07/29/16 07/29/16 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from the democratic national convention in philadelelphia, this is democray now! mrs. clinton: and so my friends, it is witith humility am a determination, and boundless confidence in america's promise that i accept your nomination for president of the united states. amy: in an historic night, hillary clinton becomes the first woman to accept a major party presidential nomination.

clinton said the country was at a moment of reckoning while issuing a warning about her rival donald trump. mrs. clinton: imagine him in the oval office facing a real crisis . a man you can bait with a tweet is not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons. amy: while hillary clinton spoke protesters repeatedly attempted , to disrupt her with chants of "no more war." some walalked out of the convention floor. >> some have walked out. we felt what hillary has to offer is not enough. we're hoping for an apology. amy: we will air parts of her speech, talk to some of the protesters, and speak to new york magazine writer rebecca traister and seattle city councilmember kshama sawant. all that and more, coming up.

welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org. this is breaking with convention: war, peace and the presidency. i'm amy goodman. here in philadelphia, former secretary of state hillary clinton has become the first woman to accept t a major party presidential nomination. mrs. clinton: tonight we have reached a milestone in our nation's march toward a more perfect union. the first time that a major party has nominated a woman for president. [applause] clinton: standining here as my mother's dadaughter and my daughthter's mother, i am so hay this day has come. i am happy for grandmothers and little girls and everyone in

between. i am happy for boys and men because when any barrier falls waymericaca, it clears the for everyone. clintont was hillary the first woman nominated for , the presidency by a major party in u.s. history. during her speech, clinton also thanked her rival, vermont senator bernie sanders, and pledged to work with him to implement some of his core proposals. mrs. clinton: bernie sanders and i i will work together to make college to wish and free for the middle class and debt-free for all. [cheers] clinton: we will also -- we will also liberate millions of people who already have student debt. amy: hillary clinton's address came at the end of a day packed with speakers, including hillary clinton's daughter chelsea, retired general john allen,

civil rights leader dolores huerta, "moral mondays" organizer reverend william barber, and lgbt rights activist sarah mcbride, who became the first openly transgender woman to speak at a major party convention. >> will we be a nation where there is only one way to love, only one way to live? or will we be a nation where everyone has the freedom to live openly and equally? amy: retired legendary nba player kareem abdul-jabbar also spoke thursday. he opened his speech with a jab at donald trump. >> hello, everyone. i am michael jordan and i am here with hillary. i said that because i know that donald trump could not tell the difference. amy: he then went on to really introduce himself as kareem abdul-jabbar, the nba's all-time leading scorer.

ohio congresswoman joyce beatty also appeared to take a jab at the trumps on thursday when shse took the dnc stage wearing the exact same off-white dress with billowing sleeves that melania trump war when she gave her speech at the rnc in cleveland last week. this fashion plagiarism comes after melania trump plagiarized parts of michelle obama's 2008 dnc speech. meanwhile, donald trump, jr., is accusing president obama of having plagiarized a line from his speech at the rnc last week. both men used the phrase "that's , not the america i know." however, well before the rnc, obama has used some variant of the phrase "the america i know" or "not the america i know" on multiple occasions. former p president george w. buh also used this phrase. donald trurump hasn't appreciatd all l the jabs and jokes at his expense during this week's dnc. at a rally in davenport, iowa, thursday, trump talked about attacking multiple dnc speakers.

mr. trump: i wanted to hit a couple of thosose spepeakers sod . i would have hit -- no, no. going to hit them -- i was all set. and then i got a c call from a highly respected governor, "? how's it going, donald" i said, they're saying bad things about me. i was going to hit one guy in particular, very little guy. i was going to hit this guy so hard hisis head would spin. he would not know what the hell happen. amy: meanwhile, back in philadelphia, bernie sanders delegates protested both on and off the convention floor thursday. scores of sanders delegates wore florescent green shirts reading, "enough is enough," which appeared to glow in the dark whenever the arena lights dimmed in between speakers. many of these delegates also held signs reading, "no more wars," "ban fracking now," "#dnc email leaks"s" and "jill stein."

