pay they deserve.
We'll protect a woman's right to make her own decisions about her own body, root out systemic racism in our justice system, and pass a new voting rights act, a John Lewis Voting Rights Act that will ensure every voice is heard and every voice is counted.
The civil rights struggle is nothing new to Joe. It's why he got into public service. It's why he helped reauthorize the Voting Rights Act and restore unemployment discrimination and employment discrimination laws. And today, he takes his place in the ongoing story of America's march toward equality and justice as only -- as the only, as the only who has served alongside the first black president and has chosen the first black woman as his running mate.
But as Joe always points out, this election is about more than politics. It's about who we are as a country. And I'll admit over the past four years there have been moments when I have truly worried about our future. But whenever I think that there is a reason for doubt, whenever I have had my own doubts, I think of you, the American people, the doctors and nurses and front line workers who are risking your lives to save others.
The truck drivers and the workers in grocery stores, in factories, in farms working there, putting your own safety on the line to help us get through this pandemic. The women and students taking to the streets in unprecedented numbers. The Dreamers and immigrants who know that families belong together. The LGBTQ Americans who know that love is love. People of every age and color and creed who are finally declaring in one voice that, yes, black lives matter.
All across this country, a whole new generation of children is growing up hearing the cries for justice. And the chants of hope on which I was raised. Some strapped into strollers of their own. And trust me, it's a song you'll never forget. So to everyone keeping up the fight, you are doing something, you are doing something great. You are the heroes of our time. And you are the reason I know we are going to bring our country closer to realizing its great promise.
But to do it, we'll need to work, organize, and vote like never before because we need more than a victory on November 3rd. We need a mandate that proves that the past few years do not represent who we are or who we aspire to be. Joe likes to say that character is on the ballot, and it's true. When he saw what happened in Charlottesville three years ago today, he knew we were in a battle for the soul of our nation. And together with your help, that's a battle we will win.
Earlier this year, I said I'd do whatever Joe asked me to do. And so now I'm asking you to do the same. So visit joebiden.com to get involved in this campaign and vote. Because electing Joe Biden is just the start of the work ahead of us. And I couldn't be prouder to be by his side running to represent you, the people.
Thank you, and may God bless the United States of America. Thank you.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Kamala Harris giving her first address in the first appearance there with Vice President Joe Biden. Their first time together as running mates.
Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. Wolf Blitzer is off today. I'm Anderson Cooper in THE SITUATION ROOM. We are following the breaking news.
And there you see Jill Biden and Kamala Harris' husband Doug Emhoff. It's the first time we have seen all four of them together. Clearly abiding social distancing.
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They wore masks as they came into the room, then took them off as they spoke. We heard a lot really a character portrait painted by Kamala Harris about Joe Biden. And then she moved to making the case against Donald Trump saying the case against Donald Trump, Mike Pence is open and shut.
Talking about kids not being able to go to school, homelessness, hunger, COVID deaths. She brought up Ebola. And what she said was Trump's failure to take COVID-19 seriously from the start.
Dana Bash is joining us. Dana, what do you make of this first appearance somewhat awkward, just given the sort of orchestration of it, lack of actually an audience there other than reporters? I'm not sure who else really was in the room.
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, given the situation, it could have been a lot more awkward. I mean, this was -- these were two extremely strong, pointed speech from the presumptive nominees of the Democratic Party, and it is very, very interesting to me, just starting with Kamala Harris. The way that she wove in the Joe Biden message with the message that
we heard from her when she ran for president, which ended that candidacy, of course, ended before anybody even took a vote during the primary season. But she talked about -- she used her initial catchphrase saying Kamala Harris for the people.
She talked about, of course, her personal story, which is remarkable that she is a first generation American. Her father is -- it was from Jamaica, her mother was from India, and talked a lot about her path growing up. But she also knew exactly what she was doing and trying to get under Donald Trump's skin in a number of ways and she used some phrases that Joe Biden has used, for example, everything that he inherits he runs into the ground. We've heard a version of that from Joe Biden. But it sounded a lot more biting, frankly, coming from Kamala Harris.
