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Trump Introduces Pence as His VP Pick; ISIS Media Outlet Claims France Attackers as "Soldiers"; Soon: Trump's VP Pick Speaks at Welcome Home Rally; Turkish Cleric Blamed For Coup Lives in Pennsylvania; Protesters Gather at Exiled Turkish Cleric's House; Trump's V.P. Pick Mike Pence to Speak in Indiana; ISIS Claims "Soldier" Carried Out France Attack; Update on Nice Attack Victims. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired July 16, 2016 - 17:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[17:00:03] POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour, 5:00 p.m. Eastern. So glad you are with us. I'm Poppy Harlow live for you in Cleveland this weekend.

You are watching CNN's special live coverage of the Republican National Convention. In just two days, the city will play host to one of the biggest political events of the year, the RNC. And the official nomination of Donald Trump for president.

Indiana Governor Mike Pence now on the ticket as his number two. And at any moment, Pence is set to speak at home, a welcome home rally in Indiana. We will take you there live as soon as that begins. And while there is plenty of anticipation for this convention, there is also some anxiety over the major security challenge that it poses here in Cleveland. Four action packed days, an additional 50,000 people to protect, and the entire world watching.

Also with me this hour, my colleague, my friend Brooke Baldwin. She is following the latest on the developments on that horrific terror attack this week in Nice, France. Brooke.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Poppy, here's what we know tonight. That ISIS is now calling this truck driver who murdered dozens and dozens of people here along the Nice Promenade -- calling him a soldier, an ISIS soldier for their cause. We also know 84 people were killed right here two nights ago. Hundreds more injured. And many of them children. Later this hour, we will talk about the new clues into how he might have been radicalized, but for now Poppy we'll send it back to you in Cleveland.

HARLOW: All right. Brooke, thank you so much. Brooke will be with us live from Nice throughout this hour with many reports, we are also focusing on many, many other major stories and security concerns. When you add the terror attack in France, the deadly ambush of the officers in Dallas, the protests that have at times gotten violent over these police shootings and the violence that we've seen at some past Trump rallies, you can understand why police here in Cleveland are preparing for any scenario. They have created what I can personally attest to as a major, major security zone around this convention venue. We will have live team coverage of all these stories ahead this hour.

Also the latest on the developing situation overseas affecting a major NATO ally for the United States. We're talking about Turkey. Also a major US partner in the fight against ISIS. You saw this play out last on our television screen, last night an attempted coup to overthrow the Erdogan government. A coup that failed but a coup that ended up with this country in chaos. Hundred and 61 people dead. And thousands injured. Turkey now demanding something from Washington in the wake of what happened. We'll dive into that ahead.

We do begin though with presidential politics. As we await, Governor Mike Pence of Indiana to arrive back home, at a welcome home rally just hours after he made his natural debut on the state in New York City this morning with Donald Trump. Trump formally announced Pence as his running mate. But the event was very, very different than any like it that we've seen in the past. No surprise. Everything about this is like no different from anything else we've seen.

Not only did Trump emerge on stage fight himself, it took 28 minutes for him to introduce his running mate, Mike Pence. By comparison, take a look at what we saw in 2008, this is when Sarah Palin was introduced. The optics very different. Let's talk about all of it and debate it.

Executive editor for CNN Politics Mark Preston is with us. Reporter for CNN Politics.com, Tom LoBianco is with us. Our CNN political commentator Kayleigh McEnany, Paul Begala. Kayleigh the Trump supporter, Paul the Clinton supporter. And if you don't know that by now, you have not been watching enough CNN.

Thank you all for being here. Mark Preston, I thought about it in the first two minutes when Trump didn't introduce Pence. And then it was five minutes, 10 minutes, 50 minutes, 28 minutes. What do you make of that? What does that tell us about just how will this play out, Trump-Pence on the ticket together but clearly there is one man who says, who is about me the candidate?

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Well, I think that was it, right? I mean, first of all, were we surprised? I mean, I don't think we can be surprised that Donald Trump --

HARLOW: I was surprised because this was a pick that was, you know, a really safe pick and --

PRESTON: Right. And this should have been Mike Pence's day.

HARLOW: Yes.