toward the end of thursday night, about a half dozen young black activists marched out of the convention arena chanting, "blackck lives matter.r." some from colorado walked out. another group of california delegates marched out saying their votes had not been counted. it took california months to count the votes following the june 7 primary. a third group from colorado walked off the convention floor. meanwhile, hundreds of protesters rallied outside the wells fargo center thursday night. seattle city councilwoman kshama sawant addressed the crowd. >> sanders decided to endorse clinton, but you can see thousands of people in the democratic party's own delegates do not accept that because that is not a way forward. it is a failed strategy, putting our faith into parties. some people are here to say they refuse, they reject that vote, and we want to build our independent movement. we want to be the brave

delegates were going to walk out during hillary's speech so we can discuss where we go from here. amy: we will host a debate between seattle city councilwoman kshama sasawant and rebecca traister, "new york" magazine writer, after headlines. meanwhile, the guardian's ben jacobs reported the democratic party tried to thwart protest chants from the floor by circulating a list of counter chants on thursday. clinton delegates were reportedly instructed to chant "usa" when sanders delegates chanted "no more war," and "hilary" when sanders delegates chanted "stop the tpp." despite these efefforts, the protest chants could still be heard from the floor, although they were largely drowned out for television audiences. this comes as at least one sanders delegate says his credentials were stripped from him after he held a sign protesting the tpp during president obama's speech wednesday night. >> i am a 61-year-old delegate here to represent -- i am a bernie delegate.

they have told me because i held tpp""no teeth pupae -- "no son, that it is against dnc rules for me to use it. they refused to give in my credentials to go to the conventionon on the fourth a. i feel like this is a violation of my conststitutional rights. amy: in news from baltimore, the prosecutors who failed to secure convictions for police officers after the death of freddie gray say the city's police department undermined their case. prosecutors michael schatzow and janice bledsoe say police failed to serve search warrants for police cell phones that would have offered evidence of how officers reacted after gray's death. grayay died in aprpril 2015 of spininal injuries s after he was ararrested and transported in na policece van. six officers faced chaharges relateto his death, but prosecutors dropped all remaining charges against three officers wednesday after failing to win convictions for any of the first four officers to go on trial.

five of the officers have also filed suit against baltimore city state's attorney marilyn mosby, alleging defamation and unlawful arrest. meanwhile, the man who recorded eric garner's death is suing new york city for $10 million. ramsey orta says he was arrested on trumped-up drug charges as payback for filming the arrest and death of eric garner, who died on july 17, 2014. under a plea deal, orta is slated to serve years in jail -- four making him the only person at the scene of eric garner's killing who will serve jail time. republican vice presidential nominee mike pence is scheduled to address the american legislative exchange council's annual conference today. alec is a right-wing group that proposes legislative language that is then used by lawmakers. more than 100 protesters gathered outside the conference on wednesday. imprisoned army whistleblower chelsea manning faces new charges after r she tried to tae

-- commit suicide on july 5. the armymy told mamanning yestey she is being investigated on charges that include having prohibited property in her cell and resisisting being moved outf the cell. if convicted, manning could face punishment including indefinite solitary confinement and addition time in prison. it could also negate the chance of parole. chelsea m manning is servining a 35-year-sentence at fort leavenworth, kansas. best-selling author and feminist writer jessica valenti has quit using social media indefinitely after she received a rape threat aimed at her child. valenti has long received violent threats online as a result of her feminist writing, but on wednesday she tweeted -- "this morning i woke up to a rape and death threat directed at my 5 year old daughter. that this is part of my work lifefe is unacceptable." in another tweet she added, "i can't live like this." and the u.s. government has reached an agreement with the family of giovanni lo porto, an italian aid worker killed in a cia drone strike in pakistan

last year. lawyers for the family told the intercept the government had paid compensation, but did not disclose the amount. the agreement comes more than a year after president obama acknowledged and apologized for the operation, which killed lo porto and an u.s. government contractor named warren weinstein. despite hundreds of hours of surveillance, obama said, the united states had not known that the hostages were present. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now! democracynow.org breaking with convention: war, peace and the presidency. i'm amy goodman.n. in an historic moment, former secretary of state hillary clinton has become the first woman to accept a major party presidential nomination. mrs. clinton: tonight we have reached a milestone in our nation's march toward a more perfect union. the first time that a major party has nominated obama and for president.

