Sounded sounded familiar. We want our children and all children in this nation to know we want our children in this nation to know that the only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work hard for them. That the only limit to your achievements is the strength of your dreams and your willingness to work for them. It is a big controversy this morning. Trumps Campaign Manager was on new day. His name is Paul Manafort. He says these accusations are simply absurd. Who takes the fall for cribbing Michelle Obamas speech in 2008 . Whos fault is that . Well, theres no cribbing of Michelle Obamas speech. These were common words and values, that she cares about her family, that things like that she was speaking in front of 35 Million People last night. She knew that. To think that she would be cribbing Michelle Obamas words is crazy. Its i mean, this is once again an example of when a woman threatened Hillary Clinton, how she seeks out to demean her and take her down. Its not going to work. All im saying is the language is strikingly similar. Im not making a big deal of it. I know everybodys talking about it this morning, but i dont think its an allegation. Its not some suggestion without proof. I think it happened. I dont understand why the campaign doesnt just own it and say, people borrow phrases, thats what happened and move on. Thats what ironically obama did in 2008 when clinton said he cribbed. He said, yeah, youre right, i did it. No. He did do it. That is correct. But in this particular case certainly theres no feeling on her part that she did it. You know, what she did was use words that are common words. To expect her to think that she would do Something Like that knowing how scrutinized her speech was going to be last night is just really absurd. We are covering all of this with our team of political reporters and experts. I want to begin with Phil Mattingly. What can you tell us . Carol, obviously the Trump Campaign not giving an inch at all, in fact going on the attack. But were already starting to see splits. Ive been talking to republicans all morning. Theyre all frustrated by this and frankly they all dont want to talk about it. Just a few minutes ago at breakfast Reince Priebus saying he would quote probably fire a speech write r who had any role in what happened with Melania Trumps speech last night. He went on the couch it by saying it kind of depends on the circumstances and how these things are written. But no question about it, the rnc chairman saying somebody should be fired for what happened last night. A night that was supposed to be a big launching moment is now problematic. The similarities are starting. You work hard for what you want in life. That you work hard for what you want in life. That your word is your bond, that you do what you say youre going to do. That your words is your bond and you do what you say and keep your promise. Melania trumps big moment on the National Stage overshadowed by an unexpected moment. Trump delivering a speech with plagiarized packa ed passages f Michelle Obamas speech from 2008. We want our children and all children in this nation to know because we want our children in this nation to know that the only limit of the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work hard for them. That the only limit to your achievements is the strength of your dreams and your willingness to work for them. And thats not all. That you treat people with dignity and respect even if you dont know them and even if you dont agree with them. That you treat people with respect. Under a firestorm of criticism online, the Trump Campaign issuing this statement overnight, saying, quote, melanias team of writers took notes on her lifes inspirations and in some instances included fragments that reflected her own thinking. But the statement doesnt acknowledge the allegations of plagiarism, mention who helped mrs. Trump write her speech or explain where those fragments came from. In an interview shot before her big speech, melania seems to take most of the credit for the content of her remarks. I wrote it and with a little help as possible. Donald trumps apprenticelike entrance to introduce his wife on stage, yet another moment that has everyone talking about this unconventional convention. And carol, the campaign obviously publicly not giving my ground, but behind closed doors there appear to be some problems. Top Paul Manafort advisor rick gates is said to have over seen the entire process for Melania Trump. Thats according to sources familiar with the campaign telling me colleagues that. Theyre also saying donald trump is furious. While the campaign not backing down at all publicly, there are clearly some issues. I can vouch for that talking to source this is morning. There was a mad scramble after the speech was given last night as they tried to figure out their way forward here. There are clearly a lot of questions right now. The campaign is, at least internally, seeking answers. All right. Thanks so much. Joining me now on the phone barry bennett, a former Senior Advisor to the Trump Campaign. Good morning, sir. Hey, carol. So did Melania Trump were parts of her speech plagiarized . Well, you know, plagiarized is a tough word, but its hard to argue that there are entire phrases and sections that are almost identical to the 2008 speech. Do you believe that Melania Trump, like she told nbc, wrote most of this speech . Well, i think she probably feels like she