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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Trump Officially Becomes Republican Nominee; GOP Convention Speakers Attack Hillary Clinton. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired July 20, 2016 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[04:30:45] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: "Lock her up". It's Donald Trump's party, but Hillary Clinton, Hillary Clinton the focus of the Republican National Convention.
Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm John Berman live at the CNN Grill in Cleveland. Thirty minutes past the hour right now. Welcome back to our show, full here of the aroma of stale beer and fresh opportunity and also licorice. Just a faint whip of licorice.
It's a good morning to be Donald Trump, a bad morning to be the word "presumptive". Just a few hours, at long last, Donald Trump, he shed that moniker "presumptive". He is now the official Republican nominee.
Trump thanked the delegates and he touted his running mate Mike Pence in a video beamed in from Trump Tower in New York.
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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.
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BERMAN: So, the official theme of the evening was make America work again. But, you know, jobs, the economy, business, took a backseat to bashing -- the bashing of Hillary Clinton. And, yes, those are the delegates on the floor chanting once again, lock her up.
Senior political reporter Manu Raju joins us now. Good morning, Manu.
MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Good morning, John.
Now, this has really been more an anti-Hillary Clinton convention more than it has been a pro-Donald Trump convention. You see convention delegates wearing "Hillary for prison" t-shirts as they walk around the convention floor. You hear a lot of speakers really echoing that message that Hillary Clinton should be in jail, that she broke the law.
And last night, what we heard was a Republican party that didn't hold back.
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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.
GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: 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?
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RAJU: Now, tonight, the headliner is going to be Governor Mike Pence. Donald Trump's running mate is going to give an address to the convention. Also, there will be interest to see how Ted Cruz addresses the convention, as well as the first time he'll he spoke in depth about his views, particularly about Donald Trump as he departed the contentious primary race.
But what we're told, do not expect an endorsement. He's also part of a stable of speakers who have not enthusiastically embraced Donald Trump including House Speaker Paul Ryan after deciding that Trump is better than Hillary Clinton.
ROMANS: All right. Manu Raju, thank you so much. OK, joining us here at the CNN Grill, just got all this, our political analyst, Josh Rogin, columnist for "The Washington Post", and also, we have three fantastic political commentators for CNN, Democratic strategist Maria Cardona, Amanda Carpenter, a former communications director for Ted Cruz, and KABC talk radio host John Phillips, a Donald Trump supporter.
I want to go to you first, Josh, because we're going to hear from Mike Pence tonight. You heard Manu say that Mike Pence, you're going to see the number two on this ticket. Do you think he's going to bash Hillary Clinton or you think he's going to lay out a more conservative orthodoxy that try to assuage some of those people concerning the party.
JOSH ROGIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Right. I think Mike Pence's job is tonight is to present himself as a serious individual, right? Amidst of just a sea of people saying the most breathless, most aggressive things. Imagine if Donald Trump had chosen Chris Christie and that was the vice presidential speech. It was all fire and brimstone and just the facts were all over the place. He was totally wrong about all of the things he said about foreign policy and he had the crowd chanting in a lather, OK?
Mike Pence has got to do the opposite of that. He's got to present himself as the man who can be in the room with Donald Trump and make the decisions and say the things that need to be said to bring everybody back off the ledge. That's a low bar, OK? But that's where we are.
BERMAN: But just to be clear, one thing, is when you pick a running mate, often times, you pick that running mate just for the fire and brimstone. We got a lot of that from Chris Christie.
That is not, Amanda Carpenter, Mike Pence. Mike Pence likes to say I'm a Christian, I'm a conservative, I'm a Republican in that order. Well, he's got this fourth thing, I'm Donald Trump's running mate. I'm all about Donald Trump.
Where is the Trump-ness going to fit into that list of three?
AMANDA CARPENTER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, it's going to be an interesting tap. We'll know a little more about Mike Pence's speech. Is he conservative decoration for the ticket? Or is he there just to show a sprinkle of conservatism?
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BERMAN: As a conservative eye candy.
