Can Hillary Clinton win over the Bernie Sanders booers?

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• GWEN IFILL:

  And we're back to Philadelphia now, where the divisions within the Democratic Party are on full display tonight here in the Wells Fargo Arena.

  To discuss all that, we are joined by two Minnesota lawmakers with differing perspectives.

  Congressman Keith Ellison was an early Bernie Sanders supporter, but he threw his endorsement to Hillary Clinton earlier this month. And Senator Amy Klobuchar is a longtime Clinton backer.

  Welcome to you both.

• REP. KEITH ELLISON (D-Minn):

  Thank you for having us.

• GWEN IFILL:

  I want to start with you, Congressman Ellison, because, later tonight, you will be introducing Bernie Sanders, and you have been in the room with us tonight and heard the booing which has greeted every mention of Hillary Clinton's name.

  Bernie Sanders has said to his people, calm down, and it hasn't worked.

• REP. KEITH ELLISON:

  Well, you know, people's passions are running high. A lot of folks campaigned really hard for Bernie, and they put all they had into it.

  But, you know, Bernie has said that we have fought the good fight. We have made the platform as progressive as it ever has been. We have made real progress. And we have really started a grassroots movement here. And it's time to make sure that we come behind Hillary Clinton to defeat Donald Trump.

  And I personally will say to you that Hillary Clinton has done progressive things and has a record to stand on, State Children's Health Insurance Programs. She helped get eight million kids health insurance who didn't have it. She started her legal career out at the Children's Defense Fund.

• GWEN IFILL:

  Why are they booing, then?

• REP. KEITH ELLISON:

  Because they're adjusting. Because they're coming around. They have their own, you know, strong feelings about it, and they have invested their heart and soul into Bernie's campaign.

  But I believe that, with time, we will be very, very tight. I think we already have substantial unity already.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  Senator Klobuchar, do you think Senator Sanders should have moved earlier to try to tamp down some of these feelings among his supporters, number one? And, number two, how much is it hurting Secretary Clinton to have the spectacle?

• SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-Minn):

  Well, I have said from the beginning, I don't think it's time. It's more important in what he said. And he gave an emphatic endorsement of her a few weeks ago.

  And he also, as Keith noted, is going to come on tonight. Keith is going to be introducing him. I can't think of a better person to introduce him than Keith Ellison.

  And when you look at today, it was a wild day, that's true, but look at the facts here. The Sanders people were very concerned about Debbie Wasserman Schultz. She stepped down as chair. She is not even going to be gaveling — didn't gavel the convention.

  (CROSSTALK)

• SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR:

  You have Bernie making his speech tonight. I think, given everything that happened, she took responsibility. She said — got us through the 2012 election, did an incredible job as chair, but given everything that's happened, she decided to take responsibility for what happened.

  But, to move on, you have got Bernie speaking tonight, you have got Elizabeth Warren, you have Michelle Obama. Really, the convention starts tonight.

• GWEN IFILL:

  It seems like it takes more than speakers, however, for true unity to happen at a convention. We just spent a week in Cleveland, where the theme was a lack of unity. And how do you know that is not going to be — how do you prevent that from being the same theme in Philadelphia?

• REP. KEITH ELLISON:

  Because I know that everybody who supported Bernie Sanders supported him because they believe that college debt is too high. They believe that the minimum wage needs to be increased. They believe that we have to take on climate action.

  And so how can a real Bernie Sanders supporter ever do something that would help Donald Trump, who is opposed to all of those things? Now, people have — people — you can't always just turn on a dime. I mean, if you put everything, your heart and soul into a campaign, it might take you a while to come around to the realization that, you know, another person has won.

  But the fact is, I have faith in these folks. They are going to come around.

• SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR:

  And, if I could add, Ted Cruz, think of that speech. How did he end up? He ended up without even endorsing their candidate for president.

  That's not happening tonight with Bernie Sanders. And along the points Keith made, think about it. Climate change, what does Donald Trump say? He says it's made up by the Chinese. What does Donald Trump say about the housing crisis? He says he wants to bet on it. What does he say about free college, one of the Bernie Sanders supporters' key platform item? He says he wants to do Donald Trump University.

