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CNN Live Event/Special

Donald Trump Wins the Republican Nomination; Fight Promoter Talks About His Friendship with Donald Trump; Arkansas Gov: Clinton Wants More Government; Persecutors Making Case Against Clinton; Donald Trump Appears Live Soon. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired July 19, 2016 - 20:00   ET

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

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: They're going to be talking about jobs and the economy, trying to create jobs.

There is also an interesting subtext within this evening's speakers, members of Congress. Obviously, there's been a lot of tension between the Republican leadership on the Hill and Donald Trump, and yet you wouldn't know that by looking at the lineup.

[20:00:04] You have the Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. You have House Speaker Paul Ryan. You have the House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and a lot of representatives of the very elites. And Donald Trump in any ways has spent the last year railing against and running against and convincing the voters that they do not have their best interests at heart.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: I want to go to Dana Bash. She's on the convention floor right now.

Dana, explain what's going on right now in addition to the excellent music?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're waiting for it to be official for the speaker of the House to come out and formally gavel that Donald J. Trump is the absolute nominee, is the formal nominee for the Republican Party.

So, that's what we're waiting for. Alaska made a point of order and there is a parliamentarian issue right now that they're looking at, but when it comes to the votes needed, they're there, and we saw that, obviously, in a dramatic moment right back there with Donald Trump's children, and his son in particular, Donald Jr., putting in his name for the state of New York, which when you look at the numbers put him over the top.

But I think what is most interesting over the last couple of hours here, Wolf, on the floor is what has not happened coming into today. We heard so many rumors and concerns from the Republican Party officials, from Donald Trump's campaign about whether certain states that had a lot of anti-Trump forces and protest Cruz forces, like Colorado, like Utah, like even Minnesota and Washington state where they were going to go to a walkout or try to nominate Ted Cruz, or do something and have some kind of public display of frustration. It didn't happen. It didn't happen. Now, part of that is because I

saw in my own eyes the whip operation in the Trump campaign and the Republican Party working very hard to stop it from happening and it was kind of remarkable. But also because -- a lot of people -- there was some discord, I should say, but this is a party that you saw is pretty happy right now with who they have.

Not everybody, considering where we were, there's not as much discord as maybe you would have thought.

BLITZER: And you see the speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, and he's awaiting the final deliberations to go through and he will make the official announcement.

Anderson, over to you.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: A procedural delay. Let's talk here, though, with the panel about this moment for Donald Trump, Gloria Borger and David Axelrod.

I mean, it is extraordinary when you think about how this campaign for Donald Trump began, for him to be on this night getting the nomination of the party.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: You know, Anderson, I guess it started June 15th, and over the course of the past year, we have heard he's never going to get the nomination, started out with 17. It was improbable.

COOPER: It was he's never going to run. He was never going to release, you know, with financial information, he did release.

BORGER: Exactly. Still hasn't released his tax return returns, but it goes from that to this question of, OK, which one of the other boys are going to defeat him? That didn't happen. And then it went to contested convention. That didn't happen.

And then it went to never Trump, and today, we just saw the death of never Trump because as Dana was talking about, all of these kinds of last-ditch efforts turned into nothing more than mischief, really, on the floor.

DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think the question maybe that we should ask of ourselves is, how do we miss it? How do we miss all of this? And I think it speaks to the fact that this country is very much divided and that Donald Trump was speaking to an America that between New York and Washington and Boston, lots of folks don't hear and see, and so I think we ought to make note of that tonight, that everyone thought was so improbable, except for Jeffrey Lord and Kayleigh, happened.

BORGER: How did the Republican Party miss? I mean, yes, we missed it, but also the establishment and the Republican Party kept saying, you know what? This is never going to happen.

AXELROD: In a sense, the Republican Party has paid a price because they've had these differences and they've papered them over by being the anti-Obama Party.

BORGER: Right.

AXELROD: They've been against and they haven't been for and they haven't united a bunch of positive principles, and you know, Donald Trump may win the election, he will define the Republican Party and if he doesn't win the election, the Republican Party is going to have to do soul-searching including the Republicans not in this room.

