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CNN Live Event/Special
Third Night Of Republican National Convention; Hurricane Laura Nearly Category Five Hurricane; WH Official: Trying To Connect Trump With Family Of Jacob Blake; Awaiting Start Of Third Night Of Republican Convention; Pence To Speak Tonight Amid Hurricane Threat, WI Violence. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired August 26, 2020 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: I appreciate your time. Thank you very much. And we all thank you for what you do. Please stay safe up there right now, as you said, just passing through that eye.
Thanks to all of you for joining us as our coverage of that breaking story and our special coverage of the Republican National Convention continues now.
[20:00:10]
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Live pictures from historic Fort McHenry in Baltimore, one of the backdrops for the Republican National Convention tonight. It's about to get underway in the shadow of huge stories that are breaking right now.
A curfew taking effect right now in Kenosha, Wisconsin as the city braces for what could be a fourth night of unrest following the police shooting of an unarmed black man, Jacob Blake.
Tonight, a white teenager is under arrest in connection with a shooting attack on protesters in Kenosha overnight.
And this new flashpoint in the fight for racial justice has sparked a boycott by NBA players on the Milwaukee Bucks. That has led to all three of tonight's playoff games being postponed.
In addition, the six teams slated to play tonight in the WNBA announced they are standing in solidarity and won't play either.
The protests spreading to Major League Baseball with the Milwaukee Brewers and the Seattle Mariners refusing to play their games.
I am Anderson Cooper along with Wolf Blitzer in our special convention coverage -- Wolf.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Anderson, we're also following a truly devastating Category Four Hurricane that is bearing down right now on the Gulf Coast. Laura is poised to strike with more power than Katrina and unleash a storm surge that could be un-survivable.
All of this playing out as Vice President Mike Pence is about to get his big moment in the convention spotlight. We're told he will have very tough criticism for Joe Biden in his
headline speech and portray Democrats is dangerous for America.
The campaign official tells CNN that President Trump will join the Vice President at Fort McHenry to honor Medal of Honor recipients and other military veterans and first responders.
We're covering it all with Jake Tapper, Dana Bash, and Abby Phillip. Jake, a lot of questions about how much we will hear from the Republicans about what's happening in Kenosha, and this new NBA boycott.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: That's right, Wolf. We're told that Vice President Pence will address one of those issues and I'm not sure how it will land exactly given the breaking news.
We were told that Pence intends to try to tie Biden and the Democrats to the violence in Kenosha, the arson and the vandalism, despite the fact that just today, Biden condemned, quote, "needless violence" stemming from those demonstrations.
And perhaps more importantly, last night, someone shot and killed two people at protests -- two apparent protesters. What if it happens that it turns out that the killer has far right or conservative beliefs? Now, we don't know that yet, but with so much up in the air, might that complicate what Pence and Republicans will say tonight about violence.
I'm also interested as to what if anything we hear from Mr. Pence about the coronavirus on the day that we learn the White House is pressuring the C.D.C. into issuing weaker testing guidelines.
Pence is of course the head of the Coronavirus Taskforce fighting a pandemic than under any objective measure. According to health experts, the United States has failed to contain in comparison with other Western wealthy countries.
And Dana, Republicans seem quite eager to move on from the coronavirus pandemic, instead they are trying to focus on law and order.
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Of course, because Jake, they believe that it is one of if not the driving issue in the battle for votes in the suburbs, particularly women who could be the deciders in this election and Republicans argue that the violence in Kenosha, Wisconsin with that as a backdrop to their convention, that it plays right into their law and order message, no matter what.
And tonight, we are going to hear from the head of a Police Union that endorsed the President and expect him to say that Mr. Trump is a defender of the police while acknowledging the need to hold bad cops accountable.
And of course, Republicans will keep painting Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as anti-law enforcement, which the Biden campaign insists, is patently false and a scare tactic. And Abby, this racial justice issue is so potent as a wedge issue, and
we're seeing it on display today. This new NBA boycott and of course, we're going to look ahead to Republicans trying to double down on their criticism of athletes who started taking a knee -- what -- four years ago?
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, four years ago to the day and Dana, we expect to hear multiple Republicans denounce athletes who refuse to stand for the National Anthem, and they'll try to tie Black Lives Matter protests to the anarchy they claim will unfold if Joe Biden is elected.
We know the Republicans are featuring a few sports figures tonight including a former football player who is now running for Congress in Utah, Burgess Owens. He is expected to hit Joe Biden on race.
