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Erin Burnett Outfront
CNN Republican National Convention; Biden Tests Positive For COVID At Crucial Time For Campaign. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired July 17, 2024 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: And this could be the biggest night yet of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, delegates waiting to hear first time from Donald Trump's new running mate, as a vice presidential nominee, Senator J.D. Vance. Vance will accept Republican vice presidential nomination tonight which positions him as Trump's successor as leader of the party and the MAGA movement.
Our live convention coverage continues with the special edition of OUTFRONT. Welcome to all watching. I'm Erin Burnett, along with Wolf Blitzer.
And, Wolf, the theme tonight, and they've been feeling (ph) each night, right, is national security. But in the context of that night, it is J.D. Vance's night, clearly, the most important speech to the first-term senator from Ohio is ever given, Wolf.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: And, Erin, at only 39 years old, Senator Vance is nearly half Donald Trump's age, but he has a very compelling life story that he plans to share with convention-goers who are here in Milwaukee, as well as viewers in the U.S. and around the world.
We're told he will focus on his childhood marked by instability of family addiction and his rise to the near pinnacle of American politics.
[19:00:05]
Senator Vance is clearly the headline speaker tonight. He will be introduced by the way, by his wife, Usha, a trial lawyer, whom Vance describes as a key part of his success. Also appearing in primetime tonight, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, who was on Trump's V.P. short list as well. Donald Trump Jr. takes the stage tonight as well, the most prominent Trump family member to speak at the convention so far -- Erin.
BURNETT: And, Wolf, even with all of that in this new cycle that we are in, we now have breaking news on President Biden. He was just diagnosed with COVID canceling an event in Nevada. He was 90 minutes late to a speech feeling under the weather tested has COVID and you see him here boarding Air Force One heading home to Rehoboth to self- isolate as he's fighting calls within his party to bow out of the presidential race.
So let's get an update right away from our senior White House correspondent, MJ Lee. And, MJ, what more do you know?
MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erin, Air Force One is now wheels up to Delaware after he had to cut his trip short by a couple of hours after testing positive for COVID. And in that clip, you just played, we saw the president not wearing a mask when he was boarding Air Force One. He obviously has been around a lot of people today in crowded settings prior to that, the White House official does tell me that he was wearing a mask in the motorcade over. He is wearing a mask now on Air Force One.
And now, he heads to Rehoboth where he who's going to isolate and has already taken the first course of Paxlovid according to his doctor. Just in terms of what the next few days are going to look like as he essentially has to work from home, I am told by a White House official, look, he's done this before. He has had COVID before. His 2020 campaign came to a halt when the pandemic broke out, he did a lot of video calls back then and were expected to see a lot more of the same, but of course the timing could not be worse given how much emphasis there have been from the president himself on him getting out there to show everyone that he can do this.
BURNETT: All right. MJ, thank you very much at the White House.
Let's go to Kaitlan Collins, who's live on the convention floor where, of course, this is such a crucial night, Kaitlan, for J.D. Vance.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Erin, the first speaker has now gotten kicked off the form of programming is now underway. This is the first speaker, Congressman Brian Mast of Florida. Of course, we all know who the last speaker will be. And that is Senator J.D. Vance, now Donald Trump's pick for vice president to be on his ticket.
And, Erin, just to note, when J.D. Vance comes out there tonight, not only will it be his first time addressing the Republican convention, it's actually his first time ever attending a Republican convention. I'm told that Senator J.D. Vance, who is a relative newcomer to politics is actually never attended one of these conventions or obviously in 2020, the Republican convention was held in a modified version on the White House south lawn.
The Democratic convention was basically entirely virtual. So he's making his debut and quiet this spotlight, Erin, because he'll be delivering the prime time address here tonight and, of course, we know that address is where he's going to seek to highlight his childhood, those blue collar roots, and talk about his path from there to the ivy leagues of course, as a venture capitalist and now into politics and as he hopes, the White House.
So, obviously, everyone's watching that closely. I will say one thing that we've seen Senator Vance leaning into so over the last several days, is this question of whether or not it will ultimately be President Biden and Vice President Harris on the Democratic ticket, Donald Trump himself has been watching that very closely, monitoring all those efforts that are happening back in Washington. Now with the news, of course, that the president has COVID, well see how that changes this dynamic. But all of those are asking its to keep an eye on as everyone's really getting an introduction to Senator Vance here on stage tonight.
BURNETT: All right. Kaitlan, thank you very much on the convention floor.
Kate, let me just ask you about something. Pam Brown just did an interview with Senator Chris Coons -- of course, very close ally of President Biden, and has remained so throughout this.
KATE BEDINGFIELD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah.