[20:05:03] COOPER: Nia and Michael?

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: One of the things they tried to do tonight on top of the roll call which was my favorite part of this convention is they tried to show case some diversity, right?

COOPER: You are (INAUDIBLE)

HENDERSON: Yes, you saw --

COOPER: That's your favorite part? You're alone (ph).

HENDERSON: You saw Susana Martinez there putting his name into nomination for New Mexico and African-American voters. Their delegates doing the same thing.

I understand a lot of black GOP votes were doing a headcount of how many African-Americans were delegates and there was good news and some bad news in terms of the numbers here. Back in 2002, there were 167 black delegates according to their headcount, there are 80, but that's up from 2012 when there were about 28.

So, that's some good news. If they can certify those numbers, but that's one of the things that I thought that was interesting tonight and we'll see some of that again tonight with Ben Carson, for instance.

COOPER: Michael, we should also --

AXELROD: Those delegates may be the Donald Trump voters who were showing up in polls as the 1 percent or 2 percent supporting Donald Trump.

COOPER: We should also point out, Michael, that this procedural delay could push some of the speeches back. Let's listen to Paul Ryan.

REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Ladies and gentlemen, -- ladies and gentlemen, the chair will yield to the chairman o4 the Republican national committee for the purpose of explaining the rules.

REINCE PRIEBUS, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: All right. Well, this is a rule that affects only about four states. First of all, all of the states are bound by 16A2 and the secretary is required to read the bound vote, and so that's why in a few states there was a difference. In this particular case, the state rules under the 16F filing says

that the candidates that are submitted under the -- that run in the election, when they drop out, the bound vote gets re-allocated to the only candidate left that's running. So you understand?

So, under the rule, he is correct that that is how Alaska originally voted. However, since there was only one candidate that was left running, the bound vote gets shifted under the same-party rule and that's why the secretary read it that way. So, that's how the rules are interpreted.

I hope you saw tonight that we allowed for other votes of other candidates that were running to be read. I know that's different than Tampa, and I hope you all appreciated that.

In any event, have a great night.

(APPLAUSE)

RYAN: Pursuant to Rule 37B and the chair's earlier announcement, the votes of the state of Alaska shall be recorded as 28 votes, Trump.

This result differs from the results of the poll delivered to the secretary, but is necessary to reflect the presidential preference vote or to recollection of delegates as required under the rules.

The chair -- the chair is prepared to announce the results.

The following candidates received the following votes: 1,725, Trump.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

Four hundred seventy-five, Cruz.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

One hundred twenty, Kasich. One hundred fourteen, Rubio. Seven, Carson. Three, Bush. Two, Paul.

(APPLAUSE)

Accordingly, the chair announces that Donald J. Trump, having received the majority of these votes entitled to be cast at the convention, has been selected as the Republican Party nominee for president of the United States.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

COOPER: And that, Michael Smerconish, is the moment Donald Trump has been waiting a long time for.

MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: For me, it's reminiscent of many, many nights we've all spent together in the Washington, D.C., studio looking at John King in front of the magic wall and going through different scenarios as to whether Donald Trump could get to 1,237. Well, he did, and then some tonight. COOPER: Exactly.

RYAN: Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump, Jr., Eric Trump, Tiffany Trump, Barron Trump.

(APPLAUSE)

[20:10:07] COOPER: Naming the escort committee for -- for -- for Donald Trump.

ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen, please give a warm welcome to the majority leader of the United States Senate, the Honorable Mitch McConnell.

COOPER: They'll be nominating for the vice president, and Governor Mike Pence.

Jeffrey Lord, from the beginning you were a lone voice early on in the media landscape. What are your thoughts upon this moment?

JEFFREY LORD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It's amazing and it's certainly a big moment in American history. I think of Barack Obama's nomination, want all nominations are historical, in a sense and they're not always momentous and mean some particular thing. I think Ronald Reagan's did, and I think Barack Obama's did, and I think this does.

