Drama in Philadelphia as Democrats Open Convention; Michelle Obama's Rock Star Speech
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: A night of drama here in Philadelphia as democrats open their convention, a rock star speech from the First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama. And Bernie Sanders' moment in the spotlight. This is a special CNN TONIGHT. I'm Don Lemon. It is after hours here at the democratic convention and we are live at the CNN Grill. And it's popping. It's lit. We have a lot to talk about. Barn burners form Senator Cory Booker and Elizabeth Warren and a speech from the First Lady Michelle Obama that absolutely rocked the house. The big moment, though, the big moment, I'm sorry, the First Lady, was Bernie Sanders, vowing to do everything he can to make Hillary Clinton president as the 42nd president, Bill Clinton, watches. Here with me now, my political dream team, except for one. You'll have to figure out who that is. Mark Preston, Peter Beinart, Kevin Madden, Angela Rye and Bakari Sellers. Who do you think is the except for one?</s>LEMON: Already throwing pins at people. Somebody grabbing Angela on the porch and try to throw it at me. So last week we were pouring over Melania Trump's speech tonight, right and -- last week. But then tonight though, it was the First Lady of the United States. She really rocked the house. Look at this.</s>MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves. And I watch my daughters, two beautiful, intelligent, black, young women playing with their dogs on the White House lawn. And because of Hillary Clinton, my daughters and all our sons and daughters now take for granted that a woman can be president of the United States. So look, so don't let anyone ever tell you that this country isn't great. That somehow we need to make it great again. Because this right now is the greatest country on earth.</s>LEMON: Bakari, that's when I cried.</s>BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah.</s>LEMON: When you think about it, a house built by slaves, watching her daughters. And you -- she put you there. I don't care if you're a democrat or a republican, that was a very powerful moment.</s>SELLERS: What Michelle Obama did tonight was spectacular. I thought everybody else's speech was second place tonight. I think that there are a few things we have to look at. She spoke to the country as the First Lady of the United States with grace. She spoke to the country as a mother, she spoke to the country as a wife and she spoke to the country as a black woman and I thought that that was very important as well. Michelle Obama took the conversation to another level, the energy and the building was amazing. Everybody had the Michelle Obama signs, which I'mma bring mine out. Yeah, I got mine too. I mean, I brought mine with me. This just -- just so I could share with it, you know? It was -- Tonight Michelle Obama separated herself and I actually said it earlier, if you want to compare Melania Trump to Michelle Obama, then you have to grate on a curve. I mean, what we saw tonight was pure Jackie O, it was pure grace, it was pure elegance and my hats are off to not only who she is as the First Lady, not only who she is as a wife, but a mother and I'm going to truly miss her on January 20 of 2017. I truly am.</s>MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Maybe she'll call you.</s>SELLERS: Yeah.</s>LEMON: No, I was thinking that it's going to -- you know, when you get used to having a certain figure and certain people in the White House and getting on to and out of Air Force 1 and so it's going to be interesting.</s>SELLERS: See, and let me just -- and I know everybody wants to chime in, especially my good friend Angela. But she was able to speak about Donald Trump in a way without even mentioning his name. She didn't even have to say Donald Trump at all. You know, in the country, back in Denver, we say a hit dog will holler.</s>LEMON: A hit dog will holler.</s>SELLERS: And she was able to ...</s>LEMON: Because you throw a rock or a stick into a pack of dogs, the one hit hollers.</s>SELLERS: She was able to say everything that everybody things about Donald Trump without speaking his name and I thought tonight, she was amazing. Tonight was an amazing night for democrats, even as bumpy as we had I guess today. The conversation changed and tonight, as a democrat, Michelle Obama made me proud.</s>LEMON: Michelle Obama took on Donald Trump as only the First Lady could. And let's listen to this.</s>OBAMA: That is what Barack and I think about every day as we try to guide and protect our girls through the challenges of this unusual life in the spotlight. How we urge them to ignore those who question their father's citizenship or faith. How we insist that the hateful language they hear from public figures on T.V. does not represent the true spirit of this country. How we explain that when someone is cruel or acts like a bully, you don't stoop to their level. No, our motto is when they go low, we go high. With every word we utter, with every action we take, we know our kids are watching us. We, as parents, are their most important role models. And let me tell you, Barack and I take that same approach to our jobs as president and first lady because we know that our words and actions matter, not just to our girls, but the children across this country. This November when we go to the polls, that is what we're deciding. Not democrat or republican, not left or right. In this election or every election is about who will have the power to shape our children for the next four or eight years of their lives.