And the one other thing I want to say, which I thought was very, very telling about how much they understand the stakes here. Towards the end of Kamala Harris's speech, she said, we need more than a victory. She said, we need a mandate.
They understand that -- they believe that Donald Trump is going to, you know, leave the White House if they do win, kicking and screaming and he's already setting up a situation in a scenario to call the election rigged. And that was a very clear message as she started to, you know, have a call to arms, if you will, for people to get out and to -- for the grassroots campaigning to really begin, Anderson.
COOPER: I want to bring in also Gloria Borger. Gloria, what did you make of, let's start, I guess with Kamala Harris?
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think she gave a very powerful speech and if there is any doubt that Kamala Harris is not going to be able to go on the attack as vice presidential candidates usually do, that was a race today.
As Dana was saying, she took on Donald Trump in every way, saying that everything was handed to him and that everything that was handed to him, he ruined and she said, look, the case against Donald Trump and Mike Pence is open and shot. And then she used a phrase that I think we're going to hear over and over again, she called it a coalition of conscience against Donald Trump. And that is I think, the way she's going to frame all of this.
Biden has said this is a fight for the soul of the nation. She is saying the same thing using different language and I think the lines are completely drawn here. One other thing that was really interesting to me, Anderson was Joe Biden's speech. It's as good as speeches I've heard him give during this campaign, and I think he took this opportunity when he knew a lot of eyeballs were watching to give a full blown campaign indictment of Donald Trump.
He will get this audience again maybe next week, during the convention. But he took a lot of his time talking about Donald Trump, and what he has done to the country, talking an awful lot about COVID, for example, and what he would do as president the United States. And I think it is interesting to me that he did this at this moment because he knew that people were watching.
COOPER: Nia-Malika Henderson, joins us as well. Nia-Malika, obviously, this campaign is already well underway, and yet it does feel different now that he has his running mate.
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NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: It does. This is a new chapter in this campaign, a moment that a lot of people were pressing for to have a black woman, a woman of color in the number two slot. I thought Kamala Harris gave a fantastic speech. He absolutely nailed it. I think this is one of the finest performances I've seen her deliver in terms of a speech.
She has tremendous range as a speaker. There are times when she's incredibly warm and funny, and light. She's talking about spending time with her nieces and her stepkids, being called model of cooking dinner. And then there is a hope that she talks about to growing up as somebody whose parents were involved in the civil rights movement.
She was a little girl, often in her stroller during those marches and then connecting that experience with the marchers who are now chanting Black Lives Matter. And then she becomes the prosecutor who's taking the case against Donald Trump.
She was I thought fabulous in this speech. And the thing about moments like this, this is how this campaign is going to be run. It's going to be largely on television, they're not going to be a lot of crowds to give applause when you give an applause line in a speech. So her ability, I think, to show this tremendous range of personal side of her as well in this speech.
And I was -- as I was sitting there watching her, you know, I thought about the real caricature that Donald Trump is going to try to offer as her, right, essentially say that she is a black radical who wants to destroy the kind of white American way of life and, you know, overrun the suburbs with criminals. That's going to be really hard when you see her there with the sort of winsome appearance. There she is in, you know, sort of a sensible blue suit and pearls and sensible heels.
So I think they've got a real time on their hands in terms of what they're going to try to do to her. It's going to be very hard because she's so skilled. And she, I think, is going to connect very well in this medium of television, because this is the way that she's going to be presented. They're not going to be these, you know, big moments and big speeches and big rallies. So I thought this was a tremendous effort by her.
You know, we've seen I think, in Kamala Harris, somebody who can, you know, hit a homerun and then maybe, you know, a couple of singles here and there. You know, as an athlete, you might describe her as somebody who is somewhat streaky.
But here, I thought, if this is how she's going to present herself over these next 80 days or so, I think this was a tremendous effort out of the gate. In some ways, a different version of Kamala Harris, been -- we've seen before real -- I think complete package in terms of her speaking ability and presenting a real fulsome version of herself and her story.
COOPER: Also, I mean, we've seen her give speeches before. There was a relaxed quality to her while and delivering, you know, some blistering lines of attack, but also not doing it, you know, I mean to, you know, the President and Joe Biden mentioned this, you know, called her nasty already. There was nothing nasty at all in the way she delivered some very cutting lines.