How will this play out? I mean, I think he stands for winning in November. How that plays out? We've yet to see, and clearly there is a new movement afoot and he's won.

COOPER: David, how big a problem is it that they're basically having trouble timing out this convention? I mean, last night, a lot of folks thought they should enter with Melania Trump and they went long.

AXELROD: I think it's a big problem, you are producing a television show and you're concentrating with the 10:00 hour when you have the maximum number of people watching and you want to put your best foot forward then. Joni Ernst who could have been helpful to Donald Trump was pushed back in the program, but off of primetime television.

COOPER: Off of evening --

AXELROD: And speaking to an empty hall, Rudy Giuliani, we can argue as to whether he was helpful or not. I would suggest not, was in the big hour, General Flynn who you could argue whether he was helpful or not was in the big hour. This wasn't the production that you wanted so the timing is very important.

COOPER: And already they -- they had planned to have speeches beginning already in the 8:00 hour. Obviously, they're now delayed because they're going through the process.

AXELROD: Listen, this is a reflection. I don't want to beat the whole issue of Melania's speech to death, but these are all signs of organizational stress. Donald Trump got very far as an improvisational candidate. He now has to build an organization and he has to have some discipline. These events require that and what we've seen in the early going is they're not there yet.

COOPER: Which is so interesting because Donald Trump's early central message early on was, I know how to build a great organization. I know how to hire all of the right people. God knows he's known for firing people.

AXELROD: It's interesting. I look back to Mitt Romney in 2012 -- sorry, Gloria, who was indisputably a brilliant businessman. He was a fine governor.

He had problems in his campaign, and so, it doesn't necessarily translate that if you have run a business, you know how to run a political campaign, and he doesn't know very many people who have run political campaigns and he's basically been running it himself.

COOPER: Of course, the larger issues, and if you have problems with your campaign, what does that mean for you actually in your governance ability if you make it to the White House?

BORGER: Sure, it does. I think one of the things he's going to show case tonight is a bunch of people who could potentially end up in a cabinet of Donald Trump's to show you the seriousness of his endeavor, but the thing about Donald Trump is he's kept it so small, and now that he's on a larger playing field, not only at the convention, but also in the country, of course, the question is how quickly can he expand it, and does he have the machinery in place to compete with the behemoth of the campaign that is Hillary Clinton?

S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think it's there's a little too much psychology going on here with trying to translate the production of a massive event and sort of make something of Trump's character because the speeches are running late.

I think the Melania response this morning was a disaster. We didn't need to be talking about this all day had he just come out and said, "I'm firing someone over this. It was a mistake." That was a disaster and that, I think, we can try to divine some insight into his character and judgment.

But, look, the RNC is putting this convention on. There will be hiccups. If there are hiccups at the DNC, I'm not going to make that a Hillary Clinton character or judgment issue. Some of it is just --

AXELROD: That's how it goes.

It's not a character issue. I'm saying it's a sign of organizational distress that there isn't the kind of infrastructure that you need to run a general election campaign in place yet, and I think that's what's reflected here.

[20:15:03] And you're right, what you call hiccups at the DNC, I think they'll be asking questions as to how that happened. My guess is that it will run more smoothly. KAYLEIGH MCENANY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Many would argue that

there were no hiccups, and many would argue that Rudy Giuliani had the appropriate spot and you had the man up there who was known to be a staunch ally of police come out and say we need to unite. We need one America. We don't need a black America or a white America. That was exactly the message --

CUPP: Don't you wish more people saw that moment? Because she was great and she's wonderful.

MCENANY: Perhaps she should have had a different speaking spot, and Rudy Giuliani was the right spot and featuring heroes and featuring everyday Americans. It was the way that he did, it was a far more successful convention than that of Romney and McCain.

CUPP: I agree. It was a great night.

COOPER: Van?

VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think something really important just happened in the country, and I think we have two different responses. I think there are some people who are horrified that Donald Trump is the nominee, and you also have a lot of people feeling vindicated right now.