PRESTON: You know, this should have Mike Pence's day. But it wasn't. It became Donald Trump's day. And Donald Trump really indicated to us, sent us a very strong signal that this is not a campaign about Trump/Pence, this is still a campaign about Donald Trump. Now, Mike Pence, it will be interesting to see how he plays over the next few days. Will he go off on his own? Will he try to shore up support? Were Donald Trump is lacking some support specifically?

HARLOW: Yes.

PRESTON: In the Midwest where he can maybe build on a support. And can he get conservatives to really galvanize this --

HARLOW: But that was the whole play here. The whole play was --

PRESTON: Absolutely.

HARLOW: -- was conservative Christian base. I mean, Pence came out and said I am a Christian, I'm a conservative and I'm a Republican in that order.

PRESTON: Right.

HARLOW: It's very clear he is trying to filling in where Trump is lacking but how much do you think he can do that, Tom?

TOM LOBIANCO, CNN REPORTER, CNNPOLITICS.COM: Well, you know, Mike Pence is really incredibly polished, she's incredibly disciplined. In a lot of ways he is the anti-Trump.

HARLOW: And we should tell our viewers, you know him very well from covering the state.

[17:05:06] LOBIANCO: So, I covered Mike from his June 2011 kick off in Columbus, Indiana when he first ran for governor.

HARLOW: Yes.

LOBIANCO: I still remember it. I was thinking about those crowds earlier today. And, you know, up through last May.

HARLOW: Right.

LOBIANCO: I wrote the story about him starting the state run news service. They promptly ended that a few days later.

HARLOW: Quashed.

LOBIANCO: Mike is, you know, as a politician, he is incredibly scripted. And you know, you probably wouldn't give it that much thought in any other election year. You look at people like Marco Rubio have an incredible discipline. Mike is in that vein. But when you put him up against Trump, I mean, the dichotomy, the contrast is just so stark.

HARLOW: Will it bother him that Trump is Trump and not scripted.

LOBIANCO: Well, I can tell you that behind the scenes when I talked with Republicans there is some concern. And there is a split inside his camp. It's not 100 percent. But we do know that Mike was 100 percent on this. He made that calculation weeks ago. So you know he got -- he put down a very interesting marker today. You know, he is very controlled. He is not like Trump where Trump will, you know, fire off left and right like that. And you know, you never know what you are expecting. Mike is very controlled and will only move like an inch this way or

that. Classical politician. And he laid down a marker in there today. This whole back fight over the vice president. When the call was made and everything. Mike made it very clear that the call was made on Wednesday. And he paused for effect. I think you are going to see a lot of that. He is holding his ground.

HARLOW: Right.

LOBIANCO: But it's going to be tough. He is going to have to hold his ground even more throughout this campaign.

HARLOW: So, Paul Begala, to you. Hillary Clinton, now this is her week. We know she's right yesterday vetting candidates, meeting with them at her home. How does this Pence pick? I will call this the safe pick. How does this impact who Hillary Clinton picks? Is she a do no harm choice? Or is she going to pick a do no harm choice or is she going to try to pick someone that might excite people more than perhaps the Pence picked it?

PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: This I know. I can't talked to her because I thought the Super Pac but I have known her 25 years. She couldn't care less who Donald Trump picks. She is going to keep Donald Trump out of the White House but I don't think the vice presidential candidate even called as flicker. Here's why. The truth is, she's more likely than not to win. OK. But the polls are tied right now. But you know, she is going to win.

(CROSSTALK)

Yes. Save this tape America. It will be close, it will be a tough race. So, she is going object the President. She is going to need a governor partner, the way that Al Gore was for her husband, the way Joe Biden has been for this president. This is a governing pick for her. It's not a game show, it's not trying people out and trotting them out and insulting them the way it did --

HARLOW: But what about the argument that --

BEGALA: This is a serious business. Just a second. This is a serious business. Nine out of our 43 presidents got there because the presidents died or resigned. So, this is not just a game show for her. It is for Mr. Trump.

HARLOW: What about the argument that exactly, to that point, Trump picking Pence makes people who are on the fence about him more comfortable because in Pence they see everything that they felt was lacking from Trump.

BEGALA: If they watch that 28-minute narcissistic performance art, they will shake in their boots. It was spectacular.

HARLOW: That's not what I asked. They said, they see in Pence what they want.