HENDERSON: No, I think that's right. I mean, there was a lightness to her as she was delivering, as you said, this case against Donald Trump. And listen, this is what she is trained to do present a case and connect with a jury and convince a jury, and so there you saw, I think those prosecutorial skills very much on display.
I've seen her give speeches in person and oftentimes, there is sort of tremendous build up and she's often not able to kind of carry the room. And in this instance, there is no room there, right, there is just reporters there. And so I think in some ways, the fact that you're not really going to have a campaign is going to -- I think we're down to their effort because Joe Biden is not a terrific speech giver.
And Kamala Harris, I think has oftentimes struggled to give big speeches in front of crowds, oftentimes. But I thought today, she really did a fantastic job and I'm sure Donald Trump is watching this, and he's nervous about the presentation that we saw here from Kamala Harris.
COOPER: Joined by David Chalian. David, do you think Donald Trump is nervous?
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, I think Donald Trump is nervous. Irrespective of Kamala Harris and her skill set on display today certainly isn't going to alleviate any of that nerves. He's not in a great position right now heading into this homestretch of this campaign, Anderson. But watching Senator Harris sort of fill the role of the number two on the ticket.
[17:40:07]
She sort of -- I thought there were sort of four different components to her speech. She -- and she took each one, the cheerleader for the nominee, but she did that in such a heart-wrenching and touching way, sort of touting Joe Biden through the eyes of his late son, Beau Biden, because of the relationship that she had formed as state attorneys general at that time.
So not just touting her own experience with Joe Biden, but telling the qualities of Joe Biden through the eyes of his late son, obviously, he was very touched by that, but that was a really -- just a heart filled way, I think to fulfill that role.
Gloria and Nia talked about the attack role. She has no problem and I watched many speeches throughout 2019. She has no problem prosecuting the case against Donald Trump. She clearly relishes it.
But the telling of her own story, her American story as the daughter of immigrants, as she said, from people who came from opposite sides of the world, and what that was and the way that she grew up in civil rights activism, that was a critical piece of it as well.
And then it was the hope part, the selling to the American people, the notion that this team of Biden and Harris will fight for you during this time of the pandemic. I mean, both at the top and the bottom of the speech, it came back to this pandemic election and coronavirus, and I -- that was clearly by design. And that is clearly where the Biden team now Harris a part of it, is going to keep its focus.
I would just note one other thing from Vice President Biden's remarks that I thought was also very telling about how they're framing Kamala Harris into this larger narrative. He talked about her story being an American story as he's introducing her to the public anytime they appear hereafter, you know, she'll be the one that they appear together again to introduce him.
But here, he was introducing her. And I thought it was so interesting when the former Vice President said, our stories, his and Kamala Harris's, may be different in the particulars. Obviously, you're looking at a 77-year old white guy grew up in Scranton, very different generation, and totally different visual, obviously, then the first black woman, Indian American woman on a major party ticket.
He said, they may be different in the particulars, but we are the same, we have the same story in the essentials. And I thought that that was a clear way of how the Biden campaign was going to bridge. What are two very different people? Two different approaches clearly have different generations and clearly have different moments in time and the way in which they're weaving those stories together, as they take the case against Donald Trump to the American people.
COOPER: Van Jones is also joining us. Ben, I mean, if Joe Biden was looking for somebody who had strengths that he does not have or abilities that he does not have, we certainly saw some of those on display today.
VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, I mean, it was a beautiful speech. Both of them, they strengthen each other. They're both steadier together. They're both stronger together. That was such a beautiful thing to see.
I think if you're going to give a headline today, it would be hope reborn. That's what I felt, hope reborn. It's been -- you just haven't heard people talking that way about the country and cutting through and seeming authentic for too long. But I think that Kamala Harris did something incredibly beautiful.
You know, she was able to talk about his son in a way that humanized herself, that humanize Beau and humanize Joe Biden in a way that I think people have kind of lost track of sometimes. The plotline around Joe Biden have gotten cluttered about the memes and the jokes and that type of stuff. This is a man that suffered a lot. And he's a good man. He's a good man. And she brought that back into the conversation in a beautiful way. And in so doing, you know, this idea that she's a phony, this type of thing, there's something about the fact that there isn't an audience to play to hear. There's no rally to try to whip up.
