1 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:06,440 Speaker 1: Well, this is nude, and I want to give you 2 00:00:06,519 --> 00:00:10,440 Speaker 1: a final report on the convention week. Thursday night, of course, 3 00:00:10,560 --> 00:00:14,000 Speaker 1: was the big night with President Trump accepting the nomination, 4 00:00:14,160 --> 00:00:18,400 Speaker 1: but the whole week has been remarkably well orchestrated. You 5 00:00:18,440 --> 00:00:20,919 Speaker 1: see the fine hand of the guy who did The 6 00:00:20,960 --> 00:00:23,960 Speaker 1: Apprentice and who used to do them as Universe shows. 7 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:27,440 Speaker 1: And clearly President Trump wanted the whole convention to be 8 00:00:27,480 --> 00:00:30,600 Speaker 1: interesting and fascinating. And I have to say any convention 9 00:00:31,200 --> 00:00:34,680 Speaker 1: which includes Kid Rock and Haul Cogan is certainly not 10 00:00:35,000 --> 00:00:38,040 Speaker 1: like a typical Republican convention. The very fact that he 11 00:00:38,080 --> 00:00:40,640 Speaker 1: asked Dana White to come back as president of the 12 00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:45,000 Speaker 1: Ultimate Fighting Championship to introduce him tells you again Donald 13 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:47,640 Speaker 1: Trump is his own guy. You had in the closing 14 00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:51,880 Speaker 1: just before you get the President Trump, Franklin Graham, Eric Trump, 15 00:00:51,920 --> 00:00:55,200 Speaker 1: and Dana White. It was a remarkable night. It was 16 00:00:55,240 --> 00:00:57,720 Speaker 1: a very emotional night. Kris and I are sitting there 17 00:00:57,720 --> 00:01:01,360 Speaker 1: watching as the Trump family gradually came together. It's a 18 00:01:01,400 --> 00:01:03,640 Speaker 1: big families. When you see all of them at one time, 19 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:06,280 Speaker 1: you realize how big and how close the family is. 20 00:01:06,880 --> 00:01:10,840 Speaker 1: It was terrific to have Malania come, and I think 21 00:01:10,880 --> 00:01:13,800 Speaker 1: she was clearly a star hit just because she's so 22 00:01:13,959 --> 00:01:17,920 Speaker 1: stunning in such a striking person, and she clearly made 23 00:01:17,920 --> 00:01:21,320 Speaker 1: the president much happier. I have to say, the whole 24 00:01:21,360 --> 00:01:24,319 Speaker 1: week has had an interesting feel to it. This is 25 00:01:24,360 --> 00:01:29,200 Speaker 1: a much more populist, much more open program. You had 26 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:34,120 Speaker 1: lots of everyday people who were just deeply involved in 27 00:01:34,720 --> 00:01:38,240 Speaker 1: telling their stories. I think, in many ways, still the 28 00:01:38,280 --> 00:01:42,479 Speaker 1: most powerful emotional moment was the appearance of the gold 29 00:01:42,520 --> 00:01:47,319 Speaker 1: Star families and the devastating emotional impact of their report 30 00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:50,440 Speaker 1: about the degree to which they'd lost their sons and 31 00:01:50,520 --> 00:01:54,280 Speaker 1: daughters and had President Biden basically ignore them. That may 32 00:01:54,320 --> 00:01:57,880 Speaker 1: have been the most powerful single moment, except, of course, 33 00:01:58,240 --> 00:02:00,600 Speaker 1: the moment when Donald Trump walked out on the stage. 