Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour Convention Coverage 20240712

The 2020 Republican National convenon. Good evening, im judy woodruf and welcome to our special pbs newshour live coverage of the repu National Convention. This years political conventions are like none any us can remember. Welong with thousands of others have planned to be in thcharlotte, north carolin week. But because of the pandemic, this gathering will be almost entirely virtual. Speakers w are the thethe republicans am im here in the studio with amy walter and amna that. Warner right around the corner. Both df them sociallytant. We have reporters and analysts across the country. We plan to bring you the same depth of coverage and analysis ering this critical time in an historction year. This week President Trump will years. He case for another four and we will be here to hear all of it. Lets turn first to our newshour reporters am that nawaz as i say is in thstudio just around the corner from me to give us a guide on whato expect and key moments to look out for. Hi judy, like the democrats last week a republica featuring a mix of speakers both Party Leaders and officials but also every day americans addressing the convention. Many more of tonights speakers will be live. But among those on the stage, allies of President Trump and the house of representatives including ssman matt gaetz from florida jim jordan from ohio and Steve Scalise of louisiana. S will delivering remarks, closing the night two South Carolinas, senator tim sct of South Carolina and President Trumps former ambassador to the United Nationski haley. Well also hear from the president s family tonight in a speech from ise of h sons, donald trump, jr. As well as testimony yals frosim ss owner, a former teacher, medical professionals some ofers speaking t the key issues in the trump reelection campaign. Judy, were also told that we will hear from the president him siff tonight and every night this week. Woodruff that is what we are hearing so more than once, unlike the all right,na, thank you. Ntions. And well be coming back to you throughout this night. And now im oined by our newshour White House Correspondent Yamiche Alcindor on the north lawn of the white house. President trump just got bac there after an earlier campaign visit to North Carolina. Yamiche, weve already heard fr the president today. S not even waiting until tonight to mawk an appearance. Thats right,udy. The president delivered a speach at the rnc that was alm lt an hoong. And that is longer than the speech joe biden delivered when he was acceptinghe nomination at the dnc. But that was just President Trump warming up what we hear is that the president will play a big role in this convention. He will be heard from every night, that doesnt mean he will speak every night from what we are told he will appear every night. Tonight we are told he is supposed to be a perking with first respwaders. Just check a Trump Campaign official who tells me former hostages freed under the Trump Administration are ulmately mawking an appearance. Tonights theme will be land of promises. The other thing to note is that the overall theme of the night is going to be, or overall theme of the convention is going to be really talking about americas greatness and taing about the ublicans say they are eager to talk about the optimistic versions of america, talking about the story of america. They say the democrats were if dark tones and they plan to be more uplifting. Woodruff so yamiche they were watching the Democratic Convention very closely knowing that we would be, many of usco aring the messages from the two. Thats right. And theyre very understanding aw that idea that they are going to be d to the democrats. We saw some changes already in terms of the role call. There were people attacking the president ,i attackingce President Biden while also talking about the greatness of their state,r dems were more thghly that said im told e will be a lot of themes including policingk immigration, heal care, of course the coronavirus playing a big part. 7 like the democrats they will be talking in emotional terms. One interesting ing to no, the only living republican president , that is george w. Bush, will not be part of this Republican Convention, that tells you how much tension there remains betweethe republican rty and Establishment Republicans and president trum t woodrufhat is another contrast with the democratic from all the former livingar democratic president s. Yamiche alcindor at the white house. Us throughouwith this night and throughout the remainder of this week. Sense of this convention that is just beginng to unfold well turning throughout the night and all this week to a wide guests but lets start with our core group, that is syndicated columnist mark shields, New York Times columnist david brooks, Gary Abernathy, a contributing colume nus for the Washington Post based in ohio Cynthia Tucker say pulitzer prizewinning syndicated columnist based in alabama and here at the desk with me, amy walter otithe cook poal report. Welcome to all of you, it is so good to see you on this monday night as we begin to hear what the republicans have to sayy,. E did get a sampling of it as yamiche said from what thet presidd to say earlier today but what are you looking for from the republicans . They know this is eir this is their shot, if you will, over the next four days lyto fra come from behind in the polls ananmake mpression on the American People. An incumbent president rarely. Comes into the convention this fabehind in polls to his challenger. So that is already a challenge that he has in front of him,ub that rcansave in front of them. Which is not simply to convince between voters on the fence, keep with the incumbent or gwith the chal edge challenger. But he has to pull those away from joe biden. That is going to i be donea couple of ways. Either one, make the case why you are the stronger choice. Especially on the two issues that we know are royaling the dlg roiling the country, the coronavirus pandemic, and the economicallout from that, and of course rachel racial issues too becoming such big issue. On all three of those things, at least on o of those things the president is deaply underwater on those, so theto trust f is already pretty low. That leaves the prident with one other choic in order to get those vote ares back from joe biden. And that is make swra biden an unacceptable alternative. You heard some of that in charlotte, you heard it constaesly from the ent about how joe biden cant be trusted, that he is too old. He is really mentally in decline. And that he is going to be captive to the liberal interests. I think we will hear a lot of that this week. But i think what the president owally needs to do is to sh what his vision very clearly is for the next four years and how he is going to bring how wil he bring the country back from where we are todf ay. Woodrmark shields, what are you looking for from the republicans this week. How much oit will be a need for donald trump to tell us por about his vision as amy just said. And how much is it going to be okay for him to frngly jst ntinue to beat up on joe biden. Well, i thinkmy makes a good point as she always does, judy. But i really think donald trump is, whatevr else he is, he is unconventional. We would say at this point inca thaign the fight is about the middle of the electorate, and donald trump will make overtures and try to jump into the middle, grab a chunk of it. That in my judgment is not Donald Trumps approach. Dn ald trump has to, in the four polls i have seen, since the Democratic Convention, done all trumps Approval Rating is an average of 41 percent. Im sorry, you just cant get reelected on that. T but he has g make it into a choice, if it say referendum on done all trump, hes dead meat. So i think what you will see him doing and Th Convention trying it do this week, are two things. One, t reach out to sim pathetic trump voter whats may d t be involved or enga the electorate to try and engage them, to convince them that no only that he is the right guy but that this election is so are you not converting people, are you just energizing peope who ar otherwise not involved. And two, to discourage some people, democrats, maybe even republicans who were leaning democrats about joe biden, to raise doubts there. I think it is that simp sell. What is most remarkable to me, it made me think of whsa roosevel about her fawrt, he alwaywanted to be the corps at every feurn ral, the bride at every wedding and the baby at every cristening. He loves th setlight that Theodore Roosevelt. Dn ald trump makes Theodore Roosevelt a shrinking vy lot violet. He has to be wall to wall this week. Get ready for it. Woodruff david brooks, what are you looking for. Why do we have other speakers other than donald trump and the mediate family. This is going to be better than i expect it to be. And i realize that doesnt make an sense but show i think trump is a showman and will pulmel ing out of his hat. The fundamtals are promising for him or at least possible for him. The biggest divide is education level. Among ople of College Degrees, more than 50 go for themo ats. Among people with high school degrees, more than 60 or around 60 go for the republicans. And just a lot mr people with high school degrees34 of the lech trorrate electorate has a College Degree and twice as many have a high school degree. And so there is Fertile Ground out there and the model is the british conserative party, they were for centuries the land of gent ree party, now theyre the part of the British Working class and have built a gigantic majority. That is the model. Find a series of issues which organize people who are high school educated working class folks. D i think the democrats left n, opening on china, on immigratn a series of other issues, well see if donald trump can march through it. I think as mark said, his opti is a to knock down joe biden. But b, to say hey, you dont ke me but you need me. And that is mostly a poli argument rate now. Gary abernathy, what are you keeping an eye out for . Thanks for having me this week, im looking forward to it im honored to be re with your esteemed panel. Luke all of us i miss the excitement of the convention, i missed it last week, i wl miss it this week with the thousands cheering. That is just such a big pt of it but mark hit on something i wanted to reinforce which is y trum know from four years ago, has been doubling down on his base. He really makesvery little effort to expand that base. He doesnt reach to the so this week you are going to see a lot of red meat for his base. I know tonight i think we hav got scheduled mccloskeys, the couplerom st. Louis who were brand you wering their weapons as the black lives matter march was going past. And they say defending their property. A lot of people thin would you do that . His base which you know, largely supports aggressively the Second Amendment and fights any effort do anything to curtail guns or gun ownership, theyre going to love at. And i think that the effort is to appeal to the base andut out just enough, just enough to convince typically republicanleaning moderates because even if you dont like trump, were better than the alternative. And then what we are also going to see, judy, is whereas biden has been very limitedded, kind of very handled, says he is following the science and so i is going to kind of stay in the house. Trump is going to be everywhere this week. As you mentiod, whether he is speaking or not, he wants to show that contrast too. Woodruff Cynthia Tucker trk is your turn to tell us what you expect tonight. Judy, one. Things i am going to be looking for, not just tonight and not just from the president , buovt all, is the tone of the convention. The president and his allie have said that the democrats gave us a very dreary, de pressing view of the u. S. , that instead they will give us a bright, optimistics vision. Now that is not what the president did in his speech earlier today. He gave a rambling speech full of anger and grieveance and falsehoods, of course, so i will be looking to see that tone if will you. I will also b looking to see what exactly the speaker including the president say about what this election is framed aand that is the pandemic. Yes, the president will certainly be tring to draw contrast in terms of being out there, touching more people literally, i suspect than joe biden did. But i think he has to also ak knowledge the pain and trauma that so Many Americans have endured. And that is not smething that he has been able to do so far. And like gary, i will be looking to see if he reaches beyond his base. They have sa earlier that more americans are without College Degrees than have College Degrees. That is absolutely true. But many of tho aricans without College Degrees are le of color, latino voters and black voters and indianamerican voters and chineseamerican voters. And the president has done very little to reach out to them. So i will be looking toee if he tries to offer anything other than red meat to his base. Woodruff all right, well it is a lot to think abouts we get ready, the convention will get under wain a matter of minutes. Were going to pick up with live coverage starting at 9 00 eastern, but in the many time as we have been saying, these conventions this year are like no other inistory. Now amna is back with this look at this uni e momentd how we ended up here. I hummably and gratfully accept youromination. Four years ago in cleveland then candidate donald trump accepted the republican nomination for president in front of a roaring crowd thousands. And we will make America Great again. But this yearresident trump will accept his secretary term nomination from the quieter and emptier white house south lawn. Its bn a summer of back and rth, where the president and republican officials planning this years Republican National convention. I dont envy them but i do believe this wod have been a great learning experience to go executive producer for the Republican Conventions of 2012 and 2016, he knows intimately the challenge of engineering a nder ive vent like this normal circumstances. This year the degree of deficit is higher. Looking at what were going through with the pandemic and eing how people have had to adjust, all of how we do productions, it must be an undawnting task for the folks at the rnc, to pull up off a convention. As for democrats and their Convention Last week th pandemic forced republicans to dramically scale back plans. Today in charlotte, north st city thate would have been the center of the spectacle, near empty streets and event signs left behind. Theres been a lot of work in the last few weeks putting together and planning a lot of great content. Gop National Spokesperson liz harringtonold fushour that despite the challenges organizers remain optimistic. Wwant people to be engaed. We want more live coverage. We want to bring people together to experience some of these live speeches in a safe way. And the message really is that we love our coury, were fighting to defend dour freeoms and we have a big choiceon electioming up. The road leading up to this week rnc has been rocky. Tensions about the pandemics impact on convention plans started rising back in may when President Trump criticized North Carolina governor roy cooper foi his coronavirus guide lines. Threatening to move the condition vengs if they werent allowed to host a full inperson event. As the president and hers push to convene a several thousand person event, North Carolina officials push back. In a letter to the rnc governor otcooper argued that planning for a scaled down convention with fewer people coverings is a necessity. E in june, trump and the rnc announced they would be moving Key Convention events to jacksonville, florida. Continue to ris and the states started seeing record spikes, plans sfor jackville were scrapped the next month. President trump looking at the situation on the ground made the best decision for the citizens of jacksonville for our media who would have beenhe traveling there anall of our this week in North Carolina the Charlotte Convention center will host some Party Business like the delegates nominating the great state of connecticut is casting all 28 delegateo normally ands of delegates would participate. But this year only 336cement. Call. Ded this mornings role six delegates from each state and territory. I producedly cast 28 votes for president dn ald j trump. Other Key Convention ments will take place remotely, under the theme honoring the grea american story. And speakers will incde a mix of party lead ares and every day americans. Rhe president who relishes the raucous, livly experience will address support ares from a distance, asking them to turn out for him once again. For the pbs newshour. Woodruff an throughout this week we are going to be talking to some prominent republicans including arkansas he joins us right now from little rock, governor hutchinson, thank you so much for being with us. We appreciate it. So you were supposed to be the chair of the arkansas delegation at the auditorium where some o the delegates are meeting here in washington downtown. You decided te. O stay h you said ive got a lot to deal with covid and so forth. Whatre you and other arkansasans looking for this week from is convention . Well, thank you judy. And youre right, it was important for mto be i arkansas right now. Were starting schol. We still have covid. Were dealing with that. But it is also impornt for this convention to go forward with enthusiasm. D im speaking democrat and Republican Convention because while the nation is focused on covid and trying to have some normalcy in life, we have to elect a president for t next four years. And this convention will help everyone to get focused. In terms of character character and i think the rest of the country, what were looking for is motivation, why this election is important, and to get us engaged. And secondly t is about moving vote ares as well. And thats what President Trump needs to do is to motivate his base but also not to forget that we are can move voters into his colume, i think partly by remeunding him of what he has done. Pt secretarinting a broad and expansive view as to what he wants to do. Tonight is a good start with the saerican story. When yoneeds to move vote ares into his colume t suggests that he hasnt done enough of that until now. Well, i mean the poll numbers show that he is fighting uphill. If you take those poll numbers at face value, and i believe this the hes proven before that he can surge in an election. Ngd that is what i am talk about in