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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
GOP Nominates Donald Trump for President; FOX News Chief Ailes Set to Depart Network. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired July 20, 2016 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:00] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. We are live at the CNN Grill in Cleveland.
The Republican National Convention is here. I'm John Berman.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: It is early. I'm Christine Romans. It is Wednesday, July 20th. It is exactly 4:00 a.m. in East and night two of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland is in the books this morning.
Just a few hours ago, at long last, Donald Trump, he shed that prefix "presumptive". He is now the official Republican nominee.
Trump thanking the delegates and touting his running mate in a video speech beamed in from Trump Tower in Manhattan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I'm so proud to be your nominee for president of the United States. I look forward to sharing my thoughts with you on Thursday night on how we build a brighter and more hopeful future for all Americans. It's an honor to run on the ticket with Governor Mike Pence who is an incredible man and who will make a great, great vice president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: The official theme for the evening was, of course, make America work again.
But most of the speakers, hammering away at Hillary Clinton. And listen to that. Those delegates are chanting "lock her up."
Senior political reporter Manu Raju joins us now.
"Make America Great Again" or put Hillary Clinton in jail is the theme.
MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Yes, indeed, Christine.
In fact, as we know, the presidential contest is a popularity contest of sorts and Republican are going to do whatever they can to make Hillary Clinton very, very unlikable in the eyes of the American public. It's one message that's united, congressional leaders, rank and file Republicans, the delegates, even the Trump family themselves going after Hillary Clinton.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
DONALD TRUMP, JR., DONALD TRUMP'S SON: If Hillary Clinton were elected, she'd be the first president who couldn't pass a basic background check.
We cannot promote someone to commander in chief who has made the world a more violent and dangerous place with every bad judgment she's made.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), KENTUCKY: She lied about her e-mail. She lied about her server. She lied about Benghazi. She even lied about sniper fire.
REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: And what does the Democratic Party establishment offer? What is their idea of a clean break? They are offering a third Obama term, brought to you by another Clinton. And you're supposed to be excited about that.
CHRIS COX, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NRA: A Hillary Clinton Supreme Court means your right to own a firearm is gone.
DR. BEN CARSON (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Are we willing to elect someone as president who has their role model somebody who acknowledges Lucifer?
(CHANTING)
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
RAJU: Now, tonight, actually, Ted Cruz will be speaking before the Republican National Convention. Something we're told to look forward to, John and Christine, even the first time that the Texas senator has really spoke in detail about his views about Donald Trump since dropping out of the race in that very contentious fight. He is part of this stable of speakers who have not exactly embraced Donald Trump. We saw that last night as well with Paul Ryan, the House speaker who was late to endorse Donald Trump -- actually first time suggesting that the party sort of really get behind him in a very aggressive way.
So, we'll see how much, how far Ted Cruz goes tonight. But we're not expecting an endorsement from Ted Cruz for Donald Trump tonight in tonight's speech -- Christine and John.
BERMAN: All right. Manu Raju for us in a different location inside the CNN Grill right now.
ROMANS: He's right over.
Joining us here, again, we found him at the bar, CNN political analyst Josh Rogin, columnist for "The Washington Post". Also with us, our fine slate of CNN political commentator, Democratic strategist Maria Cardona, Amanda Carpenter, a former communications director for Senator Ted Cruz, and KABC talk radio host John Phillips, a Donald Trump supporter.
Amanda carpenter, I'm go together start with you this time, because Jeff Flake, a Republican senator from Arizona, who is no fan of Donald Trump at this point, he was tweeting, not here.
Mowing the lawn in Arizona is what he did, he's not here. But he did not like the "lock her up" theme of the convention last night. He said, he tweeted, "Hillary Clinton now belongs in prison? Question mark. Come on, we can make the case that she shouldn't be elected without jumping the shark."
Do you think two nights of Hillary Clinton bashing did jump the shark?
AMANDA CARPENTER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It was a little bit harsh. People want to see more.
Here's the big question, and maybe Ted Cruz will try to answer this in his speech tonight, what does the Republican Party stand for in the age of Trump? This is the kind of classic question that gets answered usually by the nominee.
[04:05:03] What does the party stand for? Where are we going?
We haven't heard much of that yet. If any, it's all been an anti- Hillary and sort of weird writing around the edges of what Donald Trump is. Ted Cruz has an opportunity to step into that void. It would be needed. It would be necessary and helpful and many Republicans who are uncomfortable with Donald Trump's candidacy.
ROMANS: Josh?
JOSH ROGIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I think what you're hearing and what everyone in Cleveland is saying, this is a party in question. Let's bring the viewers to Cleveland. Part of it, the sentiment around town, is that Republicans are beside themselves. They don't know what to do, OK? They see their party slipping away. They see the Trump faction and other factions just irreconcilable.
And each Republican leader, member, speaker, makes their own calculation based on heir own personal ambition or their loyalties to some ideals or loyalty to the party structure. Am I going to be all in for Trump? Am I going to be half in for Trump? Am I going to be never Trump?