BURNETT: Senator Coons tells Pam the president is, quote, well aware of the concerns that have been raised on these calls from moderate Democrats, from -- that he's hearing -- that he's hearing them from governors, mayors, senators, House members, but he's saying, I'm confident he is well aware of the concerns that you've raised and that others have raised.
Just interesting that this comes from Senator Coons.
BEDINGFIELD: Yeah. Well, I think I mean, look, Coons is very close to President Biden. I think he's clearly sending a signal. There's been a lot of question of is President Biden getting is he getting direct information? Is he hearing bad news? Or they presenting him a full picture?
And so, you know, this is obviously Senator Coons pushing back on that and saying, yes he has all of the information. And I think it should be seen that way.
You know, I mean, I think there is a -- this is a challenging moment for -- well, it's a challenging moment for the Democratic Party, but this is a challenging moment because the argument that people who want to see Biden replaced on the ticket are making gang is basically the polling is awful, and there isn't a path forward.
[19:05:02]
Joe Biden has said many times that unless he can be shown a poll that says he cannot win in November, he won't step down. There's no poll that can do that. And so, a certainty that's being, you know, asserted by those who are trying to push him off the ticket, that's not an argument that's in the land with him. He's been very clear about.
BURNETT: All right. Let's listen to Representative Nancy Mace from South Carolina. She is speaking right now on the convention floor. Let's listen in.
REP. NANCY MACE (R-SC): My name is Nancy "Don't call me Pelosi" Mace. I'm a congresswoman representing the great state of South Carolina.
At the age of 17, I learned that dropping out of high school might not have been the best idea. So I took my first job at a fine dining establishment. Some of you may know as the Waffle House. Denny's was a little too high brow.
While Waffle House was an important part of my journey, it would not be my destination. I soon went from making waffles to making history.
Twenty-five years ago, this high school dropout became the first woman to graduate from the Citadel, the military college of South Carolina.
(CHEERS)
MACE: A college campus where we don't burn American flags. We salute them.
(CHEERS)
MACE: I'm a single mom and a rape survivor.
To women tonight who can relate, please know you have a friend and a sister in me. And I -- and I will fight like for you.
I'm the daughter of an army brigadier general and a school teacher. I've admired my dad's Distinguished Service Cross from Vietnam. I've endured the rigors of a Citadel education. And today, I represent a district that includes Parris Island, where we make Marines.
(CHEERS)
MACE: What we're witnessing today is proof that strength preserves peace and weakness invites war. We can never project strength around the world when weakness stands in the White House.
Nations like China see weakness as opportunity. China's fentanyl invades our borders. Their arms supply Putin's regime. China supports enemies, states like Iran. They oppress their own people, especially their women.
The world is watching America and we must show them what were made of.
(CHEERS)
MACE: And I know a strong leader when I see one. Donald Trump stood up to China before and he will do it again.
(CHEERS)
MACE: Anyone who thinks they can take on Donald Trump or take down America is now on notice. Just as Trump quickly rose to his speed with a defiant fist in the air in Butler Township, Pennsylvania, when we reelect him as president in November, America will soon be back on hers.
We will be courageous. We will be resilient. We will be united, and we will be prepared to take on the challenges of this historic moment.
Thank you. God bless you, and God bless the United States of America and God bless Donald J. Trump. Thank you.
(CHEERS)
[19:10:04]
ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome, Congressman Ronny Jackson of Texas.
(CHEERS)
REP. RONNY JACKSON (R-TX): All right.
All right, all right. Good evening, everybody. Good evening, good evening. And good evening to my delegation from Texas.
(CHEERS)
JACKSON: My name is Dr. Ronny Jackson, and I'm the congressman from the 13th congressional district of the great state of Texas.
(CHEERS)
JACKSON: Prior to being in Congress, I served on active duty in the Navy for 25 years. I was a Navy deep sea diver, an emergency medicine doctor in a combat position in Iraq.
During that time, I also had the distinct privilege of serving for 14 years as White House physician.
But most importantly I served as the appointed position to the greatest president that this country has ever had, Donald J. Trump.
(CHEERS)
JACKSON: And not only that, but now I can say I served a president who literally took a bullet for our country.
(CHEERS)
JACKSON: President Trump, and I've been through a lot together over the years, but I have never ever been prouder of his leadership than I was last Saturday.
He has warrior spirit in his display of will to keep fighting for our country even after getting shot down as an all time -- will go down as an all-time moment in American history.
I know firsthand from my time at the White House that being president is an unrelenting 24/7 job. Time off truly just doesn't exist. Our president needs to make clear and decisive decisions in a moments notice. When the phone rings in the middle of the night, the president must be ready.
