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Foreign Policy in Spotlight at GOP Convention; Trump Taking New Approach to Speech after Rally Attack; J.D. Vance Speaks for the First Time as Trump Running Mate; J.D. Vance's Speech Tonight to Focus on his Life Story; VP Harris Comments on Trump Assassination Attempt. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired July 17, 2024 - 14:00   ET

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

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BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: I'm Boris Sanchez live in Milwaukee at the site of the Republican National Convention. My co-anchor and good friend Brianna Keilar is live for us in Washington D.C. We're now counting down to what could be a career defining moment for Former president Donald Trump's new running mate Senator J.D. Vance.

Tonight the 39-year-old from Ohio will introduce himself to the world in a prime time speech. A source telling CNN that Vance will reach out to working class voters by playing up his remarkable life story growing up poor in a family that struggled with addiction before becoming a U.S. Marine, a Yale Law -- Yale Law School graduate and now a sitting U.S. Senator.

The theme of night three of the RNC is "Make America Strong Once Again" and it's going to focus on foreign policy while showcasing some of Trump's staunchest supporters. We've got a team of reporters here in Milwaukee covering all angles CNN's Kristen Holmes and Alayna Treene join us now. So Kristen, what more are you expecting from night three of the convention?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well Boris, we're going to hear from a number of veterans Goldstar family as well as law enforcement. But the most important speaker, as you noted is Senator J.D. Vance. He is obviously going to speak for the first time in an actual speech.

Excuse me. Excuse me, since he was brought to the table. And this is really his first debut on the national stage. A lot of people don't know anything about him. But in addition to that, we also know we're going to hear from Don Jr., Donald Trump's Son, also a close ally of J.D. Vance's, as well as Kellyanne Conway, who was in charge of his 2016 campaign. He also still -- she also still advises the former president.

We're going to hear from Matt Gaetz, Mike Waltz, and Nancy Mace lawmakers who again are staunch supporters. But the really key thing here is J.D. Vance, because he has not really introduced himself to the American people. And he is not only somebody who said negative things about Donald Trump in the past.

He's also someone who is considered now the heir to the MAGA throne. So people want to hear from him and hear what he has to say.

SANCHEZ: No question about that Kristen, thank you so much. Alayna walk us through the reporting that you have about how Vance is going to use his personal story to appeal to voters, especially in those blue wall states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: No, that's exactly right Boris. And actually, J.D. Vance himself said that in an interview with Fox News on Monday, shortly after, he was informed that he was being chosen as Donald Trump's running mate. He said that Trump told him in a phone call when he alerted him to that that he thinks he could help them in those rust belt states.

Now look, as you mentioned, J.D. has an incredible story of from one in a poor rust belt town in Ohio to becoming a Senator who only was a sitting Senator for a year and a half before being tapped by Donald Trump to run beside him. And they really plan to use that.

I think the theme for J.D. Vance tonight is to share that life story to walk the room, the crowd, people watching at home through his biography, and try to resonate with them. And we know that a key goal for the Trump campaign as they look ahead to November is trying to win over those working class voters in the rust belt the states that you mentioned like Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, all of the states that they think where this election will be won.

You'll hear him talk about that a lot. He's also though, going to be addressing I'm told foreign policy, it's an area where Donald Trump it's not his best area, but J.D. Vance is very smart in foreign policy. He has very similar populist ideals like Donald Trump.

We know that he has been very critical of wanting to send more money to Ukraine, things along those lines. And so we'll be hearing some of that as well from J.D. Vance. And I can tell you Boris that we know that Donald Trump is and his teams are going to be looking over those remarks as well -- as well.

Whatever J.D. Vance says on stage they will be in lockstep on so expect that. Now I do have one quote that I wanted to share with you because I do think it just encapsulates the goal for them tonight. This is what the source who helped work on these remarks told me. He said quote if you want to crack suburban women get them to watch the screen adaptation events his memoir "Hillbilly Elegy".

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His life story is so powerful expecting a lot of focus on his bio and life story. So again, really expect J.D. Vance's night to pull on his own personal experience. Share those analytics with the public very similar to what we saw last night with some of those personal stories as well.

SANCHEZ: Alayna Treene thanks so much for the reporting. Let's discuss with Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma. Senator, thank you so much for being with us. I want to start with the up close view that you got of President Trump last night.

You were sitting in at a friends and family box with him. There's been a lot of speculation because folks haven't heard him address the country since what happened over the weekend? I know you spoke with him after the shooting. Do you think that he's changed after that attempt?

SEN. MARKWAYNE MULLIN (R-OK): Yes. I mean, as a person you're going to -- you're going to change a little bit at or something like that, right? You can't help it -- help it. But his spirit and his fight has it. I spoke to him the day after he was cracking jokes like he always does. You speak to him early in the morning.