And tonight, we are seeing a stark divide on display in America between the messages being delivered at the Republican Convention and the support for racial justice in the sports world.
If anything sums that up, it may be this tweet by NBA superstar LeBron James saying, "Eff this man. We demand change. Sick of it" -- Anderson.
COOPER: Let's get the latest right now from Kenosha. CNN's Omar Jimenez is there for us. Omar, some very disturbing developments as the city is now under curfew for another night. What are you seeing?
[20:05:36]
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, right now, Anderson, we actually just finished up a press conference with the Wisconsin Attorney General, Josh Kaul who actually gave us insight into where we are in regards to the investigation over the officer that shot Jacob Blake seven times in the back a few days ago now.
Now for one, he did identify the officer, Officer Rustin Sheskey, who is a seven-year veteran of the Kenosha Police Department here.
We also learned that at the very beginning of what they put out to us, it was a little bit -- dispatched over calls of a woman's boyfriend who was on the scene who was not supposed to be there.
Now, we actually asked the Attorney General whether that quote-unquote "boyfriend" was actually Jacob Blake and they would not answer that question.
Now, another aspect that they honed in on when they gave us this new information. They also say, this is the Department of Criminal Investigation and the Wisconsin D.O.J. leading this, they say that Jacob Blake told them that he did have a knife in his possession.
However, they did not elaborate and we do not know at what point throughout the interaction that we saw play on the cell phone video he either had one or didn't. They did say they did recover a knife from the floorboard of the driver's side of his car and then they also laid out the process of what we are looking at, at this point.
The Attorney General's Office is the lead investigator on this case within the Department of Criminal Investigation. They are trying to get and complete one within 30 days, they tell us. At that point they will then refer it to the Kenosha County prosecutors or District Attorney's Office, at which point they will decide whether charges are to be filed or not.
They also told us that the U.S. Department of Justice is also looking at the facts in this as well and potentially considering opening a parallel investigation to look at any Federal charges as well.
But of course, all this comes after nights in a row of pain and emotion expressed to people in the community and even last night, at times, growing violent in the deadly form -- Anderson.
COOPER: Yes, two people dying. Omar Jimenez, more to come. We'll talk to you shortly.
Also breaking, Hurricane Laura closing in on the Gulf Coast. It is an extremely dangerous and powerful storm. It is now nearly a Category Five storm with winds up 150 miles per hour.
The National Hurricane Center is warning what it calls -- their word -- un-survivable storm surge of more than 15 feet that could push inland for up to 40 miles. Gary Tuchman is in Lake Charles, Louisiana for us, but first, the latest forecast from meteorologist Tom Sater -- Tom.
TOM SATER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Anderson, we're looking right now of an update in the last hour where the pressure has been dropping, which means Laura is still getting stronger, and the winds have increased from 145 to 150 miles per hour. That's only seven miles per hour away from a Category Five. But those that decided to hold out and hang through this are not going to know the difference.
Laura is joining an elite group, a small elite group of hurricanes that are infamous for their tragic loss of life and property, taking the same path as Rita in 2005.
Rita, took of course the loss of life, precious lives, but also left in its wake $18 billion worth in economic losses. That was 15 years ago.
This is moving in with such a force still looking between 2:00 and 3:00 a.m. It is going to change topography. It is going to alter the coastline. It's going to create inlets that dissolve away some of the barrier islands, but it looks like it's making its way just to the east of the border and again between 2:00 and 3:00 a.m.
I fear the pictures we see tomorrow morning, Anderson, are going to be absolutely jaw dropping.
COOPER: Well, we will be following this very closely all throughout the night. Let's go to Gary Tuchman who is in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Gary, what's it like there now? GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, this was a
tropical storm yesterday. Now, a catastrophic 150 mile per hour hurricane is on its way to Lake Charles, Louisiana.
You know, people who live on the Gulf Coast, they are hurricanes savvy, but man, this intensification has been shocking. And frankly and understandably, people are very scared.
Emergency officials are saying there can be catastrophic storm surges of up to 20 feet from the coast to our south to the Interstate 10 corridor to our north. That overpass over there, that's Interstate 10 to our north.
This river right here, they are expecting record setting flooding levels on this river. We expect that this beach that we're standing on tomorrow morning will no longer exist.
There is a mandatory evacuation order in effect here in Lake Charles, population 75,000. The fact is, though, and people are abiding by it, we don't see anyone wandering around, but we've never had in modern history, a pandemic and hurricane season at the same time.
So many people are afraid to leave their homes. They're boarding up their homes. They're staying in their houses and they're hoping for the best -- Anderson.