There are a lot of people out there and Democrats need to get square with this, who have felt that they have not had a champion. They felt they're haven't had anybody to speak for them. I'm talking about those working-class white guys and places out like Indiana who haven't seen a raise in a long time, who worry about their kids, and for a long time, they have felt that the Democratic Party has been more interested in, you know, random minorities and different language constructions than their lives.

So, this is a judgment not just on the Republican Party establishment. It's a judgment on the entire political class that people got this far off the path and they say this is good for us. I just want to say that something big happened tonight in this country and we have to deal with that.

COOPER: There is more coming up. Donald Trump (INAUDIBLE) delegates just nominated him to be president. We're standing by for his remarks. We have speeches by his son Donald Jr., as well as his daughter Tiffany.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:21:00] COOPER: And welcome back live to the Republican National Convention, day two. The second night of prime time coverage. A lot to look forward to tonight. We're going to hear from Donald -- two of Donald Trump's children, from Tiffany Trump and also from Donald Trump, Jr.

It was Donald Trump, Jr., who actually put his father over the top in terms of the delegate count needed to get the nomination. Our Dana Bash was on the floor with the adult Trump children and spoke to them right after the vote was cast.

Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: That's right. I'm right here with the children, and I can just -- right next to Ivanka.

Ivanka, you're getting emotional. Can you tell me how you feel?

IVANKA TRUMP, DONALD TRUMP'S DAUGHTER: It's surreal. I'm so proud of my father. We all are.

BASH: Did you think you would be here nominating your father for the president of the United States? You ever think it would come to this?

ERIC TRUMP, DONALD TRUMP'S SON: It's amazing. He's the ultimate outsider and we are so proud of him and I've never underestimated my father, ever, and he's amazing. I've never underestimated him, and it's an amazing night for our family.

BASH: Tiffany, you're speaking tonight. What are your thoughts?

TIFFANY TRUMP, DONALD TRUMP'S DAUGHTER: I'm so honored and the crowd sounds very excited for everything that's going on. We'll see how it goes.

BASH: We look forward to your speech.

Don, Jr., we are live on CNN right now. That was quite a moment. You were able to nominate your father for president of the United States. I see that you're taking a deep breath.

DONALD TRUMP, JR., DONALD TRUMP'S SON: You know, it didn't get bigger than that, Dana. It's incredible. One of the more surreal moments of my life other than perhaps the birth of my children. I mean, I've watched him work so hard on this and speak to so many real people that were feeling left out and left in the dark here in New York and all over the country and to be able to do that, it's historic. It's awesome.

BASH: I have to say, I'm not so sure people can see, but you're tearing up right now.

TRUMP, JR.: It's -- it's pretty real. I have to speak later today and I have to get my composure. It's a surreal moment and it's a real movement. As I said in there, it's not a campaign. It never was. We're not politicians. It's a real person who's gotten stuff done.

He's had a track record of success and accomplishment and he wants to bring that to this country, and he's going to do that. Everyone talks about it in r theory and he's actually done these things.

BASH: Let's talk about how your dad is feeling. Did you talk to him before coming out here, before you were doing what you just did?

TRUMP, JR.: I've been running around a little bit like crazy today, so I haven't had a chance to catch up with him all that much. We've had a crazy day. I get to speak tonight, but I'm sure I'll be hearing from him and my phone will be hearing in a few minutes. So, it's just awesome. I couldn't be happier to be a part of this.

BASH: You're speaking tonight. Any preview?

TRUMP, JR.: You'll see. We'll see. We'll see. It's going to be fun. It's going to be interesting. It's going to be impassioned and I'll talk about my father a little bit and also still talk about the severity of the situation that we're in as a country because too many times I've seen the fluffy joking about the father thing and we're just not in that situation. I'd love to be able to deliver that speech, but we're not there.

BASH: You talked about the fact that you're not from a family of politicians. You have been in the public eye because of who your father is all of your life, but still, this is a different kind of moment. Could you ever have imagined this moment happening right now?

TRUMP, JR.: Not before he announced last June. The second he announced if there was one thing I've learned about my father and one thing I know about my father is never bet against him when he puts his mind to something. He just gets it done. He gets things done. That's what he's done his whole career.