BEGALA: No, what they see is what they are not going to get out of Trump. The fact that there is a disconnect. First of all, Mike Pence, I know him, he used to come on crossfire. He is a great guy. And he is actually a pretty normal guy for a politician. I think his kind of basic normalness, if that's a word stands in stark contrast to Trump.

HARLOW: I mean, he talked about being from Middle America -- I can call it that because I'm from Minnesota, being from Middle America. And he said I got big family, corn fields in the back. I mean, you can't get more different than Donald Trump.

But Kayleigh McEnany, to you. I wonder if you think that he doesn't help Trump enough with women. We know the polls all show you can argue with the numbers, Trump needs help on the woman front. And he is staunchly anti-abortion. And he also is someone who doesn't move the needle so much on the women vote. Do you wish that he would have made a pick that could have helped more on that front?

KAYLEIGH MCENANY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It's why some people were encouraging a pick like Joni Ernst, because, you know, you think maybe that could shore up more of the female vote and that's --

HARLOW: From Iowa.

MCENANY: And that's exactly. That's certainly an argument. I do think that women care mostly about the economy. So, I think that that, Pence really can help shore up support there given his staunch economic record. I do want to point out something to Paul's point, I think the political class really sometimes misunderstands something going on in this country and it's not about politics, and it's not about having a scripted politician, it's about having someone who when they speak, like it or not, you can at least trust what they are seeing. It's not a teleprompter, it's not florist rhetoric like we've seen for the last eight years.

BEGALA: New York Times has a front page story, Donald Trump lies like I breathe. You can't say that Donald Trump is trustworthy.

MCENANY: If we are going to talk about lies -- let's go to the FBI director's statements.

HARLOW: Mark, to you --

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

HARLOW: Sure, to that point though, Trump does say what he thinks in the moment, however he changes what he thinks rapidly. When you talk about his stance on abortion a few months ago, he changed his stance on abortion four times in 24 hours.

[17:10:15] PRESTON: Which certainly, so what Mike --

HARLOW: Which is not something Mike Pence is going to do.

PRESTON: No, no, no, no. And to the point, the Pence pick is going to calm some fears among conservatives. All week. You know, look, they were meeting here this week. The Council for National Policy. It's all the titans of the conservative movement. And there was a fight internally over Mike Pence about whether they should be supportive of Mike Pence. Not because he wasn't a good conservative, but he wasn't a good enough conservative. They were very upset, at least some of the folks were upset. That he was for a religious liberty law that made it easier for folks not to participate in gay weddings, basically.

HARLOW: They thought it was --

(CROSSTALK)

PRESTON: And then he flipped on it. And that upset a lot of social conservatives. Having said that, what we saw once news come out that Pence was going to be the pick. Is that you saw the conservative community start to rally around behind him. So, to your point is that Donald Trump needs to solidify his base and then quite frankly he needs to not go with his gut all the time. That he needs to listen to the professionals that run campaigns.

HARLOW: That is exactly what he did in this pick by all our reporting.

PRESTON: Exactly, listen to his campaign.

HARLOW: I got 30 seconds to question you, someone who covered Mike Pence so so much. Is he okay being in the wings, is he okay waiting in the wings for eight years?

LOBIANCO: Absolutely. You know, Mike is incredibly patient. I was thinking about when he first ran for Congress in '88 and '90, he lost terribly to a Democrat in Indiana. He waited ten years, built his career, radio, TV, built his name. And he came back and ran. He spent 12 years in Congress. He was mentioned as a possible presidential candidate first in '12. And now again possibly in 2020. Depending upon how this shakes out. I mean, he is right back to the top.

HARLOW: We'll watch it.

LOBIANCO: It's remarkable.

HARLOW: Thank you Tom. I appreciate it. Everyone, stay with us. He'll be back with us in just a few moments.

Also this, it is a very, very busy day a lot of news ahead. Coming up this hour, fast moving developments in Turkey after a military coup attempt sent that country into absolute chaos last night. The man that the Turkish president is pointing his finger at lives here in the United States. We will explain.