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COOPER: And, Gary, be careful. As we get closer to the start of the Republican Convention, we are getting new reporting about President Trump's response to the unrest in Wisconsin.
Also hear how Vice President Pence frames the protests and attacks Joe Biden in his convention speech tonight.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: The Republican National Convention resumes very soon. Vice President Pence delivering the headline speech from historic, Fort McHenry.
President Trump will be there as well to salute American heroes even as the racial unrest in Wisconsin is dominating the news tonight.
We are getting some new reporting right now on what Vice President Pence will say. Let's bring in senior White House correspondent, Kaitlan Collins. What are you hearing -- Kaitlan?
[20:15:09]
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, this is where the Vice President is going to make his headline speech tonight. It's a big night for the Vice President. They've been preparing for it for weeks.
But now we have got this backdrop of what is unfolding in Wisconsin that's really going to be hanging in the background of what it is that the Vice President is expected to say tonight.
One thing we are told by a source familiar with the Vice President's speech is that he is not expected to address what is going on, on the streets of Wisconsin, what we've seen unfold over the last several days since Jacob Blake was shot by a police officer.
That's notable for several reasons, but one because earlier, a source had told CNN that he was going to make a reference to it. Of course, you could assume that would be in the lens of how the President has viewed a lot of this. What's been happening over the last several months since George Floyd was killed, which is that he has gone after not the protest, but the riots that have happened in the city.
While aides have said maybe the President was not handling the protests in the way that they believe he should, and the way that was in the moment that were the rest of the nation was.
And so here's the thing, though, with this latest shooting is that the President himself has not publicly commented on the substance of what we're seeing. So far, we've only seen him talk about sending law enforcement to Wisconsin to talk about the destruction that you have seen there as a result of what's going on from those protests turning into the destruction.
But he hasn't commented on the fact that Jacob Blake was shot seven times in the back by an officer and the reason we were told that by the White House is because they were still gathering information.
He was still being briefed by the Attorney General, but the reason that's important is because if the President hasn't commented on it, it's incredibly unlikely that the Vice President himself is going to comment it, though, it will say something if he doesn't say anything about it, at all, which right now he is not expected to -- Anderson.
COOPER: All right, Kaitlan Collins. Kaitlan, thanks very much.
Van Jones, I mean of all -- there are so many things going on tonight that on any night would be the lead story on any newscast.
I mean, the hurricane -- a huge hurricane which has escalated in strength. The deaths we've just now seen in Wisconsin from last night, not to mention the coronavirus, the latest in the coronavirus, and the C.D.C. changing their guidelines.
What do you make of having a convention tonight of all nights in the midst of all of this? How do you think it's going to play out?
VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I don't know. But I tell you, this is a time for leadership, and I would be bitterly disappointed, and I think shocked, if they don't throw out the playbook tonight and address this country.
We have a serious situation where you had what looked like a very lawless act on the part of a police officer in Wisconsin, followed by peaceful protests and then lawless protests and then apparently lawless vigilante activity. And at a certain point, I think, you know, it's really hard to deal
with this because I said on Monday, putting the McCloskeys on television, making heroes out of people who are pointing guns at unarmed protesters was reckless and it was wrong.
And the cause that they were -- in service of -- keeping people out of the suburbs was wrong and we didn't get through the convention itself before some young person apparently went out there and did that. I don't know if he's influenced by it, but it puts a special responsibility on this convention to address it.
This administration has backed off of tracking hate groups. We don't know if this young kid was pulled into a hate group. We don't know if these militia out there are hate groups, we just don't know.
But we would know if the administration hadn't pulled back. So you've got an administration, and I don't mean to filibuster here, but I'm upset.
You've got an administration here on the administrative side that has backed away from tracking these potential hate groups and may be encouraging some of this activity and you can't be silent about it, and you can't just come out here and attack whoever is, you know, burning cars or whatever, when you've got Americans being shot down in the streets. Shot down in the streets by vigilantes, and so -- and possible hate groups.
So I don't know what they were planning to do yesterday, but they've got to throw the playbook out and speak to this country and bring us back together somehow. They cannot just put their head in the sand or politic on it, and try to attack Black Lives Matter.
Black Lives Matter did not shoot anybody down the street today.
COOPER: Senator Santorum?
RICK SANTORUM, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, look, I have a couple of things. First off, you have to look at what the point of the Republican National Convention is. And the Republican National Convention is four nights where the President has the opportunity to speak to the nation about, you know, getting him reelected.
