(bright music) - [Announcer] This is a production of PBS Charlotte.

- This week on "UnSpun," previewing the Democratic Convention.

Voters in the Democratic primaries picked Biden, but Kamala Harris is their candidate now, plus the potential impact of protestors outside the convention hall and the top five things Democrats hope don't happen in Chicago.

"Un-spun," is next on PBS Charlotte.

In today's America, welcome to the spin game.

Believe me, I know, I'm Pat McCrory.

When I was governor and mayor, I played the spin game.

I was played by the spin game, but aren't we all done being spun?

Let's take the spin out of the world we're in, here on "Un-spun".

(dramatic music) Good evening, I'm Pat McCrory and welcome to "UnSpun" the show that tells you what politicians are thinking, but not saying.

For years we've been anticipating a Trump versus Biden rematch, even though most voters never wanted that rematch in the first place, at least that's what the polls say and now get ready for the Democratic National Convention where many were not expecting this.

(attendees cheering) - I stand, I stand before you today to proudly announce I am now officially the Democratic nominee (attendees cheering) for president of the United States.

(Tim clapping) (attendees cheering) - This scene at the rally in Philadelphia last week is what Kamala Harris is hoping for in Chicago next week, side by side on the convention stage with a running mate, Governor Tim Waltz of Minnesota.

Cheering Democrats see this brand new ticket as their ticket back to the White House after forcing Joe Biden off the ticket.

Behind the scenes, Vice President Harris had a political machine herself that was ready to step in and the Democratic convention may be the party's best and only chance to reintroduce Kamala Harris as a younger, more energetic, better than Biden alternative.

The whole thing is a do-over and voters will be watching, but how will the Harris campaign handle protesters outside the convention hall and what about Biden himself?

What's his role on the convention stage?

Voters will be watching that too.

Joining us now on "Un-spun" is my friend Charlotte mayor, Vi Lyles.

Vi is attending the convention in Chicago next week as a democratic delegate from North Carolina, but as mayor, she also helped bring the Republican National Convention to Charlotte four years ago and VI was also community outreach director for Charlotte's Democrat National Convention back in 2012.

Vi, it's great to see you and talk to you here on "Un-spun".

- Well governor, it's really good to see you.

- Vi, first of all, as a delicate, what do you want to see more than anything else happen in Chicago?

- I think that what I would like to see is the same thing that we had in our community when we had hosted the Democrats, what is that now, 12 years ago or so?

What I would like to be able to see is that there's participation for people that are coming into the city, that they actually are committed to doing something for the candidate for the ticket.

I would also like to make sure that people feel like they can move around the city safely and that's one of the things that we really had to focus on, specifically in when we were having the Obama team come in.

So I think safety and commitment are the two words I'd use.

- So what's the one thing you don't want to happen in Chicago, maybe based upon your previous experience, but one thing that would concern you and maybe even the democratic ticket about what could happen in Chicago?

- Well, you know as mayor, in your time, as governor in your time and for me the very first thing that you want is to not have any major incidents that really, that's of critical nature, so I think that when we're talking about this, the efforts that are being done by the administration as well as the party, is what we want, is a smooth and and sensible effort around safety and protection for the people that are coming.

There are gonna be so many delegates.

Every state starts at the top of the governors and all the way down to mayors and and alderman and council members, so we have to protect people and I think that's the most important thing to have happen.

- So based upon your experience Vi, with two conventions here, what's the one piece of advice you'd maybe give to the Chicago mayor and the leaders of the convention of maybe even something that surprised you that you didn't expect?

- Well, you know, I think that for both of these, the both of the conventions that we had in Charlotte, I would say the number one thing to do is to make sure that the people that live in the city have the opportunity to learn and be educated around how these things work and to be able to engage with people that are deciding what's going to happen in our country, the policies, the things like that and that's especially important for me in the educational area.

When we hosted in Charlotte, we had every editor of a high school newspaper participate in the convention, because we wanted to have a legacy.

