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Hala Gorani Tonight
Donald Trump's Crowning Moment; Trump Campaign Denies Plagiarizing from Michelle Obama; ISIS Claims Responsibility for Germany Axe Attack; In the Wake of the Attempted Turkish Coup; Outrage in Turkey Over New Rape by Same Attackers; Private Donations Behind the Republican National Convention. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired July 19, 2016 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:01:03] HALA GORANI, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight, Trump's crowning moment, the Republican presidential candidate is set to become his party's official
nominee, but his big day was being overshadowed by controversy over his wife Melania's speech.
The Trump campaign denies that it's plagiarized from Michelle Obama. We'll let you be the judge.
Also, ISIS releases a video purporting to show a teen who unleashed an axe attack on a train in Germany. We'll get to the bottom of that. And CNN
gets a tour of the damage in Ankara after an attempted coup in Turkey.
Hello, everyone. I'm Hala Gorani, we are live from the Republican National Convention here in Cleveland, Ohio. This is a special edition of "The
World Right Now".
After a long, hard fight that deeply divided his own party, Donald Trump is now just a few hours away from officially becoming the Republican
presidential nominee. We will not be calling him presumptive anymore if everything goes according to plan.
Let's get you up to speed on a busy day at the RNC. A state-by-state roll call vote on Trump's nomination will get underway soon here in Cleveland.
Day two of the convention is focusing on the economy. You remember yesterday was "Make America Safe Again", today is "Make America Work
Again".
Some highlights of the speaker line up include two of Trump's children, Tiffany, whom he had with Marla Maples, his second wife and Donald Trump,
Jr. Two of his former presidential rivals, Chris Christie and Ben Carson will also make an appearance. If you were expecting drama on the opening
night of the convention, Donald Trump did not disappoint.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Ever the showman, he made a grand entrance, his silhouette back lit as he walked onstage to the song "We are The Champions". By the way,
Queen has said they don't want Trump to use that song anymore. Trump made a brief appearance to introduce his wife, Melania, who was the headline
speaker. There is no doubt that she stole the show, perhaps not though in the way intended.
Phil Mattingly tells us about a plagiarism controversy now dominating the headlines.
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: These similarities are startling.
MICHELLE OBAMA, U.S. FIRST LADY: You work hard for what you want in life.
MELANIA TRUMP, DONALD TRUMP'S WIFE: That you work hard for what you want in life.
OBAMA: That your word is your bond, that you do what you say you're going to do.
TRUMP: That your word is your bond and you do what you say and keep your promise.
MATTINGLY: Melania Trump's big moment on the national stage overshadowed by an unexpected moment. Trump delivering a speech with plagiarized
passages of Michelle Obama's speech from the 2008 Democratic National Convention.
OBAMA: We want our children and all children in this nation to know ...
TRUMP: Because we want our children in this nation to know ...
OBAMA: ... that the only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work hard for them.
TRUMP: ... that the only limit to your achievements is the strength of your dreams and your willingness to work for them.
MATTINGLY: And that's not all.
OBAMA: That you treat people with dignity and respect even if you don't know them and even if you don't agree with them.
TRUMP: That you treat people with respect.
MATTINGLY: Under a firestorm of criticism online, the Trump campaign issuing this statement overnight, saying, "Melania's team of writers took
notes on her life's inspirations and in some instances included fragments that reflected her own thinking." But the statement doesn't acknowledge
the allegations of plagiarism, mention who helped Mrs. Trump write her speech or explain where those fragments came from.
[15:05:07] In an interview shot before her big speech, Melania seems to take most of the credit for the content of her remarks.
TRUMP: I wrote it and -- with a little help as possible.
MATTINGLY: Donald Trump's "Apprentice"-like entrance to introduce his wife onstage. Yet another moment that has everyone talking about this
unconventional convention.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Trump's campaign does not plan, they say, to fire anyone or take any kind of disciplinary action over Melania Trump's speech. It just wants
the story to go away. But campaign manager, Paul Manafort, has had to answer repeated questions about the controversy. Here's what he told us
here at CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL MANAFORT, DONALD TRUMP'S CAMPAIGN MANAGER: There's no cribbing of Michelle Obama's speech. These were common words and values and she cares
about her family that -- things like that. I mean, she was speaking in front of 35 million people last night. She knew that. To think that she
would be cribbing Michelle Obama's words is crazy. I mean, it's so -- I mean this is, once again, an example of when a woman threatens Hillary
Clinton, how she would try -- seeks out to demean her and take her down. It's not going to work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: All right. Paul Manafort there. Let's bring in Dylan Byers, the CNN Senior Reporter for media and politics. We're also joined by CNN
Political Analyst and Editor-in-Chief of The Daily Beast John Avlon. Thanks for being with us.
John, you were a speechwriter for Rudy Giuliani when he was mayor. Is it not speech writing 101 that you don't copy and paste entire paragraphs from
the speeches of well-known former or current first ladies?
JOHN AVLON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yeah, this violates speech writing 101, it also violates speech writing 201 and 301. And ...
GORANI: Right.
AVLON: ... this is plagiarism ...
GORANI: Yeah.
AVLON: ... pull up, straight up. And Paul Manafort this morning tried to deny it but he's asking us to deny what we're seeing with our own eyes and
ears.
This clearly was a copy and paste job by somebody, who then edited the remarks subtly. They thought they'd get away with it, they didn't. I
think it's significant that the campaign is saying they're not going to fire someone, given that that's Trump's default public reputation. And it
has been a major destruction from the row out to the first.
