su radio. as always, we will take your calls and you can join the conversation on face that ♪ good morning from cleveland, it is sunday, july 17. we begin our coverage on the republican convention. the last time the gop gathered here for their convention was 1936. 50,000 visitors are expected to descend on the city. thousands of delegates, 15,000 credentialed media outlets. the washington journal and c-span will be her through the week, giving you the opportunity to watch the nominating process unfold and of course take your

calls, e-mails and beats. we will kick it off right now. republicans, (202) 748-8001. .emocrats, (202) 748-8000 .ndependents, (202) 748-8002 you can go to facebook.com/c-span. republicans will open their national convention here in this city for their 41st attempt to win the white house which they've accomplished 23 times starting with abraham lincoln. folks are arty starting to arrive. from the cleveland plain dealer, rnc visitors are receiving the red carpet treatment from the moment they stepped off planes and into downtown hotels, conventioneers making their way into cleveland saturday were treated to northeast ohio's

version of red carpet. even live music. a says here it is ordinarily -- price. a two-person rap group regaled passengers while clearly identified volunteers shouted welcome to cleveland when they weren't answering questions. you mention some of the facts and figures about this convention, i want to share this from politico. a couple more facts and figures. 50,000 visitors are coming to .leveland for this convention of them, only 2472 are delegates. people have registered to

protest at this convention. 30 plus groups have paid permits rallies and marches. cleveland received $50 million in federal grants to help offset convention costs. $9 million and that has been spent on an insurance policy that will protect city employees in the case of lawsuits filed during the convention week. about 570 cleveland police officers are working specifically for the convention. that is alongside local, state and federal law enforcement. a spokeswoman he city of cleveland would only say that one third of cleveland 1700 officers would be working the convention in addition to support from other law-enforcement agencies. 56 delegations, all 50 states plus territories. booked, 39ave been of them are outside of cleveland.

15,000 credentialed media personnel. about a hundred of them are happening in -- 1200 of them are happening in cleveland. one more story, several hundred law-enforcement officers from across the country have been sworn in a special police officers for the republican national convention. werethan 300 officers sworn in on saturday afternoon at case western reserve university in cleveland. let's get to some calls here. nick is up first in tennessee. an independent. good morning to you. share your thoughts as we are one day away from the republicans opening up their convention here in cleveland. pence, hopefully he will motivate the evangelicals. good people, they baffle

me. they wouldn't vote for romney because they were mormon. bandit of getting a president, it's hard to figure out whether he's a socialist or an islamic socialist. another thing, are these protesters. some of them will be peaceful, but there is a hard-core liberalsof radical that are downright barbaric. they instigate. it goes back to the 60's with the sts. ,ow we have black lives matter which according to one reliable got $33 million from george soros. i think mike pence strikes me as

dull, but they have to unify the party. that might work as well. my big thing is the evangelical side. christianity and judaism is attacked all the time. i've talked to these good people and i love them. they don't know what -- host: that is no. -- that is nick. calls from near cleveland. we will be here throughout the week. you can let us know what you think about the process and how it unfolds here for the nominating convention of -- for the republicans. the phone numbers, republicans (202) 748-8001, democrats (202) 748-8000, independents (202) 748-8002.

another independent. howard in florida. good morning to you. i am a law-abiding citizen and at foremost, an american. i only want what's best for our country, i want to live free. i want to be happy and they want to love my neighbor. i don't understand why so many people want to follow the bad path. i have done a lot of research on to a lot of situations in the last eight years and without saying anything that i'm not supposed to say, which is wrong, i shove the right to say anything am want to say. i should be able to voice my opinion. really honestly believe all the information of come to that

there are a lot of things happening that are not supposed to be happening. it is all to take over our take globals all to government and global policing in america. host: how does that relate to the convention here in cleveland? caller: because this has been going on for decades and it's still going on and a lot of the people in the media aren't covering it because they signed a disclosure form also not to say anything. that was howard in fort lauderdale, florida. on your screen, you can see in the rockveland 'n roll capital city. over our shoulders, we have the can -- arena where the convention will be taking place.

tomorrow around 1:00 p.m. eastern time. the speaker lineup has been released. the details are still forthcoming of who will speak when. will bedonald trump speaking the last night. as a first caller mentioned, his vice president running mate mike .ence will also be speaking the two of them were in new york yesterday. the new york billionaire made that announcement in new york that his first choice, mike pence for the vp slot. we are taking your calls this morning on the eve of the convention here in cleveland.

we will go to our next collar in maryland, a republican. what is your name? caller: hello? host: you are on the air. what's your name? go ahead. what you think about the convention in cleveland? and everything that happening here? caller: i am concerned about the security. many people don't my donald trump. host: so you're worried about security here? caller: yes. many people don't like donald trump. a lot of people don't like him .o be president

i can't stand him. host: ok. a little bit about the security here from the cincinnati enquirer. on days out, this is written saturday from the official start of the republican national convention, security and downtown cleveland appeared ready with heavy metal barriers blocking streets. officials and residents hope for a peaceful and successful furtheron would help cleveland's reputation as a city on the rise. traversing downtown became a challenge with barricades staffed by ohio national guard members blocking and restricting traffic on street surrounding police headquarters in the cleveland convention center where many of the credentialed media will be working.

undert security perimeter control the u.s. secret service around the convention venue, that is the quicken loans arena, was also in place yesterday. they did a security sweep last night. we are taking your thoughts on the convention as it is about to get underway. one of our callers mentioned mike pence, the indiana governor and donald trump's choice of him as the vice presidential running mate. two them sat down after the announcement in new york with 60 minutes. cbs releasing a little bit of the interview ahead of its airing tonight. here is what the two them had to say about negative campaigning. >> negative campaigning is wrong. demonstrateught to the basic decency of the campaign. with that in mind, when you think about your running mate's campaign and the tone and

negativity of it? >> i think it's a good man who was been talking about the american issues that people care about. >> but name-calling? >> i said campaigns on the that something more important than just one candidate selection. .- candidate's election donald trump's campaign has been about the issues that americans care about. they see america in decline at home and abroad. >> you're saying it hasn't been negative? >> a congress unable to balance its budget or deal with illegal immigration. they want a leader, they want leadership in washington dc -- wash d.c. that will strengthen our country? >> what about the negative side question mark he apologized for being negative. , ihillary clinton is a liar was just proven last week, hillary clinton is a liar. >> that's negative. >> i called her crooked hillary.

, but it ask him to do it don't think he should do it. host: in their first joint appearance on 60 minutes, donald trump and indiana governor mike pence talking about what to expect from the indiana governor as he will begin campaigning .ith donald trump their first stop will be the republican convention here in cleveland. we are getting your thoughts on this. in southto the eli carolina. independent. caller: good morning, how are you? host: doing well. what do you think about the convention? caller: i don't think about the convention to be honest. my call is geared towards the individual who called to talk about black lives matter. when it was going to understand beenthe black people have

-- this world on credit? the minute we say something, three symbols were -- three simple words like black lives matter. most people to comment on the violence and hatred at those rallies are sitting back and looking at talking points. we want justice. our brothers and sisters get murdered by police. we don't care about the convention, we don't care about anything other than people not dying. protesters here in cleveland and many other protesters are expected. the aclu will kick off there's later today. cornered offrea

are protesting to happen around the quicken loans arena. we'll be talking about that on the washington journal. let's go to elizabeth in louisiana, democrat. caller: i would just like to make a comment. i think that most of these candidates should be drug tested. they sound like a bunch of addicts, they talk like it and sound like it. , whichsters for drugs are new employer might request. i think all of them should be tested for drugs. host: who are you going to vote for that such a thing? caller: i will vote for hillary. trump is just too out of this world. example of aprime drug addict. ok, all right elizabeth.

let's go back to peter who has more details on the protesting happening here around the republican convention. >> you mentioned this yesterday, -- national convention about 100 people marching through downtown cleveland. 10,000 protesters have registered. west insee dr. cornel the center of that picture. he is a big bernie sanders supporter. we are also following some of the delegates as they come into cleveland. is one sent out by reginald grant, who is a delegate from taxes. you can see his on an airplane to cleveland. he says keep us all in prayer. senatorthis is from

patrick, the state senator in michigan. he says looking to seeing the premier of dinesh desousa's movie in cleveland. one of the sites that will be that the-- sights greeting delegates is this poster. back to our calls here this morning, we are getting your thoughts on the republican convention. unable to, if you are watch the convention on your tv tomorrow when they kick off at 1:00 p.m., or in the evening time for the rest of the

week, you can get the c-span radio app. you will be able to listen to the whole thing, you won't miss a minute of it. you will get scheduling information. it is free and easy to download onto whatever mobile device you have. you can watch on c-span.org and on c-span. go to c-span.org for more details on what we will be covering. independent in gary, indiana. you are next. i like the donald trump choice. i really want to talk with this issue. wherever tackles this will be the next president. illinois. was in me and my girlfriend got into a fight, she said i raped her. host: utica, michigan.

independent caller. good morning to you. how are you going to vote this november? these calls are little bit bizarre. mike pence scares the crab out of me. i'm not voting for trump. i think he made a poor choice on his part. he will take us back 100 years. and is part of the establishment. about theng libertarian, johnson. i'm still up in the air on what to do. up, trumpy cracks me says all of you bernie sanders supporters, come on board with me. how do you think bernie sanders supporters will come on with

this vp choice? host: why does mike pence scare you? caller: he is going to take women's rights back 100 years. he is part of the establishment, i've heard he's not very popular in the state he is from. remarks and his voice on not only women's rights, but about everything else. he is also part of the establishment, that's what we're trying to get away from. that's why i was initially for trump. host: so you were going to go for trump, but that -- when he picked the indiana governor, your changing? caller: i'm either going to vote clinton -- i don't like clinton, but i feel like i'm being forced to chose -- choose.

or i'll vote for gary johnson, i like him. be ank there's going to lot of people, especially women, who are going to be set against this guy. i think it's a bad choice in my opinion. reporting earlier that gary johnson's numbers have gone up, that he is approaching 9%. speaking of pulling, the inquirer notes in a head-to-head race, the two candidates, hillary clinton a donald trump are tied at 41% each in the buckeye state. -- according to the quinnipiac university. an nbc wall street journal poll puts them each at 39%, with the remaining voters undecided or supporting someone else. virginia republican, your next, steve. caller: good morning. i'm concerned about the epa and the huge waste of money they are doing.