CARPENTER: Yes, sort of eye candy, which weird to think about, or is he a partner in the Trump administration? Will he be able to provide Donald Trump with any guidance, input, and advice? I don't sort of seeing that happening. But if Pence could convince people that that would be the case, it would go a long way.
ROMANS: What the people want to chant is lock her up, lock her up, lock her up, that's clearly the theme, not make America great, but lock her up.
Maria, we heard from Jeff Flake last night, he's no big fan of Donald Trump, at Hillary Clinton now belongs in prison? This is a tweet he put out. "Come on, we can make the case that she shouldn't be elected without jumping the shark."
The lockup theme, except for Jeff Flake, has really resonated this week.
MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Sure, it has. But I think what Senator Flake is saying this sort of broader concern that the Republican Party has become nothing but the party of doom and gloom and angry white men. And it needs to be a lot more than that if they're going to have a real path to the White House. Jeff Flake isn't the only one who believes this. You see everybody who is absent here today. Those are all of the people, the Bushes -- the last few nominees.
ROMANS: The last two nominees, the governor --
CARDONA: Exactly. And you have several party elites who have essentially said the Republican Party is not the party that I have worked for.
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ROMANS: This is a hostile takeover as has been said of the Republican Party. That's the old guard and --
CARDONA: That's right. And it has worked for him. And I'm sure you'll say this, because they will point to, oh, that's establishment, right? That has worked for him for the nomination. He needs to do more than that.
BERMAN: Do you want to let (INAUDIBLE) speak?
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CARDONA: Sure.
JOHN PHILLIPS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: The party out of power always criticizes the party in power. This is not something new or unique to Donald Trump. And in the Republican primary, there were serious policy differences on candidates. They disagreed on immigration, they disagreed on trade, they disagreed on foreign policy.
The one thing they all agreed on, all 17 of them, is that Hillary Clinton is a dishonest person that shouldn't be president. She cannot be trusted. That theme was hammered home at the convention last night, and that's something is that will produce Republican unity.
BERMAN: For people who haven't been watching since the beginning of our broadcast, which is a mistake, they would have missed your Jackson Five analogy. So, I would like to give you a chance to reiterate, you know, the
Jackson Five for chance -- particularly, I think it's interesting, last night was not the most exciting convention night we've seen in the history of political conventions. I think a lot of people are waiting for Donald Trump to take the stage on Thursday.
PHILLIPS: Yes, I was waiting for another triple H entrance. Unfortunately, he was not there. You're not going to have the same enthusiasm, you're not going to have the same reaction, you're not going to have the same sets of eyeballs.
Let's not forget, 24 million people tuned in the first Republican primary debate because of Donald Trump. You take Donald Trump out of that equation and people aren't just as interested.
BERMAN: What you said if you take Michael Jackson out of the Jackson five and you're left with a bunch of Titos.
PHILLIPS: Right.
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PHILLIPS: We have Tito times four.
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ROMANS: Let's talk about Paul Ryan. Paul Ryan, speaker of the House last night, after grudgingly getting oh, my God -- he talked about unity of the party.
[04:40:05] I want to get all of your thoughts on the performance last night of Paul Ryan and how he threads this needle. Let's listen to him on unity.
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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.
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ROMANS: I thought that was, you know, an endorsement of this candidate, no question.
But is he saying, Amanda, that you're there? That your party is there? Or does he say we have to get these policies and this direction and this persona? CARPENTER: Last night, he almost sounds like a coach on the
sidelines. Put the red shirt, go team go, we're going to wave the red flag. There wasn't anything more for uniting other than the team is back. At some point, there's got to be a little bit more meat on the bones.
And Paul Ryan is in an incredible difficult position. He has to pull together law and order essentially for the House. At the same time, he can't be staging a coup against the Republican nominee. So, the best thing he can do is wave the generic red flag.
BERMAN: We don't have time to play Chris Christie sound again, but I think a lot of people probably saw it. Chris Christie prosecuting, literally prosecuting Hillary Clinton, asking the crowd if she was guilty or not guilty.