34 00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:05,400 Speaker 1: And the fact is everybody there was vividly aware that 35 00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:08,480 Speaker 1: he was very close to death. That's the only way 36 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:11,600 Speaker 1: to put it. That he was faced with a moment 37 00:02:12,080 --> 00:02:15,799 Speaker 1: that will change his life forever, and that he survived, 38 00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:18,359 Speaker 1: and in fact, I didn't just survive, but he triumphed 39 00:02:18,720 --> 00:02:21,400 Speaker 1: and came out of that experience with his fists in 40 00:02:21,440 --> 00:02:25,080 Speaker 1: the air, yelling fight, fight, Fight, and then switching to USA. 41 00:02:25,360 --> 00:02:28,760 Speaker 1: And it was really remarkable, and I think people bonded 42 00:02:28,800 --> 00:02:32,120 Speaker 1: with him more, even more than Reagan, who I loved 43 00:02:32,160 --> 00:02:34,880 Speaker 1: and I worked with closely. And I remember the nineteen 44 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:38,760 Speaker 1: eighty four convention as a remarkably positive event. This was different. 45 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:41,760 Speaker 1: This is a whole different league, and one you can 46 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:46,239 Speaker 1: only achieve if you've had all the years of campaigning 47 00:02:46,320 --> 00:02:50,960 Speaker 1: and persecution and impeachment and the trials. I mean, everything 48 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:54,440 Speaker 1: that has been done to President Trump, culminating and literally 49 00:02:54,480 --> 00:02:56,799 Speaker 1: an attempt to kill him, and all of that came 50 00:02:56,840 --> 00:03:01,399 Speaker 1: together for his supporters in a deeply, deeply emotional way. 51 00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:04,239 Speaker 1: That was my biggest takeaways. This is a party which 52 00:03:04,280 --> 00:03:08,400 Speaker 1: is both united and extraordinarily determined to go out and 53 00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:10,799 Speaker 1: do whatever it takes to win this fall, in terms 54 00:03:10,840 --> 00:03:13,160 Speaker 1: of getting the votes out early, which is a new 55 00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:17,519 Speaker 1: thing for Republicans, making sure the count's honest, really focusing 56 00:03:17,560 --> 00:03:20,960 Speaker 1: on ensuring that non citizens do not vote and that 57 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:23,920 Speaker 1: the Democrats do not steal ballots, and at the same 58 00:03:23,960 --> 00:03:28,280 Speaker 1: time carrying messages of hope and opportunity. The Trump speech, 59 00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:32,200 Speaker 1: the acceptance speech, had a very long section on a 60 00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:36,280 Speaker 1: better future, was much more positive, much less how bad 61 00:03:36,320 --> 00:03:38,920 Speaker 1: things have been under Biden. And I thought the opening 62 00:03:39,400 --> 00:03:42,960 Speaker 1: twenty five or thirty minutes were just extraordinarily profound and 63 00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:45,160 Speaker 1: both gave you a sense of him as a person 64 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:48,720 Speaker 1: as he recounted what happened in Butler. And I think 65 00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:51,800 Speaker 1: maybe the most emotionally compelling moment of the whole evening 66 00:03:52,680 --> 00:03:57,760 Speaker 1: was when President Trump walked over and kissed Corey Compartour's 67 00:03:58,360 --> 00:04:01,880 Speaker 1: helmet from his days a firman. It was very moving. 68 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:04,720 Speaker 1: I think it moved Trump to do it and move 69 00:04:04,840 --> 00:04:07,560 Speaker 1: the rest of us watching it, and it reminded us that, 70 00:04:07,600 --> 00:04:12,120 Speaker 1: well Trump had escaped, this would be assassin. Tragically, Corey 71 00:04:12,200 --> 00:04:15,080 Speaker 1: did not escape, and that his family is suffering a 72 00:04:15,160 --> 00:04:18,640 Speaker 1: terrible loss. President Trump announced they had founded a go 73 00:04:18,760 --> 00:04:21,440 Speaker 1: fund me page which had already raised over six and 74 00:04:21,480 --> 00:04:24,320 Speaker 1: a half million dollars for his family, but of course, 75 00:04:24,640 --> 00:04:26,640 Speaker 1: no amount of money is going to replace their father. 