they deserve it of the volkswagen thing was a complete fraud. diesels cannot pollute. solar collector $1.6m in the desert, it is billion wasted. we spent $1.5 trillion a year on global warming, i have not been able to find 100 scientists who believe in global warming anywhere on the planet. i can find 30,000 that don't believe on his very easily. i have a copy of their petition in my library. let me ask you then, is is the reason you are republican? --ler: the other thing was

one of these environmental ddt wasaid that banning a good way to give to those brown people. organizationracist . , as they are putting party doing enough? caller: for what? epa? to get rid of the what you want to happen? caller: i really don't know. i do know if it necessarily has to begotten rid of, but i would transfer a lot of the regulations to where it would go through a court of law rather than just being a dictatorship. it is not constitutional. host: you might be interested in

what happened last week here in cleveland. committee got together and they decided the different policy planks for the republican party, it's the principle that will guide their seasonnto this election and the next four years. we cover here on c-span, go to c-span.org. you can hear what those in the committee had to say about edit -- amendments that were offered later in the week. republicans turned their attention to the rules. for the convention in the years after that. that was also two days proceedings. we covered that as well. go to c-span.org to watch that. over our shoulder, the quicken loans arena. that is where the convention begins and goes directly week. weeks to go that game six. cavaliers'

arena, five steel beams will be added to support the weight of the grid they need inside, which is 140,000 pounds and holds 836 lights, debt. 1800 signs. the screen is the highest resolution available. suites line the queue, three locker rooms will be changed into office space. staff will work throughout the week to transform. on thursday night after the speech by the present of nominee, balloons will drop as well as confetti, 100 25,000 red white and blue balloons,

thousands of pounds of confetti will fall in the nominee is announced. in northto steve carolina, a democrat. good morning to you, you are on the air. what your thoughts about the republican party as they head into this week's convention? i did of the money are, please tell me i am. host: you are on the air. caller: i'm in north carolina and i'm a retired marine. convention is a wonderful thing, i think the process is a wonderful thing. i am also a columnist, i read a column for a local paper. process is important, but integrity is important as well. clinton has been less than truthful. that troubles me, it troubles me

we would have such a percentage of our population that would not value that integrity as important. will go to jeffrey in greensboro, north carolina. a democrat. caller: good morning. how are you? host: doing well. caller: thank you for having me. i would been listening to some of the viewers and there is such a debate going on. a couple things i want to say, i just hope and pray that our children's children come into a better world, whatever president is elected. person should be able to be voted in. whatis disturbing today, -- the so many troubling issues between life itself between african-americans and white americans, it is sad.

for people in financial and political power to not really put a stand and stop to the me, because beyond you have the control and you have the money and resources to reach out to help or communities. if anybody can really say from state to take that state editor and you knowh -- you have a poor community and to do nothing about it. we want to work and we wants jobs, is very biased and unfair to have you overlooked for a judgment for your heritage or skin color. more important what i see today is the unnecessary of spending financial money the taxpayers pay, the general before talking to the epa. , thee get it correct

climate change. the -- nothowed long long ago in nasser program that spent billions of dollars on a probe is going to jupiter for five years, it's been up there. what is the point of spending billions of dollars like that when it is never going to benefit the human existence or this earth? that money can go host: let me ask you. given everything you just said, have you ever thought or you're calling on the democrat's line. have you ever thought about voting for republican? caller: yes. absolutely. mr. trump bears some principles that i do agree with him. it will sound maybe kind of offsetting to some people but his tone a little bit demands that acknowledgment abroad based on i think some of the countries feel the american tone as the

present is too kind of a little soft. and our power what we stand militarywise very definitely the contents of do not touch america because we can destroy you. but his tone is setting for a new type of perspective of i'm not here to play games. i'm here to do business and correct certain flaws that have been going on with american and different ally's. but on the other hand, his non compassion of how he is viewed g these comments worldwide is very unprofessional to a point i'm very surprised that a tone like that can be accepted in the american eyes of people. that's the only spoiment. can he really do it? i came from new york. didn't do jersey very businesswise with atlantic city

and his casinos. he didn't do that correct. and i can only go based on what -- liberty, new york, and being over there on his properties and how it just unfolded. and he moved on. hundreds of people went out of jobs. host: all right. let's go on to mark in ennsylvania. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. thank you for c-span. i had just a couple comments i wanted to make. first, i wanted to correct peter he said a few minutes ago that cornell west was an avid bernie supporter. yeah, he was but i just wanted to point out that he did endorse dr. jill stine the other day. and related to that, i just

nted to urge your viewers to not get too caught up in all the hoop la of these conventions. they're really meant to stimulate this partisan divide and convince people that they have two choices for president. either the republican whose extremely unpopular even in his own party and this democrat whose also extremely unpopular even in her own party. we do have -- we do have two i think outstanding candidates with alternative parties. jill stine the green party and of course gary johnson the libertarian. and i think we need to get out

of this notion that it has to be one of these two. either this democrat or this republican. host: i will leave it there. final preparations as we were just showing are under way inside the arena as they prepare for tomorrow's official start to the republican convention. 1:00 p.m. easterntime. again watch it on c-span, c-span.org and get the app if you don't have access to a screen so you can listen to every minute as it unfolds. we will continue talking about the convention here. it is the moment when a candidate finally gets to remove the presumptive from the front of their title. we will talk about that coming up here. first, our weekend.

the book tour takes us to cleveland the site of this republican national convention today at 2:00 p.m. all of our history programming from the city airs one block including a preview of the new exhibit at the cleveland history center which focuses on ohio's presidential history and the first time cleveland hosted a republican convention in 1924. >> one of the big things happening with us is cleveland is going to host the convention for the third time and the first time cleveland hosted the convention was in 1924. it came down basically to two cities. the finalists were cleveland and san francisco. what ultimately decided it was calvin coolidge who was the president at the time. he was warren harding's vice president. harding dies in office in 1923. to date he is the last president from ohio.

his vice president calvin coolidge steps up and coolidge basically makes a statement that says as a way to honor harding we should have the convention in his home state. that's what ultimately decided the convention coming to cleveland. cleveland had also just finished new public auditorium that could hold 11,500-some odd people. this is the convention in the public auditorium. these are some of the tickets from the convention. you can see warren harding is featured on all of them. >> the republican national convention from cleveland starts monday. watch live every minute on c-span. listen live on the free c-span radio app. it is easy to download from the apple store or google play. watch live or on demand any time at c-span.org on your desktop phone or tab let where you'll

find all of our convention coverage and the full convention schedule. follow us at c-span on twitter and like us on facebook to see video of news worthy moments. don't miss a minute of the 2016 national republican convention starting monday at 1:00 p.m. eastern on c-span, the radio app and c-span.org. >> c-span makes it easy for you to keep up with all the developments with the radio app available as a download from the apple app store or google play. get every minute of the convention as well as schedule information. host: and we are back with the

reporter and digital editor here in cleveland. so quicken loans arena right behind us. is it ready? is cleveland ready for what's about to happen here? guest: yes and maybe. i think the city has done as good a job to adjust as obviously national, international things have happened and as it has looked at each of the events and said what do we do? how do we adjust? but there are still some of the great unknowns. some are preparing for a huge crowd. for example, yesterday during a black lives matter event a thousand were expected maybe 200 , 300 show up. you overplan. host: what are the security preventions like given what happened recently with the threat of isis and other terrorism but also just what is happening in our country? guest: anybody who is used to strolling down east ninth street past the ballpark and going

wherever you want to go is not going to happen this week. one of the most striking things were these metal barricades that have gone up all around the venue. and it's a little intimidating. it's a little scary just a sight like that to think you have to do that but they did feel like they had to do this. the city is prepared with bicycle police u officers. they have outfitted the bicycles. that's not happy talk but also the bikes can be used for crowd control. extra horse patrols have come in. they've recruited as many as 2,000 police officers from other cities and have sworn them in. the city maintains control. but obviously they brought in a lot of people with a lot of specialties from other years. i was coming up 77 with a k-9 cruisers heading up here. >> how did they work out the relationship or what is the role

of the city versus the secret service verse us federal agency that is are also in charge of security at a convention? >> the secret service role is very clearly defined. it's called hard zone. it is basically the arena, convention center where reporters will be and the area around those. that is their area. they set the rules. nobody goes in or out without credentials and without pretty strict checks. the city set the event and set the zone as all of downtown cleveland. the american civil liberties union sued and the city came up with a slightly narrower parameter and also some accommodation force homeless people things like that. so the city has control there. and the secret service has controlled tighter in. and the f.b.i. has been around for quite a while stopping in on activist groups. some saw that as intimidating others saw that as comforting to feel out who is around what

their plans are. host: jay johnson said he was concerned. he has concerns. and he was coming here on friday to check it out himself and then head into philly as well. guest: honestly, i would be stunned if they weren't watching that given the tenor of what's happening not only nationally but worldwide. there is no higher profile event than these two conventions so you've got to do it right. host: we're about a mile away from where this is going to take place. what is happening to downtown cleevepbled? guest: lots of employees are staying home. the one extended government operation downtown is the courts. they have cleared out jail cells, set up extended hours for the courts again anticipating lots of arrests hoping not to have them. and so far cleveland history in several high profile events has been pretty good. but that part of it.

private companies they're telling workers to work from home. this is always part of that equation on whether you want a convention or olympics or anything else like that. what do you lose as far as normal commerce goes when you host an event like this? host: who gets to go inside the que and what do you need to get in? guest: lots of clearance from lots of people. reporters had to put in months ago for credentials and then they were issued and secret service background checks and homeland security background checks and all the rest. when you get your credentials you're allowed in. when you're a delegate you've gone through somewhat the same process. when you're a staffer you've gone through the same process. so the folks actually in there know they're in and nobody else is getting in. host: when you're inside, what's it like to be on the floor? are you able to move around freely when you get inside? guest: well it depends if you're a republican or a democrat. republicans sit more in their seats. they behave themselves better.

