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Melania Trump's Big Moment Ends in Controversy; U.S. Secretary of State Meets with Theresa May, Boris Johnson. Aired 11a-11:30a ET

Aired July 19, 2016 - 11:00   ET

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

(JOHN KERRY & BORIS JOHNSON PRESS CONFERENCE)

[11:15:35] LYNDA KINKADE, HOST: Looks like we may have just lost the link to that press conference there.

You were listening to the U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, and the British foreign secretary Boris Johnson having a more lighthearted moment

there giving John Kerry -- giving his reflections on Boris Johnson.

Now, our senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh is standing by who has been listening into this press conference with me. They do cover a

lot of ground there. They spoke about the crisis in Yemen. They spoke about Syria and the future of Assad, and also the Brexit and what that will

mean for the U.S./EU relationship.

Secretary Kerry said that U.S. is rooting for the smoothest possible transition and a highly collaborative EU and UK relationship.

This is a big concern, obviously, for the U.S. who did not want Britain to leave the EU at the time.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No, absolutely. And the U.S. has been confronted with this very complicated reality. And John

Kerry himself confronted with talking to the man who campaigned and perhaps is surprised, won, that

referendum pushing Britain out of the European Union.

Yes, as you said they are quite clear that they wanted to see a very clear collaborative relationship. They are moving forward between Britain and

the European Union, talked about the calm statements made by Prime Minister May and Chancellor Merkel, the need to take this slowly.

And at the same time, too, Boris Johnson keen I think perhaps to seize upon the rhetoric he had used during the referendum campaigning that just

leaving the European Union doesn't suddenly take Britain out off the world stage, that he wants to see Britain more outward looking, more involved,

casting this as an opportunity for Britain.

Of course, his critics say well that can't be the case, you are stepping out of Europe, that enormous body, which had an increasingly common

international policy. How can that make Britain more effective?

But these two men here I think are coming to terms with each other. Interesting to hear John Kerry at the end there when asked if he had met

anybody like Boris Johnson, well, he gave a brief resume of his CV there and said I've met everybody like in the world like Boris Johnson.

And then went on to call him smart and capable.

But I think some degree there perhaps John Kerry still trying to assess quite whether he's dealing with a man who will 100 percent be the statesman

that Britain very much needs in that particular role and distance himself from the oratory we've seen in his past.

So, yes, relationship they're getting underway a lot of very complimentary phrases from John Kerry about Prime Minister May, his meeting with her,

their need for a speedy reaction and behavior in order to put Britain on course moving forward.

And, of course, an interesting point there from John Kerry, which I think plays into perhaps some of the reasons why so many Britain's voted to leave

the European Union. How, so many people had not shared the benefits of prosperity and that being an issue both in the United Kingdom and in

Britain of the globalization of projects.

So, a recognition now I think perhaps, too, of the many social challenges ahead. And a stark statement as well saying that no time in America's

history has it been more engaged in more places at any time in our history, was exactly what John Kerry had to say, recognizing, I think, the scope of

the challenges on the table in front of them there, Lynda, as you said -- Syria the forefront now, what they're talking about immediately.

Boris Johnson trying, I think, to scale back on previous comments made perhaps with this gravity attached them in newspaper columns in the past

year saying he's always thought that Bashar al-Assad should go, but they need to seize on opportunities here to find potential way of getting his

allies to pressure him to find some way of this situation coming through.

And John Kerry, too, I think talking about the potential for his conversations with Sergey Lavrov, his Russian counterpart, to yield with

some ability simply to make the situation on the ground better there.

No real specifics at this stage. A lot of description of how dire the situation is inside Syria right now. Nobody needs reminding of that. But

I think more above all two men there coming to terms with each other, the scale of the challenges ahead of them, frankly the British-American

relationship relaly having to reprove itself now as, quote, that special relationship given Britain has chosen this totally unexpected course to

leave the European Union.

But there perhaps enough joviality to suggest that that first meeting hadn't gone badly -- Lynda.

KINKADE: That's right. Commitments from both countries to work together to make that make transition as smooth as possible.

Nick Paton Walsh, great to have you with us. Thank you very much.

Well, still to come, his words were brief but his entrance was epic.

Donald Trump takes to the stage on the opening night of the Republican National Convention, but everyone is talking about his wife's speech for

better or for worse. We'll explain just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:22:42] KINKADE: You are watching CNN. And this is CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Lynda Kinkade. Welcome back.