Also we will return to Nice, France where investigators are desperately searching for clues in the aftermath of Thursday's horrible truck attack. We'll have an update live for you from Nice on the injured and details on the American student still missing. And we are continuing to watch Indiana, where Governor Mike Pence,

Trump's vice presidential pick, is set to speak at any moment. A big welcome home rally for him there. We will take you to it live as soon as it begins. This is a special edition of CNN NEWSROOM, live from Cleveland. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:15:53] HARLOW: Welcome back to our continuing live coverage here from Cleveland at the RNC. You are looking at live pictures of Zionsville, Indiana. That is where Governor Mike Pence, Trump's number two, his VP pick is set to arrive. At any moment he will speak at a welcome home rally. We will take you there live as soon as it begins.

Meantime, overseas right now, the President of Turkey President Erdogan demanding that the United States do something that he says will calm things down after the attempted coup last night.

Just stunning images of the chaos last night. Gunfire, and a breakdown of law and order in the Turkey's two largest cities. Istanbul and Ankara. Officials say, more than 180 people now were killed. That includes at least 20 who plotted the coup attempt according to those Erdogan officials. It is relatively calm in Istanbul tonight. Some generals have been jailed. More than a thousand people though were injured. And now, the Turkish president says, the man he says is responsible is someone who lives in the United States.

The man is a popular cleric, he leads a religious movement from his place of self-exile. Again, it's in the United States. It's in Pennsylvania. His name is Fethullah Gulen. He lives there in the Poconos in Pennsylvania. And Turkish President Erdogan called on President Obama to arrest him and hand him over the Turkey. Many Americans, service members are geographically very close to all of these unrests this weekend, may of the family members there at the airbases in Turkey have been told to evacuate.

Turkey, a key NATO ally for the United States. Hundreds of U.S. troops there. The bases are on heightened alert. Everyone, though, is reported safe at this moment.

Our Ben Wedeman is live for us in Istanbul. And Ben, when you look at what unfolded last night, it gripped all of us watching it. Really, having no warning that this could have been coming. What does it do to Erdogan's government now, that this coup was a failed attempt? Does this give him a stronger grip on power in Turkey?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It certainly does, Poppy. What it allows him to do, essentially, is undertake a purge. He has already dismissed more than 2500 judges, more than 2500 military officers are currently being detained. He has dismissed or rather detained several hundred Supreme Court judges and other senior judges as well. What he has seen and what he has been able to create is a popular backlash against military, which is a historic first in Turkey. And he has called for Turks to come out in the thousands to places

like this. We're in Taksim Square in the middle of Istanbul. It's past midnight but you still have thousands of people out here. He called upon his supporters in Turkey to come out and show that they support his government and its actions in putting down this military coup de tat by certain factions within the military. So, what we are seeing is definitely a groundswell of support. (INAUDIBLE) Erdogan in this struggle --

HARLOW: Right.

WEDEMAN: -- against certain factions in the military -- Poppy.

HARLOW: I mean, it's important to put this all in context, right Ben? Because here you have Erdogan democratically elected three times. They're very, very popular among many people in Turkey despite the increasingly autocratic behavior that you just describe. And we have also got the man who is leading one of the only, you know, one of the world's few Muslim majority democracies that is a key NATO ally for the United States at the same time that relations between the United States and Turkey have become more frosty. United States, many western countries thinking Turkey hasn't done enough in the fight against ISIS. Yet strategically bordering with Syria they are key in that fight. So, what does this do for the United States/Turkey relationship?

[17:20:07] WEDEMAN: Well, it puts them in the United States in a rather difficult position because, as you mentioned, that cleric, Gulen, who lives on a 25-acre farm in Pennsylvania -- Erdogan wants him sent back and to face justice here in Turkey. The widespread belief among government officials and the supporters of the President is that he is in a sense the inspiration for this attempted coup d'etat by the military. The United States on the other hand wants Turkey to go through official channels in having him sent back to Turkey.

But they would also like to know what is the evidence against him at this point? And of course Turkey is an important NATO ally. It's an ally of the United States going back many decades. But of course it borders Syria where Turkey is very much involved in supporting certain faction that the United States doesn't necessarily support. Turkey of course is struggling against a Kurdish insurrection. It has had a variety of terrorist attacks by ISIS, by PKK, the Kurdish workers party. So it's got a real -- he's got a lot of trouble on his hands in addition to the very delicate relationship with the United States -- Poppy.