terms of moving voters. And if you look at the swinatg , what moves them. What got them in his colume to begin with, were the trade issues. He needed to remind them that i am the one that redid north america free trade agreement. I said i could do it, we got it done. We got tough on china. These are issues that resonate with those blue clar workers that are former reagan democrats in those swing stes. So hes got to go back to that base and thats some of those that he has lost. But he needs to regain those. I think he can do it reminding them what he has done with the economy and on trade issues. Has the president s handling of this pandemic governor hutchinson, is that now a plus or a f mine us him . I dont think its a f plus him. And if you look at normally in times of crisis, you ve a president that can lead, can be the fokal point, and it is a benefit. And it was for president tenrump er he was early on having his daily briefings, i know that he gotyou know, into the weeds on some of it. And theizy crit him for misspeaking. But he was engaged. And i believe that was a prus for him during th time. He disengaged and now hes come bath. And so president during a tional emergency has to lead. And hes done that. He has done it in different ways. But he still canake this a plus if he, if he enges and really helps address some of the testing problems that weve struggled with at the state level. If the Coronavirus Task force continues to function well, supports the governors as we make decisions, whenever say it is a plus, we shouldnt look at anything about this virus being s a pr a or a mine us but it is impotant for a president. Woodruff i understand. Want to ask you, you announced i think on friday that you are asking the federal government for an additional 300 a week in weekly federal unemployment benefits. Now that a few weeks ago President Trump spoke about there could be a 400 package that the federal government states put up 300. Ndred if the is that, how has that, withouted out because as you know the congress, the house passed a nate has not under Republican Leadership. Co dont know where it stands in ress. But where does it stand from the perspective r arkansasans who are out of work . Well, first of all, this cries out for congressional solution. We need to have the leadership, democrats, Republican Leadership come together and get somethi done here because it does hurt those americans that are not getting thean eded Unemployment Compensation that needs to get them through thi and right now previously we had 600 a week in extra compensation. Ohe president said we can try t do this by executive order for 400. Urt we were able to manage and put opplication in for 300 per week extended benefit for unemployment. Andere waiting for approval of that. It doesnt have to be 00 because were moving people to work. Our Unemployment Rate is going down. Our economy is expanding. And it is also an incentive to make sure that you get paid more when you are working versus not working. I think that is a good amount, but they do need that thextra assistance because are tough times. Challenges that thare goinge to face in future and we want to tt that money flowing again. Congress neeact. I hear you saying this is a stop gap, in effect. Ru would like to see cos do something, something more permanent. Contrast between the Democratic Convention, this convention, governor hutchinson. The people have comnted on it. Reliving former democratic ef president was speaking, how to roll in the convention, on the former president ial nominees were involv like al gore. Rm the Republican Convention you dont see r president george w. Bush. Rau dont see mitt romney who of course for president as a republican nominee, or the widow ef john mccain. What are to make of that . Well, its not helpful and i sh they were all participating in this. I served in george w. Bushs rvministration with great joy and ce. And i would like to see him either have the invite or be able to show his support for the republican cause that he has de voted his life to, and the service of our country. But that is not the case theyre going to have to work all those things out. But look at what they do have tonight. I mean nikki haley, what a great story. And senator scott, this is going to be portraying a Broader Vision of america than what people are ued to seeing. And it is very important, that message of the american story about broadening our base and about racial healing as well which i hope will be part of that message tonight. Woodruff do you believe President Trump isending the right signals, saying the message in the way would you like to see it said, spoken now when it comes to racialng heali . Well, he doesnt express things always in the way i would like to see it expressed. But whenever you look at the needs of our country, we do need to speak out against institutional bias, whether it is or other institutions of government. The president has to ba healer. You can be a healer at the same time that you are supporting our Law Enforcement and i dont think those are con tra dik other at all. And we need to show bridge thosa. The president i believe in this convention will try to do it in his own way. Anit will be through his own voice, which he has done befbue. It will also be through speakers like i mentioned that will be addressing the ight and through others. So i hope that this is not going to be divisive, simply one that motivates the base, but also a convention that broadens and moves voters into the republican colume for november. Oodruff i hope we can check back with you at the end of the week to see if the conventionulfilled your wish. Tbofer in Asa Hutchinson joining us from little rock, arkansas. We thank you very much. Thank you, good to be with you. Woodruff and we now want to bring in some other voices who have joined us la week and are back with us again. Throughout this coming week, they are melicutter, a former mayor of phildelphia, Chris Buskirk the editor of the jowcial ameican greatness joins us from phnix, sara smarsh, author of the book hearland and eluana johnson editor in chief of the washington freebie con. Very good to see you, were you not with us lasweek, so we are emly giving you a welcome tonight. So eliana i will start with you, what do you see needs to happen tonight, i was struck by what governor hutchinson said,ha trump needs to not only reach out to the base like he has been ing but go beyond. I think that right, i think we have heard quite a bit from the president about the dangers posed by a democratic administration. He talked about that a lot, pointing to socialism and other evils. We havent heard as much about what his visoron ishe next four years if voters grant him one. And i thek democrats left s openings for him particularly on newly aggressive communist about the violence that islked afflicting many inner cities. I think the pre wideuld do well to focus on that. And also how he plans to help the economy recover from the place it is in right now. Woodruff michael nutter, and tonight and do you torcht think the president should do, what the party needs to do and what do you think they will do. Judyk im probably the last person in the universe to ty to give donald trump advice but what i would be concerned about if doned a trump continues this line of attack that he took earlier today, ultimately questioning the integrity of the election process hear in the United States of america. Hes tryinto create and plant the seed in peoples minds that there is only one of two things that can happen. Either he wins, or the election is stolen. You know, there is actually th possibility in any election that you can lose. And so questioning the election priness sugge that show itis going to be stolen from him, as opposed to americans going out to vote. Judy, the fact of the matter is that 29 of the 50 stateses, secretary of stateses are actually republican. You just had the repuborlican govef arkansas on a second ago. Donald trump saying that the and arkansas cant run antate election . Questioning the credibili of everyone who gets elected across the United States or justca e he is behind in every legitimate poll in the country. This is wrong. St dangerous. And america should be resisting y idea that show if he possibly loses, it was anythg other th him not getting enough votes either popular vote or the Electoral College. Woodruf Chris Buskirk, i that something that is going t overlay this convention, do you think . I done think so. I think the case that republicans and President Trump in particular want to make is one that has been eluded to a couple of times already, which is that the Republican Party has changed quite a bit. And the base of the Republican Party has changed which is this is now a working and middle class party stvment no longer a party of big corporations. The democrats are have sort of inherited those which is one of the reasons you see people like mitt romney, george w. Bush staying away. They probably werent invited and it is because their views are not with the views of the the case that needto be made from today and thursday every directly make the case to the middle of the country which is that you are going to be better off in a year, two years, in four years if you elect republicans becae we understand the needs of the middle class, of the working ass and we have your interest at heart. While im talking to you and sara srsh, i will come to you next, i am told that the Republican Convention tonight has gotten der way. They were due to get under way at 8 30. Were going to be joing them at 9 00 eastern, eastern time. But we will be dipping in from time to time before 9 00. And then of course more of the Convention Starting at 9 00. But sara, i want to, i do want to come to this question about what the president needs to do. Out. Much does he need to reach how much does he just need to continue to solidify that base that has stayed with him and stayed with him from the very beginning. L, i think that what he needs to do and perhaps what he is capable of doing are two vy Different Things. If polling numbers are correct stort of change up his performance, his to show what he pulls forth, typically tends to be falsehoods otherwise known as lies, often racist dog whistles or outright bigotry. And these pieces of the trump puzzle havent thus far spoken necessarily to independent voters. They by and large have unfavourable view of him since the pandemic hit. O d so certainly what he needs tod what he might be being advised toward is reaching out in their direction, changg his tactic tactics but we havent seen anything indicate that he can or will do that. What about that, eliana johnson. Does he have that cp automobile. Does he have that in hi dna do you think . You know, its a toughes on. I think we have seen throughout, over the past three and a half years that more peple appr of the president s Job Performance than approve of him personally. Outhink that those numbers lay a road map for him of what to focus on. Not to put his persoe nality at nter of this but to focus on policy and there is a voters in there, suburban women and the working class voters who defected from ot bama coalition in 2016 utat he absoly has to win back. He doesnt have them in his corner right now but win them back if he is going to win in november. Michael ntter, you are somebody whos hadatched a been engaged in american politics for a long time. How teenable are rs at this point to either changing their mind or being open to a new argument. I mean we all talk about what a polarized political environment we live in now. How open are voters minds at this point . Well, i think as it rlates to donald trump, i mean i think that cake is fairly well baked. I mean all the things we learned before this 2016 election, during the 2016 election, and the three and a half plusars of this administration, you know, they do som weird every day, but you know, i think people just kind of shrug their shoulders. I think voters, anyone who is still undecided is trying to e gure out whether or not to possiblyr swroa biden or whether they are going to vote at all. But i dont stee anyone kind of alike on the fenceut donald trump. You either love the guy and you are part of that ba yse oou are repulsed and trying to figure out what to do next. Chris buskirk, how do you see that persuadable, nopet uadable thing . Yeah, there are a couple of different cuts on this, sort of the idealogal cut which is conservative, democrat and then nnservative liberal and t there is independents in the middle. I dont think that ishae won trump the election in 2016. This is the drum i keep beating. I think what the president needs to take is crklassbased, g class, mid he class, i can get you a job, i can make the economy boom again be can i make a easier for you to buy a house and haamily. When you start to look at it that way there are a lot of people who are peradable because they see something that can mack their lives better. All rightwe are going to come back to sara. And all of you in just a moment but right now we want to turn to r nator roy blunt of missouri, he is a mem the Republican Party Senate Leadership team. I spoke with himlier, in charlotte, for the Republican Convention. I started by asking him what he eednks President Trump toses do for the next four days. Senator blunt, thank you very much for joining us. Where do you think this contest stds right now between President Trump and former vice President Biden . D what does the president need do during this convention . Ou know, i think what the president needs to do is talk about the decisions to be made and what is going to be on the ballot. The vice President Biden did an effective job of saying the characters is onal thet. I think the president will do an effective job of pointing out that there are a lot of other things on the ballot. The future of the economy is on the ballot, our security is on the ballot. I dont think, to be a wi up, popularity contest. I think this is an election, the American People are going to take real seriously bse they are both the covid events we have gone through and then oking back at the incredible economic successes that the president had the first three years. If you asked the question, judr, ou better off in january of this year than were you three years earlier, for years earlier, i think almost all americans would say well, wth certainlght we were. And then of course this virus comes along in a way that impacted the economy and our wofestyles in ways that nobody d have anticipated. Well, i think as you know there is a debate out the economy because the economy also did well under president obama. And it is pointed out that the growth rate under President Trump is not been as high as it was under president obama. You about i want to ask you about the pabd. Because the president freakily says that he was the one who shut it down, shut dwn what he calls the china virus, coming into this country. And yet there is reporting, senator blunt, the wall street journal has are reported that twice in january the president rejected advice to china for more transparency. He praised chinas handing of the pandemic until early march. So how much of that record should be on the line . Within well, you know, the president wants to talk about ostopping travel, whendy thought that it was time to stop travel. And later everdeybody deit was. No matter what you call the virus, i think we all should agree it started in chin and they didnt share the should have. In ways that they the president knows that now. What he or nibbles knew about that in january, i dont know. And in many ways, judy, were sort of building e airplane as we fly the airplane. And if things like warp spe on vaccines are are or shank tank ti tests work, if more therap come along. I think the president and the administration will have helped the next president that has to deal with there in a significant wa i know everybody is hoping for aaccine and for the best possible trooment for covid. But you saids building tlahe ai as we fly theirplane. At the same time the united ates today has one of the highest death rates from covid per capita of any country in the world compared to advancing industrialized countries l germany and south korea. The united sttes again death mr capita, cases per capita, mue serious, much worse, so to what extent is the president sponsible for that . I dont foe if the president is responsible for that, i do think that what the president s had done again am recall its of trying to develop a vaccine and having it available at be early me is a significant reach beyond anywhere we have ever been before. Looks hick that is going to work. And i think thats the kind thof record the president is going to be judgedn. This is a problem like nobody e s seen in a run in a hundred years and i h dont see it in a hundred years again. Ond that when these things d arrive, we can take advantage of what we learned. Wo other things i want to ask you about, senator blunt, you are a member of the senate sele committee on intelligence and you follow so many of these developments including the credible reporting that the russians paid a bowntee to the taliban to kill u. S. Troops in afghanvetan. Did it gou pause when it is reported President Trump over his phe calls, and there have been more than one of them with vladimir putin, since that information came out, has not raised it with president putin . Well, its been reported. It certainly wouldt surprise me if it is true. Whether we have determined the to thal truthfulness of that, i dont know. S but i think uld understand that the russians are bad actors. They want bad things to happen in our country. And whether that is achieved by interfering with our elections or encouraging our adversaries or in any other way, they are going too it as long as charge. Y like putin is in so this is something that i hope once we have the case to be made, that the president , the secretary of state and others are aggre bssively pushik, that this is unacceptable. Sh woodruffld the president have raised it with president putin . Dont knowhe context of those discussions. I dont know that it with do if i good to raise it with president putin. Int i think if the president was confidenhe facts, that he should raise it with president putin. And i hope that that is what happens when those facts all are available to the predent and then if he raised it, what are you going to do about it is the second question. And i don hear anything from the other side about what they would do about it. In fact i didnt heamuch from the other side at all about any foreign policy. About domestic policies. Nventn quite a bit in their platform about domestic poliy and while the vice predent doesnt want to seem to embrace all the things in the platform, they are there. And theyre going to have to be responsible for them. Woodruff senator roy blunt of missouri, we tnk you very much. Thank you. Woodruff and now amna nawaz is back to talk to a local public med why reporter. Thats right, judy. Among the speakers is a Small Business owner from montana wh o relithe Paycheck Protection Program to keep her business afloat. Even in big sky country the pandemic is front and center and the president holdstl significlead over joe bied en. So lets check in with ana rau from montana pbs for more. Thanks for being here. We are hearing from a Small Business owner who is shing a story just in a minute on the Republican National Convention Stage about federal funha, you they kept her business afloat. Put that into context for us. When it comes tohe pandemic and the economy in montana, what has been the effect and where go thstand now . Just as a side to that, we received 1. 