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Donald Trump Formally Accepts Nomination for President at the RNC 2024 Finale; Trump: I'm Running To Be President For All Of America; Calls Grow For Biden To Exit Race, Focus Sharpens On VP Harris; Trump Slams China In Convention Speech; FAA Grounds All Delta, American Airlines Flights. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired July 19, 2024 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[02:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to all of you watching us around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is "CNN Newsroom."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Nothing will sway us, nothing will slow us, and no one will ever stop us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Donald Trump makes his case to the American public for another term in office, calling for unity but also making partisan attacks.
Meanwhile, the current U.S. president faces increased scrutiny about whether he can win re-election.
And a claim of responsibility in the drone attack on Tel Aviv not far from a U.S. embassy office.
UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Kim Brunhuber.
BRUNHUBER: Donald Trump has officially accepted his party's presidential nomination days after surviving an assassination attempt. He called on the country to heal the discord and division. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I am running to be president for all of America, not half of America, because there is no victory in winning for half of America.
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: So, tonight, with faith and devotion, I proudly accept your nomination for president of the United States. Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Trump gave his first major speech since the shooting at his rally on Saturday, wrapping up the fourth and final day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
(VIDEO PLAYING)
Now, Trump's was the longest convention address in modern U.S. history. The former president talked about inflation and the immigration crisis while also repeating many false claims as he went off-script. He also vowed to end the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Under our leadership, the United States will be respected again. No nation will question our power. No enemy will doubt our might. Our borders will be totally secure. Our economy will soar. We will return law and order to our streets. Patriotism to our schools and importantly we will restore peace, stability and harmony all throughout the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Trump promised to unite the country and bring back the American dream.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: America's future will be bigger, better, bolder, brighter, happier, stronger, freer, greater, and more united than ever before.
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: And quite simply put, we will very quickly make America great again.
Thank you very much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Melania Trump made a rare appearance supporting her husband, but she didn't make any remarks on stage. Hulk Hogan, Tucker Carlson, and Eric Trump were among the other speakers on Thursday night.
Now the Biden campaign slammed Trump's speech, with one adviser saying it's all about him, adding the former president hasn't changed, but has gotten worse. It comes as more Democrats are calling for Biden to drop out of the race. We have more now from CNN's Phil Mattingly in Milwaukee.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHILL MATTINGLY, CNN CHIEF U.S. DOMESTIC CORRESPONDENT: Well, for Donald Trump, there was no question. His third convention speech, accepting his third Republican presidential nomination was a massive moment, especially after nearly losing his own life just a few days ago. And it was a story he told in detail for the first time to the sold out crowd here in the convention hall in Milwaukee, including saying this, which brought an immediate response from the crowd. Take a listen.
TRUMP: I'm not supposed to be here tonight. Not supposed to be here.
(CROWD CHANTING)
MATTINGLY: But for Trump and for many people in the crowd, that was potentially the most notable high point of the speech that was deeply personal. The rest of the speech was deeply long, frankly. That was the comment one delegate made to me, that it was just good speech in their mind. It was just very long, whether or not it was good.
[02:05:08]
There was one thing that was very clear. It was definitely not an on script throughout state of remarks. In fact, watching the teleprompter throughout the course of the night, you could see the former president try and stay on script, then make a clear decision that he wanted to go off and start talking about things like he stole an election that was proven to never have happened.
His relationships with foreign leaders, he'd start talking about President Biden, even though he said he wasn't going to mention his name at all. It was, in some level, just vintage Trump going off- script, but it was a very long version of going off-script and one that certainly took him off a message that for the better part of four days had been consistent, tightly, tightly controlled, and by all accounts, including some Democrats I've spoken to, quite successful.
Where this goes from here, that is certainly an open question. Everybody you talked to in the arena leading up to the speech said it was among the most energized they've ever seen a political convention. Now, with months left in the campaign and, frankly, a lot of uncertainty about who the former president will be running against, he heads off into the campaign trail for a critical fall, the highest of stakes elections.
Phil Mattingly, CNN, from the convention floor in Milwaukee.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: And joining me now is Caroline Heldman, who's a democratic strategist and professor at Occidental College, and Republican consultant Mike Madrid, co-founder of the Lincoln Project and co-host of the "Latino Vote" podcast. Thank you both for coming on.
So first, Caroline, I read the speech excerpts that were released before Trump spoke, and it read great, but that's not what we got. What did you make of the speech?
CAROLINE HELDMAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST AND PROFESSOR, OCCIDENTAL COLLEGE: Well, the first half of it was something we've never seen from Trump, right? This vulnerable side. He invoked God, this kind of messianic idea that God has ordained him as a result of surviving this attempted assassination.