And it just makes a mess. And that kind of sort of chaos and that kind of panic is something you can't hear in the speeches, because they kind of pepper over it, but it's palpable and detectable in the hall, on the streets, in the bars.
CARPENTER: Elephant in the room.
ROGIN: And that's the reality. This party is in crisis. And that say theme of the week that you don't see on the stage but everybody understands.
ROMANS: But Paul Ryan showed up for his party, after begrudgingly getting here I think, he did. And he talked about unity in his party.
Let's listen to Paul Ryan whether this is really a party in crisis or they can pull it together.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RYAN: What do you say we unify this party at this usual moment when unity is everything? Let's take our fight to our opponents with better ideas. Let's get on the offensive and let's stay there. Let's compete in every part of America and turn out at the polls like every last vote matters, because it will.
Fellow Republicans, what we have begun here, let's see this thing through. Let's win this thing. Let's show America our best and nothing less.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN PHILLIPS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Let's assume for a second that the party is in crisis. Donald Trump right now is polling within the margin of error of Hillary Clinton. So, if the party is falling apart and everyone hates one another and they can't keep the troops in line, why isn't Hillary Clinton blowing him not the swing states like Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida? She's not blowing him out of the water?
ROGIN: She's a flawed candidate. That doesn't mean that the party is not in crisis.
(CROSSTALK)
BERMAN: Paul Ryan, that -- you know, we've now heard that a few times. It really strikes me that was a pretty full-tilted endorsement. I mean, that was --
MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Actually, the way that I saw it was, he was laying out what was extremely wishful thinking on his part, because everything that he laid out are things that the party has yet to do. Reaching out to every community in America. Nope. Unity. Nope. Going on the offensive -- nope.
And so, I think what he laid out is a trail that he hopes Donald Trump will take, because that is going to be what it takes to win. But right now, what they have shown these last two days, doom and gloom. You know, the country is in the trash bin. And, you know, everyone's future is dim.
I'm sorry, but there are many people in this country who believe that this country actually is still great.
ROGIN: I think Paul Ryan has given up on Donald Trump evolving into a unity candidate. Let's remember, it was only a month ago that Trump went to Capitol Hill, spoke to Republicans, including Paul Ryan, and what did he say, as a reported in the "Washington Post" by me, he said, "Just say we love Trump. Just say there's party unity." It doesn't matter if you believe him or not. (CROSSTALK)
ROGIN: Donald Trump told the Republican Party to pretend there's unity and then you have Paul Ryan essentially pretending there's unity. That doesn't mean there's unity. That actually means --
CARPENTER: The problem is unity for the sake of unity -- really, what are we uniting around? A personality versus a negative personality. There has to be more substance.
That's the thing that's missing. That's the thing that Donald Trump hasn't provided other than are build a wall. There's no substance to build around at this point. And maybe because there's a leadership vacuum, no one has the ability to provide it. Until we get that together, we're going to be a continued party in crisis.
BERMAN: Let's do this. Let's take a break from this discussion. There's a lot more to talk about in terms of this. We're going to talk about the kids. We're also going to talk about Mike Pence, the running mate. He's got a big speech tonight. We'll do that in our next block.
ROMANS: You know, Chris Christie, a big speaker last night. He really gave this indictment of Hillary Clinton almost literally. Also blistering criticism of her view on China. Christie says Hillary praised China for buying debt that was used to finance President Obama's stimulus plan following the recession.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[04:10:03] GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: She was so desperate for Chinese cash she promised to oppose the "buy American" provision in the stimulus bill in exchange for the cash to finance a huge expansion of federal government spending. So, Hillary Clinton, putting big government spending financed by Chinese ahead of good- paying jobs for middle class Americans, is she guilty or not guilty?
CROWD: Guilty!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: So, the CNN reality check team, and there's a bunch of people on that team. They looked into that claim. In 2009, Clinton traveled to China as secretary of state and urged Beijing to keep buying U.S. debt. Clinton then told the Chinese TV network that China made a wise choice by buying the debt. So, based on those reports, we rate Christie's statement true.
Of course, Democrats have argued that many countries buy U.S. debt and that the stimulus package was crucial for bringing the economy out of the Great Recession. So, that's the fact check on that.
BERMAN: All right. We've got a lot more discuss, including Donald Trump's children. Two of them spoke last night.
Donald Trump's running mate, Mike Pence, he will speak tonight. What does he need to do? And what does he need to avoid in what will be the biggest single speech of his life? That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:15:31] BERMAN: Day two of the Republican convention, kids get in free. At least all Trumps did. Two of them speaking last night, taking center stage, delivering speeches that move a lot in the crowd.
Tiffany Trump and spoke about her father's personal side.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIFFANY TRUMP, DONALD TRUMP'S DAUGHTER: He's always helped me be my best version of myself, by encouragement and by example. He motivates me to work my hardest, and to always stay true to who I am and what I believe.
That's what he does. He draws out the talent and drive in people, so that they can achieve their full potential. That's a great quality to have in a father. And better yet, in the president of the United States.