He can't be the guy he is -- he can't do what he's done without being able to do that, and it's spectacular. He's one of a kind.

BASH: As you see here looking around with the signs and you're kind of in the moment, can you reflect for a second on what this year has been like for the Trump family?

TRUMP, JR.: Listen, it's been tough. It's been brutal and a lot of work. I mean, we got involved because we believe in his message -- meaning my sibling, myself and my whole family.

We want him to do what's right for this country because we know he can do that, and we want this country to be better for our kids than the way we received it. That's not the way we're going, Dana.

[20:25:00] The politicians have ruined this country. They've done it time and time again. What's going to change? What's different from this batch than the last?

He's such an outsider. He can do that. He can make those changes and he's going to do a phenomenal job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Yes, I got it. We are back. We will take a short break and we will have more live from the convention, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLITZER: Donald Trump just tweeted, "Such a great honor to be the Republican nominee for president of the United States. I will work hard and never let you down. America first."

Jake, we're about to hear from Dana White, the president of the Mixed Martial Arts Ultimate Fighting Championship. He's about getting ready to speak right now.

TAPPER: That's right. Trump has hosted UFC fights at his Taj Mahal Hotel in Atlantic City, even before the sport game mainstream acceptance -- here he is right now.

DANA WHITE, PRESIDENT OF THE ULTIMATE FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP: Good evening, everyone! My name is Dana White. I am the president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Thank you. I'm sure most of you are wondering, what are you doing here?

I am not a politician.

[20:30:00] I am a fight promoter, but I was blown away and honored to be invited here tonight. And I wanted to show up and tell you about my friend, Donald Trump, the Donald Trump that I know.

In 2001, my partners and I bought the UFC and it was basically considered a blood sport. The State Athletic Commission didn't support us, arenas around the world refused to host our events. Nobody took us seriously, nobody, except Donald Trump.

Donald was the first guy that recognized the potential that we saw in the UFC, and encouraged us to build our business. He hosted our first two events at his venue. He dealt with us personally. He got in the trenches with us. And he made a deal that worked for everyone. On top of that, he showed up for the fight on Saturday night and sat in the front row. Yeah. He's that guy. He shows up. Donald championed the UFC before it was popular, before it grew into a successful business and I will always be so grateful, so grateful for him for standing with those -- with us in those early days. So tonight, I stand with Donald Trump.

Let me tell you three things that I respect about this man. First, Donald has great business instincts. He supports businesses of all sizes. He'll make it possible for them to grow and succeed, which is the backbone of a strong economy. Second, Donald is a hard worker. This guy's going to get up there. He's going to roll up his sleeves. He will work with people, and he will put in the time to get things done. Third, for over 15 years, Donald Trump has been a loyal and supportive friend, and I know that if I needed Donald he would be there for me just like he was when I first met him.

He's one of these guys that sometimes he'll pick up the phone and then call me and say, hey, good luck with the fights tonight. I'm going to be watching or whatever it is that we might have going on. And he always reaches out to me when something has happened in my career.

Back in 2011, we signed this huge network television deal with Fox, and they did a big write-up in "The New York Times", Donald took that paper and he wrote on the front and said congratulations, Dana, I always knew you were going to do it. Just for the record, Donald has nothing to do with my business. We're not in business together. His interest in me and my business are personal. And in my opinion, you can really tell a person's true character when they're happy for somebody else's success, OK?

And I think that sense of loyalty and commitment will translate into how he will run this country. And let's be honest, folks, we need somebody who believes in this country. We need somebody who's proud of this country and who will fight for this country.

Let me tell you something, I've been in the fight business my whole life. I know fighters. Ladies and gentlemen, Donald Trump is a fighter and I know he will fight for this country.

Thank you very much. Have a great evening.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please give a warm welcome to Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson.

GOV. ASA HUTCHINSON, (R) ARKANSAS: Ladies and gentlemen, I hail from the great State of Arkansas. We know from personal experience that we don't need Hillary Clinton in the White House.