The intimacy of that space allowed her to come in a different register. And that was the real Kamala -- that's a Kamala that I've known for 20 years. That's a Kamala that cares about real people. She's comfortable in her own skin. She loves people it shows and I thought -- listen, taken away the rallies from this particular team, I think makes them even harder to be because they get a chance to speak in such a heartfelt and intimate way.
COOPER: Well, you know, I think what you said is such an important point. The intimacy of this kind of campaigning.
[17:45:00]
It's really unlike anything we have seen and it is something that I do think plays to a strength that she has just in that the box of the television, the box of an online Zoom call or whatever the medium is. There is an intimacy to it that she does -- I don't know if it's a generational thing but she is able to punch through and yet do it in a way that is very seeming relaxed and conversational.
JONES: Yes. And I think that that is going to, I think, play to her benefit and play to the country's benefit. I think also she did a great job of just describing what people are going to. You know, people are worried about our kids. I mean, all of us -- you know, she said -- when she said, you don't know where they're going to send your kids to school and get them sick or to have them stay home and fall behind. That is what 30, 40 million people are going through literally right now today and she spoke about that in a way that really cuts through.
And the contrast between the heart that she was showing, the toughness, of course, but also the tenderheartedness that she showed, it's medicine right now. People need to feel that somebody gets them and then somebody cares. And I think that she was able to deliver that. And she's relieved of the burden of having to strive and struggle to get there. She's there now.
And what Michelle Obama always says is that power doesn't corrupt, it reveals. Well, now you see Kamala Harris standing where she's wanted to stand for a long time. And look at the heart that she shows, look at what got revealed today. And that's -- if that continues, I think that it's going to be harder and harder to paint her into some negative corner. I think she did an extraordinary job today.
COOPER: Van, just briefly, somebody who, you know, knows about organizing and grassroots, what does this -- to you, what does this campaign look like? I mean, moving forward from here 85 or so, whatever it is days --
JONES: Right (ph). COOPER: I mean, is it all just on, you know, online calls and online town meetings, town hall meetings. And, I mean, if somebody is energized right now, whether it's for the Trump campaign or for the Biden-Harris campaign, normally they might be able to volunteer, they might be able to go knock on doors, there might be alignments on phones. Does that happen now?
JONES: Look, I don't know, it's the weirdest thing of the convention next week. It's weird -- I don't know, but what I do know is that this thing is going to play out on people's phones in a way that has never happened before. And not just the tweets. Last time, it was the tweets, it was the words. I think now you're going to see the images, the video, it's going to be the shareable clip.
And honestly, if what you saw today, it's what's going to be shared over and over again, people are used to now dealing with these screens, that content would be shareable. That content would be beautiful. And if you can create those digital breadcrumbs to then pull people to a site where they can get plugged in, I mean, you're starting to see them inventing a new way of campaigning literally in real time.
But, I mean, this is -- I mean, I was prepared to see, you know, a tough pick. I mean, how do you campaign in a room full of reporters, there's no craft, there's no confetti, there's no balloons, right? What the heck. And they blew me away. Both of them were stronger today than I've seen them in a very long time, if ever.
COOPER: Van, thanks. Jeff's Zeleny is standing by. Jeff, you've covered a lot of campaigns. What are your thoughts on this?
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, I think what we saw here today was the passing of the torch from the Obama- Biden coalition to what Democrats hope will be the Biden-Harris coalition. Joe Biden, obviously, being the bridge between these two tickets, and he used that as a metaphor to talk about why he picked Senator Harris.
And one thing that I was struck, we have heard most of these words before from Joe Biden and from Kamala Harris, but this is a different moment. The presidential campaign started today in Wilmington, we'll hear from the President later. It is now fully joined. So we have heard these words, but from Senator Harris, it's an entirely different platform for her. It's as though she was saying them from the mountaintop, as opposed to, you know, just a high school gymnasium there.