DONALD TRUMP JR., DONALD TRUMP'S SON: I've seen it time and time again, that look in his eyes when someone says it can't be done. I saw that look a little over a year ago when he was told he couldn't possibly succeed in politics. Yes, he did.
For my father, impossible is just the starting point. That's how he approaches business projects. That's how he approaches life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: All right. That was Donald Trump Jr., we heard from Tiffany Trump talking about her father. Donald Trump Jr. really covering a lot of ground, the personal and policy as well.
Joining us again, our panel to discuss.
John Phillips, let me start with you and play a little more sound when he talked about and we hadn't heard a lot about this up until this point of the convention, he talked about his father's agenda. Let's listen.
PHILLIPS: Sure.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP JR.: We're going to elect a president that will work with everyone to pass legislation that will make our country great again. A president who will give us a tax code that will free the American economy and end special loopholes for the wealthy. A president that will give us an immigration law that will protect the American citizen and gives them jobs.
A president who will repeal and replace Obamacare without leaving our most vulnerable citizens without health care and will do it without destroying Medicare for seniors as Hillary Clinton has proposed. A president who knows we can't simply delete our problems, but that we
have to tackle them head on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: I think that was an e-mail joke there at the end there. But, before that, John, what you heard was a Republican agenda. And Donald Trump Jr. in a way is a member of the family, the whole family, certainly the kids who connects with the traditional Republican Party.
PHILLIPS: Right. He hit all the right bullet points, and he also spoke about education which I thought was very important because so many politicians, particularly on the Democratic side of the aisle, they fight against charter schools, they fight against vouchers. They say, we need to defend public education, and then they send their kids to private schools.
These kids had all the benefits of growing up in a very wealthy household, with the best private schools available to them, the best universities available to them, and what did he talk about as this child of a rich man? He talked about charter schools. He talked about school choice.
I think it shows what type of people they are.
ROMANS: I think it shows that he's weighing in the policy, too. I mean, you are hearing him talk about policy in a way you haven't heard on a consistent basis his father talk about. We're going to hear from Eric Trump, I know tonight. They've had some speeches.
BERMAN: He's got to measure up.
ROMANS: We're also going to hear from Mike Pence tonight, Maria. And this is going to be -- kind of, I know, how solid is this ticket? What does Mike Pence bring to this ticket? What can Mike Pence do tonight?
CARDONA: I think the first thing needs to do is make sure no one else was given that speech before.
(CROSSTALK)
CARDONA: But in all honesty, Mike Pence is a gift to Democrats because he is probably the most extreme vice presidential nominee that we've had maybe in history. And what Democrats will point out is that this is a man who passed the anti-gay and lesbian law in his own state that made it lawful to discriminate against the LGBT community, completely anti-immigrant. He wanted to pass restrictive laws that would take away reproductive choices for women. So, all of those things are things that Democrats are going to continue to make sure everybody knows about. And they will tie it to Trump and Trump's own anti-immigrant, anti-women policy.
BERMAN: The Clinton campaign was ready to jump on the Mike Pence pick for just those reasons. [04:20:01] However, Amanda Carpenter, I know that a lot of people in
the Republican Party, the traditional Republican Party, including Ted Cruz supporters, Mike Pence supported Ted Cruz, like Mike Pence, and are excited about the prospect of Mike Pence being on the ticket. What do you want to hear from Mike Pence tonight?
CARPENTER: I'm curious how Mike Pence endorses, defends, becomes a part of the Trump ticket because he's known as a very social conservative.
Donald Trump is not interested in these issues. Donald Trump has rewritten the entire cultural war that's taken place in America. Donald Trump has pretty much dropped discussion about gay marriage, abortion. Instead, he's talking about identity politics, immigration. So, that will not be scrambled.
So, Mike Pence is going to have to find a new way to message thing. I think it's going to be very challenging because he's very scripted, he's very disciplined. Yes, I can recite lines that he's been saying for years, you know, wrapped from the flag of Ronald Reagan. And that's not something you can do when you give a speech for Donald Trump.
So, it's going to be very interesting how that dynamics play out.
ROMANS: With foreign policy and trade, I want to talk we'll do that after the break. Foreign policy and trade, that's totally different positions, too.
All right. Twenty-one minutes past the hour.
The head of FOX News could be on his way out. Possible new allegations of sexual harassment against Roger Ailes, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:25:48] BERMAN: Roger Ailes' days as chairman of FOX News, they could be numbered. Sources with direct knowledge of the talks tell CNN that Ailes and 21st Century Fox are in the advance stages of negotiations leading to his departure from the network. Ailes is facing a sexual harassment suit filed by a former FOX anchor Gretchen Carlson. Carlson claims she was fired from her weekday show after refusing sexual advances from Roger Ailes.
ROMANS: All right. Donald Trump officially now the Republican nominee for president. Day two of the convention here. But speakers at the convention, all they wanted to talk about was someone else.
BERMAN: And Pokemon Go.
ROMANS: Next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