I mean, the guy's an animal. He doesn't -- he doesn't ever sleep. I mean, I get text messages from one o'clock 4:30 in the morning. And I think I was talking to him at seven o'clock in the morning. It was just like any other day except he was -- he acknowledged that it was only by the grace of God that his -- that he turned his head to look at the graph on immigration that saved his life.

He said, I heard the bullet whizzed through my -- passed my ear before I actually felt the pain. And then he made a joke, because you can tell my ears are kind of jacked up from wrestling on my ears. And he says my ears are going to be messed up like yours. And so while he acknowledged the Lord, he also acknowledged the fact that it was a close call, but he had it with humor.

But I think what you're going to hear is a unity message. I know he I know he changed his speech because he said he was going to change his speech. And it's taken away some more of the divisiveness that's -- plague both parties, and maybe talking about the country as a whole and how we move forward as a country and get away from this boiling point that brought us to where we're at.

SANCHEZ: I want to ask you about the investigation into the security situation at the rally on Saturday, because House Speaker Mike Johnson has called for the resignation of the Director of the Secret Service Kimberly Cheatle?

MULLIN: Right --

SANCHEZ: Do you think she should resign?

MULLIN: You know, listen, this is a line of work I used to kind of do and so understanding Protective Service detail work, understanding the perimeter rings, you have three rings, one, two, and three. The outer ring is typically set up by local law enforcement. You had the inner ring, that's more of your really tight security where you're checking all the bags, everybody coming in.

You'll see more SWAT or more of a military presence. And then you have the inner circle the diamond, right? That's the guys that jumped on President Trump right at the end of it. I think when you start looking at it, where was the breakdown? There's no excuse for having a building within 150 foot or 150 yards of the podium with a direct line of sight. There is no excuse for that. But what happened was a person that AIC the agent in charge. Did they -- did that -- did they send up a request for more resources and was denied.

Was that actually supposed to be secured and the outer perimeter didn't have anybody station because their manpower that was supposed to be there didn't show up that day. So before you can actually call for someone's resignation, I think you had to do an investigation, there was a failure, obviously.

So where does it -- where does that failure happen? What was that break point? And that's where you have to -- that's someone needs to be fired. But wherever that breakpoint was, is where that should happen. Now, if we went all the way the head, then the buck stops at the top at the end of the day, the United States Secret Service is the one that's in charge of all of it, even though they're using local law enforcement. They're the one in charge of all of it. But we don't know the plan that they had laid out.

SANCHEZ: Senator, I want to ask you about your Senate Colleague, J.D. Vance, who said deliver the keynote speech tonight. As we heard from Alayna, he is going to talk a bit about foreign policy. In the past, he has said things about Ukraine that don't line up with the historic view that Republicans have had of America's place in the world.

He's essentially said that he doesn't care about what happens in Ukraine. Do his views align with yours on that issue?

MULLIN: Yeah. J.D. and I have different opinions on a few things. But J.D. is a smart guy. I mean, we had this group called a redshirt freshman and we get together and have dinner all the time together. So I've got to know J.D. on a very personal level, super smart guy.

I mean, you mentioned the Yale School -- Yale Law Graduate, also a Buckeye, which I don't hold that against him because I went to the rural Oklahoma State, OSU. But I think we all make decisions based on two things, the way arrays and our life experiences.

He doesn't really sit on the Committees that have jurisdiction over this security posture we have in the Middle East, or in Europe. And so when you start getting reports on your desk, and you're getting briefings on your desk, you get a different insight to it.

And I know he has the ability to change. I know he has the ability to absorb knowledge and make decisions based on what's in front of him because you saw the way he changed with his direction towards President Trump, right?

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So he will -- he will adapt to his new role and be the leader that he needs to be. And I'm confident on that.

SANCHEZ: That's, that's interesting, and not a perspective that I'd heard before when it came to his view of the more sort of isolationist America first view of Trump foreign policy. I do want to ask you, though, about the first night of the RNC. Were you surprised that Sean O'Brien had quote --

MULLIN: Yeah.

SANCHEZ: -- you guys almost gotten an abroad?

MULLIN: Yeah, but Sean and I, we've worked past that. President Trump called me months ago. And it actually right after the first meeting he had with Sean O'Brien. And he said, hey man, you too nice to meet. You guys need to sit down and talk, you might have actually some more in common.

And we started talking and we ended up meeting it a little Italian restaurant had a great conversation. And we've -- we have a love for a passion for working out together. We both came up by our bootstraps, pulled him up working hard in blue collar jobs.

And so we actually get along. He texts me I text him right afterwards. We were laughing about it. I will say, if I would have a drink in my mouth, I would have spit it out when he quotes.