[cheers] mrs. clintnton: standing here -- standing here as my mother''s daughter and m my daughter's mother, i am so happy this day has come. i am happy for grandmothers and little girls and everyone in between. i am happy for boys and men because when any barrier falls in america, it clears the way for everyone. [cheers] mrs. clinton: after all, when there are no ceilings, the sky's the limit. [cheers]

mrs. clinton: so let's keep going until everyone of the 161 million women and girls across america has the opportunity she deserves to have. amy: speaking at the wells fargo center here in philadelphia, hillary clinton thanked her rival bernie sandersrs. and i want to thank bernie sanders. [cheers] mrs. clinton: bernie, your campaign inspired millions of americans,s, particularly the young people who threw their

hearts and souls into our primary. economic and social justice issueuefront and c centr where they belong. [cheers] mrs. clinton: and to all of your supporters here and around the country, i want you to know, i've heard you. your cause is our cause. [applause] mrs. clinton: our country needs your ideas, energy, and passion. that is the only way we can turn our progressive platform into real change for america. amy: the final night of the democratic night convention featured singer katy perry

basketball legend kareem abdul jabbar, and four-star marine general john allen. khizr khan, the father of captain humayun khan who was posthumously awarded the bronze star and purple heart after he was killed in iraq. >> donald trump, you're asking americans to trust you with their future. , have you even read the united states constitution? [cheers] i will gladly lend you myy copy. and applause] in this document, look for the words -- look for the words

"liberty and equal protection of law." have you ever been to arlington cemetery? go look at the graves of brave patriots who died defending united states of america. you will see all faiths come ethnicities.d nothing andrificed no one. solve our problems by ,sewing division. amy: there were also protests on the floor of the convention with

chants of "no more war" could be heard throughout the evening. scores of sanders delegates wore florescent green shirts reading "enough is enough," which appeared to glow in the dark whenever the arena lights dimmed in between speakers. many of these delegates also held signs reading "no more wars," "ban fracking now," "#dnc email leaks," and "jill stein." some delegates walked out of the dnc in protest. democracy now! caught up with one of the groups from california just after they walked out. not hill. >> i am a delegate from district 49. felt what hillary had offer wasn't enough. we were hoping for an apology. but how she is, she will never apologize for the things she ever does that cause destruction to our nation. >> i am from san fernando

valley, representing district 29. we are not ok with everything that happen in this primary to be just swept under the rug under the brush of unity. there is still unity without reform will stop until that happens, until they acknowledge the system is rigged, it is obvious that something happened, that it was not fair. we are just making it clear we will not -- we will remember. >> find our votes! .> my name is angelica i have from san fernando valley. we are saying "find our votes." there are over 2 million votes that were purged in california. we're still waiting for our votes to be counted. this domination is invalid -- this nomination is invalid. she is not a valid nominee. it is in invalid nomination. >> my name is carlos. i am from california.

we represent millions of young , tole that gave their lives put their lives on hold so they could actually go out there and register other people to vote. we have children. we want to teach them responsibility to vote, yet they cannot do that in good faith to tell them, go ahead and be a democrat because they are going to stand up for the rights of the people. they are not doing that. why? why is it? it hurts us. it hurts us to do this. if you think that we're living -- leaving out of this convention inspired, you're wrong. we're leaving out of your divided. amy: hundreds of protesters also gathered outside the gates of the democratic national convention to protest hillary

clinton's nomination. democracy now!'s sam alcoff and elizabeth press were there. >> we won't vote for hillary. vote for dnc, we won't hillary. this is an idea that has been stirring for a while among bernie supporters, which basically has to do with if bernie would not get a fair shake at the convention, then we vowed to come here as democrats, but basically to leave the party and no longer affiliate ourselves with the party afterwards. xit is. is what the dem >> we're out here to protest the war and poverty and environmental destruction policies of the democratic party and the future that we would have if hillary clinton or trump

were elected president. it is outrageous the weather political system is rigged and corporations in both parties. i'm here to say no to that and build a community that is resisting it. >> i'm a native philadelphian. we will be heard and there will -- we are taking it. we can to take over. >> what do we want? >> justice. fromam 35 years old queens, new york. i have been in philadelphia since sunday. i am herere as a bernie supportr and protesting. >> can you describe your sign? >> is a poster board that is carved out with bernie's name on one siside and "never hillary" n the other side. when i was amber, my family was on welfare.