We wanted to do something that would be left behind and we were able to accomplish that in both of the conventions that we had in Charlotte.

We had people that came in and said, let's do more about housing as a result of the convention from the Republican party and then when we started or had the closing of the Democratic Convention, there were opportunities for kids to participate in a way that they could go back to their schools and be a part of the, what happened in Charlotte and report on it, those were things that made a difference.

People want to be engaged and that's what we ought to be focused on.

- Something that you also did in Charlotte that I'm proud of Charlotte, both at the Democratic and Republican Convention, is in preparing for it, you didn't make it a political partisan gathering.

You actually had a bipartisan group of people put the convention together and raise money and first of all, tell us, how do you raise money for a convention?

Scott Syfert told us some of the behind the scenes things of what happened before here in Charlotte, who was part of the committee to bring people to Charlotte.

How do you raise money for something outside the political system?

Because there's so much infrastructure and operational needs for the city.

- But you know, you know this very well and I hope that people recognize that when we hosted both of these conventions, it wasn't about the politics and whether it was a D or an R. It was actually about, how do we showcase our city?

How do we show people that this is a place that they choose to want to come to live and I believe greatly the benefits of those two conventions really helped us grow as a city and to be able to attract businesses, to be able to attract people that want to be a part of something makes a big difference and so for me, I believe that the best thing that we could possibly do is to showcase any effort that we have, that makes a city of great place to be.

- So Vi, in coming up with a plan, who do you include in the plan?

What all the segments of the community do you include in the plan to hold a convention?

- Well, you know, first and foremost, you know that the Democratic and the Republican leaders are going to talk about what they want to see and we try as much as possible to meet those goals that they've achieved or sets or provided for us, but when we are talking about what we want to succeed in our own city, you think about how Charlotte is still a great place to do business and to have the business community to be a part of this with you.

When we have the ability to showcase our successes in the terms of things that we have done, in our arts and our culture and for those folks to have an opportunity to be in front of a convention like this, to participate, but there is no small task in a convention.

- Yeah.

- And that includes people that came on building sets, to people that were in our areas of technology and especially with the media.

I mean you really wanna make sure that the media people feel comfortable and have the ability to showcase your city the way that you would like for it to be.

- So you and I have both had to deal with protestors, Chicago anticipates protestors on a very tough subject of primarily the Middle East.

Any advice to the mayor of Chicago?

You've got a new mayor there, you've got a lot more experience than the current mayor of Chicago, but any advice on how to handle protestors?

'Cause both of you and I have had to walk that fine line on dealing with protestors (Vi chuckles) and potential violence.

- Well, I believe that technology has really helped us a lot, you know, when we talk about facial recognition, when you talk about credentialing and all of that, I think that the Chicago mayor will be very sensitive to that.

He understands security.

I've had an opportunity to be with him in several rooms now and I would say that Brendan will do a great job because we all contribute to the security and safety.

When you look at what the Chicago Police Department, they're gonna be bolstered up with other communities that are gonna send officers in and so the protesting part is significantly different, because of the ability of technology to help us define locations, to help people move in that direction.

Chicago's gonna be fine.

- Good.

- If it's not, I think that we will still have the ability to adjust quickly.

- Alright, two quick questions.

One slightly political, as a delegate, you're not just going there as mayor and a Democrat, but you're going there as a delegate.

Tell me behind the scenes, what did it feel like a delegate during this transition between Biden and to Harris?

Was there anything behind the scenes as a delegate that you had to deal with?

- You know, Pat, the thing that I think was most relevant for me, was you recall early on we had four officers, law enforcement officers that were killed in one morning and the president came and I had the opportunity along with Governor Cooper to sit with the president and those families and his authenticity was absolutely the most wonderful thing that could have happened.

