at the quicken loans arena for the final day of the republic national convention. thanks so much for joining me. it is the day after the major dis on the convention stage. you see ted cruz, he is speaking to his home state delegation. let's listen. >> what is it about. what are you fighting for. one of the things i love -- thank you, sir. god bless you. one of the things i love about this texas delegation is these are women and men of principle. [ applause ] it has been the greatest privilege of my life to represent each of you in the united states senate. when i was sworn in as a senator, i took an oath.

an oath to defend the constitution. [ applause ] that's an obligation i take very seriously. that is an oath i intend to honor every sin gayle d-- singl. in addition to the constitution, i have an obligation to every man and woman here, every man and woman in the state of texas, i work for you. i work for you and you have every right, and i would say even a duty to hold me accountable. that's why i'm here this morning. it would have been the easiest thing in the world to turn tail and run, but that ain't gonna happen.

[ applause ] >> now, i suspect most if not all of you all understand that these folks holding cameras are not our friends. they're not here because they want to have a beer with you. they're not here because they're planning to vote republican in november. and so there is no story they want to write more than republicans in disarray, convention on fire. everything going bad. that's what they're going to write. you notice every night, that's the story. >> that's not true. >> it is up to us to determine whether it is true or not. i do think the american people are watching what we do and not what they say.

and i can tell you last night, when i addressed the convention, i addressed the convention because donald trump asked me to. when he asked me to, he didn't ask me to endorse, indeed, i talked on the phone with him and told him i'm not going to endorse you. >> why not? >> well, let me answer that. sir, i'm happy -- sir, i'm happy to answer that, but not engage in a screaming fight. and indeed, i'm going to do questions and answers right now. what i wanted to do last night was layout the principles i believe we should stand for as republicans. [ applause ] >> in that speech last night, i did not say a single negative

word about donald trump. i'll tell you this morning and going forward, i don't intend to say negative things about donald trump. [ applause ] >> the media would love me to. i promise you, every question, when i step off this stage, is going to please say something horrible about donald trump. come on. it makes good news. what i did say is what all of us should believe and why all of us got into politics in the first place. i started the speech by congratulating donald on winning the nomination, by name. and then i encouraged folks here and at home that we deserve leaders that will stand for principle, who will do what they say. i made a particular point to address conservatives at home.

listen, i assume there is a reason the trump campaign wanted me to speak. they saw my speech several hours before i gave it. they knew exactly what i was going to say. i assume the reason they wanted moo tow speak is they believed my delivering that message would encourage people to come out and vote, and they believed it would help. if they didn't, i was perfectly happy to get on a plane and go home. but in that speech last night, i asked conservatives at home, i asked americans at home, do not stay home in november. >> that's right! [ applause ] >> and i laid out a standard. i said we should vote for candidates that you trust to defend our freedom, and to be faithful to the constitution. now, i'm going to tell you right now, that's a standard i expect

to be applied to me. i expect to be applied to every candidate on the ballot from president down to dogcatcher. this isn't just a team sport. we don't just put on red jerseys or blue jerseys and yay! this is about principles and ideals. this is about standing for what we believe in. and you know, listen, i have to say, it was somewhat dismay that apparently some of donald's biggest partisans, right down front, when they heard that people should vote for someone you can trust to defend our freedom and defend our conscience, defend the

constitution, immediately they began booing. i've got to say that's a little troubling what they're saying. [ applause ] >> i'm reminded of an old story in the middle of a huge lawsuit, bet the case, and the law calls at the end trial, justice prevailed. the claim immediately says appeal immediately. listen, i actually thought later last night, newt had it exactly right. we want to win this race. newt stood up and said the standard ted laid out, who will defend freedom, who will be faithful to the constitution, newt said donald trump is the only one that meets that standard. [ applause ]

i'll tell you this. if we want to win this election, that's the only way we're winning this election. [ applause ] trump! trump! tru trump! >> we're going to win this election by making the case to the american people. we're not going to win this election by yelling and screaming and attacking people. [ applause ] and so with that, i'm happy to answer all of your questions. >> are you going to vote for trump? >> his vote is private. [ applause ] >> well, thank you, sir, for your question.

i'll answer it the way i've answered it many times, when our friends in the press have asked. which is that i am doing what millions of americans are doing. i am watching. i am listening. as i told you last night, the standard that i intend to apply is which candidate i trust to defend our freedom and be faithful to the constitution. can tell you, i'm not voting for hillary. hillary failed that test profoundly, and i will note a significant part of my speech last night was laying out the incredible damage of hillary clinton's vision. but you know, some of you all may recall, when i ran for senate, a lot of people here

worked very hard in that race. [ applause ] and there were a lot of folks in that race that said you know what, you've got to vote for the lieutenant governor. he is next in line. it is his turn. this is a party. be a team player. he is the one who is next in line. an awful lot of texans took a different view. this, i've laid out the standard i'm looking for and i'm hopeful. i'm going to be listening to donald a he is speech and listening to how he and the campaign conducts them self from now until november. that's how the american will be doing it also. as i trade to layout my might last night, not to just scream and yell as traitor anyone that would dare question our

candidates. [ applause ] >> yes, sir? [ inaudible question ] >> the question about donald trump, do you feel anyone else meets that criteria? >> i answered it with as much as i'm going to say. which is that i am watching and listening to make that decision. and when i talked about holding people accountable, i think that applies to all of us. that is what i'm doing. i am watching and listening. the election isn't today. i am listening to the candidate. what i don't intend to do is go out and throw rocks at donald. i don't intend to criticize donald.

i intend, like a voter, like all of us, just to listen and make the best judgment i can. everyone of us, i think has to follow our conscience. when friends of mine, when supporters are asking what to do, the answer i give to everyone is follow your conscience. do what you believe is right. do what you believe defends your children and defends this country. >> can yunite this party even m than our candidate by you using a few words, and we need to do it now. we cannot do it in november. [ applause ]

>> you night. -- unite. you need to stand with us and we need to stand with you. >> so sir, i appreciate your comments. and i have to confess, what you said would be easy to do. how many people here are frustrated with politicians who just say anything? let me -- i'm going to answer your question. listen, there are a lot of options that i could have taken. that politically would have been a heck of a lot easier. there is option number one, which a whole bunch of people took. which is turn tail, run and don't come to the convention. a bunch of people that did that. >> that's right. >> i ain't one of them. [ applause ] >> there is another option.

let me tell you the politically easy option, is to stand up and pledge your allegiance to whoever the party nominee might be, no matter what. if you are an elected official, that's the right political outcome. i'm going to tell you something, sir. i'm not going to lie to you. whether you want me to or not, i'm not going to lie to you. what i said last night is what i believe. so yes. >> i didn't say to support donald trump. i said to support the party. the party. >> you know okay, so your point was support the party. the republican party, and i will point -- >> the party has spoken. >> sir, sir, i'm happy to answer questions, but i'm not going to engage in a screaming match. i actually believe in treating

people with civility and respect. >> when it comes to supporting the party, number one, the four years i've been in office, there were an awful lot of elected officials in this room and across the party and across the country that i have traveled the country, traveled the state of texas, raising money, fighting to help republicans. but let me be very clear. this isn't a social club. it is not simply reagan gave a powerful year 40 years ago where he said the republican party is not a fraternal order. it is not just my club. we either stand for shared principles, or we're not worth

anything. let me ask folks here a related question. how many of you all would like to see more leaders stand up to john boehner and mitch mcconnell. i want to point out to folks here, you're saying and you saw last night, why so few elected leaders do. because any time you stand up to john boehner and mitch mcconnell, leadership screams support the team, you're republican. we are the leadership. sit down, shut up. support the team. damn it, if that's the price, i ain't going to do it. i'm going to honor the

commitments to the voters, instead. >> senator cruz, thank you for putting your hat in the ring. now, you were asked to give a piece of advice to our nominee, donald trump, what would you tell him to whoo and draw and attack the conscience, the principles the hard constitutionalists to rally around his banner. >> that's a fabulous question. i'll tell you, that is what i endeavor to do in every word of that speech last night. that was the speech last night. you want to know another way to look at the speech last night. an outline, my very best effort, an outline to donald trump and their campaign, this is how you win.