  There is a vast difference.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  But we're here in Philadelphia, where we're still seeing dissent, disagreement along the two sides. And to both of you, the fact is, Bernie Sanders supporters have strong feelings, strong expectations that are not going to be the priority for Secretary Clinton, when it comes to how far they want to go on the minimum wage, what they want to do on the environment.

• REP. KEITH ELLISON:

  Well, there I have to say, you know, the platform is one of the most progressive platforms we have ever seen. And it wouldn't be without the cooperation and endorsement of Hillary Clinton.

  I mean, $15 minimum wage, the federal minimum wage, is in the platform. Debt-free college is in the platform.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  But do you expect that she is going to make that a priority?

• REP. KEITH ELLISON:

  I think that she is going to make it a big deal. That's what people all over the stump are saying.

  Look, Hillary Clinton has been fighting for these things her whole life. When has Hillary Clinton been about anything other than trying to make working people have a better lifestyle? That's what her whole Senate and prior career were about.

  So, look, I was a Bernie supporter. I was proud to be that. I'm now proud to support Hillary Clinton, because I believe that we do have shared values, and the evidence of it is the platform. The platform is the most progressive we have ever seen.

• GWEN IFILL:

  I'm old enough to remember when the secret of the sauce for Democrats was supposed to be moving to the middle, moving and becoming more moderate. I believe it may have been Hillary Clinton's husband who spearheaded this idea.

  So now are we, looking at this — what the pressure, the most progressive platform ever, as Keith Ellison puts it, are we now a Democratic — are you now a Democratic Party moving more and more to the left?

• SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR:

  I think what Keith is talking about with this platform is, times change, and right now what people need is, they need to be able to send their kids to college, they need to able to buy a house.

  And the platform simply reflects where we are as a country, and the fact that we have seen this enormous income inequality that both of our candidates have been talking about from the beginning that you don't hear from the Republican side, where all you hear from them is divide, divide, divide.

  And Bernie Sanders' speech, you compare it to Ted Cruz's at the end of the day, and you won't even see the same points or see the same ending.

  (CROSSTALK)

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  But to come back to the point we were all discussing a few minutes ago, isn't there an impatience, not only among the Bernie Sanders supporters, but among other Americans, to see change, and it's hard for them to see that with Secretary Clinton, who's been on the American political scene for two or three decades?

• REP. KEITH ELLISON:

  Sometimes, this is what democracy looks like. People's passions run strong.

  They're dealing with really tough things all across America. You're dealing with low wages. They can't send their kids to school. Of course they're going to come in here and demand change. And they're not just going to sit quiet as their economic situation at home is not making the improvements at the pace that they need them to.

  So I'm not really too worried about the level of enthusiasm and passion that we see on the House floor. I think that…

  (CROSSTALK)

• GWEN IFILL:

  The House floor.

• REP. KEITH ELLISON:

  You know what?

  (LAUGHTER)

• REP. KEITH ELLISON:

  You know, I spend a lot of time…

  (CROSSTALK)

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  You're forgiven. You're forgiven.

  (LAUGHTER)

• REP. KEITH ELLISON:

  I spend a lot of time there.

  But I think that we're going to see passion. This is what democracy looks like. This is what people do in America. They get out. They demonstrate. They let their voices with heard. But we will be together.

• GWEN IFILL:

  Final thoughts, Senator Klobuchar?

• SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR:

  Well, just to your original point here about some of the independent voters as well, I know a lot of people in our state who can — we elected Jesse Ventura. Right?

  They don't want to have a candidate that feels temperamentally unsure. They don't want to have someone that is going to bring them into a war zone again. There's a lot of things that bring independent voters to Hillary Clinton. And our job this week, without a doubt, is to tell that story, to tell the personal stories about her and also to tell about her vision for America, because we didn't hear about that last week. All we heard was negativity.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  Well, we have got four whole nights to go. We're just getting started.

• REP. KEITH ELLISON:

  Getting started.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  Two lawmakers.

• SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR:

  You get to watch us announce the delegates together.

• REP. KEITH ELLISON:

  There you go.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  Two lawmakers from Minnesota, Senator Amy Klobuchar, Representative Keith Ellison, thanks to you both.

• REP. KEITH ELLISON:

  Thanks a lot.

• SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR:

  Thank you.

• GWEN IFILL:

  Thank you.