But as Phil noted, it just went into rambles vile for the second half of it. And this is a speech that was 90-minutes long, the longest in modern political history. He went into that same rhetoric that we expect from Trump. If you spend any time at his rallies, it felt like a Trump rally. It was rambling, a little incoherent. He made some strange reference to Hannibal Lecter, as he's done in the past from "Silence of the Lambs." Still can't figure that one out.
He went after Nancy Pelosi. He called the coronavirus the China virus, a xenophobic reference. So we saw kind of vintage Trump in the second part of it, which didn't help him. But boy, that first part, that was a brand new Trump for about 20 minutes.
BRUNHUBER: That's right. And on that, I mean, we were, Mike promised, a new Donald Trump, one who was changed after the shooting, a speech that was meant to unify. But as Caroline said, it was more basically like a long, very long rally.
MIKE MADRID, CO-FOUNDER, THE LINCOLN PROJECT AND CO-HOST, "LATINO VOTE" PODCAST: It was a peculiar, rambling, unstructured speech. It's probably one of the worst convention speeches I've seen in 30 years in the business.
What he was trying to accomplish was trying to show that he was a steady hand moving away from the extremism that has defined his persona, his political brand.
And what he did was he reminded voters of why they rejected him in 2020. He's not competent. There's clearly cognitive decline. And his inability to stay disciplined at the biggest moment of his political career demonstrates, again, why people sent him packing after four years in the White House. So I think this was just one of one of the worst nights he's had politically, probably since 2016.
BRUNHUBER: So Caroline, maybe a bad night for Trump, but overall for Republicans, a great week. It seemed, at least for me, it seemed, you know, disciplined and well produced. What did you take from the week?
HELDMAN: I agree. I remember back in 2016, it was amateur hour at the RNC. And then in 2020, it was online, so a kind of a different beast.
But this was definitely more professional. The themes of each evening, having Trump's biggest competitors endorse him all in one day, and then women appealing, you know, making appeals to women the next day, J.D. Vance the third night.
And I think the theme of today was like muscle men and hyper-masculine presidential politics with Tucker Carlson and, you know, Hulk Hogan literally ripping his shirt off.
But the whole strategy for the Trump team has been he is strong and Biden is weak. So if we get a new candidate, that means that the strategy that we saw at the RNC, especially the strategy now for this final day four, simply can't be the same if he's up against another competitor. BRUNHUBER: Yeah. Before I turn to that, Mike, I just want to get your
take on the convention as a whole. Trump's speech notwithstanding, this kind of launches the Republicans on to the campaign with a lot of momentum.
[02:09:59]
MADRID: I think certainly the structure of the convention was actually quite good. What you did have was them not talking about the big lie and stolen elections. You didn't have them talking about some of the, you know, conspiracy theories which have defined the modern Republican Party.
All of that was kind of hidden in the background. There was some J6, you know, January 6 attendees that were actually there on the convention floor that they did a good job of, kind of, hiding and keeping quiet. And so, you know, for that matter, they did, I think, a great job. The problem is the main event really unspooled the entire three days of what they were trying to accomplish.
BRUNHUBER: So I'll say with you, Mike, the, you know, Donald Trump, as Caroline mentioned, barely mentioned Biden possibly because he might not be facing Biden ultimately. The Democratic convention a month from now, Democrats still aren't sure who will be giving the speech much less what they're going to say.
MADRID: I think the contrast in this campaign is between an old feeble man, as Joe Biden clearly demonstrated during his debate, and sort of this lunatic, unhinged, off-script, unstable character that Donald Trump showed America who, again, once he was, who he is and why they rejected him.
I think Biden wins hands down. I think that the Democrats -- look, this revived Biden's whole momentum. This is the best night for Democrats in three weeks. I just can't imagine that there's anybody who could plausibly say this is, you know, another step in the direction of removing Joe Biden. That makes no sense.
BRUNHUBER: Yeah, it might be a good night for Democrats, Caroline, but overall, I mean, looking at the amount of optimism, unity, enthusiasm that we're seeing from the Republicans and then contrasting that with what we're seeing among Democrats who are so divided right now. Again, more in Congress calling for Biden to step down, more anxiety from donors. So where do Democrats go from here?
HELDMAN: I think you're right that the Republicans are exuding confidence and, in fact, maybe even an air of inevitability, although hearkening back to 2016 and Hillary Clinton, maybe, you know, this race is far from over, but the Democrats are in disarray. You've got Joe Biden behind Trump in seven out of seven key swing states.