did, but obviously there were Staff Writers who were putting this together who did her a great, great, great disservice. I thought it was a fabulous speech and a great introduction. And to have it tainted by horrific staff work is incredibly disappointing. We understand that the person overseeing Melania Trumps speech was rick gates, who was a top advisor to Paul Manafort or a top aide to Paul Manafort, rather. First of all, do you know that to be true . Im not physically involves, but sources have told me that, yes. So it was rick gates. So what should happen to rick gates . Should donald trump turn around and fire him or fire someone who might have been responsible for pulling these passages out of Michelle Obamas speech . Ive been a Campaign Manager to president ial campaigns before and if a staffer for me had done this, they wouldnt be there at the end of the day. So you would have fired that person . I mean, i think to embarrass a spouse in front of her First National audience, thats inexcusable. Why doesnt the Trump Campaign, mr. Trump in particular, come out and Say Something about this . I know we heard from Paul Manafort and he sort of denied the whole thing. But youre right, its difficult to deny that parts of Melania Trumps speech sound awfully familiar to parts of Michelle Obamas speech. Yeah. I mean, i people always try to deny that this happened, but if you look at the phrasing, just play the audio clips, i mean, there is not a deniable offense. So is this the time that donald trump should come out and say, look, im really sorry about what happened and i feel terrible about what its done to Melania Trump, who was very nervous before this speech. So i am going to fire whoever was responsible for writing parts of mrs. Trumps speech. Should he come out and say that . My guess is he will defend his wife very strongly. I have not you know, i dont talk to him on a daily basis. But the trump i know is not going to tolerate this. You know, we know that Melania Trump did not show up when mr. Trump announced his choice for the vp pick and we know that she had to be talked into giving this speech at the convention. Is there strife between the two over this run for president by donald trump . I think that she can be, i mean, a tremendous asset. She speaks six languages. Shes a very smart person. Shes not accustomed to, you know, speaking to 35 Million People on television every night. But she can be such a tremendous asset to the campaign. Didnt get off to a very good start. So should she come out and Say Something . Because, i dont know, if i was Melania Trump id be so angry about this. And id want to Say Something. Should she Say Something . Yeah. Theyre both in new york this morning and i am certain they are breakfast this morning was probably pretty tense. Yeah. You know, the other question i have is the trump surrogates and people who work for the Trump Campaign, they seem to be on different pages when it comes to this. Paul manafort said melania did not plagiarize. Chris christie said sure she plagiarized but just 7 of the speech. Then you heard what Phil Mattingly reported about Reince Priebus, he said, id fire the speech writer. Nobody is on the same page here apparently. Pncht yeah. It takes a while. But i think by the end of the day everyone will be on the same page with mr. Trump leading the charge. But the question is why arent they on the same page now . These allegations came out hours and hours ago. They came out last night. I mean, i actually saw some postings now that came out before her speech when they released a copy of her speech, people already these phrases that were identical to Michelle Obamas speech. Obviously there was really really really poor staff work. Poor staff work. So what does that say about the Trump Campaign . It sounds like they need better staff. This late in the game . Well, luckily its, you know, july, not november. The campaign that theyve run, you know has not been perfect by any stretch, but they are still in the hunt or, you know, in the margins of error of almost every poll. They can increase their game, make their game better. Hes going to win. But its incumbent on them to do that. Isnt this a time during the convention to showcase the candidate, to showcase unity among republicans, right . To show donald trump in a new light as a caring, warm person, whose only interest is in the country. And now were talking about how his wife plagiarized her speech. And not just lifted but lifts from Michelle Obama. Yeah, i mean, horrific, just horrific. Do you think this will have lasting consequences . No. No, i dont. But i mean, its a lost opportunity. I mean, joe biden went through this several years ago. It stuck with him for 20 years, but that was because he was running for president. My guess is melanias speeches from this point forward will come from her and her alone. I think youre right about that. Barry bennett, thank you for being with this morning. Lets talk about this some more. Larry sabado is here with me. And Leslie Rutledge is also here. Ill start with you. Sure. You heard what mr. Bennett told me. Your general thoughts about what is going on here . I thought it was a terrific speech. I thought it was a phenomenal opportunity for Melania Trump to introduce herself, to taught her husband. And thats exactly what she did. Did she use some common phrases, m my gosh, wouldnt we like our children to have more influence you dont think she plagiarized . No, i