8 billion in those paycheck protection act funs, so over 22,000 businesses soofed at money in montana, it has been the economy in montana is not too bad. It didnt go quite as rugh as we thought it was going to. I talked with someone with the cbureau of business and eonomic today, he said we expected tourism to be terrible and it was better than exemented. Hotels and some of the restaurants arunder, about 40 under normal spending but they have certainly restrictions on the number of customers they can have within the restaurants and hotels. But campgrounds have been packed and people have been viting Glacier National park, Yellow Stone National park so it has been a good travel destination, when they feel like they neededp e this summer. Income tax receipts are pretty good, they are not as bad as we expected. They didnt take the tip we expected. So it has been kind of a mixed bag and we expecsee am so he koafer a little sooner in some of the other states potentially am but you never know which drk it will go. We should point out to our view ares, the other woman on the screen is that Small Business owner named Tanya Weinreis from montana, sharing herr story. Let me ask you about montana in the 2020 election. You go back to 16 and trump won handily, not really at play at the psidential levelut there are some competitives down ballot races, what are the key issues that voters in montana are listening for, especially when it comes to the message on the Republican National Convention Stage this week . Well, i think thats an interesting point that you make, since they dont necessarily have a platform. I think in talking with the Political Science plof said hecate today he thinks Montana Voters are most interested in kind of hearinng emotional message. And less about policy, more about emotion. But when it comes t western issues that will be interested to all Montana Voters and cross party lines, it is publicand, guns, another one that crosses party lines, health care. I think those are he types of issues that if there was a platform people would like to hear about. But from what i am hearing, what he said was theyre not interestedn that. They are just interested in the emotion, in getting excited for the election and hearng what trump has to say and continuing that kind of narrative that he has going on on thtie al level. Very quickly, just a few seconds left anna, there is one message voters need to hear from the preside, what do you think that is . G that isd question, i think probably what they would like to hear is that he does have a plan for the economic recovery in the state and he has a pl for the recovery, the coronavirus rekoample i think those two things,hey will be interested to hear no matter what polit kl stripe, even if e Republican Convention, Democratic Convention, they would like to hear plans for recovery. Two issues at the top of at lot of voters,nna rau from montana pbs jowning us tonight, anks so much. Hanks for having me. Back to you, judy. Woodruff thank you, amna and thank you anna, we appreciate iand as the early, the first half hour of this Republican Convention continues which again we plan to join at 9 00 eastern i want to turn to president ial historian and newshour regar michael beschls, welcome back, it i so good to see you. We think about this convention and how th president , it is what i was speaking with some of our analysts about a moment ago. U done see former president s. You dont is he former publican nominees for president. This is a president who stands alone in many resn cts is party. Put that in some context for us throughout americas thinks tree. Well, you know, one thing we will be looking at tonight and all this week judy is how this Republican Congress vengs differs from ear rublican conventions and you just put your finger on one of the ways that it really ms different f everything we know about this week, this is going to be pretty much aman show. Donald trump will be on every esingle night which is shing we have not seen before. Tand sort of harkens back to 2016 when donald trump tld lopublicans in cleveland weve got of problems and i a blown can fix it. It is very different froiem earepublican president s like Richard Nixon who said thaa evernet should have a future president in it. And administration should be full of leaders who will be prominent in the future. Im not sure how much that has been true of the Trump Administration, largely because the focus has been so much on him. D the other thing vudy you were saying it a moment ago, usually this monday night of a convention, were all discussing the platforms, but there aint no platform. There say one page statement that was given out by the national Republican National committee saying we support donald trump and his policies. And thats about it. You know, look at towering republican president like lincoln, like Theodore Roosevelt, like eisenhower, ronald reagan. Their parties loved them but in ne of those cases did you have ivsituation where they were biv were that kind of a blank check. Nv you have a platform, it forces the tion to be about the future, and about hope thd positive things without e things, i am waiting to see whether President Trump can get away from simply talking about negative things to get giving us a much better idea of what he would do in a second nurm. I think er of people are exactly. I number of people are looking h this convention, at tis campaign and asking is this a president and a movement that just, that stands alone . We wont see the looking of if again, there wont be a continuation of it or is it the beginning of a turn, a new era in republican politics, if you will . Right, and that as we discussed last week was a big theme of the democrati convention. They said if you reelect donald Trump America iein dangr of oneman rule, losing our democracy, maybe an authoritarian country next year. The best way that President Trump can rebut this is to show future, and show that he wants to do it with a broad group of people who are apable of leading this country through the next couple of decades, not just as this moment. So striking how both sides aric mak the case that this is a existential moment. If you elect the other guy, it is the end of le as we know it. Right. In so many words. Michael beschloss, thank you. We will be coming back to you tonight and through the week. Thank you. Thank you. Woodruff and now to reporters covering the president ial race, closely, our White House Correspondent Yamiche Alcindor, capitol hill correspondent lisa des jarred ibs and erin hahn with the newly. Aunched news website t 19 yamiche i will start with you, as you and i have discussed the prident had his chance to Say Something earlier today, from him at least once more, ybe twice and then every night this week. That is the donald trump way, is snts . St the donald trump way, the president for a long time has seen himself asis best surrogate. Even though of course President Trump, we could also call him press secretary trump, chief of staff ump because he fills those roles along with the presidency. The other thing to note tonight, we are already seeing a taste of what the Republican National con loo like. There are already speak ares talking and there was one man, quharl charlie kirk, the founder of a Student Group cle turning points u. S. A. He said that President Trump was the body guard for western civilization. Matthew gaetz also said we should be celebrating the idea that america was founded and colonize. There are a loof peopl looking at those statements saying this he are culturally insensitive at best. And th of course comes from people that think this President Trump has used many, many racist terms. Democrats have been really talked aboutem not bein optimistic about americas founding but democrats say we should be looking at our history, at the fact that our unders some of them enslaved black people and the land was stolen from native amerirens, that ily a cultural difference. The republicans saying they will be optimistic but ihould tell new the first few minutes we already heard them talk about mobs and endilife as we know it even though they said uplifting we heard dark dark tones jus c in the firstouple of minutes of this convention. Woodruff speaking of decrats which came up in some of youromments, yamiche. I will turn now to Lisa Desjardins who was our woman at the Democratic Convention or at least the bidenk the joe biden outpast for the Democratic Convention last week in wilmington, delaware. Lisa, i mean with that perspective, wh that experience in mind, this is already feeling lukery different convention, isnt it . Oh, ingred incredibly different starti where that roll call vote, i know this came up. But the biden team and democrats in general were shocked that the trump te not sort of follow their lead and also have those cinematic moments with many real people around the country showing kind of diverse landscape and diverse cultures in this count instead what we saw was sort of Old School Formula of one person at the podium caing state by state, but with even less of the so of sparkle and a theme that we get most conventions this morning. And also democrats pointing out that there was lesshe diversity in speakers who read the votes for states today. I did my own, ountdy, some 55 delegations read out thawr votes today, 42 othose were read out by men, so that is not proportion to the gender equity in this country. D you know, its hard to tell but i looked through all the names and only five em to be people of color. So there you have somewhere in the neighborhood of over 85 white americans. Now e me of thople in the roll call this morning, the eupublican really call did say they diversity, talked about liss toric figures of color. But the point ithat democrats feel like already that is a benefit to them. That the republicans are presenting a picture and a mood that does not match the mood of most people in this country. S theyre stressing the idea that the Republican Party and the trsep white h are in some form of chaos and they will try and arguet thaey would continue this idea of chaos under a trumpin admistration. So interesting. And now i want to bring in errin hahnes, good to you have with us again. On this question of convention werenting diversity, reaching out to diver group of americans, i interviewed the governor of arka,ns republican, he said yes, the president good he is reaching to the base but he needs t go beyond that to other americans. What is your sense of whether, of how respected other americans are to hearing a message like that from President Trump. Well, i think that other americans have been waiting to hear that megsage. It was four years ago this month that preside trumpsked black smericans, you know, at a rally featuring a y white crowd, asking black voters what the and i think that in the midst of these dual pandemics of coronavirus and racism, a lot of black people are feeling luke they havlost quite a t. I mean just today the headlines have been dominated by the shooting of yet another black man, jacob blake in ken openna wisconsin, in front of his children by police. And black people really looking, for you knhoever is going to be the next president of this country to step forward with a plan for how they plan to end, u know, these killings of black people that have been unrelenting, even in the midst of a pandemic. There certainly is some diversityg amon the speakers, you see tim scott from South Carolina and former ambassador nikki haley, tonights alex johnson, the woman that President Trump pardoned is going to beaking her testimony this week. But you also see a couple like the mccloskeys on display, who t de headlines for brandishing weapons agaiople protest Peaceful Protesters in st. Louis. So i think, u know,ts a discord ant message thatn fkly juxtapositiono in with the racial playbook the n esident has been going to repeatedlye campaign trail and that he with fully expect him to continue to hammer between now and november. Woodruff and yamiche, i am said and im think being the just programming of this convention. As she utjust pointed yes, were going to hear from tim scott ad from the formerng dr blank, nuki haley toght. Were going to hear from others, other individuals of color but this is not been an administration that has looked diverse, las it been. It is not an administration that h looked divese. The president s own cabinet is not very diverse. The president who thpresident speak to at his rallies when you look at the large crowds that rn out to speak with him, especially even during a pandemic, they are usuwhly largele crowdsk i also want to point out that when you look at who voted for president trp there is a lot of focus, i think sometimes to the frustration of africanamericans that black people didnt turn ou. For Hillary Clint what we know is 53 of white women voted for President Trump, soewns a lot of his success, he owes a lot of his suess to white voters. And as a result he is really those voters riled up. Re he gets that is the focus i have been hearing from from the caaign. He is focused on his base and turning out those people yz thank you. Woodruff thank you, yamiche, we will come back to all three of you as the night goes on. The 9 00t ready for hour of tonights convention, we will take a short break for some coverage will contue in justur one minute, stay with us. Shall d the attack on our police arch the terrorism of you are city, threaten our any politics who does not grasp this danger is t fit to lead our country. Woodruff good evening im Judy Woodruff welcome back to our p bswshour special coverage of this years Republican National convention. The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted plans for the traditional inperson conventi convention. Instead this year the republicans have put together a video feed thawill include remote speeches, well be back for more analysis oall that and some of the Live Programming moment. Washington in just a but now lets listen to the continuation of the republican official convention progrming. We will completely rebuild our depleted military. The countries that we are protecting at a massive cost to us well be asked to pay their fair share. Will take care of our great veterans like they have never been taken care of before. He saved. Thanks to him. Im here. To me heopgiving people hope. What hes doing for the poor people, what hes doing for everyby. We are going to appoint justices of the unitestates Supreme Court who will upholdr aws and our constitution. By supporting law enforce. , so important for keeping America Great. As long as im president i will never defund your polic that i promise you. Its time to deliver a victory foer th American People. We are going to start winning again. Its called promises de, promises made. My name is amy ford. Ive been a registered nurse for 17 years. Im from the small town of williamston, West Virginia where ive lived thtire life. The daughter of a nurse and coal miner. Iep though i was younest of four children, i was always somewhat of a caretaker. It came natural for. So it felt right to follow in my mothers footsteps and bee a n. And this march when covidse9 our country into crisis, i knew i had to help any way that i could. I deployed to new york in april and then to san antonio, texas, working at a covid reli nurse in both states. As i continued with theo challengtreating our patients who had their worlds turned upside down, i notice a tesitive change in our health care s President Trump recognized the yhreat this virus presented for all americans ean. And as a result, telehealthes. Services are now accessible to more than 71 millionmericans including 35 million chirp. Prior to covid telehealth was not covered or reimbursed under od care, medicaid or chp. This le most vulnerable populations with no other choice t to have an inperson office increasing their risk ofans. Exposure to covid19 exponenti exponentially. The expansion of Telehealth Services has also resulted in the integration of videoisits between patients and their families. Allowing lov ones to have contact and visualization as well as a betteunderstanding of care. Telehealth has been auto serin shall this pandemic. I dont want the media taking my personal story and twisting it so let me be clear. As a health care professional, i can tell you without hesitation ednald trumps quick action and leadership s thousands of and the benefi ttd19. Response extend far beyond coronavirus. Telehealth will continue to aid many that are just unable to find transportation or way to the doctor for regular check ups. This is especially true in rural america. I live in a town of about 2,00 people. We do not have buses, trains, trollies or ube able to us. Of services can also hinderlity treatment for many. Eso increased access to telehealth for millions of americans has truly been life saving. We have President Trump to thank. From the very beginning, democrats, the media and the World Health Organization got coronavirus wrong. The World Health Organization said, authorities have found no clear evidence of human to human transmission. Overall most people should not be terribly concerned. Everything is fine here. We do want to sa to people. Come to chinatown. Here we are, come join us. We dont even think its ing to be as bads it was in other countries. Go about your lives. Go about your business. One leader tok Decisive Action to save lives. President donald trump. Banning travel from china and coronavirus centers, bidenho charged xenoa but President Trump was right. Signing e cares act providing immeate relief to america families, workers