He's losing ground in 14 states. Only 28 percent of Americans think that he has the mental and physical fitness to be president, let alone run a campaign. And this is a man who, you know, we now have some internal rumblings that he might be replaced with folks who are polling higher. I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case. I think his decline has that debate was just undeniable in terms of his cognitive limitations, and he hasn't been able to convince folks since that time. So as we're seeing, you know, everything go right for Donald Trump, whether it's a case getting dismissed or, you know, essentially surviving an assassination attempt and then being able to essentially say you're a messiah.
Everything is going right for Trump and the Republicans at this point in time, notwithstanding that kind of rambling speech he just gave. And everything is going wrong for the Democrats. But I would think that we're going to be in a very different place in about three weeks to one month from today.
BRUNHUBER: Yeah, still plenty to sort out. But, Mike, I want to hone in on the donors. The fact that donors are getting jittery here. You know, it's one thing for, you know, Democrats to sort of come out, you know, the sort of drip, drip of Democrats in Congress. But once you start sort of, you know, shutting off the money valve for a campaign, you've worked on a campaign. I mean, what kind of impact could this have?
MADRID: Well, not only have I worked on a campaign, I've worked on campaigns at the highest levels on both sides of the aisle, which is a little bit unique.
What I will say is that it is unconscionable to me that Democrats are, you know, acting the way that they are, kind of creating the circular firing squad. They are absolutely their own worst enemy.
So, look, the donor community will come back. The base, as long as the base remains intact, and every bit of evidence suggests that it is, there's absolutely no reason to behave with the panic that's kind of consumed more of the elites in the party.
To suggest that somehow being down a few points in the polls when it's largely your own base that is diminishing in mid-July, it's, like I said, it's political malpractice. And I just, I'm not used to this as a Republican watching usually Republican campaigns. This is not the way winning campaigns operate. And it's completely self-inflicted.
BRUNHUBER: Yeah, Carolyn, you want to come in on that just before we go? Well, I would say that I think it's well-founded.
HELDMAN: I think that we can't deny what we saw at that debate.
[02:14:52]
And it's looking at polling data. In no time in the modern political age has someone this far down in the polls, numerous polls, been able to win re-election. I mean, Biden's numbers look like, they look like Jimmy Carter's in 1980 or George Herbert Walker Bush's in '92 or Trump's in 2020. So I think the panic is data-driven.
BRUNHUBER: Yeah, that is the dismal reality for Democrats. We'll have to leave it there. Carolyn Heldman, Mike Madrid, thank you both for being here with us. I Appreciate it.
MADRID: Thanks.
HELDMAN: Thank you.
BRUNHUBER: All right, still ahead, President Biden and the Democrats are weighing their re-election chances amid growing pressure from donors and disagreements within the party. We'll have those details when we come back.
Plus, Uyghur rebels in Yemen are claiming responsibility for a deadly drone attack in Tel Aviv. The latest on the investigation in a live report next. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRUNHUBER: Allies of U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris are making calls to Democrats to assess concerns about President Joe Biden's ability to defeat Donald Trump at the ballot box. A source tells CNN the Harris allies are making clear that she expects the president to stay in the race.
Several Democrats say tensions in the party are increasing under pressure from donors and what's seen as maneuvering by competing interests. CNN's MJ Lee has the latest from the White House.
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MJ LEE, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Based on conversations with dozens of sources inside and close to the White House and the campaign, what is increasingly becoming clear is that there are many senior officials both in the White House and the campaign who privately believe that the president must drop out of the 2024 race, that they believe the current situation is not politically tenable for the president and the campaign.
As one senior Democrat put it to CNN, everyone is seeing it privately. People see and feel the walls closing in. Now, this comes as sources also tell CNN that the president has become exceptionally insulated and isolated.
Everyone, of course, is familiar with the fact that the president has long relied on a pretty small circle of inner circle of advisers. And what has happened since the debate, we are told, is that a stunningly small group of the most loyal and longtime aides are now dug in with the president, chief among them Mike Donilon and Steve Ricchetti. Many Democrats at this point are not sure whether the president is being presented with and getting realistic data.
Some of the sources that we spoke to said that many meetings and phone calls where the president would be getting bad news, that those appear to have largely stopped now amid the speculation right now about the president's future and whether he will continue seeking a second term.
We are learning as well tonight that senior most West Wing advisers have not had meetings amongst themselves or with the president to discuss the possibility of the president dropping out.
[02:20:08]
This comes after our Dana Bash also reported that the president still believes that there is a path to victory and that he does not believe that he has seen data or polling so far that prove that he cannot win.