I have been in the public arena during the administration of six presidents from Federal prosecutor under President Reagan to Congress, the DEA and then Homeland Security after 9/11. I have seen America at its best. And I have seen America put to the test. There has never been a more urgent time for leadership. America's strength and boldness are desperately needed on the world stage, and a new energy is demanded at home to build our economy and to defeat terrorism. Strength, boldness and new energy are not words that describe Hillary Clinton.

This is the same Hillary we knew in Arkansas, and later in Washington for so many years.

[20:35:04] Hillary always wanted more government, and her dreams have only gotten bigger. Regretfully, she offers more of the same, the same uncertain leadership in fighting terrorism. The same failed top- down approach to healthcare where Washington tells the states what to do. The same nanny state regulations that strangle the economic strength of America. If you liked the last eight years then Hillary will give you double for your trouble. But good things are happening in the states.

In Arkansas, we are creating jobs and leading in computer science education. Unemployment is the lowest in the recorded history of Arkansas, and we have $177 million surplus. We can do better though for our country at the national level. We need a president that values the role of the states, will destroy ISIS and jumpstart our economy.

Ladies and gentlemen, experience matters. On the campaign trail Hillary Clinton emphasized her experience. Yes, experience matters, but judgment matters more. Despite her experience, Hillary Clinton's poor decisions have produced bad results. Just think about it. Hillary Clinton's radical attempts at so-called reform of the nation's healthcare system would have been more destructive than even ObamaCare has been.

Hillary Clinton's bad judgment, as you heard last night, left us four dead Americans in Benghazi. It resulted instability in Egypt, Syria and Libya, the rise of ISIS, the resurgence of Russia and emboldened North Korea, inappropriate ties between foreign governments and the Clinton Foundation and a more dangerous world.

When it comes to being commander in chief, we don't want a president who in the words of the FBI is extremely careless in the handling of classified material.

Donald Trump represents a different kind of leadership. He is exactly the kind of transparent, straight-talking leader America needs right now. A Hillary Clinton presidency will endanger our national security. It will be the wrong direction for our economy, and it will undermine the innovation coming from the states. A Trump presidency will be about the art of the possible. Donald Trump is the right leader for our time. Mike Pence is the right leader for our time.

Thank you. God bless America.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please welcome the Attorney General of Arkansas Leslie Rutledge.

LESLIE RUTLEDGE, ARKANSAS ATTORNEY GENERAL: Good evening. Sometimes Hillary Clinton speaks with a New York accent. Sometimes an Arkansas accent, but you all, this is what a real Arkansas woman sounds like.

Hillary may not know where she's from, but Arkansans know exactly who she is. Arkansans know who I am, raised on a cow farm, married to row crop farmer and I'm a Christian, pro-life, gun-carrying conservative woman.

And I'm the first female and first Republican elected attorney general of Arkansas. The very same office Bill Clinton held when those two launched their careers of corruption.

Hillary says when they left the White House, they were poor.

[20:40:03] And while they've made millions, she's still poor in all the ways that really count, poor judgment, poor policies and poor decisions.

Hillary is a lawyer, but she acts like the law doesn't apply to her. Absolutely, no good could have come from merging her public service with her private interest, much less her private server.

What we know about her scandals is bad. What we don't know may be worse. Why did Bill's speaking fees skyrocket as soon as she became secretary of state? Why did donors of the Clinton Foundation receive favorable treatment from the State Department? Deception and dishonesty are all second nature to Hillary. As my

daddy likes to say, Hillary will lie even when the truth would serve her better. I broke a glass ceiling. I know the importance of doing so, but a historical milestone need not come at the expense of America.

Unlike Hillary, Donald Trump knows that women and men are not single- issue voters. We care about jobs, the economy and national security. I know this race will shape the Supreme Court for generations. Do we want the late Antonin Scalia to be replaced by liberal, activist judge?

MULTIPLE SPEAKERS: No.

RUTLEDGE: Donald Trump will nominate conservative justices who will uphold the constitution, support the rule of law and rein in out-of- control Federal bureaucrats. Frankly, frankly, Hillary needs to go to her own house and not the White House and she can take Ruth Bader Ginsburg with her.

