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Republican National Convention Focused On Hillary Clinton Takedown; Did Melania Trump Plagiarize Her Speech From Michelle Obama's 2008 DNC Speech? Aired 3-4a ET
Aired July 19, 2016 - 3:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:00:00] CHRISTINE ROMANS, EARLY START SHOW HOST: Breaking news this morning, the republican national convention off to a big start here, opening night, focused on taking down Hillary Clinton.
The controversy over what was supposed to be tonight's shining star, stealing headlines this morning. Did Melania Trump plagiarize her speech?
Good morning. Welcome to Early Start this morning. I'm Christine Romans. I am here in Cleveland at the CNN Grill. It is Tuesday, July 19th; it is 3 a.m. in the East. Welcome this morning, or if it's late at night for you.
Here's our breaking news this morning. The first big night of the republican national convention ending in controversy. What was supposed to be the crowned jewel of the evening, the speech by Donald Trump's wife, Melania, drawing charges of out and out plagiarism.
Several passages directly lifted from Michelle Obama's democratic convention speech in 2008. I want you to listen. Listen for yourself to the similarities.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MELANIA TRUMP, DONALD TRUMP'S WIFE: My parents impressed on me the values that you work hard for what you want in life. That your word is your bond and you do what you say and keep your promise.
MICHELLE OBAMA, BARACK OBAMA'S WIFE: Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values, like you work hard for what you want in life. That your word is your bond, that you do what you say you're going to do.
TRUMP: That you treat people with respect. They taught and showed me values and morals in their daily life. That is a lesson that I continue to pass along to our son. And we need to pass those lessons on to the many generations to follow.
OBAMA: That you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don't know them. And even if you don't agree with them.
TRUMP: Because -- because we want our children in this nation to know that the only limit to your achievements is the strength of your dreams and your willingness to work for them.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: And Barack and I set out to build lives guided by these values and to pass them on to the next generation, because we want our children and all children in this nation to know that the only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work hard for them.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: All right. Joining me now, senior political reporter, Manu Raju. And, Manu, in the moments after that speech, that Melania Trump gave she was to get this -- she got high marks for being poised and for sort of her first big speech, you know, her first and first big speech out there.
And then within an hour, all of these controversial -- you know, looking at the -- looking at the statements side by side, what is the campaign saying now about that speech.
MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Well, Christine, they are actually completely downplaying this controversy. And really not even addressing the fact that this doesn't look a lot alike Michelle Obama's speech from 2008.
Let me read you a statement that Jason Miller, the communications advisor for Donald Trump just released they just placid out. They said this, "That in writing her beautiful speech, Melania's team of writers took notes on her life's inspirations and in some instances included fragments that reflected her own thinking. Melania's immigrant experience and love for America shown through in her speech which made it such a success."
Now, when you parse that statement, Christine, there's no mention of Michelle Obama, there's no reference of plagiarism, they're almost saying that this was all Melania's thinking, this is exactly what she intended to say and these are her own thoughts.
Now she was asked about this -- about her speech on NBC's Today Show and they really saw a little snippet of that, a segment. Listen to how she talk about -- spoke about her speech in coming from just her, not from a team of advisors.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How she gone over this speech, did you practice it on the plane?
TRUMP: I read it once over it, and that's all because I wrote it and with a little help as possible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[03:05:01] RAJU: So that seems to be the one discrepancy that we're seeing between what Melania said publicly and what she -- what her campaign is now saying, was a team of advisors who wrote it for Melania, Trump saying, well, I did it with as little help as possible. One thing there, but of course, they're not plagiarism charge which is the central issue coming out of this speech.
ROMANS: Well, in a statement coming from the campaign makes no reference to Michelle's Obama speech in 2008, makes no reference to the controversy really at all.
RAJU: Yes. It's pretty remarkable in that regard. In some ways it's part of the Trump campaign play book, it seems like they're going to dismiss this, they're not going to acknowledge that they did anything wrong. They're going to dig in and they're going to fight back and fight what they believe is media not covering the candidate's wife fairly.
And hope that the news cycle will move on once we start focusing on tomorrow night's speeches and the rest of the convention. So, there's a calculation clearly happening in the Trump campaign that's not going to last beyond few hours.
ROMANS: All right. A lot going on this morning and a lot of controversy here in this. Thank you for that, Manu Raju. You've heard about the controversy, now, I want to bring you those remarks in full Melania Trump's speech in its entirety, introduced by Melania's husband making a dramatic rock star fog machine entrance, here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you, everybody. Thank you, we love you. Thank you very much. Oh, we're going to win. We're going to win so big, thank you very much, everybody.