And I think that's got to be -- that's got to continue to be their focus and I think it will continue to be their focus. They've got to talk to the people that that support the President's policies and make sure they get out there to vote and he is going to reach out to people who are undecided. That's the objective and that's what he should do.
I agree. That was -- you know, the shooting is horrible. It's a tragedy. But Van, there are shootings going on every single day, whether they're vigilantes or whether they're gangs and the reality is, it's a horrible situation that we have to deal with as a country.
But I don't think you sort of stop the convention and focus on something like that. JONES: I see it differently. I think we're beginning to spiral away
from each other in this country. I think we are beginning to see a spiral of violence, of lawlessness, sometimes from law enforcement, from street violence, which I've condemned as much as anybody else, and from now vigilante violence.
And I don't think you can have a law and order convention and a law and order candidacy if it does not address the biggest -- this is a stain on the country.
And by the way, as many people are protesting the man that was shot in the back and survived, you had two people that did not survive the night because of vigilantes. How can you be law and order and not say something about the rising tide of violence from the rightwing?
SANTORUM: Yes, Van. We have one horrible -- you have one horrible incident of vigilante justice and it should be condemned and absolutely in the strongest terms.
But you have that kind of violence going on in the hundreds and thousands a month in cities around this country, and --
JONES: You've talked about it a lot.
SANTORUM: And no one seems to be particularly concerned now. They talk about -- they talk about police shootings. They don't talk about the violence going on in poor communities all across this country and those are where the police should be.
JONES: That's a myth. That's a myth. We've got a big movement in our country.
SANTORUM: It's not a myth. The focus --
JONES: We have a --
SANTORUM: Look, the NBA is -- the NBA is a walking off the court because people are getting shot by the dozens in Chicago every weekend.
JONES: I see it differently, but Governor --
JENNIFER GRANHOLM, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Can I just say, Van --
COOPER: Governor Granholm?
GRANHOLM: Yes, Van is totally right. This is about leadership. Can you imagine if President Trump actually came on and showed some empathy and said, hey, I understand these communities are being torn apart? I hear you. There is no room for violence.
But there is no room for stoking this. I'm an advisor to a group called Media Matters, which does a whole lot of review of the social media ecosystem and they have compiled a huge dossier of the far-right ecosystem in the social media that have been celebrating, exhorting. I mean, there were militia members there last night as a result of
what was going on in the cesspool online. Donald Trump is the Twitter in chief.
You'll remember that he is the guy who tweeted out when the looting starts, the shooting starts, not just having the people on the R.N.C., the McCloskeys who were waving their guns, but also every day he is out there giving a wink and a nod to the people who are doing this online.
We need leadership who will take down the temperature. We need leadership, who will say, look it, there's no place for violence. We should be coming together. We should understand that police need to be reformed and we need to make sure that the violence is not -- that the violence doesn't continue as well. Both need to happen.
COOPER: David Urban.
DAVID URBAN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. So it's hard to disagree with the Governor's last statement there, right, that the violence needs to stop and that things need to be turned down.
I don't think you can ascribe -- we don't know enough about what motivated this young man, obviously, a despicable act, it should be condemned.
I take a different position here. I think that you know that the Democrats' position of defunding the police, this movement to defund the police is the exact opposite direction.
GRANHOLM: Not the Democrats.
URBAN: We should be -- okay, well, let's just -- it's the exact opposite. We should be increasing the funding of the police. We should be increasing the training the police get.
You know, I was a former military officer serving the military. The military gets hundreds of hours of training on dealing with weapons, and when to engage and when not to engage, rules of engagement. We should be training police officers. They should get the same amount of training that those in the military get.
We should be increasing training.
JONES: Look, there is nobody that argues with you.
URBAN: Increasing those kinds of opportunities and --
JONES: I am all for training, but here's what I'm going to tell you. Here is what I'm going to tell you. If you train any employee, and then you say, do X, Y, Z and then they don't do it. They violate those rules, and there's no consequence. There's no accountability.
URBAN: I agree, Van.
JONES: So the problem we have isn't a training problem, it is an accountability and follow through problem and because, hey listen, I've been a part of a lot of police trainings. The problem is, if somebody violates a training, and they are still tonight, on the force, the trading goes out the window.
URBAN: I would just say, these folks are going to be held accountable. People are going to prison. These people go to prison. I think you need a lot more realistic training, not classroom training, intense training like the military gets.
You know, they make life and death decisions like that and the police should get the same opportunity to have that type of training.