You know, the way that he understands people and loss, that was a huge difference and that gave me some appreciation for what's on your shoulder if you are a president of the United States and so I believe that that's one thing, but then on the other hand, I believe that the conversations that we've been having as a party with Kamala Harris and that is been something that people are energized around, that they're really talking about it, that we're working really hard in our city to make sure that we provide everybody the opportunity to vote.

We're not telling people how to vote, but everybody needs that opportunity, but I do believe there's a certain amount of energy at the democratic level that over the next days of the convention, we'll all be pleased that we are having to address, I'm looking forward to actually hearing the inaugural, the speeches that are gonna be held on the last night, when we actually get a chance to see what Kamala Harris is going to do.

- Well, it's been an exciting week and Vi I do want to compliment you as someone who's had a deal with the tragic shooting of police officers.

You did an outstanding job and I commend you and the emotion was felt by the entire community and God bless you and have a safe, safe journey to Chicago as part of our democratic process.

- Thank you very much.

Look forward to seeing you sometime soon.

- Take care, mayor.

Next up PBS Charlottes, Jeff Sonier takes "Un-spun" on the street, listening to your thoughts on the convention and changes at the top of this year's Democratic ticket.

- Yeah, we're here at a popular plaza, Midwood coffee shop asking customers over their daily cup of Joe what they think of Joe and Kamala and next week in Chicago.

(attendees cheering) (bright music) - I'm ecstatic, I heard somebody say boom and that really describes how I feel.

Before Harris came into play, I thought we were doomed.

I was really, I was getting hopeless.

- Just the rallying around Kamala, now around her vice president, I think that we haven't seen that momentum in a very long time.

- This campaign, our campaign is not just a fight against Donald Trump.

- [Attendee] Whoo!

- Our campaign, this campaign is a fight for the future.

(attendees cheering) (bright music) - [Jeff] Does having a younger person make a difference in this election you think?

- Kamala definitely seems more competent than Joe at this point.

- I think she checks a much needed like youth and sharpness into the campaign.

- Need someone who's a bit younger, someone who's able to talk to us a bit more, able to be seen, able to like really relate, like because people want to be spoken to, people want to see that their president is doing a really good job and that they're really in the field.

It's not important that I to see someone who looks like me, but it is also very exciting at the same time.

- [Karen] And it gives me goosebumps what we can do when we come together.

- [Jeff] Has her strength as a candidate, at least early in the campaign, surprised you?

- It 100% surprised me, 100%.

I was not expecting it.

I did not think that she would be able to garner that much support.

- I think it's one in the same.

It's just having a different person represent that party.

- It seems like she's just stepped right in and you know, just run with it and I think, you know, not only was that surprising, but it's a relief to be honest, you know.

(steam hissing) - But even the voters we talked with who support Harris, well, they didn't love the way she was chosen, the party ignoring its own primaries and then the delegates actually nominating Harris ahead of time online, instead of a live roll call during the convention next week as usual.

Pat.

- Thanks Jeff.

So what do you think about the issue?

Email us your comments on the Democratic convention to unspun@wtvi.org.

(dramatic music) All right, tonight on our "Un-spun" countdown, we've got the top five things I'm pretty sure the Democrats don't want to happen during the convention in Chicago.

Let's start out with number one or number five, actually.

Violent protestors outside the DNC.

If they have violent protestors, especially regarding the Middle East situation, it's gonna divide the Democratic party, because they're divided on that issue already and plus the media will focus more outside the conventional hall than inside and that's exactly what the party does not want at this point in time, now more than ever.

Let's go to number four.

Number four, unsavory information about the VP pick.

In other words, just like they did with the Republican JD Vance, now what are they gonna do with the vice president that Kamala Harris nominated?

They keep coming out with more and more information and the Democrats don't want to be blindsided by any more negative information about their VP pick.

It takes the attention off the president and that's who determines the election, the democratic candidates and the Republican candidate.

It's Trump and Harris, not the VPs and the Democrats wanna keep it that way and frankly so do to the Republicans.