(APPLAUSE)
Thank you very much.
(CROWD CHANTING)
Thank you. We're doing to win so big, thank you very much ladies and gentlemen, we're going to win so big. Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
Ladies and gentlemen, it is my great honor to present the next first lady of the United States, my wife, an amazing mother, an incredible woman, Melania Trump. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
M. TRUMP: Thank you. Thank you very much. You have all been very kind to Donald and me, to our young son, Baron, and to our whole family. It's a very nice welcome and we are excited to be with you at this historic convention.
(APPLAUSE)
I'm so proud of your choice for president of the United States, my husband, Donald J. Trump.
(APPLAUSE)
And I can assure you he's moved by this great honor. The 2016 republican primaries were fierce and started with many candidates, 17, to be exact. And I know that Donald agrees with me when I mention how talented of all -- talented all of them are. They deserve their respect and gratitude from all of us.
(APPLAUSE)
However, when it comes to my husband, I will say that I'm definitely biased and for a good reason. I have been with Donald for 18 years and I have seen aware of his love for this country since we first met. He never had any hidden agenda when it comes to his patriotism, because like me, he loves this country very much.
(APPLAUSE)
I was born in Slovenia, a small, beautiful, and then communist country in Central Europe. My sister Inez, who's an incredible woman and a friend, and I were raised by my wonderful parents.
My elegant and hardworking mother, Amalija, introduced me to fashion and beauty. My father, Viktor, instilled in me a passion for business and travel.
[03:10:06] Their integrity, compassion and intelligence reflect to this day on me and for my love of family and America.
(APPLAUSE)
From a young age, my parents impressed on me the values that you work hard for what you want in life. That your work is your bond and you do what you say and keep your promise. That you treat people with respect.
They taught and showed me values and morals in their daily life. That is a lesson that I continue to pass along to our son, and we need to pass those lessons on to the many generations to follow because...
(APPLAUSE)
... because we want our children in this nation to know that the only limit to your achievements is the strength of your dreams and your willingness to work for them.
(APPLAUSE) I'm fortunate for my heritage, but also for where it brought me today. I traveled the world while working hard in the incredible arena of fashion. After leaving and working in Milan in Paris, I arrived in New York City 20 years ago, and I saw both the joys and hardships of daily life.
On July 28th, 2006, I was very proud to become citizen of the United States.
(APPLAUSE)
The greatest privilege on planet earth.
(APPLAUSE)
I cannot, or will not take the freedoms this country offers for granted, but these freedoms have come with a price so many times. The sacrifices made by our veterans are reminders to us of this. I would like to take a moment to recognize an amazing veteran, the great Senator, Bob Dole.
(APPLAUSE)
And let us thank all of our veterans in the arena today and those across our great country.
(APPLAUSE)
We are all truly blessed to be here. That will never change. I can tell you with certainty that my husband has been concerned about our country for as long as I have known him.
With all of my heart, I know that he will make a great and lasting difference. Donald has a great and deep and unbending determination and a never-give-up attitude. I have seen him fight for years to get the project done or even start it, and he does not give up.
(APPLAUSE)
If you want someone to fight for you and your country, I can assure you he's the guy.
(APPLAUSE)
He will never, ever give up, and most importantly, he will never, ever let you down.
(APPLAUSE)
Donald is, and always has been, an amazing leader. Now he will go to work for you.
(APPLAUSE)
His achievements speak for themselves and his performance throughout the primary campaign proved that he knows how to win. He also knows how to remain focused on improving our country, on keeping it safe and secure.
[03:15:00] (APPLAUSE)
He's tough when he has to be, but he's also kind and fair and caring. This kindness is not always noted, but it is there for all to see. That is one reason I fell in love with him to begin with.
(APPLAUSE)
Donald is intensely loyal to family, friends, employees, country. He has the utmost respect for his parents, Mary and Fred, to his sister, Mary Ann and Elizabeth, to his brother, Robert, and to the memory of his late brother, Fred.
His children have been cared for and mentored to the extent that even his advisories admit, they're an amazing testament to who he is as a man and a father.
(APPLAUSE)
There is a great deal of love in the Trump family. That is our bond and that is our strength. Yes, Donald thinks big, which is especially important when considering the presidency of the United States. No room for small thinking. No room for small results. Donald gets things done.