and business businesses, declaring a national emergency. Topping into 42 billion in existing Emergency Fund alowledge, quickly getting crucial persrotective equipment to the states. Signing the Families First Coronavirus Response act, ensuring that American Families and businesses impacted by the virus receive the strong support they need, launching operatid warp speeo fast track a vaccine in recod time. He saider that i could have ped for. Promise made, promise kept. He is ready, willing and abl to help. He has been responsive. Hes done a lot of good things. What the federal government did was phenomenal complis accomplishment. In our hour of need, you all literally are helping us wain a big y. We were at the edge. This is life or death stuff. We are forever thankful for th that. Soon we will emerge safer, stronger and greater than ever. Woodruff we havt heard a video, im with amy walter here in our studio on aggressive defense, in fact tu turning it around sayg others were to blame for bad decisions. Of course this is the president , of republicans to say, all the bad things, all the critiatcism been heaped on the president , were here to tell you theirs another side to that story. But its a complicated story that was just one part of it. Tts right. Look, th is something thatthe president has been doing for quite some time. I was surprised we didnt see that chie was invokedre as well that something that the 39 does like to bri up a lot. The fact that china should be held more responsible than they have been for the fact that th they, as he says alwed this virus to escape the country. Again, thi ts is s is an argument that the president has been making day in and day out and it really hasnt penetrated for most voters. S Approval Rating actully on march has only gone up. S since his disApproval Rating on that. So his the piece that we just saw there is definitely the piece that they would like the American Public to see. s but not necessarily what the americapublic believes right now. Believing. Has been even the republican governor of gokansas who i talked to just a little while on the special acknowledged he said, this is not been hea plus for t president. In terms of peoples understan understanding of what could and should havonbeen din this pandemic. Its easy, amy, to go back andfi poiners. But its i think also clear that decisions were made along ty. He there was a reluctance to talk about m and to talk about importance of masks. There was reluctance to acknowledge that this was people need to keep socil distancing, that businesses and other things needed to close down. All those things have happened. And mixedss mges. Woodruff as we have i think that is what has been etty clear that is really what is bottom line, frustration. As voters why they dont think the president has done particularly goodob especially when you compare how they feel about their states governors or local elected officials who they feel more confident with and lot of that was, what they were seeing from the pres again, he would come to these press briefings, givout really mixed messages or question the scien science, question some of the scientistss behind him saying that the disease is going to go away. Questioning governors who put a pause on their the economic openings in the own states. So, that still hasnt been fix fixed. Woodruff in fact that dispute inside the administrati. Is still ongoi just in the last day or two you had the food and Drug Administration approve the use of socalled convalescent plasma which is a treatme but medical community is not entirely behind that. Soou see there the anxious administration, the part of the president to get something out there that is working it was ram december veer which is anoter nd of treatment now convalescent plasma. U hear the warning from the medical community from the scientists. Thas right. Woodruff were not there yet. Amy walter here with me in the studio. K well come b the convention i just want to explain. Weve been listening to the attendees and others listening to dr. G. E. Golly,e is a ianacellor rather at louis state university. But now lets listen to President Trump. Mobilization of American Society since world war ii. Patriots of every race, color and creed rallied together to defeat the invisible enemy and save the lives of their fellow citizens. Today our hearts overflow with appreciation for the incredible front line workers who risk their own health and safety to keep america strong and safe. When crisis came, millions of every dayca ameri rose to the challenge. In their actions we see true greatness of the american character. We always find a way to victory. Oestory will remember and celebrate the h of 2020 for as long as our Great American flag waves over the a land that we love. To every front line worker, i offer the salute of a nation that is forever in your debt. Thank you, god bless you. And god bless america. These are my fiend. These are incredible workers that helped us so much with the covid. We can call it many Different Things from china virus, i dont ewant to go through all names because some people may get insulted but thats the way it g. These are greateat people. Doctors, nurses, firemen, policeman. We wt to thank you al. You have been incredible. We want to thank you. And all of the millions oopf that you represent, thank you all ry much. Great job. Thank you. Much. You all very so tell me a little about your stories. Well start with you. Iea postal workr. Dever to Senior Community during covid19. Were taking good care of our postal workers that i can tell you. Believe me. Were not getting rid of ourke postal w. They like to sort of put that out there. If anyone does its the democrats not the republicans, i want to thank you very much. And thank everybody in that whole beautiful post office system. We appreciate it. How about you. Im a trucker. L good. I ebb smsiness in ohio. Hauling steel mostly. Some of our customers actually made hospital beds with thema rial. Thats fantastic. Congratulations. I love the truckers. You know theyre on my side. I think all of them frankly. Pretty much all of them. How about you . Im a custodian at the post office as well. What do do you exactly . Germs, all that. Ybodys mess an can i tell you that world, that profession will never be out of busin you know that, right . Thank you very much for being here. Yo how abouu . Im registered nurse. I work at new jersey hospital. Its called i also represent an organization of professional nurses called the national six of catholic nurses. But i want to tell you sir as a nursing supervisor, i am so in awe of your leadership. Honestly, i know many people s haid often interesting things, but it takes a true leader to be able to igno all that stuff and do what is right and not be offended by all the words being said. You really do show that positive spirit to us and as nurses it. Appreciate t but just as an individual, im grateful for that. Im for the nurses. Im for the doctors. Im for everybody. Weust have to make this china virus away and its happening happening. Please, go ahead. Im also a nurse. I represent a Skilled Nursing facility company. Yoi want to thank you anur administration for all the supplies and support and funding that youve given thSkilled Nursing units. Without that we couldnt do as well as we have done. I spent some time in new jersey, i live in west virnia. Went to new jersey did some work there and we finally started to e things change and turn around. I appreciate what you said. Because we have delivered billions ever dollars of equipment that governors were supposed to give and in many cases, they didnt get. So the federal government had to help them and all of the people that did this incredible work they never got credit for it. But you understand where it came from. Thank you very much. Thank you both. Really nice. Please, go ahead. Im Police Officer in englewood, colorado. And i contracted covid in late march. And recovered. That meanse dont have to be afraid of you at all, right . Once youecoveredou know we have the whole thing with plasma happening that means your blood is very valuable you know that, right . Thank thank you very much. Please. Detention deputyt the Sheriffs Office in california. I also contracted covid. End of march. Recovered from that also. How long was your problem . I was sick about ten days really bad. Iev got ything besides the cough. But recovered, i was off work for a mon. And a ha i work in our local county jai jails. Did they do anything specifically to help you recov recover. They gave me cough syrup. I wont ask you about the hydroxy chloroquine. Because its a shamwhat they ve done to that one. But i took it. I took the pack and zinc i want to thank you all very muchs n hone or to have you in the white house you are fantastic people and you represent. You represent an Incredible Group of people. And we love you all. Thank you very much. K thu very much. Appreciate it. Good evening im jim jordan representing the 4th district of ohio 9 Republican Party is the pro america p. Ty President Trump is the pro america candidate. This election is about who can reserve the values, principles and ups take substitutions that make America Great. Dont believe me. Look at whats happening in american cities. Cities all run by democrats. Ime, violence and mob rule. Eemocrats refuse to denounce th mob and response to the aos, defund the police, defund Border Patrol and defund our military. While theyre doig all this also trying to take away your guns. Take the fast femonths. Y have democrats wont let you go to protest. Ut they will let you democrats wont you let you go to work, but let you riot. Democrats wont let you go to school but lot you go t. President trump is against each of their crazy ideas. Hes attenti the swamp. All of the swamp. The democrats, the press a the never trim offers. You take on the swamp, they tried the russia hoax, Mueller Investigation and fake impeac impeachment. Despite of this opposition thips ident has done what he said he would do. Taxes cut. Regulations reduced. Economy growing. Lowest unemployment in 50 years. Embassy in jerusalem, a new u. S. Agreement of course builing the wall and rebuilding our economy as we speak. I love the president ntensity and his willingness to fight every day in washington for our families. But what i also appreciate about the president , is something most ulericans never get to see. How much he t cares about people two years ago, our nephew eli was killed in a car accident. He livp d a mile ue road from us, grew up wrestling and trip tripping with ourirx averges High School State champion, varsity athlete for universityis ofnsin. A saturday morning, three days after the accident, i walk to thcar to head upo elis parents home when the president called. We talked about a few issues then he asked how thly was doing. He said theyre doing okay, mr. President but its tough. The president said, yeah, losing a loved one is always difficult. Its really tough when theyre so young. I then said, mr. President im walking into their house right now. Obviously they dont know that im talking o you. But if youd be willing to say hello to elis dadoud make a terrible day. Wets whats his name. I said, president wants t talk to you. For the next five minutes, family and friends sat in complete silence as the president of the United States took time to talk to a dad who was hurting. Thats the president ive gotten to know the last four years. President who shared private moments like this with sdiers, victims of Violent Crime and people who have had businesses destroyed by the mob. Thats the individual who has made America Great again who knows amecas best days are still front much us. Thats why im busting my tail to help him get reelected. Im asking you to do the same. Thank you. And god bless our country. Im not n actor. A senior or polits. Im her shall walker. Most of you know me as aer football plut im also a father, a man of faith and very goodudge of character. Ive known donald trump for 37 years. And i dont mean just casual ran into him from time to time. Im talking about a deep, personal friendship. I watched him as owner of a professional football team, right after he bought the team he learned about the history of the team, the player, the coaches. Every detail. Then he used what he learned to make the team better. I watched him in the board room. He can be in the middle of a big meeting but if one of the kids was on the phone, he dropped everything to take the call. He taught me that family be your top priority. I watched himt feet jaors, security guards and waiters the same way he would treat a v. I. P. He made them feel special because he knew they were. An he under that they are the people who make this country r run. They clean, they cook, they build, they drive, they deliver. He told me, herscheak,an effort to get to know people. Remember their names. That stuck with me. One time i planned to take hi cdz to disneyworld with my family at the last minute, donald said hed like to join us. So there he was. In a business suit. On the its a small world ride. U at was something to see. It just shows yat a caring, loving father he is. It hurt my soul to hear terrible names that pele call donald. The worst one is racist. I take itsos a pnal insult that people would think ive ha7 ear friendship with a racist racist. People think that dont know twhat theyre talking abo. Growing up in the deep south i know what it is. F close. And it isnt donald trump. Just because someone loves and ourespects the flagr National Anthem and our country, doesnt mean they dont care about social justice. I care about all those things. So does donald trump. He shows how much in a black community through his actions. His actions speak louder than stickers or slogans on a jersey. He keeps right on fighting to improve the lives of black americans and all americans. He work night and day. He never stops. He leaves nothing on the field. Some people dont like his sty style. The way he knocks down obs that get in the way of his goa people on opposing team, but thats how you get the job de. I pray every night that god gives him more time. Give him four more years. Almost all by himself on ah constant attack. But there are still more work to be done. If you love america and want make it better, donald trump is your president. Hes my president. And im blessed to call him a friend. Woodruff endorsements dont get any more heartfelt from herschelalker who was star player for Dallas Cowboys for 12 seasons. College football hall of fame before that. And you heard him say, im tur turning now toutwo o very familiar analysts, mark shield and New York Times columnist david brooks. David, you dont hear many people flat out say, i know the president , ive known him 37 years and es not a rat. He knew him because he played for the new jers generals who was usfl football team. Usfl was a leage that tried to rival nfl and donald trump bought the generals ended up orderoying the league in to try to get his team and not the league into the nf. Its not a story of floor rewhat donald trump did to the usfl. Hershel walker made a leap over to the nl to the dallas cowboy cowboys. That remind me of somethii weve heard and covid segment. Which was youve got to stay close to credibility. And obviously in every political convehicle theres a done of spin you pick out the facts that you like. For swing voters you have to stay close to what th know already exists. And in covid, even in usfl case im not sure they stayed too close to the facts. The parts theyre strongest at is going after what s been excesses on the left. So i would say an example of that is, when matt geitz said they wont let you go to churcth bu let you protest. That is an argument i hear often from religious people androm conservatives. Thats their strongest case. The question can they make the case the democrats are too far left when joe biden is thoe nominee i question. Woodruff we heard more of that, mark shields, fr congressman jim jordan of ohio. Spoke about the crime, the violence, he said mob rule on the streets of this country. As david said, wont let you g to church but they will let you riot. Tts a prestark contrast theyre painting. It is, judy. I think given wts gonupon and continues to go on in portland that it would be an issue. It is a Democratic State. Its a democratic governor, democratic senators. Demoatic mayor. And it seems to be quite frankly lawless. But donald trump weakened if not lity ond his own credi the issue by the terrible, terrible day at st. Johns churchhen he used chemical irritants and official military power to uproot peaceful prote protesters in Lafayette Square so he could hola bible upsid down ia photo op. His credit it on this issue, agree with davids point earli earlier, is not there. I think theyre playing this is whee theyre playing a little defense. When jim jordan spoke about donald trump tkindnesso a father who had lost a child. By speaking to him on the phone, that was a side of donald trump, Herschel Walker spokebout donald trump he knew, this was a tcertain competition ihink based upon what happened last week at the Democratic Convention where joe bidens documented dececy was sort of rstablished. By speaker aft speaker and presentation after presentation. So as far as this convention is concerned. I can only ce back to the quote of mae west, the gre sort of earthy Hollywood Star who said, too mh of good thing is wonderful. Thats what theyre operating on. You cant go an hour without donald trump being on. Fdr was the first president toow p in 1932 to accept the nomination. Which he did c incago for the democrats. T since then thats been sf traditional that the nominee would show up on the night in which he or she in the case of Kamala Harris accepted th nomination. But Donald Trumps this is wall to wall donald trump. Woodruff david brooks, donald trump ig s notnytht comfortablappearing on television. But its a fine line. Im told were going back to the republican nional convention. Right now. That is representative, stateer representativeon jones, he is a democrat in the state of georgia and legals listen to him. An as you can see, im a man of color. Im a life long democrat, too. You may be wondering, why is a life long democrat speaking at nve Republican National tion. And thats a fair question. And here is your answer. The Democratic Party doenot want black people to lead their mental plantation. Weve been forced to be there for decades and generations. Wet i have news for joe biden. Re free, we are free pele with free minds. And im part of a large a growing segment of the black community who are independent thinkers and we