Well, after a long hard fight that deeply divided his own party, Donald Trump is hours away from officially becoming the Republican presidential

nominee. That's if everything goes to plan.

His name goes to a roll call vote on day two of the Republican National Convention. Ever show man, Trump made a pretty grand entrance on Monday

night. His silhouette back-lit as he dramatically walked on stage to the song "We Are the Champions."

He made a brief appearance to introduce his wife Melania who was the headline speaker. There's no doubt she stole the show, but perhaps not the

way she was intended to. Phil Mattingly tells us about a plagiarism controversy now dominating the headlines.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The similarities are startling.

MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: You work hard for what you want in life.

MELANIA TRUMP, WIFE OF DONALD TRUMP: That you work hard for what you want in life.

MICHELLE OBAMA: What your word is your bond. That you do what you say you're going to do.

MELANIA TRUMP: Your word is your bond and do you what you say and keep your promise.

MATTINGLY: Melania Trump's big moment on the national stage overshadowed by an unexpected moment. Trump delivering a speech with plagiarized passages

from Michelle Obama's speech from the 2008 Democratic national convention.

MICHELLE OBAMA: We want our children and all children in the nation to know.

MELANIA TRUMP: Because we want our children in this nation to know.

MICHELLE OBAMA: That the only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and willingness to work hard for them.

MELANIA TRUMP: That the only limit to your achievements is the strength of your dreams and your willingness to work for them.

MATTINGLY: And that's not all.

MICHELLE OBAMA: That you treat people with dignity and respect even if you don't know them and even if you don't agree with them.

MELANIA TRUMP: That you treat people with respect.

MATTINGLY: Under a firestorm of criticism online, the Trump campaign issuing this statement overnight. Saying quote, "Melania's team of writers

took notes on her life's inspirations, and in some instances included fragments that reflected her own thinking."

But the statement doesn't acknowledge the allegations of plagiarism, mentioned who help Mrs. Trump write a speech, or explain where those

fragments came from. In a moment before her speech, Melania seems to take most of the credit for the content of her remark.

[11:25:17] MELANIA TRUMP: I wrote it and with a little bit of help as possible.

MATTINGLY: Donald Trump's introduction of his wife on stage, yet another moment that has everyone talking about the unconventional convention.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Well, Donald Trump's campaign manager spoke to CNN a short time ago about the plagiarism controversy. Paul Manafort called the allegations

absurd. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP))

PAUL MANAFORT, TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: These were common words and values that she cares about her family, that things like that. I mean, she was

speaking in front of 35 million people last night. She knew that. To think that she would be cribbing Michelle Obama's words is crazy.

I mean, it's so -- I mean, this is once begun an example of when a woman threatens Hillary

Clinton how she seeks out to demean her and take her down. It's not going work.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN CORERSPONDENT: All I'm saying is the language is strikingly similar. I'm not making a big deal of it. I know everybody is

talking about it this morning, but I don't think it's an allegation, it's not some suggestion without proof. I think it happened. I don't

understand why the campaign doesn't just own it and say people borrow phrases, that's what happened, and moved on. That's what ironically Obama

did in 2008 when Clinton said that he cribbed from Deval Patrick. He said you are right, I did it.

MANAFORT: He did do it. That's correct. But in this particular case, you know, there was collaboration, and certainly there is no feeling on her

part that she did it. You know, that what she did was use that are common words. And to expect her to -- to think that she would do something like

that knowing how scrutinized her speech was going to be last night is just really absurd.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, before we leave you, we want to show you what some people are saying on Twitter about Melania Trump's speech and all the controversy

that followed it. The hashtag famous Melania Trump quotes has quickly caught on. Actress Heather Matarazzo gave Melania credit for the famous

line, "my name is Bond. James Bond." The writer and music producer Drew Ryan Scott went for a more sentimental approach, she used the hashtag

#underthewhisperedpromise from Titanic, "I'll never let you go, Jack. I'll never let you go."

The hashtag was the idea of actor Jessie Williams who tweeted out the line from Martin Luther King's speech, "I have a dream."

I'm Lynda Kinkade. That was CONNECT THE WORLD. Thanks so much for watching. Becky Anderson's exclusive interview with Turkey's President

Recep Tayyip Erdogan is next after a quick update of the headlines.

END