democrats float around a lot more on the floor of the convention. but when reporters go in we kind of tag team with the credentials to actually get out on the floor. i've been to two republican conventions and both of those will have a delegation so key because we're such a swing state. this year they're way off to the side host: we have a camera inside the que right now from our suite where ear going to be broadcast -- we're going to be broadcasting starting tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. but that's where the ohio delegation gets to sit. that's their view of the stage. is that a bad view? guest: that's a terrible view compared to what they're used to. it's very simple the reason. ohio this year went to a winner take all state. winner take all state, all of the delegates belong to the person who won the state overall who just happened to be governor john kasich. that was expected. as a result, none of the delegates on the first ballot unless john kasich releases them

can vote for donald trump. so it won't be that moment in which ohio delivers the delegates that will put donald trump over the top officially. host: why hasn't john kasich released the delegates? guest: john kasich has said he does not feel comfortable with donald trump as the representative of the republican party. he has not said absolutely he will never endorse but he has said i'm waiting a moment. he is waiting for donald trump to show a major conversion from the divisive candidate that john kasich has been. host: can that hurt the republican party and donald trump? ohio is a battleground. polls show them tied. guest: they are tied. you would think given the reservations of the republican party that hillary clinton would actually be doing better in ohio than she is doing. but if you want to know the story of the battleground of ohio basically travel the ohio river between ohio, west virginia, and pennsylvania.

those are a lot of commurents for which the economy has never recovered especially down south get into coal country appalachia, some people who really feel very anxious about the future. and so that's the area where the real battle will be. host: how has ohio broken in the past? would you call ohio blue red what is it? guest: we're called purple. though if you look at the map of our congressional delegations and you look at the whole statewide office slate it's all republican. some of that is how lines are drawn on the congressional map. some of that is that that's republicans have been much more active and much more organized in state politics. but barack obama wins. so you do have that purple swing state. republicans keep repeating the mantra that no republican has ever won the white house without winning ohio so you need ohio. some folks are saying this may be the time when ohio is by

virtue of demographics whiter and orlando it may lose its swing status. host: and the role of governor kasich this week. guest: governor kasich was up to check out arrangements. he was around to the perimeters of the convention. but he has no speaking engagement unlike four years ago when both he and rob portman had prime speaking spots. he does not plan to be a presence. host: rob portman? guest: rob portman will not be speaking. he said he is not avoiding the convention he just has lots of things to do. he is having a mock convention for his high school and college volunteers right next-door and he will be having speakers come over and talk with them. he is doing a habitat for humanity event. he is doing something with wounded warriors kye ackers. he is a by kayaker himself. he is finding ways to be in and around but not necessarily at the convention. host: why does he wanted to be

present and known? guest: he has definitely endorsed donald trump but he's not gone much beyond that. he is running in a tough reelection campaign against former governor ted strickland. the latest polls show him moving ahead pretty significantly. he needs that coal country i was talking about. he needs that swing area. but he also needs a lot of other people who have seen him as a more moderate republican to not be turned off. ost: let's get to calls. talking about ohio politics the convention. we'll go to naturally first in west virginia. -- gnat aly. caller: good morning. i just have a few things to say. it makes me beyond embarrassed for the first time in ni my life to be an american citizen so

much my small children know not to say the t word in my home. i have watched both parties. trump in my opinion is a liar and a bully and it just shows how money can get you where you want. you can lie cheat and twist words and the people applaud. the small minded people of america applaud. hillary has political experience however she's been shady as well. so how can we repair the country when we have two candidates that have no idea of how to fix it? why -- when they focus on what he said what she said. they need to focus on the real issues. host: what are some of those real issues? caller: real issues are i'm from southern west virginia and on the logan county line. i think so much of the people the coal miners out of work. and this isn't the first time. it's happened many times before when the logging industry came

in. it's big businesses waves money in front of our face wipe us out and then leave. then we're stuck going what do we do again? there's got to be some kind of way to make this economy boom. there's got to be some way to make other countries respect america again because they're laughing. host: what do you think about thearg that -- hearing that comment? our viewers talk about jobs, the economy. and a lot of times what they're saying doesn't match what we're hearing from the campaign from the candidates. guest: honestly i don't know how much we're not hearing it from the candidates or it's not the sexy stuff that we all cover, unfortunately. but what she's expressing are two points that i've heard repeatedly. one is i don't like either one of the candidates. there was a poll out last week in ohio that showed that 42% say they're less excited about this election than they were over past elections. the other thing when she talks

about that coal country, i've made a couple trips down to harnse county, belmont county areas like that and hillary clinton made a huge mistake when she said we're going to kill coal. that has become absolutely red meat for a lot of people down there for whom it's not just killing their future but it's disrespecting their past. this is an industry for which a lot of people literally died. and so to hear that it just needs to disappear is something that just hurts. host: next call donald, republican. good morning. aller: good morning. first i wanted to comment on, west virginia all voted for trump. he does have a plan and he is going to keep the coal industry alive. he's the only one talking about bringing jobs back to the country. he's the only candidate that is

going to stop these bad trade agreements. that's the comment on --. host: ok. let's talk about trade. how big an issue is that in ohio? guest: it's huge. there is just this absolute sense that since nafta and probably beyond no trade deal has served people well in ohio. now, you go out west and thing a interests would say it's served us very well but i'm talking about the area from which ronald is speaking. for them, jobs went elsewhere. d it's a hard issue to simplify but donald trump has simplified it. he said your jobs went to china and i will bring them back. what is interesting is the issue about coal that donald trump has said i'm going to bring back the coal industry and he has but he

hasn't been real explicit how. part of it is to remove regulations which is seen to help kill the coal industry but what that would do is make coal more plentyful which would bring the price down which is killing coal now because it has been brought down. so this idea if you get rid of the regulations coal comes back it's not that simple. host: yesterday when donald trump made his announcement we knew ahead of time that he was choosing indiana governor mike pence. he was critical of hillary clinton's support for nafta. however, his running mate mike pence has spoke about the benefits of nafta for his state of indiana. do you think that matters? guest: i don't think so. i think mike pence was more there to reassure ohio's social conservatives and the nation's social conservatives than anything else but you do raise an interesting issue that trade

has been a republican idea, a republican strength. in fact, rob portman getting back to our senator changed his position on tpp. some would say as a result of the election some would say reflecting the opinions of ohioans. trade is generally seen by republicans as a good thing. what you will hear both sides say over and over again including our other senator democrat shared brown is we are not opposed to trade. we are opposed to what we see as ub fair trade. free trade is as long as it's all done fairly and everybody's playing by the same rules we're good. host: you brought up social conservatives, unifying them bringing them into the fold. what was the response that you were hearing from ohio delegation about the choice of governor pence? guest: again, ohio's delegation all loyal to john kasich, many we're used d than

to seeing. they're a more moderate group. but win a republican party and win a republican party that ohio has passed some of the strictest anti-abortion legislation in the country. a lot of people don't realize that. a lot of our laws are very parallel to the texas law that just got overturned. so we do have within the republican party some strong social conservatives. and i think mike pence was a needed thing. but is it going to rouse the troops and get them out working hard for donald trump? i can't say that. host: as we're listening, you were looking at their seats. that's their viewpoint when the convention gets under way tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. eastern time. tune in to c-span. get the radio app. and also go to c-span.org. that is where the ohio delegation will be seated looking at the stage and they

usually get better seatic but because of their state being winner take all and all the delegates going for john kasich, he hasn't released them yet that's where they ended up. new york, california, two blue states are up front for this convention. guest: though the california delegation is staying out in about an hour-1/2 away from here. but they get a great amusement park in their back yard. host: we'll go to barbara in cleveland. caller: good morning. host: what do you think about the convention in your town? quiveragetsdz it's not really in -- caller: it's not really in my town. it's downtown cleveland. my town you need to come up union avenue where they haven't cleaned up where they haven't built up and all the empty houses and all the poor people and all the homeless people.

no, this is not cleveland. this is just a false resentation for cleveland. guest: what she's saying again is absolutely true to a point. there are parts of cleveland that are hurting. terribly. and they've not been able to see the turnaround. violent crime, black on black crime especially this year over the past year has just been horrendous. another child was shot over the weekend. yes, we were struck hard by the foreclosures by what swept through the economy in 2008 and we've not recovered. what you do have going though is increasing activism within those neighborhoods to try to take control of these issues. i was over yesterday at a peace and justice convention over on the east side of cleveland and it was probably 200, 300 people saying we need to make a

difference on social justice issues in our neighborhoods and beyond. host: let me add to what you were just saying median household income for cleveland, ohio, 26,000. guest: yeah. we're a cheap place to live though too. you've got to remember that. yeah. household income has not kept up. and we kind of get back to some of the issues we were talking about contrasting with the appalachian ohio. it's just this feeling that not only am i not getting ahead any more but i'm not confident my kids are going to get ahead. so there's a lot of that from the urban areas to the very rural areas this sense of dis-ease. host: black african americans 37%, p about 53, whites hispanic about 10%. joe in river view florida. good morning. aller: good morning.

i just wanted -- because i listen to you guys. why cleveland of all place force the republican party? law dependent and i'm in enforcement and i see the things that like mike pence, i put kkk on his forehead. i think donald trump is on drugs. but i work with law enforcement, i see the hatred in the hearts and what they said and the way they treat men fellow black officers. but they're all republicans. we fight crime but we look at it different in the hood and we all kind of fear it but we know it's there. just a hatred of it. host: why cleveland? guest: cleveland made a lot of sense. it wanted to showcase itself in

a big way. it has made a tremendous turnaround for all what you were just talking about and what is happening in some of the neighborhoods, the city core has really had a rebirth. areas that were vacant even three, four years ago are filled and vibrant and it's gotten vibrant downtown. so cleveland wanted to say look at us. there also was thoughts about who would be running for president and that potentially john kasich would if not john kasich some other person that the republican party wanted to say hey ohio you matter. we're going to come there to help you swing our way. so it made sense from a republican calculation, it made sense from the city's calculation. what was not known at the time the city was putting in for this is what would happen with police relations and some of the high profigse issues especially the killing of a 12-year-old boy that mir rice. cleveland overtall has handled that situation very well. its police department is now

toer a consent decree to try energize community policing and have it make a difference. but it was kind of coins dental that this was happening on this track at the same time that they are going after the convention. host: next, in hollywood, florida. a democrat. caller: good morning. the age bracket that i'm in, we /-- ience the ibtgration integration/segregation era. therefore, we have more insight on predicting what this new republican party is all about. don't you know for one reason many of us knew that pence was going to be selected as vp because of social conservatism. what did reagan trickle down to the same social conservatives who basically are middle class

and they jump on any band wagen? so their children who go off to college basically understand the concept of what tradition is in this country. so you do not have the rockefeller republicans that vote with you. you do not have most of the independents that do not vote with you. so your strong points are white males mostly southerners and social conservatives. now, many of us tried to make the two parties work and found out that many in the republican party were very very negative towards receiving blacks to become members of the republican party. some of them would more or less die and go to hell before they uld invite or embrace this sinking of -- thinking of bringing everybody to the table.

