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Donald Trump Nominated Presidential Nominee; Interview with Trump Campaign Adviser Sam Clovis; How Did Melania Trump's Speech Get Changed?. Aired 8-8:30a ET
Aired July 20, 2016 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: So Donald Trump doing last night what many thought months ago he would never be able to do, 13 months after launching his improbable bid, Trump has clinched the Republican nomination officially. His children making very personal speeches about their dad last night.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: But much of the focus at the convention, unquestionably, has not been pumping up Trump. It has been speaker after speaker, bringing down Hillary Clinton. For example, last night, the big man was Chris Christie doing this. He fired up the crowd, delegates started chanting, "Lock her up." What happened, what does it matter? We've got every angle covered. Let's begin with CNN's Phil Mattingly inside the convention center. Phil?
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Chris. Trump advisors would acknowledge the first 24 hours of this convention weren't exactly ideal. But Tuesday, right on point. And one big reason why, Donald Trump's kids, the unquestioned stars of Tuesday night's show.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP JR., DONALD TRUMP'S SON: It is my honor to be able to throw Donald Trump over the top in the delegate count tonight. Congratulations, dad. We love you!
MATTINGLY: Donald Trump formally clinching the Republican nomination.
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm so proud to be your nominee for president of the United States.
MATTINGLY: Trump's children stealing the spotlight with emotional speeches about their father.
TIFFANY TRUMP, DONALD TRUMP'S DAUGHTER: Donald Trump has never done anything halfway, least of all as a parent.
MATTINGLY: His 22-year-old daughter, Tiffany, getting personal.
TIFFANY TRUMP: I still keep all of my report cards, some dating back to Kindergarten, because I like to look back and see the sweet notes he wrote on each and every one of them.
MATTINGLY: Eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., calling his father his mentor and best friend, casting him as the blue collar billionaire. DONALD TRUMP JR.: I was there with him by his side on job sites, in
conference rooms from the time I could walk. He didn't hide out behind some desk in an executive suite. He spent his career with regular Americans. He hung out with the guys on construction sites, pouring concrete.
MATTINGLY: Trump's children from different marriages delivering powerful testimonials of their dad.
DONALD TRUMP JR.: For my father, impossible is just the starting point. That is how he approaches business projects. That's how he approaches life.
MATTINGLY: And 24 hours earlier, Trump's wife Melania's well-received speech overshadowed by charges of plagiarism.
MICHELLE OBAMA, U.S. FIRST LADY: You work hard for what you want in life.
MELANIA TRUMP, DONALD TRUMP'S WIFE: You work hard for what you want in life.
MICHELLE OBAMA: That your word is your bond, that you do what you say you're going to do.
MELANIA TRUMP: That your word is your bond.
MATTINGLY: The campaign repeatedly denying wrongdoing. First on NEW DAY.
PAUL MANAFORT, TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: To think that she would be cribbing Michelle Obama's words is crazy. This is once again an example of when a woman threatens Hillary Clinton how she seeks out to demean her and to take her down.
MATTINGLY: Then hours later, in a press conference.
MANAFORT: The American people did focus on what her message was. You all are focusing no trying to distort the message.
MATTINGLY: The campaign dismissing calls to fire or discipline someone over the speech controversy.
COREY LEWANDOWSKI, FORMER TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Whoever was the staff person who wrote the speech should be held accountable and should be fired. I know accountability in the Trump campaign. I know what it's like to be fired from the Trump campaign.
MANAFORT: We think the Melania Trump's speech was a great speech.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MATTINGLY: And Chris, you talked to a lot of Republicans yesterday about this speech, her plagiarism, and disbelief was the primary word you would hear. The frustration wasn't about Melania Trump. It wasn't even really about the speech itself. It was well received inside the hall. It was about what it means for the broader campaign, how something like this could happen.
That said, you talk to Trump advisers, they made very clear, they are moving on past this. There is no acknowledgment of a mistake, certainly no apology for the mistake. Their strategy, attack and move forward. And they're not moving off of that at all, Chris.
CUOMO: Phil, I heard the same thing on the floor last night. There was a whisper of concern if the campaign can't handle something small like this, what happens if they get in and have to run the government. But they did get back on track. Phil Mattingly is right. And Donald Trump's coronation certainly was great for him, but even more importantly, bad for Hillary Clinton. It was like a trial, and she the accused. Speaker after speaker, questioning the former secretary of state's character, and judgment.
