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Trump Does Walk-Through Before Tonight's RNC Speech. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired July 21, 2016 - 13:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


[13:30:00] WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: -- be reading speeches carefully scripted, carefully drafted speeches on the Teleprompters.

KELLYANNE CONWAY, SENIOR ADVISOR, DONALD TRUMP PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: They are. In the case of Ivanka, normally introductions, like the one you saw from Speaker Ryan of Mike Pence, they're very warm but tend to be very biographical and maybe one or two anecdotes. Ivanka is his daughter but also a co-worker. She calls him best friend, mentor and boss. I think you'll see a much richer illustration of their relationship and how this man has helped other people along the way, people who felt down and out, people who wanted another chance, people who have come looking for a job. You heard his sons emphasize this, too, and "The New York Times" wrote a piece this morning about this, Wolf, that this is a man, Donald Trump, who feels most comfortable talking to the electrician, the plumber, the foreman at a job, as comfortable as he is going up to see how the penthouse has turned up at the end of a project.

BLITZER: The three other children who are adults now, they all delivered very impressive speeches. Tiffany, the first night, only 22 years old.

CONWAY: Amazing.

BLITZER: Recent graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, very impressive, very poised for a 22-year-old. Extremely impressive, Donald Trump Jr, Eric Trump last night. All the Trump children, they're polished.

CONWAY: They're also great character witnesses. We all know if you can be judged in your life by the children you raised, you'll be just fine. The full measure of the man that is unfolding this week, is someone respected by those who work for him, but also by those who love him and call him dad. I thought the Trump-Pence combination is when he said look at the Trump family, you can't fake great kids. A lot of Americans can actually -- that resonates with him. The other thing he said, Mike Pence, said about himself is my greatest title has been D-A-D, not V.P. And that's very genuine when it comes to these two families.

BLITZER: I want to point out the microphones are off. They're talking. Viewers are probably saying let's listen to what Donald Trump is saying. This is closed press. We get a shot of it because we have cameras all over the Quicken Loans Arena, but they've turned off the microphones so we can't hear what he or Ivanka might be saying right now. This is normal.

Will there be a video tonight as well? Usually at a lot of these conventions, there's an extensive video introduction of the presidential nominee.

CONWAY: You may see that. You've see that every night. You saw a couple different out takes of the last several nights. We've worked on that over the last couple weeks and months, putting that together for the convention.

The thing about the videos, they get life after this. You can cut them down into ads, make them more documentary style. You can put them on the web. Donald Trump and his social media team are doing a phenomenal job reaching out to Millennials.

Speaking of Millennials, wolf, I feel Millennials get short shrift. Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner, next to her, they are Millennials. Giving an entire generation a great name, mature, poised, accomplished. They do this as a family affair, extended family affair. Articulate. I believe coming out of this convention tomorrow, Wolf, we will have seen this as the Trump convention. Coming out of Philadelphia next week, let's see if it felt like just Hillary Clinton's convention. She's been overshadowed by Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton. This is Trump's convention.

BLITZER: How big a problem was Ted Cruz last night?

CONWAY: I thought it was a huge disappointment. I ran his major super PAC. I understand the way he feels the way he does. He could have said that. He could have said, Donald Trump, I will never for what you did to my father and wife, but I love my country, and I don't want Hillary Clinton appointing the next Supreme Court justice. Ted Cruz, as a constitutionalist, could have said that.

Wolf, sometimes you can't be a little bit pregnant. You can't come to the convention and stand there where this man is going to be nominated, talk about -- I thought Ted Cruz gave an emphatic and compelling roster of conservative principles and why we're so different from Obama and Clinton, and then failed to say, and please elect this fall. I've heard from donors that are disappointed, activists that are angry. It's a split. I understand why he did it. It's a gamble for his political future. For many conservatives, the future is right now and we want to beat Hillary Clinton.

BLITZER: Donald Trump knew there was not going to be a formal endorsement.

CONWAY: That's right.

BLITZER: But he was gracious enough to let him come speak? Why?

CONWAY: A great word to use for Donald Trump, and one that is not used far enough, in my view. Donald Trump was gracious twice yesterday. Second when he found out hours before that Ted Cruz was not going to endorse, he could have plunked him off his convention schedule and not let him go forward. The first time he was gracious is refusing to accept the resignation of Meredith McIver who helped Melania Trump write the speech and took the responsibility for that error in having some of the words from a former speech --

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: Why didn't they come clean with that right away? Why wait two and a half days?