you know, i was up last night on twitter, reading through different articles online, and one of them, i read had a word of last night versus prior nights of the convention. if you look at the speech i gave, the word, the dominant word, about 50 times bigger, is the word freedom. the prior night's work clouds, the dominant word, anyone guess what it was? >> trump. >> trump. you know what, if we go to november and the dominant word, the voters here is trump or for that matter, if the dominant word is hillary or e-mails server, we're going to lose. do you want to know how we win. we will win if the dominant message the voters hear is freedom. this is about your life and your kids. that's how you win an election,

by deserving to win an election. [ applause ] >> yes, sir? >> thank you, ted. >> you are the voice of the conservatives, and i want to ask you a question about a issue we had earlier this week that is very difficult for a lot of us, and that's the rules of the party. the problem is, our rules have evolved in principle conservative candidates disfavoring them. do you agree this party must get back to the founding principles, like changing the rules if every candidate had a chance to win the nomination. >> well, thank you for that question. you know, i will point out the

rules we have are not an accident. >> that's right. >> we have those rules, because people in power want those rules. and unsurprisingly when people in power write rules, they are designed to protect and perpetuate those in power. now, on the rules fights that happened on the rules committee, i very consciously stayed out of there. i wasn't in cleveland. i didn't arrive until the fight was over. from the grassroots, the one comment i made, it seems to me that republicans ought to be picking the republican nominee. and as a voter, i think reforms

that enhance the ability of republicans to choose the republican nominee, i think reforms that enhance the grassroots are ben eficial reforms. and so any particular rules issue, i didn't get engaged. i trust the delegates. i trust you to make those determinations. i will say when those in power use raw power to try to stifle and silence, that's not conduct befitting of a party that was founded by abraham lincoln. two more questions? >> thank you senator for standing with israel. >> are your delegates and

alternates -- we are so upset that the trump people booed you when we are cheering for trump at this point, at this convention. so i want to apologize for what they did to you. [ applause ] >> the never trump people say that we should write your name in, and i'm saying i think that's a vote for hillary. what is your opinion on that? we will take direction from you. >> well, thank you. thank you for the question. thank you for the encouragement. let me say to you, thank you for standing for israel as well. listen, i am not encouraging anybody to write my name in. that is not something i'm suggesting that anybody do.

i'm not a candidate in this race. we suspended our race on may 3rd. i was very clear. we didn't prevail. i wanted to prevail. we worked hard to, but we didn't. and we lost the race. i recognize that. i respect the democratic process. i respect the will of the people. >> good morning. i supported you and we are [ inaudible ] we can agree to disagree, and that's okay. but you signed a pledge that said you would support the party nominee. [ inaudible ] said that your world is your bond and if you didn't believe that you were going [ inaudible ] do it at the time, then you shouldn't have said it. because your word is your bond. delegates here. i supported you too, i expect you to keep your word and say

that your word is your bond. >> here here! >> you shouldn't have said it. >> well, thank you, ma'am. and thank you for speaking and speaking from your heart. i will tell you, when i stood on that debate stage, and they asked every candidate there, if you don't win, will you support the nominee. i raised my hand and raised my hand enthusiastically. with full intention of doing exactly that. and i'll tell you the day that pledge was abrogatet, was the day this became personal. i said at the time, and i'm not going to get into criticizing or attacking donald trump, but i'll give you this response. i am not in the habit of supporting people who attack my

wife and attack my father. [ applause ] and that pledge was not a blanket commitment that if you go and slander and attack heidi, that i'm going to nonetheless come like a puppy dog and say thank you very much for maligning my wife and maligning my father. and i will note, i will note, sir, you're making crying signs in the back. i will note, sir, that you might have a similar view if someone were attacking your wife. in fact, i hope you would. i hope you would. >> this is politics. >> no, this is not politics.

i will tell the truth. i will not mal line. i will not sininsult. this is not a game. this is not politics. right and wrong matters. we have not abandoned who we are in this country. no, sir, i do not believe that is correct. and let me say this also. if anyone here thinks that i was eager to come to this convention -- >> vote for hillary. >> thank you, sir. >> if anyone thinks i was eager to come to this convention, and give a speech laying out, supporting a great many of the policy positions laid out by donald trump, laying out why hillary clinton is utterly unfit

to be president, despite the fact that neither he nor his campaign has ever taken back a word have said about my family. i promise you, i was not eager to do that. that was not something i was happy to do. i thought i had an obligation to go and stand and speak, and i will say what does it say when you stand up and say vote your conscience. and rabid supporters of our nominee begin screaming what a horrible thing to say. if we can't make the case for the american people that voting for our party's nominee is consistent with voting your conscience, it is consistent with defending freedom and faithful to the constitution, then we don't deserve to win. that's how you win elections.

all right, one final question. yes, ma'am. >> i met you at the church of the king while you were running for senator. my husband was running for congress. i asked you, are you a man of your word. you said yes, ma'am, i am. i asked you if you don't keep your word, and i addressed you whenever. >> absolutely. >> you said that i could. >> i know that many things were said through the campaign. ugly things. terrible thing that should not have taken place. i believe what you said, you defend your family, your wife, your marriage, your father, and i voted for you, i love you dearly and i have great respect for you. however. >> thank you. >> however, however, i happen to say that this is not about ted cruz or heidi cruz or rafael

cruz. it is about acknowledging -- [ applause ] usa! >> ma'am, ma'am, i agree with you emphatically. it is about the united states. i will point out that everyday in the senate, i have spent every waking moment fighting for this country. fighting for you. fighting to honor the promises i made. and by the way, there is a reason why others don't. because the reaction in washington, you get screened and hollered down when you follow

your commitments. my speech, you do it any way, yes, and that's what i did last night. because last night, what i laid out last night was not a speech that was focused on me. last night was a speech that was focused entirely on the united states of america, on a path forward. our country is at the edge of a preside presipis. my soul cries at where this country is, what we're doing to the freedom of our kids and grand kids. what i said last night is what i believe is the only path to saving this country, and it is not simply blindly chanting a name, and yelling down dissenders.

i believe in i believe in free speech. can anyone imagine our nominee standing in front of voters answering questions like this. i owe this to you. i owe this to you everyday, because i work for you. so i'm going to answer the questions, even fellas who yell and scream and insult. you know what, you got a right under the first amendment to express your views, and i'm going to defends your right to insult me. that's what i believe. but when you said it is about the united states of america, i can tell you this. if we don't defend freedom and the constitution, and if we don't make the case to the american people that our candidate can be trusted to defend freedom and the constitution, we will lose, and we will deserve to lose. my speech last night was entirely about this country, and how we save this country and i

am going to continue to tell you the truth, each and everyday. whether or not it is politically helpful or convenient, i wasn't elected to do the convenient thing. i was elected to stand up what's right and that's what i'll do each and everyday. thank you and god bless you. all right, you saw it, senator ted cruz. all i can say is wow. wow. you heard ted cruz say it. this is personal. you also heard, he would not say whether he would vote for donald trump. certainly will not endorse donald trump. and going back to that first thing i said that ted cruz said it was personal, is this a sign that the republican party is coming apart. let's talk about that. national political reporter for politics, rebecca burke, joseph burelli, and strategist kevin

madden and bob barr, a ted cruz supporter, but does intend to vote for donald trump. welcome to all of you. so kevin, i'll throw that question to you. >> great, you have to start with me. >> have to start with you. it's like that was truly astounding. >> it was. it was emblatic in the republican party. that's why for so many folks who look at conventions as part of the pageantry of putting it together, displaying unity, this has been a complicated few days. >> that's an understatement. >> it is. but it is not, all is not lost. i think a lot of trump supporters are so confident in donald trump's ability to bring the party together with just his speech or make a case to the vote voters. >> but when you listen to senator ted cruz, that appears impossible. he said it is personal because of the things donald trump said about his wife and his father. >> yeah, it is, i think i won't