bill clinton was in office. we were not qualified for food stamps anymore. the monthly money we got was cut . the subsidized housing was also cut. required to go out and apply for certain number of jobs, but she's a single mother of six children and wasn't able to meet the requirements. we strtruggled tremendously. sexother actually became a worker. locked down the arena to prevent the delegates from walking out. >> we will wait for them. we will wait for them. we will stand with them. >> my name is amy. i'm one of the volunteers called by the sanders campaign to the

national convention to help our delegates. there were 200 of us from all over the nation. some people here on our last time -- dime. we were told we were going to be able to get credentials every morning to go inside and do our jobs. on monday, we waited and waited. by the end of the day, we were finally able to go in. on tuesday morning, the leader of our volunteer group told us that we would not be receiving credentials for the rest of the week and the reason was given. >> i am also one of the volunteers from seattle. we were told on monday when we got our credentials, before we got on the bus i said, are we going to have to fight every day to get our credentials? they told us it would be based on how we behave. councilmember in seattle and a member -- i am here because i'm trying to build

the political revolution that bernie sanders talked about. but what is happening is this. sanders has decided to endorse clinton, but you can see thousands of people of the democratic party's own delegates do not accept that because that is not a way forward. it is a failed strategy. putting ourselves in the corporate to party. some people are here to say they reject that move and we want to build our independent movement. we want to be the brave dedelegates are going to walk ot during hillary's speech so wewe can discuss where we go from here. amy: that was city councilmember a seattle kshama sawant speaking outside the dnc last night will step in a minute, she will join us along with rebecca traister of "new york" magazine who has written about hillaryclinton for over a decade. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org. we are breaking with convention. back in a moment. ♪ [music break]

amy: sheila e. performing at the dnc. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, breaking with convention: war, peace and the presidency. we are broadcasting from the democrcratic national convnventn here in philadelphia. hillary clinton has made history by becoming the first woman to accept a major party presidential nomination. mrs. clinton: i believe our economy isn't working the way it should because our democracy isn't working the way it should. that is why we need to appoint supreme court justices who will get money out of politics and expand voting rights, not restrict them.

[cheers] mrs. clinton: and if necessary, we will pass a constitutional amendment to overturn citizens united. [cheers] mrs. clinton: i believe american corporations that have gotten so much from our country should be just as patriotic in return. many of them are, but too many are not. it is wrong to take tax breaks with one hand and give out pink slips with t the other. [cheers] mrs. clinton: and i believe wall street can never, ever be allowed to wreck main street again. and i believe in science.

[cheers] mrs. clinton: i believe climate change is real and that we can save our planet while creating millions of good paying clean energy jobs. believe that when we have millions of hard-working immigrants contributing to our economy, it would be self-defeating and inhumane to try to kick them out. [cheers] clinton: conference of immigration reform will grow our economy and keep families together, and it is the right thing to do. so whatever party you belong to

or if you belong to no party at all, if you share these police, this is your -- these beliefs, this is your campaign. amy: to talk more about the convention and the historic nomination of hillary clinton, we are joined by two guests. rebecca traister is writer-at-large for "new york" magazine and the author of, "all the single ladies: unmarried women and the rise of an independent nation." kshamalso joined by sawant, a socialist city councilmember in seattle. sawant helped win a $15/hour minimum wage for all workers in seattle. welcome both of you to democracy now! rebecca, you are on the floor of the convention last night when hillary clinton gave that speech. your reaction? >> from the floor, it was hard to tell how it was going over. couldwere protesters -- i

here the protesters. i was watching what was happening and paying attention. i wasn't as focused on the speech and how it was being received. i was very aware of this sort of the ethical tensions within the room -- the ethicical tensions within the room. as someone who has written about hillaryclinton for many years, these big speech moments where she is most of give some can of speech that inspires and unites, don't always go well for her. this is not her forte is a politician. --asn't quite sure overnight, i read some of the reactions and it seems to me that it is been much better received than many speeches. in part, i think it had a lot of the marks of bernie sanders on it. one of the things that surprised me as i was listening to it is the time she spent talking about andie and his supporters