HARLOW: You just have to think back a few weeks ago to that horrific attack at the airport there in Istanbul.

Ben Wedeman live for us tonight in Istanbul. Thank you so much.

And I do want to note we are going take you live to that farm in Pennsylvania where this man lives who the Turkish President is saying is to blame for the coup. Just sit with that for a minute. The Turkish President says a man who is living in exile in Pennsylvania started the coup in Turkey last night. And we're going to take you there live straight ahead.

Let's get behind all of this with Josh Rogin, he is a political analyst and a columnist for The Washington Post, also an expert on the region. It's stunning to think that. What does Erdogan getting Gulen do? What does that accomplish? If for some reason the United States were to extradite him which I don't think is going to happen.

JOSH ROGIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Right.

HARLOW: What does that do for Erdogan's government to get him?

ROGIN: It simply purges his biggest political enemy. It shows that he would be consolidating power. It would remove what he sees is a threat to his rule and it would check off one of his long standing grievances with the United States. Now, this guy --

HARLOW: He is already really popular at home.

ROGIN: Yes, but you can never be too popular. And the fact is, what we've seen over the last years is Erdogan consolidating power, trampling human rights, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly.

HARLOW: Yes. Killing journalist --

ROGIN: Killing journalist. Right. And these things do have negative impacts.

HARLOW: And moving away from, I mean, look, the United States, I think, you know, look back a decade ago when he came into power loved the fact that one of the world's few Muslim majority nations was ran by someone who is more secular then and is increasingly less and less secular.

ROGIN: Well, it's even more than that. President Obama put a big focus on his personal relationship with Erdogan.

HARLOW: Right.

ROGIN: Used to talk on the phone all the time. He called him one of his world leader best buddies --

HARLOW: Right.

ROGIN: -- but over time as Erdogan became increasingly more autocratic, the Obama administration has put distance between the leaders.

HARLOW: But you have to be so careful if you're sitting in the Obama administration now looking at the US airbases there, the strategic importance of Southern Turkey.

ROGIN: Well, they have got us.

HARLOW: What do you do if you are in the situation, if you're with the President who held this meeting with his cabinet members this morning? What do you saying? ROGIN: Well, they have got us. Right? We can't be strong against

Erdogan because he controls so many things that we need to do in that region. Now, the Obama administration said the right thing, right? We are against coups. That's our -- that's the way it should be. We support democratically elected governments. But then they didn't say the next thing which is that Erdogan should restrain himself from violating the rule of law, violating human rights, and increasing his crack down on civil society. Right? And that's the next step. We can hope those messages are being passed privately but we haven't seen them publicly.

HARLOW: Before I let you go, you note that we haven't heard from Trump at all.

ROGIN: So, all night and all morning I tried to get a statement from the Trump campaign. No response. Finally during his announcement speech with Pence, Trump said this. He said, we wish them well, it looks like they are resolving the difficulty, a lot of anguish last night, I hope it all works out. Right? It's clear that Trump did not really understand what was going on. And he definitely didn't take a position on what was going on. All right. He's always complaining that Hillary Clinton doesn't add to the -- phone call. Well, this is a real world crisis in real time and he didn't pick up the phone.

HARLOW: We'll see if we hear more from him or Mike Pence today as he gives his remarks a little bit later this hour. Thank you, Josh.

And again, we're going to take you to that Pennsylvania farm where this man lives coming up this hour.

Stay with us. To the home of that clerk accused by Turkey's president in playing a major role in the attempted coup last night. It is the site of a fierce protest today. We're going to take you there in just a moment. A fierce debate over whether the United States will extradite Gulen or not. Coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:28:52] HARLOW: All right. Breaking news this hour. Tension between the United States and NATO ally Turkey. The President of Turkey demanding action. He wants the arrest and extradition of a religious leader from Turkey. One of his former friends, by the way, who now lives in Pennsylvania. President Erdogan is blaming this man for the planning and the leading of a violent and deadly attempted coup last night in Turkey.

Our Sara Ganim is actually outside the cleric's home in Eastern Pennsylvania. A number of people have been gathering there. Tell us a little bit about the man and his response to President Erdogan.