(APPLAUSE)
Our country is underperforming and needs new leadership. Leadership is also what the world needs. Donald wants our country to move forward in the most positive of ways.
Everyone wants change. Donald is the only one that can deliver it. We should not be satisfied with stagnation. Donald wants prosperity for all Americans.
(APPLAUSE)
We need new programs to help the poor and opportunities to challenge the young. There has to be a path for growth. Only then will fairness result.
My husband's experience exemplifies growth and successful passage of opportunity to the next generation. His success indicates inclusion rather than division.
(APPLAUSE)
My husband offers a new direction, welcoming change, prosperity, and greater cooperation among peoples and nations. Donald intends to represent all the people, not just some of the people.
(APPLAUSE)
That includes Christians and Jews and Muslims. It includes Hispanics and African-Americans and Asians and the poor and the middle class. (APPLAUSE)
Throughout his career, Donald has successfully worked with people of many faiths and with many nations.
Like no one else, I have seen the talent, the energy, the tenancy, the resourceful mind and the simple goodness of the heart that God gave to Donald Trump.
(APPLAUSE)
Now is the time to use those gifts as never before for purposes far greater than ever. And he will do this better than anyone else can, and it won't even be close.
(APPLAUSE)
Everything depends on it for our cause and for our country. People are counting on him. All the millions of you who have touched us so much with your kindness and your confidence. You have turned this unlikely campaign into a movement that is still gaining in strength and number.
(APPLAUSE)
The primary season and its toughness is behind us. Let's all come together in a national campaign like no other.
(APPLAUSE)
[03:19:58] The race will be hard fought all the way to November. There will be good times and hard times and unexpected turns. It would not be a Trump contest without excitement and drama.
(APPLAUSE)
But throughout it all, my husband will remain focused on only one thing, this beautiful country that he loved so much.
(APPLAUSE)
If I'm honored to serve as first lady, I will use that wonderful privilege to try to help people in our country who need it the most. One of the many causes dear to my heart is helping children and women.
You judge society by how it treats its citizens. We must do our best to ensure that every child can live in comfort and security with the best possible education.
(APPLAUSE)
As the citizens of this great nation, it is kindness, love and compassion for each other that will bring us together and keep us together.
(APPLAUSE)
These are the values Donald and I will bring to the White House.
(APPLAUSE)
My husband is ready to lead this great nation. He's ready to fight every day to give our children the better future they deserve.
(APPLAUSE)
Ladies and gentlemen, Donald J. Trump is ready to serve and lead this country as the next president of the United States.
(APPLAUSE)
Thank you. God bless you. And God bless America.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: That was Melania Trump's 16-minute speech to the RNC last night. Really, the highlight of the evening. Make America safe again. That was the theme of night one at the RNC. Many of the speakers focusing on Hillary Clinton saying she belongs behind bars.
They like even chanting "lock her up." We're back live after the break.
[03:25:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Day two of the republican national convention begins in just hours with the message, "Make America work again," until derailed by the Melania plagiarism controversy, the convention's first night was on message with the theme, "Make America safe again."
Each speaker, elected, military officials, the emotional mother of an American killed in Benghazi attack, each of them pounding home the very same message, Hillary Clinton must not be president.
Manu Raju joins me again this morning. And before the comparison between Michelle Obama's 2008 speech and Melania's speech last night, before that comparison arose they were on message last night.
RAJU: Yes, they really were, I mean, you look at the theme of the night "Make America safe again." There were several things that they wanted to do. They wanted to, one, humanize Donald Trump in some ways, that's why Melania Trump was speaking and to talk about his personal side.
They wanted to show that Donald Trump would be strong commander-in- chief and they wanted to essentially disqualify Hillary Clinton by bringing up the Benghazi controversy and the like.
So, what we heard from the speakers were really aggressive attacks against Hillary Clinton and a promotion about why he would be the strongest commander-in-chief.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PATRICIA SMITH, MOTHER OF BENGHAZI VICTIM: I blame Hillary Clinton personally for the death of my son.
RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: I've seen on her job that night, we wouldn't have to compromise the annex, Ty, Glen, Sean, and Ambassador Steven would be alive today.
MARY MENDOZA, BRANDON MENDOZA'S MOTHER: My son, Sergeant Brandon Mendoza was killed two years ago by an illegal alien, who was a repeat criminal, every one of the crimes that he committed had laws that should have resulted in court mandated jail time.
(APPLAUSE)
A vote for Hillary is putting all of our children's lives at risks.
