John Edwards Addresses Democratic National Convention
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks very much, Larry. We've got a lot going on this hour. The Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards will be introduced by his wife Elizabeth Edwards. They will be up on the podium. They're getting ready to speak not only to these delegates but to the nation. We'll have extensive live coverage of all of the goings on here at the Democratic National Convention in the coming hour. CNN's Candy Crowley up on the podium right now, Candy set the scene for us.</s>CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, one of the things that we wondered about after we heard from Al Sharpton in the previous hour, running about 14 minutes over his six minute allotted time, was whether or not they were still running on time, very important to get John Edwards into prime time on the East Coast, that being between 10:00 and 11:00. The fact of the matter is they sort of figured out that this kind of thing might happen, so they built in all this time where they have musical interludes, which is just a time for the audience to get up, stretch their feet. They play some songs. So, they knew all along that they had about a half hour's leeway. So, everything going as planned. We will hear first from the older daughter of the Edwards, Cate Edwards, just graduating from college. She will be introducing her mother. This is a big debut for Cate who has not been one of the more outspoken members of the Edwards family. She's going to introduce her mother, Elizabeth Edwards, a very accomplished lawyer, right now a stay-at-home mom. She has also two young children who you'll see in that famous picture afterwards and then, of course, John Edwards. Edwards has probably one of the smallest political resumes in recent history of vice presidents. He's been a Senator for just six years; however, he has had extensive experience and extensive background. He's a trial lawyer and he was chosen basically not for his background but for the fact that this is a man who can connect. So, Wolf, tonight, the first big night we're going to see one of the people on the ticket and that's John Edwards who will be talking about John Kerry.</s>BLITZER: All right, Candy, we'll be getting back to you. Candy, thanks very much. With us here on our platform here at CNN, CNN's Judy Woodruff, Jeff Greenfield and a special guest, a man who was up on that podium, what, it's already been four years, the Senator from Connecticut.</s>SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (D), CONNECTICUT: Has it been four years? Yes, it has been four years, that's right. Right.</s>BLITZER: Senator Joe Lieberman. What's it like to come back now and witness John Edwards accepting the vice presidential nomination?</s>LIEBERMAN: A lot of great memories. This was a thrilling night. It was a test. You want to get out there and tell people who you are, what you're about and also tell them what you think of the guy who has been good enough to ask you to be his running mate. And, I would guess that John Edwards is as excited as I was four years ago tonight and he'll be as warmly received as I was grateful to be received that night.</s>BLITZER: How much of a pit bull does a vice presidential running mate have to be?</s>LIEBERMAN: I think it depends on the circumstances. In this case, you've got an incumbent administration, the Bush-Cheney administration, which Kerry and Edwards are running against. They've got to make the case against the administration but it can't end there. They can't just be pit bulls. They've got to give people an affirmative reason to vote for Kerry and Edwards, which is what this very disciplined convention has been about.</s>JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SR. ANALYST: Senator, in the primaries, you said, I'm paraphrasing, it was incomprehensible that anyone could vote for the war in Iraq and not vote for the $87 billion. Both men on the ticket did that. How are you going to square that circle this fall?</s>LIEBERMAN: Well, I disagreed with that vote and I still do but what encourages me most and you know I supported the war against Saddam. I still believe, unlike I think most of the people here, that it was the right thing to do and we're safer as a result of Saddam being gone. But what's most important about Kerry and Edwards to me they want to finish the job in Iraq. They're not talking about precipitously pulling out or undercutting the effort we're making there. They know what's on the line and I appreciate that and it makes it easy for me to support them.</s>WOODRUFF: Senator Lieberman, do you feel at home in this Democratic Party? You support the war. Most of the vast majority of these delegates did not support the war.</s>LIEBERMAN: Yes.</s>WOODRUFF: You've taken positions to the moderate to conservative side of the Democratic Party. Al Sharpton almost electrified this crowd a little while ago with some pretty tough rhetoric toward the president. Do you feel comfortable here?</s>LIEBERMAN: Yes, I feel totally comfortable. First, on a very personal basis, I've been through a lot with these folks. These are the people who effectively gave me the opportunity that I had to run for vice president four years ago. But I'll tell you something else. The great thing about the Democratic Party, yes I disagree with most of them here in this hall on the war but I think I represent millions of other Democrats around the country who also support the war and the good news is you make a balanced judgment and on balance, no question, Kerry and Edwards are the better choice.