SARA GANIM, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Poppy. You know, I want to show you a little bit outside of Fethullah Gulen's compound here in Central Pennsylvania. This is what's left of a protest that we believe started around noon today and at one point reached up to 150 people of Turkish decent from all across the country. As far away, we understand who people here as Ohio, New Jersey, Delaware, New York, they drove here to the

[17:30:00] Poconos in central Pennsylvania. Fethullah Gulen, he is an imam, a political -- he has had influence over the last several decades in Turkey. He is popular among the secularists in Turkey. And this morning, the president, Erdogan, accused him of being the person who organized this coup. Now, he has denied that from inside his home in a limited media interview that he gave.

But the people who arrived here today, they say they don't buy that. They -- they blame him for what happened. Some of them who I spoke to before I began speaking to you, Poppy, said that they -- they call him a terrorist. They came out here to tell him that they do not believe a coup is the right thing for their country -- the president, Erdogan, is democratically elected -- and that he is the right thing for their country. They feel very strongly, very passionately about that. Now there were about 250 people here today in central Pennsylvania on what was short notice. They say they are organizing a protest in Washington, D.C., tomorrow. Of course, we'll monitor that for you -- Poppy?

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Sara Ganim, live in Pennsylvania.

It's just sort of extraordinary to see the reaches. The fact that the president of Turkey is saying this man who is living in the United States is responsible for organizing that coup that took place in the streets of Istanbul, ending in 180 people dead, thousands in the hospital. We'll continue to watch that. See if we can speak with Gulen as well.

Sara Ganim, thank you so much.

Meantime we are continuing to keep our eyes on suburban Indianapolis. That's where Donald Trump's number two, his vice presidential pick, Mike Pence, is set to speak at a welcome-home rally. We'll bring it to you live when it begins.

You are watching CNN NEWSROOM special edition live from Cleveland. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:35:06] HARLOW: You are looking at live shot of Cleveland's Progressive Field there on a beautiful Saturday afternoon here. We are live in Cleveland for special coverage of the Republican National Convention, set to kick off in just about 48 hours.

I do want to take you for a moment to Zionsville, Indiana. At any moment, Trump's number two, his newly named running mate, Governor Mike Pence, is expected to land and speak at a welcome-home rally. But somebody who will not be there is his new partner in the race for the White House, Donald Trump.

While we wait for Pence, let's discuss all of this. With me an all- star panel, executive editor for "CNN Politics," Mark Preston; reporter for CNNpolitics.com, Tom LoBianco, who covered Mike Pence very, very closely for a number of years in innocent. Also with us, CNN political commentator, Kayleigh McEnany and Paul Begala. Kayleigh is a Trump supporter and Paul supports Clinton. But I'm going to make them switch roles.

(LAUGHTER)

Stand by for that.

Mark, to you. Trump stands him up. Why isn't he going to Indiana?

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE EDITOR: In some ways, it's probably better for Mike Pence because Mike Pence can actually have the stage to himself --

(LAUGHTER)

-- and he won't have to wait 28 minutes to be introduced to everyone --

HARLOW: As he did this morning.

PRESTON: -- as he did this morning in New York.

Listen, I think in some ways it's probably smart for Donald Trump to let Mike Pence to go back to his home state to make the case of why he joined the ticket, maybe try to work out some of the kinks himself. We'll see what happens over the next couple of days. Will they work together, will they campaign together or will they break apart. They have two different styles. Maybe having them together, the oil and water won't look good. Or maybe Mike Pence can do well for Donald Trump.

HARLOW: They only stood together on the stage for a few seconds this morning.

PRESTON: It was strange. Not only the introduction, but when Mike Pence finished talking, he took a step back and looked over, and there was nobody there. Then he went over again and there was nobody there. And Donald Trump finally came back on stage. It was unorthodox.

HARLOW: Tom LoBianco, we'll give Paul a shot of that airport hangar. This is where Mike Pence is going to shine. It has become an iconic symbol of Donald Trump. He always lands with the Trump jet at the airport hangers. Now you have the same scene for Mike Pence. A lot of people would say, other than the fact they are both Republicans, you couldn't get two more different men. Am I right?

TOM LOBIANCO, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Diametrically opposite. One of the interesting things about Governor Pence is that we're clear on his religion. He makes that a central focus of who he is as a politician.