GIULIANI: Who would trust Hillary Clinton to protect them? I wouldn't. Would you?
MICHAEL FLYNN, FORMER CIA DIRECTOR: And it would be nice to have a commander-in-chief who could be trusted to handle classified information.
(APPLAUSE)
JONI ERNST, IOWA STATE SENATOR: Hillary Clinton has failed to protect our national security in other ways. She jeopardized our safety by deciding our laws don't apply to her.
FLYNN: Yes. That's right. Lock her up. I'm going to tell you. It's unbelievable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: Now, tonight, there as in, you can actually pretty interesting statement of speakers in addition to tipping Trump and Donald Trump, Jr., more family to speak about Donald Trump's more human side, if you will.
Also congressional leadership is going to be speaking, Paul Ryan, the House Speaker, Mitch McConnell, senate majority leader, but even someone who is passed up for the vice presidential knot, Governor Chris Christie, so an intriguing straight line there.
But before that all happens there's going to be an effort to try to nominate Donald Trump to be president, we'll see if they'll actually going to be some of those folks in this never Trump movement trying to disrupt the proceeding, you can put Ted Cruz's name up for nomination beforehand.
[03:30:03] So, some of the theatrics could still be on the display today.
ROMANS: So, "Make America work again." That is the theme for tonight. Last night "Make America safe again." No fewer than I think three speakers saying Hillary Clinton should be in jail, so, a dramatic message last night, indeed, shifting the tone a little bit today.
Manu Raju, thank you so much for that. The breaking news at the sending accusations. This morning, Melania Trump plagiarizing parts of her speech. Early Start continues with that right now.
Breaking news this morning, "Make America safe again." The theme of night one at the RNC. The Melania Trump speech stealing the spotlight, stealing passages of her speech from Michelle Obama.
Welcome back to Early Start. I'm Christine Romans in Cleveland at the CNN Grill. Good morning, everyone. Thirty one minutes past the hour.
Breaking news this morning. The first night of the republican national convention ending in controversy at what was supposed to be the crown jewel of the evening, the speech by Donald Trump's wife, Melania drawing charges about plagiarism.
Several passages directly lifted from Michelle Obama's democratic convention speech back in 2008. Listen for yourself to the similarities.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
M. TRUMP: My parents impressed on me the values that you work hard for what you want in life. That your word is your bond and you do what you say and keep your promise.
OBAMA: Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values, like you work hard for what you want in life. That your word is your bond, that you do what you say you're going to do.
TRUMP: That you treat people with respect. They taught and showed me values and morals in their daily life. That is a lesson that I continue to pass along to our son. And we need to pass those lessons on to the many generations to follow.
OBAMA: That you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don't know them. And even if you don't agree with them.
TRUMP: Because -- because we want our children in this nation to know that the only limit to your achievements is the strength of your dreams and your willingness to work for them.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: And Barack and I set out to build lives guided by these values and to pass them on to the next generation, because we want our children and all children in this nation to know that the only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work hard for them.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: So, there are the speeches side by side. Joining me now, senior political reporter, Manu Raju. What is the campaign saying? Because in the moments after sort of this duplication was discovered, everyone said, how the campaign responds will be critical.
RAJU: Really it was an interesting moment there. She did not respond for some time and did try to scramble and put together a statement and they didn't even acknowledge that there was any sort of plagiarism, it seems, in some ways you can interpret it and then pushing back.
This is what Jason Miller, who is a senior communication advisor said in a statement. He said, you know, "In writing her beautiful speech, Melania's team of writers took notes on her life's inspirations and in some instances included fragments that reflected her own thinking. Melania's immigrant experience and love for America shown through in her speech which made it such a success."
So, you can interpret that as clearly the Trump campaign believing they did nothing wrong that this is the media making too much of it. And they're going to frankly, dig in and hope that the new cycle moves on and it just won't hurt them at the end of the day.
ROMANS: She had said that she mostly wrote the speech herself, though, now we're hearing about this team of writers here, that's what the campaign is saying.
RAJU: Yes. That's really the interesting thing here. Take a listen to what she had to say on NBC's Today Show when she was asked directly about her speech.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Has she gone over the speech with you, did you practice it on the plane?
M. TRUMP: I read it once over it because that's all because I wrote it and with a little help as possible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: So, clearly a difference than what the campaign said, a team of advisors versus writing it mostly by her herself. That's clearly the one discrepancy here that we've seen in the statements since this controversy emerge.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: When you look at the statement from the campaign. It appears to me, at least, that they don't think this is going to be a multi-day story, right?