GORANI: It was a very bad day one for the Trump campaign here at the Republican National Convention. But would it be as big a story if we had
not heard Melania Trump tell Matt Lauer of NBC, "I basically got as little help as possible from other writers, I don't really need to practice that
much because these are my words."
DYLAN BYERS, CNN SENIOR REPORTER FOR MEDIA AND POLITICS: Yeah. That obviously adds fuel to the fire, but I would say this would be a big story
no matter what. I mean, plagiarism is a really big deal. And I think the Trump campaign's theory of the case, every time a sort of controversy or
scandal comes up and has come up over the last year, theory of the case is, look, deny, deny, deny, it'll go away, say you didn't do it, whatever, it
doesn't matter, sweep it under the rug and the news cycle will move on to something else.
That doesn't apply here because what plagiarism about, it's about honesty, it's about credibility. Trump's entire campaign, so much of his campaign,
has been based on calling Hillary Clinton a liar. The whole point of bringing Melania Trump out onto stage was to have her sort of speak to her,
you know, the personal side of her husband, his credibility, that he's a good person. And yet if she can't even come up with words to do that on
her own ...
GORANI: But she didn't really come up with any personal stories about how he seduced her, how he romanced her, et cetera, et cetera, that's what you
want. You want those kind of stories that humanize the candidate, right? We didn't get that.
AVLON: Absolutely. No, and that's one of the things that's very strange about the speech, the plagiarism-gate aside is that, normally when someone
speaks from the heart, you know, that by definition doesn't need to be scripted.
GORANI: Right.
AVLON: But this is an opportunity to say, "Look, you all know my husband from "The Apprentice," you know him from a bruising primary campaign, let
me tell about you -- him about you as a husband I know, the father, the man." And there were no anecdotes and the kind which are typical to a
speech like this that really bring alive the human being. And that itself is incredibly odd.
GORANI: But let me ask you also about the denial from the campaign. Because it is very difficult to understand how a strategy that it basis
itself on denying something that is right in front of your face can work. But it has worked in the past. Why?
BYERS: Well, it's worked in the past oftentimes because it's a matter of piece that she said or because we've been able, you know ...
GORANI: Yeah. But here you have two paragraphs that we've compared word for word.
BYERS: It's not just that you have two paragraphs. What's really powerful here and we've been running it on CNN all day and all night last night is
the two videos side by side, cut to one statement, cut to another statement. And that's why when, you know, Sean Spicer, the spokesperson
for the Republican National Committee, goes on and says, "Look, they didn't plagiarized, they just borrowed ideas, you can borrow ideas from anywhere,
these are familiar scripts." It's like no. When you look at it face-to- face, any American president, I don't care if you're a Republican or Democrat or an independent, you see that, you know that's plagiarism.
GORANI: But Katrina Pierson who's on our air a lot, who's a surrogate, a supporter of Donald Trump said, this concept that Michelle Obama invented
the English language is absurd.
BYERS: She didn't use the word imagine and not attribute it to John Lennon.
AVLON: Yeah.
[15:10:02] BYERS: She took entire paragraphs that were subtle, I mean, not she, but the speechwriter.
GORANI: Yeah.
BYERS: But there were subtle, you know ...
AVLON: Moreover, she said that she'd taken the laboring word in the speech and maybe that's just affection that gets perpetrated. But, what the Trump
campaign is trying to do is dismiss this despite what we see with our own eyes. The way Katrina Pierson said in that comment is fundamentally
disingenuous. And the fundamental truth of any campaign in any organization is the tone comes from the top. The impulse was to lie about
this, the impulse remains to lie.
GORANI: The big question is, what impact will it have. We know that in a state like Ohio, there are -- there's a big chunk of undecided voters. But
today, of course, the -- and they're rehearsing now, they're doing audio checks, the campaign is really hoping that people will move on from this.
They've got Paul Ryan, the House Speaker, Chris Christie, the New Jersey Governor. We have Tiffany Trump, the daughter he had with Marla Maples,
Donald Trump, Jr. his oldest son, and Ben Carson. What to expect?
AVLON: Well, the theme of tonight is "Making America Work", would strike to me is that there are a lot of congressmen and professional politicians
on the stage. They need to cast a vision for the Republican Party under Donald Trump that can build off his reputation as successful businessman
and build on the edge she has in some polls of Hillary Clinton on being someone who could steward the economy.
They need to shift to policy beyond just empathy to actually actionable items. That is something that is ground the campaign has not dared to
tread to date. They've been very policy-light.
GORANI: But this could help them, right, yesterday because even before the Melania Trump speech yesterday, every single speaker addressing the crowd
here and the millions and millions of people at home was essentially saying, "You must be afraid, we're under constant threat, every minute of
every day."
In this case, today, they might be capitalizing on Donald Trump's success as a businessman.
BYERS: Right. There was no morning in America yesterday or last night, it was all sort of it's midnight or 3:00 a.m. in America and you need to be
very terrified.
GORANI: Yeah.
BYERS: I mean, John's point politically about when this happen tonight is spot on. But from a media perspective, when he's -- when we're thinking
about the Melania Trump speech and that controversy, someone, probably Christie, some -- because it's not going to be Paul Ryan, someone needs to
come out and deliver like a headline speech.
GORANI: Yeah.
GORANI: I mean, even maybe make a, you know, a less significant controversy to get out and sort of put this plagiarism issue ...
