i'm michael smerconish coming to you live from the rnc convention in cleveland where all trump is about to break loose. and now in the shadow of the attempted coup in turkey which came on the heels of yet another horrific terror attack. a man driving a truck killing scores at a bastille celebration in nice, france.

back home, mike pence for vp. but dana bash reports that trump was talked into it and wanted to un-ask him. how is this going to play out? plus, trump's showbusiness style convention promises for compelling tv, but what about the ultraconservative planks in the party's platform? but first, hello cleveland. how do you protect the convention and the city in today's fraught political atmosphere? the head of the cleveland police union stephen loomis has warned they are setting up my guys for failure. joining me stephen loomis and someone with perfect past experience, jonathan wackrow who has worked counter surveillance at seven different conventions of both parties. steven, let me begin with you, my understanding is i can't bring tennis balls into the perimeter surrounding the convention. i cannot bring a can of tuna. it is raining today, i can't bring an umbrella with a metal

tip on the end but perhaps i can carry an ar-15. what is going on? >> that's absolutely insanity to me. this is an open carry state. most police officers generally love the constitution and will take a bullet to depend it as we saw admirably in dallas. but at the end of the day it's not responsible. it's legal to bring your guns but it's not responsible. >> you don't want them doing it. you don't want them exercising their quote/unquote right. >> absolutely not. that makes for mayhem. we'll have two passionate groups of people on the opposite sides of the world as far as ideologies go. the last thing that we need is to have anyone on either side of that armed. and that's going to make our job very difficult as we're standing in between them. we want everyone to go home in the same shape they came. >> your badge is draped in solidarity with your fallen comrades from dallas. you know the reports, 20 to 30 people brought confusion to the scene because they were carrying weapons and police officers, law

enforcement, they couldn't tell the good from the bad. that's why initially there was a report of three or four who were in custody. >> yeah, and more importantly the people who had the guns, what did they do? they ran to the nearest police officer and gave that gun up because they did not want to be part of the problem instead of the solution in that. >> they're setting my guys up, what are you talking about? >> well, you know, we have some policies. we have a lot of people that sit behind the mohagany desks and look at paperwork and see what we need to do here. and when you send up 28-page policy just three short weeks before the convention, very, very difficult to add here to something like that on such short notice with very little training. so that was more of a cya policy for the city of cleveland that the law department and everyone came up with. >> jeff larson, the ceo of that arm of the rnc saying loomis is not involved on a day-to-day basis, maybe he's implying you don't know what you're talking about.

>> yeah, well, that's unfortunate. because loomis is deeply involved on a day to day basis with the men and women out there in in the trenches. those are folks i'm listening to and i'm listening to the main staff and people out there. solarson is not deeply involve in that aspect of it. at the end of the day, the people who are really going to protect this openly protect us are my men and women in uniform standing between two very passionate groups of people that we want to come here and express their opinion. >> on a one to ten, your level of concern about keeping this city and this convention safe. >> you know, the potential for disaster is there. we have done everything we can do. the men and women of the cleveland police department and the law enforcement that are coming to help us are going to rise to the occasion. you know, so my level of concern and worry is about an eight or a nine. this is a huge up event. >> jonathan wackrow, you reported support for she secret service events many times over

for events like this. i know you ran counter survey surveillance in 2004 in new york city when the republicans came to manhattan. is infiltrating the groups you're most concerned about the key? >> well, yes, that's obviously a concern. but i think we need to take one step back, michael, and just understand that the republican national convention is a national special security event. so what that means is that the city of cleveland has the full backing of the federal government. i understand what mr. loomis' concerns are, but thankfully the cleveland police department doesn't have to do this event by themselves. they have the full backing of the federal government, the coordination of the united states secret service and all the resources that go with it. so i don't want to diminish any of his concerns because they are valid to a point. but i think we have to look at comprehensive security planning that's been going on since august of 2014 for this event

needs be taken into account. >> are you working well together? are all the different law enforcement entities protecting this convention working well together? >> absolutely. absolutely. and he's absolutely right. there are an immense amount of resources here, mostly that you're not going to see. and again, as the president of the police union, my concern is for the uniformed member that is are out there. they are going to be out there in the trenches outside the gated moat isn't as rosey as it is inside. >> when you speak about the ability to protect law enforcement and the city at the same time, i'm reminded of the $50 million grant from justice to cleveland to protect the cleveland. 2,000 riot gear outfits were part of the package. there's this ongoing national debate about the militarization of police. some think if you give all the forms of weaponry, defensive or offensive, cops are going to want to use them. respond to that. >> if you don't, the cops are going to get hurt.