that you heard so much -- you saw in that speech the product of what is primary process has done with regard to her candidacy. walking into this election cycle as someone who is written about hillary and has had a lot of ambivalence about her tendencies to move to the center, you're not have a go i could have imagined a very different convention speech in which hillary clinton gets the nomination. theink that the role that bernie has played best the fact there were protesters in their has moved hillaryclinton as someone who is always been to the left of her ideologically, i'm grateful for and i think you did see the marks of that in that speech. and we have a different candidate for president than we would have had we not had this primary process. amy: kshama sawant, the messasae ththroughout this week and your response to hillaryclinton, the

first woman to be nominated by a major party to be president of the united states? >> as a socialist and a feminist myself and as a woman, and a woman of color, i have no question in my mind that in order to make social change, it is absolutely critical that women, people of color, all of the members of the oppressed communities under capitalism be on the forefront of struggle but i think the identity of the person we're talking about leading people, are much less important. the identities are much less important. what is far more critical is where they stand. so if you look at the significance of her being the first female nominee and understand the -- i am sympathetic to that, but i throughout this campaign season was reminded of a show -- an episode you played, amy, in 2008 when you had gloria steinem and melissa harris perry. gloria was saying you need to

vote for hillary if you are a woman. and melissa was saying, if you are a person of color you need to vote for obama. i was sitting there takaking, neither of these candidates represent my interests as a woman of color. it has less to do with the identity of far more to do with the interests they represent. at the end of the day, i do not think the debate is about her speech skills. it is more the fact that she is adopted representative of wall street and wall street interests. is antire dedemocratic party representative of wall street interests. there are differerences between republicans and different -- immigrants, but that is one thing they agree on, they're primarily advocatat for walll street. hillary clinton is on her way to be international emissary for the fracking industry, which is so dangerous. so much so that she has refused to really -- even accept this is going to be a huge problem in

terms of climate change. you look at the whole spectrum of issues. a lot of people think, it is a woman leader and this is going to be important. look, she was on the board of walmart for six years. walmart is the world's biggest purveyor of poverty wages. who does it t affect? women at the very bottom. you heard the story of the woman -- i saw her last night at the protest -- who says because welfare was destroyed d under bl clinton, her mother had to become a sex worker. hillary clinton was not an innocent bystander. she played an active political role alongside bill clinton and the new democrats. as a feminist, i would have left for her to play an active role to shore up welfare, to make sure women's living standards could be improved. unfortunately for us, she is playing a very active role as a woman, but as a defender of wall street. people are looking for a woman to support, think about

jill stein. amy: rebecca traister? >> i am in agreement with you about parts of what you said. i'm also interested in getting money out of politics. i don't think that is the only issue at stake here. i think there's a degree to which, and as someone was written about my ambivalence and criticism of hillary clinton on some of these counts, i think that -- i am glad that you and her other critics are making these points very loudly. i don't think those are the only issues at stake, though. i don't think what you see is her role as an emissary of wall street is where these questions end no voting for jill stein is a solution that works, either, terms of feminism or in terms of addressing issues that you care so passionately about. jill stein is not going to win the presidency. the person who would win the presidency is hillary clinton -- i understand the impulse to stop her -- is donald trump.

when it comes to issues of fracking, wall street, paid leave, protecting was social programs we have in place now and shoring of social programs in the future and nothing in destroyed in terms of -- i think all of those issues are on the table. i'm not sure that the feminist choice is supporting a woman who offers very little threat of actually winning. i would also say with regard to welfare reform, which is policy it wasabhor and loathe critical of and horrified by at the time, i think it is extremely fair to criticize the public statement that hillary clinton made in support of a browser think it is important to contextualize what her a actual role in it was. she was not in elected office. i'm not excusing her. however, you have to understand and consider the fact she was under enormous pressure as the