And I think that the ease in which they work together was very apparent. This is why he picked her. It is because of Beau Biden is the thread, but it's also their comfort level.
But, Anderson, I heard so many speeches during the primary campaign from Joe Biden about the grave nature of the problems facing the country, even before coronavirus. That was true again today, but it was laced with more optimism than I think we have heard. And he boiled it down in the word possibilities. Joe Biden said that our ticket represents possibilities. So there was just a sense of optimism and that is a needle that Democrats know they need to thread because this have been a pretty serious grave and, you know, important and sad moment for the country. So it is the optimism that they're trying to project there.
[17:50:03]
But make no mistake, Kamala Harris was not chosen to be an attack dog. She was chosen to be a governing partner. But that is the role she plays incredibly well. So watching the dynamic between her and President Trump and, of course, her and Mike Pence as well is going to be an easy one.
I am told by her advisors in the Biden campaign, they do want her to be campaigning as much as possible in battleground states. They do want her to be visible. So look for her to play a very visible role. But again, Anderson, just so struck by the grave and serious tone of this. I think at the moment, this is a serious time.
And of course, it's the third anniversary of Charlottesville. It's the reason that Joe Biden got into this race after all, and it makes perfect sense that he introduced his running mate today, with that in mind. Anderson?
COOPER: Yes. Kaitlan Collins is standing by. Kaitlan, we're waiting to hear our President Trump starting to take questions from reporters, we'll bring that that to our viewers. Any response from the White House?
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: None so far. But Anderson, remember it was just 24 hours ago that in this room the President was going after Kamala Harris saying that she was disrespectful, calling her a nasty person. He said disrespectful to Judge -- Justice Kavanaugh that is -- he was referencing.
And today, the tables were returned, and it was her turn to go after him and to criticize him. And she did that by going after their response to the pandemic sweeping the nation, saying that he failed to listen to the signs from the start from the experts about this. He failed to take the virus seriously, from the beginning, something that CNN reporting and other reporting shows extensively we should note.
And she basically accused the President of being the reason there is such a high number of American deaths from COVID-19 right now and saying that it was a lack of a good response from not only Donald Trump but also Vice President Mike Pence.
She also talked about the economy, what it looks like before, you heard that when she said something and this is likely a line that could sting for the President when she said that he basically inherited this great economy from President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. And she said like everything else that he inherited, he ran it straight into the ground. That is the quote that she used there.
So those are likely the moments that the President was watching closely as he was watching that speech taking it in. And there is certainly a good chance we could hear the President respond to those accusations, to those insults from Kamala Harris when he comes out here into the briefing room.
COOPER: Kaitlan Collins, thanks very much. We'll be watching for that.
Jessica Dean is joining us. Jessica, what happens now for the Biden- Harris campaign?
JESSICA DEAN, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, for the immediate now, Anderson, they are scheduled to hold a grassroots fundraiser. You heard of former Vice President Biden saying they broke records yesterday with their fundraising. We'll see what the number ultimately ends up being today. But the point of this grassroots fundraiser is because they were not able to because of COVID, have a rally and introduce supporters in person to the full ticket to Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug.
They're going to do it online, as so many people are doing things now in the world that we're in. They're going to have the virtual fundraiser with both Kamala Harris, Joe Biden and their spouses. So that's happening next.
We're also told, my colleague Arlette Saenz, just asked former Vice President Biden, if we would see him and Kamala Harris campaigning together, if they would be out campaigning together, because remember so far, Joe Biden has been doing these very small socially distance events.
He said, if the science allows, they will be seen campaigning together. But of course, with that big caveat of if the science allows, Anderson, that's what we've seen from the Biden campaign, really drawing that contrast where they want to be seen as taking the coronavirus very seriously and dealing with it in a very different way than they say that the Trump administration has dealt with it.
So again, will we see them out on the campaign trail together? It sounds like it will be up to science and how this pandemic continues to play out into the fall. Anderson?
COOPER: Jessica Dean, Jessica, thanks very much.
Before becoming a senator, Harris served, obviously as California's Attorney General and before that, she was San Francisco's District Attorney. Joining us now is the Mayor of San Francisco, London Breed. Mayor Breed, thanks so much. I'm wondering what you thought of the official launch of the Biden-Harris campaign?