[20:25:12]
COOPER: Yes, I think we can also agree just in terms of de-escalating thing. I think the last thing that --
URBAN: Absolutely.
COOPER: Local law enforcement should be allowed to deal with and try to get a grip on protests and allow peaceful protests and prevent violence. Protesters should not commit violence, and folks with long guns, who aren't involved in this at all, who don't have the training and sometimes are just young people with guns should not be going intentionally to protest and mixing it up with protesters. That does not help the matter either.
We're just minutes away from the third night of the Republican National Convention and a new surprise appearance by the President.
After two nights of breaking norms, he is taking part in a Star Spangled Show. Be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:30:24]
BLITZER: As we stand by for the third night of the Republican Convention in just a few minutes. We're getting new reporting on President Trump's response to the racial unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
I want to go to Jim Acosta. What are you finding out Jim?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, a White House official says efforts are now being made to connect President Trump with the family of Jacob Blake, who of course was shot by police officers in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The President has yet to comment directly on the case. but officials here have been waiting on more details. I'm told from federal and state investigators who are looking into exactly what happened. President Trump of course tweeted the governor of Wisconsin Tony Evers, has agreed to bring in federal forces to help tamp down on the violence, protests that have erupted in the Kenosha community.
This is obviously a volatile situation for the President as he prepares to address this convention tomorrow night. Mr. Trump has tried to warn voters that a Biden administration would bring more violent demonstrations to neighborhoods across the U.S. ignoring the fact that all of these protests are happening under his watch.
And the White House just released a statement a few moments ago, Wolf saying the administration is assisting Wisconsin and responding to all of this with the deployment of almost 1,000 National Guard and over 200 federal law enforcement personnel that will include FBI and U.S. Marshals. Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Jim, thank you. Abby, tell our viewers what you're looking for.
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Yes, Wolf. As Jim just said, this is all happening right now. The argument that we've been seeing for the last two days has effectively been that chaos and anarchy is waiting for Americans under a Biden administration. But right now, in Wisconsin, there's been a police shooting, it's led to protests on the street. Two people are now dead, protesters we believe. And then also, the sports world is coalescing around this issue of racial injustice. This is happening right now. And Americans don't necessarily need to listen to any of the speakers tonight to find out what chaos looks like.
The question is, are they going to buy this argument that President Trump has it all under control? When right now it very much does not seem to be Wolf.
BLITZER: And it looks like, you know, just have so much is hovering over this convention.
PHILLIP: Very much so. And in so many ways, the last couple of days have been extraordinary. And that all of these messages that we've been waiting for --
BLITZER: All right.
PHILLIP: -- are now happening right before our eyes.
BLITZER: Let's go to the convention. Rabbi Spiro is with the opening benediction.
RABBI SHUBERT SPERO: Almighty God. We come before you this evening, and pray for your divine protection over our brothers and sisters in the path of storms along our Gulf Coast. You are our rock and our shelter in the midst of the storms of life. You are the God who commands the winds and the waves.
And we pray that you will provide refuge to our people. Oh Lord, you have granted us certain natural rights, such as the right to speak freely, life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, as well as religious freedom, the right to assemble, and the right to self defense. Only in America, have these God given rights so flourished, and been categorized as belonging to the people. Embodying the very essence of our government.
Father, we pray that this outlook and mindset, this form of government continues, as has been our history, especially now, when to our horror, it is being challenged. And so we pray that God gives strength and health to our President, who has splendidly demonstrated daily his determination to defend and maintain the God given rights of our citizens as enshrined in our Constitution, and in our declaration.
Eloquently passed down through our Judeo-Christian tradition. President Trump has stood up fearlessly against those who are corrupting the term social justice, so as to deny Americans their birthright and these divine gifts. May God protect him. May God bless all those in government and among our citizens, who seek to honor, defend and preserve our heritage.
This land was founded in an epic and providential moment, like the revelation at Sinai. It was the moment when the vision of God rendezvous with the soaring and noble plans of appointed men. Yet, every so often pace various generations we are compelled to resurrect and give rebirth to our providential beginning. To renew our present days with the exuberance of those founding days. Perhaps that is, what is meant when we say, Make America Great Again. We pledged to vigilantly protect and tend the garden so as to imbibe its blessing fruits.
[20:35:28]
May God continue to make America great and may we continue to be his people, one nation, under God. And let us say, amen.
