♪ announcer: from a our studios in new york city, this is charlie rose. charlie: in philadephia, this is the night hillary clinton accepted the nomination for president of the united states . in so doing, she made history. we are taping this the shortly before chelsea introduces her mother and what is to be the most important speech of her life. chelsea: there is something else my mother taught me, public service is about service.

[applause] chelsea: and, as her daughter, i had a special window into how she served. i have seen her holding the hands of mothers worried about how they will feed their children, or get them the health care it they need. i saw my mother promising to do everything she could to help. i have seen her right after those conversations heading straight to work figuring out what she could do, who she could call, how fast she could get results. she always feels like there is not a moment to lose. because she knows that for that mother, for that family, there isn't. people ask me all the time, how does she do it?

how does she keep going amid the sound and the fury of politics? here's how. it is because she never ever forgets who she is fighting for. [applause] chelsea clinton: she has worked to make it easier for foster kids to get adopted. for our 911 first responders to get the health care they deserve. for women around the world to be safe, to be treated with dignity, and into have more opportunities. [applause] chelsea clinton: fights like these, they are what keep my mother going. they grab her heart and conscience and never ever let go.

charlie: last night, president obama gave a powerful speech which signified the passing of the torch. eric holder is here. welcome. eric: it is good to be here. charlie: you are doing what at the convention? eric: i gave a speech, i talked about voting rights and criminal justice reform. charlie: how much will that be part of your life now? the idea for being an advocate for criminal justice reform and race? eric: when i left, and my going away ceremony, i said while i was leaving the department of justice i would never leave the work. i want to stay involved in the fight for equality to make sure

we reform our criminal justice system and that we protect the right to vote. all the things connected to race which have so bedeviled us as a nation for so long. charlie: i think and i come to this from people like brian johnson and others, a hard look. have we considered all of the impact of slavery on this country. eric: i don't think we have. when one looks at slavery and the time after slavery think they had slavery by another name of segregation. there are direct ties, government policies put in place of the 1930's. there are a whole lot of things that still resonate here in the 21st century that still find their roots in the slavery experience and those things that follow. charlie: they are all asking the same things. every speacker here and at the

republican convention says this. every speaker. one, we have to do something about violence against young people and old people in terms of police committing acts of violence in the middle of whatever. we also have to make sure week and you're set this to come up have to make sure we understand and appreciate and make sure no one allows violence against police. how do we go once of further than the next up a next up. eric: it is interesting. i think we have done that first step, to raise the issue. to make sure law enforcement treats people they are supposed to serve with dignity and respect. and there's not a tension between those two. the question becomes, how to we get to the next level. i think there's got to be some hard-headed conversation. a few recommendations from the 21st century task force. there are specific steps. 23 or 24 steps, if you follow those we could really move the ball in a significant way but we have to understand that whole

relationship, the law enforcement and community relationship cannot be viewed in a microcosm. it is part of a larger society and larger societal issues around race that we continue not to address. we are adept at avoiding racial issues because it makes us feel uneasy. it brings up a bad past. charlie: and then there is the bias. eric: a huge part that has to be addressed in law enforcement. law officials cannot look at someone and make an assumption and act on that basis. that is something we have to attack. charlie: where do you think you succeeded and failed in terms of your tenure? eric: i think we raise the ball when he came to civil rights enforcement. there was a civil rights department that had been decimated.

i look at we protect the right to vote. lgbt equality. i think we did a good job at moving terrorism cases into the article three court. i do not think we did a good job when it came to getting gun control. then safety regulations in place. that is the one area i think i wish i could've made more progress. charlie: i suspect the president would say the same thing. eric: i thought after newtown, after the 20 little angels were murdered, mowed down, i thought that would be the catalyst. the vice president and i met with a wide variety of gun groups. i think we could have at least had a consensus. charlie: is that what has to happen? a consensus with the nra? eric: i do not think so. i do not think they're ever going to come along. i think we need a spine injection to the people in washington to do the things their constituents want them to do. charlie: will this be a primary issue for hillary clinton?