believe that donald trump is the president that ameri needs to leaus forward. This is no time for sleeping in the basenmet. Joe biden has had 47 years to produce results. But hes been all talk and no action. Just like so many of the democrats who have been making promises to the black voters for decades. Weve been their captive whdience. Psident trump sought to earn the black vote, the Democratic Party leadetrs w crazy. Nancy pelosi and Chuck Schumer literally starting wearing cloths around the u. S. Capital. As ipanderin were enough to keep us woodruff of georgia he represents the suburb of atlan atlanta. And hendorsed President Trump in april. And said he endorsed him becauoe he economy, because of criminal justice and i want to ing in as we dip in to and as we listen to some of the state representative i want to bring back Yamiche Alcindor our White House Correspondent andly spa desrdins our citol hill corresponden were seeing an aggressive attempt on the part of this party and of president tmp t say, im not a racist. We heard that from re herschel walk are now hearing now from state representative jones of georgia saying this president does have support among black americans. Push back on the narrative that they say is not the whole picture about him. Thats right. The Republican Party as whol in 2012 did really long autopsy trying to figure out how to pand their base and diversify. The exact oppositeat thee did party said he focused on Racial Division focused on immigratio immigration, called immigrants nals. Ts and crimi we needed more police not less police. Then of course while hes in office President Trump has really beat up on the black lives Matter Movement hs called people anarchists, called them not good for america. Hes really called into question whether or not people should be taking to the streetsfter we see deaths like jacob blake in wisconsin or george floyd in minnesot soy the rnc tonight is really trying to push back on the notion. But critics of President Trumpat say that nor what people around him say, the president himself has really been th person giving his critics their ammunition. His response after charlottesville, there are fine people that go to nazi rallies as were in the midst of this racial reckoning talking about the idea that he doesnt tnk that Police Reform or systemic racism streets widespread as democrats seem. I think that the president in some ways trying to push back by having these personal testimonials, people who are close to him saying look, i know esident trump, i know his heart. Woodruff lisa, we know at republicans realize they are being compared with the democrats who of course had a very diverse looking convention, delegates and supporters, speakers from every ethnic group but i want to ask you,ly is, about what we heard a moment befo that that wasrom who just threw out in a couple. Of words, mobule. Vie license, he portrayed the democrats as lettinghe count just run amuck. Mark shields sai what is going on in portland gives them an opening to do that. How did democrats you talked too do they deal with that . Well, you know,hi i these puo ideas are connected as one. The icans saying that democrats are pandering on the other hand aonnd oe hand also letting loose mob rule. Democrats say, nohe issue is that republicans are not dealing with the reality of America Today. And from theofemocratic poin view the reality of America Today is a place wher racial in injustice lives and breathes and it needs to be addressed. Ei but is notg addressed by the current government. So those two ideas i think for democrats are connected. And i think its also connected to these conventions and how you em. Th how democrats see them. They zoo their convention as forward looki, trying adapt to unprecedented crisis. But they will say republiomn conventionhing more from the past. As they democrats would s our general republican philosophies. One other thing i want to mentioin an earlier conversation you and i had, ju watching republican roll call volt one of my favorite parts of noy convention today. Sort oicing the demographics of the people who spoke for each state. I mentioned that i looked at the names of all the speakers but i did that because i looked up each persons biraphy. I was not judging who they were by their name i wanted to look at their biorhy and see what demographics from theirr family history, where they are from, men, womenth, all of at to get a spence of who was presenting the delegates for each ste for the republicans. Woodruff which is so important. Which is what makes you such a great reporter kind of thing at makes Yamiche Alcindor such a great reporter. Were so gratefu oto the tf u to be here. Well continue to talk to you throughout the night. But meantime i want to bring in several other of our alysts who are with us this evening. They are Gary Abernathy, Cynthia Tucker and our own amy, youre right here in front of me. Amy, i am going to come to you etrst on this because were raising y sensitive issue. When you talk just flat ou about whether donald trump is racist or not, which is now been raised at the Republican Convention. Youre getting into tricky territory and how much does it iotter how they talk about it at this conve well, i think what the president has been doing today or at least rnas has been doing today is very similar to what we saw dtsocoing in the first couple of days at their convention. Which is to try and reach out beyondhe base. And to say, look, i know you have all these ideas about who dold trump is from what youve been seeing in the Mainstream Media but let me tell you some personal stories. Hershel walke osittingn then not President Donald Trump but sitting on, its a small world in a suit ride with his kids. Humanizing him beyond just the race piece but humanizing him as a person. We had three high profile African Americans come on thus far, Herschel Walker a woman who is running in maryland for congress. And of course well see tim scott later on tonight, senator from South Carolina toake that case theyre trying to both humanize him in a wayhat we dontly normee of people talking about donald trump. Less about the brasngh hes g to rock em sock em say things as they are. Much more about who he is as a person. Woodrufck up othat, Cynthia Tucker. And how much more weve been watchingp his man uose and personal for five years now, what are we the middle of 2015, how much more of the pictre cadn be filt at a Convention Like this . Well, unlike joe biden, many voters already know a lot about eesident trump because been the president for the last four years. Hes been in the white house. We also know that from the moment he began his First Campaign he has gone beyond racists dog wstles t full out ououting, yamiche talked earlier some of the rhetoric he used in his campaig so i think that for many black and brown voters, many voters of color their opinions about donald trump are already baked in acs not going to win over very many votes from k voters or latino voters. I do think, however, he he would tike to inoculate himself a bi and win back some of the support from College Educated white women, suburban wives that he talks about that he has been losing. A lot of those voters dont want to believe that they would be supporting a racist. And so to the extent that trump can humanize himself a show that there are some prominent blacks willing to speak up for hi he maybe able to win over some of those voterso why be waivering a bit. Woodruff Gary Abernathy what about that. How do you think about that, softening up an i or shifting an imagine order to appeal to ar wider gp of voters. Se. Well im glad that theyre tackling this racist question head on. I think that is important. E, all the things places like where i l probably the most offensive thing people hear from their point of view abt this president they support is that he is a racist because by pro they feel like its call all of them a arrestist, theyreac supporting ast. Millions of americans who t,pport donald trump dont feel that theyre rac may not be particularly liberal. May not have liberal views on race like some people. But thats a lg way from being racist. So i think again weve got to understand that. So much of what were hearing tonight throughout this week, judy, is goingto be really reflective of the two america, is that were living in. The gun issue. The race issue. Things like that. What we need to understand is that no matter who wins i november, no matter whether trump wins or biden wins thats not going to change the make up of our country that much. We have to find a way for hese these for us as americans with all these very diverge points of view, left and far right to live together, to love ch other and to coexist peacefully. Trust me, one side is not going to convert the other side any time soon. Woodruff but i guess that raises for me the question, amy, is reelecting donald trump or joe biden going to be the an to getting to making us comfortable living with each other or not. Well, what the president has done day in anday out is to drive wedge and he revels in e dividing. He does not revel in the uniti uneting. So its clear that that has been a political strategy that hes taken into a governing strategy as well. With the killing of george floyd, what we saw was a reckoning that was happening everywhere in america. Donald trump did not takeas it seriously and was his t approait especially as mark pointed out. Protesters enfront of the white house and clearing them out with police to go to a photo opt rubbed so many voters the wrong thy. Es a reason that the president s Approval Rating on handling Race Relations is at 35 . And a lot of it was driven post orge floyd but it really has been these last four years of rhetoric. And that has really drivelen peaway from each other and thats just hasnt changed. Woodruff just in the few seconds, cynthia tuck is he that that something that can changean ore modified somehow by watching a convention for a few nights . I dont think so. I dont think that there will be subject. A change on that subje t what voters already think about the president , again think that for most of us what would believe we know about the president and his racial views is already baked in. Woodruff all right. Cynthia tucker, gary abnathy and amy walter well come back to you. Right now we do want to go to the convention. Were a bout see a video about a edmissouri couple who w guns at protesters. And lets listen to this video then we will hear from them. T. Louis. Ty of protests in st. Louis turned violent. Mk says he and his family have been threatened with violence. Missouri law you have a right to defend your hfe and lives your family. Search warrant has been executed at the home of mark and patricia. Husband and wife attorneys charged with pointing guns rs proteste they were simply trying to protect their home. Good evening, america. We are mark and Patty Mcclosky who are speaking to you tonight from st. Lou, missouri,where weeks ago you may have seen us defending our home as a mob of protesters descended on our neighborhood. America is such a great country that not only do you have the right to own a gun and use it to defend yourself, but thousands of amns will offer you free advice on how to use it. At least thats what experienced. What you saw happen to us could just as ealy happen tony of you who are watching from quiet neighborhoods around our cotry country. And thats what we want to speak to you about tonighaht. S exactly right. Whether its the defunding of police, ending cash bail so criminals can be released back out on the strets the sameay ar riot again or encouraging war y and chaos on our streets it seems as if democrats no nger view the governments job c protecting honest citizens frminals. But rather protecting criminals from honest citizens. Not a Single Person in the out of control mob you saw at our house was charged with a crime. But you know who was . Ll were. They have actcharged us with felonies for daring to defend our hom. On top of that, consider this. The markist liberal activists leading the mob to our neighborhood stood outside our home with a bull horn screan snook you stop the revolution just weeks later that same marxist activist won democratic nomination to hold a seat in the u. S. House of representatives. In the city of st. Louis that same as winni the general election. That marxist revolutionary igos nog to be the ringresswoman from the first di of missouri. These radicals are not content they want to walk the halls of congress, they want to take ov over. This is joe biden party. These are the people who will be ain charming of your futud the future of your children. Theyre notwi salts filed spreading the chaos and violence in our cmunities they want to abolish the suburbs altogether by ending Single Family home zoning. This forced rezone wong bring crime, lawlessness and low quality apartmes in a now thriving suburban neighborhoods. President trump smartly end understand government over reach back. Oe biden wants to bring it these are the policies that are you. Ng to a neighborhood near so make no mistake. No matter where you live, yourly faill not be safe in the radical democrats of america. At this moment enhistory, if you stand up for yourself and for the values o country was founded on the mob spurred on bi their allithe media will try to destroy you. You haveeen us on your v screens and twitter feeds. You know that were not the kind of people who back down. Trump. Ully neither is donald President Trump will defend the godgiven right of everyam ican to protect their homes and their families. But more than that, trumpssi for america is a country where you have an opportunity to rk hard and build the life you dream of with a job you love with your children being educated in great schools. In aommunity where ur family without fear. He back yard or ship in a chuh without shame. And express your believes withouretribution. Trump brought us the greatest economy our country had ever seen. The democrats have brought usbu nothin destruction. W hn we dontave basic safety and secury in our communities, well never be free. To build a Brighter Future for ourselves, for our children or for your country. s thhats at stake in this election. And thats why we must reelect donald trump god bless. God bless the president. And god bless these United States. Woodruff thamessage from mark and patricia mccos mccloskey from st. Louis, missouri, bothre attorneys. Amna that was is back with reporter who cover tt story. Amna. Thats right, judy. We just heard from them as you mentioned. The st. Louis couple we all saw images of waving their guns the at protester lets check in with jason from st. Louis public radio. Welcome to you, thanks for being with us. The store rear we are allh familiar wt now. We know these images and videos defending their home they says black lives matter marchers walked past on their way to another otest. T the message they were delivering tonight about law and right to defend their home. N nahow does that message re with missouri voters . I think the mcclosk,y saga is litmus test ho people view this movement decrying polig ce killack people. If you support that, you see them as these privileged buffon buffoons who overreacted to people that were of no harm to them with guns. But if youre on the right and if youre a Missouri Republican you see them as defending their property against as they said, an unruly mob. E interesting things, this has already been tested politically in st. Louis when mber of republicans like josh holly, the u. S. Senator from here andovernor mike parson, assailed circuit attorney wholl someed to in that address for chging them with unlawful use of a weapon. And even republicans here say that that actually backfired and ngobably led to gardner winn reelection with 60 of the vo vote. So while it may be riling up republicans throughout missouri anthroughout the country, it also energized the democrats in est. Louis qu bit. So much so that the person that they were criticizing tonight will be serving four more years in office. Jason, very briefly if you can, missouri was a big win for President Trump in 16. Its dealing with the same twin crises the rout of thetry is over 1500 covid deaths, u unemployment rolls higher today than they were at the peak of the great resection. W missourians believe that the president is handling both of tho crises right n. Thats going to be a big question in novemr. Because missouri could be a litmus test of trumps overall popularity he won this state by1 almopoints. And if democrats are able to mobilize and organe a lot better than 2016 and they cut margin down to say 25 to 10 signal that hes not doing well nationally. A repeat so they can electg for somebodysoike governor pn who is running in a competitive race against Democratic State auditor. A lot of big skes here in missouri and trump is going to o the big factor of how republicans re. That is jay on from st. Lou st. Louis, public radio. Thanks to you, jaso. Judy, back to you. I woodruff thank you, amna ortant to hear that background. Well turn you back over now to the repubcan Nation Committee that is kimberly, he is a lawyer, former knocks fuse host, girlfenof President Trumps son, donald trump juni ejunior. Arything that we have fought for and hold dear. They want to steal your liberty, your freedom, they want toat control you see and think. And believe so that thecan control how you live. They want to enslave you to the weak, dependent, liberal victim ideology to the point that you will not recognize this country or yourself. He was speaking about that shining city on a hill. And restoring the beacon of light that once shined so bright. S promise was to put America First and he has. When President Trump cut middle clngs taxes, puttiens of thousands of dollars back in the pockets of working class keericans, that bee conbegan to fl once again. When President Trump commanded the defeatf isis, took out paved the way for peace in the middle east. At bcon started to glow. When he negotiated histori trade deals with canada, mexico, japan and china, bringing back thousands of manufacturing jobs to america,hat ben shined to see. Once again for the world america, its all on the line. President trump believes in you. He emancipates and lifts you up to live your american dream. You are capable, you are qualified, you are powerful and you have the ability to choose your life and determine your destiny. Dont let them step on you. Dont let them destroy yr families, your lives and your future. Dont let them kill future generations because they told you and brainwashed you and fed you lies that you werent good enough. Like