Unfortunately, our current president is not ready for that call. Let's not kid ourselves. Father time has not been kind to Joe Biden.
And, China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, they do not respect Biden's 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. schedule. And we would not be in this situation where it not for Joe Biden staff and his family. They should have compassion for him and prioritize his health and our country's security, but they have put their own interests above America's interest.
Perhaps the greatest blame lies with his own Vice President Kamala Harris. She has not been truthful with us. She has lied to us. She has put party above country and she is as unfit in character as Joe Biden is in body and mind.
(CHEERS)
JACKSON: Between the wide-open southern border, the botched Afghanistan withdrawal, record high inflation, and the devastating crime in our streets, this administration has now produced a legacy of failure, disappointment and danger.
There is simply too much at stake to have someone who can barely shuffle to a podium be the one that is responsible for this safety and the security of our country.
(CHEERS)
JACKSON: Every second, every second that Joe Biden remains in the White House, this country becomes less safe.
However, however, under President Trump's leadership, we will restore our standing on the world stage. We will bring back our great economy we had. We will finally secure our southern border.
We will rebuild our great military. We will clean up crime in our streets, and most importantly, most importantly, we will have a president who is respected by our allies and who is feared by our enemies, and who leads with strength.
(CHEERS)
[19:15:12]
JACKSON: Let me close by saying, the path forward is simple. It is very simple and straightforward. We need to make America great again, and we need to do everything we possibly can to reelect Donald J. Trump as our president.
Thank you all. God bless you. God bless America and God bless Texas!
BURNETT: And that is Ronny Jackson, of course, right now, representative from Texas, following Nancy Mace, congresswoman from South Carolina.
Tomorrow, though, what you just heard from Ronny Jackson was him putting on his doctor. He started out by reminding people that he was the White House doctor for 14 years. He was. He was White House doctor for President Obama as well.
And then -- and then that set him up to just go on about Joe Biden and talking about in barely being able to shuffle to the podium and setting up that image.
JAMAL SIMMONS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Listen, this is the Republican attack. This is what we're going to hear as long as Joe Biden's in the race. We all know this is what were going to hear that the Democrats are going to get back to talking about Donald Trump being a convicted felon. We're going to hear that 34 times.
So this is going to be a -- not an inspiring campaign. I think people should brace themselves. But as I listened to them talking about what the objective is for tonight and talking about strong America, it just -- it needles me, what kind of strong America? Strong America for what, right?
What is the point of our strength? Is our strength so that we can hide from these uncomfortable facts and we have book bans in Florida? Are we are strong America that its taking rights away from women around abortion? Are we are strong America that's sort of like cowering from the -- from the world. And were not going out and leading in some way that J.D. Vance saying that he doesn't believe us to go out and defend our values in a place like Ukraine.
It just -- it strikes me, look, we're going to be strong for what it just so that we can hide and that to me, I think is something the Republican Party is going to have to wrestle with and they go out to America, that most Americans see our country is being strong and leading and forward leaning into the problems that the world faces.
BURNETT: And even less in the room. I mean, sure, there was a response to those two speeches. It wasn't, you know, I mean, overly excited and enthusiastic. I mean, they appear to be sort of waiting for the main act.
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Right, and Nancy Mace is there because she's a convert. She's been on every side of Donald Trump and she finally came back around, won her race.
But listen, the big ticket item is J.D. Vance tonight, and the thing about him is he's a bit of a chameleon. He's an incredible -- he's an intellectual face of MAGA, who's incredibly articulate and eloquent, and is able to speak to the general population and put a final touch on Trump policies.
But there's the side of him that praises Alex Jones, that goes on Steve Bannon's "War Room", that's been on Tucker Carlson show when it was on air, saying things I think to most of the population would be offensive and way outside of the mainstream.
I think you're going to see the first one show up tonight. But again, the oppo dumps are going be huge.
BURNETT: And Matt Gaetz is next.
JONAH GOLDBERG, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah.
BURNETT: He'll be speaking in a minute or two, another congressman --
GOLDBERG: And who could contain their excitement?
(LAUGHTER)
BURNETT: But that's the tone that you have early in life, right? When you're looking at Marjorie Taylor Greene the other night, but from Ronny Jackson to Matt Gaetz, you have Ric Grenell in between them.
GOLDBERG: Yeah.
BURNETT: That is consistent.
GOLDBERG: Yeah. So two points, one I think there's not -- it's not a perfect rule of thumb in these speeches, but it's a good rule of thumb. The people who shout over the mic to the crowd, they think they're speaking to the audience in the room, tend to be the rabble- rousers, tend to be the less polished people.
The people who know that this is actually a televised thing and tone it down and speak in a conversational voice, relying on the technology of the microphone are the pros.