MJ Lee, CNN at the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: CNN's Isa Soares sat down with former FBI director James Comey and asked him to weigh in on Joe Biden's political future. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES COMEY, FORMER FBI DIRECTOR: Reminds me of my dad near the end of his life. I loved my dad. I admire Joe Biden. We should all be grateful for his service. But I really think there has to be a change. And I think most Americans feel that way. And I'm not a political expert, but my common sense tells me it's highly likely that he will not be the candidate, which is a bittersweet moment for him.
Again, I'm so grateful he ran in 2020. He did a tremendous service for our country. It's time for a new generation. And I think that's going to be pretty exciting for the American people. We have a woman as vice president who's incredibly talented. That will be an injection of energy and I hope optimism into the system.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Comey also told Isa that he sees Biden's rival Donald Trump as a potential disaster.
Alan Lichtman is a presidential historian and distinguished professor of history at American University and joins me now from California. Thanks so much for being here with us. We just heard there, James Comey thinks Joe Biden will not be the Democratic candidate. Do you agree?
ALAN LICHTMAN, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN AND DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR OF HISTORY, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: I really don't know.
But let me say this. I have summarized American politics in one sentence. Republicans have no principles. Democrats have no spine. Republicans are united behind an insurrectionist, an inveterate liar, a convicted criminal.
But what we've been seeing recently is Democrats at their most spineless and self-defeating. At the first sign of trouble, they have publicly trashed their incumbent president, who was nominated not by members of Congress, not by James Comey, not by the pundits, not by the pollsters, but by the Democratic voters.
Of course, his poll numbers are going to go down. If his own party is attacking him, why would voters think that they ought to support him? And what all of these critics have in common is they have zero track record in predicting election results, yet they claim to know what the Democrats need to do. They are pushing the Democrats into disaster by eliminating the incumbency advantage and promoting a party contest.
Since 1900, the White House party has never been reelected under those circumstances. They are, in effect, recreating the situation in 2016 that led to the election of Donald Trump in the first place.
But I do have a plan B for Democrats. If the feckless, spineless Democrats do push Biden out, what he should do is resign the presidency for the good of the country, contrasting him with Donald Trump, who's only in it for himself and whose speech tonight totally violated his notion of promoting unity. Then Harris would become president, ticking off the incumbency key and become the consensus nominee, ticking off the party contest key.
That would create circumstances under which the party holding the White House usually wins rather than the disaster of an open seat and a party fight.
BRUNHUBER: Yeah, a reporting, as we heard there around the supporters of Kamala Harris, sort of calling Democrats to test the waters. Do you get a sense that the party is actually coalescing around her as the next best choice?
LICHTMAN: I think they might be, but who can trust the Democrats, who have done something I have never seen, and I've studied politics from the founding to the present, slitting their own throats right out in public.
But simply, you know, trying to make someone the nominee is risky. You don't know if that's going to happen. And if she's not the president, you don't have incumbency either. And you are making it much easier for Donald Trump to win.
The feckless Democrats have been playing right into the hands of Donald Trump by creating all of this internal chaos within their party without a good plan. But they need to listen to me and adopt the plan B if they push Biden out.
BRUNHUBER: You say Democrats are feckless and that they're sort of pushing Biden out at the first sign of trouble. But I mean, that trouble, to be fair, was remarkable. I mean, we all saw that debate and we saw the numbers post-debate sort of going down. And now, you know, Biden has said that he hasn't seen numbers that say that he should step down because he can't win.
[02:25:08]
But you have his lack of popularity overall, and the polls in the swing states especially all show him trailing Donald Trump. So any precedent for the type of comeback that would be required for Biden to win a second term now?
LICHTMAN: You know, first of all, we don't govern by polls. Polls four months out from the election are unreliable. Polls are not predictors. They're snapshots, and they change.
George H.W. Bush was 17 points behind Michael Dukakis in 1988. In the late spring, he went on to win by almost eight points, a 25-point swing.
Barack Obama had, in many ways, a more disastrous debate than Joe Biden. Only 20 percent in the CNN poll thought he won. 33 percent thought Biden won in a Republican-tilted poll. But to listen to the media, you would think nobody thought Biden won. The polls shifted 12 points after the Obama debate. He was eight points up. He went to four points down.
And the same pundits were saying, oh, my God, he's finished. And of course, all the polls were showing that Donald Trump was going to lose in 2016. So if every candidate behind in the polls quits, Bush, H.W. would have quit, Obama would have quit, and Trump would have quit. And yet they all won.
Plus, as I explained, almost immediately after the debate, the polls didn't move at all. There was a big headline, I think it was the "New York Times," saying race static. Moreover, you know, we have seen the worst kind of ableism and ageism from the Democrats, the pundits, the operatives like James Carville. Yes, Joe Biden has a slight disability. He does commit gas, he stutters, he's not that quick in debates. But he's always had that, even back in the 1980s.