their children basically understand what's going on that the ones in the 70s, 80s -year-old old are basically carrying on the traditions of their great grandparents who were those who worked for the plantation owners and they were sold by the plantation owners of -- a bill of goods that didn't work. host: i need to jump in because we're running short on time. i think we've got the gist. what were you thinking listening to him about how that plays out? guest: well, we do have a lot of what are called reagan democrats in ohio. i wish i could attribute this but i can't remember who sead it but somebody said especially in eastern ohio they have a history who ting for politicians have flamboyant things and have bad hair.

they were referring to jim traffic nt. if you look at his positions they are aligned with republicans with pop list kind of rhetoric. there is a generational divide that is playing out. i have run into far more young people than old people who are -- it's not going for hillary at least are terrified of trump. but it's, as with anything that is human it is more complex than saying it's a bunch of racist whose are going to vote for trump and it's a bunch of due process who are going to vote for hillary. which is how each side presents the other. there's a lot of individual's hopes and fears that are playing into the whole thing. host: your jim trasketnt joke goes over well with the c-span audience because they remember. what will happen tomorrow when the convection kicks off at 1:00? what will be happening on the floor? guest: basically all the

adoption of the reports that were gone through last week. a lot of the drama we were last looking for is not going to be there. there was a move by two different groups to get the 28 votes they needed to have minority reports which would have forced among other things unbinding the delegates committed to trump. so it becomes more everything is officially under way. we are ready to start welcoming the nominee. we are going to hear the first of the speakers. we're going to set the tone for the rest of the week. host: there is some following the delegates on line that some that want this unbound -- to unbind themselves and vote their conscience. some are saying it's not over yet. that there's an opportunity to embarrass the party, to embarrass donald trump possibly with a roll call vote forcing some sort of vote on the floor that would take hours that could

play out. what are you hearing? guest: one move would be to abstain. and you're not voting for anyone else so you're abiding by your commitment but they will still abstain therefore it would be embarrassing. i may have to call you tomorrow night and say messed that up. but i don't see it happening. people who attend these conventions are party loyalists. and even those not fond of donald trump saying this my party. they're not likely to be the kind of rebels to embarrass their party. host: we will have to be tuning in and watchings. thank you very much. appreciate the conversation. guest: thanks so much. host: we're going to take a short break. we'll hear from peter a little more about what's happening here in cleveland, more about the convention when we come back.

more of your phone calls about this convention here happening in cleveland. what are your thoughts as we are in the eve of the first day of the republican convention starting. hat do you have? guest: you were talking about cleveland, the population of the city of cleveland. the metro area grows to about 2.2 million. but with the 50,000 visitors coming in for the republican national convention, that will ip crease to the city's population by about 13 prt. now forks 10,000 people are registered as protesters. about 30 organizations or so have gotten permits for demonstrations et cetera. so there is about 10,000 people who are officially registered to protest. we're going to continue to take calls on the "washington journal" from cleveland. i want to give those viewers the

numbers so they can dial in and continue to talk about the fact that the republican national convention begins tomorrow. the numbers are on the bottom of your screen. this is from the columbus, ohio dispatch.

we are following here on the "washington journal" tweets that are coming in from the delegates, especially as they arrive in cleveland today.

henry gomez writes for the cleveland plain dealer. he tweeted. new york, florida and tennessee are right down front. just greenfield with pbs now. and he was talking with a

longtime g.o.p. delegate and operatives. her name is jo ann davidson. here is what she had to say. she's from ohio and here is what she had to say about this year's convention. >> we're moving into a situation within politics which the old rules aren't going to apply any more. i think that's probably what's on many people's mind here. we have the transition convention. are we transitioning from what we thought about or some typical conventions to a whole different setup? we'll see how it goes. host: we are back here in cleveland. for the republican convention. we're downtown cleveland. we've got the quicken loans arena behind us about a mile away. we're in the space opened by the skylight financial group.

if you he had down from here into cleveland that's where you will find the arena and the security perimeter pretty tight around there just learned how high those barriers are. you have to have credentials. you have to be cleared in order to get inside the cue and once you're inside there that's where the delegates will be, reporters. 15,000 credentials. inside the quicken loans arena there is seating capacity of over 20,000 specifically designed to create an intimate setting. 60% of the seats are located this that lower bowl. it would take more than 53 million basketballs to fill the arena. a little fun fact in there. olds clotion to 200 events and we cans more than that.

as many of you know the american hockey league, the american football league, it's the third largest arena in the nba and all the action getting under way tomorrow 1:00 p.m. eastern time. e sure to have your cd on to get the news. you need that app in order to hear every minute as it unfolds. monday it kicks off then tuesday wednesdaytart time on 7 km eastern time. then. and then we will hear from the presumtive republican nominee. that's when he loses presumptive from his title. that will be dropped. you've been waiting patiently. what are your thoughts? caller: well, i'm looking forward to the convention and i

think it's going to be very exciting. and thange mike pence is a wonderful choice. as you mentioned i am a democrat but there is no way as a black woman i would vote for hillary clinton. i don't like the way she plays the race card. i don't like the e-mails in benghazi and things of this nature. i believe that character does count. donald trump is not perfect but he is a breath of fresh air and he carnt be bought because he's already a billionaire. host: how you're democrat. w did you vote in 2008 and 2012? caller: i did not vote for obama. i looked at his record and came to the conclusion that he did not -- he never even voted as a senator, but for english to be the official marriage.

he voted for same sex union. he voted for people not being prosecuted for destroying the american flag. so it told me that this man did not love this country so i did not vote for him. host: where does this strong sense of patriotism come? where does it come from for you and how important is that in your decision making? guest: well, as a black american and my uncle who just passed made a remark to me many years ago about slavery. as i have grown as i have looked around and thought about it, if it hasn't been for slavery as he said where would i be? i'm in the most blessed country in the world. i was born here because of something that was evil but something good came out of it. and i appreciate and i thank god that i am an american.

and i just love my country. and i don't think my country is functioning as one of these third world socialists and we have such as socialists such as obama, such as hillary running. we need to as a people think about the founding of this country. i just thank god that he opened up my mind and my heart. i don't vote for people that i think are going to hurt this country. host: ok. nanchinge in west virginia. republican. caller: god bless that last caller. i really applaud her. i've got a question on protests then i will have a followup question if that's all right. do people register as a group or do they register as individuals in a group or just as individuals? there is a permitting process

for the group to do protesting around, get close to the que. so there is a permitting process for them. host: then if a grew has a proven record -- group has a proven record of violence at their protests, are they continually allowed to keep on protesting? and i heard this morning on the news that black lives matter actually hires people to protest and if they get arrested they get a bonus. that doesn't seem like peaceful assembly. host: all right. we'll be watching here on the "washington journal" and c-span throughout the week and bring you some events not happening just inside but of course what's happening outside. many, many eevebts happening outside the arena. besides the formal proceedings for nominating the republican candidates here, there's also

delegate breakfasts, there's parties of course. there's lots of things happening outside of that arena this whole eek here in cleveland. i've got a question about donald trump. he [inaudible] wife that like his she was a piece of dirt. he has run down the governor of mexico. how can anybody in their right mind vote for a devil like he is. he is no good. he is a snake in the grass but they're going to get more for what they bargained for.

host: all right flt let's hear from cleveland, independent. what do you think about the republicans coming here? how do you plan to vote? caller: well, let me first address ohio and cleveland because the news media in cleveland, ohio, doesn't report things and if republican and democrat parties don't address issues that are important here in ohio and i will give a couple of examples. i've spent 25 years addressing these issues. i'm well known for it. n fact the future speaker of the house, a lawyer in cleveland, ohio because of my efforts in 1997 published in the -- and i recall, where there is is a loophole. the speaker of the house said he was going to address it.

but what they don't address specifically. the columbus dispatch, in central ohio, spent a year investigating abuses of guardianships. they investigated 700 adult and 500 child guardianships. one attorney boasted that he had more awards than any other attorney or guardian in the country. he was convicted of abuse. he was being sentenced. he committed suicide rather than face his penalty. he northeast ohio bapers don't even cover. his association. the media doesn't address it. i testified about that. one of my acquaitances wrote and agreed that the bill could not

be for the purpose stated by the bill's sponsors. which represented the bar association lied about the purpose. again, none of this stuff is talked about. the corruption of the association is responsible for i believe much of the unrest in the public because they brought laws that are responsible or would make things better and they bring in laws that make things worse. it's all about making money for their profession and increasing their status. there is a bar association president in balm peach florida who has written kindly recently he wrote that he is going to try to bring about the reforms that i've addressed for about 25 years. host: i'm going to leave it there. we'll go to steven in michigan. republican. you're on the air. i'm just wondering, with

all this money being thrown around down there in cleveland, do they need that much protection? and i'm just wondering there's people going hungry and they're spending money like drunken sailors. why don't you start spending some of that money and bringing some of these people out of poverty. donald trump as far as i'm concerned the guy gout deferments from the war over hin splints. host: go ahead. finish your thoughts on mike pence. caller: the guy i don't need that's going to preach the me. i know the bible and i read it myself. everybody has their own personal relationship with god.