>> right. >> that's my response. it's a ridiculous notion. >> jonathan wackrow, how do you protect against a guy driving a truck? >> well, listen, it goes back to the very comprehensive planning that the secret service coordinators have been doing for well over a year. so, you know, the nice event, that type of tragic attack has been thought of and has been thought of multiple times. i mean, so from a tactical standpoint, the secret service and their law enforcement counterparts have looked at high-speed avenues of approach into critical areas and have mitigated that with blocking vehicle barriers, et cetera. so what i think is really important today is for everyone to understand that there is a very comprehensive multi-layered security protocol that's going on in place in cleveland right now. what we can't get distracted by are the last-minute attacks worldwide. those things have been thought of beforehand. i think right now it's taking

that comprehensive plan and now executing it with our partners such as the cleveland police department. >> in other words, jonathan, you don't think that the attack in nice would have caused any changes in what's being provided here in cleveland, that eventuality, the possibility of that eventuality would have been thought through and dealt with. >> absolutely. one of the greatest aspects for any national security event is the comprehensive planning, the contingency planning for every type of event, whether it's an active shooter, whether it's explosive, chemical, biological, civil disobedience, they have gone through this line by line and have thought of and tabletopped a lot of these concerns. it mitigated it through different types of actions, whether it is overt police uniform presence or covert counter surveillance operations. the cleveland police department, they are on the outer perimeter. they are the first line of defense to anything that's coming here. but also they stand shoulder to shoulder with homeland security investigative agents, secret

service agents on that outside and collectively this is going to be a safe event. >> jonathan wackrow, stephen loomis, god speed and to all your men and women. we appreciate you very much. what do you think, tweet me @smerconish. i'll read some of the best later in the program. up next, our own dana bash reports immediately after selecting governor mike pence as his running mate, donald trump has buyer's remorse. and what will the pence pick impact hillary clinton's selection? plus, what about those ultraconservative planks in the party's platform? i'll talk to the first openly gay republican on the platform committee. and here's an early tweet, an atheist mennonite like this, you can't bring an umbrella, but you can bring an assault rifle to the convention? does no one realize how messed up this is? well, mr. loomis does, he just

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maybe it will be newt, maybe it's christie, donald trump said to mike pence, you're hired. but behind the scenes dana bash reported that mr. trump was so unsure about the choice that he called mike pence and had buyer's remorse. joining me is co-creator of the showtime's the circus, former campaign adviser to george w. bush. mark, great to have you back. assess for me the pence pick. it seems more to salve the concerns of the base than the tent, no? >> i disagree. i think it's absolutely the best choice to grow the tent. if you're declined to vote hillary, what you want to see in a pick with donald trump is someone to balance the ticket, a steady hand, a calm hand, he's got plenty of excitement. he didn't need a pirate on the ticket.

he needed a sobering midwesterner like mike pence. i think it's a perfect thing. >> i'm playing devil's advocate and wondering, given that he has -- he, donald trump, such strong support among white males, particularly older white males, why not out of the box? why not a female section? why not a person of color? >> well, i don't think there was anybody -- he called condi rice, she said no. among the options he had, were three good options, i just think pence was the best one and that's what he checked off to. which said he has impulse control, which is what people want to see, impulse control. it was a rational choice. >> a steady hand on the rutter is what mark mckinney sees in this pick. can a populist and an ideological purist, because i think that properly sums up pence, can they co-exist? or is that a boiling water