my parents, you can achie your american dream. You can be that shining example to the world. Manifest and be the change in this country teat you , that you hope, that you believe in. Stand for an american president who is fearless, who believes in you and who loves this country and will fight for her. President trump is the leader who will rebuild the promise of america and ensure that every citizen can realize their american dream. Ladies and gentlemen, leaders and fighters for eedom anlib irrelevant tee and the american dream, the best i yet to come im congessman steve scalis scalise. Were facing . Tough challenges in america. This isnt the first time weve been here. Ive worked closely with donald trump over the last few years and if theres one constant theme to how he approaches problems is how much hcares about the hard working people that washington left behind. Ive seen this firsthand. After i was shot on a baseball field by a leftisgunman, First Responders rushed me to a hospital where i battled for my life. Meat same night, donald trump rsthe hospital along with fit lady melania trump. They consoled my wife, jennifer. Keey were there for my family in my d hours. Donald trump would call to check on me throughout the following weeks justao see how i ws doing. Thats the kind of person he is. Thats the side of donald trump that the media will never show you. Look, theres a lot at stake. This is election between a party that wants to burn down the foundations of our country to the ground and party that wants to rebuild and protect our great nation. The left wants to defund the police. S thisrsonal to me. I wouldnt be here without the and women in Law Enforceme who saved my life. Esident trump stands with those brave men and women. Joe biden embraced the lefts insane mission to defund them. There wont be an america to leave to our children and grandcldren without those brave Law Enforcement officers and First Responders. Joe bidens made career in washington for 47 years s neverng things he delivered. And just three short years, President Trump has delivered huge wins for American Families. Whiljoe biden made hollow promises when he chaired the Senate Judiciary committee, delivered criminalce r n and reform. Joe biden claims to care about the working man. But millions of good manufacturing jobs were shipped overseas during the obamabiden ghars to countries like china. Donald trump br those jobs back. Ive seen how deeply President Trump compares abo rebuilding our evaporating middle class. President trump pledged to give e forgotten men and women oa f amerreal shot at the american dream. The lowest Unemployment Rate in over 50 years, women creating Small Businesses at record pace. Wages rising, fastestest by the way for lowest income levls. What can joe biden say to that. N at has joe done in his 47 years in washingat can compare to that . President trump has delivered for the hard working of this great nation. Its going to take that kind of bold leadership to get us out of this covid crisis. After President Trump saved lives by shutting down flightsan from chind europe, hes now focusing the full weight of the govement on a revolutionary plan to cure this virus by cutting red tape and empowering scientists to create a vaccine. R this is visileadership in action. At a time when we cant affordan her 47 years of hollow promises. Americs been through tough times before. Who better to lead us out of these times than these prident who alady built the strongest economy our country has ever seen. Donald trump did it before, donald trump will deliver for us again. God bless you. God bless these United States of america. Wdruff that was longressman Steve Scalise of siana. The second ranking republican in the house of representatives. Joining us once again is michael, were hearinghloss. Testimonials about the preside t esident, about the kind of person he is te heard several speakers say, you dont normally hear in the media bu were hearing that mixed win some pretty stark contrast beg painted. We heard kimberly say, america is all on the line. Dont let the democrats enslave you. Just dark pictures being paint painted. Congressman jim jordlittle earlier spoke about mobs in the street. Of course the democrats have their turn last wee painting a dark picture if President Trumps reelected. S when have we had an election where both sideshe painted ther side as literally the end of life as bee know it. R ht. Yes, exactly. Back to the apocalypse i think this year. And i think much of what we heard tonighrkreally hans back to 1968 and that was year as you know when george wallace, the segregationist governor of alabama was running for esident on a third party sa saying, the suburbs are in danger, that black people are going to take away your rights theyre going to compete wit you for jobs and threatning law and order. He was worried that wallaceal, would take away too many of his votes and nixon cave uptownt version of thhen he spoke to his convention in miamieach, august of 1968. Andon said, were for la order but were also for justi justice. So think what were hearing tonight is that old strategy, nixon once said to his speech Writer William sapphire in private, he said, people reac to fear not love. They dont teach that in sunday school but its true. Were going to see whether thats right or not. Woodruff see whether thats rightr not. Loolooking at whats happened in the past this in country, michael, when youve had an election where the two sides were literal e atach others throats painteing the other side in the dy,kest possible not that they dont sure they always go at each other bsut t is each side now is painting life out of control. St spinning is it has the country come together in those moments aft those elections that have been so divisive . I dont think have ever seen anything like what were seeing this year. Ot let themaying do take away your democracy, which is what president obama said to the democrats last week. Oand now theyre going t be a lot more august people than kimberly guilllofoyle if democrats are elected youree going to h nation of chaos and anarchy. Youll hear thatom President Trump when he accepts this nomination. It makes it all hardr for new president to come in and say as nixon of all people said himself in 1968, after the election, bring us together. Woodruff im asking you, michael, because even though beer all laser focused on this owel, weve got 75 days to go. I havent countedst u. Whoounting . Woodruff who is counting until november 3. We may know the sults that night its very possible well still be counting. Th anes going to be another Administration Whether its same ,dministration term two President Trump or whether its President Biden. G eyre going to be theres go be some effort to have the country Work Together and stand each other enough to Work Together. And that is going to be tougut comingf this. I think it will. Im not sure President Trump wants to do that. This is not a criticism. I thjust his approach to things. You go back to the inaug address which was called as you remember, american carnage. Other president has used to bind up the makes wounds after tough come pains. President trump was saying thats not my approach and much his presidency last three and half years have suggested that as well. So i think if were trying to b optimistic that someone is going to bind this country together, either because they want to or theyre able to. Its going to be very hard, think we are at risk of seeing one of the angriest campaigns of all time. Woodruff maybe followed by angry aftermath. You remind us of the american carnage, the line that came out of that inaugural address. Michael beschloss, thank you. Were going back now to the Republican Convention and watch this virginia watch this video. Ge we come ther to imagine a future. Determined by the shining light of our hopes anvalues and faith. A country where we are judged by our character with dignity and respect for all. The belief that all are created equal, that lives matter irreective of race, creed or color. Committed to excelling beyond r dreams. Four years ago we faced an historic cross road, career politicians promising change every election. But delivering emptiness. We chose a different path, a man who is not a politician. A man who cares. A fan who works tirelessly for you. Still, politicians spun theirio dece and obstructive progress, fanning the flames of iwlessness. We all know tht is easy to critice, it takes a true leader to solve problems. Covid19 while others criticized without solutions, President Trump swift action saved lives. And leading democrats want to keep businesses closed dn, our president leading the way orf a full economic recoery. We are america. We as americans Work Together to overcome challenges, write our own stories. America. Land of promise. Land of opportunity. Land of hero. Land of greatness. I thought i h been forgotten. I nearly gave up hope. I was so afraid. I believed i would die here. Amerian hostages, forgotten and wasting away in faroff prisons. Wrongfully detained by foreign governments. Americans were beaten abused, starved, and left for dead. Until president bump stepped in. The three american hostalls are finay back on u. S. Soil after being held captive in north korea. Where american pastor, andren andrew, has beeleased. An american jailed in egypt is back in the u. S. This morning after intervention by the trumpi administraon. A tough and skilled negotiator, President Trump successfully won the release of detainees and prisoners among ane most of any president in americistory. While families waited in despair for news of their loved one. Spark of hope by bringing ourw hostages home. We have danny birch back home where he should be. I he wasn yemen in a very horrible situation. Yesterday the United States government secured the release of caitlin, joshua boyle and their three children. Today we are bringing home another american citizen. Just had news that turkey releaseds a prioner that we were trying to get to the United States. Hundred adistration, america has not and will not turn its back on our people. President trump will bring them home. Diplomacy, negotiation skil skills, perseverance, faith. Ingredients of hope when there no american should be left behind. Priority, freeing ameristcan es. We have six incredible peopl who were held hostage by various countries and im ve pleased to let everybody know that we te brought back over 50 hostages from 22 differe, countri worked very hard on it, ambassador obrien and others, and i will tell you, we were very proud of the job we did, but i would like to ask major pastor brunson to say a few words so we can go through and just give us a litthistory of what happened and how is life tueating you. I was held iey for two years and you took unprecedented steps, actually, to secure my release and your administration and i thinkf you hadnt done that i may still be in turkey. 28 years, right . They had you scheduled for a long time. Yes. E had to get you back and i have to say that to me president erdogan was very good, and i know they had u scheduledg for a lme and a very innocent person, and he ulso a wtee tiap wprelyciate th. And we appreciate the people ofy turkey a still appreciate the people of turkey, i understand, right . I love the turki people. It is great to have you back, andrew. Thank you. Pase. Mr. President , thank you for having me. Thank you. My name is sam goodwin from st. Loui missouri and held in syria for 63 days. And i think i speak for my fellow former hostages and ratainees here when i say i am asful as i am anything to be home safely and thank you for the invita to be here, particularly bachelor obrien wased inly supportive and helpful to my family and cant say enough nice things about him. Thank you for promoting him. And just really happy to be here. So thank you. E got you back. You got me back, yes. We got you all back and we somewhere some more that we are working on right now to t back that we better do. Please, go ahead. My name is michael it is an honor to be here and honor to meet you in person. Y basicaat happened with me is i went and traveled over to the country of iran. Major trap and i was apprehended there. I went through a loin the injustice system texas iranian justice system, it is an iranian oppressive terrorist regime you you did, sir you were able to get me out of that prison in record time. It was amazing. Thank you very much. Thank u all. The honor is all mine. Please. My name josh and my wife, we were held hostge in venezuela for two years. I know well. You helped us get out, worked on that as well and it was an great to be able to meet you right when we got back. I remember a lot of people askea mewas it like meeting President Trump . It is like i was blown away. Just got released after two years and then shaking the hand of the president in t oval office. I dont really remember a whole lot of it so it is nice to meet you again anit it has been grea. Great to be back and helping people through situations that theyave gone through and we started our family. The great people of utah really wanted me to do something about the two of you, and we were able to do a it little bit of a miracle, i think, frankly. It was. Because it was a very hostile period, and appreciate everybody working so hard with us, but we were able to get youb bok and are you living in utah now, i hope. We are still you tanchgood. Say hello to the folks in utah because they were great peoprye. Thank you uch, congratulations. Thank you. Please. Briannexpected trip there in island, i was not going to india, i was going through island to nepal. Working for the last 18 years. But on behalf of my family, myself, and myself thank you, President Trump for getting us out and getting us home. The darkest moment of our whole time together, your letter to m wife, kay, and it really gave her the hope and the peace and from thatime forward, as more people got involved, especially the amba tssadere, in india, things became more peaceful and the hope was there for the last four months that we really would get to come home because they planned for keeping me forthree to five years. The original charge thing was 35 quers. Right. And that was cleared and then h new charges to do a seven years term. You responded very well to, they responded very well to my request and i appreciate that. I appreciate everthing you did. Thank you all for being with us. An have a few more people want to get get bacwe will get them back and they will be back very soon. Thank you very miah. Appr it. Great stories. President trump as you juarst having a conversation with six people who were held captive the different countries. They wererought back by the Trump Administration and as you could tell, President Trump himself personally involved. Lets bring in a number ourf o core analysts. They are mark shields, david brooks, Gary Abernathy, Cynthia Tucker and our own amy walre here at ble. With me, mark i am going to come how much does it them in our understanding of who donald trump is in our comprehension of what kind of leader he is when we seehis sort of scen of him and we hear about what he has done with these hostages . Well it is a new wrinkle, judy. This is a part, notpart of e narrative. It wasnt during his campaign. There was never an attempt to introduce the kinder, gentler, softer side of donald trump. I cant help but think part of this is a response, yes, to Joe Biden Campaign last week in which he said decency is on the ballot, compassion is on the ballot, integry is on the ballot. Ballot. In 2020. But i think also it had to be spurred in part by the revelations of his sister who haknown himlike the others for some 76 years former federal judge who said donald has no principles. He is out for donald, period, you cant trus him. He has a lack of preparation, the lying, what they are doing with kids at the border, my god if you were a religious person you want to help people, not this. I think that must have stung deeply, and this is somewhat damage control, as well. You are referring to the audiotapes that were released by the president s niece, mary trump, the daughter of his late brother, she was speaking with her aunt ov of course david brooks of several conversations she recorded her aunt witho letting her aunt know, but in the course of that conversation mary ann trump was pretty candid in her assessment of her brother. You put that tother with what are seeing at this convention, david, and again, a side of the president we dont normally see, but it is one with they are happy to tell us about. Yes. I thought that was a nice segment w be honest. Nice to see the people back and it seemed like good people, truly there are a lot of elements in this convention, the first is a lot of conventions are geared towardswing voters. Sometimes the conventions are geared toward winning over donald trump to hself. And so it is designed to ma edm feel affirmed and to make him feel valid so he can say, yeah, i looked good on that one, notecessarily the way you win elections but there has been that cultish quality and there have been a lot of good speeches i am getting emails and texts from people not particularly political but like, they liked walker, so i worry that donald trump is doing something that he is really good at, which is trolling us and getting the media to react ainst him and then generating supporthat way. And that is somethi he is excellent at and dont want to fall in that trap of being reflexively attendant trump, sometimes i certainly do falin that trap. Overall, i think, you know, the agenda i clear which is he shhas got to that this country is on the verge of chaos, this country is on the verge of some fundamental shift in values and society and that is the argument. Thats the only argument he has got and that argument peak up every five minutes or so, and al lot l depenfrankly on how much chaos there is over the next few months, how much crime rises over the next few monthk , i th is a harr argument to make with joe biden and kala harris at the top of the ticket on the othe. R side what about that Cynthia Tucker . I an, canth succeed at painting the president a little bit warmer and fzzier, if you will, at the same time they make us reay more afraid of t democrats and the mob rule out in the streets . Well, i am finding so far tonight that for me there is a i found the segment on the stages affected. I thought those were nice moments, even seeing the president with them. He mostly let them talk, let them talk about their experiences. I thought that was well done. However, we had also heard from the mccloskeys and my gdness, they were throwbacks