CNN senior political reporter Manu Raju joins us now with more. And even that's putting it mildly, Manu. They were saying she should be in jail.
MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Yes, that's right. You know, the theme of yesterday's convention was to making America work, but it was just filled with accusations that Hillary Clinton broke the law and that she deserves time in jail. And what we found is that those attacks on Hillary Clinton are uniting the Republican Party.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[08:05:00] A second night of stinging attacks against Hillary Clinton becoming the rallying cry of the Republican national convention.
GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE, (R) NEW JERSEY: Hillary Clinton lying to the American people about her selfish, awful judgment in making our secrets vulnerable. What is your verdict, guilty or not guilty?
CROWD: Guilty!
RAJU: For 15 minutes, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie prosecuting Clinton in a mock trial before a national audience.
CHRISTIE: In Libya and Nigeria, guilty? In China and Syria --
CROWD: Guilty!
CHRISTIE: In Iran and Russia and Cuba?
CROWD: Guilty!
CHRISTIE: And here at home for risking America's secrets to keep her own and lying to cover it all up --
CROWD: Guilty!
RAJU: Christie's prosecutorial takedown drawing sharp criticism from both sides of the aisle. The Clinton campaign tweeting soon after, "If you think Chris Christie can lecture anyone on ethics, we have a bridge to sell you." Arizona Republican Senator Jeff Flake also tweeting, "Clinton now belongs in prison? Come on. We can make the case that she shouldn't be elected without jumping the shark."
Trump's other former rival, Dr. Ben Carson, going as far as to link Clinton to Lucifer.
BEN CARSON, (R) FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: One of her heroes, her mentors was Saul Alinsky. He wrote a book, "Rules for Radicals." On the dedication page it acknowledges Lucifer. So are we willing to elect someone as president who has as their role model somebody who acknowledges Lucifer? Think about that.
RAJU: Speaker after speaker linking Clinton's e-mail and Benghazi controversies to a lack of trust.
MITCH MCCONNELL, (R-KY) SENATE MINORITY LEADER: She lied about her e- mails. She lied about her server. She lied about Benghazi. She even lied about sniper fire. Why in the world would Democrats put forward such a candidate?
GOV. ASA HUTCHINSON, (R) ARKANSAS: A Hillary Clinton presidency will endanger our national security.
LESLIE RUTLEDGE, ARKANSAS ATTORNEY GENERAL: Deception and dishonesty are all second nature to Hillary.
MICHAEL MUKASEY, FORMER ATTORNEY GENERAL: No way, Hillary. No way on earth.
RAJU: And House Speaker Paul Ryan, scarcely mentioning Trump, focusing his attention on the risk of electing Clinton.
REP. PAUL RYAN, (R) SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: Watch the Democratic Party next week, that four day infomercial of politically correct moralizing. You can get through four days of it with a little help of the mute button, but four more years of it -- not a chance.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RAJU: We'll see tonight how Mike Pence, Donald Trump's running mate, talks about the issues going forward and whether or not he will actually lay out what a Trump-Pence administration would do. We have not heard a whole lot about that this week.
Another thing to keep your eyes on, Alisyn, Ted Cruz, the former Trump rival who has not endorsed Donald Trump, how will he talk about Donald Trump and what will he say going forward? We're not expecting an endorsement from Ted Cruz tonight, but we probably are expecting more attacks on Hillary Clinton. Alisyn?
CAMEROTA: That's a good bet, Manu. So let's talk about that now. We want to bring in Sam Clovis, who is the national co-chair and chief policy adviser for the Trump campaign. Hi, Sam. How are you doing?
SAM CLOVIS, TRUMP CAMPAIGN CHIEF POLICY ADVISER: Good to see you. Good to see you. People are going to start talking.
(LAUGHTER)
CAMEROTA: We have been meeting a lot for breakfast. Of course it's on national TV.
CLOVIS: That's OK. That's reality as it gets.
CAMEROTA: Let's talk about what happened last night. So the crowd was pretty worked up, and they at times were chanting during Chris Christie's sort of indictment of Hillary Clinton, I think it is fair to say, they were saying "Lock her up." Then you saw in Manu's piece that Republican senator Jeff flake said we have jumped the shark here. We don't have to go that far to just criticize Hillary. What do you think?