What's fascinating, I thought, listening to him earlier today how he integrated the Trump message. When he was talking about the immigration ban based on countries with suspected terrorist ties it took it very smoothly and delivered it. You know, he stumbled a little bit but Mike -- you know, he stumbled a little bit, he slipped just a little bit but Mike is incredibly sharp when it comes to the message. I think that's what you are looking for.

HARLOW: Cleaning up, perhaps, the stumbles that Donald Trump may make speaking off-the-cuff so much.

HARLOW: Paul Begala, I'm going to make you be a Trump adviser. If you were Paul Manafort right now, what would you say -- you don't want that job?

(CROSSTALK)

PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I'd say, where is the whiskey.

(LAUGHTER)

HARLOW: What could you say in wake of this announcement? Really, this morning, it was more about Donald Trump and anti-Hillary Clinton than it was about Mike Pence.

BEGALA: Right. The narrative is getting away from us.

HARLOW: So what would you say to your man?

BEGALA: I would say let's get him into a swing state. I have no idea why they announced in a hotel ballroom in Manhattan, not in a swing state. It's good he is going home. That will be great. But it's not with Trump. When Romney rolled out Paul Ryan, it was in Virginia. When McCain introduce us to Sarah Palin, it was in Ohio. So they have got get this guy into someplace where there are voters who might actually make up their mind and it might help you. I do not understand doing it in Manhattan. I do not understand giving a 28- minute rambling, you know, like the opera warming up, me, me, me, me, me. I don't understand anything Trump does.

HARLOW: Kayleigh, we did hear, obviously, terrorists front and center right now as we continue to cover what happened in France this week. And we've got the uprising the attempted coup in Turkey. Trump addressed it very briefly this morning and he said, basically, I'm paraphrasing, looks like they have sorted everything out there in Turkey. My last guest, Josh Rogin, said, come on, where are the specifics. So how does Mike Pence help him on that on specifics on fighting terror? How does the Pence pick help him on that?

KAYLEIGH MCENANY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think being on the Foreign Affairs Committee, Mike Pence is privy to a lot of foreign information regarding big events. He has been in the meetings. He's met with --

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: He was before. Now he is a state governor.

[17:40:09] MCENANY: He has traveled to these places. He does have foreign policy experience. I think he helps to shore up the economic message. But he brings foreign policy credentials as well. He spent a lot of time doing that on the Hill. HARLOW: He has 12 years in Congress.

We are watching and waiting for Mike Pence to land at the airport hanger in Zionsville, Indiana, and address the crowd live.

Thank you so much, Mark, Kayleigh, Paul, Tom. We appreciate it.

Coming up next, as we monitor this, I do want to take you back to Nice, France. My colleague, Brooke Baldwin, is live at the site of that terror attack -- Brooke?

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Yeah, Poppy, we are closing in on midnight tonight. But still lots and lots of people out and about here in Nice along the promenade. We will have an update for you on the number of children that are still in intensive care because of the horror that happened here now 48 hours ago. And we'll tell you what ISIS -- what one word they are using to describe this attacker today.

I'm Brooke Baldwin, live here in Nice. We're back after this.

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[17:44:47] BALDWIN: I'm Brooke Baldwin. You are watching CNN's special live coverage.

We are here in the French reverie in Nice, France, the scene of that horrendous terror attack just here on this beautiful pedestrian bomb in addition now 48 hours ago during the French version of their independence day, Bastille Day. Fireworks, music, and sheer horror. French authorities are questioning this evening five people, including the soon-to-be ex-wife of the man who took his truck and rammed it into a crowd. The vice mayor told me some 60,000 people out here in that area, hundreds of people, with his guns and his truck, killing 84 people and injuring more than 200, including many, many small children.

We are also hearing today from the media wing of ISIS, releasing a statement that this attacker, in their words, "an ISIS soldier," a soldier for this cause.

We also heard today from the French interior minister saying that if, in fact, it is true that this attacker would have been radicalized quite quickly, because he was not known at all to any intelligence services previously.

ISIS is also saying that this attacker was specifically responding to its calls to target nationals of the coalition fighting ISIS.

So let me bring in Paul Cruickshank, who has been with us here on ground in Nice, our terrorism analyst.