to an era of the 1960s ofhen neighborhoods were integrating and white segregationists were saying, putting out the most fearful things about what would happen if black and brown people moved into your neighborhood. So for me, these moments are bouncing between the warm and and over four nights we will see which moments win out. And what about that, gary abisnathy, do you think ther a consistent message coming here or being moved from one side of the pinball mache to another . Yes. Right, right. And fuzzy is ever the target for tr ap. I think the beyond trying to convince anybody that trump is warm and fuzzy. Little bi last week a about the fact that democrats tend to win the empathy vote, republicans seldom do anyway and trump is certaly not going to get that, but i the did think that he does have a lot to run on. He has some positive things, you know, the hostages coming home, thats a pitive. And as far as his supporters are concerned, he haeetried to virtually every campaign promise. We dont want hi keep his say, Campaign Promises because we didnt like h and didnt want him to build a wall and tear up trade agreements and so on but he said he was going to do those things and he has done those things. Probably more than any president jucan remember the kind of es and justices he has appointed. He really tried to do that. So it is going to be in to watch this week, you know, ightite what any polls say now or where anyone is at, the election really starts after these two conventions are over y d we get to september and most americans finaart to tune in and Pay Attention to what is going on. It is a reset and everything arts now. And amy, i mean given that and given it really is seriously we have been following it very close and there have been a hanging on every word the way we are, but is it coming is there one message that is coming through tonight that you think is going to be there and stay there . The one message, and the it was interesti that david brought up Steve Scalise, because he had a quote herat the very end, he said who better to lead us out of the toughwe timere in than the president who already built the conomy our country has ever seen. Thats actually a message that president to delier over and over and over again, because it is an advantage you see it e olling, i hear about it in people who are doing focus groups, withuburban voters, the sense that this covid thing wasnt Donald Trumps faul, the economy cashing, not Donald Trumps fault. I dont really like the way he has haned the covid crisis but if the economy is going to come back he is somebody who understands how to b the economy back and just drive that over and over the and over again. And scalise is one of thonly ones to actually make thives case, instead we have seen a lot more from some of the seakers t the individuals, not the served the regular people like with the hostages and others. Right. But with lwith the panned speakers a lot more on the grvance politics and this idea of democrats are going to go crazy. H well, while ye been talking, scary left video has been showing and now we see nikki haley former u. N. Ambassador at the Republican National convention, i will start with a it is about an am ambassador to the United Nations, and it is about a speech she gave to this convention. He is called for the reelection of the republican president she served and she called out his democratic opponent, a former Vice President from a failed administraon. That ambsador said, and i que, democrats always blame America First. The year was 1984. The president was ronald reagan, and ambassador Jane Kirkpatricks words are just as true today. Joe biden and the democrats are still blaming ameri first. Donald trump has always put and he has earned four more years deas presi. It was an honor of a lifetime to serve as the united stse ambassador to the United Nations. Now, to the u. N. Is not for the faint of heart. It is a place where dictaertors, murd and thieves denounce america and then put their hands out and demand that we pay thei bills. To all of that. Trump put an end with his leadership, we did whaa ck obama and joe biden refused to do. We stood u for america and we stood against oures enemi. Barack obama and biden let north korea threaten america. President trump rejected that weakness and we passed the toughest sanctions on north korea in history. Barack obama and biden let iranu get away witer and literally sent them a planeful of cash. President trump did the right thing and ripped up the iran nuclear deal. Barack obama and biden led the unit o nations to denounur friend and allye isl. President trump moved our embassy to jerusalem and when the u. N. Tried to condemn us, i was proud to cast the american veto. This president has a record of strength and success, the former vice pnt has a record of the weakness and failu. Joe biden is good for iran and isis, great for communist in and he is a good send evto eryone who wants america to apologize, abstain and abandon our values. Donald trump takes a diffent approach. He is tough on china and he took on isis and won. And he tels the world what it needs to hear. At home, the president is the clear choice on jobs andhe economy. He has moved america forward,bi while jon has held america back. When joe was vp, i was governor of the great state of South Carolina. We had a pretty good ruct manuers of all kinds knocked to our state from overseas, creating te of leousands of american jobs. Peere referring to South Carolina as the beast of the southeast, which i loved. Everything we did happned in spite of joe biden and his old boss. We cut taxes, they raised them. We slashed red tape. They piled on more mandates, and when we brought in good paying jobs biden and barack obama sued us. I foughhet back andy gave up. A biden harris admiistration last time joes boss was barack obama. This time it would beos pi, sanders, and the squad. Their vision for america is socialism and we know that socialism has failed everywhere. They want to tell americans how , theye, what to think want a government takeover of healthcare. They want to ban frking and kill millions of jobs. They want massive tax hikes o working families. Would be a disaster for our left leading a new a ofdent trump is opportunity. Before communt china gave us the coronavirus, we were breaking economic recor left and right. The pandemic had set usack but not for long. President trump brought our econd y back before he will bring it back again. There is one more imptant area where our president is right. He knows that Political Correctness and cancel culture are dangeusnd just plain wrong. In much of the democratic itrty, s now fashionable to say that america is racist. That is a lie. Amera is not a racist country. This is personal fo. R me i am the proud daughter of indian immigrants. They cacame to amend settled in a small southern town. He my fwore a turban. My motr wore a sari. I was a brown girl in a black and white world. We faced discrimination and hardship, but my parents neverga in to grievance and hate. My mom built successful business. Myad taught 30 years at a historically black college and the peop of South Carolina chose me as their first minority d first female governor. Is aica is a story that work in progress. Now is the time to build on that progress and make america even freer, fairer and better for everyone. That is why it is so tragic to see so much of the Democratic Party turning a blind eye towards riots and rage. The American People knw we can do better and of course we value and respect every black life. The black cops who have been shot in the line of duty, they matter. The black Small Business owners who watched their lifes work go up in flames, they matter. The black kids who have been gunned down on the playground, their lives matter to. And their lives are being ruined and stolen by the violence on our streets. It doesnt have to be like thi ca wasnt like this in south lina five years ago. Our state came itfacetoface evil, a white supremacist walked into Mother Emmanuel Church during bible study. 12 africanamericans pulleup a chair and prayed with him for an hour. Hen he began to shoot after that horrifitragedy, we didnt turn against each other. We came together black and white, democrat and republican together we made the hard choices needed to heal and removed a divisive symbol peacefully and respectfully. What happened then should give ope now. America isnt perfect but the principles we hold dear are perfect. There is one thing i hae learned it is that even on our worse day, we are blessed to live in america. It is time to keep that blessing alive for the next generation. This president and this party are committed to that noble task. We seek a nation that rises together, not falls apart in anarchy and anger. We know that the only way to overcome americas challenges is to embrace ameri scaengths. We are striving to reach a Brighter Future where every child goes to a World Class School chosen by thei parents, where every family lives in a Safe Community with good jobs, where every entrepreneur has the freedom o achieve and inspire, where every believer can worship without fear and every life is protected. Where every girl eand bory woman and man of every race and religion has the bestshot at the best life in this electusion we choose the only candidate who has and will contue delivering on that vision. President trump and vice and american has our promise. Rt, we will build on the progress ot our and unlock the promise of our future. That future starts when the american peoplreelect President Donald Trump than th you, good night and may god always bless america. Good evening, america. I am donald trump, jr. We are here tonig talk about the Great American story, to talk about this country we all love, this land of promise and opportunity, of heroes and greatness. Just a few short month ago, we rican dreag the a become a reality for more of r citizens than ever bore. The greatest prolonged economic expansion in amerin history, the lowest Unemployment Rate in nearly 50 years, the lowest s,employment rate ever for black american hispanic americans, women, and pretty much every other demographic group. And then courtesy of the Chinese Communist party, the vus struck. The president quickly took a actionnd shut down travel from china. Joe biden and his democrat allies called my fher a racist and a xenophobe for doing i this they put plitical correctness ahead of the safety and security of the American People. Fortunately, the as thrus began to spread the president edted quickly and ensur ventilators got to hospitals that needed them the most and delivered ppe to our brave frontline workers and ralli the mighty private sector to tackle this new challenge. There is more work to do but there is a light at e end of the tunnel. Job gains are out pacing what the socalled experts expected. But bidens radical left wig policies would stop our economic recovery cold. He already isalking about shutting the country down again. It madness. Democrats claim to be more workers but they have spenthe entire pandemic trying to sneak irtax breaks for millionaires in milliostates into the relief bill and then attacked my father for suspending the payroll tax for middle class workers. In fact, if you think about , joe bidens entire mick platform seems desied to crush th working men and women. He supported the worst trade deals in the history of the planet. He voted for the nafta nightmare. Down the tubes went our auto industry. He pushed for tpp, goodbye, manufacturing jobs. Beijing bide again is so weak on china that the Intelligence Community recently assessed that the Chinese Communist party favors biden. They know he will wn us economically and on the world stage. Widen, den also wa to bring in more Illegal Immigrants to take jobs from american citizens. His open border policies would drive wages down for americans tt a time when lowincome workers were gng real wage increases for the first time in modern history. He has pledged to repeal the trump tax cuts whiche we biggest in our countryte eight years of barack obama and bidens slow growth, trumps policies he been lik rocket fuel to the economy and especially to the middle class. Biden has promised to take thck money out of your pocket and keep it in the swamp aka. That sense, though, considering joe biden is basically the lockness monster of the swamp. For the past half century, he has been theurking around in there. He six his head up every now and then to run for president , then he disappears and doesnt do much inbetweenar so if yolooking for hope, look to the man who did what the failed Barack Obama Biden administrati never could do myd build the greatest econo our country has ever seen, and President Trump will do it again. We will be stronger than ever because when we put our mind to it, there iso obstacle that america cant surmount. Except there is a difference this time. In the past, both parties believed in the goodness ofer a. We agreed on where we wanted to go, we just disagreed on how to get there. This time, the other party is attacking the veryprinciples on frich our nation was founded, dom of thought, freedom of speech, 42 freedom of religion,h rule of law. Veomas jefferson famously said i worn upon the altar of god eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man. Our founders believed there was nothing more importanthan protecting our god given right to think for oselves. Now, the left they are trying to cancel all of those founders. This important prle. Nderstand in order to improve in the future, we must learn from our st, not erase it. So we are not going to tear down monuments and forget the people who built our greatation. Instead, we will learn from our past so we dont repeat any mistakes. And we will work tirelessly to improve the lives of all americans. Joe biden and e radical left e now coming for our freedom of speech. They want to bully into submission. If they get their way, it will no long per the silent majority. It will be the silenced hmajority. Th to stop. Freedom of expression used to be a liberal vae. At least before the radical left took over. W the Republican Party is the home of free speech, the place where anyone frba anground can speak their mind and may the best ideas win. People of faith are under attack. You are not allowed to go to church but ss chaosn the streets gets a pass. It is almost like this election is shaping up to be church, work and school rsus rioting, looting and vandalism, or in the wos of biden, and the democrats, peaceful presting. Anarchists have been flooding our streets and democst mayor are ordering the police to stand down. Small businesses across america, many of them mirityowned are being torched by mobs. The mocrat mayors pretend it is not happening. They actually called it a summer of love. And that brings me to another importan principle. Every american must be free to live without fear of violence in your country, in your Community Communities and in yourme hos. All men and womenre created equal and must be treated equally under the law. That is why we must put an end to racism and we must ensure, ensure that any Police Officer who abuses their powers is held accountable. What happened to george floyd is a disgrace and iayou know Police Officer you know they agree with that too. Lbut we can nose sight of the fact that our police are american heroes. They deserve or deepest appreciation. Because no matter what the democrats, s you and i both know when we dial 911, we dont want it ing to voice mail. So defunding the police is not an option. Everything starts with safety had security. You can anything else without it. You cant focus on building a bettd future for your chren without the peace of mind that they can study safely in their classrooms. Play safely in their bighborhoods and sleep safely in theds. But safety is only the beginnicg. Trumps amis a land of opportunity. I as fortunate enough to grow up in a family that could afford the best schools and the finest universities, but a great education cannot be the exclusive right of the rich and werful, it must baccessible to all. And thats why my dad is pro school choice. That is why he is called rights issue not just of our time but of alltime. Er is unacceptable that too many africanan and hispanic American Children are stuck in bad schools, just because of their zip code. Donald trump will not stand for it. If democrats really wanted to minorities in underserved communities, instead of bough to big money, union bosses, they would let parents choose what school is best for their kids. They would limit immigration to protect american works, they would support the police who protect our neighborhoods. They would learn how negotiate trade deals that prioritize americas ierests for a change. They would end the endless wars and quit sending our young people to solve problems in foreign lands. They would cut taxes for families and workers. They would create opportunities zones that drive investment into inner cities. In other words, if democrats women of our country, they would do exactly what President Trump is doing. America is the greatest country on earth, b my fathers entire world view resolves around the idea that we can always do even better. Imagine the life you want to have, one with a great job,a beautiful home, a perfect family, you can have it. Imagine the country you want to opportunity, wherd work equal pays off and justice is served with compassion and without part yall at this. You, partiality, you can have it. Imagine a world where the evils of communism and radical islamic terrorism are not given a chance to spread, where h are celebrated and the good guys win. You can haveit. That is the fe, that is the countr that is the worlwith that donald trump and the Republican Party are after, and, yes, you can have it. E becalike joe biden and the radical left democrats, our everyone. Pen to it starts by rerejecting radicals who want to drag us into thean dar embracing the man who represents a bright and beautiful future for all. It starts by reelecting donald j. Trump president of the United States. Thank you. And god bless america. Thats the president s older son, older son, donald trump, that is mainly empty here in washington, d. C. The meloauditorium a Historic Building in our city. I am now joined by our two correspondent who cover the white house and cover capitol hill, Yamiche Alcindor, of course is at the white house this evening. She is there along with Lisa Desjardins. Yamiche, this was an age bring the speech from President Trumps son donald trump, jr. At e point he described it as you could almost say describing what the decrats