CLOVIS: I think, the two things I think that really, we need to two modalities, two areas that we have to talk about. One is what goes inside the convention hall and the rhetoric that comes from the stage for that audience, and for that group. The other thing is what impact does that have on the American voter. This is something that I think has been missed by a lot of people. I know we talk about it. I know we're -- you know, we get in here and we grind down to the four decimal places on a lot of things, but we have to figure out what this means to the American voter.
CAMEROTA: Yes, and some people would say it is toxic for the American voter. This kind of language and this kind of polarization has been toxic during this election.
CLOVIS: I thought about this a lot last night when I was listening to the convention and I thought about it a lot this morning knowing I was going to come in and talk to you, because one of the things I think that's been very clear to me is that for the most part, people who are in your business, and I don't mean this as any criticism, people who are in my business, we still haven't gotten what's going on in this country.
[08:10:05] There is a reason that we are where we are today. There is a reason that Donald Trump has risen to the position of being the nominee of the Republican Party. This is not my father's Republican party.
CAMEROTA: Yes.
CLOVIS: This is not even my Republican Party of ten years ago.
CAMEROTA: So you're saying that reason is anger. That's what I'm gleaning from what you're saying.
CLOVIS: I'm saying it is disappointment and anger and abandonment. The thing that we've talked about this often, most of the people have not had a chance to really absorb what's going on in fly-over country. People's wages haven't gone up. Their lives are not better. They can't afford to send their kids to college. They can't buy that new refrigerator. There is a reason, and they don't know who to blame. And the government has come in and promised for decades that the government -- we'll take care of it. We'll pat you on the head. But treat us like, you know, the minions that a lot of people think we are. I'm sorry.
CAMEROTA: No, I hear that anger. You've come on with that message a lot. And we certainly hear that anger. I've interviewed scores of Trump supporters and panels. But there is also an accusation of ginning them up, of lighting a fuse, of igniting it beyond the anger that they felt. And last night, the "guilty, guilty, lock her up, lock her up," is that falling into that?
CLOVIS: Well, you've got to remember, the people that are here, 2,500 delegates and the other 3,000 or 4,000 Republicans that have come in and the 20,000 people that are going to be around this event, these are activists. These are the red meat eaters, these are the raw meat eaters. These are the people who have been involved in this and they're closest to it. So you might expect to see that kind of emotion coming.
I think what we do, let's separate ourselves one level of abstraction, maybe two, and let's go out and talk to that person who every day right now the kids are out for summer. They're looking at vacation, maybe come up here to the lake, maybe to do those things. Their worries and concerns are such that they have so much uncertainty in their lives, they're looking for a leader. And they're willing, I think, most people in this country, look at the two candidates. You've talked about the negativity in all of the other aspects and how they're perceived. They're looking for a leader. And I think this is one of the reasons that we have seen such an incredible electoral cycle this time.
CAMEROTA: Quickly, should whoever was responsible for Melania Trump's lifted passages be fired?
CLOVIS: The campaign will take care of that. That is an area that I think that we have people in this campaign, people of great integrity, and they will take care of it.
CAMEROTA: Meaning they'll fire someone.
CLOVIS: They'll take care of it.
CAMEROTA: What does that mean?
CLOVIS: I think they'll take care of it.
CAMEROTA: Vague. Let's talk about what's going to happen tonight, Sam. So let me show you the roster --
(LAUGHTER)
CLOVIS: I'm getting better at this, aren't I?
CAMEROTA: I see that. You are. Let's talk about the roster of who will be on tonight. We have a lot of people, including former rivals of Donald Trump, Governor Scott Walker, we have Senator Marco Rubio appearing via video. Senator Ted Cruz. What are these guys going to say? Are they going to endorse him? CLOVIS: I think they'll stand up there and they're going to be
talking about unity of the party, because going forward, this is what conventions are about. This is probably been in my lifetime probably the most contested or hotly contested primary cycle. I've been following the campaigns since 1956. I was seven years old. And so I think this has been unique in my lifetime. And I think that we're going to see those people stand up and talk about bringing the party together.
CAMEROTA: But not an endorsement?
CLOVIS: I think they will. I'm hoping they will. Let's put it that way.
CAMEROTA: OK. Mike Pence, what does he need to say?
CLOVIS: I think this is great. Governor Pence is a -- here is what I think is interesting. I don't know if you had a chance to see his speech yesterday. He was giving a speech her, in Ohio.