</s>LEMON: So is there going to be a Michelle Obama bump coming out of this for Hillary Clinton?</s>PRESTON: Certainly, I mean, look, there's no question and when we talk about surrogates that can campaign on behalf of Hillary Clinton over the next couple of months, we've been talking about Michelle Obama, how will she deliver, what will she do? We certainly saw that tonight. The question is how much will she do it? I envision she will do it quite a bit. Let me just say two quick things. One, as a father of two children, a 10 and 11-year-old, when she talked about the first time when those kids left and got in those big SUVs and went away to school, I think that every parent could feel that, whether they were in the White House or they were just in the suburb or they were in the city, because that is something we can all relate to. Another thing about Michelle Obama is that not only did she deliver that speech very well, very effectively, so much with poise, we don't hear Michelle Obama engage in politics very often which makes it even more powerful what she did tonight.</s>LEMON: Yeah.</s>PETER BEINART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: The -- you know, the thing is that she can draw the character contrast with Donald Trump so effectively because her character is unimpeachable. And that's part of what makes her. Hillary Clinton, it's tough for her because there are a lot of people who question Hillary Clinton's character.</s>LEMON: Yeah.</s>BEINART: But nobody questions Michelle Obama.</s>LEMON: I want to hear from the conservative on the panel, what do you think?</s>KEVIN MADDEN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well look, I think first ladies actually have a built-in advantage when they give a speech like this because I think the public, by and large, has strong and favorable feelings about the first lady. But for Michelle Obama to then beat those expectations, embrace those expectations and exceed that, I think it just goes to show you how strong of a surrogate she was. To Mark's point, really good campaigns don't tell you about their difference sthes. They show you about them. They show you those differences. And I think that was what was most effective about Michelle Obama's speech tonight was that she drew these very subtle contrasts without ever having to name check Donald Trump. So I think she was a very effective, I think she was a very effective surrogate tonight for Hillary Clinton.</s>LEMON: And so I want to check on the First Lady before we move on Bernie Sanders I want to get what you thought. This is what the President tweeted out to us, "Incredible speech by an incredible woman. Couldn't be more proud. Our country has been blessed to have her as FLOTUS. I love you, Michelle." And then check this out. This is the cover of "The Daily News". This is a home run for her, for Hillary Clinton, for women, for people of color. It hit on everything.</s>ANGELA RYE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I agree. And this is the thing that's kind of funny to mow.. Michelle Obama beginning in the 2008 election was known by everyone as the closer. And tonight, you saw why. Like that was the thing that I tweeted. I was like, "This is why she's the closer. She doesn't just close for Barack Hussein Obama, she can close for anyone. And when we talked yesterday about the Hillary standard, it would have been wonderful for Michelle Obama to get up there tonight when she talked about that glass ceiling, to drop the Hillary standard. That is the person who can deliver that message as a surrogate. Because again as you pointed out, Peter, she does have unimpeachable character. This black woman lawyer that so many of us regardless if we're black or white, Asian or Latino can look up to and respect is amazing. That is what a true first lady is. And I wish Melania would try to copy this speech.</s>MADDEN: But that -- so, yeah, that is the thing, though. Bakari said that earlier and I disagree with that. I don't think voters compare I don't think voters compare Melania Trump with Michelle Obama. I think that they see them as very distinctly different individuals and they're not going to compare one against the other.</s>PRESTON: And I also don't think it's fair, by the way, for us to go after Melania. The fact of the matter, she didn't write the speech even though she said she did. I just think that let's let Michelle Obama stand on her own pedestal.</s>SELLERS: Michelle Obama does stand on her own pedestal, but I think she did that on -- but I also think to say that they're not compared is just untrue and we're not actually talking about what happens in the real world in this course because the fact of the matter is what we have right now is the First Lady of the United States. What Melania is trying to do is be a first lady of the United State and I think that that's a very fair comparison. So we can go back and roll the tape from Monday, last Monday when we were having a different discussion. If we can roll the tape from this...