And that the second thing which just going to get out and been waiting to make this point, the more interesting thing about these speeches isn't what you hear, but what you don't hear. Not, I don't believe there has been a single major speech, maybe any speech at all where anybody has said that the 2020 election was stolen. They're not talking about it at all.
And that has to be by design because you know Trump would like to hear it. But he's been convinced that that's a bad idea. And it would be interesting to ask some of these people, some of the politicians when they're on, you know, how come none of you guys are talking about it? Was the election not stolen? Isn't that something you should be talking about?
KRISTEN SOLTIS ANDERSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah, something that also stuck out to me from Nancy Mace's remarks, and I think it's important for the folks at home to know who maybe don't follow the ins and outs of Capitol Hill gossip and all that, she's kind of a caucus of one within the GOP caucus these days. She made some enemies of leadership by opposing Kevin McCarthy, but she, one point in time, she's had perhaps a stranger journey to Trump and prism than even somebody like J.D. Vance.
GOLDBERG: She's made some enemies of staff, too.
ANDERSON: Yes. So, she's a controversial figure, but I bet she made a lot of people in that room very uncomfortable by saying, I'm a rape survivor. But she has had a very interesting voice in that she has always advocated for Republicans being better about how they talk to women.
Two years ago, after the Dobbs decision came down, she showed up at the Capitol one day with on her back, taped a message that said my state just voted to ban exceptions, protect contraception.
[19:20:11]
That's not a message you might think you would expect to hear from Republican. She has carved up is interesting niche of saying our party needs to be more moderate on these issues.
BURNETT: Which Trump is sympathetic to.
ANDERSON: Yes.
BEDINGFIELD: But I think that's going to be -- yes, and I think that is going to be a challenging uphill fight for them across the course of this campaign because the Democrats are going to do everything in their power to define Trump, and the ticket.
BURNETT: Here's Matt Gaetz. So let's listen into the Republican congressman from Florida.
REP. MATT GAETZ (R-FL): Donald Trump is unstoppable. Elect him president again, and America will be unstoppable, too.
Meanwhile, Joe Biden's been out of it. Democrats have been hiding the real Biden for years. We saw people in the witness protection program more often than we saw unscripted Biden.
Under Biden-Harris, America has fallen sicker, lonelier, and poorer. Under Trump, we prospered, we were richer. Inflation was low and there were two genders.
Under Biden-Harris, inflation has gotten so bad, you can no longer bribe Democrat senators with cash alone. You have to use gold bars just so the bribes hold value.
Oh, the swamp draining will recommence soon and I will be President Trump's strongest ally in Congress to pass term limits, to stop taxpayer funding for political campaigns, to ban members of Congress for life from becoming lobbyists. And for the same reason, you don't let the referee bet on the game, ban members of Congress from trading individual stocks.
(CHEERS)
GAETZ: I am proud to stand before you, the only Republican in Congress who takes no lobbyist money, no PAC money. It's not good for me. I worked for you, not them.
President Trump, you'll never defund our police, but he will defund foreign aid to countries that hate us.
And President Trump understands that if it isn't racist to check ID for a hunting license or welfare benefits or a fishing license, than it is okay to demand an ID to vote everywhere in this country, in every election itself.
(CHEERS)
GAETZ: A Democrat congressman recently said that any criticism of Joe Biden is able-ist. I don't think it's too much to ask that the American president be able to do the job.
Kamala Harris is unable to do any job. She was appointed border czar. Appointing Kamala Harris to oversee the border is like appointing Bernie Madoff off to oversee your retirement plan.
President Trump has shown the world what he is made of. And now we will show the world what America is made up by having his back. And how about the choice president Trump made for a running mate?
(CHEERS)
GAETZ: J.D. looks like a young Abraham Lincoln but he's from Ohio, like General Grant. And like General Grant, J.D. Vance knows how to fight.
(CHEERS)
GAETZ: So they can run, Biden from the nursing home, Harris, George Clooney, Robert de Niro, whoever they want to run, we are on a mission to rescue and save this country, and we ride or die with Donald John Trump to the end.
Thank you all so much. Thank you for having my back. Let's go get them.
(CHEERS)
ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome former United States ambassador to the Holy See, the Vatican, Callista Gingrich.
BURNETT: Okay, that was Matt Gaetz.
And, Jonah, you just heard him. And now that -- the crowd really did respond to there.
GOLDBERG: Yeah. Although he does -- he was shouting at the audience, too.
BURNETT: To your point about those who shout versus speak.
GOLDBERG: Do not have faith of modern microphone technology.
Look, I mean, he's very popular with the kinds of people who would show up in the 2024 Trump nominating convention. I mean, he's -- he's smarter version of Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene, and it's the kind of place where you -- you know, you dole out the red meat like it's an avatar, and people were respond to it.