wife. she was playing the wife. she was a controversial wife. she was widely seen, ankara, as thatical left force in white house and era and there's tremendous support for her to be in support of her husband. yes, it is absolutely fair to criticize the statements she made in support of welfare reform, to look at her critically as to how she was trying to exert influence over that legislation as it was happening, but i don't think that asking hillary clinton to pay the bill for welfare reform and for the crime bill in a way that members, including joe biden and john kerry -- the idea this bill is being handed to hillary clinton who was not in elected office, but was in this ceremonial position during those years, is the way to

productively, critically address the ravages of welfare reform. amy: kshama sawant? >> i don't agree she was in a ceremonial position. she was playing an active critical role. we don't need to quibble. hillary clinton has her own independent track record as secretary of state, as a warmonger. and as a lobbyist in chief for big business for multibillionaire interests. i don't see how we can in any honesty expect a woman who takes $250,000 for every speech she makes to goldman sachs, who has been a rapacious factor in t the global economic crisis, 70 who will represent the interests of ordinary people. again, we need to move away from an individualized and personalized narrative of politics to the larger context into which this is happening. the real problem here is not just her, the fact the

democratic party establishment controls it, has a long track elcord of a systematic betray of working people. not to mention war abroad. i think when people are worried about trump, it is legitimate. i am horrified. i find trump's agenda of the saw ginny, victory, hatred, and anti-immigrant hysteria stomach turning. but if we're going to defeat the phenomenon of trump, then we have to look at trump phenomenon not is something that happened just out of nowhere, out of thin air, but understand the trump phenomenon is a product of the fact both of the establishment parties, democrat and republican, have been to the right over the last several decades. similarly, when the tea party and the republican right made gains in 2010, that was not because americans suddenly woke up and went right wing.

that is because millions of people were angry at obama's corporate bailouts and they were so disappointed and betrayed. what is striking abobout that election, it has historically the lowest voter turnout since the second world war. this tells us there's a huge chasm between where the establishment stands and establishment party and ordinary americans. it is not because millions of people are racist, it is because millions of people are looking for an alternative. they're grasping for an alternative to corporate politics. the question is, if you want to defeat trump, the bigger question is, how will we defeat trump and avoid building an ongoing basis for the right wing? the left has failed to build so far. this year, if we don't talk about concrete left politics, through the jill stein campaign, then we are to leave the field open for trump. and gary johnson are going to have a monopoly over millions of distant printed --

disenfranchised voters. amy: rebecca traister? >> do you think encouraging people to vote for jill stein is going to defeat trump? what do you see happening? >> first of all, it is a problem to look at presidential election years as something that is in its own box and every thing else is disconnected. that is not how it works. in reality, everything in history points to the fact that voting mass movements on the ground are absolutely critical in order to make social change. in those mass movements die a death as long as we don't build independent of those mass movements. the reason we susucceeded in winning $15 an hour, we ran our campaign into fines of the democratic party establishment of seattle. do you think the democrats even supported it? no. they were dragged along and forced to vote on it because the vast majority people in seattle

built our movement on the streets and forced it. that is the example we are talking about. what is at stake is not whether or not jill stein is going to win. if on november 6 we have a very make thise, that will movement that we're building sit -- ordinary people, people who can make change, sit up and take notice that it is possible to build an independent party of the 99%, which is the real goal would be to go toward. >> first of all, i agree about presidential politics being in this box. way thetrimental to the system works and that this is still a time we can get people to tune in and feel strongly about it. that is precisely why i, who agreed with his politics very strongly, had doubts about bernie sanders from a practical perspective as the nominee because i worried that putting somebody -- i agree that individual ascension to the top

or leadership positions within parties that have not shifted all the way down the ranks gave me tremendous anxiety it would hurt a movement to the left to put a left candidate at the top with the recalcitrant state and local government and that in fact the move to the left had to be from the bottom up. i just want to say i absolutely agree with you. however, what we are now heading i wanted to is why understand. are you envisioning the push for that as being big enough it gets people to pay attention but not big enough that it damages your clinton's prospects? while i agree it should not just be about individual stories and not just about hillary clinton, the reality is, in november, there is going to be an election and one person is going to win it. even if we understand this is about larger systems, that one