</s>BEINART: So you're talking apples and oranges.</s>RYE: But I don't think it's an apple ...</s>RYE: I don't think it's an apples and oranges comparison...</s>SELLERS: Because you have a first lady and somebody who is trying to be a first lady.</s>RYE: OK, but you have to compare them to a standard that exists,. You have someone who can be presidential or not presidential, and you have someone that could be a first lady or not be a first lady.</s>PRESTON: I think that's unfair.</s>SELLERS: Kevin, I'm trying to help you out.</s>BEINART: There's also fundamental difference. Michelle Obama is a deep reader of American history. She told the story of America in very profound ways with that line, being the mother of two African- American girls in a house built by slaves. Let's be honest there ...</s>RYE: Exactly.</s>BEINART: ... Melania Trump cannot tell the story of America in the way that Michelle Obama.</s>LEMON: Right, of course.</s>BEINART: She has not lived the story of America. She does not understand the story of America, and that's a profound difference more generally between these two parties. When the democratics -- democrats talk about the story of America, they talk about slavery. They talk about the brutality of American history. Republicans tell the story as basically we were beaver cleaver. Everything was terrific and now things have gone downhill. That's a very big difference...</s>LEMON: That's a little bit of generalizing and I understand your point. But I mean Melania Trump is an immigrant to this country, I mean she married wealthy...</s>BEINART: Yeah, but she's very big in her speech that really ...</s>MADDEN: But the thing I would disagree with you is that, I don't think voters look at those two comparatively and say one is better than the other. I think both of them gave very good speeches. I think both of them served as very able surrogates for the folks that they were looking to promote, and I -- but I do think that a lot of what Michelle Obama did today as it relates to the debates of the issue debate that we're having she did -- I think she did better.</s>LEMON: But in all fairness, that is the way the story of America should be told. I mean, that is a deep -- I think that the deep history of this country, African-Americans are deep rooted in the history of this country, and to ignore that I think that you know...</s>SELLERS: But I don't think anybody is --</s>LEMON: But it should be told that way.</s>SELLERS: And I don't want -- and I agree with you, Don, wholeheartedly. But we -- I don't want it to be seen through that lens alone because what Michelle Obama did was give a speech that the white woman who lives in Burbank who is raising two children can understand. The black woman who was working at the motel who lives in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, can Hispanic woman who is picking peaches or whatever she's doing because she's an illegal immigrant who comes to this country trying to survive in Georgia can understand.</s>LEMON: OK, but here's the thing, all right, as a person of color, every day -- listen, not that I'm comparing myself to the Obama. They are here and I'm here. But every day when I walk in that CNN Center, I say hello to every single person in that, every security guard, every cleaning lady because I am -- I cannot believe that I'm here, right. That this little black guy from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has this position. Every day when I open my office, I look out the window and I'm almost in tears. And so for Michelle Obama to be sitting in the White House, a house that slaves built, I can't even imagine that as a person. It would be overwhelming every single day for me. But I don't think everyone understands that and I think you're right. I don't think Melania Trump understands it in that way. I don't think Donald Trump understands it in that way.</s>RYE: But, Don, to that point, to that point, on this -- in this same vein, you also are under an additional level of scrutiny because of the position that you hold, and so is Michelle Obama and she got that extra level of scrutiny when her husband was on the campaign trail. So let's say well I don't think it's fair for us to go after Melania. You get vetted, you get vetted. That's the life your husband chose.</s>PRESTON: Let's stop and check. When we started this, I said I felt what she felt when she was -- when she talked about slavery and what have you, I could not understand that necessarily in a bad way because I didn't feel it, I did understand that entire speech. I felt it. She delivered it like a parent and it was moving there's no doubt about that.</s>MADDEN: And as a republican, I agree with you on that, I am trying to agree that ...</s>BEINART: In the polls show that most Donald Trump supporters think America was a better country in the 1950s this is -- that's why republicans -- their candidate calling it zero percent --</s>LEMON: I wasn't even born in the '50s and I don't even want -- I don't want to go back there. And Mark ...</s>SELLERS: 2025.</s>LEMON: And Mark can understand this as a strong black woman.</s>LEMON: We're going to talk -- Bernie Sanders, did he deliver, when we come back don't go anywhere. We are live from the CNN Grill here in Philadelphia.