What do you see from Chris Christie last night? Give me the thought bubble above his head as he was looking out of that crowd?
ROGIN: You know, Chris Christie was playing the role of attack dog that he wasn't actually given, right. He sees his job as now he's got nothing to lose. He's got, really, no future other than his double down on the commitment to the Trump campaign. So, he might as well go all in.
So, for him going all in saying every sort of rash, ridiculous breathy thing that comes to his mind and seeing what the crowd will say it. Chris Christie is committed to the Trump campaign. He's got no plan B. He still could get a job with the Trump -- I think he really went over the line and really went over the top but he's got not no choice.
BERMAN: All right. That was Chris Christie.
There were other speakers, including two of Donald Trump's children, Don Junior and Tiffany, we heard from them. How did they play in the crowd here? That's next.
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[04:47:01] BERMAN: Two of Donald Trump's children, they took the stage last night. They delivered speeches. The crowd loved, also appealing to a greater population out there.
Tiffany Trump talked about her father's more personal side.
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TIFFANY TRUMP, DONALD TRUMP'S DAUGHTER: My father is good with advice, as you might guess, but he keeps it short. And the take-away is usually the same -- to help us find our own way and our own get. If you do what you love, hold nothing back and never let fear of failure get in the way then you've pretty much figured out the Trump formula.
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.
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BERMAN: All right. That was Donald Trump Jr. Tiffany also spoke. Donald Trump Jr. was interesting he had a lot of different things in one speech. He talked about the person. He talked about policy.
ROMANS: Education policy.
BERMAN: Education policy, too.
Let's get discuss, particularly his speech last night.
We're back with our panel right now.
And it was very interesting to see, John, this very rich young man talk about his father, and how his father raised him as a regular guy. Listen to this.
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TRUMP JR: We didn't learn from MBAs. We learned from people who had doctorates in common sense. Guys like Vinnie Scalio (ph) who taught us to drive heavy equipment, operate tractors and chain saws, who worked his ways through the ranks to be a trusted adviser of my father. It's why we're the only children of billionaires as comfortable in a D-10 Caterpillar as we are in our own cars.
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BERMAN: That is Donald Trump political super power, right, being a billionaire, who is raised as a rich guy, yet, somehow being able to connect at blue collar workers. All you have to do is go to a Trump rally to see that.
PHILLIPS: Sure, it was personal, it was political and it was hopeful. And I say it's hopeful because he had children to three different women, they were all there to support him. They all seem to get along. If he can get those people get along, he can make nice with the Ted Cruz people.
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ROMANS: I mean, the real advantage at the Trump kids, and tonight, you're going to hear from Eric Trump, how much pressure to do very, very well tonight, because it seems as though Donald Trump has raised his kids to be incredibly competitive, right? And maybe even competitive with each other.
Josh, there's more policy in the speech tonight, more policy from junior than we've heard from Trump.
ROGIN: There's a lot of policy. He laid out a specific agenda for the Republican Party and what his father would do if president, on trade, on Dodd-Frank repeal, on education policy, on health policy, on immigration.
[04:50:12] I learned more about Trump domestic policy than I ever have from Donald Trump. Now, the question is, why can't Donald Trump make that argument. Why is the son so articulate and yet, he doesn't have the discipline to get through a read through a teleprompter to explain his ideas on his own.
In one sense, you sort of think, oh, man, I wish I could have Donald Trump Jr.'s discipline with a candidate that's actually running for president but that's not what we have.
CARPENTER: I love it if Donald Trump plagiarized his own speech for the upcoming night. That would be refreshing.
But really, it is reassuring on some level that someone inside the Trump inner circle does have knowledge and mastery of conservative issues and can master them in a way that --
ROMANS: Break up the banks?
CARPENTER: Yes, I mean, Dodd-Frank is something that conservatives really detach. I me, it has a lot of bureaucracy that imposes on smaller banks and credit unions that they think is unfair. There is a policy to be had there. Donald Trump has never engaged in it. But may his son is willing.