[03:35:03] That they are -- they're going to move on from this. And when you listen to Trump supporters, there's a lot of people on social already tonight, this morning they're saying, look, Michelle Obama doesn't own those words.
And you know, journalists care about plagiarism controversy. We think that you're holding her to a standard that's not fair. RAJU: Yes. And that's probably what the Trump campaign think. They
think that their supporters who write it up. They think they'll be -- this is just a bunch of media hype and that we will simply eventually move on. And frankly, we probably will. So, you know, that's the clear the calculation come.
ROMANS: It does overshadow the other message, though from that sense.
RAJU: It does. And that's the one issue because they do believe that they had a successful night hitting on those key themes, trying to disqualify Hillary Clinton. And now they have to answer these questions, you know, it will be interesting to say in just a few hours, Paul Manafort will be on CNN, we'll hear what he has to say on how he response to these questions.
ROMANS: Fascinating. All right. Manu Raju, thanks for covering that for us, covering the whole event last night.
Joining me here in Cleveland to discuss day one of the republican convention and day two coming up. CNN political analyst, Josh Rogin, columnist for the Washington Post, and our three CNN political commentators. I'm so glad to have you all here this morning.
Democratic strategist, Maria Cardona, Amanda Carpenter, former communications director for the Ted Cruz campaign, and Donald Trump supporter John Phillips, talk radio host at KABC in Los Angeles.
So, guys, what was a very on message night derailed by this putting these two speeches side by side. Amanda, the response from the campaign, was that adequate.
AMANDA CARPENTER, FORMER TED CRUZ COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: I think it's going to keep the story going. I think most reasonable people can look at those two speeches and see that some degree of plagiarism was committed. The fact that they're not owning up to it, admitting it trying to move is just going to keep it going.
And this is the problem we see with Donald Trump more largely, he can't own up to a mistake. He never says sorry, he doubles down. And that has a negative effect because people just won't believe you anymore.
ROMANS: What do you think happened here, I mean, do you think it's a cut and paste situation, an open, you know, an open word document with the 2008 speech and then somehow got incorporated. We don't know who wrote this speech. We should be clear. We don't know who wrote it the speech. We know that Melania Trump delivered the speech.
CARPENTER: As a former speechwriter, of course, you would look at who gave the similar speech and look for that for inspiration, of course. I can see easily that someone copy and pasted that craft, it sound it meant to rewrite it or rework it and it just got locked in as is, which is why it's just carelessness, just admit it and move on.
ROMANS: John, what do you think the campaign should do? JOHN PHILLIPS, KABC TALK RADIO HOST: Well, part of what they were
trying to do during this convention was look presidential. And this morning comparing Melania to Joe Biden after the plagiarism, so congratulations as they're part of the way there.
But he's an unconventional candidate. And part of what you like about him is also part of what you don't like about him. Donald Trump is the lost Marx's brother, Zeppo. He doesn't spend money on writers, he doesn't spend on a lot of...
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: He's a cost effective campaign by himself.
PHILLIPS: Yes. No, but that's good, though, because we see so many...
ROMANS: But this speculate about trust and integrity.
PHILLIPS: But you have to spend money on speechwriters for something like this.
CARPENTER: Yes. Maybe spend some more.
PHILLIPS: And if you don't, it burns you. And that's what happened here. But I don't think it hurts them in the long term. Because if you're a spouse you're held to a different standard than if you're the candidate. What she had to do last night was to be likable and go out and show public support for her husband, which she did. So, I don't think this is a long term problem.
ROMANS: I mean, before you put the two speeches back to back, Maria.
MARIA CARDONA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Yes.
ROMANS: I mean, she got pretty high marks for, you know, for being warm and softening her husband and delivering a good remarks.
CARDONA: Sure. But even then, even before this whole plagiarism thing came out, there was something missing. I think a lot of people were asking themselves, this was a terrific opportunity for her to like, you were saying, John, really necessary to do to humanize her husband.
She was talking more in platitudes than anything else. There was no personal anecdote. There was no - this is the Donald Trump that I know that perhaps America doesn't and let me tell you what...
(CROSSTALK)
CARPENTER: And she does everything big and...
CARDONA: Platitudes, who doesn't, who -- that is not running for president doesn't like to do big things, right? That is something that could describe any person who is running for president.