say it is impossible, but it is improbableable. they have confidence that tonight's speech will be the moment. but man, the stakes got bigger today. we're seeing this civil war with inside the republican party play out on live television. >> bob, you've been in politics for a long time. you were a ted cruz supporter, although you said you'll vote for donald trump. why is he doing this in. >> because ted cruz believes in the constitution. he started his speech last night, and he ended his speech last night, talking about the constitution. and it really seems to me that what senator cruz -- >> is it really about the constitution, when he said he admitted it was personal. >> you're taking one part out of what he said, and -- >> extrapolating. >> balancing everything else that he said. the message he delivered is giving on a silver platter to the trump people the way to win the election. and that is, go out there, talk

about the constitution. convince people that donald trump will support the constitution, and understands the constitution. and instead of trump's supporters thanking ted cruz for that, and saying yes, you're right, that's what we'll do, they start whining and picking a fight with him. >> joseph, your turn. >> i don't know if it was trump supporters per se. we went into the convention how some of these delegates were not trump supporters. everyone i heard, i was standing 15 feet away from ted cruz. everyone in that convention center was appalled by what he was doing. he started out, you're right, talking about the constitution. >> all because he said stand for the constitution? >> no, they were appalled because we applaud sportsmanship. we like to see two teams shake hands it he end. you had someone start off talking about a great principle, great principles of the constitution, and almost forgot who ted cruz was. and then we were quickly

reminded how insufficienteraber >> everybody in that arena last night was appalled is just not true. there are very -- there is very principled opposition to donald trump right now. for donald trump supporters to not acknowledge that, address it, and try to persuade those folks, you saw what ted cruz said tonight. he is like i'm going to listen like everybody else. i want to be convinced that donald trump has the right vision for the country. convince me. you're doing by attacking that and by -- it is only going to make it worst. i think that's one of the burdens with being the nominee. it is incumbent upon the nominee to bring the party together. >> you have two candidates. one candidate that supports conservative values. you may not agree with everything donald trump says, but he is better than hillary clinton. we're asking for ted cruz to -- >> and ted said that. >> he did not. >> i think we're going through tonight, as you pointed out -- >> rebecca, as you watch the

argument unfold here, going back to -- how could there possibly be unity after a spectacle like that, and what happened last night at the convention? ted cruz was booed from the stage. his wife had to be escorted out by security. the trumps were angry, right? because the kids sat there with grim looks on their faces. donald trump had to go on to the convention floor and interrupt cruz's speech to take attention away. >> exactly. it was, as kevin pointed out, a perfect illustration of the residual divisions in the republican party at this stage. it was remarkable to watch play out on the convention floor. but the trump campaign is actually arguing that this is a unifying moment for republicans. we saw the reaction to cruz's speech last night, and actually, many of these delegates were uniting against ted cruz. not because they necessarily are very excited about donald trump, because there is still a great deal of weariness about donald trump within the republican party, but as you saw play out

in the texas delegation meeting this morning, these delegates were pointing out to ted cruz if you are not supporting donald trump, you are de facto by default, supporting hillary clinton. and i think this is why ted cruz's decision to make these remarks in this setting on the convention floor was a very big political risk for him. if donald trump loses, will republicans then come back to him in the future, in histo reelection campaign, will they come back and say you helped hillary clinton get elected. >> here is the confusing thing to me. i'll pose this question to you. ted cruz said called the trump people three days ago and said i'm not going to endorse donald trump. i'm not going do do it. yet the trump people allowed him to speak at the convention in primetime. why take the chance? >> look, donald trump made the offer without condition. he said you're welcome to speak. you finished number two, he extended the offer to every candidate who ran against him. that's showing magnimity in

winning. you want to see sportsmanship, you want to see the two candidates shake hands at the end and move forward. put the attention on the real opposition instead of each other. it is not a good look for him. >> paul manafort, trump's campaign manager is talking about senator ted cruz in this whole snafu on the convention floor. let's listen. >> last night, who disagreed with what senator cruz did, including his home state of texas, and who unprompted, coming up to us saying this wasn't right of cruz and they are supporting the trump/pence ticket. beyond that in the audience, you know, millions of people who were watching the convention, we think he became very clear to everybody that senator -- well, that donald trump has been very magnanimous in his outreach program. he invited all the candidates to speak. they went through the campaign and they had the right to speak. there were no conditions put on any of them. we have never said that there were conditions put on any of

them. everyone who did attend in his own wayside they support the ticket, or endorsed the ticket. only senator cruz chose to slip away with something, and frankly, the only speech in the convention that was poorly received by the body in the hall. that was senator cruz's decision. mr. trump invited him because he wanted him to have the opportunity to speak. as to their obligations, well, they all signed pledges. everybody knew about the pledges. they knew what it meant. what obligation that put on them and how they interpret their obligation. senator cruz, strict constitutionalist, chose not to accept the terms of the pledge that he signed. so as far as the contract was concerned, he was the wone in violation, not anybody else. >> mr. trump told "the new york times" he would apply conditions before helping countries like turkey and nato, should they

have advances by russia. can you plaeks explain what tha? should there be a new standard? >> no, what mr. trump has said consistently, he thinks that he needs to be modernized and brought into the 21st century where terrorism and isis which didn't exist when nato was created are taken into account the way they deal with things. i mean, back when nato was created, it was more nation state operations. today, it is a borderless country of isis that create challenges with the west. i'm not going get into foreign policy speech today. he was talking about needing to modernize things. any other questions about the convention? yes. >> dnc chairwoman said there was a threat by the republican party that landed at the feet of donald j. trump, and the truth is, we've seen whisupremacists among the protesters here, we've

seen -- we saw linda ingles shut down because of that on auchlt tu -- youtube. >> we're going to break away from paul manafort. obviously weighs not happy with ted cruz' performance on the convention floor or the breakfast meeting this morning. i want to talk about this, well, actually let's talk about paul manafort. he always seems to be cleaning up messes. that's the best way to put it. >> i think he is making messes. the best thing that the trump campaign could do would be not to keep giving legs to these divisive discussions. he did it with john kasich. now they're doing it with ted cruz. what paul manafort ought to be doing is running the darn campaign. not rehashing senator cruz. i mean, but they ought what to be doing, we heard what senator

cruz is saying. has said. that is we need a candidate who supports the constitution. that is exactly what mr. trump -- >> that's not the campaign style, though. >> well, then, they're going to have a real problem with that. >> that's what their supporters like about trump. >> well, i want to reach out to the supporters. they have to reach out to other people if they're going to win. >> that's right. the core supporters right now that support donald trump, if you want to look at the polls, it is not enough to win. and i think the congressman is right. every campaign is emblomatic, they take on the personality of the candidate themselves. so when you see so many times, manafort going out there and causing more controversy, causing division, it hurts the overall goal, secure your base and persuade the voter whose have yet to make up their minds. everyone of these distractions has complicated these efforts.