MAYOR LONDON BREED (D), SAN FRANCISCO, CA: Well, it was spot on, it was so moving. It just reminded me of the need for humanity in this election. We have been dealing with so many challenges with the Trump administration for far too long. And her speech got us back to focusing on what's most important, the American people, the challenges that we're facing in this country because of this global pandemic, and the need for strong leadership. And that is really what we need at this time. COOPER: What do you think her record in San Francisco and in California tells the country about how she'll be as a vice president?
BREED: I think that -- I want to be clear, because I work with Kamala before. I was an elected official and we were dealing with real serious challenges around violence in our community, the community that I was born and raised in.
[17:55:07]
And for the first time ever, we had a district attorney who was more concerned about how we were going to change the conditions and the situations before they even hit her courtroom. That's the kind of person that I know she has been on the ground here in San Francisco and the kind of person she has been by focusing on going after big banks and those who abuse seniors in her role as attorney general.
That has been really her record. It's been to fight and to be strong and to push for justice, but to also ensure that it impact people in a way that it never has before. Because really what you see is a person who cares about making sure people are not left out. That's the kind of person she has always been and her record supports the decisions that she continues to make.
COOPER: There are some on the more progressive wing of the Democratic Party who have concerns about her record as a prosecutor, her record as a district attorney, what do you say to people who may think that she is too much of the establishment?
BREED: And I want to say it again, Anderson, I was here in the trenches. I grew up in those violent situations born and raised over half of my life living in this. So we had a completely different experiences. And for those that are critical -- many times those people weren't even in the trenches working in the community every single day to address those issues. We had a shooting in front of over 50 kids and adults and one of our gyms, which was a safe haven. This kid was shot and killed in front of all of them.
Kamala called us not to figure out who she can prosecute, but how we were getting help and support for those kids and those families. So like no other D.A. I experienced. So I think at the end of the day, we know that there are going to be some critics, there always are when you're an elected leader, but especially a black woman. And the fact is, Kamala has done an incredible job. No one is perfect, but we have the perfect ticket with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for the Democratic Party.
And it's now time to get them elected and focus on the bigger picture. Either we are going to fight amongst one another and criticize and tear one another down. Are we going to focus on real change? Let's not make the mistake we did four years ago, because we have been living in a nightmare for the past four years, and we need real leadership.
COOPER: Obviously, a lot has been commented on this, but I mean to you, what does it mean to have a woman who is black, to have a woman of South Asian descent? What does it mean for America? BREED: Well, I got to tell you, I watched this speech. I know Kamala personally and all not only am I proud of her, I am proud of what she represents. And it's hopeful. It's hopeful is compassion. It's not just because she's a black woman, it's because of who she is as a person and what she represents, and her experiences that are very similar to mine, it gets me so excited of knowing that if someone like Kamala be chosen for such a position, then it's not only possible for me, but the next generation of young girls that are growing up in this country.
They know that anything is possible and they will never moving forward. Let their circumstances determine who they become in life because they are seeing an example in Kamala Harris.
COOPER: We've already seen the lines of attack from the President, at least some of them they seem to be kind of struggling or figuring it out. I think the President now calling them both socialists. He said she's nasty, disrespectful to Brett Kavanaugh. How do you -- where do you think they're going to try to target her background?
BREED: I think they're going to go -- they're going to throw everything at her and some of those things are going to be true and some of those things aren't going to be true. They're going to take and twist our record and what she did and what she didn't do. But here's the thing. Someone like Kamala has -- this is not her first rodeo. She's been through this. I campaigned with her when she ran for attorney general up and down the state. You should have heard some of the horrible things that was said about her.
And the fact is, she knows how to handle herself. She is strong, she is clear, she is decisive, and she is fierce. And she is going to do what's necessary to focus on the issues, to focus on making sure people understand the importance of this election and getting out to vote, because we can't control what other people say, or what they're putting out there.
But what we can do is control the message and make sure that people know who Kamala is and how important it is to make sure she and Joe Biden are elected in November. That has to be the focus every time people try to go to a different direction.