CONWAY: I don't know if it was two and a half days. I understand. Your point is well taken. I don't know if everyone knew the facts. Piecing together the evidence, if you will. Remember, this happened while the Trumps were flying back to New York that night from Melania's terrific --

(CROSSTALK)

[13:35:19] BLITZER: Paul Manafort, the campaign chairman, was put in an awkward position. He was denying there was any plagiarism, denying there was any lifting of comments, if you will, from Michelle Obama's speech eight years ago. Then all of a sudden we get the statement yesterday acknowledging, yeah, there was a problem --

(CROSSTALK)

CONWAY: The woman taking full responsibility and Donald Trump being incredibly gracious saying he wouldn't accept her resignation, she's been a part of the Trump family and organization for years.

Getting back to grace, Donald Trump could have taken that away from Ted Cruz. I think last night still belongs to Mike Pence. The country --

BLITZER: Most people aren't talking about Mike Pence on this day.

CONWAY: Well, they will ultimately. That's because people like the drama and Ted likes the headlines. You're starting to see a couple headlines on the web this afternoon, Wolf, where this gambit backfired.

BLITZER: For Ted Cruz.

CONWAY: For Ted Cruz. And people are scratching their heads. That remains to be seen.

Mike Pence, as the vice presidential nominee, will have a daily opportunity to restate the case he made last night to America. I think last night with Mike Pence, Americans got to see exactly why Donald Trump chose him.

BLITZER: You see Ivanka Trump there at the microphone. The microphones are turned off.

I want to let our viewers around the United States and a around the world know, she's practicing reading from the Teleprompter, getting advice from the stage floor director. Donald Trump is there, Paul Manafort. To the right, you see Jared Kushner, her husband, who is with her as well.

Scottie is with us, Scottie Nell Hughes, a CNN contributor, Donald Trump supporter.

Scottie, this is going to be for Ivanka Trump and for Donald Trump, I would argue, probably the two most-important speeches at least to date of their lives.

SCOTTIE NELL HUGHES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Absolutely. There's no better surrogate for Mr. Trump than Ivanka. She's proven that time and time again. She shows grace, competence, stability. She shows the fruit of the tree is strong. I think every parent would love to say we would love to have a daughter just like Ivanka. Tonight she's the best person to show the warmth of Mr. Trump before he comes on stage and he shows the leadership qualities type of character he will be.

BLITZER: She's practicing reading a little from the Teleprompter.

Scottie and Kellyanne, all of us know, and I do it all the time, it's not that easy getting that feel, delivering a speech, making it feel like you're just talking but you're really reading.

CONWAY: It's not that easy.

BLITZER: You need some coaching.

CONWAY: The Teleprompter isn't in front of you, either. It's to either side. You have to be very careful that you don't look like you're watching a tennis match.

The other thing, Wolf, this is a pretty empty hall. You have some media and maybe a couple stray delegates taking pictures. You can't replicate or fully anticipate what it will be like tonight when thousands and thousands of people will be in that hall with their signs --

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: And millions of people watching.

HUGHES: Except for the fact these are Trumps. Mr. Trump all year long has been speaking to tens of thousands of people in his rallies.

BLITZER: I've got to tell you, Scottie, he's much better as a speaker when he's speaking, has some notes and delivering off-the-cuff. When he's reading he becomes a little more stiff, if you will, not as natural. He's a more exciting speaker when he's just speaking.

HUGHES: That's the challenge for tonight. While I respect the type of Trump when he's talking about Teleprompter Trump, I know there's no way we would be here today putting Mr. Trump at the top of his ticket, nominating him as our president if he had done Teleprompter from day one. He would not be able to resonate, not be able to actually bond the Republican Party as his message has been able to do if he was reading from a Teleprompter a well-prepared script. CONWAY: A very presidential look right now, I would have to say, full

suit and tie and the flags. They get to look like they have command and control.

BLITZER: Got a little flavor. Looks like they're beginning to walk off the stage. Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump, they want to be comfortable tonight. They're getting advice from people on the stage all the time. You see floor directors, Jared Kushner, her husband, in the middle of the screen.

HUGHES: And Paul Manafort. I guarantee these will be probably two of the most well-vetted speeches ever. Every word has been checked, double-checked, to make sure it's authentic, completely their own. We know it's going to be scrutinized, one lesson we've learned this week.

BLITZER: Want to make sure there's nothing lifted even in add very at the present timely. Right now there's software that can go back and check. Right, Kellyanne?