GORANI: It's the whole point of the convention is to introduce the candidate on another level and on a more personal level. Do they have
anyone in this lineup who can do that because some of the speakers, Rick Perry, for instance, of Texas, didn't even mention Donald Trump by name.
Yeah.
BYERS: But I think -- I mean, Ivanka -- I mean, they're looking to Donald Trump's daughter, Ivanka, to speak ...
GORANI: Yeah.
BYERS: ... to be ...
GORANI: But they have Tiffany and Donald Jr. tonight.
AVLON: Right. And look -- I mean, they can actually just saw the unfinished business from last night which is talk about their dad as a dad,
by all intent, by all reputation, a very loving, supportive father. But they also need to go further.
This is about winning over, not only solidifying the base, but winning over swing voters in swing states. That means reaching out beyond the base.
And last night's comments which have been overshadowed by the speech were so hitting the fear card, you know, call and responses from the crowd
saying Hillary Clinton ought to go to prison. That's not normal, just a reality check, folks, that is not within the normal rounds ...
GORANI: In U.S. politics.
AVLON: ... of American politics.
GORANI: All right, John Avlon, Dylan Byers, thanks to both of you, I really appreciate it. Thanks for being on the program. We'll have more
politics in a moment.
This story, though, we're getting more details about the man who attacked several passengers with an axe and a knife on a train in Southern Germany
Monday. A news agency linked to ISIS released video, it said showed the attacker. German prosecutors say they're investigating the clip and trying
to confirm the identity of this young man whose picture you see there on your screen.
Bavaria's interior minister has confirmed that the attacker was only 17 years old, originally from Afghanistan. Now, he was shot and killed by the
police. But he did seriously injure four passengers on the train.
Let's get more now, we course over to our Atika Shubert, who's been following the story live from Germany. What more can you tell us, Atika?
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Hala, two of those passengers are actually still fighting for their lives. It was a
brutal attack. But as you point out, investigators are still trying to piece together exactly what happened, and how apparently this young refugee
was able to make contact with ISIS. He's a 17-year -- he was a 17-year-old Afghan refugee, arrived here about a year ago, was living with a host
family when he carried out the attack.
You know, he was described as a quiet loner, didn't really stand out in any way and certainly didn't express any extremist views. But clearly, as
we've seen from this video, he was somehow in touch with ISIS. In the video, he brandishes a knife. He also claims to be a soldier of the
caliphate on a "martyrdom mission".
Now, investigators are looking at that video. They also went into the home and in his room, they found a hand paint of flag of ISIS as well as letters
written to his family in Pashto, in Arabic, and even some Latin text, basically saying farewell and that he would be carrying out this mission,
as he calls it.
So the bigger concern here for investigators is that they are now treating this as a terrorist attack, they see a clear political motive.
[15:15:05] That is what the director of criminal investigation said. So they've got to now look at whether he contacted ISIS online or whether
there is a wider network here in Germany.
GORANI: All right. And Atika, I know you were just in this reporting on the attack there. This, now authorities are saying, attack was carried out
by a refugee originally from Afghanistan. I wonder, is this altering the mood at all, altering public opinion in terms of how people in Germany
who've taken in so many refugees over the last year, with how they are reacting toward this refugee influx?
SHUBERT: Hala, taken in more than a million refugees in the last year alone, I think this plays into those fears of more terror attacks, of a
possible rise in crime. But I think that's also why officials here have been very cautious before defining it as a terrorist attack. They're
really trying to make sure that they take careful steps to figure out what the motivation was, whether or not he had a wider network.
I think there's a different mood here than we saw in France, for example, where the anger on the streets is very palpable, especially during the
memorial. I really felt a difference there in France.
But it's interesting to note that in that video, the attacker apparently cited the French attack. He said, you know, "I will carry out an attack
that will make the French attack pale in comparison," essentially. So, it's interesting that he said -- that he also cited that. We aren't
getting the same public reaction here as you're seeing in France.
GORANI: All right, Atika Shubert in Berlin, thanks very much.
There is a lot more to come from Cleveland this hour. Trump supporter and former David Cameron director of strategy, Steve Hilton, will join me live.
Also ahead, today's other news, including a shocking story from India as a woman who says she was gang raped says the same men had raped her three
years earlier. Much more on that report coming up in a few moments.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Welcome back. We're in Cleveland. It's day two of the Republican National Convention. We'll have a lot more on tonight's schedule, and of
course, the controversy over Melania Trump's Monday evening speech a little bit later.
But this story for now, it feel a little more than two weeks until the Olympics begin in Rio de Janeiro, believe it or not, time flies. And
Russia's participation remains very much in doubt.
The International Olympic Committee has delayed its decision on whether to issue a blanket ban on all Russian athletes, saying it is exploring legal
options.
Meantime, some provisional sanctions have been announced, including measures against those named in Monday's bombshell doping report. The IOC
says anyone implicated will not be accredited to the Rio games. It could get worse for them, though.
[15:20:02] Now, to Turkey, and it has begun formally requesting the extradition of a cleric who President Erdogan blames for last week's
attempted coup.
Fethullah Gulen is living in self-imposed exile in the United States and he denies any involvement in what went down over the weekend. The U.S. says
it will evaluate the request and the terms of its treaty between the two countries to make a decision.
And meantime, the government crackdown after that coup is showing no sign of letting up. 9,000 people are now detained. And the country's ministry
of education says 15,000 staffs are under investigation for suspected links to that man, Fethullah Gulen.