BERMAN: Maria, it's fascinating. Conventions are fascinating things, right, because in the audience or the rank and file, like the rabid party people, but what you're really trying to do is reach the wider audience. You're trying to reach the viewers at home. Are the kids part of that?
CARDONA: That's the hope of the Trump campaign. But what I think we need to keep in mind is that while the kids did terrific. I think Tiffany was lovely. And she really did humanize her dad in a way that he desperately needed. And Donald Trump Jr. was great. And I do think he did him a favor in terms what Amanda was saying in terms of making people, conservatives, a little more comfortable, a little bit more comfortable with Donald Trump.
But at the end of the day, people aren't voting for the kids, they understand that -- not to mean any disrespect, they're pro props, right, and especially for somebody like Donald Trump who didn't listen to anybody. And, though, yes, his kids are his advisers, and what Donald Trump is going to do is what Donald Trump wants to do.
If anything we have learned in this election, it's that. And the problem with that is that so far, he's does nothing to indicate that he wants to appeal to a broader cross section of Americans which he needs to do if he wants to win.
ROMANS: We're going to hear from Mike Pence tonight, and if you're talking to Donald Trump who just listen to Donald Trump, where is Mike Pence fit in? Where does Mike Pence fit in? BERMAN: By the way, those are the kid who may have forced Mike Pence. Even one time or Donald Trump --
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PHILLIPS: I don't think anyone votes for a candidate on who the vice president is. You vote for Donald Trump, you vote for Hillary Clinton. I think the key for Mike Pence is to look qualified. People are looking at his credentials.
He's a former congressman. He's a governor from Indiana. He represents the Midwest where many swing states will decide the election. I think he's going to hammer home the credential issues and also put the Ted Cruz people at ease.
ROGIN: I would say Mike Pence is caught in a catch 22. He wants to talk about policy. If he does, he's going to have to reveal that he disagrees with Donal Trump on policy. So, he can't talk about policy.
BERMAN: About 30 seconds left, Amanda. One thing we haven't talked about, I don't know if we should have talked about it or up, the plagiarism of two nights ago, is that because it went away? I mean, did last night effectively just move us on, are we passed that right now?
CARPENTER: We moved on, but there's still a big question whether Melania can be an effective surrogate for her husband. He needs her on the campaign trail. She needs to speak sometime again. Clearly, they want to delay that, they'll do another time. But until she clears this for herself, she's not going ton about effective surrogate for her husband.
ROMANS: All right. Great discussion you guys. Thank you. Really appreciate it. Getting up early or staying up late for us.
It is 54 minutes past the hour. It is Donald Trump's party, folks, but Hillary Clinton -- Hillary Clinton dominating the conversation at the Republican national convention last night.
"NEW DAY" picks up our analysis next.
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DONALD TRUMP, JR., DONALD TRUMP'S SON: For my father, impossible is just the starting point.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I'm so proud to be your nominee for president of the United States.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Donald Trump is a man of vision.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), KENTUCKY: A couple years ago, Bill and Hillary camped out in my state, telling anyone who listened why they ought to vote against them. Tonight, I'm here to return the favor. GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: Hillary Clinton in charge of
putting herself ahead of America. Guilty or not guilty?
CROWD: Guilty!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to see a woman be president, but not that woman. Not today, not now, not ever.
REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Fellow Republicans, let's see this thing through.
ANNOUNCER: This is "NEW DAY" with Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota.
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CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. This is NEW DAY. We're live in Cleveland at the Republican National Convention.
And Donald Trump has won. Thirteen months after launching his campaign, he is now officially what many said he would never be -- the Republican nominee for president of the United States. We also saw the best attempts yet to show Trump's softer side from two of his children. One sounding a lot like a politician in the making.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Good point. That's a good tease. We'll talk about that.
But the name mentioned the most on the convention stage was Trump's rival Hillary Clinton. Republican uniting around attacking her with chants of "lock her up" and "guilty" electrifying delegates around the room.
So, we have the convention covered from every angle. Let's begin our coverage with CNN's Phil Mattingly. He's inside the convention center.
Good morning, Phil.