>> why doesn't paul manafort change his style. >> to speak to kevin directly, yeah, there has been distractions, but ultimately, despite that, hillary clinton's numbers continue to go down or at least trending down, and donald trump's numbers continuing to rise in the polls. this is without spending -- >> that's not true, but -- >> it is true. >> no, on the average polling, and we have real clear politics. >> we see hillary clinton going this way. >> no, the average polling trend shows him significantly behind, if you were to average all of the national polls. so that's not true. >> i'm acknowledging he is behind. i'm saying he is trending up. >> you would hope after -- the goal of a national convention for both parties is always to give the nominee a boost of momentum heading into the general election. and i'm really wondering, looking at the way this convention has gone with all of the dramas, the controversies, the missteps from the trump campaign, whether that will be the case in this situation. whether he will get a boost. >> i want to go out to jason carroll right now, because

standing by with a delegate who was present at the breakfast meeting, hearing senator ted cruz's remarks. what can you tell us. >> reporter: a few delegates were standing by, one of whom is geraldine sam and she asked one of the most poignant questions of the day. she stood up and addressed senator cruz and said this not about you, not about your wife, no the about donald trump. this is about the united states of america. that was met with resounding applause and a stand ovation. she broke down in tears. you're still upset about what is going on. tell me why that question and how you're feeling now about the response. >> i'm very upset about senator cruz, because number one,'s was running for office, he had the right to run, but he lost. on the vote, on the floor, he lost in that vote. i came to this convention as a cruz delegate, and i expected if he lost, then he would uphold where he said that i signed a

pledge to support the party's nominee. and he is not honoring that pledge. i grew up saying that your word is your bond. and if your word is not your bond, if you were not going to do it, if you were not going to do what you said that you were going to do, then you shouldn't have said it. you shouldn't have made that promise to me and all of the other people. i think he lost credibility with me. >> geraldine, what about his response, you said senator cruz said he signed the pledge and was going to abide by the pledge. but then after all of those personal attacks on his wife, he said he was not going to be like some sort of puppy dog and turnover and just blindly endorse someone. were you satisfied by hearing those words from him? >> let me tell you, i am a former mayor of ramark texas. i was called the n word many times, and guess what? i still support my city. i still support those council

members. i still support my town that i live in. so you have to, hey, that's been said and done. i -- you know, whatever was said about his wife, whatever was said about his father, you know, that's a personal thing, but you have to get over some of that thing. i'm not trying to belittle it or say it doesn't count. i'm saying we're here today to support and unite the republican party. what he did was to tell the republican party -- to tear it down and it won't work. >> some have said this is a microcosm for what is going on at large, fractured party, fractured texas delegate. what does this say about the party going forward? >> well, we as texas delegation came, we are a family. as you notice -- >> families fight.

-- we're going to come together for the family. that's what i expected him to do, because in the end, it is not about him. it is not about his wife. it is no about his dad. because they're not the republican party. we are all the republican party. we are the party of the people. we are the party of opportunity. for all people. we're the party that will allow equal opportunities for all people to be successful, and have opportunities to be successful in life. our educational system is broken. i agree with donald trump on that. i agree that our children, we don't want to put them on the pipeline to prison any more. we want to give them jobs and opportunities, and it is not about him. take that off your shoulder. look, sacrificing and say i'm here to support the party. i endorse the nominee. that's all he had to say. it is over. he didn't hurt the party. he didn't hurt anybody else. i was disappointed because of what he said. because guess what?

with or without him, the republican party is going to go forward. we will survive. we will move over that hurdle and move on. >> all right, geraldine, as you said, it is a family, families disagree. i want to bring in someone who does not share your opinion. tell us about why you believe senator cruz did the right thing? >> well, actually, i think senator cruz agrees with most of the principles that you just talked about, geraldine. but there is more about holding people accountable and being treated yourself. we wanted someone who to be honest and true to himself, and we saw that today. now, what he said was, i want you to go out and vote your conscious, i want you to vote. i think that says it all. if our conscience says trump is the one i want you to support, we're voting for him. i want to see what will happen

between now and november. my personal opinion is donald trump has a lot of work to do. there are a lot of us upset not just what he did to ted, what he did to many people. he needs to come in and promise us he's going to be the president we were hoping for. that he will stand by the constitution. that he will preserve our values. that he will do the right thing and shut up his ugly mouth and quit seeing nasty things about people. that hurts our country. the one you're talking about. that hurts all of us. he's got to grow up and be presidential. and prove to us that he's the man we need to get out and support and that he will present himself well. >> what is it going to take -- >> that's why he brought pence on board, to level everything out and guess what, when you say go out and vote, guess what, that is so vague because my family's going to go out and vote.

you can tell -- i teach school and i can tell the children to go out and vote. that's such a vague answer. but guess what, it's all about coming together as a party, as a nation, together. that's what it's all about. >> geraldine, thank you, thank you, diane. clearly, this is a debate that's going to be going on carol for quite some time. they're giving each other a hug here. that's probably what the party's looking for. as you see there, that is what the party's looking for. people on both sides of the issue eventually come together and get behind each other, hug each other. clearly this is a party you saw here just these two women still fractured but still trying to come together, carol. >> i'm telling you, that hug touched all of us on set, thank you very much, jason carol. you know what she was talk about, ted cruz not keeping his pledge to support donald trump.

cruz said he put his hand up and said he will support donald trump. but he said then things changed because it got so personal. i just want to remind our viewers just how personal it got between trump and cruz during the primary, listen. >> he is like a little baby. soft, weak, little baby. by comparison. but for lying, he's the best i've ever seen, he's the best. >> another temper tantrum or, if you like, yet another trump-er tantrum. >> leave heidi alone. >> he's a dirty rotten cheat. he was a failed senator. he couldn't get anything passed. >> this man is a pathological liar. he lies practically every word that comes out of his mouth. a narcissist at a level i don't think this country's ever seen. the man is utterly amoral. >> so, joseph, you heard ted cruz, he said it was personal, he said things changed after

donald trump started, you know, dissing ted cruz and also dissing his family. he called ted cruz's wife ugly. he accused his father of having something to do with jfk's assassination. >> look, it's personal on both sides. >> words matter. >> you saw from that clip that both candidates took extremely aggressive shots at each other. that said, you have almost an obligation. >> he also intimated ted cruz wasn't an american citizen. >> when you're running for president in a major party, to put things aside once the general of the primary election season is over, you're obligated to company together and support your opponent. if you don't do that, you're essentially supporting the other side and that's what so many people, including myself. including nearly every delegate on the floor last night. that's the problem they had. >> i don't think you even listened to what was said on the floor last night. what senator cruz said over and over and over again and he said this morning as well and apparently your political filter doesn't let you hear this.

he is saying we are at a crossroads. we are a party and we as a nation have to decide if we want a president of principle or personality. ted cruz was talking about the constitution, the constitution, the constitution, and conscience, and you keep going back to -- >> but you're right on some level -- >> but just listening to those delegates, they were bothered by -- >> well, fine, they're from texas and you can find somebody, you know, that will cry and somebody that won't and so forth. and the hug might be fine. but there's something far more important going on here, and that is we have a decision to make as a nation. and ted cruz is simply saying what i and a lot of voters are saying, mr. trump, you are now the nominee of the republican party. you have a high likelihood of being president. get out there and talk about the constitution and talk about principle. >> why have you decided to vote for donald trump then if you feel so strongly about it? >> i said i intend to vote for

donald trump. >> are you changing your mind? >> i have changed my mind. i was a very strong cruz supporter. what i'm now saying is as the nominee of our party, i intend to vote for donald trump. but, like ted cruz, i intend to watch very carefully what mr. trump does between now and the election to assure myself as an american citizen that there is more going on with mr. trump then simply the personality of trump. i want to see him articulate and understanding and a vision of the constitution. >> so what could -- >> this is the voter that donald trump has to address tonight. this opposition right now, this resistance, principleled resistance right now has to be addressed. to jill's point, your argument is complicated by the fact your campaign spent last two days calling the governor of the most important swing state of this election an embarrassment. you have a lot work to do. >> i think we've forgotten about mike pence who also spoke last

night, and part of the reason that donald trump chose him as his running mate was as an effort to unite the party. so this is something that clearly his campaign is beginning to think about and that's why we likely will hear -- >> somebody needs to remind mr. manifort of that. >> it's a great point and they totally stepped on the mike pence -- >> i know, i know, the only thing people will remember is the cruz speech. thanks for your analysis. the next hour of "cnn newsroom" after a break. donald trump : i love the old days;

you know what they used to do with guys like that when they were in a place like this? they'd be carried out on a stretcher, folks. and you can tell them to go f--- themselves! i could stand in the middle of 5th avenue and shoot somebody and i wouldn't lose any voters, okay? it's like incredible. when mexico sends its people, they're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists. you know, you could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever... you gotta see this guy - ahh, i don't know what i said, ahh. "i don't remember." he's going like, "i don't remember!" our children and grandchildren will look back at this time... ...at the choices we are about to make. the goals we will strive for. the principles we will live by. and we need to make sure that they can be proud of us.