want work, church ad school pitted against rioting, lootind vandalism. And trulyust going after the democrats chapter and verse here here. This is a central part of the president s message, is it not . It is, judy, and thats why i described at the beginning there was really th bis tensiween the Trump Campaign saying there was going to be an uplifting feeling this this convention and the reality which is that esident trump often talk about fear, and what you saw was donald trump, jr. Is him making the case that democrats are dangerous and will destroy the american way of life and destroy the ideals of america. He made the case that the democrats want to cancel founders, now i should say, democrats as well as racial scholars have been making a lotg of, pa lot of attention to the founding of america, the fact that African Americans werh enslavedfact that the land was 0 solely by, was stolen from native americans. But here the Republican Party ars made the case over and over again that the focusing too much on the founding of america and the problems of america means there is going to be this danger of taking away all of the greatness that is america we heard over ,and over again racial theme, as part of this convention, we we heard someoney the Democratic Party is trying to keep black people on a mental plantation, they also said ey were trying to bring 0 out of d ntrol mobs to a neighborhood near you he case they were trying to say the democrats want to enslave peoe and keep them in a victim ideology. While yes, they were talking about the fact that president electedould be the man the tone of this has really been an angry tone and one that ha s realgone through the entire convention. And just to continuthat theme, Lisa Desjardins, before we heard from donald trump, jr. , we heard from nikki haley, of course the former governor of south caroina, former ambassador to the United Nations at oneoint she said it is fashionable in the Democrati Party to say americas racist but is a lie, this is not a racist cub and proceeded to talk about her own familys experience, she is the daughter of indian immigrants and grew up in south carolin but they ar trying to tackle this question of race which is front and center in our country right now. And, haley, of course is a very important speak for republicans, because she is a female for of color that could fk to those issues and she sa me this is personal. He is said america is not a racist country. He is accused democrats of saying that america is a racist i think democrats in response would say, no, we are pointing out systemic rm isat lives in this country, we are not naying that america in its core and its fding in any of its possibilities is racist, we are saying that racism exists in this country, isersive in this country and we need tackle it. R t what you see in this convention, whet is haley, with sort of a more calm demeanor or donald trump, jr. Or the guilfoyle with emotional tonal you see republicans talk about identity, democrats are talking about it too and seeing these two different visions of which kind of identity is at at stake. Again democrats say what republicans is doing through looking at an identity of the pass and stoking fear in one group of americans primarily white americans, saying democrats will take your guns, take your god, also force you do rot be able to speak your mind as we heardm donald trump, jr. Democrats say, all of that is untrue, that is not what they are trying to do instead this is just based on fear tactics. This is the democrats argument. One thing to note this is about votes and some democrats have been going back and forth with tonight have said, hey, we are on offenon, clearly, we d see that from republicans tonight. They are going for their codi ce, also i think republicans are hoping to raise some money from this. They are putting on theirn ow feed, names of people who have donated money. It is somweething that ant see here in our studio, but you are saying viewers at home, whether they are watching on television or online are seeing that. Lisa desrdins, Yamiche Alcindor, both of whom have covered this, are covering this election, have been covering this president , been covering the congress for us for months and have certainly seen this story, up close, and now the final speaker of the evening is the republican senator from the state of sth carolina, tim scott. The great state of South Carolina. To all of you tuning in and participating in the political process, god bless y, this isnt how i pictured tonight but our country is experiencing manager none of us envisioned. From a Global Pandemic to theof deathseorge floyd and brianna taylor, 2020 has tested our nation in ways we havent seen for decades. D gardless of the chance presen us, every four years americans come together to vote. To share stories of what makes our nation strongnd the lessons we have learned, can strengthen it for further elnerations because while this tion is between donald trump and joe biden, it is not solely about donald trump and joe biden. It is about the promise of america. Neis is about you and me, our ch and heartbreaks, hopes and dreams, it is about how we respond when tackling Critical Issues like police refm,hen almocrats call our work a token effort andd out of the room during negotiations, because they wanted to issue more than they wanted a solution. Do we wan a society that breathes success or a culture that cancels everything it even slightly disagrees with . I know where i stand. Because you see, i am living my mothers american dream. My parents divorcewhen i was seven years old and we moved in with my grandparents into a twobedroom home with me, my mom and my brother sharing a room and one bed. My mom worked 16 hours a day to keep taod on thble and a roof over our heads. He is knew that if we could find the opportunity, bigger things would come. I thought i had to use football to succeed in life, and my focus my freshman year, i failed out and failed four subjects, spanish, english, world a geograph even civics. Trust me, though, after seven years in the senate, i know i am not the only one in congress who failed civics. But even while i was failing the ninth grade, my mother always said to me, timmy, if you would just shoot for the moon, even if you miss,you will be among the stars. He is never lt faith in me, even when i lost faith in myself. Because of her encouragement, i witnessed, i went with back to school and caught up. The next year i met my the mentor, muniz a chickfila operator and john saw something in myself i could not see in myelf andarted teaching me valuable life lessons like having a job would be good thing but creating jobs would be that having an income could change my lifestyle, by crting a, but creating a profit could change my community. He planted the seeds of what would become opportunity zones. This initiative that the president and i workedogether on is now bringing more th5 an llion of private Sector Investment into distreed communities. I took those lessons to heart and started putting the pieces ofmy life back together. I realized a qality education is the closest thing to magic in wamerica. That i fight to this day for school choice, to make sure every child and every neighborhood has a quality education. Isi dont care if it public, private, charter, virtual, or a homeschool. A patient has a choice their kid has aetter chance. And the president has fought algside me on that. Later in life, i started my own Small Business. That is why i know it is critical for us to have a tax code that encourages growth. We actually saw ref. 01 us to thurtreas increase after we lowered taxes in 2017. Rest assured that democrats do not want you to know that. After starting my Small Business and spending some time in local government, i decided to run for congress in 2010. The, South Carolina where theon civil war started. Against a soof our legendary senator, strom thurmond, you may be aski yourself, how does a hoor black kid from a single parent hous run and win in a race crowded with republicans against a thurmond . Because of the evolution of the southern heart. The in an overwhelmingly white dirict the voters judged me not on the color of my skutin b on the content of my character. We live in a world that only wants you to believe in the ba news, racially, economically, and culturallyolarizing news. The truth is, our nations a always bent back towards fairness. We are not fully where we want to be but i thank god almighty to be. Not where we used we are always striving to be better. When we stumble, and we will, we pick ourse blvck up and try again. We dont give in to cancel culture or the radical and factually baseless belief that things are worse today than in the 1860s or the 1960s. Have ork to do but i believe in the goodness of america, the promise that all men and all women are created equal. And if you watching tonight, i am betting you do too. Over the past four years, we hav made tremendous progress towards that promise. President trump built the most idmillion jobs created, prec9 and twothirds of nem went to women, afriericans and hispanics. The first new major effort to tackle poverty in a generation, opportunity zones. We put hard earned tax back in peoples poets by ctting their taxes, espeially for single parent households like the one i grew up in, cuttinsingle mothers taxes 70 percent, on average p President Trump supported these tax cuts for those single moms and other working families and signed tese policies into law sod our nation is better off for it. Am going to ask you, the American People,o ot tsimply look at what the candidates say, but to lk back at what he they have done. This election is abou your future and it is critical to paint a full picture of the record of donald trump and joe biden. Joe biden said if a black man didnt vote for him, he wasnt n uly black. Joe biys, black people are enmonolithic community. It was joe b who said poor kids can be just as smart and while his words are one thing, his actions take it to a whole new level. In 1994, biden led the charge on a crime bill that puton milli of black americans behind bars. President umps criminal Justice Reform law fixed many of the disparities biden created and made our system more fair anjust for all americans. Joe biden also failed our nation to historically black colleges and universities. Ap g blame on them as they fiewt ensure our young folks had educationhigher once again, to clean up joe bidens mess President Trump signed intoaw historically high funding for hbcs as well as a bill to give them permanent funding for the first time ever. Annow joe biden wants to come for your pcketbooks. Unless, of course, you are a blue state millionaire. I am serious. That is one of their solutions icfor the pand. They want to take more money from your pockend give it to manhattan elites and hollywood owls so they get a tax break. Republicans,er, passed President Trumps once in a generation tax reform bill that lowered taxes for single moms, working famies, and those in need. So when it comes to what joe biden says he will do, look at his actions. Look at his policies. Look at what he already did and what he didnt do while he has been in washington for 47 years. Ladies and gentlen, people dont always see those failures, because they think we are having a policy deb on two sides of an issue. That is not what is happening. Our side is working on policy, while joe bidens radical democrats are trying to permanently transform what it means to be american. Make no mistake, joe biden and Kamala Harris want a cultural revolution, a fundamentally different america. If we let them they will turn our couny into aocialist utopia, and history has taught us that path only leads to pain and misery, especially for hardworking people hoping to rise. Instead, we must focus on the promise of the american journey. I know at journey well. My grandfathers 99th birthday would have been tomorrow. Growing , he had to cross the street if a a white person was coming. Suffered the indignity of being forced out of school as a third grader to pick cotton and he never learned to read or write. See he lived long enough to his grandson become the first africanamerican to be elected to both the United States house and the United States senate in the hiiory of ths country. Our family went fromtt con to congress in one lifetime. And that is why i believe the next American Century can better than the last. There are millions of families just like mine all across this nation full of potential, seeking to lie american dream. You that supporting theo tell republican ticket gives you the best chance of making that dream a reality. God bless you and, fathe please continue blessing the United States of america. God bless you have been listening to the junior senator from the state of South Carolina. He is republican tim scott. He is the only africanamerican republican senator and we have ard a pretty passionate speech from senatovor scott ating, of course for the reelection of President Trump. Joining me he is the last speaker of this first night of the public National Convention speaking from aauditoriumn downtown washington, the melon auditorium. Joining me now, family cast who has been with us all night a be with us for the rest of the brooks, gharib abernathy, Cynthia Tucker and here at the table with me, amya wer, amy, we heard tim scott over and over again continue believe ws t the democre telling you, things are not as bad as they say the and the president has ne much more and will do much more for this countanry. Hey have led you to believe. Well, and specifically senator scott was talking about, was doing more for black americs than joe biden had done. Of course, the president has many times not shown the level of suprt for the b community, specifically, calling black lives Matter Movement a symbol of hate, he tweeted that out. He questionerecently if senator Kamala Harris was indeed a u. S. Citizen and thusal ied to be Vice President. Birther questions he had about president barack obama. Tht let me just say a couple of gs about tonight. I think what both senator scott and nikki haley did deliver on was what yamiche mentioned early on was the sense of oimism that republicans said was missing from the democrats and that they would deliver, i think both of them delivered that. What is the most surprising to me, though,i guess understandable given the his handling of th coronavirus, but really element no discussion from any of the prime tit speakers abhe fact that we are in the middle of a pandemic, about the reason that we are not all sitting arounthe table tonight is because we are still in the middle of a terrible pandemic that is affecting every single aspect of our lives. You are right. Earlier in the eving we did see the president with a group at the white house. Thats right. Socalledrontline workers thats right. Nurses. One policewoman, so there was me mention. But there was a lot more looking backwards rather than here is herisis what hoing to do. Looking back certainly in the last hour. David brooks, listening to tim scott it was quite an indictment y the democratic vision, i mean at the vd, i noticed he said they will turn our country d to a socialist utopia. At was on top of Everything Else that he said about how the democrats have it wrong. Just pointing out utopia thats a good thing, i think he meant dystopia, the republican arty cant remain moly healthy or politically successful as an all white party. And some people t that, Timothy Scott gets it, he is a very good guy and i i think he is very good senator. Max alvarez the cuban immigrant who gave the best speech of the night gets it, it is interesting the best speech was given by immigrant in a donald trumpey convention so re trying to show at least those two speakers , a couple of others incluleding nikki that america is still a land of opportunity for all people, of all diffent types. You cant run that consequence nc the same night you are running the mludes mcclusky conn which is get those people off my swn, you cant run it thame night as donald trump, jr. Is saying, rioting, looting and vandalism, which is the update i guess of what was used to get georgecgovern, amnesty and abortion, you cant say we want you and then also say we dont want you. And i am not sure anybody is going to fall for this. So for me tonight the eeches were with better than i thought they would be, but this is a party folded in against itself trying at some level for some ldople to appeal to what sht be. Woodruff mark shields, there were two differe ton tonight. You have to say. The one angry tone, one we heard from donald trump junior and then almost a pleading mixed in with some with a lot of criticism from a senator tim scott and from nicki haley. And Kimberly Guilfoyle gave this almost frenetic speech that one might give to a an excited to empty arena. Nd to ball field just seemed bizarre. If i was scheduling i would have had herscchel walker speak late, rather than donald trump junior or miss guilfoyle,ho iht that tim scott messagivity was interesting, the onlliy ve speeches tonight after the president criticized too many taped speeches last week at the y liveatic convention o ones i think were governor hal haley, senator scott, and chairman chairwoman m mcdaniel. Everody else was on tape. But to me i mostnteresting speeches were quite frankly walker, scott and haey and hal haley, making putting best spin that they possibly could on the trp story. Woodruff gary, what about this juxtaposition of, i dont know, the niki haley message and ven tim scott message donald trump junir and some of the others. Certainly mccloskeys. Dvid mentioned needing to be more inclusive. We cant just the party, cant be the party of the white yeople. I remember eighs ago there was a big postmortem very highly publicize the at thenc whave to do, this reach out to more minorities, bring moreeople in. Then donald trump won the 2016 nomination. It would be wonderful to bringit more mins into, tim scott made it he was the best speaker of the night, i thought. But, you know, with the Electoral College makes it possible to win e presidency by doing what trump did four years ago hes troubling down. Ae mccloskeys it was a shame, for moricans they had a werful argument about right to defend your property. I dont know of anybody black or white that really wantsundreds of marchers, proteste, rye iters showing unannounced on your lawn. But again i think that is good argument. They veered off isomething that do tracked. You know who was best. Donald trump, you are going to see trump himself every night because when trump is on enthe sct was the most watchable