CAMEROTA: Yes.
CLOVIS: I thought he was really on point. It was him, and what I know about him, and I was so intrigued by it, because he is serious. He is a serious conservative. And I think you're going to hear that case tonight from Governor Pence. You're going to hear that case from Senator Cruz, serious, conservative thought.
And I think those are the things that a lot of the people on the floor of the convention are looking for, because what that does, it gives a strong under pinning for us going forward and helps us build this incredible contrast between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
CAMEROTA: And is that why Donald Trump chose Mike Pence to give that conservative underpinning?
CLOVIS: I think there are a lot of reasons for choosing Governor Pence. I think a lot of it -- I think for many of us, it was a strong choice, and I think it was -- he is a great compliment to Mr. Trump in a lot of ways. And I think that this is -- you have to understand, Mr. Trump is looking for someone he can trust, and someone that he can turn to when he needs a tough decision, and, frankly, somebody who is going to push back once in a while.
[08:15:00] Believe it or not, Mr. Trump is a guy that really does appreciate that.
CAMEROTA: Oh, yes?
[08:15:00] CLOVIS: He appreciates people who are strong, and if you're strong and you're able to deal with, I ought to know. I've been there, you know?
CAMEROTA: What are you pushing back on?
CLOVIS: Oh, I think a lot of time, just the idea of where we are on ideas and policy and movement and all that.
And trust me, he is never far off. It is just a matter of nudging him in a direction one way or the other. He is a man of his own mind. Make no mistake. He is strong willed and a powerful charismatic leader and he's been a great honor to work with.
CAMEROTA: Got it. Sam Clovis, thanks so much.
CLOVIS: Alisyn, great to see you again, as always.
CAMEROTA: See you on NEW DAY.
Well, the first version of Melania Trump's speech, we know a little bit more about it now. It contained no traces of plagiarism, the speechwriters say. So, how did it get involved into the controversy we saw Monday night? We have more on how did the speech take a turn. That's coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CUOMO: Welcome back to NEW DAY.
Melania Trump's controversial speech, controversial not in its delivery, but its origination, coming in part from Michelle Obama's 2008 convention speech. That conversation is still ongoing, because the campaign is still denying what I just told you.
So, we're learning new details about how the situation evolved to this point. Let's discuss with CNN political director, David Chalian, and CNN political analyst, presidential campaign correspondent of "The New York Times", Maggie Haberman, and CNN political analyst and host of "The David Gregory Podcast", David Gregory.
[08:20:12] Maggie, as is often the case, you have advance understanding on an issue that is at play in this campaign, what do we now know about how we got to this point of what happened with the Melania speech?
MAGGIE HABERMAN, PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN CORRESPONDENT, THE NEW YORK TIMES: So, we know that professional speechwriters have been on contract with the campaign, Matt Scully and his partner, John McConnell.
CAMEROTA: George W. Bush's era.
HABERMAN: Exactly. And they have written for many campaigns. They were involved with the September 11th, 2001 address to the nation. They did a version of a speech that they delivered in June.
And then got, you know, early feedback from Jared Kushner, the son-in- law of Donald Trump, saying this is good. They didn't hear anything and they waited and waited and finally had some contact with the campaign about 10 or 11 days ago, and were told it was being trend.
But now, as it shows up, it was almost unrecognizable apparently, as what we were told. Melania Trump for whatever reason didn't like the draft. She consulted with some people, one of them was a woman named Meredith MacGyver (ph), who works with the Trump organization, who's been involved in Trump's works.
It is not clear how involved she was in any final product. It's still not precisely clear how the similar lines that were in the Michelle Obama speech and Melania Trump speech ended up there, but it is clear that there was an earlier version that she was not enamored of and she did take control of the process in some way.
CAMEROTA: So, David Chalian, if this were just Melania Trump doing this, and she is the one who added the words and maybe was influenced about Michelle Obama, so, case closed. Nobody to be fired, right? That's it.
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: You can't fire the spouse. That's a rule in politics.
CUOMO: But she can fire you.
CHALIAN: Yes. But listen, I do think that is the question. If we are -- I don't know that we'll ever be able to figure it out. If indeed Melania is the one that watched videos and was inspired by something or liked a thought she saw and asked for that to be in, or penciled it in herself, or if after the initial draft was deemed no good, whoever put together something that would be more acceptable to Melania, found it and put it in, I don't know that we'll flow that difference.