We needed to hear, America needed to hear what makes him a good father, a good husband, a good family man, other than just saying, he's a good father, a good husband, a good family man.
ROMANS: Josh.
JOSH ROGIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I just think this is terrible stuff work. And it's part of what happens when you throw a convention together at the last minute. Remember what Scott Baio said to CNN after his speech, he said, he got asked to do the speech last Thursday, OK.
That's not that long ago, right. There are reports of the New York Times that they didn't vet the speeches, right, they weren't checking. Paul Manafort told at breakfast this morning here in Cleveland that it didn't matter that this is how conventions always go.
But when you take that sort of lesser and fair attitude to how you're rolling out your candidate and your candidate's wife mistakes like this happen.
ROMANS: Yes.
ROGIN: And symptomatic of what we've seen as a total sort of disorganized haphazard campaign all the way through.
CARPENTER: And it does come after the pins roll out, which had problems with the branding, the sign that they were force to change on short notice. It just doesn't happening in the backyard.
[03:40:01] ROGIN: And Trump's brand is supposed to be competent, right?
CARPENTER: Right.
ROGIN: And he always tells us, oh, I surround myself with great people, well, this is not good example.
ROMANS: So, the "Make America safe," theme, last night though, it seemed to really, I mean, at least for that crowd, it really worked with that crowd. I mean, you had at least three speakers saying that Hillary Clinton should be in jail. You had people chanting "lock her up. Lock her up." And you had, you know, a really warm response to Rudy Giuliani. Did this overshadow that message last night.
PHILLIPS: I think for the next two hours it does. But I think this is going to be the narrative of the campaign. Hillary Clinton is saying, I'm the adult in the room, I can keep you safe. I'm the good steward of government.
And what we saw last night was we saw speaker after speaker challenge that notion, challenge that assertion and that's going to be Donald Trump's attack on Hillary Clinton moving forward.
ROMANS: What should the campaign do next, I mean, in terms of getting the plagiarism thing off of the table and moving forward with the message. Tonight, the message is "Make America work again." You're going to hear from his family members, you know, many of his family members. And, you know, his family has rated highly for this candidate.
CARPENTER: Well, here's the thing. They're going to continue to roll out family members. And if they don't get Melania out there to actually give some authentic personal anecdote, I would put her out for some friendly interviews to just get it out today.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: Right away today.
CARPENTER: Because otherwise these poor children that are going to go at the convention tonight, the spotlight is going to be so heavy on them. I think that's too much pressure.
You're taking novices for the political spotlight and putting them before a convention was no practice at all. I think it's unfair to do the to the family quite frankly, and coming after this controversy they've got to do something to lessen that pressure.
CARDONA: And the thing is that he brags about not having a conventional campaign, not having, you know, tons of people around him because that's so establishment. Well, sometimes there is a reason why a real campaign does have a lot of people around them and hires professional staff who have done this before.
ROMANS: Josh.
CARDONA: This is the trouble you get in.
ROMANS: I don't -- I mean, just looking at social media this morning, I don't think Trump supporters care.
ROGIN: Yes.
ROMANS: They think that the media cares about the story that they don't.
ROGIN: Well, this is part of the problem with the Trump campaign, right. They're only speaking to their supporters. They're not speaking to the rest of the country. And we saw that last night with all of the Benghazi talk.
I mean, to have the head of -- former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency chanting "lock her up, lock her up," I mean, that's bizarre. That's a weird moment in politics right there. And sure, it's red meat for the people who are in the room.
but for the people on Twitter who I follow and follow a lot of different types of people and for the people I'm talking to, and especially people on the national security and foreign policy committee, that's bad. All right.
That's not the tone that they really want to put forward. You know, as for tonight, who do we have, Kevin McCarthy, Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, Chris Christie, these are not people who are really huge fans of Donald Trump right now. I would call it make America awkward again.
ROMANS: John.
PHILLIPS: You know, non-traditional candidates are held to a different standard in professional politicians. I've seen this movie before in the State of California when Arnold Schwarzenegger ran for governor and he was attacked for the same sorts of things, they lasted a day or two.
ROMANS: Right.
PHILLIPS: They moved on, he won the election.
ROMANS: All right. We'll see. We have so much more to talk about in the next hour and a half or so. So, don't go anywhere, guys. Tonight in Cleveland you will hear a blistering criticism of the Obama economy, "Make America work again" is the theme tonight.