</s>BLITZER: Senator, did you have a chance to listen to Al Sharpton's presentation here?</s>LIEBERMAN: I heard a little bit of it but it was -- I was moving around the hall and it was hard to hear.</s>BLITZER: How much of a problem potentially is there for this ticket, this Democratic ticket by some of the tough talk that he delivered?</s>LIEBERMAN: Yes. I guess in fairness I'd have to hear it but I did hear from somebody that he may have given the one best for spontaneous outburst that was not consistent with the script. Incidentally, going back to Judy's question, I must say this convention has seemed like a new Democratic convention and it makes me feel, you know very comfortable.</s>WOODRUFF: What has made it seem that way?</s>LIEBERMAN: Well, I think there's not been a lot of personal demonization. The tone has been moderate. People have talked about supporting the military and fighting for economic growth, talking about values. It's a lot like Bill Clinton's Democratic Party, which is what we're going to have to be if we expect to get elected.</s>GREENFIELD: For you is that the key that John Kerry, who the Republicans constantly remind us, at least one year, had the most liberal voting record in the Senate, does he have to be in some sense made over or presented as a more Clinton/Gore/Lieberman, dare I say it, Democrat?</s>LIEBERMAN: Well, I appreciate your saying that. I think that John has, first of all he has a record that gives some basis for doing that. He supported fiscal discipline during the '90s, welfare reform, trade agreements and a lot of measures to strengthen our defense but he's been speaking to that side of himself. But look this is all going to come down, as you know, to that middle group of Independents, moderates, undecided voters. They don't want to hear -- they don't want to vote for an extremist. They want to vote for somebody they're convinced is mainstream and will keep them safe and that's the great opportunity that Kerry and Edwards have.</s>BLITZER: One of the things that the -- one of the things that's happening right now, Senator Lieberman, up on the podium, and I'll show our viewers this picture, they're now introducing several generals and admirals all retired who have come out and endorsed the Kerry-Edwards ticket. General</s>LIEBERMAN: Yes, I agree. That's part of the challenge that Kerry and Edwards have, no question about it. I think the average voter, including those swing voters in the middle, have decided that Kerry and Edwards will be better here at home on jobs, on health care, environment, education and civil rights but a little worried about security. And this kind of round of endorsements from retired military leaders, which is reminiscent of what Bill Clinton did at a similar moment in 1992, I think is a very powerful statement on behalf of the Kerry-Edwards ticket.</s>BLITZER: Senator, stand by for a moment because I want to go to Joe Johns. He's in the Texas delegation. Joe, who do you have with you?</s>JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Wolf. I'm with</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fourteen months.</s>JOHNS: Fourteen months. Tell me your story. You're a Kerry supporter and an opponent of the war, why?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think our current administration has misled, you know, America and misled our troops on the ground. We have 140,000 troops on the ground with no exit strategy in Iraq.</s>JOHNS: What do you think Kerry would do differently if he were elected?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I think he's going to set a vision and get the levels of troops where they need to be and I think they will get the proper equipment and supplies that they need and I think he'll lay out a plan to incorporate other nations around the world to come in and rejoin the League of Nations and help out and assist in Iraq.</s>JOHNS: Thank you very much, Dave -- back to you, back to you, Wolf.</s>BLITZER: All right, Joe Johns thanks very much. I want to thank Senator Lieberman for spending a few moments with us.</s>LIEBERMAN: Great to be with you.</s>BLITZER: Four years ago you were up there. Four years later you're down here but you're still in the United States Senate. Thanks very much.</s>LIEBERMAN: Thank you.</s>BLITZER: To our viewers, we're standing by to get the introduction of John Edwards, the Democratic vice presidential candidate. First up momentarily will be his daughter, Cate Edwards. Judy, she's a young talented woman.</s>WOODRUFF: She's 22 years old. She has graduated from college. She is heading to a job in New York working for a magazine but she's taking time out to work now for her father's campaign. She started out a little uneasy on the campaign trail but now she's getting the hang of it. I can tell you one quick little anecdote. I interviewed her mother early this morning and as they were walking around the Fleet Center, walking past lockers, a hockey stick fell out, hit her in the face. She had to put some ice on it but I checked with the campaign and they say she's fine.</s>BLITZER: She went to Princeton University, graduated from Princeton. She's not going to become much more vocal.</s>GREENFIELD: This is really I think a remarkable change over the last couple of decades. Joe Lieberman's Rebecca was very much on the campaign trail. The active involvement of grown children, who are much more of an asset. Some of the children of presidents have not been always that way and recently we're seeing them on the campaign trail as though they were surrogates.