combination? >> absolutely they can co-exist. every vice presidential selection this happens, the democrats attack, like they attacked cheney for the ideological differences with bush. at the end of the day, voters don't care. they will vote for the guy at the top of the ticket, the vice president assumes his positions, gets on board and salutes to say i'll be a good number two. the ideological differences don't matter a whit at the end of the day. >> you said something there, there was a piece in the circus that i want to run because donald trump made an observation pertaining to his own lack of spending thus far. roll that clip and then we'll talk. >> so you look at hillary clinton, you're a student of your opposition, she seemed to think you're somebody that's going to win or somebody running

scared? >> i don't think about it, i'll be honest. i just do what i do. as you know, polls came out today that essentially we're even. some of the swing states we're doing fantastically. i haven't spent and she's spent a lot. she spent close to $100 million. i've spent nothing. >> to his point, is he making money and organization irrelevancy? by all measurements, she has more of a field operation. she's got the big operation in brooklyn. there was a great piece wrote this week where sam stein tried to call the trump offices in all 50 states and without much result, let's say. and he's not spending. and yet they are neck and neck. >> well, exactly, michael. which just testifies to something i believe strongly which at the end of the day message trump's organization any day. you can have all the organization in the world, but if you don't have a message the voters won't come out. so you need to have a powerful, compelling, clear message. the convention will be a great opportunity for both the

candidates to frame-up what that is going to be. by the way, as i have seen historically in the conventions i've been involved in, you know, it's a four-day opportunity to really frame your message. you get to control the whole thing. and, by the way, it's an opportunity and quite often a chance to just completely wipe out what has happened before. it's a big reset. so if donald trump takes advantage of this, shows up with mike pence who is a really good and in a really boring way, he's not going to divert attention from donald trump because nobody can do that anyway. he's got a good chance to come count of it in much better shape than he was going in. >> mark mckinnon, god willing you and i will have this conversation in four years. win or lose, what does the republican party look like? >> well, right now looks very different because it's in some ways donald trump is post political or post ideological. i've been saying if for a long time we need to blow up the republican party and donald trump is certainly doing that. one thing the republican party desperately needed to do was find a different direction. whether or not the donald trump is the right direction, we shall

see. but the good news is in many ways donald trump is not a typical ideological republican. and for a lot of voters that's going to be compelling. >> right. i'm wondering whether the control, the very conservative element of the party has exerted is now torn asunder and regardless of whether trump wins or loses four years from now, that will be a reflection of where the gop is. >> that could be. and i think that the ted cruz forces are laying in wait just like reagan did to prepare to comeback if donald trump doesn't win to say we have a true conservative ready to go. >> mark mckinnon, thank you, as always. no one since 1960 has not won without two of three state combinations of pennsylvania, my home state, florida and ohio. a recent quinnipiac poll shows trump and clinton neck and neck in all three. joining me are chairs in two of the states, with me in florida and matthew borgis in ohio. we are in cleveland, ohio, i don't know kasich won't be here. marco rubio won't be here either, although he'll be a

video participant, what does that say? >> the governor will be in cleveland. we are doing an event to honor him at the rock and roll hall of fame. we are proud of him as our governor and proud of the campaign he ran for president. he has said he doesn't want to be a distraction. so he's not going to do anything to disrupt. but we're going to be focused on winning ohio. as you mentioned, with two of the three states, no republican has ever won the white house without carrying ohio. so it will be critical for us to get that effort going here this year and that's what we're going to do. >> but blaze, it's a sign of consternation within the gop. some of the 5,000 delegates are just not cool with top of the ticket. what do you hear from the