so i guess they're unaware of that on their shoulder whatever. i disbelieve that our -- just believe that our country has fallen to the lowest level that i can ever remember. i've listen to this back and forth between republicans and democrats and it's sickening. host: center stage is where folks will be sitting to listen to the many speeches that will be happening this week. a lot of speeches a lot of parties a lot of rallies, chiefing, scheming. signs from the delegates. a lot of meriement there on the floor of the que here. that caller just mentioned money. we're going to be talking to the host of the committee in charge of raising enough money for the

convention. we'll talk about that. he will be taking your questions and comments but lets get into more calls. aller: good morning. i never know what kind of line to call in on because particularly don't like any politician and one of the things that happens at the conventions my opinion is i think we're in a really desperate time ever as far as free flow of information. and i think that the moneys that clinton people are raising are from establishment point of teachers unions, truckers union. it's the republicans. themd of really don't like

the casinos get chinese people and then the convention has bleen flowing from the must be control. most if not all of them are industrial. than host: ok. we'll ask about corporate money as well here coming up here in ust a few minutes. tom in connecticut. hi, tom. good morning to you. are you going to be watching this week? caller: yes, i am. i'm four square behind president donald trump. and i'm kind of an addicted

reader of history. i get the sense that he is like president franklin roosevelt and i'm one of the probably lesser educated people. owever, i read a quote about voters for franklin roosevelt who i equate with donald trump. i don't know him but he knows me. everyone i know here in connecticut, republicans, democrats, blacks, asians, are four square behind president donald trump. so i will be additionally i would like to say that the test to him for me was i watch his family, i watch his children. i watch his wife and previous wives. i share their values. i don't share their money but that's where this country needs to go. and if you drive through u

connecticut, we have -- we're rapidly heading towards -- our bridges are falling down. our university of connecticut which i hold three degrees now has become nothing but a millionaire's club for not essentially providing education but providing huge tuitions. i went through university of connecticut. i never had a student loan. i worked in a factory. thank you very much. i look forward to the convention to am of -- i'm addicted c-span. >> well that's not a bad addiction. on jour screen as you were talking there's one of the 1800 sign that is have bjorn added to

the interior. but also the balloons in the ceiling, 125,000 balloons and 1,000 pounds of confetti will fall when the nominee is announced on thursday night. mickey, malm. high. >> caller: good morning. i have a question under the who paid for these conventions. i think i saw a report that it was a letter sent to she woulden addleson that the host committee is shors $6 million and they need his help to get the convention done in a proper way. and he deluded that four sponsors had backed out of giving $1 million to the host committee. hat wasn't the case. they had given 1 million each and four others to the 2012 convention but they have not

committed. so they have not backed out. then they had to write an apology letter for misleading him. and then there was six people who had signed the letter and others didn't know about the letter. they didn't know the concept. so i don't know, this report wasn't political but i didn't quite get it. i want to know who is paying and who are the 1 million sponsors for this convention? >> you just niecely set up our next conversation here because those are all the questions we will ask and we will hear from the 2016 host can he. so keep shooting in here. indfrant caller. good morning. caller: good morning. it's great to see cleveland. i'm sure happy for your coverage. actually, i helped with a little bit of the transformation

between 90 and 93. we brought in all the wash stone for the road reconvucks quite framlar with the downtown flats area i believe is over your shoulder. it was unbelievable the politicians at the time said it was crazy to put all that money in infrastructure redone and i'm just so happy they did. i love cleveland. it's like my second home. it's a lot like detroit. i have traveled a lot but now i want to switch gears just because i have the opportunity to give me one minute. one of the thing that is we're finding in our country, whether it be cleveland, detroit, chicago. to a degree new york, philadelphia, are our older cities. but we also find as we go overseas to syria or egypt. we look at iraq and the common denominator which no one is connecting is flint.

that is led. it's led. we need to look at led in the paint, certainly with flint you know about the water conditions that they have not been fixed but we need to devert from that. but when we look at symptoms, c-span has serious viewers. i understand it's a deficit. this order is the first simenttom. once it gets in human blood. so look at the violence. there the common denominator, i do believe it is led we have have to get the led out. our government is going to look the other way because there's not enough pluses for them. we are talking about money. but we have done far harder more difficult things that passed.

i would say to you the transformation was much harder than to get the led out. we have to get the lid out. look at the common denominator ost: let me jump in. this is the third time for cleveland. first time was in 1924 and 1936. it's the fourth time for the g.o.p. that will convene its convention in ohio. convention. ttle national party conventions were born to replace the small party caucuses in washington. this is written in the emquirer this morning. the first therd in baltimore and continues to hold their events there until the party's

relocated to cincinnati. we're getting your thoughts on the convention. it gets under way tomorrow morning at 1:00 p.m. eastern time. you have to tune in to c-span. we'll get the radio app in case you're walking around. you can continue to get minute by minute coverage. no interruptions. no aplists you just get to watch the clock unfold. but we will take your phone calls and get your thoughts on the republican national convention before the official get under way and after as well here on the washington journal every morning here this week starting today going through thursday. we will be live here from the skylight financial group facilities their space here in downtown cleveland. let me go to mike, a republican. caller: thank you for having me on your show.

i am a supporter of c-span. in fact my idols are rand and on paul there. my big thing this morning was that you had a caller moments ago from west virginia. he was talking about black lives matter. that is who is being bought. i know the specific individual. i hope i don't get shot down for this. but his name is george soros. i've seen the adds. it is a bonus if you do go to jail they will bail you out. gu definitely it says a lot and speekeds volumes when you don't have bush. ron paul rand paul any of the major big group that aren't backing donald trump. that says a lot. so definitely i don't like either two of the people.

i'm a republican. i do support ron paul and rand al but i would rather not have a president. host: ok. that's mike there. the numbers are on the bottom of your screen. up next president of the cleveland 2016 host committee. we'll go to more details about what's happening here in cleveland. caller: you mexed that you can watch the convention gavel to

gavel obc-span or the c-span radio app. you can also watch it on our facebook page. we will open it up. so you will be able to watch it on facebook as well. not only are we covering the conventions. we're covering many, many events around the convefpks. there's a news conference today at 4:00 we will be bringing that to you live but first an hour ahead of time to kind of preview the convention this afternoon. so more live coverage after the washington journal ends. before we get to your guest i want to show you a couple more articles. you had a caller earlier who asked what the protesters can and cannot do in cleveland? cleveland's plain dealer has an article about that. what happened is at the aclu of ohio put together a protest

manual of sorts. some of the question that is they answered include a permit is required to walk in the street block traffic or to take up a lot of the sidewalk space. some of the q and a here. can anyone record police officers in action? yes, she says. cannot come between police and a person being arrested. can police record protesters. yes demonstrators should assume they're being watched and recorded. can police confiscate a protester's phone or other devices? >> no. police need a war ent unless police make an arrest. can they infiltrate groups? >> yes. they can pose as sillions. can people be charged? the answer is yes. ohio law specifically prohibits acting lifts. if you go to the aclu of ohio's

website, you can print out the protest manual on your own in case you are interested. this morning in the "washington post" phil rucker writes about some issues surrounding cleevepbd. one of the things he writes about is that bob dole is the only former republican nominee who is attending the conventions. here is what he writes.

trump was on the stage with him and trump said some things that i know upset jeb but they did sign the pledge. i'm sorry i'm not going to see him in cleveland. that's the story this morning in the "washington post." now, since he woke up this

morning, donald trump has sent out three tweets already. this is his most recent. i hope that crooked hillary picks goofy elizabeth warren sometimes referred to as poke honttuss as her vp then we can litigate her fraud. that was sent out just a little while ago. at a.o.l..com there is a video article this is about how the police in cleveland are asking the homeless to keep an eye on otential suspects. this is what they're doing is asking the homeless to help keep an eye out for people who may be suspicious or wanting to cause trouble. so if you go to a.o.l..com you

ill be able to see that video. david want to welcome gilbert. welcome. thank you for being here. guest: thanks for having me. host: let's talk about what you do. guest: when a convention is awarded to a city of either party, a contract is signed between the party and a nonprofit organization, apolitical nonprofit organization that is set up for the express purpose of fulfilling the community's obligation in its bid to host the convention. so that is why our organization was set up about two years ago. and it's our job to do -- it's a number of things. one is raising the funds that were put forth and that is to fulfill the obligations. there's a lot of thing that is we provide so the committee on arrangements, the arm of the rnc that runs the convention itself

can do a lot of their business. we also are involved in really all the city preparation. it's everything from hotels to thousands of volunteers to getting in every way shape or form every small detail in getting the city ready. the one thing we don't do is the safety and security. that's done by city of cleveland police, secret service, hundreds of different agencies all coordinating together. host: how did you get your job? guest: i'm from here. i've been involved in civic organizations actually run our sports commission destination cleveland our convention and visitor's bureau, was the lead on the bid, and was asked to take on this role for this period of time. it's been very exciting. this is just so incredible for our city. we were thrilled. there's been so much that has changed about cleveland particularly in the last four, five, six years. we were bidding on both the

republican and democrat convention. for us it was a civic decision to go after trying to host a political convention as a way to showcase all the great thing that is have happened in cleveland and where we're going. host: so your obligation is to find the money for this to happen. 64 million is what was pledged. there have been news reports and one of our viewers was talking about it that you're short $6 million is that still the case and why? guest: there's a couple pieces. $64 million was the budget in the bid and that was the max amount that would have to be raised to pay for everything we are obligated to do. we're at now about 58-1/2 and 59. and if you look back at past conventions and timing, it's tampa four years ago, and it's very normal to be at 5 or 10% short the week of the

convention. and as dollars still come in. we have raised far more than any convention in history to this point. there was federal funding for the last 20 plus years that had gone to help both democrat and republican host committees in paying for the convention. those dollars went away which we knew about when we were bidding. we had a community discussion would we still move forward, as did -- there were eight finalist cities ultimately in bidding. and we actually feel very good about where we are. the fact that we've raised so much the fact that we're very close. and we will absolutely meet every obligation that we have. host: the convention starts tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. eastern time. do you have to have the 64 million in place? guest: no. there isn't a date set or a check that has to be in the bank. it's also making sure that all the bills are paid. and the budget the maximum that can be spent. so we're in very, very good shape. host: there was a letter sent

out by the host committee to she woulden addleson. organizers had to apologize. there were according to news reports in that letter some facts that weren't accurate. can you explain what happened why this letter was sent out and why ask him to make tup difference? guest: well, as you could imagine we have been in our fund raising efforts we have been working for a year-and-a-half on targeting and asking particularly people who in the past have given to the host committees of past cities. and mr. addleson is certainly one of those a major republican donor and the kind of person that would be on our list from the very beginning. and we've been in discussions with folks from his organization for many months. we were asked to provide one