[13:39:52] CONWAY: Absolutely. That's something people like us do, Wolf. You have to be seeing what America will take from all these speeches. I believe in the end folks will look at Melania Trump's speech famously said the greatest privilege on planet earth is to be an American citizen. Next week, she'll spend her tenth anniversary being one. I don't know if they'll remember the back and forth of earlier this week. It's what can you take from these speeches and put into those Facebook posts or Google posts. What will CNN run three weeks from now? What will be the one snippet from Ivanka Trump or Donald Trump's speech tonight that will be run?

HUGHES: I'm hoping Donald Trump goes back and literally channels his inner Ronald Reagan. Let's look at '84, come together to make America great again, inspirational. 1980, look at -- can anyone look at the record and say of this administration and say "well done." He still needs to bring the Independents in tonight. Nixon in '68, did we come all this way for this? This has been such a journey. Most importantly, I want him to channel Eisenhower from '52, today. This is the day of a great battle, the road that leads to November 4th is going to be rough. But I'm here to fight. He needs to show that strength. That's something Romney missed. Many people felt that was this point Romney lost the election. He didn't fight President Obama the last few months. Mr. Trump needs to show he's ready for the battle.

BLITZER: Kellyanne, what Donald Trump also brings to tonight, in addition to being a real estate magnate and a billionaire, he's a showman. He's done television for a long time. He knows the production values. He understands that. I think probably that's what he's discussing right now with the floor directors and the other experts

CONWAY: And the lighting. I've been there to witness it firsthand. The lighting, the angles. Are the lights too bright? Are you squinting? This is the man who understood the cultural shift with "The Apprentice." And really say, Wolf, the way to attract people politically is to first understand them culturally. Look at Ivanka Trump. I don't think enough is every said, Wolf. This is a woman with a successful line of clothing, and house products in her name, who also understands the American consumer. What are they looking for? She's someone who looks over all of her advertising.

BLITZER: Very impressive woman, 34 years old.

Alex Castellanos is with us, senior strategist for Rebuilding America Now, which is a new pro Donald Trump super PAC, is that right?

ALEX CASTELLANOS, SENOR STRATEGIST, REBUILDING AMERICA NOW SUPER PAC: Yes, it is.

BLITZER: So you're watching. They're rehearsing up on the stage right now. You can't have any direct involvement with the Trump campaign as a super PAC, but you can support Donald Trump. Explain to our viewers what you're doing, what your mission is?

CASTELLANOS: The way campaigns seem to work now under all the new campaign laws is that campaigns are limited in what they can raise, a few thousand dollars for the campaign itself for many contributors. But the media part of the campaign, the TV part, can be supported with larger contributions through a super PAC. It's what Jeb Bush did, what Hillary Clinton is doing with her PAC, Priorities USA. We were created to be the counterbalance to Priorities USA. We'll be up in swing states next week.

BLITZER: Which states?

CASTELLANOS: In Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania.

BLITZER: When you say you're going to be up, having advertising?

CASTELLANOS: On TV with commercials. If people go to rebuildingAmerica.com.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: How much have you raised so far?

CASTELLANOS: We've raised $3 million this week so far. We've raised another two yesterday. So we expect to be on the air in a significant by this week. Governor Pence is going to carve a chunk of his schedule to attend some events for us. I think we're going to be able to counterbalance --

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: You're clearly not going to raise as much as the pro Hillary Clinton super PAC, right?

CASTELLANOS: Hillary Clinton had a head start on. The Clinton Foundation, Clinton Global Initiative are genuinely professional corrupt enterprises that specialize in raising hundreds of million of dollars. It's going to be hard to do anything --

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: You've got a lot of Republican fat cats here at Cleveland. You met with several of them yesterday. Is that what you're saying?

CASTELLANOS: Yes, we did. Paul Manafort called in and gave us a briefing on the campaign and the state of the campaign. He's not calling into any other super PACs, as he said on the call.

So I think if folks want to help Donald Trump and keep Hillary Clinton out of the White House, this is the best PAC that you can support.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: Did you get a bit from Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire, Las Vegas billionaire, who is very active in Republican politics?

CASTELLANOS: We're just starting reaching out now. So ask us again in a while.

BLITZER: Look at this stage.

HUGHES: Wolf, I just realized, you want to talk about unification within our party, I'm sitting with Kellyanne and Alex, who, for the past year, we were on different teams debating each other, unity in the party has brought us here together --

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: We didn't see that unity with Ted Cruz last night.

HUGHES: But it's a bigger picture.

CASTELLANOS: That may have been one of the great moments of the convention that helps Donald Trump.