JOSEPH DESLAURIERS, AFGHANISTAN WAR VETERAN: I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
GOV. KRISTI NOEM (R-SD): Good evening. I'm Governor Kristi Noem of South Dakota. I'm here tonight because I believe America is an exceptional nation founded on three principles, equality, freedom and opportunity. But today our founding principles are under attack.
This year the choice for Americans is between a man who values these ideals and all that can be built because of them and a man who isn't guided by these ideals and coincidentally has built nothing.
Remember, America's battle for independence and fight for self- governance was something that had never been done before. Men of great intellect and wisdom like James Madison, the father of our Constitution, hoped our constitutional republic would last for ages; mitigate the problems that would naturally arise from political factions; and prevent tyranny.
Madison also authored much of the Bill of Rights because he understood the natural tendency of government to increasingly encroach on the people's consent and thus our freedom.
He urged his colleagues to adopt these amendments to enshrine in our Constitution the ideals laid out in the Declaration of Independence, that all power comes from the people, that the government is created and ought to be exercised for the benefit of the people. Our Constitution guarantees the right to speak, to assemble and to worship, the right to arm ourselves as a counter-balance to a standing army and the right to a fair and equitable criminal justice system.
We must fight to protect these foundational rights from government interference and indifference. America is unique in the world. Government's power at all levels is limited to the confines of our Constitution, which protects our God-given liberties and civil rights. We are not and will not be the subjects of an elite class of so-called experts. We the people are the government.
Now, at times, our country has struggled to live up to our founding principles. Another great American, Abraham Lincoln, knew that struggle better than anybody. When he was just 28 years old, Honest Abe saw "wild and furious passions worse than savage mobs," he said, taking the place of reasoned judgment.
He was alarmed by the increasing disregard for the rule of law throughout the country. He was concerned for the people that had seen their property destroyed, their families attacked and their lives threatened or even taken away.
These good people were becoming tired of and disgusted with a government that offered them no protection. Sound familiar? It took 244 years to build this great nation, flaws and all. But we stand to lose it in a tiny fraction of that time if we continue down the path taken by the Democrats and their radical supporters from Seattle and Portland to Washington and New York. Democrat-run cities across this country are being overrun by violent mobs.
The violence is rampant. There's looting, chaos, destruction and murder. People that can afford to flee have fled. But the people that can't, good, hard-working Americans, are left to fend for themselves.
The Republican Party's commitment to individual rights and self- government is as necessary today as it was in 1860 when we won our first presidential election. Our party respects individuals based on who they are. We don't divide people based on their beliefs or their roots. We don't shun people who think for themselves. We respect everyone equally under the Constitution. And we treat them as Martin Luther King, Jr. wished, according to the content of their character, not the color of their skin.
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In just four years President Trump has lifted people of all races and backgrounds out of poverty. He shrunk government. He put money back into the pockets of hard-working, ordinary Americans. He has advanced religious liberty. He protected the second amendment.
You can look back 50 years. You won't find anyone that has surpassed President Trump's success on these four issues alone.
History chooses its heroes for the time in which they live. At our founding, Madison was one of the chosen. When the nation's very existence was challenged, it was Lincoln's turn. Thanks to these men, America is a land of hope. Their examples have been repeated in countless ways by simple Americans following their conscience.
But there is another American hero to be recognized. And that is the common American. This is who President Trump is fighting for. He's fighting for you.
[20:41:33]
SCOTT DANE, MINNESOTA LOGGER: I'm Scott Dane, (INAUDIBLE) in Loggers & Truckers in Minnesota. But I also represent a way of life. Logging has been a part of the great American story from the beginning. In fact, if you go to the Capitol rotunda and look up, you can see loggers on one of the panels. New England settlers carving out a new world from the wilderness.
But logging is the most dangerous job in the country. But we embrace that risk because we know America was built by strong people, building things together. America needs us to keep building and we can't wait to be a part of it. But the last time Joe Biden was in the White House, Minnesota lost nearly half of its mills, thousands of jobs and experienced nearly a decade of decline.
It was a similar story in other parts of the country. The administration just didn't seem to care. And 47 years in Washington, Joe Biden hasn't done anything for the timber industry. When plants closed in Duluth, Sartell, Cook and Bemidji, they were just numbers on a paper to the Obama-Biden administration. To me, they were people in jobs and families. Under Obama-Biden, radical environmentalists were allowed to kill the forest. Wildfire after wildfire shows the consequences. Managed forests the time my people work in our healthy force.
Under President Trump, we've seen a new recognition the value of forest management in reducing wildfires. And we've seen new support for our way of life, where a strong back and a strong work ethic can build a strong middle class. We want to build families where we were raised and stand by communities that stood by us. We want that way of life available for the next generation. And we want our force there to. President Trump, thank you for helping us do just that.