evening that they were getting close to making a decision. the letter wasn't a last-ditch effort. these have been discussion force a long time. we were asked to give particular information. and that happens regularly. they're all a little bit different. one of the things asked for was are there companies and organizations that had particularly not given? and we -- so we provided a list. our mistake was we didn't provide a disfinchings. there were a handful of companies that had made hard specific pledges to the host committee and then backed out. and then there were other whose we had substantive discussions with had not made a specific pledge but at some point had said we're going to be out as well. we didn't make that distinction and we want to make sure we apologize. host: folks are saying that the reason why you can't get these companies to pledge like they have in the past or follow

through was what they said they were going to do is because the republican candidate is flawed. is toxic. guest: well, we're an apolitical organization and it's not our job to talk about the candidate in any way shape or form. we're not involved in the political part of what happened. this is about our community. in most cases, people who tell us that they will give or won't give don't give us a specific reason. and we have an idea of why people give. many, many of our donors have done it to support cleveland. people in cleveland, people in ohio. there are people who give to upport the process and give to host committees, the republican ide the democrat side. but ultimately very few give a specific reason why they do or do not give. there were a handful that just said based on all the media around the craziness, they have

decided to sit that one out. host: how many individuals have given and how many corporations have given? guest: i don't have that exact number. 60 days after the end of the convention we are legally required to provide a full accounting to the federal election commission as part of every host committee. that's when it becomes public. so i don't eevep have the number in my head of how many individuals versus corporations. i think somewhere in the 150 to 200 different individuals, corporations or organizations. host: and how much can an individual give? guest: there's no limit. we are a 501(c)(3) organization because we're political and we're very careful and we have to be that anything we spend cannot be related to the actual convention, the business of the convention. and because we're a 50 1 c 3 there are no limits. >> and are most of the individual donors wealthy individuals like she woulden add

elson? guest: largely yes. we -- these are larger again especially when you're talking about companies and people specifically locally around the state that have given. they've given in a bigger way to support cleveland. so in raising those dollars and if you look back at all the past conventions it's usually five, six, seven-figure donations. host: we'll go to new york. caller: i want to say just a couple of things and i will do it quickly. first, i would like to know if anybody is still going after mr. trump for his taxes. for his tax returns. second, i want to know if he is taking any money from the super pacs since he always claimed he

was using his own money. and where is the money from the campaign coming from. trump ishird thing mr. very good at tagging people with mes like crooked hillary and goofy warren. i would like to tag him and i hope that somebody in his -- in the hillary campaign. i would like to tag mr. trump as dopey don. host: let me leave it there. tell our viewers the distinction between you raising money for the convention in cleveland and the campaigns raising money in the general election. guest: absolutely. and i appreciate your making the distinction. as mentioned we are an apolitical nonprofit organization. our job is to get our community ready and our job is to make sure that the infrastructure is ready to host a political

convention. that the venues are ready. that the media center is the ready. all of the pieces. the transportation. the logistical pieces that it takes for everybody who comes here. 50,000 plus people coming as part of the convention that we have everything ready for them. everything inside which is the convention inside, any business in the convention is not the matter. none of our dollars will pay for that. so we don't take any stance whatsoever related to anything related to the campaign or the party or the candidate. host: people on the host committee are they republicans? guest: we've never been asked. it's never been a distinction. if you look at the offices of our host committee and the people around the table, they're top corporate leaders, civic leaders. we have a democrat mayor, a democrat county executive. they've been praised by the rnc.

when the rnc chose cleveland, after they said one of the the things that stood out was the people here and how much you wanted us here. and they went out of their way to praise our mayer to say here's a democrat mayor that was here welcoming us when we got off the plane, welcoming us when we got back on the. everything in between. this is about our city. host: what is the economic ben sfit guest: economic benefit. and past studies from conventions on both sides show a direct spending somewhere $250 million that takes place from outsiders coming into town spending during the convention and the weeks and months leading up to it. we think of that as short term. the long term is largely we are show casing our city to the world. and there's been so many

unbelievable thing that is have propelled cleveland. it is such a vastly different city. we're a city that really went through a 40-year recession. very difficult part of the world, manufacturing hub of the world in many ways and things have turned around so showcasing that long term is probably the biggest benefit. host: jo in florida. caller: he doesn't really represent mr. trump or the republicans that are there. he uzz just the money man for getting the arena. he's like the head of it. but i do have a comment and i don't think he can answer this. when trump was in sarasota, florida, i have a permit to carry a gun. i'm a democrat. and i'm a member of liberals with guns. i went to the arena after mr. trump said that if everybody had been armed in the mall shooting

that it probably wouldn't have happened. well, i went to his arena and at -- here in sarasota and tried to get in with my gun. they wouldn't let me in. it seems contrary to what he said. now, are they going to let people into the arena with guns? i know outside they will allow them to permit to carey. host: let me jump in at that point. ohio is an open carry law. security. that's separate. but did that have an impact on preparing the city and the infrastructure and making sure that the different facilities will be ready to go? did it have any impact? guest: it's an interesting balance in that because first and foremost we have a right of free speech in this country. laws of our city, laws of our state. and until all of that had to be taken into conversation by law

enforcement in making sure those are very safe and security atmosphere around the convention. so i give our safety forces huge credit for coming up with a plan. this was a year in the making the specific plan to make sure they balanced all of those things. host: tell wruss the money goes for. you have u right now about 59 million, you're about 6 million short. where do you spebbed 59 mling to prepare a city guest: it's in a lot of different areas. transportation is one issue. when you have transportation for many of these 50,000 people .hat's a very big expense raising the money is a relatively small part of what we do. the logistics afputting on an event of this size and magnitude and so many complexities takes up far more of our time and you have staff to pay for that have to do all these things. and there are a lot of thing

that is we do provide to the rnc. but i will make a distinction. not the rnc but the committee on arrangements. we provide office space. we provide them what it takes for them also to put on the apolitical piece of the convention. host: when you say we provide. you provide the space and therefore you're paying the bills? guest: that's correct. it's not writing a check per se. we don't write, the host committee does not write a check to the republican national committee. we are not allowed and we don't. there are expenses and we have a list of approved expenses that we know will pass an audit test that we are allowed to spend on. that's very clear in the law. that's where the budget comes in that's where we look at every invoice, every expersons. is it proper, legal, and then we will approve it and then it will be paid. host: what bill won't be paid?

guest: every bill will be paid. we have contingencies. we will 100% fulfill every single obligation that we put in our bid to make sure that this convention is -- we hope -- one of the best ever host: by whether or not point will you do that? guest: not too long after the convention. there are bills that have to be paid. if the convention starts on monday but there are expenses that run into post convention. but not too long afterwards. host: steve next in ohio. caller: first, i want to thank you for all your hard work and wish him a successful convention. my question is on has donald trump donated to the committee? and has he done so in previous conventions? thank you. guest: thank you for the comment. i appreciate it. it has been a lot of work and we're very excited.

we are not at liberty to say what specific donors and again that will be out in the filing 60 days after. i don't know if he or -- if he as an individual or any of his organizations have contributed in the past. i'm not that familiar with specifically who has given in tampa and others. host: can they? guest: i believe they can. again, i won't say this as a fact. but i believe that i don't think there is a distinction of who specifically can give or not give. host: why aren't you allowed to publicly say who is donating in real time? why do you have to wait 60 days after it's over? host: we have disclosures for some of our donors who that's the way they would like it. so we have said with our counsel we will not put anything out there. it's pretty standard practice with a host committee but then afterwards when it's the filing it's all public.

decision eally at the of our donors. host: good morning. caller: good morning. i have a real issue here as a republican on social security. i first can't even start to phantom how you can throw away $6 h million to put a bunch of people together. even in construction, traffic and controlling thask and that that's just is such a farce to me. mr. gilbert you need to learn how to be transparent. everybody's asking you questions about mr. trump. why did you tell us the salaries that you've received from this work that you're doing and your committee members. why don't you explain to us all of the things that each of the employees of the committee are getting and let's see how much money is actually going into the town versus into your pockets.

because as a republican, i'm really fed up with the lack of transparency. if you go back to 1779, madison never mentioned a republican or democratic party. but we are becoming a party of such secrecy and there's no law that keeps you from dwudging who gave you money. it's just a little rule that you set up between you and your counsel. so let's be clear here host: ok. let's get some answers. guest: i'm trying to remember the whole thing. host: he first asked you about to be more transparent about where the someone going. what do you need 64 million for in his guest: here is what i will say first, the budget that we put , we did nota bid ,reate the how conventions work

we just knew going into the process, as did dallas, las vegas, kansas city, denver, columbus, cincinnati, a lot of cities that date, they went into this knowing what the cost is and without negations are to put this on, so we did not create it but we decided as a community it was worth it for us if we are awarded this, we would raise the money and spend it on the things we were allowed to spend it on and what wasn, required for the benefit of our community. host: did voters get to say? guest: yes. host: did cleveland taxpayers have to contribute? guest: the short answer is yes, and our city and county put in $2.5 million and i will not amountor them, but the that the city and county will get back will be manyfold. they see it as an investment, as

did companies and individuals in because they believe this is an investment in cleveland. host: do voters get a say in having the officials of cleveland propose to have it here in the first place? to pitch the parties and say, we want it here, to voters get the safe? it was not part of the process in cleveland and voters or their mayors and counsel decisions ono make how dollars are spent in the community. again, i think it is important that even if you look at the city and county contributions, probably 7.5% of the total that was raised, and most are based outside of cleveland. people outside of cleveland to give and it is spent in our community. they create jobs and provide economic impact for our community. are you saying it is

corporations and individuals who do not live in cleveland? lobbyists? guest: i have to go back and look at the list. i do not think anyone lobbyists back into the host committee. i would not want to say that because i have to look at the list, but we did not go out targeting lobbyists. that is not part of it. i would say it is corporations, individuals and in some cases trade association, a handful of those types who traditionally will support conventions on both sides. host: he also wanted to know about transparency, your salary and those of the committee members. guest: i would say the committee members all do it absolutely free. this is their time, a nonprofit and they give their time. i will not say what amount i received. i can save it is pretty darn small and i would use the word i voluntold,--

and the staff is incredibly small. host: you were also over the destination sports cleveland. back to calls, ellis in georgia. democrat, good morning. caller: two things i really want to say. i think it is about outdoing the other conventions, because even something saying, this would be the best, best ever. spending money like that is ruthless. let me ask you one question, sir, why is it necessary to spend all that money to drop some balloons and confetti that will have to be picked up the next day? is that really necessary? host: we will take the question. guest: i would say there are really two pieces to that.