(CROSSTALK)

[13:45:14] BLITZER: Why do you think that with Ted Cruz? Alex, you're a veteran Republican strategist.

CASTELLANOS: I can tell you that. Ted Cruz is a self-interested politician that no one likes, the narrowest possible expression of what it means to be a Republican. In a general election, Ted Cruz is the Republican equivalent of Zika. And when you don't have Zika, it's no good. In a general election, that's not helpful. Last night, everything people don't like about Ted Cruz he reinforced, the self- interest. Some people are talented enough to take an act of utter disloyalty and turn it into a stand on principle. Ted Cruz is not that gifted. He reinforced what people don't like about him. Not being a Ted Cruz Republican is a plus in a general election. How often do you think we can get Ted Cruz not to endorse Donald Trump? I'll pay for that.

HUGHES: I still have optimism. What a great thing for tonight or even next week if Ted Cruz takes a step back and says, for the good of the party, the good of the country. BLITZER: But, Scottie, he made it clear this morning, this is

personal. You can't expect, he said, someone whose father and wife were attacked by Donald Trump to all of a sudden forget about that and announce that he's supporting them.

(CROSSTALK)

CASTELLANOS: Sure you can: If you're running for president of the United States, it's not about you. That's the important thing. If you were president of the United States and put your own interests first the way Ted Cruz did last night, I wouldn't be good for the country. So, no, he made a pledge, he gave his word and he did keep his word.

HUGHES: And repeated it on March 3rd.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: At that first Republican debate, when all of the Republican candidates on the stage were asked, will you commit now to support whoever the Republican nominee is? The question was asked because there was concern Donald Trump wouldn't make that --

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: The irony is Donald Trump got the nomination. He eventually said, yes, I'll support the Republican nominee. All of them did. A bunch of them now -- Kellyanne, you know this well -- they are refusing the make that commitment to support Donald Trump.

CONWAY: They are. And they need to make a decision that goes way beyond their conscience and ask themselves, if your word is your bond, if part of the entire political structure that you have built and your reputation centers on, I keep my word, I'm a principled person, I stand up to leaders of both parties, how is this an exception? Wolf, we all read the pledge. You can see the pledge online. There is no codicil, no footnote that this does not apply if Donald Trump is the nominee.

BLITZER: Jennifer Granholm is with us as well. She's not a Donald Trump supporter. She's a Hillary Clinton supporter. The former governor of Michigan.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: We're watching, by the way, I want to set the scene, Donald Trump and Ivanka Trump, his eldest daughter, who will both be speaking the night at the Republican National Convention. They're up on stage, practicing a little bit, going through what it's like to stand there, read from the Teleprompter, get the feel for the room.

If you're a politician, Jennifer Granholm, this is an important aspect and a critically important speech tonight to go through a rehearsal like this?

JENNIFER GRANHOLM, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No doubt about it. He's got a big job to do because he's got send the theme of unity through his party after what happened last night and what happened on Monday. This ability to feel comfortable, he's somebody who feels comfortable in that space anyway. But the ability to go up, no know where your mark is, make sure the lighting is right, all very important.

BLITZER: One of the things he's got going for him, and we've heard this and seen it this week, his children, who are adults, all of them, very impressive, the presentations, the love for their father that they've expressed. This is something that resonates with a lot of people. They say, you know what, I don't know about Donald Trump, he's got great kids.

GRANHOLM: No. As Mike Pence said last night, kids are really important for determining how great the parents are, at least how you view them.

CONWAY: You can't fake them, right.

GRANHOLM: Right. You can't fake good kids, although sometimes kids do go awry.

BLITZER: Sometimes you wish you could.

GRANHOLM: Sometimes you wish you could.

CASTELLANOS: I think that's one of the things coming out of this convention, people think they know Donald Trump because they've seen him on tv, been in their living room for 30 years, but not the man. Maybe, I think one of the things we're learning in this convention that's going to be most helpful, that the best thing Donald Trump has built isn't a building. It's those kids. It's that family, and that is something of the incontrovertible. It tells you something -- they all credit him pour the kind of dad he was. So I think that's a story --

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: Jennifer, let's look ahead a few days. We're seeing the Republicans getting ready for final leg, day four of this Republican National Convention. On Monday we'll all be in Philadelphia, day one of the Democratic convention. What happens here this week, how does that impact what will happen in Philadelphia?