Now more Americans are working than four years ago. I want to look right at those numbers for you, the mile markers, if you will, of the economy. In August of 2012, the unemployment rate was 8.1 percent, it is now 4.9 percent. A significant drop in. And more Americans are starting to return to the labor market.
Senator Jeff Sessions last night providing a counter point to that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFF SESSIONS, ALABAMA STATE SENATOR: Fellow republicans, we must understand that the incomes of middle class Americans today are $4,000 less per year than in 1999. This is an economic disaster.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: We checked those numbers, folks, that is true, but not all of that decline comes under President Obama. In 1999, median household income hit a record high nearly $58,000 in today's dollars. By the time President George W. Bush left office in 2008, median household income you can see had declined and then dropped further under President Obama.
And look at the wages they are up slightly, you can see, just slightly about a thousand dollars since the last election. Bottom line, more Americans are working, but wages are a big problem here and that's why you have so many people who don't feel like the economy is working for them.
And tonight, I think you will see republicans focusing on that part of the issue. All right, the surprise of the evening, the similarities between Melania Trump's speech and Michelle Obama's speech in 2008. Will this hurt the Trump campaign? We're going to dive deeper into this next.
[03:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: All right. A wild opening night at the republican convention with speeches going late into the night.
Donald Trump stole the show with his fog shrouded entrance to introduce his wife, Melania. Her speech getting solid instant reviews really right away, people thought this was a good speech, but then this morning, that speech under the microscope for plagiarism.
Sections of that speech very close to the words Michelle Obama used in 2008 in a speech she gave.
CNN senior media correspondent Brian Stelter joins me. Donald Trump promised a show, but we're talking about a part of the show that I don't think they meant for us to.
BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: I think you're right. We've been looking for signs of chaos or disharmony behind the scenes. I think we saw a couple of those examples last night, even though she did receive rave reviews, there was a lot of positivity for Melania Trump's speech.
Then this revelation of plagiarism cast a shadow obviously. She might blame the liberal media, but the facts are the facts and the speech speaks for themselves. That said, people don't change votes based on what you see on stage in a speech like that.
It doesn't seem that Melania Trump was necessarily wooing new people to the Trump campaign, she was solidifying support among his supporters.
ROMANS: On the plagiarism charge we have to say that when you look at the two speeches side by side, you can clearly see the similarities. In fact, words, you know, paragraph, sentences lifted.
[03:50:03] STELTER: Right.
ROMANS: But, you know, she may not have written those words.
STELTER: That's right.
ROMANS: That might have been written by speechwriters.
STELTER: And that's what the Trump campaign says, the speechwriters were involved. I think what this does perhaps is just expose the hollowness of political rhetoric more broadly not just involving the Trumps but involving the Obamas and others as well.
That if you can't tell the difference between the democratic wife of a democratic nominee.
ROMANS: Right.
STELTER: And the republican wife of the republican nominee, then what really is the difference. We didn't hear a lot of specifics from Melania Trump and that was the main critique before we heard about this plagiarism idea.
ROMANS: Right. STELTER: That she wasn't talking in detail about her husband. Who knows. This week, anything could happen. Maybe we'll see a do over.
ROMANS: Do voters care about plagiarism?
STELTER: I don't think in this case. I think these sorts of stories some republican supporters of Trump will see this and say it's the darn liberal media's fault. But what this plays into is the narrative about, you know, some sort of chaos or miscommunication behind the scenes.
We've been looking for signs of that. You know, for example, last night the events were running a little bit late.
ROMANS: Right.
STELTER: The Melania's speech was actually moved up quite a bit in order to fit into prime time before viewers went to sleep or before viewers turn the channel. So, they moved her speech up, that was a smart decision. But then two other speeches were sort of given a short shrift. People were leaving the room afterwards and that was an embarrassing scene for the organizers.
ROMANS: But what's really interesting moment when, you know, last night was about "Make America safe again." And it was sort of this indictment of Hillary Clinton and you had the mother of one of the men who died at Benghazi who was speaking and at that very moment, Donald Trump picked up the phone and did a call with Fox.
STELTER: We have never seen this before. Yes. The presumptive nominee calling in to one of the television networks while the convention is going on.
ROMANS: Did he miss the speech that is supposed to be a corner stone of why he says Hillary Clinton can't make America safe.
STELTER: That's right. He seemed to be stepping on the message of the convention. I doubt he thought of it that way. I'm sure he had good reasons to call in.
ROMANS: Right.
STELTER: He was talking about a variety of topics with Bill O'Reilly, but as a result, Fox wasn't showing the Benghazi events on stage and that made for a strange moment.