i'm hillary clinton and i approve this message.

good morning, i'm carol costello live at the republican national convention in cleveland. boy, oh, boy, what a morning it has been. thank you so much for joining me. it was personal. that was the message from ted cruz to the gop just moments ago. the former candidate taking to the stage at a texas delegate breakfast. laying bare his anger at donald trump, refusing to fall in line behind the billionaire nominee. >> i am not in the habit of

supporting people who attack my wife and attack my father. [ applause ] and that pledge was not a blanket commitment that if you go and slander and attack heidi that i'm going to, nonetheless, come, like a puppy dog and say thank you very much for maligning my wife and maligning my father. no, this is not politics. i will tell the truth. i will not malign. i will tell the truth. this is not a game. it is not politics. right and wrong matters. we have not abandoned who we are in this country. >> senator cruz made those comments in part as an explanation for refusing to endorse donald trump at the convention last night. listen as the crowd boos when

the crowd realizes that cruz is going to refuse to endorse the candidate. >> stand and speak and vote your conscience, vote for candidates up and down the ticket who you trust to defend our freedom and to be faithful to the constitution. >> all right, jason car rroll f that meeting. he talked to two delegates. they had an emotional exchange. tell us more, jason. >> it was really extraordinary to be here in the room and to listen to ted cruz explain to many of the people who came to this breakfast looking for more clarification, looking for more sense in terms of what happened last night. even before ted cruz took the stage, the room was split. really symbolic of what the party is, the party being split. they felt as though they were

embarrassed by what ted cruz said last night, they felt hurt, and they felt as though he needed to come here today to explain himself. there were a number of people in the room who said he spoke from his heart, he spoke from his conscience, and what he did is what he should have done and what he should have said. a woman from texas stood up during the q & a portion of the breakfast and said, look, you took a pledge, you took a pledge to support the nominee. if you're not a man of your word, what are you then? she was met by a standing ovation. she teared up, she was so emotional about what had happened. we reaped out to her. spoke to her about why she was so upset about ted cruz not supporting donald trump. listen to what she had to say in her own words. >> and if you cannot be a personal, a word of your bond, then guess what, if i can't trust you to say -- do what

you're going to say, then how are you going to expect me to trust you to say any other things? if you lied to me, then that's telling me you lied to me. you lied and said you were going to support the party nominee and you won't. then you lied to me. and i'm very upset at this time. when you walked on, i turned my back. why? because you lied to me. and don't take my vote for granted because you lied to me. i came to this convention as a cruz delegate and i'm leaving supporting donald trump as the party nominee. >> really extraordinary. especially since she kept using the word "you lied to me." remember during the primary, donald trump kept referring to senator cruz as lying ted. a moment after that when i had geraldine with another woman who actually supports ted cruz, supports what he said last night. the two them were trying to debate each other for a while and in the end they hugged.

and that is what many people are feeling this party needs to do, but seems to be unable to do. there seems to be a number of people in this party. what you're seeing here with the texas delegation is in some ways symbolic of what we're seeing at large. there are people within the gop who want to see more unity. they're just trying to find a way to find it. carol. >> all right, jason carroll reporting live, thank you. with me to talk about this, what's been quite an astounding morning, andy smith, director at the university of new hampshire survey center. bob frost is the chairman of the republican party here in cuyahoga county. christina pierson is the national spokesperson for the trump campaign and last but not least christina shockey, the deputy communications director for hillary for america. welcome. katrina, i want to start with you. ted cruz said he's not going to endorse him, he says it's personal. >> well, it's obviously personal

and thabs that's the problem, carol. as many of his delegates have pointed out to him, to his face today. ted cruz had an opportunity to be the hero, the uniter, the one who saved the day at the end, and yet he chose personal opportunity here. >> isn't donald trump supposed to be the uniter though? >> absolutely. i think you'll find that the party will be united behind donald trump. the problem we have here is you have senator cruz and his supporters who are staunch believers and believers in god, except for the fact they can't understand sometimes their plan isn't god's plan. we have an opportunity to grow the tent, to have a candidate outside the system and come in and do what in the grassroots have wanted for a long time and senator cruz punted the ball. >> cruz didn't mention god at the breakfast meeting, he mentioned the constitution. he wants a strict constitutionalist. he's not really sure that donald trump is that person. >> but that makes this even worse because we know hillary clinton isn't. we know that the supreme court is up for grabs.

we know that hillary clinton is not going to do anything that ted cruz wants to do. we have police officers being executed in the streets of america right now. it is not about ted cruz. it is about the country. >> but -- and listening to ted cruz and watching what happened at the kwex, you would think the republican party is coming apart. >> actually, you wouldn't. this is politics. this is a difference of opinion. republicans are not monolithic voting bloc. this is an opportunity to talk about their differences but at the end you're supposed to come together and for the most part you see the establishment all people coming in to support trump and then there's senator cruz. >> cruz said three days before he was to appear at this convention, his people called the trump people and said i'm not going to endorse trump. >> i think is a testament to trump -- >> why allow him -- why take the gamble? because that's what donald trump did it right, he gambled with that. >> he didn't, donald trump kept his word. he wants to unite the party. donald trump was the bigger person in this issue.

he gave cruz the platform. he wanted his voters and his delegates to hear the senator speak in prime time and gave cruz one last opportunity to honor his word. . voters spoke. if you're a constitutional conservative, you let the people decide. you don't get to decide you don't like the rules or don't want to participate because the people voted against you as that delegate pointed out. he did not keep his word. if we can't trust him to follow a simple pledge, how can we trust him to lead the country. >> he said when i took the pledge on that debate stage, i had every intention of keeping it, but then the campaign became personal and he started not to trust donald trump so he reneged on the pledge. does that make sense to you? >> well, it doesn't. i agree with what katrina said already. the fact it's personal is the problem. contrast that. i agree with so much of what christina said. really everything there. where we might differ, you know, i'm here as a kasich delegate, i'm here in ohio, support our

governor. he spoke to our breakfast this morning. much different tone though. for him, it's not personal. this is not about a grudge. he's been consistent in sayinger since a couple days after he dropped out of the race that if trump is on a positive unifying message, we know that's what it takes to win in ohio. this is about looking forward. so the ohio team, we're ready to get going. unified coming out of this convention. >> how is john kasich adding to the unification of the republican party because he's not even here. he's not going to appear. he's also -- i don't know if he's going to vote for trump or not. se hasn't decided. >> even he doesn't know if he's going to. but he is here. he's here in cleveland. he's greeting people throughout the town of cleveland, welcoming them and thanking them for coming. no, he didn't go on that stage. maybe what we saw last night is maybe that was a good decision. was a bruising primary. and the more bruises, the longer it takes to heal. we need to come out with the

republican team in ohio behind trump many. we have a nominee. that decision has been made. he won those delegates fair and square. the same way john kasich won his delegates in ohio and a few other places. we carried that out. now let's go forward together. we may still have some differences. andy, if you watched senator cruz, the differences seem to be the problem between cruz and trump and john kasich for different reasons so how can there be any unifying of the party unless trump gives one hell of a speech tonight? >> i think political parties exist maybe only solely to win elections. you win elections by having as many people behind you as possible. you typically see the party realizes that and they put aside the differences. we've seen more bitter differences between campaigns before. >> but this is different, right? >> the 1976 campaign between

reagan and ford was divisive but reagan at the end gave a similar speech, one difference at the end, he endorsed ford. >> you had cruz say he's not even sure he's going to vote for him. >> the one thing that speech did last night was do more to unify the party then divide it. there are a lot of people who have not liked trump coming into this campaign. they see that and they say wait a minute, we may not like it we may not believe everything donald trump says, we may not agree with him on everything, but he's our party's candidate. in the end, we're republicans, we're going to go with him. i think that will likely do more to unify the party then hurt it. >> so kristina, the democratic reaction. are democrats just sitting back and, i don't know, smiling? >> well, i just have to say we're seeing a party in chaos and disarray. i mean what we saw from senator cruz last night is he's not supporting this candidate and he's joining other prominent republicans who aren't either. at the convention this week, we

don't have former president bush, the other president bush, we don't have governor romney. this is a republican party that the prominent leaders aren't standing behind this candidate because they don't really believe deep down he has the temperament or knowledge to be our president and our commander in chief. that's going to be in stark contrast to what we're going to see next week in philadelphia. we have a united energized democratic party. we're going to start out our week with first lady michelle obama. we'll have president obama speaking. we have the prominent leaders of the democratic party all coming together enthusiastically to support her candidacy. that's a real difference from what we saw this week. >> i see the look on your face. >> i think what she mentioned was spot on. the bushes aren't here, romney's not here. guess what, that's a good thing for donald trump. this entire campaign has been about being someone outside that system. i'm sure the clinton campaign is going to roll out the entire establishment which is why bernie sanders exists today and i think that's a good thing for us as well. we are still double digits ahead in the polls with independents.