one, in terms of what it takes to make sure the convention happens, we did not come up with .his out of thin air the budget's id. with the guidance of the parties on both sides. we were bidding on democrat and and theyn convention, know over years and years of experience what is needed to run the convention. an incredibly tiny amounts, probably .5 percent of the budget, if that, is spent on how to make cleveland ready in terms of how it looks. are where local organizations, foundations pitch in because they care about our community. but it is important. when we silly want to host the best convention ever, we want the world watching to walk away saying, that is a great city, we want to go back as a visitor and bring other conventions back.

we did not know cleveland was this beautiful. i would say most important me what makes a great is the people. we have thousands of volunteers at the airport, street corners, welcoming people. they're genuinely inside it and -- excited and it is not about politics. them watching some of yesterday walk around, and anybody they could stop, are you having a good time, and that is what is what a great convention is about. host: on the line for democrats, tommy in ohio. good morning. are you there? caller: yes, hello? host: go ahead. caller: greetings from ohio. have a great shot of the north coast behind you. that will change drastically. mr. gilbert, two questions.

are you related to dan gilbert, owner of the cleveland cavaliers ? i notice in cleveland you have a lot of panhandlers, homeless, have they been coordinated during this time to have their certain place where they can gather, just like the protesters? thank you. thank you, i appreciate the comments on our beautiful city. no relation to dan gilbert, although i get it all the time. and a lifelong clevelander like others, we are still on the high from the championship victory. in terms of homeless, yes, there has been a lot of attention given. been working with united way and other social agencies for months to make sure the homeless and other groups are accommodated during the convention. host: what goes into that? is a gathering and

coordinating agencies to making sure people know that if there are street closures and other things, where can people go? and makingnication sure that the shelters need extended hours, that the homeless and other populations nowhere to go and how to get there, so it is coronation and communication. host: speaking about behind us, you are talking about making cleveland pretty and making it look -- what did you have to do to the queue? guest: if you go inside, the committee on arrangements is their job to design and transformed the arena from a basketball arena into a place to hold the convention. were amazing what they able to do. typically it is done in 6.5 to seven weeks and they had to do it in four weeks because of the championship. when game six was over, by midnight, you had workers inside

from the committee on arrangements and the contractors doing the work. it is an amazing transformation getting media suites and building the stages, pretty amazing. host: we are showing our viewers with the inside looks like. you have the lower part where many of the delegates get to sit , so it is the rnc committee and arrangements in charge of everything inside. guest: right. host: activity on the outside? is that we are committee falls? cases, yes.me transportation is one done by the coa with our input, hotels, venues, some input by the committee on arrangements great it is a lot of teamwork. mary, our last for david gilbert, republican in kentucky. good morning. caller: good morning. i want to thank you for c-span. i am a junkie of c-span, whatever you call it, i love it.

i love watching c-span because it shows me -- a la the of the congress and senate and how they proclaim to be professionals. i would like to ask my former president, who are greatly love and respect, president george bush, to respect the word of the republican party. the old-timers in the old day when they gave their word, they kept it. man, heal theis country and bring the republican party back together. i was a democrat when clinton was in office. partieslied, i changed because that don't cut it. so getp your word, behind him. i am sorry you lost, and i am sorry mr. kasich lost, but grow up. become a true american and a true republican and help this country heal.

host: all right, mary. we will leave it there. in our closing minutes, what role does the governor play with the convention, if any? what will you watch for tomorrow as things kick off at 1:00 p.m. eastern time? guest: the governor was very helpful and part of our full effort in getting the convention to cleveland. i would imagine that in all cities that were bidding that it they were republican officials or democrats, depending on which they were bidding on, that those folks would've advocated for having the convention in their states. in terms of what we oliticalg and we are ap and history is being made in our city. it is exciting. tical for us, but we are

excited that people will be watching cleveland. with something like this, all you can do is prepare the best you can in every way, shape and form, and react to whatever happens, whether it is people on the street demonstrating, the just six of transportation, security or other events. we have hundreds of people, thousands of volunteers, that are there and network to help us react to whatever happens to make sure this comes off in a wonderful way. host: are you getting sleep? guest: not a lot. we have been counting down. we have accounts on clock in the office. one is for the day the convention starts and the other is the day it ends, so great for cleveland but it will be good to have life back to normal a little bit. host: thank you for spending time with us. we appreciate it. callsl keep taking your this morning. on the republican national convention getting underway tomorrow, 1:00 p.m. eastern

time, when it kicks off for four days in the rock 'n roll capital city. the action will be behind our shoulder at the quicken loans arena and that is where at 1:00 p.m. eastern time, they will begin their house proceedings. they would do housekeeping, probably a rollcall, approving of the rules, looking at the platform, etc., and then speeches later on through the week. we will go to peter, who has more details about what has been called this never-trump movement , and it played out last week in cleveland and some are hoping that they can continue with it into the week. ater: we will get to that in minute but brand-new pullout by nbc and "the wall street journal." clinton's five-point lead into conventions, released about 10 minutes ago trade on the ease of

the gop convention, hillary clinton maintains a five-point national lead over donald trump, even after a time of negative news for the presumptive democratic nominee, according to the new nbc news "wall street journal" poll. also, the front pages of the ohio newspaper, the "cincinnati inquirer," full-page -- welcome to ohio? , and you can see it is a full-page with buttons, columbus,capital of "the columbus dispatch columbus dispatch" has articles about the gop convention and an inside view of the q and uneasy about unrest, the story they have as well. then you go up to cleveland, where it is being held, so there is no story.

it is about turkey and this is "the clevelandof plain dealer." my guess is they will have tomorrow news about convention. in "politico" there is this article, last stand at cleveland convention. repairing the final, desperate maneuver to have donald trump to the republican nomination. they are down to their final day. hotelsed meetings and in in downtown cleveland on saturday, deflated leaders of the effort discuss the slower parliamentary tactics that may disrupt the gop national convention that begins on monday, but they are unlikely to derail trump himself. that in "politico." an op-ed written by former representative pete,

republican of michigan, and he attes -- stop trumpers convention he to respect gop voters. the representative rights, i will participate in the republican national convention this week for the first time as anelegate and not as elected official. it is not my first rodeo but it will become the first in which i will directly cast a ballot of the republican presidential nominee. i campaigned for the position with my friend john kasich, who delegates in michigan's republican primary. it was important that the delegates commit themselves to the importance of the outcome of the vote to ensure the integrity of the process. donald trump won sufficient delegates throughout the primaries to secure the nomination. unfortunately, some folks are not happy with the results. the stop from movement materialized to initiate before fight at the convention. to unbind delegates from the

candidates, whom the grassroots chose, and instead follow their conscience. it will not be known until monday whether they built enough support for their efforts after the party rules committee started down this week. if a vote occurs in actually won, it could become that historic occasion envisioned a few months ago. how about about? is no.wer he says it is unfortunate that some republicans do not accept the conclusion of the process. former representatives peaked. -- i presented it p[ete. --pete. host: the head of the republican national convention getting underway tomorrow afternoon, we continue to take your phone until the top of the hour. republicans, (202)-748-8000. democrats, (202)-748-8001. .ndependents, (202)-748-8002

peter talking about the delicates and those who would like to vote their conscience, as they said, and that played out in the rules committee last week. the number of delegates in his thousand 472. some are 2000 -- 2000 and alternatives and the number needed to win is 1237, so there will be voting. the republicans have not required more than one ballot to pick their nominee since 1948, since new york governor tom dooley one and the third ballot. in the first round, almost all the delegates will be bound to a presidential candidate. 5% are unbound, including most of pennsylvania. if they were to somehow get around to, delegates from 36 ,tates become fully unbound about 1400 roll, around 59%, are

unbound, and they could go to a third round. we will have to see how things play out tomorrow. time on:00 p.m. eastern c-span, www.c-span.org come and get that radio app case you're nowhere near a computer screen or tv and you can hear it as h minute unfolds on the convention floor at the q. your calls continuing for about the next 45 minutes. let me go to earnest in north carolina, democrat. you are on the air. caller: how are you doing? host: good morning. , i am: what i have to say 63 years old. always listening and voting. this is the first time in my lifetime i ever heard donald trump with words he says and how

is a saying that as if it surprise [indiscernible] i will not go for someone who knows nothing about politics and does not know what is happening in the country. tois really surprising someone who has bankrupt and in a lot of things to a lot of people. it really surprised me for everyone to really take that in. it really surprises me. last time a businessman was nominated at the republican convention was 1940, a wall street-based industrialist, former democrat, was the teddy roosevelt delegate in 1932. he lost to fdr. let's go to virginia, republican

in ohio. caller: hello. host: you are on the air. caller: thank you. we do have a right to protest, but we have to have it peaceful. my question is, these people being paid to protest, i hope they do it peacefully. if not, and if they were not being paid, would they go home and get a job? are they on welfare? that is my question. host: virginia, over our and we are the q situated above one mile away from the skylight financial group base. us or from ourde , one of thee q major roads has been blocked off for the protesters, which we just learned will start around monday afternoon.