BLITZER: We're expecting emotional speeches just ahead from the President's inner circle. Our coverage of this convention continues right after our break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:47:03]
COOPER: We're back with a special coverage the Republican National Convention. Gloria, David, Nia-Malika Henderson all joining us right now.
Gloria, there was so much going on tonight.
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes.
COOPER: And you know, Van Jones earlier was saying, you know, will they try to adjust what they had planned on doing tonight, based on what has just happened over the last 24 hours in Wisconsin and elsewhere? It doesn't seem like it just so far from the start.
BORGER: No, it doesn't. It seems to me that they're going to stay in their convention bubble. This is what candidates do when they plan a convention, but sometimes reality intervenes and you have a choice to make. Do you let it invade your convention? Do you talk about what's going on outside your doors in Kenosha, Wisconsin?
Do you talk about the issue of race in this country? I think if it were a Democratic Convention, quite frankly, I think Joe Biden would be talking about it although as a candidate you have to be careful not to exploit a volatile situation.
But this campaign, this Republican convention really wants to talk about law and order. Wants to talk about a civil unrest. You heard the governor just before talk about it, and they don't want to talk about it in terms of race, other than to say, Donald Trump is not a racist. They don't want to talk about those issues. They want to talk about policing, and how the Democrats have let their cities erupt in flames.
NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Well, we do know that there have apparently been some shifts here. Vice President Pence isn't necessarily going to talk about Wisconsin, the most recent reporting suggests, but there had been plans before to talk about Wisconsin. We also know that this President or reached out to the family of Jacob Blake.
I think we're seeing a president that knows at this point, that the sort of law and order kind of red meat (ph), to the base rhetoric that he has had around these issues. Might not be was in order at this point, because he's sort of maxed out on those kinds of voters. And he needs to reach out. And we've seen him reach out with different folks over these last couple of days trying to expand the party a bit.
So I think, you know, some of this was obviously on tape and it can't be changed. But there are some live segments that I imagine this White House is trying to figure out how to reframe, how to maybe edit some stuff out, because they know that the old rhetoric just won't do, because they've got expand this party if they are to win in November.
COOPER: But David, also there's a lot --
DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR COMMENTATOR: You know --
COOPER: -- there's a number of things we don't yet know about the shooter who, the alleged shooter who is now in custody in Wisconsin, his motivation. But there were a number of armed civilians who went to those protests, ostensibly saying they were there to protect property. Unclear if this young man was one of them. There are indications he was but again, more needs to be learned. But obviously it is a complex picture, and one that doesn't necessarily fit a narrative that is beneficial for the President.
[20:50:09] AXELROD: Yes, I think it's become much more complicated in the last 12 hours. And, you know, the question is whether people see him as the answer to chaos or whether they feel he's contributing to it by being provocative. You know, I would just point to polling numbers from just a couple of weeks ago, where people were asked Fox News poll, do they -- what about his handling on race relations? 29 percent of suburban voters approved, 64 percent disapprove, suburban women 28 percent, 67 percent. So they don't, you know, they may think this is the answer to their suburban problem. I'm not sure about that. And I would proceed with caution. But, to Nia's point, they have made some outreach. We also heard from the McCloskeys, we've gone from the McCloskeys to Melania. It's quite a gap there between the two. And tonight we heard the rabbi begin this proceeding by condemning social justice advocates in his prayer.
So, I don't know that they're, you know, I think they're putting a bet down on the law and order theme here, and I'm not sure it's going to pay off for.
BORGER: Well, it's a conflicting message. I mean, who is the real Donald Trump? But yesterday, we heard about the Donald Trump who really cares about diversity in his administration and cares about diversity in the country and values it? Or is it the Donald Trump who just wants to call out the National Guard and condemn what he calls chaos? I mean, we it's an uneven picture here.
COOPER: Yes. Also, I mean, the term law and order. I think there are a lot of protesters and a lot of black Americans who would say, you know, what, we actually want law in order too.
BORGER: Right.
COOPER: We want equal law --
AXELROD: Absolutely.
COOPER: -- enforcement. We want equal law and order. We don't want to be treated differently. So the idea that the President has a lack on law and order, it's a very limited definition. It seems that he may be using.
HENDERSON: No, I think that's right. And I think many Black Americans might look at this and look at the way Jacob Blake was treated in talked about by law enforcement and then look at the way that the alleged gunman was treated and talked about by police officers. So there's that disparity, and black people want equal treatment from the law enforcement.