[19:25:05]
I -- you know, and he wants to be the next governor of Florida and there are people who think that might happen. I would sell my Florida bonds if that was me.
But, this is -- this is his home. I mean, this is just natural --
BURNETT: Yeah.
SIMMONS: But his home is the Republican, the modern Republican Party, and the modern Republican Party loves Matt Gaetz and I think that's something for everybody to be very sober about.
It's not just that Matt Gaetz is getting it. These are people who nominated Donald Trump for president. These are the people who are going to populate all these campaigns around the country and help pick other people who are running for office.
This is the half of the party of the country that we're going to be contesting with as leadership.
SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah, I don't I'm not sure if I'm convinced of that. I mean, the MAGA wing of the Republican Party on the House side, was that 30 members at best. You're not talking about half of the Republican Party.
Yes, the congressman does well with those voters, they do like him. He's savvy in some very unique ways. But in terms of having an overall impact on the messaging of the party in the House and legislation in the overall agenda, that's not going to happen, Erin.
BEDINGFIELD: He's the guy who tore the Republican Party apart on the Hill. I mean, he's the guy took down McCarthy. Well, but I don't know how you could argue he's not an influential piece of the Republican Party. He destroyed their -- he destroyed their own caucus.
SINGLETON: Democrats did help.
BURNETT: All right. We'll take a quick pause. Still ahead, a former Trump adviser takes the convention stage just hours after getting out of federal prison. Standby for that.
And much more from Milwaukee after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:30:35]
BLITZER: We're back here at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. We're getting more information, especially on some breaking news involving not the Republicans but the Democrats.
I want to go to CNN's Manu Raju right now.
You're getting a statement I take it from Chuck Schumer?
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, this is a response to report that came out from ABC saying that in a private meeting that Joe Biden had with Chuck Schumer this past Saturday in Delaware, that according to this report, that Chuck Schumer made a forceful case for Biden to end his candidacy for president.
Now, this is what Schumer's office just put out. It says, unless ABCs sources Senator Chuck Schumer or President Joe Biden, the reporting is idle speculation. Leader Schumer conveyed the views of his caucus directly to President Biden on Saturday. So, it's not an explicit denial or just simply saying that they can't know what happened because Biden and Schumer were the only people in the room.
Now, the same report talked about how Jeffries, Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader, had a separate meeting and conveyed similar concerns. To Hakeem Jeffries, I'm told by multiple people in Jeffries' orbit that, first of all, they're not commenting about what is -- what the -- what was actually conveyed to the president in a private meeting, but also that they point back to the statement that Jeffries had put up earlier to the Democratic caucus about how they're engaging in this ongoing discussion about what to do next in this presidential race.
But clearly, if Chuck Schumer is conveying the views of Democratic Caucus, Wolf, the views of the Democratic caucus are that they are concerned that if he continues with his candidacy, he will not only lose, but could cause some Congress.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Manu, as you know, one thing that's not in this statement from Senator Schumer has three words, I'm with Joe.
RAJU: Yeah.
ZELENY: How many times did he say that to you and other reporters on the Hill just last week? Saying it again and again, that is not in here. That is important.
But this meeting came on a Saturday, which is a critical day here in the Biden crisis really. And this is what I mean by that there were a series of phone calls that President Biden had with House Democrats, moderate Democrats, and some others. And there were some very strong words there.
The president heard directly from Jason Crow, a Democrat from Colorado, a member from Pennsylvania, as well, Chrissy Houlahan, and they were conveying to him as our Dana Bash reported earlier today, that they fear that President Biden can't win.
So this series of conversations at an afternoon is interesting, but even though we do not -- this was a private meeting. Schumer and Biden, I'm told, in the room themselves for a reason, of course, no aides, but it does not say I'm with Joe.
So we will see when the Senate comes back into session next week before you ask him again.
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: It certainly feels like we are at a potential tipping point in this story about Joe Biden right now. Don't know if indeed he will decide to step away from his candidacy. Obviously, that decision rests with him.
But this is -- we are at a new moment, because this isn't any more about how many members are coming out, or the drip, drip, drip. This is now about the cast of characters who are going to play a central role in bringing this to a resolution one way or the other. Learning about Chuck Schumer's conversation with Joe Biden, Hakeem Jeffries made clear, even though he wouldn't reveal the content of the conversation in his statement after the conversation, he made clear he reflected the views of many in his caucus directly to the president. We know what the views of many in his caucus are because Manu has been reporting on now.