What is being done here is an insult to the tens of millions of other Americans who also have slight disabilities and like Biden in his presidency, have done their jobs extremely well.
BRUNHUBER: Yeah, but they're not running for president and expected to be governing for another four years.
LICHTMAN: They haven't proven that Biden can't govern. Look, did you watch the NATO summit? Biden, for an hour and nine minutes, stood there answering difficult, hostile questions with knowledge, precision, with understanding. Could Donald Trump have done that for 10 minutes? Moreover, I am familiar in my own family with senility and dementia. A senile or demented person could not have stood on that NATO summit stage for 20 seconds, much less an hour and nine minutes, without falling into utter chaos.
BRUNHUBER: We will have to leave it there, but really appreciate getting your in-depth analysis. Alan Lichtman, thank you so much.
LICHTMAN: Thank you. Take care.
BRUNHUBER: All right, now, to Tel Aviv, where the city is on heightened alert after a deadly drone attack early Friday. At least one person was killed and 10 injured. The attack occurred near several diplomatic compounds. Houthi rebels in Yemen say they're responsible, but CNN can't independently verify the claim.
CNN's Nada Bashir is live in London with the details. So, Nada, what more are we learning about this attack? NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is certainly still an
ongoing investigation by Israeli authorities, including the Israeli military. We've heard from a military spokesperson saying that the blast in this central Tel Aviv building was caused by a drone armed with a warhead.
This took place in the early hours of Friday morning. As you mentioned, this is a central location, just about 100 meters away from the U.S. embassy compound, though no damage is said to have been caused to the embassy itself.
But as you mentioned, this was a fatal attack. At least one person killed, a 50-year-old man, and at least 10 others injured. Two of those injured, according to emergency services and authorities, are said to have suffered shrapnel wounds. And we know that there has been a high presence of authorities and emergency services, as well as bomb disposal experts at the scene, warning local residents not to touch any remnants of any rockets or any shrapnel in the area for fear of the presence of explosives.
Now, the city is on heightened alert. There are questions and concerns around the potential for follow-up attacks, questions, of course, around who was behind the attack. And we have in the last few hours heard from the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, a spokesman in Yemen, claiming responsibility for this attack.
The spokesperson saying that the Houthis had targeted occupied territory using a new drone capable of bypassing Israel's interception systems, that the group is focused on targeting Israel's internal front.
[02:30:08]
We're also deeper into Israeli territory, also framing this latest attack as being in direct response to Israel's military assault on Gaza. Now, we have seen Houthi attacks for the last few weeks and months along the Red Sea. This would certainly mark a significant development, if indeed it is confirmed that Houthis have carried out an attack within Israeli territory.
At this stage, CNN cannot independently verify the Houthi's claims. We are still waiting to hear more from the Israeli military on this. They have acknowledged that this was a drone attack but I have not recognized who may have been behind it. They said that they are open to all possible options at this stage.
That investigation is still very much ongoing, but also concern around the city's preparedness according to the military, no sirens were activated while this incident was on going and we've heard from spokesman that's also going on to say that while the drone was actually identified, it was not intercepted due to human error. So that will certainly be a point of investigation for the military as well -- Kim.
KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Yeah, significant development as you say.
Nada Bashir, thank you so much.
Now, earlier on Thursday, Israel's military carried out a number of airstrikes on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon. The IDF says it hit command centers for elite forces, killing at least two commanders who planned numerous terror attacks against Israel, Lebanese media said at least a dozen people were wounded.
Now separately, Israel were released this footage showing what it says is a strike on a member of Hezbollah's engineering unit in southern Lebanon.
Turning now to Bangladesh, where dozens of people have reportedly been killed and hundreds more injured amid widespread unrest, police in the capital say protesters carried out, quote, destructive activities on several government and telecommunication offices Thursday. The country imposed a nationwide blackout in response, leaving more than 170 million people without Internet.
Protesters are demanding an end to civil service job quotas that they claim are discriminatory and country where nearly 20 percent of the population is out of work or school.
Donald Trump has formally accepted the nomination of the Republican presidential candidate. His long speech was full of promises, boasts, and several misleading claims. We're checking the facts after the break.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:35:16]
BRUNHUBER: Welcome back. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
The Republican National Convention wrapped up less than two hours ago after former President Donald Trump accepted the nomination of his party.