76 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:30,599 Speaker 1: It was a very compelling moment when you watch the 77 00:04:30,640 --> 00:04:34,040 Speaker 1: President walk across the stage and kiss the helmet. Then 78 00:04:34,120 --> 00:04:35,960 Speaker 1: he talked in a positive way about the kind of 79 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:39,240 Speaker 1: future we could create together. And I think that all 80 00:04:39,279 --> 00:04:41,880 Speaker 1: of that is sort of the baseline for where this 81 00:04:41,960 --> 00:04:44,599 Speaker 1: campaign is going on the Trump side, which will be 82 00:04:44,720 --> 00:04:47,680 Speaker 1: to argue that we can do dramatically better than we 83 00:04:47,720 --> 00:04:50,320 Speaker 1: are that we can have a much better future, and 84 00:04:50,360 --> 00:04:52,599 Speaker 1: that what we have to do is follow the path 85 00:04:52,760 --> 00:04:56,520 Speaker 1: of lower taxes and less regulation and more opportunity, things 86 00:04:56,560 --> 00:05:00,040 Speaker 1: will be amazingly good. The mood among the people I 87 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:03,560 Speaker 1: walked around and cless than I saw literally hundreds of people, 88 00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:06,479 Speaker 1: chadow with them, got pictures made with them. The mood 89 00:05:06,600 --> 00:05:10,480 Speaker 1: was totally positive, totally upbeat. It was really the best 90 00:05:10,520 --> 00:05:13,359 Speaker 1: convention in that sense I've ever been to. The spirit 91 00:05:13,560 --> 00:05:16,720 Speaker 1: was there. I thought it was interesting also that Tucker 92 00:05:16,760 --> 00:05:23,760 Speaker 1: Carlson appeared. Carlson is probably the leading populist conservative commentator 93 00:05:24,279 --> 00:05:27,280 Speaker 1: in the country for particularly people on the right, and 94 00:05:27,520 --> 00:05:29,760 Speaker 1: is a very strong following. The fact that he was 95 00:05:30,240 --> 00:05:33,680 Speaker 1: right there talking was I thought very very significant and 96 00:05:33,760 --> 00:05:35,640 Speaker 1: reached out. Part of it, if you look at it, 97 00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:40,039 Speaker 1: you had a series of people, each of whom brought 98 00:05:40,080 --> 00:05:44,320 Speaker 1: a different part of America together and built an opportunity 99 00:05:44,839 --> 00:05:48,560 Speaker 1: for us to see how the new emerging Republican coalition. 100 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:53,080 Speaker 1: Many more speakers who were black, many more speakers who 101 00:05:53,080 --> 00:05:56,239 Speaker 1: were Latino, a real effort to reach out to everyday 102 00:05:56,279 --> 00:06:00,360 Speaker 1: Americans with a remarkable series of speakers. All of that 103 00:06:00,400 --> 00:06:03,200 Speaker 1: came together at the same time I have to say, 104 00:06:03,960 --> 00:06:06,120 Speaker 1: having blown up two of the one hundred and fifty 105 00:06:06,160 --> 00:06:09,320 Speaker 1: thousand balloons, it was the largest balloon drop in history 106 00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:11,200 Speaker 1: at the very end, and it was just kind of 107 00:06:11,320 --> 00:06:14,279 Speaker 1: funny to stand there and watch all of these balloons 108 00:06:14,320 --> 00:06:17,799 Speaker 1: come floating down. It was a spectacle that Trump wanted, 109 00:06:17,839 --> 00:06:20,720 Speaker 1: and he got the spectacle he wanted. My sense of 110 00:06:20,760 --> 00:06:24,880 Speaker 1: the whole week was how really positive it was, how 111 00:06:24,960 --> 00:06:27,880 Speaker 1: well orchestrated it was, how well thought out it was. 112 00:06:28,360 --> 00:06:30,520 Speaker 1: If you had said to me twenty years ago, we're 113 00:06:30,520 --> 00:06:33,160 Speaker 1: going to have this Republican Convention and