And this -- and Nancy Pelosi is another figure in this, will get to the Obamas and the curtains because they may have a different role to play depending on what Joe Biden does here about trying to get the party unified moving forward. But we're no longer talking think about Adam Schiff, which I understand is a key development today or other members. We're talking about the people that are hearing from democratically elected officials that they represent as leaders, having these direct stern conversations with Joe Biden.
And I just think we're in a new place, yet again, in this story.
NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yeah. And Joe Biden hasn't been able to quiet these calls over the last three weeks. Some of these polls have come from donors, for instance, out in Hollywood, the kinds of people that are needed to fund and effective campaign.
You've had Joe Biden try to run against the elites and saying, listen 14 million people are in the primaries, have wanted me to be the nominee, so I'm going to stay and be the nominee. And then today we heard him say, well, listen, if there is some sort of medical issue that comes about maybe that would force him from the race.
[19:35:01]
And then today, obviously, the COVID diagnosis has come. All the Democrats I'm hearing from are saying, Joe Biden cannot catch a break, that again. I mean, I think today that's point that is this a kind in the final turning point on this door?
BLITZER: All right. I just want to point to our viewers, Peter Navarro, who just was released from prison after serving a four-month sentence for defying a subpoena from the January 6 select committee in Congress.
Let's listen in briefly.
PETER NAVARRO, FORMER TRUMP AIDE: In Miami, Joe Biden and his department of injustice put me there. Tonight, I'm here with you and his beautiful city of Milwaukee.
I got a very simple message for you, if they can come for me, if they can come for Donald Trump, careful, they will come for you. If we don't control our government, their government will control us.
If we don't control all three branches of our government -- legislative, executive, and judicial -- their government will put some of us like me and Steve Bannon in prison and control the rest of us. Here's how it went. Here's how I got in prison. The legislative branch came for me first. Your favorite Democrat, Nancy Pelosi, created your favorite committee, the sham January 6 committee, which demanded that I violate executive privilege. What did I do? I refused.
(CHEERS)
NAVARRO: The J6 committee demanded that I betray Donald John Trump to save my own skin. I refused.
(CHEERS)
NAVARRO: Here's the thing about the constitution. They demanded that I break the law because they have no respect for it.
I refused and a Democrat majority in the House than voted to hold me in contempt.
All right. What happened next? The next jackboot to drop was the executive branch.
Another one of your favorite Democrats, Democrat Attorney General Merrick Garland, there's a winner -- I mean, Jack Smith indicted and prosecuted me for criminal contempt of Congress.
Now, here's what's weird about it. It's something that Democrat prosecutors refused to do against one of their own including two guys with blood on their hands, Eric Holder and Alejandro Mayorkas, the great borders czar, right? They've actually gotten people killed.
For decades -- for decades, the department of injustice right now, the Department of Justice policy stated, hear me out on this, if Congress slaps a subpoena on a senior White House adviser like me, the advisors' duty is to politely tell them to go pound sand.
(CHEERS)
NAVARRO: That's exactly what I did.
So, so far, we got two branches legislative and executive. The judicial branch delivered the final blow. Just as -- here's another favorite of yours. Just as Democrat Judge Juan Merchan, you know this guy, did to Donald John Trump in his Manhattan kangaroo court, another Democrat judge, a guy named Amit Mehta, keep your eye on this guy. Amit Mehta, Obama appointee, they stripped me of every possible defense.
And then what? Just like in Manhattan with Donald Trump, they threw me that the wolves of an anti-Trump jury in where? The D.C. swamp.
They convicted me. They jailed me. Guess what? They did not break me.
(CHEERS)
(CHANTING)
[19:40:09]
NAVARRO: And they will never break Donald Trump. They will never break Donald Trump.
All right. Now, here's the most important thing I'm going to tell you. You may be thinking this couldn't happen to you.
Uh-uh, make no mistake: they're already coming for you.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: Yeah, they are.
NAVARRO: Joe and Kamala, they threw out the woke blue carpet across the Rio Grande, opened our borders to, what, murderers and rapists. When Donald Trump said it -- thank you for saying that -- when Donald Trump said murderers, rapists in 2016, they go, oh, racist, whatever.
We read the papers. It's murderers and rapists. Murderers and rapists, drug cartels, human traffickers, terrorists, Chinese spies, and a whole army of illiterate illegal aliens stealing the jobs of Black, Brown and blue collar Americans. They put them right on your front doorstep.
Now, here's another thing, Joe Biden -- then you got to love this -- the green new scam, we're in the heart here in Milwaukee, around all this. This is where the auto industry. That new scam is destroying our industry, leaving us at the mercy of the battery factories in Shanghai and slave labor in the Congo.