Let's go to number three.

Number three, a major national or international event occurring during the convention, whether it be in the Middle East or Ukraine or somewhere in the United States, it could even be a weather event.

Any attention that's taken off the message that the Democrats wanna clarify and communicate to the American voters, they do not want, they want all the attention right here in Chicago, inside the conventional hall, not outside the conventional hall.

Plus, if a major international event occurs, we've got the president and the vice president in Chicago, their attention and maybe their, even their location may need to change.

So that's a unique dynamic right now in the United States.

Let's go to number two.

Number two, Kamala Harris, our vice president going off script.

That's the last thing the party wants to do, is go off script, because the Democrats have been criticizing Donald Trump for going off script.

During the past several weeks, she has stayed on script, not got caught up in the details of issues.

She stayed above the fray.

That's exactly what they want to have happen during the Democratic convention.

Stay on the script and number one, number one.

An unhealthy Joe Biden.

You know, right now Joe Biden's been kind of in the dark and ever since he's decided not to run for reelection, the issue of his health is still a big issue and if he comes across at the convention unhealthy, then the issue of should he resign, should the vice president take his place, will come up during the convention.

Again, that's an issue that will take away from the message that the Democrats want to get across.

That's the state of politics today.

(dramatic music) (air swooshes) PBS Charlotte's very popular Jeff Sonier joins me now for "Un-spun" 1-on-1.

- Keep saying that, you're gonna damage your credibility.

- I'm just kidding.

I'm getting that feedback that you're much more popular.

- Well, I don't know about that.

Questions come from this week's show and this week's headlines I ask him, you answer 'em.

That's why we call it 1-on-1 and speaking of one-on-one, Kamala Harris has not given a one-on-one interview since becoming the candidate.

She's not had a news conference since becoming the candidate.

How long behind the scenes can they keep up this keep away strategy?

Is it a strategy?

- Absolutely, it's a strategy and it's a very smart strategy in today's politics, because if you stay on message, only get slight criticism from the media about it, stay on script.

Especially since she's only been a candidate two or three weeks and her strength wasn't always talking about details of issues.

So if she stays on script, gets away with it as long as possible, that narrows the window of time where she can get into controversy on specific issues.

I hate it for a democracy when either the Republicans or Democrats don't talk to the media in details, but right now it works politically - And you think it'll keep on working until they're ready to kind of take that next step.

- I anticipate some friendly interviews during the Democratic Convention and then after the Democratic Convention she'll probably be forced to allow much more time for press conferences.

- You mentioned during the top five that what we see of Joe Biden on stage is gonna be important.

That's gonna be night one, according to the tentative schedule.

Is that a risky move on the part of the Democrats, putting the president on stage on the first night of the convention?

- I think it's a very risky move, but they have no choice.

They can't ignore him, the way that Republicans ignored Mike Pence.

They pretended he didn't even exist during the last administration with Donald Trump, but the risk is this, is health.

If he stumbles through the speech or has a moment of a senior moment as we saw during the debate, it could change the whole subject back to should he resign?

And that would take the total message off the convention.

- Another thing that could change the message of the convention are those protestors.

I heard there's gonna be, according to the organizers in the tens of thousands of protestors on the streets, 2,500 police officers.

How can that not be a story during the convention?

- It will be a story and especially regarding the Middle East and if there's a big attack from Iran to the Middle East, against Israel, during this, it could really stir things up because frankly, the Democratic Party is divided on this issue and where are they divided most?

In Michigan.

Dearborn, Michigan, outside of Detroit.

It's a major Arab population and that can determine about two to 300 voters and that last election was determined by 10,000 voters.

So the Democrats are extremely sensitive about the large Arab American population next door, right in Michigan and that's gonna be a major concern and then if it gets violent, the media's gonna wanna concentrate on that violence.

- When this convention's over, there's only 10 weeks left in the campaign, but for Kamala Harris, it's really the only 10 weeks of campaigning she'll have.