[13:50:04] GRANHOLM: I think it is important for Democrats to see what happened on the Republican side. There is no doubt because this Republican Party has been so divided this week, both in style and in substance, even the comments this morning that you were talking about earlier regarding the whole NATO alliance. That is hugely controversial in the Republican Party. It is hugely controversial on the Democrat side. Democrats, however, is going to be coming together with the theme we are stronger together, that we are united, we are one world. While the Republican Party is looking at uniting the party, she's going to be looking at uniting the country.

BLITZER: We just got a clip from the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, who previews Donald Trump's speech tonight. I want to play this for all of you. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, (R-KY), SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: I think basically a couple of things he needs to do. Number one, I'm a strong advocate for having a great script and sticking to it. That's the way you avoid making mistakes and driving home the message that America needs to change. If you look at the survey data, people are not happy with where we are. And so if in the end the decision this election is about do you want to take a new direction, Donald Trump wins. I think he needs to be selling a new direction and change tonight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Sounds, Jennifer Granholm, like one of the messages they want to ask the American people, are you better off today than you were eight years ago. That's been done before, as you well remember. It was done successfully.

GRANHOLM: That's right.

BLITZER: And if you ask the American people today do you feel safer, do you feel more secure, are you more prosperous, are you healthier than you were eight years ago, and vote as you feel on that, what's going to be the answer from the Clinton campaign?

GRANHOLM: I'm sure the Democrats will be saying eight years ago we were in the middle of the worst recession in our life times. We were losing 6,000 jobs per month. Today, we've had 75 months of straight of job creation. Unemployment has been cut in half. They will recite all of that and it is very important. The fact that the president's approval rating is in the 54 percent range is very important.

Plus, in addition to that, the change argument -- you know, you might want to see change, but do you want to see change that jeopardizes you? The fact that the economists, intelligence unit has ranked Donald Trump -- this is the third-largest global threat. After his comments this morning, I bet he bumps up a couple of notches. And the fact that they've never even put a human being like a candidate on that list before, that Donald Trump is so risky. That kind of change is not the change that people want.

CONWAY: We'll get a preview now of what the Democratic convention is going to be like, a Trump-bashing fest.

BLITZER: We get a preview of those three presidential debates that are going to be taking place in September and October. I suspect the viewership for those debates between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

(CROSSTALK)

CONWAY: I just want to go back to this message of change. Donald Trump is a very complex person with very simple messages that have so resonated with American people. Make America great again. Change. It sounds a lot like Barack Obama, 2008; Bill Clinton, 1992; and George W. Bush, 2000. After two terms of one president, people want a new direction.

BLITZER: Hold on.

What we know for certain is that what Donald Trump, what he promises tonight will probably be like anything we've ever seen before because it is Donald Trump.

Here is a look back at some of the moments he's up against.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IKE EISENHOWER, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You have summon me on behalf of million of your fellow Americans to lead a great crusade for freedom in America and freedom in the world.

BARRY GOLDWATER, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice.

(CHEERING)

RICHARD NIXON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My fellow Americans, tonight, I accept the challenge and the commitment to provide that new leadership for America. And I ask you to accept it with me.

We've had enough of big promises and little action. The time has come for honest government in the United States of America.

(CHEERING)

GERALD FORD, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You are the people who make America what it is. It is from your ranks that I come and on your side I stand.

RONALD REAGAN, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I will not stand by and watch this great country destroy itself under mediocre leadership that drifts from one crisis to the next, eroding our national will. The time is now, my fellow Americans, to recapture our destiny.

GEORGE H.W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Read my lips. No new taxes.

(CHEERING)

WATER MONDALE, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: But this is not my moment. It is for the people of America that I stand here tonight, I know whose moment this is. It is yours. It is yours entirely.

(CHEERING)

[13:55:13] GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When I put my hand on the Bible, I will swear to not only uphold the laws of our land, I will swear to uphold the honor and dignity of the office to which I have been elected, so help me God.

(CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Is he going to have a line that will resonate for generations?

CONWAY: There are several.

BLITZER: You've seen his speech.

CONWAY: I have. It is a great speech. It is in his voice. I think more important than just sound bites for the ages, Wolf, it's really some tried themes in there in his own voice. Donald Trump as a man, Donald Trump as a visionary, and Donald Trump as a person. I think that's important. Elections are about the future now and about the past. You'll hear that in the speech tonight.

BLITZER: We'll all look forward to that. We'll look forward to Ivanka Trump's introduction of her father. Lots coming up.

CONWAY: That's a masterpiece.

BLITZER: That's it for me this hour. But I'll be back 5:00 p.m. eastern in "The Situation Room." Then all night, we'll bring you the latest from the Republican National Convention.

Our special coverage continues right after this quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)