</s>BLITZER: All right. Let's go up to the podium. Cate Edwards has just walked out.</s>CATE EDWARDS, DAUGHTER OF SENATOR JOHN EDWARDS: Hi. Hi. I am Cate Edwards. By now I'm not sure if more of you know me as John and Elizabeth's daughter or as Jack and Emma Clair's older sister. But tonight, I can tell you that I am the proud child of two people who have made our home a place of hope, two people who will make sure that our country is a land of opportunity and possibility when my dad is the next vice president of the United States of America.</s>ELIZABETH EDWARDS, JOHN EDWARDS' WIFE: Thank you.</s>SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you. Now you know why Elizabeth is so amazing, right?</s>AUDIENCE: Yes. ... more negative attacks -- aren't you sick of it?</s>AUDIENCE: Yes. They are doing all they can to take the campaign for the highest office in the land down the lowest possible road. But this is where you come in: Between now and November, you, the American people, you can reject the tired, old, hateful, negative politics of the past. And instead you can embrace the politics of hope, the politics of what's possible because this is America, where everything is possible.</s>AUDIENCE: No. You know exactly what I'm talking about. Can't save any money, can you?</s>AUDIENCE: No. Takes every dime you make just to pay your bills. And you know what happens if something goes wrong, if you have a child that gets sick, a financial problem, a layoff in the family -- you go right off the cliff. And when that happens, what's the first thing that goes? Your dreams. It doesn't have to be that way. We can strengthen and lift up your families. Your agenda is our agenda. So let me give you some specifics. First, we can create good-paying jobs in this country again. We're going to get rid of tax cuts for companies who are outsourcing your jobs...</s>AUDIENCE: Everywhere, everywhere, everywhere, everywhere. The truth is, the truth is that what John and I want, what all of us want if for our children and our grandchildren to be the first generations that grown up in an America that's no longer divided by race. We must build one America. We must be one America, strong and united for another very important reason: because we are at war. None of us will ever forget where we were on September the 11th. We all share the same terrible images, the towers falling in New York, the Pentagon in flames, a smoldering field in Pennsylvania. We share a profound sadness for the nearly 3,000 lives that were lost. And as a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, I know that we have to do more to fight the war on terrorism and keep the American people safe. We can do that. We are approaching the third anniversary of September 11th, and one thing I can tell you: When we're in office, it won't take three years to get the reforms in our intelligence that are necessary to keep the American people safe.</s>AUDIENCE: Edwards. Edwards. Edwards. And the truth is -- the truth is, that every child, every family in America will be safer and more secure if they grow up in a world where America is once again looked up to and respected. That is the world we can create together. Tonight, as we celebrate in this hall, somewhere in America, a mother sits at the kitchen table. She can't sleep because she's worried she can't pay her bills. She's working hard trying to pay her rent, trying to feed her kids, but she just can't catch up. It didn't use to be that way in her house. Her husband was called up in the Guard. Now he's been in Iraq for over a year. They thought he was going to come home last month, but now he's got to stay longer. She thinks she's alone. But tonight in this hall and in your homes, you know what? She's got a lot of friends.</s>BLITZER: The Edwards family on the podium there. There you see the vice presidential candidate and his children and wife Elizabeth. Judy Woodruff, this was a powerful speech. Took about a half an hour. That has truly electrified this group in this room.</s>WOODRUFF: It has, Wolf. I think John Edwards did several things tonight. He put a good face on John Kerry, his running mate. He described his bravery in wartime. They needed that to be done desperately. They needed to tie John Kerry to a stronger, an image of a stronger leader. But beyond that he brought up the war on terror. He said, we are going to fight the war on terror. It's a message that, you know, the country has not heard from the Democrats. And one other thing he did, he talked about how, you know, he papered over, I think, the problems that we've heard with the Democratic party. And that is that this is a party that flip-flops.</s>BLITZER: I think it is clear why he is such a successful trial lawyer.</s>GREENFIELD: Absolutely and modesty in here. Optimist is the theme of Elizabeth's introduction, the most optimistic man I've ever known. All of the we can do better and even the slogan, Wolf and Judy, "Hope Is On The Way," that's a riff of Dick Cheney's promise at the Republican convention four years ago that help is on the way. But it is optimistic. And one more thing. It's very specific. Why? Because they want to show that John Edwards is, to put a phrase, not just a pretty face. That there's meat on those bones.</s>WOODRUFF: Also it seems to me there's a play on a Clinton line, "I believe in a place called home." TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com