ROMANS: The "Make America safe," you know, theme of last night, you had three speakers I think who actually said Hillary Clinton should be in jail. And you had "lock her up, lock her up," people were chanting. The speeches, the "Make America safe speeches seemed to really drive right to the folks who were in that room last night.
STELTER: Yes. I think for viewers at home, viewers who haven't been paying attention to the primary season, who only just tuned in now, this was a very, very vivid demonstration of where the republican base is. It was emblematic of where the republican base is in terms of the feelings about Hillary Clinton.
Probably turns off some people and turns on other people. I think there's a variety of reactions when you hear people chanting "lock her up."
Melania Trump's speech was very positive. The rest of the night, somewhat negative, a darker theme for the night about the dangers America faces, but then Melania Trump had the most positive, optimistic message of the night.
ROMANS: We'll have -- we'll hear from his children some of his kids tonight and also from Chris Christie. What do you think we will hear tonight? Or are they under more scrutiny or more pressure tonight because of what happened last night with the Melania speech?
STELTER: You can imagine the speechwriters now are going to be Googling every single sentence of the speeches that are scheduled in the next day or two. But the point, I think, of Melania's speech and the point of the other family member speeches will be to personalize and humanize Donald Trump.
There was one line from Melania Trump that was revealing. She said -- she said that sometimes you don't always know it but this is a very kind man. They feel like their father, their husband, their friend has been maligned sometimes by the press and then by democrats and they have a really opportune time here to change that.
So, they're in front of 30, 40, 50 million viewers, this is the only time they're going to get to talk about their father, their husband, their friend, you know, someone who's -- who they've known for decades who we haven't.
ROMANS: She talked about the love in that family too, but there was a little bit of criticism, I would say, that people who wanted to hear more personal anecdotes about, you know, how they met or what it's like to be in their family.
Do you think next week, when it is the democrats' show, do you think it will be more personal, Bill Clinton, for example, much more personal about Hillary Clinton?
STELTER: Isn't that interesting to think about? How different will Bill Clinton's speech about Hillary Clinton be versus Melania's speech about Donald. Probably, no, you know, fun to do a split screen of that.
Because remember, Bill Clinton's speech four years ago, I still remember where I was when he gave that speech. That speech, some people believed, helped reelect President Obama four years ago. When he gave a long, I think it was an hour-long speech filled with numbers and statistics defending the president's first four years.
I would think next time, next week, we'll hear much more of a personal speech from Bill Clinton about Hillary, but we know that that convention, you know, it's probably better to go second, right? What's at better in baseball, to be up at bat first or to have last
licks? When you're out of power, republicans have to go first, they kind of get to the democrats just get to go second.
ROMANS: Right. STELTER: It's really going to be interesting if we can do a compare and contrast between the tone of the democrats and the republicans.
ROMANS: What do you think about some of the sort of the celebrity speakers last night? Scott Baio, there's a lot to talk about some of the celebrities who were speaking.
STELTER: Yes. I mean, you know, I think sometimes elites, whether in politics or media, sneer or look down their noses at people like the Robertson's from the Duck Dynasty family. Personally, I think they lit up the screen. Scott Baio as well. You can criticize them and say they're not a-listers.
[03:54:59] But too much of America, these are the reality shows we love, it's what Donald Trump was able to use so successfully in the 2000s, it's reality TV. So, to see the Duck Dynasty star on the stage actually it made a lot of sense in the context of Donald Trump's rise.
ROMANS: Brian Stelter, a lot to talk about this morning. Nice to see you. Thanks for getting up or staying up or getting up early.
STELTER: It's a whole new day. I'm up.
ROMANS: Stay with us. Early Start continues right now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN NEWSROOM SHOW HOST: Day one for Donald Trump and the republican convention. And it's already caused the cloud of controversy. We'll tell you why questions are now being asked about his wife's speech.
No mercy, that's the message coming from Turkey's president today after a failed coup attempt. A live report coming up throughout the course of the next half hour from Istanbul on the investigation.
And are we heading for an Olympic Games with no Russian athletes? The latest allegations of doping could get their tickets to Rio revoked.
Hello. Thanks for joining us this half hour. I'm Nina dos Santos. This is CNN Newsroom.
[04:00:01] Well, the opening night of the republican national convention has ended in controversy. With the evening's star speaker now being accused of reading a speech that was in part plagiarized. It's hardly the start that the party was hoping for here.