My fellow Americans, it's time to update your resumes because Donald Trump is growing jobs and with a Trump presidency America will be close to over regulation and open for business.

God bless each and every one of you and God bless America. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please welcome former United States Attorney General Michael Mukasey.

MICHAEL MUKASEY, FMR ATTORNEY GENERAL: You know, over the years, Hillary Clinton has done a lot of things and said a lot of things to show why she should not be president of the United States, but how she treated and what she did with government secrets when she was secretary of state, and what she said about what she did both before and after she got caught exquisitely, sums up the case against her presidency.

She sent and received secret and top secret and beyond top secret information and e-mails on an unsecured private e-mail system instead of on the secure government system, and she did it without authorization.

She said falsely, that there was no classified information. She said, falsely, that what she did was authorized. And what else did she say? She said, and these are her words, "When we travel to sensitive places like Russia, we often received warnings from Department Security officials to leave our blackberries, laptops, anything that communicated with the outside world on the plane with their batteries removed to prevent foreign intelligence services from compromising them."

[20:45:08] Ands then she added, falsely, "Even in friendly settings, we conducted business under secret security precautions, taking care when and how we read secret material and used our technology."

That's from her book which is entitled, ironically, "Hard Choices" hard choices, indeed in reality, we now know that she chose to use her private e-mail overseas in countries that were hostile to the United States and that have sophisticated hacking capability. Although her system was so remarkably primitive, the FBI couldn't figure out whether or not it had been hacked. We do know that the e-mails of people she communicated with were hacked.

So I guess about her e-mails, we're soon going to hear the same infamous question that we heard about the death of four Americans in Benghazi. What difference at this point does it make? Well, Secretary Clinton, it makes a big difference.

The United States is the only country in the world that was founded based not on blood or land, but based on a law, the constitution. Hillary Clinton is running for an office, the presidency, whose powers and duties are defined by that law.

The most important power that that law gives the president is to be commander in chief of the Armed Forces to protect the country. That law imposes really only one substantive duty on the president and that is, as written in the constitution, to take care that the laws be faithfully executed. That law, the constitution, specifically requires that before taking up those powers and duties the president swear to an oath and it's the only oath that set forth in the constitution to faithfully execute the office and to preserve, protect and defend the constitution.

Hillary Clinton took a similar oath before she became secretary of state. You know what that adds up to? What that adds up to is that Hillary Clinton is asking the people of this country, the people of the United States to make her the first president in history to take the constitutional oath of office after already having violated it.

The message, the message from this convention to everyone watching these proceedings, and the message to her should be loud, clear and short, "No way, Hillary, no way on earth."

Thank you very much.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please welcome from New York ...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Michael Mukasey, the former attorney general of the United States during the Bush Administration going after Hillary Clinton saying, basically, Jake, that she violated the law. She's not qualified to serve as president of the United States.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: A very carefully written point-by-point dissection of the claims that Clinton has made over the last year or so that have proven to not withstand the FBI investigation.

This whole night so far, generally speaking, has been a real disendowment of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, at least, an attempt to do so. You had the attorney general of Arkansas talking about how Clinton has poor judgment policies and decisions. And you had a very sober discussion by Attorney General Mukasey of his view of everything she did wrong in the e-mail controversy.

BLITZER: Do you think that works for the party and attracts voters?

TAPPER: Well, I think, I think it's Attorney General Mukasey has a fairly -- he has a great reputation, and he has a very -- he's very sober and he has a lot of gravitas, I think and somebody like him, I don't know that it necessarily changes the election, but I think his presentation was a fair -- was a fairly credible one and he's a respectful guy.

I haven't had a chance to fact check every point he has made, but certainly a lot of them that he made were accurate on a choice.