florida delegation on that. >> well, the florida delegate is totally united in this and a lot of people did support other people in primaries but that's what primaries are for. at the end of the day everyone comes together to rally for the nominee. that will tell you firsthand that almost every one of the 99 delegates of florida are all committed to mr. trump and will work hard to deliver the state. >> respectfully, the biggest star is marco rubio and he won't be doing what ted cruz is doing coming here to make a speech. i find that significant. >> well, senator rubio is going to be here in spirit. he's going to appear during a video. but i will tell you, i have spoken to the senator quite often over the past couple of weeks, he's working hard with a re-election campaign. he decided to re-run for the u.s. senate because he understands how important it is to keep the u.s. senate in republican hands. so he's boots on the ground, working extremely hard. i sort of agree that he needs to be making sure that we're campaigning keeping the u.s. senate in republican hands. >> florida has seen a change if quinnipiac is to be believed. in june hillary clinton had an advantage. an eight-point advantage. now it's a donald trump slight advantage. ohio has been neck and neck, remains neck and neck, do you attribute the flip in florida to the e-mail issue that she had with the way in which james comey came out and said we're not recommending charges but she was really careless?

>> the first thing i would say about the poll, the only thing is in florida they are inconsistent. it will be a tight race, but those e-mails and the comey situation really hurt hillary clinton. and people and most importantly independents in the state of florida are starting to understand now, we cannot trust this lady to be the commander in chief. >> yeah, there's no way it couldn't have hurt her when you have the fbi director come out and essentially say she broke the law. he's just choosing not to prosecute her because of the way the statute has been enforce in the past. the number one word ohioans associate with hillary clinton is liar. not dishonest, not trustworthy, liar. this didn't help hat all with that situation and she has a 60% disapprove rating in the last poll that was out in ohio. and it's going to be very tough.

>> i think the number was 67% of americans, not republicans, americans don't view her as honest and trustworthy. so that's the achilles heel. but is there love in your delegation for donald trump? >> oh, yes. i think right now we're seeing folks, we want to win, we want to make sure we have a conservative in the white house and want to make sure to be the one to pick the next supreme court justices. the objective is to carry ohio. our delegation is -- >> every four years i'm an attorney and talk about the importance of the supreme court picks and yet seem to fall on deaf ears. maybe this is the year that will be, for whomever you're for, the critical issue. >> this is definitely the year. the supreme court picks are crucial. it's a legacy pick. these picks are going to basically say yea or nay to policy we want to pass over the next four to eight years. and if there's anything for conservatives to rally around, it's those supreme court picks. donald trump has done an amazing job getting new people involved in the political process in the state of florida. about 6% people vote in the primary that never voted before

translating to 155,000 new voters. that's double what barack obama won the state with in 2012. >> as i would expect you're both here to say he's going to carry florida, he's going to carry ohio. let's get to the important stuff. i love the pageantry of what is about to up fold. there will come a roll call, somebody standing up in each one of your states to say on behalf of the great state of ohio, who is doing it and do you have the pitch ready? >> from the city of champs, the cleveland cavaliers, that will be me and we're casting our 66 delegates. >> so you're ready? how long do you have to do that yet? >> i don't know. they have not told us that yet. >> you're giving a tip hat to lebron. >> why wouldn't we? >> from florida? what's the pitch? >> we have not decided yet. >> are you doing it? >> we haven't decided yet. but whoever does it will understand a, the importance of it, but it's also going to be a

good statesman. >> i love that moment. will your delegation be unanimous for donald trump? >> absolutely. >> unanimous. they are not going to say three votes for rubio. >> we are also bound by rule for three ball lots. but that is neither here nor there. we are all committed to mr. trump. >> thank you. have a great convention. thank you for being here, appreciate it. tweet me @smerconish and i'll read the best later in the program. still to come, this year trump is promising a showbiz convention. do you remember the awkward celebrity moment from the last one when clint eastwood yelled at a chair to represent barack obama? i'm going to ask a romney strategist who helped run that show. what can we expect from the reality show hosted by candidate trump? here's another tweet from a viewer about an earlier discussion. let me take a look at this, sweet pea, once again nut-job liberal @smerconish, do you like that? do i strike you as a nut job? we just spent five years together.

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welcome back to cleveland where donald trump is promising a star studded extravaganza. an unconventional convention. a star-studded convention. what we won't see are the two most recent presidents named bush or the recent standard bearers, but we will see speakers named trump. what does that mean for the party? joining me is a strategist and former counselor to president bill clinton now adviser to the pro-hillary super pac priorities usa. here in cleveland as we are about to get underway, it doesn't feel as buttoned down as 2012 does. and as you talk about clinton and the chair, stuff happens even when you have a script.