Let's go live to the Turkish capital, Ankara, and Nic Robertson is there. He's been seeing some of the damage firsthand from Friday's attempted coup.
Tell us what you saw in your reporting today, Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah, Hala, it's been a very interesting tour of government buildings. We started off with the
parliament. We went to the big police headquarters here in Ankara. We went to the Special Forces compound on the outskirts of Ankara. And at
each location, the government showed us heavy bomb damage to those buildings. The parliament, 14 policemen were injured. Two of them remain
critically injured.
The Special Forces headquarters there were told 47 soldiers were killed in bombs that were dropped as a result of the F-16s of the coup plotters were
flying. That's what the government tells us. You can see the craters on the roof of the barracks there and immediately the room below was full of
beds. You can -- you begin to get a sense of why there would be so many casualties.
You know, that number, the numbers you're talking about, they keep on climbing. It's now over 28,000 government employees have been suspended,
that includes, you know, over close to 9,000 police, as well as those 15,000 teachers. There are judges as well, ministry -- people from the
ministry of finance. And we learned as well that the number of people being detained continues to climb, well over 9,000.
On the point of Fethullah Gulen, we spoke today with the deputy prime minister and I asked him, you know, what evidence are you giving to the
United States, because the U.S. ambassador here has said, "We will talk, we will help you with this issue, the extradition of Fethullah Gulen, but you
need to give us the information." I said, "What information or evidence have you given to United States so far?" And he said, "Well, look, number
one, the coup is the biggest single piece of evidence we have."
Beyond that, he said, "We don't have concrete evidence so far." But he said, "We got thousands of people to interview." So he said that there
would be hundreds and thousands of documents that the Turkish authorities would be presenting to U.S. officials in the coming days and weeks, Hala.
GORANI: But how deep is the government's anger with the coup plotters? Because they're making announcements just a mere three, four days after
this attempted coup, like thousands under investigation, thousands detained. It seems that they're moving extremely quickly for them to be
doing any kind of a thorough investigative work to try to figure out if indeed some of these people were actively involved.
ROBERTSON: Well, they say that they're rounding them up because they've got suspicions about them and then they will begin the process of
questioning them. I asked the deputy prime minister about the photograph that we've seen of prisoners naked -- semi-naked with their hands cuffed
behind their backs in a police stable. He said, "You know, given the situation here and what they've done, that's perfectly normal."
I asked about the beaten and bruised to alleged 27 coup leaders of the government put in court yesterday. I said, "How come they appear so beaten
up?" And he said, "Well, that was because they were resisting arrest." There is little support that the government -- a little sympathy, if you
will, and government wise.
One member of the parliament here, the secretary general at the parliament, actually told us today, he said, he thinks that these alleged coup plotters
should commit suicide, should kill themselves. He said, that's the only honorably thing to do. Like they do in Japan, they failed, they should
kill themselves. There's no love lost here.
And yes, the government is arresting a huge number of people, on the face of it, without the evidence and not giving them proper access to lawyers
either, Hala.
GORANI: All right, difficult times in Turkey, a lot of animosity as well. Thanks very much, Nic Robertson, in Ankara.
In India, there is outrage after a college student who was raped three years ago was gang raped again last week by at least two of the same men
who were out on bail. Authorities say they have arrested three of those five suspects.
Sumnima Udas has the shocking story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUMNIMA UDAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Behind these heavily guarded doors, a 21- year-old college student fights for justice. Police say she was raped by two men in 2013 and then allegedly gang raped by those same exact men plus
three others last week, when the suspects were out on bail.
"It's like a movie, how can this even be real, how can rapists be out on bail and rape again", her cousin says.
[15:25:04] The victim was forced into a car last Wednesday, drugged, gang raped, and then left to die in the field. The victim said she was attacked
by all five men both times.
"They were the same five men. They were in the car. I saw them and got scared. They forced me into the car and then they strangled me", she says.
Her parents are daily wage laborers, counting on their educated daughter to help lift the family out of poverty.
Your whole family had a lot of hopes riding on her. She's the only one who was able to go to school from your family. What were her dreams? What
were her aspirations?
"She wanted to be a government officer or professor and fight for women's rights. She wanted to change the status of women in this country", he
says.
Do you have any faith in the authorities right now?
"No one supports the weak. There has been no change for the poor and lower class. Dalit girls are treated as pastime like a piece of tissue paper",
he says.
The victim is from a low class Dalit family in India. The alleged rapists are upper class. The family says the attackers pressured them to withdraw
the case.
"They threatened us. They offered us a lot of money. They thought we would be lured by money, but we didn't compromise. We just wanted
justice", he says.
This is just the latest in a series of shocking rapes that has unleashed outrage in India. Authorities aren't allowing journalists to talk to the
victim or the family members at the moment. You can see the level of security here. It's been like this all day.
After the high-profile gang rape of a student inside a moving bus in Delhi back in 2012, security has been stepped up. Anti-rape laws have been
changed and women in general feel more emboldened to come out and report cases of rape. But after what's happened here in the state of Haryana, the
fact that rapists who just served two years in jail could come out on bail and rape someone again.
The fact that the victim and her parents have been threatened for so long and still receive no security. The fact that any of this is possible again
is really what's shocking a lot of people here.
Sumnima Udas, CNN, Haryana, India.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Shocking a lot of people in India and all over the world.
Coming up on THE WORLD RIGHT NOW, we return to action here in Cleveland at the Republican National Convention. Melania Trump's convention speech is
getting a lot of attention for all the wrong reasons.