Trump's long acceptance speech came less than one week after he was grazed by a bullet during an attempted assassination at a rally in Pennsylvania. He paid tribute to a firefighter who was killed in the audience at the rally and kissed the man's helmet and uniform that was displayed on the stage. And he asked convention delegates for their votes, vowing to never let them down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: To all of the forgotten men and women who have been neglected, abandoned, and left behind, you will be forgotten no longer. We will press forward, and together we will win, win, win.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Trump also pledge to protect Social Security and Medicare and to secure the nation's borders. He blamed President Biden, again for doing damage to the U.S.
Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I I say it often, if you took the 10 worst presidents in the history of the United States, think of it, the 10 worst, added them up, they will not have done the damage that Biden has done.
I'm only going to use the term once, Biden. I'm not going to use the name anymore, just one time. The damage that he has done to this country is unthinkable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Meanwhile, a source close to Joe Biden says the present remains unconvinced that he should step aside. Pressure is growing from big money donors and some top Democrats for him to leave the presidential race.
Now, Donald Trump made some false and misleading claims about inflation, tax cuts, gas prices, and other things during his convention speech.
CNN's Daniel Dale has been doing the fact-checking. And here's some of what he found.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANIEL DALE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Donald Trump gave a remarkably long acceptance speech. It was also a remarkably dishonest speech.
I counted at least 22 false claims. Here are just some of them.
Trump repeatedly said he achieved world peace, which is obvious nonsense.
He adlibbed his usual lie about Democrats having cheated in the 2020 election. That's more nonsense.
He said, U.S. crime is going up. The opposite is true. It's gone down sharply in 2023 and early 2024. It's now lower than it was under Trump himself in 2020.
He said, we have the worst inflation ever, not even close. It's 3 percent right now. The record is 23.7 percent.
Trump said there was no inflation a few short years ago, it was low, yes. But not nonexistent when he left office, and it was 8 percent total for his presidency.
Trump also said the price of groceries is up 57 percent under Joe Biden, its actually 21 percent. He exaggerated about gas prices, about taxations.
He wrongly said he ended North Korean missile launches. He said Democrats are proposing to quadruple people's taxes, which is
totally imaginary.
He says his own tax cut was the largest in U.S. history, even though it wasn't close.
He said the Biden administration does nothing to stop migrants. The Biden administration tried to get Congress to pass a bill tightening the border. And after Trump helped kill that bill, Biden took executive action to tighten the border.
Trump said he stopped human trafficking, just not true. He said China's stop buying oil from Iran under him, also did not happen.
He said foreign governments are deliberately sending criminals and mental health patients from insane asylums to the U.S. as migrants. His own campaign has been unable to provide proof for that. I certainly cannot find any.
He said we defeated 100 percent of ISIS in a couple of months. In fact, the ISIS caliphate was declared fully liberated, more than in two years into his presidency.
And he said Russian warships are, in present tense, are operating in Cuba. And that the media refuses to write about this. The ships were there, but they left last month and media outlets, including this one, CNN, covered it quite a bit.
Daniel Dale, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Ron Brownstein is CNN's senior political analyst and the senior editor for "The Atlantic". And he joins me now from Los Angeles.
Good to see you again, Ron.
So for Donald Trump, Chris Wallace said something earlier that he thought Trump is weaker now than when he got up onto the podium to speak. I mean, the speech was a chance to expand his base so a lost opportunity here?
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Oh, absolutely. And more, look, Donald Trump is in a strong position in this race. Americans are dissatisfied with inflation. Democrats have ignored for many months the consistent finding and polls at most do Americans think that Biden is too old?
But if Joe Biden had delivered that speech tonight, can you imagine the outcry among Democrats?
It reminded me in some ways of the debate, where Trump was unfocused, rambling, grievance-filled, all the same things he was again tonight.
[02:40:03] He has clearly lost a step as a candidate as well. I mean, we heard all week, including often on our air that there was a new Trump and it was going to be different Trump. This is the same Trump. I mean, this is the Trump who says his greatest regret of his first term is he didn't send federal force into blue cities over the objections of their mayors. I mean or who calls his opponents communists and fascists and vermin.
There's a limit to how much he can go beyond who he is again, still on a strong position given the weakness of Biden, but I don't think there's anything tonight. And again, much like the debate that cause Democrats to believe they could not beat him if they had a stronger opponent.
BRUNHUBER: Yeah, even though the speech may not have been strong, overall though it caps off a strong week for Republicans as the convention was maybe unusually well-organized and well-produced and certainly sends the candidates and all his folks off onto the campaign trail with a sense of optimism, you'd presume.
BROWNSTEIN: Yeah, they have reason for optimism. I mean, you know, Democrat, if Biden stays in the race, you know, as I wrote today in "The Atlantic", I mean, its very hard to see a path toward recovery given that he's been stuck at 40 percent approval rating for over a year and 70 percent of Americans say he's too old.