What we do know is how the campaign dealt with it. That's sort of the most informative thing out of this, which is they just want to steam roll through it. They -- it is like with the John Baron, John Miller, pseudonyms that Donald Trump used as his own spokesperson. We hear the audio tape and it is clearly Donald Trump and he said, no, that's not me. Just keep moving on.
And that's their posture on things like this, is that voters won't care that much, so they're going to keep pushing through our obsession until we move on from it.
CUOMO: So, what is the risk, David Gregory, other than making us upset, which clearly not only does the Trump campaign not care about but works in their favor.
GREGORY: No penalty for making us upset, not in this country or any other country. But there is a risk, if you spend now, what, two full nights talking about Hillary Clinton lying, and that she should go to prison, when you lie in the face of anything that contradicts your world views, so here is evidence that says you cribbed from Michelle Obama in 2008, no, that's not true. That's not what we did.
Well, that's not the truth. And if that's the pattern, well, you made fun of a "New York Times" reporter because he has a disability -- no, we didn't do that. So, if there's a pattern of lies, how does that make the case you're making against Hillary Clinton?
But this is also sloppiness and incompetence. You're making a case to voters beyond the floor, think about the suburbs of Philadelphia, those white collar Republicans, used to be Republicans. Donald Trump needs those folks, they've been -- the party has been losing them to Democrats. They want to see somebody who is in charge and knows how to run things and who is competent. It just undermines all of that and there is no reason for it.
CAMEROTA: Maggie, don't believe your own lying eyes is a big theme, as David cited lots of different times. That is what they've done.
But up until now, I mean, we keep being told, now is when voters start paying attention, at the convention. All the other voters, not the diehards, everybody else starts paying attention.
Do we have a sense that regular voters care about these mishaps?
HABERMAN: People are definitely reading about it and talking about it. It is way to soon to know what if any impact that will have. I don't think it helps at the -- certainly the opening night, the convention is about appealing to people who are not already on the Trump train.
And so, it is an unfortunate, you know, overshadowing, especially for a speech that was well received, on a night that was pretty doom and gloom in all the other speeches that preceded it, she gave a pretty uplifting delivery and compelling message about her husband.
I do think this will largely be washed away by focus on Donald Trump's speech, because that's ultimately what's going to matter tomorrow night, as well as how well Mike Pence does tonight.
[08:25:03] And I think that Trump's kids, Tiffany and Don, Jr., gave pretty compelling testimonials. That is going to help wash away some of this.
CUOMO: Now, inside baseball, the audience likes inside baseball, you know where it doesn't get washed away, is with Melania Trump. She didn't want to do this. This is why she didn't want to do this. She is not going to forget it and she's right now to. How that plays out, we'll see.
David Chalian, you're the man who knows. On the floor last night, we saw proof positive to why this isn't going to matter. Big delegation, part of the state not for Trump, part of the delegation, not for Trump.
I say to the head of the delegation, what are you going to do? He said, easy, one phrase. She is worst. Did they lie? Yes. Does it matter? No, because Hillary lies about things that matter bigger and more.
That's their case. Is it enough?
CHALIAN: It is definitely the unifying factor. That is what brings a fractured Republican Party right now together like nothing else. So, when you hear chants two nights in a row on the floor, "lock her up, lock her up," that's the rallying cry of the first two nights of the convention, you can just hear, that's one thing that brings everyone in the room together.
I think that when you have as high negatives as you have with both of these candidates, these are the two most unpopular presidential candidates in modern presidential history. This hammering away of those negatives is going to be from now through November because that's their vulnerability on each side.
GREGORY: But remember, he's got to unite the party beyond the red meat of Clinton haters. He's got over 60 percent of voters who don't think he is qualified to do the job. He has got to present himself and an agenda that voters can rally around, and that's his big test.
CAMEROTA: Panel, thank you very much. Maggie, thank you for your reporting. David, happy birthday.
CHALIAN: Thanks, Alisyn.
CUOMO: Everyday is his birthday when it is a political calendar year. Let me tell you that right now.
So there is a man who believes this was not plagiarism, that it does not matter, and Donald Trump is growing the tent, despite what you hear. His name is Paul Manafort and he is running the Trump campaign. He's going to join us on NEW DAY, next.
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