we have disenfranchised democrats that came over, tens of thousands in swing states, which is why you see trump being competitive in those states. we're not concerned with who's not here. we're concerned with the message we're getting out, mr. trump's policies that are completely difference from the bushes. wants to buy jobs back to the country. secure the border and protect law enforcement. >> i was out talking to republicans here in ohio. a lot of people don't like the divisiveness within the republican party. and they don't like the language that mr. trump uses. and they're still very upset about it. especially the women voters i talked with. they really want to hear something from him to prove that he's changed. so i know, you know, we're like brushing aside ted cruz's -- but personal matters to voters. especially to the republican woman i talk with. >> when you're just seeing snippets on the news, it makes a big difference as well. you cannot have a competition we

have today with someone previously who wanted to fundamentally transform the country and here we are. you can't be nice and polite as mr. trump would say. we don't have time for talk -- >> you can be tough in many different ways. >> he has been. you have seen some of that. when he's at his rallies, he's engaging with supporters. we are essentially at war in this country with the media, with the left, with the extremists, with the socialists, with the afar kicht also now. >> also with senator cruz at the moment, right? >> that's cruz at war with a section of the republican party, not trump. >> why didn't he call ted cruz and say i'm really sorry about what i said about your wife, i'm sorry i accused your father of being involved in jfk's assassination. >> let me actually address that because i think that's important. i've been listening today. we leave out the fact it was donald trump's wife that was attacked for months by ted cruz

surrogates. she was called a whore. a naked photo of her was ran in a television ad. and yet no one said anything on cnn until -- >> okay, but donald trump is the nominee right now. he's the guy. it's his responsibility to unify the party. to get ted cruz on board. >> carol, he invited ted cruz -- listen, i'll tell you something, trump not going to beg for an endorsement. this is something that was on cruz, not donald trump. donald trump has gone out of his way. they've spoken. he invited him to speak. that was his opportunity. and he chose not to follow his own pledge. we're moving forward. it's on to november. >> thanks to all of you, i do appreciate it. andy smith, rob frost, kristina

pierson, thank you so much. donald trump jr. will sit down with erin burnett at 11:30 a.m. eastern. it wasn't just ted cruz who overshadowed the veep pick, how donald trump stole the spotlight. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ geico motorcycle, great rates for great rides. ssoon, she'll be binge-studying.

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and still haveealthy, gum disease. use gum® brand for healthy gums. soft-picks®. proxabrush® cleaners. flossers and dental floss. gum® brand. i think we need somebody z who's going to bring the country together, a strong leader who's going to say we're all in this together, we're america. >> donald trump will attempt to do just that when he takes to the stage to officially accept the republican nomination for president. tonight's theme is make america one again. other speakers include oklahoma governor mary fallon, rnc chairman rieince priebus and

trump's daughter ivanka who will introduce her father. cnn's phil mattingly inside the convention hall with more, good morning, phil. >> good morning, carol. i've been e-mailing with republican delegates. the reviews on pence's remarks here in cleveland last night universally positive, an upbeat message selling trump particularly to conservatives who we saw last night are wary of the trump candidacy. the problem, this is about the second or third thing delegates are talking about this morning. it's also foreign policy. donald trump's interview with "the new york times." donald trump contradicting his running mate mike pence on the biggest night of his career. pence detailing his approach to foreign policy to an

enthusiastic audience at the republican national convention. >> we cannot have four more years apologizing to our enemies and abandoning our friends. donald trump will rebuild our military and stand with our allies. >> but that's not what donald trump is saying in a new interview. "the new york times" reporting trump is questioning whether he will automatically defend nato members. when asked about russia's aggression towards the baltic states, trump says he will only come to their aid if they have fulfilled their obligation to us. the second major policy discrepancy on display this week between the republican nominee and his newly minted running mate. >> that was a war we shouldn't have entered because iraq did not knock down -- >> your running mate voted for it -- >> i don't care. >> despite these differences, making the case for a trump presidency last night. >> donald trump gets it. he's the genuine article.

he's a doer in a game usually reserved for talkers. >> declaring that the gop ticket is an agent of change. >> hillary clinton wants a better title and i would too if i was already america's secretary of the status quo. >> a star turn for midwestern mike. a staunch conservative, tea party supporter and devout evangelical who endorsed ted cruz before indiana's primary. catapulting on to the national stage last year after signing a religious freedom law, criticized for discriminating against gays and lesbians. >> this isn't about disputes between individuals, it's about government overreach and i'm proud indiana stepped forward. >> trump applauding pence's speech on twitter. gop ticket still getting to know one air. awkwardly air kissing his running mate after his big speech. their unity not quite the photo op moment of past republican

tickets. carol, the ram fa i cass of trump's comments on foreign policy have gone beyond cleveland, beyond the united states. the international community start to weigh in. one of those baltic countries, their president, estonian president tomas taking to twitter, noting they have been completely consistent with nato, with, quote, no caveats throughout. so defensive there. and also the nato secretary-general putting out a statement saying, quote, i will not interfere in a u.s. election campaign but what i can do is say what matters for nato. solidarity among allies is a key value for nato. we defend one another. the united states has always stood by its european allies. carol, it's safe to say this particular story is not going anywhere any time soon and it's bipartisan. i've heard from a lot of republicans. this flies in the face of traditionally republican

orthodoxy and people are nervous about the implications of this going forward. carol. >> all right, phil mattingly reporting live, thank you. with me, adam kinsinger from illinois, thanks for being here. >> thanks, wow. >> it's been quite a morning, hasn't at the? >> it has, morning, evening, week. >> so let's start with senator cruz. saying he's not even sure he's going to vote for donald trump. certainly not going to endorse him. held a big meeting with his delegation at a breakfast meeting and riled up the crowd. some supported him. some did not. >> there's a lot of us that have some concerns with donald trump and i'm sure we're going to talk about that. if you're invited to speak at the convention though, you have to endorse him. he won the primary. i think this is -- i was blown away. i think it was ludicrous of ted cruz to do it. it's political posturing for

whatever comes next, that's all -- >> had donald trump asked you to speak, you would have said no? >> i would have said no. he deserves to have somebody that can stand up there and endorse him enthusiastically. it's not overly enthusiastic so it wouldn't be fair to him. >> when you look at your party, is it coming apart? y don't think it's coming apart but there's a fight for the soul of it right now. as someone who calls myself republican largely because of our role in the world, that's what attracted me to this party when i was young. i have a lot of concerns. discussions about what's the role of nato. that's a narcissistic foreign policy. it's the idea that the world needs us, we don't need the world. it's simply untrue. look, without nato we never would have defeated the soviet union. the idea that we attack president obama for saying our allies don't trust us and our enemies don't fear us. saying you're not going to invoke article 5 immediately

means our allies won't trust us and our enemies won't fear us because they think they can march into the balticings. >> paul manafort said, you know what, donald trump, he meant to say he wanted to mo deshize nato. >> this happens all the time. donald trump says what he thinks about nato, which is it's obsole obsolete, get out of it. and then his campaign has to clean it up later. this is the problem with what we've seen the whole campaign. regardless of what he really meant, the message this sends to our allies goes beyond domestic politics. this is like real people in real countries that have real problems that have real safety concerns and saying things like this is devastating. >> so explain to our viewers. because i'm sure, you know, some of them may not understand nato's role and what our responsibility is to our fellow nations within nato. so if a country is in trouble like the baltic states. and russia attacks them. then the united states has to defend them. >> right, yes. so what that is, it's an article

five invocation. means an attack on one is an attack at all. and that has for 50 years in the cold war and since defended all of our countries. because, look, russia knows, there's raw calculus on this, they know if they attack the baltics and have to face the might of the united states and it's an allies, they want do it. the willingness to go to war not wreckliless makes war less likely. vladimir putin would love to rebuild the soviet union, the only thing stopping him is nato. >> he said the united states has no right to lecture other nations about human rights violations not when we have people shooting police officers. >> that's, again, ludicrous. look, politics, especially on foreign policy, it's not always about fairness, it's about strength and power. if the united states is not writing the rules on human rights or not writing the rules on trade, somebody else will do it. it will either be russia's version of human rights or isis versions of human rights.