person is going to gain a certain amount of control over systems, including the supreme court, that is going to make decisions over the course that will affect a generation or two. while i agree with you wholeheartedly that we should be looking at this more holistically and systemically and talking about how the fight for $15 and activist work been done around paid leave, paid thatdays, these things none of the presidential candidates have been on the ground -- including her clinton and bernie sanders, obviously, not donald trump are the republicans, we absolutely need to move those activists into politics and off the -- up the pipeline. but we also cannot for lower sales of the individual question of who is going to win the presidency in november are meaningless. they're going to carry meaning and weight and realities for millions of americans. >> those of us who are talking about building an independent party for the 99%, we take the

question of the presidential election absolutely seriously. i am not saying it is meaningless. here's the question i would like to ask. if the democratic party had asshment was -- it its first priority to defeat trump -- i have no doubt they want to defeat trump. but if that is our top most priority, then why did they not do everything in their power to promote the one candidate who through many, many poles was indicated to have been a really prominent, very powerful voice against trump and having the real possibility of winning against trump. obviously, i'm talking about bernie sanders. instead, the committee has used every dirty trick in the book to stymie his campaign. the recent bernie sanders did not when is not because the democratic base did not support him. he has electrified and entire base of tens of millions of people. the reason he did not win is not because of recalcitrant congress, it is because of the democratic party establishment for whom them although defeating

trump is the priority, a bigger priority for the democratic party establishment is to defeat the agenda of working people to really fight for massive social change because the interests of ordinary working people and the interest of wall street are opposite. the interest of wall street are completely antagonistic of ordinary working people. as long as we tyrus us -- forget about individuals. as long as we tie results to a party that is tied to wall street, our movements will reach a graveyard in the democratic party. amy: let's go to break and come back t to this discussion. i warned you before the show, no soundbites. you have taken me at my word. i want to thank kshama sawant, who will be back in one minute, socialist city councilman brent seattle. she spearheaded the movement for theywon.hour , and rebecca traister is with us, a

writer-at-large for "new york" magazine. she destroyed a major piece on the significance of hillary clinton -- she just wrote a major piece on the significance of hillary clinton. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org. our two week special breaking , with convention: war, peace and the presidency. we are broadcasting from the democratic national convention in philadelphia. actually, we are broadcasting from phillycam.

go to democracynow.org to see with the folks here arare doing. people making their own media. we're talking about secretary of state hillary clinton making history by becoming the first woman to accept a major party presidential nomination. our guests are rebecca traister, writer-at-large for "new york" magazine. she is written about hillary clinton for a decade. she is the author of, "all the single ladies: unmarried women and the rise of an independent nation." and we are joined by kshama sawant, a socialist city councilmember in seattle. she helped spearhead the $15 and hour minimum wage for all workrkers in seattle.. we left it at kshama sawant talking about how you won a victory and how the democratic party was allied against you. and you talked about if the

democratic party was serious about taking on donald trump, which is sounds both of you women seriously are interested in, that they would not have fought so hard to undermine bernie sanders. rebecca traister, can you respond to that? >that he was the best candidate in the polls you said indicated that he was the one who could beat donald trump. now the polls do show, and i'm sure new polls will be coming out now after the convention -- you get that convention bump -- that he is ahead in most polllls being g taken right now. >> i am terrified. i don't think bernie sanders -- ththis is my guess. we're all guessing at this point. i mean, i -- amy: why are you so concernedd about donald trump? >> because look at the amount of support he has behind him. i mean, he's channeling something. whether it is what kshama sawant -- i think it is accommodation

and many factors. this sense of dissatisfaction with the establishment, that it is understanding and a feeling on the right that what we have is not working and are searching anywhere for alternatives on the right, have their hands on this particularly foolish one. i also think it has -- i also think simultaneously it is tied all caps of xenophobic or gender -- resentment and that is powering it. we're still in the midst of major ruptures and shifts in this country about the kinds of people who can have power, the kinds of people who can be sitting here having these kinds of conversations and having an impact on elections and there are all kinds of resentments at work. it is powerful. amy: what about the point of the democratic party wanted to actually beat him? >> i was not persuaded that bernie sanders -- i know he polled well, but he did not have a single negative ad run against