we're going to 114 00:06:33,200 --> 00:06:35,800 Speaker 1: have Kid Rock and Hulk Hogan on the final night, 115 00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:38,400 Speaker 1: I would have thought that was not the Republican Party 116 00:06:38,440 --> 00:06:41,359 Speaker 1: that used to exist, and it's not. This is a 117 00:06:41,520 --> 00:06:47,000 Speaker 1: more grassroots, more populist, in many ways, more daring party, 118 00:06:47,040 --> 00:06:50,320 Speaker 1: a party willing to be bigger and broader. As JD. 119 00:06:50,440 --> 00:06:54,080 Speaker 1: Van said in his acceptance speech on Wednesday night, there 120 00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:56,360 Speaker 1: are going to be tensions and arguments, which is good 121 00:06:56,880 --> 00:06:59,360 Speaker 1: because that's how you get creativity. And if you have 122 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:03,599 Speaker 1: a coalition in this big you inherently have internal contradictions. 123 00:07:03,960 --> 00:07:06,760 Speaker 1: I used to tell people many many years ago, when 124 00:07:06,760 --> 00:07:10,560 Speaker 1: we were a tiny minority Republicans. At one point after Watergate, 125 00:07:11,120 --> 00:07:13,160 Speaker 1: you know, I said, you can have a minority with 126 00:07:13,200 --> 00:07:15,200 Speaker 1: no one arguing with each other, but by the way, 127 00:07:15,200 --> 00:07:17,480 Speaker 1: you'll never govern. And if you're going to get to 128 00:07:17,520 --> 00:07:19,280 Speaker 1: be big enough to govern, you're going to have lots 129 00:07:19,280 --> 00:07:22,239 Speaker 1: of arguments inside your own tent, because that's the nature 130 00:07:22,240 --> 00:07:25,560 Speaker 1: of bringing that many people together from that many different backgrounds. 131 00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:29,280 Speaker 1: And the amazing thing about Trump and his team is 132 00:07:29,320 --> 00:07:31,880 Speaker 1: that they were able to orchestrate all that. It was 133 00:07:31,880 --> 00:07:34,840 Speaker 1: sort of like watching an orchestra play, and instead of 134 00:07:34,840 --> 00:07:39,440 Speaker 1: having conflict, you had people generally talking in very positive ways. 135 00:07:39,840 --> 00:07:43,560 Speaker 1: The other thing they worked at very hard was personalizing Trump, 136 00:07:43,600 --> 00:07:47,080 Speaker 1: I mean everything from his granddaughter giving a very clever 137 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:50,480 Speaker 1: and I thought remarkably mature speech first time she ever 138 00:07:50,560 --> 00:07:52,880 Speaker 1: talked to a national audience, and she pulled it off 139 00:07:52,920 --> 00:07:57,280 Speaker 1: one hundred percent. But watching her talk, listening to Laura 140 00:07:57,360 --> 00:08:01,480 Speaker 1: Trump's description of her father in law watching the president 141 00:08:01,520 --> 00:08:05,240 Speaker 1: at one point sitting in the presidential booth with two 142 00:08:05,280 --> 00:08:08,000 Speaker 1: of his grandchildren sitting in his lap, there's a whole 143 00:08:08,040 --> 00:08:11,840 Speaker 1: sense of very serious effort to get across the idea 144 00:08:11,920 --> 00:08:15,280 Speaker 1: that this is a much more interesting, much more caring 145 00:08:15,320 --> 00:08:18,760 Speaker 1: and compassionate, much more living person than the national media 146 00:08:18,760 --> 00:08:21,080 Speaker 1: would have you believe. And I have a haunched that 147 00:08:21,080 --> 00:08:23,880 Speaker 1: that had an impact of positive impact on how people 148 00:08:23,920 --> 00:08:27,239 Speaker 1: see Trump, and now he's got to launch a campaign. 