eric: absolutely, it is a primary part of her candidacy that i am most proud of when i associate myself with her. unlike others, was a concern you might alienate others, she has said she is for gun safety regulation. she has talked about what she thinks needs to be regulated and that is a start contrast to donald trump. it gives her a mandate should she be elected. i think there is a mandate, and expectation. i think it could happen. charlie: we saw 12 years ago history made in 2008. this nomination is history in itself. winning the general election, the remarkable history. we have watched in eight years the possibility. eric: i was born in 1951 and i lived through the civil rights movement. if you had told me in college,

in law school that i would serve thatybe the early 2000's, i would serve under in african-american and after that a woman would be president of the united states, i might've asked you to take a drug test. [laughter] charlie: and they would vote be lawyers. eric: and here we are. we could never forget this is a nation that has made great progress. we have things to do. this is a great nation, despite what donald trump says, we have made great progress and if we do not acknowledge that we are met -- doing a disservice to people who have put their lives on the line to make nice like this possible. charlie: i have had people tell me donald trump is dangerous for the future. eric: i think that is true. he is temperamentally unsuited to be president. there are a number of disqualifiers to his candidacy, the latest of which is his apparent invitation to the russians to somehow get involved in the hacking of private

citizen's e-mail. the fact that he does not instinctually know -- charlie: and might've been deleted from a server, private server. eric: the fact that he does not know there are collateral consequences to a request like that is to me, frightening. i think he would be a dangerous president. charlie: is what he suggested treason? eric: i am not sure about that. that is a legal determination. i would have to know what it is about what he said. charlie: i can remind your you were the attorney general. eric: i would need a lot more stuff than simply that statement to make a determination. charlie: is it illegal? to potentially say to another country, i want you to engage in an illegal act. it is illegal to hack. eric: it is illegal to hack. charlie: i want you to engage in

an illegal hack to my opponent with a political advantage to me. eric: if he said that, it would probably be illegal. i am not sure he used those words and that way. that is why his exact verbiage would be important. there is a reason it is not -- charlie: would americans be shocked at how much hacking is going on? eric: yes. there is a reason it is not disclosed. charlie: for what reason? eric: national security concerns, it would reveal sources and methods and the tactics we have two prevent hacking by a variety of entities. charlie: we know they hacked john brennan's phone. we know they hacked the personnel. we know they hacked sony. we know they hacked other private companies. we know they hacked the dnc. do you believe it was the russians who hacked the dnc?

eric: i do not know. i am not trying to avoid the question. i really do not know. charlie: what about your opinion? eric: i think it is entirely possible they were involved. charlie: we know it is possible. eric: i think was entirely possible the russians were involved. i would not the past them. their experience. that they would do something like that. i mean putin, trump seems to have a bromance with them. he would do something like that. charlie: wide you say bromance? -- why do you say bromance? eric: he has discussed admiration. talked about a willingness to work with them in areas where we are in stark contrast. charlie: would it strengthen vladimir putin of donald trump or elected? eric: absolutely. trump has questioned the validity of the very things that of kept russia and the ussr at bay for half a century. nato.

charlie: we think china has been engaged in hacking. north korea. the president said has said north korea was involved. eric: five koreans -- north koreans were indicted for hacking when i was attorney general. charlie: i assume we hack as well. eric: nothign in the commercial atmosphere. charlie: doing it on behalf of commercial entities. the chinese. you are saying we don't do that, but we do it for national security reasons. eric: we have capacity we make full use of. i will leave it at that. i am not going to get in trouble with the justice department. [laughter] know where the line is.

you question donald trump's gray matter. do you think is not smart enough to be president? eric: i sometimes think he hides behind a certain bravado just to hide a lack of substance. a person this far along in the process, i think we would know little bit more about what his plans are. we would know more about who his mentors might've been. who his intellectual guides might be. i don't think that is any of that to him. he seems to be a very shallow man. charlie: you don't see intellectual interest other than a businessman. whose value sent is primarily, and he said that to a degree, winning. eric: yeah, winning. charlie: that is what he said america needs to do. america needs to win. win against the chinese. eric: guess what charlie? we are winning. we have the best economy in the world. the envy of every other in economy and the world.