him. amy: and hardly any media covering him. >> the media tour him apart, especially in the new york state primaries. first, there is a media blackout. then there was a vicious series of attacks on him. i don't agree factly about the fact that he wasn't attacked in the media. he didity, the reason not win the nomination is because the democratic party did not want him to win the nomination. it is not just about the polls that indicated he would have made a better candidate against trump. this about the actual politics. you political substance of clinton and trump. i've no doubt in my mind is a difference between clinton and trump. i find trump's agenda stomach turning. the reason trump gets a neck over his people against someone like clinton and they see correctly that -- portland for us, trump -- you said ghoulish

ly. he is posing as an outsider to the establishment, e even though he is an insider. the same interest of wall street that hillary clinton represents. the contrast between them is so little. that is why you're seeing the difficulties. hillary clinton is not doing well against trump. it is because there's not enough of a contrast. the reason trump is making gains is you don't have a real left to counter him. >> i really disagree to contrast between them is so little. i think it is vast. i'm in, i understand you're saying there's a difference, but i think it is just not true that the difference is slim. that theyetely agree are different, but if you look at the actual realities on the ground, the people who are drawn towards trump, i don't agree if the narrative people are presenting is that millions of americans have become racists

and hateful. i don't agree. honestly, their complexities. at the reason the vast majority of his echo is because minds of people around the station are looking for an alternative to corporate america. look at the state of michigan for example. one of the reasons bernie and donald trump did well is because there was huge anger in the midwest against nafta and fear of the tpp. we agree there is a difference, but i think what is missing here is the fact that this is a false choice. we agree there is a difference between clinton and trump, but offering those two as choices and say, "pick one" is a false choice for america, the wealthiest in the history of america and poverty is skyrocketing. the vast majority of people cannot even whether a $1000 unexpected financial bill. we're talking about people that are shortening to maintain a foothold into survival. who is going to represent them?

we have to start somewhere. we do not make this false argument because it is about the presidential election. if it was, then why don't we have the strongest candidate against trump? we don't, because the establishment does not believe in promoting that. >> i want to go back to the discussion of it was rigged -- i don't want to say "rigged," becaususe you do not say that. it is interesting looking at the e-mails that were released. one thing that struck me is the orinda's sort of discussion of faith against him. it is obvious people within the dnc did not like bernie sanders. it is not a huge surprise to me. i think the the was not operating well throughout this primary season. but what i did not find actually was any evidence that was any systemic rigging. hillary clinton one millions of more votes over bernie sanders.

their arguments about why, but jim it -- there are arguments about why, but i found no persuasive evidence. i found evidence that people did not like bernie, people in the party did not like bernie. that is true. i understand why it is troublesome. but i've not seen any evidence that the process itself was rigged or there was any actual there wasd not -- nothing in all of those e-mails about what they were going to do to stop this guy who, yes, they were saying they did not like, but i think the idea that the dnc had an impact on what was the democratic, deeply flawed process that i was we did differently in this country, but she won by a lot. >> i think if you are having your ear to the ground and listening to the millions of people -- not just the people outside. i am not a member of the democratic party. you don't have to take it from

me. take it from the thousands of delegates that walked out on wednesday. these are ordinary activists of the democratic party up with her blood, sweat, and tears into building the party because they're fighting for social change. or decades, they wanted to believe this party would represent them. they walked out because they do not see this party is representing them. amy: we have to leave it there for this conversation will continue and i hope yoyou'll boh come back with us to continue talking about this as we carry on covering this election through november and the issues well beyond. that does it for the show, rebecca traister and kshama sawant, thank you for joining us. a special thanks to our crew at phillycam. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who apprpreciate t closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now!]

i'll be doing a report back from the conventions in two talks on friday, july 29, in provincetown, massachusetts, at the provincetown town hall, and on saturday, july 30, on martha's vineyard at the old whaling church. democracynow.org

amy: from the democratic national conventn in philadelphia, this is democracy now! mrs. clinton: : tonight we havee reached a milestone in our nation's march toward a more perfect union, the first time that a major party has nominated a woman for president. amy: in a historic night, hillary clinton accepted the democratic party's presidential nomination. setting her eyes on november clinton repeatedly took jabs at ,