Biden inflation -- you're going to hear a lot of this, because it's so freaking true. Biden inflation is coming after what's left of your savings and eating your wages, and the Democrat -- here's the thing, I'm sitting in prison thinking about this, it just eats at me -- as the Democrats come for your kids, they're indoctrinating them with poisonous attitudes on race and gender.
And here's the thing, when politics fails, the investigations and prosecutions begin. They did it to me. They're going to do it to Trump. But hear me out, they've also done it to Catholics, pro-life activists and parents -- parents who are just standing up for the kids at school board meetings.
(CHEERS)
(APPLAUSE)
NAVARRO: This is a tale of two Americas and you know it wasn't this way when Donald Trump was president.
I remember the days I was there. In Trump's America, you were safe and our borders were secure. In Trump's America, you were more prosperous and you didn't have to choose between, what, food on the table, medicine in the cabinet, and a roof over your head.
(CHEERS)
(APPLAUSE) NAVARRO: And in Trump's America, you didn't have to worry about being locked up for disagreeing with the government.
(CHEERS)
(APPLAUSE)
NAVARRO: I went to prison so you won't have to.
(CHEERS)
(APPLAUSE)
NAVARRO: I am your wakeup call.
(CHEERS)
(APPLAUSE)
NAVARRO: All right. This is where I'm going to have fun now because I'm going to leave you now with the last three words, the last three words my beautiful fiancee said when I left that morning for prison.
They weren't "I love you", that was a given. She simply said "We got this". We got this.
(CHEERS)
(APPLAUSE)
NAVARRO: That's what --
(CHANTING)
NAVARRO: Bring my girl out now.
That's what these lawfare jackals don't understand. When they put people like me in prison and fire figurative and now literal bullets at Donald Trump, they also assault our families.
(CHEERS)
(APPLAUSE)
NAVARRO: On Election Day, America will hold these lawfare jackals accountable.
(CHEERS)
(APPLAUSE)
NAVARRO: And here's the sweetest thing that's going to come off my lips. Vote Trump-Vance '24 for Trump 47.
(CHEERS)
(APPLAUSE)
[19:45:12]
NAVARRO: I'm Peter Navarro. I went to prison so you won't have to. This is my beautiful girl.
She did the time with me. That's what these freaking Democrats don't understand. They do this to our families.
(CHEERS)
(APPLAUSE)
NAVARRO: She's my girl. Yeah.
(CHEERS)
(APPLAUSE)
NAVARRO: I love you. Let's win. Do not let up. Do not let up. Pedal to the metal (INAUDIBLE).
BLITZER: All right. There you have Peter Navarro just a few hours after being released from a prison down in Florida. He's here in Milwaukee. You heard what he had to say. He was convicted of defying a congressional subpoena from the January 6 Select Committee, and that has been his response.
I want to go to Kaitlan Collins. She's on the floor watching all of this unfold for his life, for us.
Give us a sense of the reaction where you were at seemed to be rather rousey.
COLLINS: Yeah, Wolf, I think that was one of the biggest rounds of applause that I have seen from most of the speakers who have been here.
I've been on the floor for all three days of the convention, so far. Peter Navarro got a standing ovation when he came out on stage and for those who don't know, he flew straight from Miami to Milwaukee this morning, hours after he was released from prison, where he had been serving that four month sentence for defying Congress after he refused to comply with a subpoena that he got from the January 6 committee, as you heard him reference.
And this crowd was on their feet for a lot of Peter Navarro's speech. They were chanting with him as he was talking about this and accusing President Biden, of course, baselessly of using the Justice Department against him.
A reminder, Peter Navarro obviously went to prison because he did not comply with that subpoena. He said that President Trump did invoke executive privilege over that. There was no evidence of the court found that he did. But, Wolf, just to give you a sense of what its like here down here on the floor, Peter Navarro is just hours out of prison, but there's also Paul Manafort here. Back in 2016, he had a very different role. He was the chair of Donald Trump's campaign. Of course, he was later convict -- had his sentence pardoned by Donald Trump. So he is not the only convicted felon on stage, Paul Manafort also down here on the delegation floor as well, Wolf, though he did tell me he has no formal role in this convention. He said he just here enjoying it.
BLITTZER: Kaitlan, standby. We're, of course, going to be getting back to your right now.
I want to bring in our CNN fact fact-checker, senior reporter, Daniel Dale.
Daniel, we just heard a lot from Peter Navarro. What stood out to you in Peter Navarro's speech?
DANIEL DALE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: What stood out, Wolf, was that there was a whole lot of nonsense. So he claimed that Attorney General Garland and Jack Smith indicted and prosecuted him -- prosecuted him. Jack Smith was not involved. This was a prosecution done by regular old DOJ, Jack Smith is the special counsel, specifically for Trump related cases.
