Calls for unity compete with cries of foul at Democratic convention

Read the Full Transcript

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  The Democratic National Convention has opened for business, amid a new burst of discord. Calls for unity from Hillary Clinton's camp are competing with cries of foul from backers of Bernie Sanders.

  Correspondent John Yang begins our coverage here in Philadelphia.

• JOHN YANG:

  The divisions were on display right from the start, when Baltimore Mayor Sterling gaveled the convention into session.

  It was to have been Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz. But a firestorm erupted among Sanders supporters after WikiLeaks posted DNC e-mails that showed party officials criticizing and even mocking the Sanders campaign during the primaries.

• WOMAN:

  You don't care about half the party.

• JOHN YANG:

  This morning, the Florida congresswoman got a tumultuous welcome from her own home delegation's breakfast.

• REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Chair, Democratic National Committee:

  We have so much to do and we have to make sure that we move forward in a unified way. We know that the voices in this room that are standing up and being disruptive, we know that is not the Florida we know.

• JOHN YANG:

  Wasserman Schultz had already announced her resignation as party chairman at the end of the convention. Some Sanders supporters say it's not enough.

• MAN:

  We want to actually unite the party. All we are asking for is for the person who resigned in disgrace to leave the room.

• MAN:

  I'm very upset because I think that Bernie, if not has tied, may have actually won this election, if he had been treated fairly.

• JOHN YANG:

  The embattled congresswoman is already facing a tough primary challenge from law professor Tim Canova, who's being backed by Sanders. Addressing supporters, Sanders urged party unity, and got booed himself.

  SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (VT-I), Presidential Candidate: We have got to defeat Donald Trump.

  (APPLAUSE)

• SEN. BERNIE SANDERS:

  And we have got to elect Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine.

  (BOOING)

• JOHN YANG:

  He says the e-mail leaks won't change his endorsement of Clinton, it remains to be seen what is delegates do.

  In the streets of Philadelphia, thousands of Sanders supporters braved the blistering heat to vent their anger.

• WOMAN:

  I'm not a Republican, but I have to agree with Ted Cruz. We have to vote our conscience. We can't vote the way we're told.

• JOHN YANG:

  As this convention's business gets under way, the DNC has issued a deep and sincere policy to Sanders and his supporters. Sanders will be the featured speaker here tonight, appearing after Michelle Obama and Senator Elizabeth Warren.

  Clinton campaign officials say they hope this uproar will be long forgotten by week's end and that the gathering will live up to its theme of united together.

  Meanwhile, the FBI is investigating how the thousands of DNC e-mails found their way to WikiLeaks. Clinton's campaign manager Robby Mook suggests it's the work of Russian hackers hoping to give Republican Donald Trump a boost. Trump calls that claim a joke. He campaigned today in Roanoke, Virginia.

  DONALD TRUMP (R), Presidential Nominee: Hillary Clinton knew what was going on. She knew everything that was going on. She knew it's a rigged system, that Bernie Sanders never had a chance, OK? He never had a chance.

  And if you look at it, look what's going on. They're having a lot of people marching. Now, a lot of those people are going to vote for us.

• JOHN YANG:

  Today, Hillary Clinton also got the endorsement of retired U.S. Marine General John Allen, once the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan.

  In a statement, he said: "I have no doubt that she is the leader we need at this time to keep our country safe, and I trust her with that most sacred responsibility of commander in chief."

  Clinton picked up that theme at the annual convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

  HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D), Presumptive presidential nominee: You will never hear me say that I only listen to myself on national security. I will be ready to get to work on day one. I take nothing more seriously than our security.

• JOHN YANG:

  Trump is to address the same gathering tomorrow.

  In Philadelphia, the 5,000 delegates have gathered under tight security along with an estimated 45,000 journalists, activists and observers.

  For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm John Yang in Philadelphia.

• GWEN IFILL:

  Later this afternoon, Senator Sanders sent out e-mails and text messages urging supporters not to boo or to stage walkouts.

  We head down to the convention floor now with NPR's "Weekend Edition Sunday" host Rachel Martin, who joins us tonight and every night this week as part of our joint "PBS NewsHour" and NPR convention coverage.

  Rachel, it doesn't seem like Bernie Sanders' plea worked.

• RACHEL MARTIN:

  Yes, Gwen, that's right.

  You heard it there in John's piece. There is real discord in the Democratic Party right now. After Cleveland, after the Republican National Convention, Hillary Clinton and her campaign had to deal with all the personal attacks on her. They were hoping that this would be a very different moment, that this would be a moment when the so-called Democratic family would come together, wrap her up in all kinds of love and support.

  This is not the case, at least not thus on day one of the convention. There has been all kind of booing. Every time someone takes the stage and says it's time to come together and for all of us to get behind the candidacy of Hillary Clinton, there is audible booing in this auditorium, even when Bernie supporters come up and say that.

  Ben Jealous, the head of the NAACP, strong Bernie Sanders supporter, when he got up, he got booed. As John mentioned in his piece, Bernie Sanders himself was booed as a breakfast earlier today. So, this is going to be the challenge of people who come to the podium today to try to deliver a message that makes those Bernie Sanders voters feel enfranchised, feel that they are a part of this party and that their issues are being considered really at the heart of the Democratic platform.

  We will hear, of course, from Bernie Sanders himself, also Elizabeth Warren, a key leader in the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, and then Michelle Obama, the first lady, who has sky-high favorable ratings. They're hoping that she can kind of bring everyone together in this moment — back to you, Gwen and Judy.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  All right, Rachel Martin down at the podium, thanks very much.