So, was her speech really ripped off? We'll talk about how Donald Trump is handling the allegations of plagiarism. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:30:16] GORANI: Poised to nominate Donald Trump for president officially in just a few hours. He's been the presumptive nominee of
course for weeks, but a vote on the floor of the Republican National Convention is expected to make it official, all going to happen behind us
here in Cleveland after an opening night of fiery speeches.
U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan is on the schedule this evening to give his address later tonight. Will he mention Donald Trump by name? It would be
difficult for him not to. But Ryan has offered only tepid support for the presumptive nominee. We'll see how he words all of that this evening in
his address.
Also among the other big stories were following, the International Olympic Committee has delayed a decision on whether to stop all Russian athletes
from going to the Olympic games in an a couple of weeks, saying it wants to explore legal options. It comes just a day after a report found state
sponsored doping in Russian sports a day ahead of the Winter Games.
Also the IMF is cutting its forecast for world economic growth by a tenth of a percent. It's blaming the U.K.'s decision to leave the E.U., that one
referendum vote impacting the entire world economy. The IMF says it's difficult to predict the fallout of brexit but it could growth below 3
percent for the first time since the global financial crisis in the U.K.
Things started off smoothly Monday night for Donald Trump's wife, Melania Trump. She delivered a highly anticipated speech at the Republican
National Convention, seemingly without much incident, that is, until someone on Twitter, in fact we understand a laid-off television journalist,
pointed out striking similarities to a speech that Michelle Obama gave eight years ago at the 2008 Democratic Convention. Take a listen to a side
by side comparison of the two speeches.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values.
MELANIA TRUMP, WIFE OF DONALD TRUMP: From a young age, my parents impressed on me the values.
OBAMA: You work hard for what you want in life.
TRUMP: That you work hard for what you want in life.
OBAMA: That your word is your bond, that you do what you say you're going to do.
TRUMP: That your word is your bond, and you do what you say and keep your promise.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Trump's campaign is standing by Melania, that's not surprising. Obviously, she's the wife of the candidate, but also standing by its staff,
its speechwriters. They're saying they have no plans to fire anyone. In fact, Trump's team has been defending the speech, saying that she used
common words and included fragments that reflected her own thinking.
David Swerdlick is here to take a closer look with us. He's the assistant editor at "The Washington Post," and he's here covering the Republican
National Convention. Are you surprised that no one's been fired over this?
DAVID SWERDLICK, ASSISTANT EDITOR, THE WASHINGTON POST: I am a little surprised, if only because that would be the easiest way for the Trump
campaign to deal with this issue and move on .
GORANI: Yeah.
SWERDLICK: . right? Many people have said that this is plagiarism. I think there are two sides to every story, but I think it probably is
plagiarism. We don't know that Melania Trump wrote the speech herself, but the essential issue is the campaign has to find a way to acknowledge
mistakes, something Trump has been reluctant to do in a lot of situations. Yes.
GORANI: The big question though isn't -- it is .
SWERDLICK: Yeah.
GORANI: Is it plagiarism or not, I mean, obviously it's exactly the same paragraph between the 2008 .
SWERDLICK: Yes.
GORANI: .Michelle Obama's speech and the Melania Trump's speech from last night. But then let's put that to one side.
SWERDLICK: Sure.
GORANI: What impact will this have on the campaign? Because there have been many scandals coming from the Trump campaign, from Donald Trump
himself, and it's not hurt him that much.
SWERDLICK: Yeah. I don't think it will move from core supporters away from him. And, you know, we've seen polls in recent days where Trump and
Secretary Clinton are within the margin of error. It's very close race, Americans are divided.
But I think what it does is that it casts a shadow over what is supposed to be a convention where Donald Trump emerges from several weeks of bad
publicity, and turns things toward the general election campaign where he's reaching out to brighter electorate and this is one more day, one more
cycle when they can't do that.
GORANI: And sources have told CNN that Donald Trump is, quote, and they use the word "furious" over this speech.
SWERDLICK: Well he should be but part of that fury should be directed at himself. The campaign does not have the same kind of infrastructure that a
lot of professionally run -- presidential campaigns usually have.
GORANI: Is this an amateur show here going on? Because, I mean, this is not someone who's run for office before he's not surrounding himself
necessarily with veteran campaign operatives. Is that what we're seeing?
SWERDLICK: No. That is what we're seeing. You learn how to run for president when you run for senator or governor.
GORANI: Yeah.
SWERDLICK: You learn how to run for governor when you run for city council of state legislature.
GORANI: Yes.
SWERDLICK: Donald Trump and his family have never done that. And that has caught up with them in several situations.
[15:35:03] GORANI: But it helped them in other situations.
SWERDLICK: Well it does give them the ability to message him as an outsider, I almost said maverick but I guess .
GORANI: Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
SWERDLICK: . that was John McCain. But, you know, there's a point when running a presidential campaign requires experience and professionalism and
some knowledge about what the road ahead has for a candidate.
GORANI: Even in terms of fundraising, for instance .
SWERDLICK: Yes.
GORANI: . he's way behind.
SWERDLICK: He is behind. I think he'll remain behind. Clinton is a prodigious fundraiser. But, Donald trump, I think in the last reporting
period, had $51 million, which surprised a lot of people, it suggested that his campaign, even if they haven't caught up, are taking fundraising more
seriously.