As we talk so much -- and still, total transparency, we don't know a lot about the answer as to why. But as far as this attacker and someone who clearly was very nefarious individual, who left here to go on to Syria, what's the connection with the phone number? PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Well, with his phone number,

they went back through past terror investigations and they found out that the attacker's phone number had actually surfaced in a terrorism investigation into a radical associate of a French jihadi recruiter, somebody from Nice here, a guy called Omar Diyabi (ph), who is now with the al Qaeda affiliates in Syria. An associate of his was being investigated and the phone number surfaced during that investigation. They are trying to figure out was he just a social acquaintance or was there perhaps a more nefarious association between the two. As today progresses it's become more clear that was some radicalization. The interviews with some of these people were arrested, other interrogations, have revealed a portrait of radicalization happening rather recently. That's why the interior minister of France today said that there radicalization. But there seems to be a kind of hybrid motivation. On the one hand, radicalization, sure, but on the other hand, a picture has been painted of somebody with --

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Depressed, violent.

CRUICKSHANK: And with a lot of mental health issues, even according to his own father, somebody who had sort of breakdowns, would break a lot of things, would get very, very, very angry.

But this wasn't just somebody going postal because he rented that truck three days before the attack. So there was a degree of premeditation there. Also, the fact it was the French national day. Also, he timed it properly to have maximum carnage when everybody was watching the fireworks. All of that suggests he wanted this to be a sort of terrorist attack but he didn't explicitly imbue it with a political meaning. He didn't leave any pledge of allegiance to Abu Bakr al Baghdadi --

BALDWIN: No flags, no --

(CROSSTALK)

CRUICKSHANK: -- or anything like that. They found nothing inside the vehicle to sort of tell them he was a radical jihadi.

BALDWIN: Not that that would give anyone any sort of solace. But I think people are searching for the answer as to why someone with would want to do anything like this.

Paul Cruickshank, thank you so much.

We are here in Nice. We are talking about those who were injured and were killed in this devastating attack here on the promenade right along the Mediterranean Sea. I can tell you tonight, an American family is searching for its son who was last seen enjoying the fireworks, the music, here on Bastille Day on the promenade two nights ago.

We have an update on the victims being treated at hospitals here in Nice, including five children still in intensive care. I'm Brooke Baldwin. And you are watching CNN.

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UNIDENTIFIED CNN HERO: Most people take for granted putting a fresh clean set of clothes on. For someone who is sleeping rough and who really doesn't have access to washing and drying their clothes. It's something that's continually overlooked.

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[17:53:31] BALDWIN: We're back here live along the promenade in Nice. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

This is a place you would never think it would happen, but especially with some of the young victims, the children. Memorials are popping up. We just heard the French anthem sung loudly and proudly here.

I want to bring in my colleague, Atika Shubert, who is standing by, surrounded by candles, just taking a moment in a city of celebration just to pause and be silent.

Atika, what are you seeing from those still in the hospital?

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We're on the promenade, as you know. We can see the candles and the flowers all around here are victims where the blood fell. Those are blood stains. They're still there. People have been coming here throughout the day, flowers and candles. A number of them were children, the children's hospital today. They said up to more than a third of the victims they had were under the age of 5. Many of them were basically caught in the stampede.

We have an update on one of the very young victims there. A young boy has now -- he was previously unidentified. They have figured out who he was. Unfortunately, they are looking for his parents. It's believed they may have died in the attack. They're trying to figure that out.

So there's a lot of these cases like this where families are being reunited, sometimes with sad news. This is the grim reality people in Nice are facing in the days after the attack -- Brooke?

[17:55:34] BALDWIN: It's really struck me. I took a moment to absorb all of this. It was a whirlwind flying here from New York. What struck me was the candles, the memorials, the people stopping, pausing. Whether they knew someone or not what struck you.

SHUBERT: Absolutely. Earlier today, when I was here, they opened the promenade. There was a single rose in a lot of these spots where victims have fallen. Over the course of the day, it's completely grown. The blood stains have now been completely covered with flowers and candles. I think that's people's way of saying we're trying to do our best to reunite, to come together over this. BALDWIN: Atika Shubert, thank you so much.

Thank you all for being with us here this evening. I'm Brooke Baldwin, live in France.

"Smerconish" starts in just a moment.

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