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MULLIN: I thought it was pretty funny when he said -- you know stand your butt up. But we do have a relationship. Now we've worked past it. And that happens. Sometimes I tell people all the time. I don't take things personal like that. I used to get paid to fight.

I'm not -- I'm not looking to fight for free. And so it's not something personal to me. And once we get past that point, when I met with him what Sean did the first thing he said, he says, man, I'm sorry. He said I read everybody's bio on that -- but yours and I should read yours and looked at me -- that was before my buddy -- even sit down at the table.

And I sit and told him I said, Sean that means a lot to me. And that's how the conversation started and has done nothing but grown from there.

SANCHEZ: Senator Markwayne Mullin great to get your perspective. Appreciate you joining.

MULLIN: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Thanks so much. Still ahead this hour, we're covering all the headlines out of the RNC. Plus after days of public silence, Congressman Adam Schiff is now calling on President Biden to drop out of the race the most prominent Democratic lawmaker to do so thus far.

We also have some disturbing new details about Saturday's assassination attempt on Former President Trump including some of what we were just discussing with the Senator. How the gunman went through security screening more than three hours before the attack, those details straight ahead.

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SANCHEZ: If you're not familiar with Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, by the end of tonight, you probably will be. Donald Trump's newly minted running mate will take the stage and effectively introduce himself to the country as tonight's featured speaker at the Republican National Convention.

And as we all know, first impressions can be everything. Let's discuss with Chris Wallace. Chris, thank you so much for being here. You've seen a lot of stars made at these conventions. And for folks that aren't familiar with J.D. Vance from Hillbilly Elegy or even his relatively short time in the Senate. What do you think he has to do with connect -- to connect with you?

CHRIS WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it's interesting. We talked to some of the Trump -- top Trump campaign and convention officials. So he's got to introduce himself to the American people because most people don't know who he is. And it is a compelling personal story of this kid who grew up first in rural Kentucky that in Southwest Ohio.

Mom, addicted to drugs, basically brought up by his grandma and grandpa. As you say, wrote "Hillbilly Elegy" about this -- how he -- some people call him the voice of the rust belt that all the things that we think about in terms of people who feel like they've been left behind people dealing with an opioid crisis.

He lived all of that he then enlisted in the Marines spent six years there -- left went to Ohio state did very well so well he ended up at Yale Law School. So it's a compelling personal story. And I think, to some degree, he is almost the intellectual voice of MAGA.

I mean, he has lived it. And he's a very smart guy. I think he'll be able to explain it, what it means to the -- to the forgotten people as they're called, and to explain it to the country. He's -- in terms of policy he's about as far away from Reaganism and George W. Bush, as you can imagine.

He is anti-interventionist. He has famously said I don't really care what happens to Ukraine. He's anti-free trade pro tariffs, pro breaking up big corporations. And interestingly enough, I don't know that we'll hear this but this may have been what sealed the deal for him to be the running mate with Donald Trump.

He has said that if he had been Vice President January 6th, instead of Mike Pence, he would have allowed the Congress to debate all of those challenge states and potentially to choose the Trump electors, the so called fake electors over the real electorate.

He also has said, you know, as far as Supreme Court rulings are concerned, let them try to enforce it not necessarily presidents would comply with a Supreme Court, which is pretty radical stuff. SANCHEZ: It undoubtedly feels like a pivot point stepping back and looking more broadly at the platform of the Republican Party. Obviously you had Donald Trump in 2016 sort of shaking up what had been the established policy of Republicans for a long time.

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But now this is cementing it in a different direction, as you noted, a less interventionist foreign policy, wanting to break up corporations. I mean, we heard from Sean O'Brien the first night at the RNC, a union head talking about -- you know more policy that would help working Americans and things like that. What does it tell you about where the Republican Party's headed more broadly?

WALLACE: Well, I think what it says you're exactly right. In 2016, Donald Trump thought he needed to pick somebody to shore up his support inside the Republican Party. So he took Mike Pence, because he thought that there were a lot of doubts about his standing with Evangelicals, Christian fundamentalists.

I think Donald Trump now thinks this is my party. And instead of trying to reach out in other ways, I think it's I'm going to cement this. You've heard a lot about Project 2025. And Trump has distanced himself from it. But a lot of its tenants are embraced by J.D. Vance, for instance, the idea of getting rid of a lot of civil servants, even though that's questionable legally, and filling the administration with Trump loyalists.

So I mean, to me this is an indication Trump thinks he is in control of the party. He's going to pursue his agenda, and he sees J.D. Vance as somebody who can help them do that.