But, you know, the unity in part was because all of the portions of the GOP that have been skeptical of Trump have essentially been driven out. And that is kind of the road the path that is still out there for Democrats.
I mean, you know, there's a lot of center right suburban voters who don't feel at home, even in the party that Republicans tried to put forward this week, they're not necessarily willing to vote for Biden, given all their concerns about him, Democrats are going through an exercise trying to figure out if they'd be more willing to vote for someone else, particularly the vice president.
You know, look, Donald Trump has strengths as a candidate. He can mobilize his base. He has shown so far in pulling the capacity to cut into Democratic groups, African American voters, Hispanic voters.
But ultimately, he is still a grievance politician, and that puts a ceiling I think on his potential support in a way that again, leaves an opening for Democrats, though, it's a harder and harder to see Biden being able to take advantage of that.
BRUNHUBER: Yeah. On that, I mean, the title of your piece "Democrats drifting towards disaster", let's -- let's drill into that because you were saying that the path for him is narrowing, but Biden himself says he still doesn't see the data, the numbers that would convince him to drop out, but the polls, especially in all seven of those states that we consider swing states -- I mean, they really don't look good for Biden.
So what do you make of the data? And I guess the drift towards disaster that we're seeing?
BROWNSTEIN: Yeah, it's not really clear what Biden is referring to because I think when you talk even to his campaign, they have a theory of the case that is not completely imaginary or illusory.
I mean, basically, they will acknowledge that the Sun Belt swing states, North Carolina and Georgia in the Southeast, Arizona and Nevada in the Southwest, are very tough climbs at this point for Biden. But he is within range in most polling, although not necessarily in the very latest in the three Rust Belt states that were part of what I ones called the blue wall, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
And there argument is that among the voters who are not fully committed to either side at this point in those states, there are enough of them left and those voters tend to be even more negative on Trump than on Biden. And there is some evidence that that is true.
The problem is A, they are really negative on Biden as well. And B, does Biden have the campaigning skills to kind of move them in his direction. I mean, he really has only one path, which is winning, sweeping those three states and one congressional district in Omaha, which we get into exactly to 270, Kim. Can you imagine, a 270-268 election?
BRUNHUBER: Yeah.
BROWNSTEIN: And it's an uphill climb in all three of those states for him. And I think that's why you see this sense among Democrats, this fear that not only could he lose, but, you know, they're defending eight Senate seats this year, in states that he is unlikely to win today. And that could put them in a deficit that they would have a hard time or reversing anytime before 2030?
BRUNHUBER: Yeah. The down-ballot effects could be catastrophic, but who knows? Still so much to play for in the weeks and months to come.
Ron Brownstein, thank you so much, really appreciate your analysis as always.
BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me.
BRUNHUBER: Well, Donald Trump slammed China in his convention speech. So how will China react? We'll find out when we come back.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:47:03]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: And right now, as we speak, large factories -- just started -- are being built across the border in Mexico. So with all the other things happening on our border, and they're being built by China to make cars and to sell them into our country. No tax, no anything.
(BOOING)
TRUMP: The United Auto Workers ought to be ashamed for allowing this to happen. And the leader of the United Auto Workers should be fired immediately. And every single autoworker, union and non-union should be voting for Donald Trump.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Because we're going to bring back car manufacturing and we're going to bring it back fast.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Well, Donald Trump mentioned China a couple of times in his speech, making specific accusations of electric vehicles, for instance, and other times he referenced China's fear of him, and once again, used the term China virus to describe COVID.
So let's go to Beijing where CNN's Marc Stewart is following developments.
So, Marc, what's the -- been the reaction there?
MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think overall generally speaking, Kim, I think its quite muted, at least at this point.
You know, this speech that we heard tonight, this convention speech is very much going to be a blueprint, an appetizer of what we will hear on the campaign trail from the Trump campaign between now and November member. But broadly speaking, China would really like to be hands off on all of this. In fact, its ministry of foreign affairs several times his issued statements to the effect it's opposed to making China an issue in U.S. elections.
But the reality is that it's inevitable. And as we heard tonight, a lot of discussion about China on some of these economic issues especially how it relates to the American worker. The president, the former president, did talk about the growth of the Chinese auto industry along with the Mexican auto industry, and how that's impacting the world stage. And the American worker.
Let's listen to some more of his remarks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Those plants are going to be built in the United States and our people are going to man those plants.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And if they don't agree with us, we'll put a tariff of approximately 100 percent to 200 percent on each car and they will be unsellable in the United States.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEWART: So expect to hear more conversation during the campaign about trade and with tariffs, something that again, the Chinese government really has been refraining on commenting on specifically.