He claimed he was convicted by an anti-Trump jury. He's assuming based on the voting patterns of yes, barely very Democratic Washington, D.C., but he doesn't know that, and we've reported the jury was comprised of a diverse set of people in D.C, including government consultants, a NASA contractor, someone in mental health services, and a few retirees.
And then I think most significantly and Kaitlan mentioned this, he claimed that Democrats wanted him to violate executive privilege. Well, he produced no direct evidence to the court that former President Trump even tried to invoke privilege in his case. He claimed it over and over, never approved it whatsoever.
BLITZER: Daniel Dale, thanks as usual. Appreciate it very much.
Just ahead, our special coverage will continue from here in Milwaukee as we count down to Senator J.D. Vance, making his big debut on the convention stage following his selection as Donald Trump's running mate.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:52:43]
BURNETT: And it is the third night of the Republican national convention in Milwaukee. Donald Trump's running mate, J.D. Vance, preparing to take the stage tonight, a celebration and a stark contrast to what's happening in the Democratic Party right now.
My panel with me. So, Kate, obviously the president is diagnosed with COVID. He's on a
plane right now heading from Las Vegas where he was supposed to give a speech to Rehoboth where he is going to isolate as there are reports that Schumer told him to get out of the race. Schumer says, all I did was tell him what other people were saying in a meeting that happened for the assassination attempt, but its drumbeat.
BEDINGFIELD: Yeah, it's -- look, I mean, we've -- we've talked about this a lot tonight. It is not a helpful drumbeat for the Democrats. I think again, you know, Joe Biden has said many, many times, he's going to be the nominee. And so each drip, drip, drip like this, just continues to undermine him, continues to keep the conversation focused on this internal strife amongst Democrats, and makes it harder for Democrats to focus on Trump.
And some of the things we saw from Peter Navarro just now who was really giving the heart and soul of the MAGA argument was all about grievance and how the Democratic led government is coming for you.
I mean, those are, those are the kinds of things that are at stake in this campaign.
And so, what Democrats need to do is turn their focus back to that. And each kind of drip, drip, drip like this makes it harder for them to do that. So they are in a tough spot right now.
GRIFFIN: Listen, they've got to decide if they're going to do something. Six in ten Americans did not want this rematch. Donald Trump is strong right now, but he still has massive vulnerabilities.
Now, most undecided voters make up their mind and elections in the final three months of an election. There is a world in which Democrats could put forward and next-generation candidate, by the way, the youth vote is up for grabs as well. They're so disillusion with these two nearly octogenarian candidates.
There's a world of which Dems could actually pull off a major win here by putting up the next generation of leadership. I don't see how it gotten that.
ANDERSON: Listen, if you are a next-generation Democrat, do you want to be anywhere near this? If -- look, I don't have some special portal read the mind of Governor Gretchen Whitmer, or Governor Josh Shapiro, but if I was them, I would be like best of luck to everyone. I'm going to govern my state. I want nothing to do with this.
SINGLETON: I mean, look, Erin, Republicans are energized, Democrat are demoralized. It's a great place to be Donald Trump. It is not a good place to be Joe Biden.
I think a lot of Democrats right now are trying to figure out what's the best path forward. But Joe Biden is being arrogant. Joe Biden is being prideful.
[19:55:00]
He doesn't want to leave.
So what do you do in that scenario?
GOLDBERG: Yeah, I think we're -- you know, there's this old cliche that says if you have the fire in the belly to be president, we should probably not let you be president because it's a weird, you know, statement on your character.
It now feels like the problem with Biden is that he doesn't see it, right? And that the reason he should go is because he can't see the argument that he should go.
SIMMONS: I mean, I think it's unfair to say he doesn't see it. The truth is probably that you run for president until you're not running for president, right? And if he is not going to go know the day he decides he's not going to. We should just accept that.
But there is still an anti-MAGA majority in the United States. And I think we have to remember and we've seen this in election after election since 20 -- 2020, 2018, 2020, 2022, that most people in the country don't want the Trump MAGA agenda.
So Democrats are actually in a pretty positive position that they can make that case compellingly, they can win elections all over the country, but they got to do it. And we got to stop talking about it.
SINGLETON: Yeah, but the problem is you guys are making the case on any significant issue, that's the issue for Democrats.
BURNETT: Well, that's a separate issue than who's at the top of your ticket, which wouldn't -- wouldn't address any of that at all, right? A guy who got 14 million votes.
All right. There's much more ahead as Republican who was on Donald Trump's VP shortlist addresses the convention, the North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, speak shortly.
Later, the man who beat out Burgum to be Trump's running mate. Of course, tonight, we will hear from Senator J.D. Vance and we're carrying it all here live on the scene.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