i think we have -- it's not lecturing, it's a responsibility. with all the things we've been given, the strength, the resources, everything. billions of people look to us for leadership. our view of human rights is way better than other countries use. >> donald trump is going to get his big speech tonight. what can he say in that speech that will convince you to vote for donald trump? >> well, you know, look i was really close yesterday and then this stuff come also out. i mean what i want to hear from donald trump. i don't have to agree with him on everything. i want a coherent view of domestic policy. the need to talk about entitlement reform to get our budgets in order. i want to hear somewhat of a cohart view on foreign policy. if, you know, it's what it comes down to. as a republican, you have some responsibility to your party. i'm an american before i'm a republican and i have to evaluate through those lenses. >> thank you for being with me this morning, i appreciate it. still to come in the "newsroom," what does donald trump have to say to convince

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it is a critical night for donald trump. after three days of protests and unpredictability, he will attempt to get the gop back on message and prove to america he belongs in the white house when he accepts the republican nomination for president. so, for more on just how important this night is, i'm joined by syndicated radio host michael medved, co-chair of women vote trump amy kremer.

clinton supporter mariah car donna. and cnn political commentator and veteran of two gop presidential campaigns, margaret hoover. welcome to all of you. >> thank you. >> all right, amy, i'm going to start with you, because it's been quite a morning. it appears that the republican party is in disa ray. so what does donald trump need to say tonight? g >> i think he needs to have an inclusive message of bringing people together. i think actually what happened last night with ted cruz, those -- the people sitting on the fence, i think they have made their decision and they have gotten on the trump train now and we're going to move forward. the die-hard cruz fans were never going to support trump. i think that last night was a good thing. i want to hear donald trump tonight talk about being inclusive and bringing everybody together. >> so did, weirdly, michael, ted cruz do donald trump a favor? >> i think he did. i think this was a great moment for ted cruz. i think he showed courage and

principle and he meant what he said. and newt gingrich gave the best possible interpretation of what ted had said. he said, look, stand by conscience, support any candidate who defends the constitution. it's up for mr. trump to show he will, in fact, defend the constitution. i believe tonight he has to show he cannot only unite republicans but unite republicans and democrats. he's famous for making deals. what he should emphasize is that making a deal means reaching agreement. and that's what he wants to do. he wants to make deals all over the place. not only with his fellow republicans but with democrats, with foreign nations, and bring people together to agree on principles about making america great again. >> margaret, have we seen an example of donald trump bringing people together? >> i mean, you're talking to a republican who has been to every convention since 2000, who worked in the bush white house, i mean, republican wants to win a national election.

and this convention is an unmitigated disaster. cruz was not helpful to trump. there is no party unity. by the way, there is nothing donald trump can do to get a good third of republican primary voters and republican supporters to vote for hip tonight. there's nothing he can say. >> nothing? >> because this isn't about one speech. this is about a series of events, a series of actions, that can convince a republican electorate that this man can be an acceptable candidate. >> can i ask you a question because i've been an almost never trumper. if he echoed what his son donald jr. did -- >> -- much more comfortable, but that would be one speech -- >> i understand, but if he echoes that in speech after speech. if he brings that same strategy to the debates. if he shows he's actually taking it seriously. >> wouldn't that be wonderful? michael, we've been waiting for that for months now. all of us thought as soon as he secures the nomination.

we're going to see a more serious trump. but what we see is the man actually doesn't have any discipline. this is a man who is categorically the most unfit to be president. and he -- >> whoa. >> this is the thing, margaret, politico, you've been to all these conventions. what about the american people? they're tired of this. they like it this is in the usual convention. they like it that donald trump is not a politician and he speaks his mind and doesn't back pedal and spin the way that other politicians do. >> there is so much about trump that is absolutely noteworthy and important. we like the fact he's shaking up the establishment. there's a lot of us that feel like there might have been something hopeful that came out of this. what we've seen time and time again is an inability to execute on anything positive he's channelled. >> the challenge for the republican party is going to be untangling sort of what trump has channelled that is constructive. where can the republican party learn and channel from? the real angst and economic

grievances that trump voters feel. and how are we going to address that and internalize that in a constructive away. but taking away sort of the negative parts of the trump support, right. the republican party really does have to rebuild -- >> with all due respect, i don't think this is about the republican party. i think this is about america and about the future of this country. and i do want to hear him bring people together. because we are more divided than we have ever been i believe. i do want to hear a message of unity but i don't believe focusing on party, going forward -- i mean, yes, this is the republican convention and he needs to bring people together, but there are independents out there that do not identify with the republican party, and he needs to get them on board too. >> he does have to get independents on board, right. if he does become president of the united states, he has to work with democrats. >> yes. >> if he continues to say things like crooked hillary and people continue to chant things like, you know, send her to jail, put her behind bars during the

convention, what does that do to independents who lean left and democratic voters who maybe think what amy thinks, that it's time we unify? >> i think it highlights the fact this is a man who is unfit and completely unprepared to be president. as a democrat, i have loved watching this convention. >> of course. >> but, as somebody who understands how conventions should be run, i think these last three days, which have been a complete debacle and emphasized discord dishonesty and divisiveness is something people need to consider in terms of how this man would actually manage the country, okay. conventions should be very scripted events, right. the fact that he let ted cruz on that stage without having some kind of rock solid agreement -- >> ted cruz endorsed -- >> no, no, the same -- >> listen, the trump campaign read his speech -- >> and it shows his strength. it shows his strength -- >> and let him come on anyway,

right? reading his speech and having an agreement to say, okay, maybe you don't endorse, but you're going to say good things about the party, you're going to say good things about me, about wanting to work with me, you know, blah blah blah. there are ways to get this done. if he can't even negotiate for ted cruz to come on -- >> it was a win-win for donald trump though -- >> and say good things -- >> what does it mean for him? >> what does it mean about this man who has put his business career and his negotiating skills on the line and to say i will be a good president because i know how to do deals. he couldn't even do a deal -- >> -- just a second, i have some news coming in to cnn. >> okay. >> chris christie who of course is a very stroke supporter of donald trump. he wasn't very happy with senator ted cruz's remarks this morning or last night at the convention. let's hear what he had to say. >> i think it was awful and, quite frankly, i think it was selfish and he signed a pledge and it's his job to keep his word. and donald trump gave him the

opportunity to speak here at this convention tonight and i think it was too cute and i think you saw by the end of the speech that the crowd was waiting for him to do the right thing, and realize that once again he wasn't going to do it. i think the performance you saw there is why ted has so, so richly deserved the reputation he's developed on capitol hill. >> okay. so ted cruz's campaign manager jeff roe lashed out at the criticism, saying on the chris steagall -- i apologize if i mispronounce the name, he said the new jersey governor had, quote, turned over his political testicles long ago. i'm sorry i had to say that on national television, but that's what he said. >> okay, but donald trump by allowing that last night, and he was in the hall when ted cruz was booed. he was listening to it.

