Interview with DNC's Debbie Wasserman Schultz; Protesters Outside as Republican National Convention Starts
BLITZER: Welcome back to the Republican National Convention here in Cleveland. The mayor of Cleveland, a Democrat, Frank Jackson, is speaking right now. Interesting that he has decided to welcome all these Republicans to his beautiful city. The Republican governor of Ohio has decided he is not going to be attending this convention. That's caused quite a bit of stir among Republican circles. But this is the Democratic mayor of Cleveland who's speaking right now. Hillary Clinton's e-mail controversy, the Benghazi killings, will almost certainly be major lines of attack during this Republican convention. So, how will the Democrats respond? What else will they be doing this week? Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz is the chair of the Democratic National Committee. She happens to be here in Cleveland with me right now.</s>REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, (D), CALIFORNIA & CHAIR, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE: Just a coincidence.</s>BLITZER: You're supposed to be in Philadelphia getting ready for the Democratic convention, but you and a whole team from the DNC have come here to make Hillary Clinton's case.</s>SCHULTZ: Yes. The Democratic National Committee and Hillary for America have come for this entire week to the Republican National Convention to make the case that everything you'll hear on this stage, the American people know that we are better than this, better than the divisive, unqualified, unprepared, racist, bigoted Donald Trump throughout this campaign. And we're going to focus on making sure that we can draw that contrast leading into our convention next week.</s>BLITZER: And the Republicans, the RNC will be well represented, in Philadelphia next week.</s>SCHULTZ: I'm quite sure.</s>BLITZER: This is a relatively recent tradition over the years. Democrats show up, like you, your team --</s>SCHULTZ: I went in 2012 as well.</s>BLITZER: Yeah, and the Republicans will be in Philadelphia next week. So, how are you going to respond? Because we're going to be hearing tonight a lot about Benghazi, Hillary Clinton's failures, Hillary Clinton's failures in Libya, Hillary Clinton's failures with her private e-mail server. Those are going to be major themes, there's no doubt about that.</s>SCHULTZ: Well, what there's no doubt about, as I said, is that Donald Trump is the most divisive, bigoted, unprepared, unqualified major party candidate that has ever run and needs to get nowhere near the White House. And that's the contrast that we're going to draw. Whatever is said on this stage tonight and through this week, Donald Trump can't run away from his horrific personal and business record.</s>BLITZER: Hillary Clinton's, you know, numbers as far as honesty and trustworthiness, they're not very good either.</s>SCHULTZ: Donald Trump has been bankrupted several times, has abandoned employees, has discriminated against his own employees, has caused thousands of students from Trump University to face economic hardship by his fraudulent university. The list goes on and on of Donald Trump and how he's cheated everyone he's ever dealt with.</s>BLITZER: Presumably, Benghazi, the e-mails, Libya, other failures of Hillary Clinton will be major themes this week in Cleveland. What will the major themes going against Donald Trump in Philadelphia at the Democratic convention next week?</s>SCHULTZ: Well, we're certainly going to outline why Hillary Clinton is the most qualified and prepared candidate for president of the United States that we've had, and that she's going to continue to help us move forward and help the middle class and build on the economic progress we've made, but that will be a stark contrast to the divisiveness, to Donald Trump, who has said throughout this campaign that he would ban an preventing Muslims from coming into the country. He began his campaign, Wolf, if you remember, by declaring Mexicans rapists and drug dealers. He said that he would consider developing a database to register Muslims. I mean, this is a man who has really no concept of what American democracy or any concept of the constitution and fairness.</s>BLITZER: Bernie Sanders has come aboard. He's endorsed Hillary Clinton.</s>SCHULTZ: Yes.</s>BLITZER: He says he's going to campaign for her. He wants to make sure that Donald Trump is not the next president of the United States, but a lot of the supporters are not yet on board. They have no great love, many of them say, for Hillary Clinton. Some of them saying they're going to vote for a third-party candidate or they're not going to vote at all.</s>SCHULTZ: Well, I think the overwhelming majority of our supporters of both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are cong together. We were thrilled to have Senator Sanders join us endorsing Hillary Clinton last week. His supporters are already being incorporated into our campaign as organizers and as neighborhood team leaders and field staff. And we are a united party. We'll be united, unlike where here in Cleveland you have the governor, and for example, none of my south Florida Republican colleagues are here. I'm actually the only federal official from Florida here in Cleveland at the Republican National Convention because my three colleagues had no interest in being anywhere near this convention or associating themselves with Donald Trump's toxic brand.</s>BLITZER: A lot of Republicans have decided they didn't want to attend, including Governor Kasich.</s>SCHULTZ: That's right. And both former presidents and Republican nominees from recent times.</s>BLITZER: We'll look forward to Philadelphia next week, as well.</s>SCHULTZ: Thank you. Thank you.</s>BLITZER: Debbie Wasserman Schultz, thank you for joining us.</s>SCHULTZ: My pleasure.</s>BLITZER: We'll show live pictures. Anti-Trump protesters here in Cleveland marching towards the convention center. Our reporter is in the crowd. We'll go there next and update you on that and more when we come back.