Does that create an advantage for her or a disadvantage for her when it comes to running against Mr. Trump?

- I think primarily an advantage.

As we've said in previous week, this is gonna be like a parliamentary election.

I wish all elections may be that way, but sooner or later she's gonna have to get in front of the media, answer some tough questions, explain some of the things that she said five years ago or even as vice president and some of the changes in policy that she has now and I guarantee it, there will be some controversy that will continue to come up regarding their ticket.

Just like we're seeing with the Republican ticket.

This is what the opposition does, it's opposition research and they're going through every single video in line of both presidential and vice presidential nominees and they're gonna try to distract the public to raise the negatives of the other side and that's what's gonna happen in the last four or five weeks of this campaign.

- You led me right into my question about vetting.

We're seeing the new vice presidential running mate on stage for the first time, really, but talk about the vetting process.

When you were with no labels you were vetting candidates for both president and vice president.

What happens in that vetting process that we don't see publicly?

- Well, a lot of lawyers are involved in the vetting process and confidentiality is involved in the vetting process, because if you submit your name as a potential VP candidate, you've gotta go, well wait a minute, if you find something, who finds out about it first?

Me?

And then does that become public?

And in fact, during the VP vetting process, I assume and this is an assumption, that some of the people who pulled out of the campaign maybe didn't want to be vetted or they were vetted and were told you don't want to be a part of this and it could be related to their personal life or some business issues that the behind the scenes lawyers said, "Get out now" and that's the big issue is how confidential is the vetting process.

- Yeah, what do they say?

What you don't know can hurt you.

- Well, that's what I've said in the past, that candidates often do the vet themselves to see what's found out.

- That's this week's 101.

Thanks governor.

- Thank you.

(dramatic music) (air swooshes) This week on "Unfiltered," remember that hit song, "Back Stabbers" by the OJs?

It's not a political song, but there's a great lyric in that tune from back in the seventies that still rings true today in today's politics.

(upbeat music) ♪ What they do ♪ They smilin' in your face ♪ All the time, they want to take your place ♪ ♪ The back stabbers ♪ Back stabbers ♪ They smilin' in your face - They're smiling in your face, but all the time they want to take your place.

That's what we'll see in Chicago next week, the smiling face of the vice president while taking the place of Joe Biden.

When the Democrats finally dropped the balloons in confetti.

It was the same story at the Republican Convention.

The Trump campaign didn't dare mention former President George Bush or Trump's own former vice president, Mike Pence, the OJs called their song "The Backstabbers," but in today's politics, we'll call it getting canceled, being left behind by your own party.

Believe me, I know what it feels like.

What we see instead at these conventions from both parties is a steady stream of smiling faces, inspiring stories from political friends and family and celebrities.

You'll also see a lot of one-liners aimed at the opposition, calling them liars and incompetent and dangerous to freedom and democracy and the media, the media reviews the whole thing like it's a Broadway play with heroes and villains.

Who were the stars of the convention?

Was it entertaining?

How was the ending?

But here's what you don't see much of from either party.

How are we going to fix inflation or immigration?

How do we make our streets safer?

Are schools better?

Are homes more affordable?

How do we stand strong against our foreign enemies and support our foreign allies?

Isn't that the political reality we should see in prime time?

Maybe that's what we really need at the conventions.

Not a political play, not a scripted infomercial.

How about a political reality show about the real issues that we face today and the difficult solutions our political leaders must confront?

Well, that's the reality as I see it, the sad state of our political parties as they're smiling in your face at the political conventions.

I hope you'll come back next week as we explore the politics of fundraising from small dollar donations online to the big checks behind the scenes.

Campaigns need cash.

A fundraising pro explains how it's done.

That's on our next "Un-spun," where we'll tell you what politicians are thinking but not saying.

Goodnight folks.

(dramatic music) (bright music) - [Announcer] A production of PBS Charlotte.

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