>> sure. it's live. it's live television. and it's live for four nights for multiple hours. and there's really nothing like it. i mean, a convention is not even a one-hour tv show for "saturday night live" where something can happen. you're dealing with programming for four nights, multiple hours, multiple people. at any moment something can happen. listen, that is what you like because it is really good tv. >> it's true. hey, governor romney has an awfully handsome family, i'm thinking of those boys, but you didn't roll them all out. donald trump has a handsome family, we're going to meet all of them.

who has the right model? >> we don't know. i mean, i think that the trumps have won model. governor romney made a different decision, which i don't think was just different. he had mrs. romney speak on wednesday night in a very well and highly-regarded speech. and one of his sons, craig romney, spoke on thursday night to talk about his dad. and craig romney spoke in spanish because he's fluent in spanish from his mission. so we were quite happy with the number of romneys that were on the stage. >> kaleigh, we have to talk about the pence pick. i have to talk about dana bash's reporting, i trust her reporting. did he have buyer's remorse and if so, why? >> i'm not sure it was buyer's remorse. he said, man, christie, he would have been a good pick, too. it's just the way he talks about the decision. i think he's confident in mike pence. it was an excellent choice and don't think he regrets it. >> i don't know if you follow

paul begala on twitter, i do. he had a funny tweet. care to share. >> i think mike pence who is a really good guy, he's a very decent man, i bet he had an enormous buyer's remorse. >> why? >> what the hell am i getting into in he should have known. the trump buyer's remorse is not driven by a deficit for mike pence. i wouldn't have picked him for other reasons, but i think -- you know what he wanted was a handheld mirror? he didn't want anybody to share the spotlight. >> no, i don't think that is it, paul. chris christie is someone close to him. this is someone he trusts. do i want this loyal person or do i want mike pence who did endorse ted cruz but someone who will reassure the republican party that he respects the value they have stood on for a very long time and went with the latter. >> why didn't he reward loyalty and show loyalty? chris christie humiliated

himself for trump. insult insult insulted by donald trump. it is just humiliating and trump didn't reward that. >> it was more important to be loyal to the republican party to say, look, i differ from the platform in certain places but respect the party and respect the values that have nominated me. >> paul, i have to ask you about two things, sam stein in the huff called 50 states looking for a trump campaign apparatus and could fine none. and nbc came out with a report showing how team clinton spent 26 mill on battleground states in june, trump spent zero. he has no organization in comparison to hers. he is spending zero dollars and they are neck and neck according to quinnipiac in the battleground states. that doesn't bode well for her. >> they are tied, i guess it does. >> she's got a lot of money and running the super pac. >> but he has not gone over 42 in any of those states. we will know after the conventions.

that's when we'll really get our first look. but this is a dead heat race. there's no two ways about it. it's a dead heat race. this country does not give a party three terms in a row. yes, we gave reagan to bush. but the democrats who were 17 points ahead at the convention and then blew it. except for that it has never happened in my lifetime. so of course this is a dead heat race and trump has his followers and they are terrific and committed. he had a fully functioning mental health system, more of them would be committed, but they are out there. and hillary has to do her job and i'll have to do mine. >> russ, maybe your boss is on the wrong side of this. he won't be here, john mccain won't be here, bush 41 won't be here, bush 43 won't be here, but the data suggests that donald trump is in the hunt. >> well, he's definitely in the hunt. and what you see in the numbers is there are two different worlds. if you're a white male, hillary clinton's disapprovals are astronomically high. they are the highest i think of any politician that we have recorded in vent history. however, if you're a white female, particularly a white college educated female, donald