dont think she plagiarized. She used very common phrases. The two guys on either side of you are kind of chuckling. Shes beautiful and smart and speeches six languages. I dont think anyones saying shes not smart or she didnt deliver the speech well. I just think some are accusing her of not her per se or whoever helped her with the speech of lifting these passages from Michelle Obamas speech. I dont think that she did. She probably read and researched on her own. These are common phrases. Does it sound similar . Yes. This is one of those situations where just admit i feel bad for melania, i really do. I dont think she wrote these words. I think these words are from someone who was helping her with her speech and they put them in there and it was amateur hour it was bush league and its a jv team and you should fire them. It takes you off message. This is the problem that the Trump Campaign has had. You have to come in here and own every day and have a messaging every day. Were spending hours this morning talking about something that should have never been something we were speaking about. The campaign should not be defending this. They should say someone screwed her over really badly, we have fired this person and theyre no longer in the campaign. I feel bad that you have to come out and act like this wasnt plagiarism. And it is plagiarism. Its not her fault. I think someone put these words in her. When you take them exactly and then you act like you didnt, it takes away from what she was trying to do. Isnt it telling, larry, that donald trump has not come forward with anything, mr. Tweet every second . He should have. He should have corrected it in the middle of the night. He normally is up tweeting. Carol, im a college professor. Ive taught for 40 years. Ive had 20,000 students. Ive had many many student goes to the Honor Committee for plagiarism. This is not minor plagiarism. This is major plagiarism and anyone guilty of it would be out of our university in 24 hours. It is an outrage. Whoever did it should have been identified within ten minutes and fired immediately. And its not in your interest to carrying th carry Something Like this on. Trump has a message every day that hes supposed to be communicating. This will eat up an entire day for him. You pay for your sins. A Convention Day is ten days in my opinion in media focus. Now hes lost an entire day. I feel awful for her. Because i think she did a great job. She didnt want to do that. I feel bad any time family gets taken out of context or misconstrued on a campaign. She did it to support her husband. This is a speech writer. This is an amateur speech writer who should be fired for this and we should know his name. Supposedly this rick gates had something to do with it. Hes not an amateur. When it comes to speech writing he is, because if you have to plagiarize Michelle Obama in this way. I would love to be talking about the mother whose son was killed and why Hillary Clinton is responsible and what Hillary Clinton has done. But unfortunately we are talking about this, because words are very similar. Were losing the message. We are talking about it because were not hearing from donald trump himself. Its the fact that youre actually saying it wasnt plagiarism which keeps the story going. Thats the part i dont understand. I dont understand that logic. With all due respect to the professor, as an attorney and chief legal officer of this state, we fully appreciate writing briefs and cite. Its important that we listen to the message of Melania Trump and not get distracted by this. But when you have folks with the never trump movement, they might as well be working for Hillary Clinton. Im slighted youre an english major. But as an english major you should know that one of the cardinal sins in your field is plagiarism, particularly of this sort. I understand. But however these are common phrases. Oh, please. Out of Michelle Obamas speech. Are you crazy . To me, it drives me crazy. I want donald trump to win. I want him to beat Hillary Clinton. But if you sit here and say this Paul Manafort phrase of its a common phrase. No, its not when you take it verbatim word for word. I would have not been able to graduate. You say it was wrong and this persons fired and you move on with the news cycle. Now every time someone defends what i would call the indefensible it keeps it going. Pause for just a second. Because a while back donald trump sat down with a radio talk show host and talked about joe biden and his plagiarism. This is what donald trump had to say about that just a few months ago. We dont have any sound. Youre killing me. Let me just shorthand it. Okay we have it. Yay. I want our viewers to hear it for themselves. I think id match up great. Im a job producer. Ive had a great record. I havent been involved in plagiarism. I think i would match up very well against biden. In light of what donald trump said, doesnt that isnt that a bit of irony . No. Again, i think that melania had an incredible message talking about donald trump as a husband, talking about donald trump as a leader. Today thats what we should be talking about. Today were going to be talking about how were putting america back to work. Thats what my speech tonight is going to be focused on. Thats what we need to be talking about as opposed to talking about whether or not some common phrases that we all use in arkansas i tell people i was raised right. Now, i doubt anyone is going to s