GORANI: So the big question tonight is going to be, look, you need a big fat speech on that stage behind us, it's going to -- they're going to
attempt to try to just put, you know, put a lid on that Melania Trump controversy.
Paul Ryan, Chris Christie, the New Jersey governor.
SWERDLICK: Right.
GORANI: But he also has two of his kids, Tiffany and Donald Trump Jr. So, they're going to hope to get from them the personal side of their dad,
right?
SWERDLICK: Yeah Hala, I think by the end of this week they can move beyond this. And I do think that Donald Trump's children have been his best
spokespeople. So, I'm sure they're hoping for a big night tonight to move past the plagiarism story.
GORANI: All right, we'll be watching. David Swerdlick, the assistant editor at "The Washington Post" covering the convention here with us. We
really appreciate your time. And don't forget you can check us out on our Facebook page. We'll put snippets of our interview. It's
facebook.com/halagoranicnn.
A quick break when we come back. What is motivating voters around the world to pick the unexpected choice? All the way from the U.K., a British
political strategist, a brexiter and a Trump supporter will join me here in Cleveland, Ohio.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Welcome back. You're looking at a live shot of the convention floor here in Cleveland. In just a matter of hours we're expecting the
official nominating process to take place. Donald Trump will go from being the presumptive republican nominee to the Republican presidential nominee
for the GOP.
Many in the Republican establishment are not delighted by this. And some of them have not even bothered to show up. But others, we're expecting
Paul Ryan this evening, Chris Christie, and others to address supporters.
Now, Melania Trump stole the show with a speech that contained plagiarized passages. It's been really the talk of the town. Ardent speakers abound
during the opening night of the RNC. Manu Raju brings us the highlights from Cleveland. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUDY GIULIANI, NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: Hillary Clinton's experience is the basis for her campaign. Hillary Clinton's experience is exactly the reason
she should not be president of the United States.
MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: The Republican Party, uniting on day one of the Cleveland convention behind one goal. Taking down Hillary
Clinton.
[15:40:07] GEN. MICHAEL FLYNN, RETIRED U.S. ARMY: If I did a tenth, a tenth of what she did, I would be in jail today. So crooked Hillary
Clinton, leave this race now.
RAJU: At least three speakers explicitly calling for the presumptive democratic nominee to be jailed for using a private e-mail server when she
was secretary of state.
DARRYL GLENN, U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE: We all know she loves her pantsuits. But we should send her an e-mail and tell her that she deserves a bright
orange jumpsuit.
RAJU: Including the mother of Sean Smith, one of the Americans killed in the Benghazi attack.
PATRICIA SMITH, MOTHER OF SEAN SMITH: I blame Hillary Clinton personally for the death of my son. Hillary for prison. She deserves to be in
stripes.
RAJU: One after another, painting Clinton as someone who can't be trusted.
GIULIANI: Clinton and the Obama Administration for political reasons lied about the purpose of the attacks, including Hillary Clinton lying directly
to the families of the people who were killed, right to their face.
RAJU: GOP leaders, T.V. stars past and present and rising stars of the Republican Party jumped at the chance to discredit Clinton.
SEN. TOM COTTON, (R), STATE OF ARKANSAS: It would be nice to have a commander in chief who could be trusted to handle classified information.
RAJU: The opening night of the convention, coming one day after a second deadly ambush on police in less than two weeks.
SHERIFF DAVID CLARKE, MILWAUKEE COUNTY, WISCONSIN: I would like to make something very clear. Blue Lives Matter in America.
RAJU: With the nation on edge, the divide between police and the black community playing out on the convention floor.
GIULIANI: When they come to save your life, they don't ask if you are black or white. They just come to save you.
RAJU: Including former presidential candidate and New York City Mayor Rudy Guiliani, who delivered a fiery speech on behalf of his long time friend,
Donald Trump.
GIULIANI: What happened to there's no black America, there's no white America, there is just America? What happened to it? Where did it go?
How has it flown away?
RAJU: Trump himself drawing attention away from his own convention by calling in for an interview on Fox News, blaming Black Lives Matter for
instigating the recent police killings.
DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESUMPTIVE REPUBLICAN NOMINEE: When you're calling death to police and kill the police, essentially, which is what they said,
that's a real problem, Bill. That's a real big problem.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Interesting that he called into Fox News while those speeches were taking place at the convention. And as I mentioned, the nominating process
will take place here in Cleveland a few hours from now.
Now, you probably picked up on an angry tone in some of those speeches. Trump is apparently tapping into the rage that some American voters have.
Let's talk about that with Steve Hilton. Well last time we met in London, not Cleveland. Steve is a former director of strategy for the U.K.'s last
Prime Minister David Cameron. He advocated for the U.K. to leave the European Union and we'll discuss Brexit in a moment, but now let's discuss
Donald Trump. Steve Hilton, thanks for being with us.
STEVE HILTON, TRUMP SUPPORTER: Great to be with you.
GORANI: So you support Donald Trump in this race?
HILTON: Yes, what I think we need in America as I think we did in the U.K. is a big change, a big in how the economy is run particularly, to try to do
more to create jobs for people, to raise living standards. And I think what that needs is a Republican agenda to be implemented, that means a
Republican in the White House as well as Republicans in Congress.
GORANI: You're an internationalist. You were an adviser to Prime Minister David Cameron, you're now live in California and run a very successful
technology company, you're open to the world, none of the rhetoric that comes from Donald Trump bothers you, about Muslims, Mexicans, women, you're
not offended by any of that?