one of the other things that makes me doubt his intellectual half is he sees everything in black and white. that is the realm of people who are not very smart. because the world really, the tough stuff is in the gray area. that is where you have to try to figure things out and he has shown no interest and i think no capacity to delve into and operate in those gray areas. charlie: yet in the swing states that are crucial he is even. he is even. in other words, despite everything you just said, dangerous, not smart enough, one-dimensional. he is even. eric: i think it is too early to look at polls and make a determination. i showed one that showed them a -- eight points behind in pennsylvania. another said he was even in pennsylvania. as always, i would be looking at florida. if he cannot win florida than it

-- the math for him does not work. even if he wins pennsylvania. if we win florida it is pretty much over. charlie: do you think for sec. clinton to win she has to win ohio and florida? eric: not necessarily. if you look at the electoral map from the last election antennas what you would expect for hillary there are a number of , states where she could lose and still be above 270. charlie: you are not attorney general, loretta lynch was attorney general when fbi director james comey released his judgment about the e-mail investigation into hillary clinton. he said she was careless. she said he clarified that. did he clarify that as far as you know? eric: i am not sure. i think in the hearing they made the next day, there was some clarity brought to things. charlie: what was the clarity? eric: he said the information i -- that had been clearly marked

and in response he said there were a couple things, not headliners. the statement was in the strongly first day as it was before. charlie: but carelessness is not a presidential quality we want to see is it? eric: people make mistakes. abraham lincoln suspended habeas corpus. charlie: that was not careless. he knew what he was doing. it was a mistake. it was certainly a policy mistake. and wrong. what she did was a mistake and wrong. eric: she is a knowledge it was wrong, she has apologized. i made mistakes as attorney general. charlie: i would like to get a list of them. eric: we're talking about this election. people make mistakes. our leaders are humans. we don't want them to make huge mistakes in areas that are consequential. you can look at them and see how they were handled. charlie: the russians for example. let's assume it may have been

the russians and everybody seems to raise that possibility. it is a possibility. as you suggested, they hacked other places. they could have hacked here. that is one question. the other question, if they did did they do it with the , -- with the reason to influence the election? is it unreasonable to expect that someone might have hacked her server in her house? is that unreasonable? eric: i do not think it is something one should suspect. -- expect would have happened simply because it was not an official government server. charlie: they know who she is. eric: there are protections that can be built in. i don't know all about the system. you can build secure systems. charlie: i'm talking about my hacking expert. eric: i am not that. in a private setting, you can put up secure systems. i cannot vouch for that system.

i don't know -- charlie: nobody has any evidence it could happen? it is possible. we don't know because we see no evidence. eric: right. and no evidence as advanced by the trump camp either. although they would like to have it. charlie: what is it about president obama that most runs a -- brings a sense of pride to you? because you are close to him. dignity. a sense that everybody admires. that is why what she said resonated. she spoke as a mother. she spoke about protection of children. she spoke in a way that you want to be able to trust children to -- in trust to your children to a place and eight leadership where they are safe. and he interesting enough, said , he had to wear dark glasses to sasha's graduation because he was crying.

eric: what i admire the most and why i will miss him is he is in honorable guy. he is who you see. the person you see is who he is. he is a little funnier then he is in public. he is a person that although a politician, ultimately always says, what is the right thing to do. he always does. i remember during the campaign he was told he had to do something to hillary. in the first run for the presidency, and he said, i remember, he said, if i have to do that i don't want to be president. and i thought might myself, this is why am attracted to this guy. that is how he is conducted himself. charlie: in terms of value standards. there are lines he will not go beyond. eric: there is a line it will -- he will not cross. those right, those run. there are consequences for doing the right thing and i will do it nevertheless. that is why i think history will be kind to him. charlie: interesting thing in america today.