trump's disapproval is incredibly high. so we really are living in sort of a parallel universes where if you're a white male you like trump, and if you're a white female, you are going to be supporting hillary clinton. and there's a lot of other voters out there, hispanics, african-americans, and i think that is what is going to wind up deciding this race. >> kayleigh, what are you looking to to turn around the negativity, both of them are in the 60s in terms of how the public regards them negatively. what can change in this arena behind me in the next four nights? >> two quick things. first, trump will display his family an excellent choice to show him as family man and father. it's important to see his kids and how great they turned out. two, mike pence, anyone who watches this man, he's someone who is principled, committed, passionate, soft, a

nicer perment. i think mike pence is going to do so much for this ticket to really level it out and put it into general election mode. >> is it an asset or liability they disagree on trade? mike pence tweet in the aftermath of trump saying relative to muslims and immigration he disagreed with him? i guess you'll say it's a good thing because he thinks outside the box and tolerates opposing points of view. >> yes. to think you have two robots in lockstep on every single ticket in an issue is a fairy tale. people have different views but it doesn't mean they can't get together to agree on something for the country. i think it's an asset. >> the christian evangelicals was trump's strongest, he beat ted cruz on evangelicals. mike pence is strong on evangelicals. he's a good guy. his principles are to take money away from funding aids and use it to this theory to pray away the gay.

he's principled in his homophobia. >> that's not true. to say he's homophobic. >> yes, it is. >> people can be pro traditional marriage. and not be homophobes. >> this is pray away the gay. he said to cut funding for aids and put it into funding to pray for the gay. he wants to shut down the government from funding planned parenthood. these are not principles that voters will tend to like. he's got to find a way to grow. mike pence will not help him grow. >> i encourage voters to make up their mind. we'll see a man even tempered and principled in a way that is acceptable. >> final question for all three, if you have a name, sometimes conventions are a chance for a breakout candidate at conventions, barack obama in 2004. we've all seen those who will speak here in cleveland. russ, anyone on that list that you think has a breakout moment, possible? >> well, i think there's probably two, mike pence because

he's not known to most of the public and has a really opportunity to define himself and be very helpful to the ticket. and listen, i think the second person is ivanka trump. she's well spoken, very poised, and can be a fantastic spokesperson for her father. so i think you're going to be seeing a lot of ivanka stories post-convention. >> any names? >> when anne romney spoke last anytime, i said the republicans nominated the wrong romney. i think a lot of people are going to say, holy smokes, we nominated the wrong trump. >> i think melania will have a breakout moment but also joni ernst. she's a great one. veteran, republican. >> guys, welcome to cleveland. still to come, despite trump's friendly overtures, he went ultraconservative on family values, same sex marriage and gender neutral bathrooms. so what does the first openly gay gop platform committee member think?

i'll ask her next. and here's another viewer tweet, we'll see why guy pearson has to say, smerconish, let's face it, rnc is christian rock concert. the dnc a dead show. which would you rather attend? well, i went to kenny chesney and saw the dead last year. so i'll choose both. ♪ ♪ [engine revving] want to know what makes us, us? by the time other people start doing what we've been doing, we've already moved on. the lexus gs 350 f sport, with better overall handling performance than the bmw 535i m sport. ♪ foand millions moremericans lwho feel its effects.s, let's walk together to make an even bigger impact and end alzheimer's for good.

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labelled it almost victorian and deeply critical of how the modern american family has evolved. this despite the one openly gay on the platform from "time" magazine. why am i even here? rachel, who are you and why are you here? you should be in philadelphia next week? >> i've been a republican for a long time and a republican since high school and came out after college. so both parts of my identity are really important to me. and other than this one very important issue, my beliefs are squarely in line with our party. and this week was -- >> why do you say despite this issue, you mean on the platform as its written, you're cool with everything else except this part of the platform, right? >> i wouldn't say i'm cool with everything else to the letter. but i mean in general the republican party, the foundational beliefs, the history in my lifetime are principles, ideas, policies that resonate with me. >> you would say on this issue, i don't want to do your bidding for you, but wouldn't you say you're the real republican

because you're the one articulating a case for individual freedom? what could be more individually freedom inspiring than saying to each his or her own? >> exactly. i think one of the mischaracterizations of the party is that we are moderate. that's not true at all. conservative principles call for freedom, equality -- >> do you think at his core, donald trump is on your side on this issue and not the side of those who finalized the platform as it pertains to lgbt? said to caitlyn jenner, use whatever bathroom you want? i think has a history of working well with gays and lesbians. >> even attended elton john's wedding? >> elton john's music still plays when he comes in for his events. i feel like if elton john had a beef, he would pick up the phone and we'd be reading about it.