COOPER: A lot of details still to be learned. Back to the Republican Convention remarks by National Security Advisor Vice President Pence, Keith Kellogg.
KEITH KELLOGG, VP PENCE NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Good evening. I'm Retired Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg. In 1967, at the age of 22, I volunteered to serve my country in Vietnam. From the jungles of Vietnam to the deserts of Iraq, I have gone where my nation asked. I have borne witness to soldiers last moments on Earth, their lives spin and hope and promise of a better future for all Americans.
I was in the Pentagon on September 11th, 2001, I lost friends there that day. In the years that followed, I watched my daughter, son, and son-in-law deployed to Afghanistan. I have looked into the eyes of my grandchildren, as they said goodbye to their fathers and hug them one last time. I live to service. I understand sacrifice. I know leadership.
Over the past three and a half years, I have witnessed every major foreign policy and national security decision by the President. I have been in the room where it happened. I saw only one agenda and one guiding question when tough calls had to be made. Is this decision right for America?
When President Donald Trump took office, decades of failed foreign policy and crippled us. He faced wars without end in sight. Creation of failed states like Libya and Syria, a past that allowed a terrorist caliphate to grow, and leadership in Washington that allowed our military to atrophy while we spent trillions of dollars abroad, instead of investing at home. President Trump has reversed the decline of our military and restructured our national security strategy.
With historic investment and vision. Our military is now better equipped, better resourced, and better man than any military in the world. President Trump demolished the terrorist ISIS Caliphate in the Middle East and eliminated its leader al-Baghdadi, one of the world's most brutal terrorists. President Trump took decisive action against Iranian terrorist mastermind Qasem Soleimani. A man responsible for deaths hundreds of American servicemen in Iraq.
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When our NATO allies failed to meet their commitments as we upheld ours, President Trump demanded parody. NATO members have now increased their contributions over $100 billion this year. And NATO Secretary General credits President Donald J. Trump. President Trump challenged and continues to challenge an ever increasingly provocative and militant China. But make no mistake. President Trump has no hawk. He wisely wields the sword when required, but believes in seeking peace instead of perpetual conflict.
Just over a week ago, our President brokered a peace agreement between the United Arab Emirates and Israel, the first in the Middle East in over 25 years. And this week, Afghan negotiators with help from American officials will start peace negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan government to end America's longest war.
Ask yourself, has this President kept his promises to keep us out of needless conflicts and to pursue ending wars without end? Has he defended your interests in renegotiating trade deals that previously hurt Americans international security? Has he fulfilled his commander- in-chief role by decisively going after our nation's enemies? You and I know the answer is yes.
The choice is clear. This is the most important election of our lifetime. The next four years will decide the course of our country for decades to come. I am asking you to stand up and be counted. So we never have to look back and recall what it was once like in America, when men and women were free, our families were secure. And we had a president who served the people.
God bless America. Thank you, and good night.
TERA MYERS, MOTHER OF CHILD WITH SPECIAL NEEDS: Good evening. My name is Tera Myers. Tonight I am here as a wife and mother to share how education freedom has personally impacted my family, especially the life of my son Samuel. Before Samuel was even born, I was told his life wouldn't be worth living.
When early tests revealed he had Down syndrome, our doctor encouraged me to terminate the pregnancy. He said, if you do not, you will be burdening your life, your family and your community. I knew my baby was a human being created by God and that made him worthy of life. I am thankful that President Trump values the life of the unborn.
When we went to register Samuel for kindergarten, we were told to just put him where he would be comfortable. Don't stress him out by trying to teach him. When we pushed for him to attend his neighborhood school with his sisters. We were told, just go home and let us do what we do. When I inquired about functional learning, I was told this is all you get, like it or not? Well, I did not like it. One size did not fit all. So, I help fight to pass legislation in Ohio for a special needs scholarship, so that all students could choose the right program for their needs.
I work to start a new functional learning program at our local private school. Finally, Samuel had an appropriate place to learn. Last December, Samuel was invited to the White House to meet our president and share his thoughts on education freedom. He said, school choice helped my dreams come true. My school taught me the way I learned best. I was able to fit in. I made many friends. I became a part of my community. My teachers helped me become the best I can be.
President Trump shook my hand and said, wonderful job, mom. Your son is amazing. Unlike the doctor who told me to end Samuels's life before it even began, President Trump did not dismiss my son. He showed Samuel, he valued him and was proud of what he accomplished.
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