talk of her running for a third term for barack obama. she will run for her own and making her case later. and it is interesting to me and i do not understand this, the wrong track polls. the polls say this country is on the wrong track. yet he is having polling above 50%. eric: i don't understand that. by all of the normal, traditional measures people should be saying we are in a pretty good place. especially if you consider this country as opposed to other nations around the world and yes, those wrong track record for exactly what you say. i think a part of that has to do with the campaign and the drum beat that people are fed on a constant basis by republicans about how bad things are when in fact there are pockets of problems. there are issues. charlie: when you say that, this sense ofe is

optimism about america. this sense of believing in america. when i wanted to ask him, what could make your belief, not concrete. strongest military, economy, andtary, highest technology sophistication. he said our politics could stop it. eric: yes. we have a dysfunctional system and washington, d.c., right now and that gums up so much. we could do so much with regards to infrastructure, education, a whole variety. a whole variety of things you need the government to be involved in. bill clinton famously said that the era of the big government is over. i would say, good government -- the need for good government still indoors -- endures. government is not an evil thing. charlie: ronald reagan was wrong when he said government is not the solution, it is the problem. eric: i think he was 100% wrong.

charlie: the era of big government is over is what he said. but that was the time of newt gingrich and the contract of america and those kinds of things. eric: i think because of demographic reasons, because of the failure of certain policies we're seeing a shift in the nation and the nation as a whole is moving to the left. charlie: what does that mean? in the sense of the role of governing? eric: yes, in terms of the sense of government, what it wants government to do, policies it wants to see in place. conservative things that of gned supreme for 30 years are being questioned. charlie: we don't want to be open or closed, do we? and openness to the rest of the world. do we want to close down? eric: that is a fundamental question. that has always been answered as we want to be open to the world. that is how we renew ourselves. it is a competitive advantage we

have by being a diverse nation. charlie: it does appeal to some people because they are hurting, worried about their economic security. worried about not having the life for their children. eric: we're going through a time of transition. we are going from an industrial society where we had lots of people who would be on a factory line and make cars and refrigerators. now robots are doing them. we have artificial intelligence doing think the could not be done before. this is a wrenching economic time for us. charlie: a time for leadership. eric: also a time for optimism. we will get through this. i have more questions about hacking, can i call you? eric: absolutely. charlie: eric holder, previous attorney general for the united states. back in a moment. ♪

♪ charlie: we continue with a top democratic donor and friend of the clinton family. a supporter of barack obama and a successful wall street hedge fund man. he has been involved in politics and he comes this evening i assume to watch hillary clinton's acceptance of the nomination. what does it mean to you? >> look, i think it is great. i have three girls. monthshter is nine

pregnant, she is due any day and decided to come here. a big deal for women and i think for -- i have known hillary for a long time. it is something phenomenal. charlie: when did you first meet the clinton family? you are very close to the former president as well. >> i met them when he was in the white house. after he left office, we became much closer. charlie: take someone like you, who i know and you are a friend of mine as well. you support political candidates. you bundle money for them. why? >> i believe in it. i was born outside the usa, morocco. for me, the ability to end up being involved in politics. the ability to help democratic causes, i think you have an obligation. you should beginning back and it

-- be giving back and it is something i want to do. charlie: donald trump says people like you give money because they want something. >> i heard that. i also think donald trump and people like me should not be -- donald trump also said people like me should not be allowed into this country. i mean, i am from morocco. by the end of the day, the reason i am doing it is at the end of the day i do believe in the cause. i believe hillary would be a great president. i want to do everything i can to help that. i think others do as well. charlie: you supported strongly president obama and believed in him. what is your assessment of how well he is done in the last eight years? >> he was done a good job. if you look at -- charlie: you are a businessman. >> yes. if you look at the market. when he came into office to where the market is, it is reaching record highs. look at the economy. it is doing exponentially better. charlie: now are concerns about the economy.

that is the reason the fed has not raised interest rates. and other indications of that. >> that is right. when things are going fine everybody wants things to do better when it's fine. what is going well, everybody wants it to go great. when you look at where we are to where we are today, i am very happy at the job he has done. would i like to have had less regulation in the financial sector? sure. charlie: but you can live with that. >> you can live with it and that is exactly it. charlie: and it came out of the congress primarily. dodd-frank, which he supported. >> at the end of the day, i think the president's a little one bit too far. there is too much relation on the banks today and that is why i think this sort of people need those loans. charlie: there is a consensus the democratic party is moving left. not late. [laughter] >> late and left. charlie: are you ok with that in terms of what you would like to see in the party contribute to? >>