he didn't wince. he didn't shake his head. i've been to a lot of conventions. i was in chicago when i was a democrat and a kid in 1968. dig daley shook his hand at abe when he said something he didn't like. >> donald trump interrupted the end of his speech by going out on the convention floor -- >> -- he went into the -- >> he distracted attention from ted cruz's speech -- >> he went in to listen to it -- >> you couldn't hear ted at that point anyway -- >> the fact is, look, i am very critical about trump and many of the things he's said, many of the things he's done. he has to turn over a new leaf, i agree it it's poor that people are chanting "lock her up" which makes me feel like you're seeing a scene from young frankenstein with people with torches. but what you saw by allowing ted cruz to speak is the idea that donald trump knows what newt gingrich said which is if you are looking for conservative principle, it really is one way

to vote in this upcoming election. >> okay. >> i think what we're going to see tonight is, in fact, a much more presidential trump following the encouraging lead of his son. >> okay, how many times have -- >> and mike pence. >> and mike pence, yes. >> how many times have people said that, michael? >> hope springs eternal. >> okay, now he's going to tell us why he deserves to be president. he hasn't done that yet. so why should we expect for him -- >> okay, i've got to end it there, i'm so sorry. and i'm left with my burning question about melania trump because where's she been. you think she'll show tonight? >> she has to be there. >> it will be a whole other news story if she's not there. >> can i tell you something, it's really a tough job to make a super model married to a billionaire seem like a sympathetic victim, but i think that a lot of her critics have done that. >> oh, no, i think people really feel sorry for her.

>> right. i know. but because of the criticism of her which is so over the top. okay, look, again, i am not a trump fan. but this is two paragraphs. she clearly didn't mean it, didn't know what she was doing. she has a tough time with the language, okay. but she came across as someone of dignity and someone who is nice and sweet -- >> absolutely, and i hope she comes to cleveland. >> give her a break. >> i have to end it there. michael, margaret hoover, thank you so much. when josh atkins books at laquinta.com. he gets a ready for you alert the second his room is ready. so you know what he gives? i'll give you everything i've got and then some. he gives a hundred and ten percent! i'm confident this 10% can boost your market share. feel me lois? i'm feeling you. boom! look at that pie chart. the ready for you alert, only at laquinta.com.

good morning. i'm live in cleveland. thanks for joining me. donald trump is raising new questions about the united states' role in nato and whether the u.s. would step in on behalf of allies under attack. telling "the new york times" that he would decide whether to come to a nato ally's aid only after review whether those nations have fulfilled their obligations to us. our guest is the founder and krp eo of iraq and afghanistan veterans of america, a nonpartisan nonprofit. welcome in, paul. >> thank you. >> welcome, nice to see you. what do you think about the comments? >> i think they're out of step with where our military is. it's definitely a curve ball. a lot of folks are struggling to catch up with the latest comments. veterans are really looking for a more comprehensive approach to how he's going to address the veterans community our military. there are 22 million veterans in

america. they're bipartisan. and they vote. our members voted over 93%. they're really paying close attention to all these comments. even to the fact that mike pence last night is the son and grandson -- sorry, father of a veteran. and his father himself was a korean war veteran. i think we'll be looking for those kinds of signals and signs. he needs to get back to basics and give us specifics. it's easy to say i'm going to clean up the va. it sounds great in the media -- >> he'd make a personal call to get things done. >> that's not going to work. he better get a lot of phones for that because there are millions who need help. we need to hear about how he's going to refor the va. will he defend the gi bill. right now, the senate's try to cut the gi bill by $3 billion so we want to hear specifics about that and how he'll help the veterans. >> he said he wants to modernize the army. >> the army's pretty modern.

this comment that we need to rebuild our military. our military is the greatest military on earth. that's not a partisan statement. again, we need to hear specifics. what does that mean for the private serving overseas. we also want to hear that he remembers there are folks in iraq and afghanistan. we've heard benghazi ten times more than we heard iraq and afghanistan and people are in iraq and afghanistan right now so the military wants to hear they're not forgotten. there will be folks watching from iraq and afghanistan. they want to hear the future commander in chief remembers them. >> he said, again, he wanted to, like, really crack down hard on isis, but he never says like how many troops he would send. if that would involve boots on the ground. do you know what his policy is when it comes to getting rid of isis? >> no, we don't. when it comes to the troop numbers. i think that's been a moving target. recently the president made a statement about troop numbers in afghanistan that was a bit a surprise. we're concerned the rest of america is watching kim kardashian and not what's happening on the ground in iraq, in afghanistan.

how long we're going to be there matters. and the fact we're tired. the military's been at war for two decades. we need to know our commander in chief understands we're tired. you can't just throw that rhetoric out there because now veterans have become the new applause line. it's easy to say i love veteran, get applause. but how are you actually going to do it. that's the hard stuff. >> paul riechoff, thank you. we're following an evolving story on fox news. is the end in sight for roger ailes? the exit could come as soon as today. cnn senior media correspondent brian stelter has been following the story. so ways the latest? >> the latest is no one has heard from roger ailes. he is of course the mastermind of fox news. i've spoken with hosts, producers, nobody at the network's heard from the boss. that's because he is in talks to leave. it could happen today, if not today, tomorrow. but consider on the day that donald trump formally accepts his party's nominee, roger aimas

could be leaving fox news. has helped the gop enormously for 20 years by creating this virtual public square for the conservative movement. donald trump has been in touch with ailes. that is one person ails is talking with. they've been on the phone. they've been friends of course for decades. but even in the wake of this sexual harassment controversy with a number of women coming forward, he has been getting advice from trump. they've been in touch, communicating. we will see if trump ever wants to weigh in on this. >> maybe he's take over trump's campaign. >> you're not the first to say that. ailes created fox news. he was a consultant for nixon and reagan and others. there's a rumor maybe ailes could go back to politics. but crazier things have happened in roger ailes' life. >> i have been interested in watching ratings for fox during this republican national convention. because you would think they would be blowing everybody away.

this is their bailiwick. >> actually their numbers are down from 2012 during the republican national convention. fox usually dominates during these conventions. but they're not doing as well as they did four years ago. cnn has actually grown quite a bit off of 2012. msnbc up as well. think what we're seeing is fox doesn't have quite the grip it used to have on either conservative viewers or on moderates interested in republican politics. over all what's interesting about the ratings, this election, is they're not quite as high as people were expecting. there hasn't been a trump ratings bump. the numbers are okay. they're fine. but they're not up in the way we've seen for the debates where trump was, for example. so we'll see what happens. >> fox's ratings were what we have come to expect, would raogr ailes be out? >> certainly sometimes when you have high ratings, you know, you can be -- you can have a

stronger position, amount of leverage -- >> it's not like the allegations just came to light yesterday. >> the murdochs who have been looking at ailes for a while, may be looking for a way to move on from him for a while. these allegations are troubling to the murdochs and they decided to take action. ailes has firmly denied these allegations. there are many women at fox news who say they don't believe this stuff. but i've spoken with several women who say they do have disturbing stories about harassment by ailes. >> you talked to some alleged victims. >> that's right. >> what did they tell you? >> they describe various incidents of harassment. in some cases, him asking them to turn around so he can see the backside. in some cases, asking to see their legs. even suggesting they should meet off campus, out of the building, so he can express himself more personally. no allegations have been anything that anything happened between ailes and any of these

women. there are a number of women who do have stories to tell and they are speaking in some cases with gretchen carlson's attorneys. >> all right, brian stelter, thanks for the update. thank you for joining me today. i'm carol costello. "at this hour" after a break. di, the cat and the fiddle, the cow jumped over the moon... then quickly fell back to earth landing on the roof of a dutch colonial. luckily geico recently helped the residents with homeowners insurance. they were able to get the roof repaired like new. they later sold the cow because they had all become lactose intolerant. call geico and see how much you could save on homeowners insurance.

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say his name, say his name! >> if you love our country, stand and speak and vote your conscience. >> it was awful. >> it was selfish. it was too cute. he signed a pledge. >> he lied to america, he lied to the republican party. >> if you get invited to a dinner party, you don't show up, eat t