HILTON: I think as with any candidate, anyone with support in any election you're never going to get someone who perfectly matches exactly how you
feel and how you see the world. But the real thing in an election, it's a choice between who you want to be in charge and who you think can make the
changes that you think are necessary.
GORANI: So what are his qualifications? He's never held office. He's run a business. It's because he's a successful businessman, you think he can
run the country? Is that how you're approaching it?
HILTON: I think the most important thing for actually bringing about change is to have a clear set of principles about what you think is wrong
and what needs to change, and have the temperament and the character to drive through that change against really difficult obstacles, both from the
bureaucracy that you inherit when you're a leader but also in the real world. And I think that that kind of strength of character is something
that I do think is something that people are really responding to in Trump.
GORANI: Have you met Donald Trump?
HILTON: I have not.
[15:45:02] GORANI: OK. So you're basing your judgment on his character and his temperament on what?
HILTON: Well it's a combination of things. As I said it's -- especially when you think about domestic policy, which is what I'm really interested
in terms of the future, as you say, I run a business here now, and remember, in America, Congress really drives the legislative agenda and the
kind of changes that we need to create jobs and raise living standards. And so I think it's a combination of thinking, what really needs to happen?
And what are the changes that need to be made across the board, not just from the White House but in Congress too. And I think that that
combination of a modern Republican agenda, the kind of thing you're seeing from Paul Ryan .
GORANI: Yeah.
HILTON: . is also part of the reason that .
GORANI: I'm not sure Paul Ryan is as enthusiastic as you are about Donald Trump. We'll see if even mention him by name this evening he'll probably
have to, but probably reluctantly as well.
Can we talk about brexit? Because last time we spoke before the referendum .
HILTON: Yeah.
GORANI: . in London. And you were an adviser to David Cameron, yet you came out in favor of brexit which you knew would kill his career if it
succeeded. Let me remind our viewers what you told me .
HILTON: Right.
GORANI: . just a few weeks ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: You're saying he was dishonest with the British public.
HILTON: I don't particularly want to personalize it because it's not just about him, it's about any prime minister .
GORANI: Yeah.
HILTON: . in that situation.
GORANI: But in this case (inaudible) about him?
HILTON: Well, yes, but it's a broader point.
GORANI: Yeah.
HILTON: And the argument in the referendum campaign really is about how the country is run and whether any prime minister in any government really
has control over such an important issue affecting the economy and the society of that country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: You said any prime minister. But he's your friend. Do you feel responsible for being part of the movement that killed your friend's
career?
HILTON: No, I think he's responsible. He was the one that called the referendum .
GORANI: You came out against him. You didn't have to.
HILTON: He was the one that called the referendum. He was the one that chose to argue the case in the way that he did, in what I consider to be an
extreme way, that in the end was counterproductive. And above all, he was the one that chose to resign, I think far too hastily. There was no reason
for him to do that. I argued all the way through the referendum that whatever the result, he should stay as prime minister. The fact that he's
not prime minister was hi personal choice, he felt he wanted to do that immediately after the election. I thought it was unnecessary.
GORANI: Out of curiosity, have you spoken to him since?
HILTON: I have not spoken to him.
GORANI: OK. Have you reached out to him?
HILTON: Yes, I have, and I said to him what I think, which is I'm absolutely thrilled with the result. For me, it's one of the most positive
things that's happened in the world since the fall of the Berlin wall, it's a really big moment and really positive one for Britain and the world, I'm
thrilled about that. I'm sad that you've resigned, and I'm ready to talk or meet whenever you are.
GORANI: And no response?
HILTON: Not yet, no.
GORANI: All right, now, you're thrilled about brexit. But let's talk about some of the fallout. You saw the pound. You saw how much was wiped
off the FTSE 100, the main index, something like 40 years' worth of E.U. payments. Are you not now regretting having supported brexit?
HILTON: No, not at all.
GORANI: Thinking maybe this was just a bad idea?
HILTON: I think it was a really good idea. I think that the immediate fluctuations in the markets that you saw to be completely honest were the
consequence of what I consider to be an overhasty decision by David Cameron to resign rather than say, let's take stock of this decision and have a
more .
GORANI: Do you think David Cameron's resignation caused this big economic -- the IMF said .
HILTON: I think there's no question about that.
GORANI: But the IMF said the world economy will suffer by 0.1 percent because of brexit. This is just affecting Brits now.
HILTON: I don't want to go back into the argue.
GORANI: Yeah.
HILTON: We have the argument about brexit.
GORANI: Yes.
HILTON: But these are the same people who predicted all sorts of things over the years that never happened, including recessions that never
happened and recommended that Britain should stay in. So there's a vested interest. And I think one of the things I've been sad to see .
GORANI: Yeah.
HILTON: . is that some people who predicted disastrous consequences from brexit now seem to be almost wanting them to happen, to prove that they
were right. And I think that is not the attitude. I think what brexit .
GORANI: Yeah.
HILTON: . really means is that Britain can now be an open economy that engaged with the world, not just with Europe. It's a positive development.
GORANI: Steve Hilton thanks very much for joining us here in Cleveland, thank you for your time this evening on the program.
Coming up, who is paying for this giant party behind us? We'll discuss that and what we can expect tonight with our next guest. Stay with us on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:51:10] GORANI: Well, there are some colorful scenes here at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, as delegates show off their
headwear, among other things, at the RNC, and the opportunity for participants to get creative and have a little bit of fun here in
Cleveland, we've seen interesting not just hats but shoes, boots, leggings, you name it.