[20:50:00] But let me say one other thing, Wolf. I think something that a lot of viewers did not see because probably very few networks if any were covering it was the chair, the co-chair of the Republican National Committee, Sharon Day, said that Hillary Clinton in her speech, which a lot of people didn't hear, said in her speech that Hillary Clinton, as first lady, went after the character of -- and this is a quote, "Victims of her husband's sexual abuse, victims of Bill Clinton." I've never heard, I mean, certainly that's something that Republicans say, but generally speaking, it's not the kind of thing that you hear a co-chair of the Republican National Committee say at a convention. It is a very strong charge. We would, you know, would have to do like an hour special just to go into every specific claim and counter-claim. But boy, that really gives you an idea of where this election is headed.

BLITZER: She was very, very blatant last night. We heard three speakers say that Hillary Clinton actually belongs in jail as well.

All right, stand by. We're standing by. Donald Trump, he's getting ready to speak live. We'll be hearing what he has to say.

Also, two of his children will be speaking later tonight. We'll have coverage of that Donald Trump Jr., Tiffany Trump, much more right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:55:15] BLITZER: Momentarily, Donald Trump is going to be addressing the Republican National Convention. Stand by for live coverage of that.

Jake, before Donald Trump, Chris Cox, the chief lobbyist for the National Rifle Association, he will be speaking on guns on America. And Natalie Gulbis, the professional golfer, will be speaking as well. She was her one of Donald Trump's celebrity apprentice program, I guess entertainers, whatever you want to call it.

TAPPER: He really has been able to bring in celebrities in a way that we haven't seen traditionally in Republican conventions. But I have to say in terms of Chris Cox, the lobbyist for the NRA, it is really, really remarkable how quickly Donald Trump, who earlier in his career, not even that long ago, was in favor of some forms of gun control. It's been really surprising how quickly he was able to convince the NRA that he was 100 percent on their side. I think one of the ways that he's been able to do that, even though he is not particularly a hunter or a sportsman, and his sons.

His sons are so active in the NRA. They are such avid hunters. I think their love of it was part of the reason he was able to convince the NRA that he was totally on board.

BLITZER: But the earliest endorsement by the NRA of any candidate. Chris Cox, the chief lobbyist for the NRA, a former U.S. congressman, he's going to be speaking right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS COX, NRA LOBBYIST: I want to talk to you tonight about a very personal freedom, your right to protect your life. Because as much as we don't like to think about it, we live in dangerous times. We're worried and we have reason to be, because our government has failed to keep us safe. You have to be able to protect yourself and your family and that's what the Second Amendment is all about.

Imagine a young mother at home with her baby, when a violent predator kicks the door in. He's a three-time loser who was released from prison early because some politician wanted to show their compassion. What's she going to do? She'll dial 911 and pray. The police will do their best to get there quickly, but their average response time is 11 minutes. So the question is, should she be able to defend herself with a firearm in her own home? Of course. Friends, that question is on the ballot in November. And here is why.

Eight years ago, the Supreme Court ruled that we have a fundamental, individual right to protect ourselves and our families with a firearm in our own homes. They should have ruled it nine-to-nothing, but the Second Amendment survived by just one vote. After Justice Scalia's death, that vote is gone.

In case you're wondering where Hillary Clinton stands, she said, "the Supreme Court is wrong on the Second Amendment."

Think about that. All the Supreme Court said was that you have the right to protect your life in your own home, but Hillary says they're wrong. It's that simple. A Hillary Clinton Supreme Court means your right to own a firearm is gone.

Make no mistake. This election is not about the next four years, it's about the next 40 years. So voting for Hillary Clinton, or not voting, is simply not an option.

What's so outrageous is that for the rest of her life, Hillary Clinton will never even think about dialing 911.

For the past 30 years, she hasn't taken a walk, a nap or a bathroom break without a good guy with a gun there to protect her.

So, it's easy for her to dismiss a right that she will never have to use. But for the rest of us, the choice to own a firearm is ours to make.

In America, there cannot be one set of rules for the Clintons and another set for us.

But here's Hillary's problem. American women are the fastest growing group of gun owners. Millions own firearms, millions.

[21:00:01] And millions more are thinking about it. It's not Hillary Clinton who says women should have that choice, it's Donald Trump.