SANCHEZ: Given what we saw unfold last night with a slate of Republicans that had been extremely critical of Donald Trump previously coming forward and endorsing him and getting ovations from the crowd for doing so. I'm curious to get your thoughts on what you saw that stood out to you from Nikki Haley, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and Ron DeSantis.

WALLACE: Well, those other people that you mentioned, Cruz and DeSantis, and Rubio, I thought their endorsements and their presence here was energetic on their part, fully embraced by them, fully embraced by the convention and fully embraced by Donald Trump.

What struck me was Nikki Haley. I thought that was a pretty chilly reception. Yes, she's said I fully endorse Donald Trump, but she did seem unhappy to be here. And Donald Trump, although he invited her and obviously wanted her to bend the knee, if you will, and also to reach out to her supporters, which is a significant part of the Republican Party to say, hey, come along and support this guy, even if you don't agree 100 percent.

You could tell she didn't like being here. And I don't think Donald Trump particularly enjoyed listening to where he wanted to have her make the statement. But I don't think all of the slings and arrows from the primaries and some of the things she said about him had been completely forgotten.

SANCHEZ: Chris, always appreciate the perspective. We actually want to listen and because Olivia Troy is in Michigan, and is set to introduce Vice President Kamala Harris, who was said to make some important remarks. We should note Troy, a Former Trump Administration Official, let's listen.

OLIVIA TROYE, FORMER ADVISER TO MIKE PENCE: -- to restore the protections of Roe Versus Wade. The choice this November, it's clear. The Biden Harris ticket is the only choice that will protect a woman's right to choose and access to reproductive health care.

And now, I'm proud and excited to introduce a champion for our freedoms, someone who has dedicated her life to making our communities safer and fighting for the people our first woman Vice President, Kamala Harris.

KAMALA HARRIS, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Please have a seat everyone, please have a seat. It's really good to be back in Michigan. I want to thank you all for the work you're doing. I want to say Debbie Stabenow where are you? She is extraordinary Senator of yours. She is over there somewhere there she is. Thank you, Senator.

Every time I think I've come to the stage, she's met me on the tarmac including today. Thank you for your leadership always. Thank you. Before we begin our conversation today with these two extraordinary leaders, I do want to discuss briefly what happened on Saturday.

I've not had a chance yet to publicly talk about it. But I will say a few words about the attempt on the life of Former President Trump over the weekend. As we all know it was a heinous horrible and cowardly act. My husband Doug and I are thankful he was not seriously injured.

That day, as soon as we saw what was happening, we said a prayer for his well-being and our thoughts immediately turned to Melania who we have met and their family.

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The bottom line is no one should have to fear for the safety of a loved one, because they serve in public office. Our heart goes out to the family of Corey Comperatore, a true hero who died protecting his family. And Doug and I, of course are holding them close in our hearts. We are also wishing those who were critically injured that day a swift and full recovery. And we are thankful to the United States Secret Service the first responders and local authorities.

The United States of America, I believe, is the greatest democracy the world has ever known. Yes. But in the aftermath of this weekend's shootings, and shooting, excuse me, one of the questions we now confront the one of the questions we now confront, is about the way we should engage with one another in this campaign.

On Sunday evening, our President Joe Biden issued a call for unity. And there must be unity around the idea that while our nation's history has been scarred by political violence, violence is never acceptable. There can be no equivocation about that.

At the same time, the hallmark of American democracy, the hallmark of any democracy is a strong competition of ideas, policies, and a vision for the future. And just as we must reject political violence, we must also embrace a robust discussion about what is at stake in this election.

The surest way to reaffirm the strength of our democracy is by engaging in a vigorous and civil exchange of ideas. And one of the ideas and one of the principles that is at stake in this election is the issue of reproductive freedom. And that is why I'm here today to discuss that topic. And I look forward to our conversation. Thank you all very much.

SANCHEZ: So we've been listening to Vice President Kamala Harris in Portage, Michigan opening her remarks thereby addressing the attempted assassination of Former President Donald Trump over the weekend, something she described as a heinous act. She said that soon after it happened.

Her focus her prayers were for Donald Trump. Her thoughts were with Melania, the Former First Lady and their family. She echoed President Biden in his remarks over the weekend saying that violence is never acceptable. She said that no one should fear violence over their political belief.

She then went on to acknowledge that the incident opened up questions about ways to engage with one another in the campaign that keep the focus on civility, but also drawn to question major issues. She said, quote, we must also embrace robust discussion about what's at stake in this election.

And then she pivoted her focus to reproductive rights, which is part of the conversation that she's having there as we speak. We're of course going to monitor this event with the sitting Vice President Kamala Harris as there are also questions about whether President Biden will remain at the top of the Democratic ticket and bring you the latest as we get it. Stay with CNN, we're back in just a few minutes.

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