Now, money or power, which would you prefer? Here is a Frank Underwood famous quote. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRANK UNDERWOOD, HOUSE OF CARDS: I've always said that power is more important than money. But when it comes to elections, money gives power a
run for its money.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Of course Underwood only plays a president on television in the Netflix show "House of Cards." But money talks in the real world too.
What you saw behind me did not come cheap. Just for some perspective, four years ago the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida cost more
than $53 million. This year's event could be even pricier. So, who will foot that bill? Not the federal government. Congress voted to divert money
used to finance political conventions to a fund supporting childhood cancer research. Nobody could argue with that.
So bottom line, private donors are making this year's Republican convention possible. Dave Levinthal joins me to discuss funding for the RNC and the
money that makes this whole show go round. He's the senior political reporter for the Center for Public Integrity. Thanks for being with us.
DAVE LEVINTHAL, SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER, CENTER FOR PUBLIC INTEGRITY: Hi, (inaudible) with you.
GORANI: All right, let's talk about this. Who is paying for this?
LEVINTHAL: You've got a number of different corporations, special interests, in some cases individuals. As we look out at the hall, in the
Republican National Convention, they have a bit of an issue in the sense that they were predicting a budget shortfall. So, last minute begging and
pleading going on to GOP mega donor Sheldon Adelson, for example.
GORANI: Did they get the money?
LEVINTHAL: He's here at the convention right now. We're not going to know exactly who gave the money, whether he gave the money or somebody else,
until after the fact when they officially have to release details on the accounting of the convention. That's one of the funny things about what
the Democratic and Republican National Conventions, some of the money you know beforehand and can -- faired (ph) out but the bulk of the money we're
not going won't realize until it's all over.
GORANI: When do they release these officials' reports?
LEVINTHAL: We're going to get next month, later this summer. And then we're going to see from top to bottom, A to Z, exactly who has funded. But
really to your question, you have not only a lot of local interest, key bank is a Cleveland company that's all over the place. AT&T, to name a
couple of names, very, very active in the funding and support of the convention.
But some other national corporations too that really want to make their mark here and show the Republicans and also to the Democrats to in some
cases that they're behind the effort.
GORANI: But Dave, here's what's interesting. Some companies actually reduced their funding.
LEVINTHA: This is true.
GORANI: We're talking about Coca-Cola among others. I think we have a graphic here that shows the logos of some of the companies that decided to
reduce. Ford, JP Morgan Chase, Microsoft, Wells Fargo. We're talking here about the RNC. Why?
LEVINTHAL: Donald Trump is too toxic for some corporations that feel that their money would be better placed doing something else or hang on to as
suppose to investing in the Republican convention. Donald trump of course has said a number of controversial things about immigrants, about the
southern border, about Muslims, et cetera, et cetera.
GORANI: Businesses need customers from all walks of life, all ethnicities, and all countries .
LEVINTHAL: And all countries too. It trade us a huge issue. I think some of them have been scared off, trade associations as well by some of the
comments Donald Trump has made about foreign relations with other countries and trade policies in China, Asia, Latin America, et cetera, et cetera.
GORANI: But as I look around, I mean, we saw -- we're seeing company logos behind us.
LEVINTHAL: Yeah.
GORANI: What do they get out of contributing?
LEVINTHAL: They get access, they get goodwill.
GORANI: Yeah.
LEVINTHAL: This is a long game that they're playing. Of course, yeah, you want to have a presence here and get your logo splashed on different things
and that's all fine and good, but they also want to, a year from now, two years from now, go back to, I don't know, a Donald Trump administration or
for that matter a Hillary Clinton administration and say, "Hey look, we helped you out then, help us out now."
[15:55:05] GORANI: What about other sort of influence, I mean, sort of influence peddlers, I mean people who would like to gain access and gain
influence. Do we have lobbyists, do we have those type of personalities here trying to make connections already, just in case Donald Trump wins the
election?
LEVINTHAL: Yes you do.
GORANI: Yeah.
LEVINTHAL: And a lot of that is taking place outside of the convention hall, at the bars and clubs and restaurants going on, just tons and tons,
dozens, hundreds of private events that are taking place outside of Quicken Loans Arena and all throughout Cleveland. One thing to note about that too
is that some lobbyists said, you know, our clients is really didn't even want us to go, which speaks to the notion that you have some companies that
aren't thrilled about participating.
GORANI: And by the way, just to our viewers know what's going on here. We have the allegiance said that we have a rehearsal going on. We had band
yesterday. This is a group of young children pledging allegiance to the flag and rehearsing that.
$53 million is what the RNC cost last night. This one, we won't know, as you said, until a month from now?
LEVINTHAL: From what I hear from talking to some of the organizers that it's going to be a tick above that.
GORANI: I don't know what this is, because this is an official vendor, so I'm not sure. whether or not this is included in the budget.
LEVINTHAL: They are not included in the budget. But buyer beware, if you buy a Donald Trump hat, it does go to support Donald Trump, if it's
official. It's funny too, we did a story .
GORANI: Yeah.
LEVINTHAL: . recently that showed how a lot of Democrats were buying Donald Trump hats, not realizing that the proceeds would go to the Donald
Trump campaign.
GORANI: Interesting. Dave Leventhal, Senior Political Reporter for the Center for Public Integrity. Really appreciate your time on CNN.
Fascinating conversation. This is the new WORLD RIGHT NOW. I'm Hala Gorani. Thanks for watching. "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