149 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:31,880 Speaker 1: They were given a gift this morning when President Biden's 150 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:35,680 Speaker 1: campaign manager announced that he absolutely that was her word, 151 00:08:35,760 --> 00:08:39,920 Speaker 1: absolutely was not going to drop out and so they 152 00:08:39,960 --> 00:08:44,880 Speaker 1: would be bosses in Washington. Pelosi and Schumer and Jeffries 153 00:08:44,880 --> 00:08:47,640 Speaker 1: and others are now faced to the real challenge because 154 00:08:47,679 --> 00:08:51,240 Speaker 1: the guy who got fourteen million, five hundred thousand votes 155 00:08:51,640 --> 00:08:54,280 Speaker 1: as of this morning said he's not moving. He's going 156 00:08:54,320 --> 00:08:57,600 Speaker 1: to run for president again. And from the Trump standpoint, 157 00:08:58,000 --> 00:08:59,880 Speaker 1: there are two great things about this. One is the 158 00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:02,640 Speaker 1: think that Biden is the person they'd most like to 159 00:09:02,679 --> 00:09:05,120 Speaker 1: run against. They've thought about it a long time. They 160 00:09:05,160 --> 00:09:07,840 Speaker 1: sort of have a grudge match nature of you making 161 00:09:07,960 --> 00:09:11,520 Speaker 1: up for twenty twenty. And then secondly, it just eats 162 00:09:11,600 --> 00:09:15,080 Speaker 1: up the airtime when the Democrats can't be attacking Trump 163 00:09:15,120 --> 00:09:17,960 Speaker 1: because they're busy fighting each other. And so the longer 164 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:20,600 Speaker 1: this goes on, the happier the Trump team is going 165 00:09:20,679 --> 00:09:22,560 Speaker 1: to be. You know, there's a lot going to happen 166 00:09:22,600 --> 00:09:25,040 Speaker 1: in the next few weeks, and I'll keep reporting as 167 00:09:25,080 --> 00:09:27,320 Speaker 1: I see things I think that are really worthwhile, because 168 00:09:27,880 --> 00:09:30,520 Speaker 1: the biggest feeling I have this is my ninth convention, 169 00:09:31,320 --> 00:09:33,199 Speaker 1: and the biggest feeling I have is this is the 170 00:09:33,200 --> 00:09:37,840 Speaker 1: most historic and the least political convention I've attended. We 171 00:09:37,920 --> 00:09:40,560 Speaker 1: are really in the middle of making history. We don't 172 00:09:40,600 --> 00:09:43,360 Speaker 1: really know how this all ends or where it all goes, 173 00:09:43,679 --> 00:09:46,120 Speaker 1: but I can tell you that the feeling here in 174 00:09:46,200 --> 00:09:51,760 Speaker 1: Milwaukee was extraordinarily good. People were unbelievably committed and had 175 00:09:51,880 --> 00:09:55,280 Speaker 1: so much energy. They kept making up chance just because 176 00:09:55,640 --> 00:09:58,400 Speaker 1: they wanted to do something that they had so much adrenaline. 177 00:09:58,640 --> 00:10:02,959 Speaker 1: I've never seen a convention and this thoroughly committed to 178 00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:05,920 Speaker 1: be engaged, to get he involved and to winning. And 179 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:09,959 Speaker 1: it's so thoroughly committed to their nominee and so happy 180 00:10:10,440 --> 00:10:14,080 Speaker 1: with JD. Vans as the vice presidential nominee. So I 181 00:10:14,120 --> 00:10:17,880 Speaker 1: think we're entering the general election campaign probably as strong 182 00:10:17,920 --> 00:10:20,520 Speaker 1: as you can imagine, and now we'll have to execute 183 00:10:20,520 --> 00:10:23,319 Speaker 1: and keep working at it. And remember that in nineteen 184 00:10:23,360 --> 00:10:26,080 Speaker 1: forty eight, Tom Dewey thought he had won. The margin 185 00:10:26,200 --> 00:10:28,600 Speaker 1: was so big that in mid September, Gallup quit taking 186 00:10:28,640 --> 00:10:31,800 Speaker 1: polls and Harry Truman came from behind, and one see, 187 00:10:32,040 --> 00:10:35,960 Speaker 1: you cannot take anything for granted in this process. But 188 00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:39,120 Speaker 1: if the Trump people stay focused and keep learning and 189 00:10:39,200 --> 00:10:41,560 Speaker 1: keep working, I think they're probably going to do very, 190 00:10:41,640 --> 00:10:44,360 Speaker 1: very well. And I will report as things evolve.