>> there are indications that trump is friendly around the lgbt. i had hoped that was true and coming into convention, coming into platform, coming into the vp nomination i think i was looking for signs he would demonstrate real leadership on this issue rather than just the rhetoric which is what he's presented so far. it's good rhetoric. he stood up for gays and lesbians after the terror attack in orlando. all that is great, but if he's going to be a champion on the lgbt issues in the republican party, he's going to have to lead. indications coming out of the platform indicate he didn't. >> i'm glad you brought up orlando because i understand you lost an effort to characterize that massacre at the pulse nightclub as an attack on the lgbt community in orlando. >> that's right. >> who could oppose that and for what? >> the vast majority of the platform committee. >> what was the logic? >> the logic was that as republicans we stand up for all victims of terror, we don't want to name specific groups. we even offered an amendment that said not just the lgbt

community as victims of terror in orlando but also around the world as victims of violence and extremism along with christians, jews, religious minorities and women. there was the argument that was made that as republicans we shouldn't get into identity politics and naming certain groups. that was a standard throughout the platform and i would be fine with that, but there are instances throughout the platform where we do stand particularly with christians as victims of certain kinds of persecution. and i was asking that we similarly stand with the lbgt community in the most obvious of circumstances where they were targeted in orlando. i was really disappointed by that. >> it seemed you were making the case to say the lbgt community was singled out in this instance by terrorism. >> right. >> one other subject. so governor pence now is the running mate. we all remember last year with the issue of the so-called religious freedom bill on

simplifying he came down on the side of the cook, the baker and the candlestick maker who wished to say i'm not serving you based on religious freedom. i guess you're unsettled about that pick. >> i'm unsettled about the pick, governor pence demonstrated real leadership on a lot of issues and there are a lot of issues i agree with him. on the lgbt issues in particularly he's not a friend of our community. i will say to the religious liberty point, it's important to me as an lgbt republican to stand up strongly for religious liberty. sometimes it seems like we're the only ones that want to stand for both equal rights for lbgt individuals and religious liberty for people of faith. sometimes there are those on the far right that only care about religious liberty and some on the left who only seem to care

about equality for lgbt individuals at the expense of religious liberty. i thinks the important to build a coalition to stand up for both principles and reject the notion they are in conflict with one another. >> i have always faced more flack from my gay and lesbian friends about being a republican. i will say even this week, even in the difficult platform committee proceedings, almost a quarter of the committee stood up for me, but even after i announced i was a lesbian republican and proud of it, the number of people on that committee who didn't vote with me, who supported traditional marriage but who came up for me and said, thank you for being here, please don't leave the party, that was encouraging. >> good, respect, i'm all for that. thank you, rachel. still to come, your best and worst tweets. this is from david axelrod. the florida state chair tells

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i always say you can follow me on twitter if you can spell "smerconish." jane says she was glad that officer steven loomis was interviewed listening to nra sponsors on talk radio. you would believe that all policemen want the u.s. armed. i thought officer loomis was terrific in saying he doesn't want anybody exercising their open carry opportunity here in cleveland. leave your ar-15 at home with your can of tuna and your tennis balls. can we read these back to back, catherine? because they make a good point. jb says, shamefully smerconish won't hold my breath waiting for you to vet trump or now pence. but can bet on your anti-hillary propaganda. tony says smerconish is nothing but a liberal hack who questions everything the gop does and says, blah blah blah. it appears i've offended both

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hello from cleveland. i'm poppy harlow. joining me tonight, you're watching cnn's special live coverage of the republican national convention. >> i will be the greatest jobs president that god ever created. we're going to win on trade. we're going to win at the border. we're going to win so much, you're going to get so sick and tired of winning. we won