The former president also talked about some of the tension in this part of the world, the Asia-Pacific, with Taiwan, with China, the Philippines, and Korea. In particular, he made reference to the escalation of weapons by North Korea.
Let me read you one statement, in particular, he said, now North Korea is acting up again. But when we get back, I get along with them. He'd like to see me back, too, referring to Kim Jong-un saying, I think he misses me if you want to know the truth.
[02:50:01]
Yes. The former president did have a diplomatic discussion with North Korea, however, that broke off after talks in Hanoi in 2019 and North Korea has now continued with some of its military ambitions.
As far as though the reaction, generally speaking in China, we're not seeing a lot on social media, not so much in state media as well. We saw one reference to the president's ear, the bandage on his ear. There was mention of a possible trade war but not to a large extent. So far, Kim pretty subdued compared to other topics on the American political scene.
BRUNHUBER: It's interesting.
All right. Thanks so much Marc Stewart in Beijing, thanks so much.
After days of speeches and celebration, Republicans have officially chosen Donald Trump as their presidential candidate. We'll have highlights from week in political theater, next on CNN.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRUNHUBER: And we have breaking news right now. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, all Delta and American Airlines flights are grounded due to a communications issue. It's not clear how long would ground stop will last, but the FAA is suggesting an update by 5:00 a.m. Eastern Time.
Now it comes after a significant Microsoft outage brought Frontier Airlines and some competitors to a standstill for hours on Thursday. That ground stop has since been lifted.
Court proceedings in the espionage trial of "Wall Street Journal" reporter Evan Gershkovich are now underway in Russia. The closed door hearing was unexpectedly moved up by more than a month and it's moving in an unusually fast pace, with witness testimony, taking only one day and all this has some speculating that a prisoner exchange with the U.S. maybe in the works.
Moscow accuses Gershkovich of working for the CIA to gather information about a Russian tank company. Gershkovich, "The Wall Street Journal" and the U.S. government all reject Russia's claims.
In the coming hours, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will do what no other foreign leader has done in Britain since 1997. He will address the British cabinet at Prime Minister Keir Starmer's 10 Downing Street office. The Ukrainian president is the first foreign leader to visit since Starmer took office this month. Zelenskyy will bring the minister up to speed on the battlefield situation in Ukraine, and press for ramped up European defense production
Republicans have officially nominated Donald Trump and J.D. Vance to represent them on the presidential ballot this November. Their national convention was a mix of serious business and political fun.
Here are some of the highlights.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL WHATLEY, CHAIRMAN, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE: This convention will come to order.
ERIC TRUMP, SON OF DONALD TRUMP: We hear by nominate every single one of them for the greatest president that's ever lived, and that's Donald J. Trump, hereby declaring him the Republican nominee for president of the United States of America.
(MUSIC)
SEN. TIM SCOTT (R-SC): On Saturday, the devil came to Pennsylvania holding a rifle but an American lion got back up on his feet and he roared!
[02:55:07]
HULK HOGAN, FORMER PROFESSIONAL WRESTLER: They tried to kill the next president of the United States, enough was enough.
(CHEERING)
HOGAN: And I said, let Trumpamania run wild, brother. Let Trumpamania rule again. Let Trumpamania make America great again.
(CHEERING)
VIVEK RAMASWAMY, FORMER U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If you want to restore law and order in this country, vote Trump.
NIKKI HALEY, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald Trump has my strong endorsement, period.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We do it in solidarity with our President Trump because we love him, we support them 100 percent.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And if somebody has to wear cast, we'll wear a cast. If somebody has to have a bandage, we'll wear a bandage. We're behind him 100 percent.
ANNOUNCER: The Gold Star families of our fallen heroes.
(CHEERING)
CHRISTY SHAMBLIN, GOLD STAR MOTHER: I had expected to meet an arrogant the politician. Instead, I met a man who had empathy for us. He was compassionate and he's spent time with us because he knew it would make us feel better. Thank you, President Trump.
CROWD: J.D.! J.D.! J.D.!
SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I stand here humbled, and I'm overwhelmed with gratitude to say I officially accept your nomination to be vice president of the United States of America.
KAI TRUMP, DONALD TRUMP'S GRANDDAUGHTER: When we play golf together, if I'm not on his team, he'll try to get inside of my head, I know. And he's always surprised that I don't let him get to me. But I have to remind him, I'm a Trump, too.
FORMER PRESIDENT TRUMP: With faith and devotion, I proudly accept your nomination for president of the United States. Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
(MUSIC)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Well, that wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. I'll be back in just a moment with more news.
