CNN "Piers Morgan Tonight" - Transcript

Interview

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Joining me now is Florida congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, chairman -- chairwoman, I should say, of the DNC. Welcome.

REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (FL), DNC CHAIR: Thank you.

MORGAN: You kicked all this off. And I've got to say, most neutral observers thought (ph) pretty good tonight, that a lot of good speeches, that Mr. Castro, who I interviewed earlier, particularly effective, and also Michelle Obama obviously brought the house down. What was your -- your feeling when you finished up?

SCHULTZ: Pride. I'm so proud of our leadership. I'm proud that this is a convention that we kicked off as the most open and inclusive convention that, really, American politics has seen.

And the story that Michelle Obama and Julian Castro told tonight essentially said if you work hard and play by the rules, then everyone in America deserves an opportunity to be successful. And compare that to the idea that it's only people who already are successful that should be able to have someone go to bat for them.

MORGAN: Some weird omissions from the Democratic platform, which no one can quite understand how or why this happened or what the intention was because all it seems to have done is rattle cages (INAUDIBLE) rattled. No mention of the word God, even though there was last time and there is about 10 times in the Republican platform. Why is that?

SCHULTZ: Well, we have a commitment through all faith traditions that our values are reflected in our policy, and that means that we should look out for the least of these, that we should fight for the middle class, that we should help everyone in America have an opportunity to be successful and...

MORGAN: Right, but was the word "God" deliberately taken out, or was it a mistake?

SCHULTZ: Oh, of course not. Of course not.

MORGAN: It was a mistake?

SCHULTZ: We have a platform that actually reflects the values of many faith traditions and...

(CROSSTALK)

MORGAN: The thing is, somebody has deliberately taken out the word "God" because it was in the last one.

SCHULTZ: I can assure you that no one has deliberately taken God out of our platform.

MORGAN: So it was an accident.

SCHULTZ: What I can tell you is that our...

MORGAN: It's either deliberate or an accident.

SCHULTZ: ... policies and our values are reflected...

MORGAN: Are you being (INAUDIBLE)

SCHULTZ: ... in many faith traditions, and that's what our platform is all about.

MORGAN: OK, what about the other strange comments which came out about Israel and Jerusalem? "Jerusalem is and will remain the capital of Israel" was in 2008 platform, no longer there. And also this idea that Israel was the closest ally of America in the Middle East -- that's also come out. Why would they come out (INAUDIBLE)

SCHULTZ: Throughout our platform, it is very clear that President Obama and Democrats are committed to maintaining a strong U.S.-Israel relationship, maintaining Israel and supporting Israel as a Jewish and democratic state and ensuring that we have the strongest possible language, much stronger than the language the Republicans have used, on ensuring that Iran can never achieve a nuclear weapon.

Our platform actually says that we are committed to insuring that we use all the instrumentation available to us to ensure that Iran never achieves a nuclear weapon. The Republicans simply say all options are on the table. So in words and in deeds, President Obama has stood by Israel and always will.

MORGAN: Mitt Romeny is 4 percent up in the polls in North Carolina. Are you worried about that?

SCHULTZ: We are focused on continuing to run the most significant dynamic grassroots presidential campaign. We've been here in North Carolina since before 2008 and we've never left. And we have an incredible grassroots operation here. Our voter registration drives have been incredibly successful, so we're focused on the next 63 days and making sure we can help use the people power that we get and the momentum we get out of this convention to carry Barack Obama back to the White House.

MORGAN: And finally, you tried to arrange for Michelle Obama to make speeches every hour on the hour every day?

SCHULTZ: Wouldn't that be nice?

MORGAN: I'd be gathering around her.

SCHULTZ: She really spoke from her heart tonight, spoke as a mom and as a fellow mom, I completely identified with what she was talking about because we all want what's best for our children and we want someone in the White House going to bat for their future every single day like Barack Obama has been. MORGAN: Well, her husband may be a divisive figure, as always goes with being the president, but his wife seems to be universally popular. And that is a rare thing to see. Debbie?

SCHULTZ: Deservedly so.

MORGAN: It was lovely to see you.

SCHULTZ: Thanks, Piers.

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