times of thetain day that they are allowed to make this trip in march down the road toward the q, so we will have some of that. we will see that unfolding, lots of security. that is around downtown cleveland, secret service, along enforcement for the state of ohio, city of cleveland, and they have brought in hundreds of law enforcement from other parts of the country to keep the city and the expected 50,000 people that are visiting because of the convention safe. wrong, democrat in north carolina. good morning. democrat in north carolina. good morning. caller: good morning. how are you? host: doing well. what are your thoughts on this campaign in 2016? amazing.t is i walked in last night and watched c-span and you are

running the previous conventions to 1996. as i watched those conventions and what was going on, i started thinking to myself the same issues that were going on then ,re still here today, and i did after he lost his bid for bysidency, i got to meet him chance. sometimes, we watch the news and we listen to the people that run those campaigns, and as i talked to bob dole, i thought, wow, this never came out during your campaign. if this part of you, the person i am talking to here and now, would have came out, it would have been different for you. look at the campaign today and we went to talk about donald trump, hillary clinton, and,

yes, everybody, even myself, we all have issues, but today, we do not have the candidates running because we dig so deep into their backgrounds and nobody has a great background. i look at the convention that is going on today and we talk about donald and who he is, hillary and who she is, but in america, i would really like to see our congress, and everybody start thinking about where you are and what you are doing in your life. -- this is notdy so much what your country is doing for you, but what are you doing for your country? i think that is a very strong statement. we need to start looking first in our own homes and then our own cities and own towns. we cannot look at somebody else to change the issues that are

going on today. it is a shame. understand people's frustration, but we really have to start from the home, to the city, to the state, and then to the government, and we cannot just look at one person. donald trump will not do it. hillary will not do it. host: all right, let me leave your thoughts there and go on to rose in tennessee, republican. caller: how are you? host: good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. first, i am a trump supporter, but i really want to speak to the last guest you had on, mr. gilbert? host: uh-huh. amazed people do not understand how conventions work and how the bidding process works throughout the country. there were several callers that insinuated that, well, his job was for the republicans, and the

way it works is cleveland could have been on the republican convention, they could have made a bid for the democratic convention, like the democrats will have their convention in philadelphia, cities across the country bid for different conventions, whether republican, democratic, the hardware convention, the booksellers convention, all these different conventions going on all of the inntry, and cities put bids to try to entice different conventions to come to their city because of the influx, if they have the proper is because of, it the influx of all those dollars that are going to come in for hotels, motels, restaurants, ons, different venues going around the conventions and the tourism dollars. that is where i wish people would understand.

is an paid for by the democrats as far as having the convention there, and neither is cleveland for the republicans. it is just the way the system works throughout the country for -- you know, kinds farmers convention, whatever, and eyelid in nashville and we have many different conventions of all types come to our town. host: does it help the city? caller: absolutely. dollars and millions of pour into the town. is fordy says nashville music, but we are of the convention town and i am not involved in it, but even part-time jobs because of conventions. i have many friends who were conventions to greet the people who come in the airport were greet them at the airport or greet them at the hotels and

take them on tours, just to be for manya host city different types of conventions, so i just want to set this up record straight out there. cleveland, they are expecting 50,000 visitors, thousands of delegates, staff, law enforcement, the media, 15,000 credential outlets all descending on this town spending money, going out to eat, etc., so we will see with economic benefit turns out to be for the city of cleveland. they made a pitch to the democrats and republicans to have their party conventions here. it will be the fourth time for the republicans to have the convention in ohio. this will be the third time for the city of cleveland, first

and peter has6 more details about this time around in cleveland. about you are talking tourists coming into the city and conventions. we are following the delegates' tweets and the barber, the secretary of minnesota, and she is already in cleveland. --e is one she sent out impressed with the seal of the city. brussels like in shopping, restaurant area, vibrant street scenes. she sent out some pictures of cleveland, so she is already there. joe is there as well. he is from mississippi. he has got a picture here with some folks and u.s. representative kelly is with them in cleveland. that is their delegation. he was michael williams from georgia, two of the things i am most excited about while

receiving at the rnc, you can see the hat and the credentials that they get. it is numbered 1, 2, 3, 4 and there, coded and specific to each day and it depends on how far you can get depending on the color of your bill from south carolina showing a worship service this morning for the gop folks in cleveland. speakers and the night they are speaking. the convention begins at 1:00 p.m. eastern time tomorrow and c-span will have a pregame show and be live that will begin at about noon. tomorrow, some of the speakers include jameel shaw senior, his son was killed by an undocumented immigrant, senator giuliani,ansas, rudy

trump, joni ernst, and on tuesday, daniel white, president of the ultimate fighting championship group, arkansas governor asa hutchinson, michael, who served as attorney general for george bush, and retired former defense intelligence agency and mitch mcconnell, tiffany tromp, donald trump junior and the scott walker, governor of wisconsin. on wednesday night, the speakers include the attorney general of florida, first female commander of the space shuttle mission, newt gingrich, ted cruz, natalie golda's, a professional golfer, and vice presidential nominee speakerce as the final

on wednesday night. thursday night, marsha blackburn , congresswoman from tennessee, reince priebus, florida governor rick scott, who is having a fundraiser in florida for mr. trump on july 26, $25,000 per couple, is longer trump -- ivank a and donald trump speaking, and some others have not been scheduled as of yet. host: more of your calls this morning on "the washington journal" as you continue live from cleveland, the site of the 2016 republican national convention. what are your thoughts as the convention gets underway tomorrow? things kickoff at 1:00 p.m. eastern time. what do you think about how this is unfolding? donald trump announcing this is presidential pick indiana mike -- vice presidential pick indiana governor mike pence.

have the, we will vi final life to the convention on thursday and have coverage throughout the week on c-span, www.c-span.org and the c-span radio app, and taking your phone calls, not only on "the washington journal" in the morning starting at 7:00 a.m. eastern and throughout the morning, but before the convention gets underway and after, so we want to hear from you. what do you think as the process unfolds about what you are hearing ahead of the convention and doing it as well? let me hear from charles in michigan, democrat. you are next. hi, nice to see c-span and i want to get a chance to speak to you. host: glad you called in. caller: i would like to say that the constant theme of the republicans meeting next week one less government. you hear it all the time.

i just like to remind people of some words from the declaration of independence that says people have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, that you do phrase not hear too often is in order to secure these things, covenants are instituted -- governance are instituted among men, so it might almost say that the republicans that want smaller government, less government, that they also want less life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness to the average person. what do you think about that? host: why do you say that, ?harles question well, government makes things like social security, medicaid, medicare, and those are made by governments, aren't

they? you want less of those social programs. let me ask, who did you support in the democratic primary process? host: i certainly am going to vote for hillary clinton and i think that one of the reasons people always think that she is so dishonest is because there has been a propaganda think all the way from [indiscernible] going back to the 1990's. they hire people to say these things and it has been said over, and over and over and people here those things and they just repeat them. iso not believe that she anymore dishonest than any other politician, and certainly she is not -- mr. trump says he is going to bring all these jobs back. you know perfectly well that is not possible to do that. the world has moved beyond that

stage, so that is really a terrible like to tell people. independent get an from ohio, tell us where akron is compared to cleveland. caller: akron is smaller than cleveland, number one, and number two, i just want to know, all this money going into the conventions, why is it not given to the poor people to help them survive? if the government is so worried about the poor people, why is this not? you talk about who tells the truth, well, neither one tells the truth. but who is the worst? sold us out hasn't and hillary clinton did, she did it to russia, to get back to the convention, it is nice that they come, just like anything else, everybody needs a lift up, a helping hand, but the thing of

it is, those that are coming, i pray to god, and i mean god, nobody else because the 10 commandments, if you do not follow them, i do not know what you are doing, anyway, you sit there and people come, please, do not do this and act a full. .- act a fool people are looking at us, and if they say something happens here, we might have the same president for the next four years. please, let us do have a change. let us have a better life coming. think about what you are going to vote about and think about the table. all of them have got more than we,o, and put it this way, the people, we have to take care of each other and look after each other, so let us all come together in god's eyes and they

should this convention and anything else that comes about be done in truth and honesty and for the justice of everybody and god bless. right.ll next call from christina and ohio, republican. caller: good morning. host: good morning. caller: i live -- or right outside of cleveland. i just want to say that cleveland is a great city to showcase. you have a beautiful venue behind you. the people here have midwest facts and i appreciate the that my son is actually involved in the security detail, so we hope this is a peaceful convention and that you

appreciate the fact that the infrastructure from going forward for the city has been about welcoming people to this convention and into the future that they return to cleveland so they have good memories. as youk, christina, and said, hoping people stay safe. there will be protesting for all the different media that is covering the convention and there are 15,000 credentialed attention,rnational international media that has come to cleveland to cover the republican convention. this it all unfold but year is different. "the washington post" notes that news outlets are issuing gas masks, protective equipment to journalists who find themselves , and theyprotests have also held seminars, training sessions about what

journalists should do if they're caught in the middle of a violent standoff between protesters and police officers. the media on your screen inside the q, cnn is there, nbc promoting "meet the press" and all the different media outlets getting there different suites inside of the q so they can bring you the action live as it unfolds. you can see there, make america great again, donald trump's tagline and taking an appearance inside the q, 800 -- 1800 signs set up for inside the arena. the delegates sitting down there on the floor. you can see the signs that are put up so delegates know where they are going to go. as we learned earlier, ohio got put off to the side. they are usually a battleground state in front and new york getting prime real estate this

time around. the map for all the different delegates can be found on twitter and other places if you are interested in that social media. c-span'syou go to twitter handle, you can find the what the lists of social media has compiled to follow the action on twitter. we have a list of delegates, convention reporters, convention speakers. if you want to find out what they're doing, what they're up to in cleveland, many going to parties, delegate breakfasts, etc. and c-span has been in cleveland now for over one week. we spoke recently with the convention digital director samantha's born about the technology samantha -- samantha osborne about the technology being used, including a new app and snapchat.

take a look. samantha: the media is changing right now, so we have to adapt. it is really exciting in the way of the digital aspects convention, huge priority for the cycle. we made the priority to get messages out to voters. we are integrating this component into everything we touch, making sure there is constant communication. we are trying to create opportunity to capture content and take people behind-the-scenes, operations that support that and we will be doing 360 lives, which we are excited about and we will be integrating facebook, twitter into a lot of what we are doing. help bringp will information about the proceedings, it is directly in the palm of your hand, the schedule, the speaker bios,

livestream it there, including the 360, and we will also have any kind of experience built-in for the folks coming to cleveland, so information about transportation, information about things going on around cleveland and there will be a direction finding, so we are excited, and from being at home to here at the republican convention, it will give the q more access. it is about more than just being in front of your tv screen and staying in your seat to watch it. it will make everything connected and i think that is important. it will really help improve the experience and our engagements with people our age. , weou watch our snapchat will use that new platform that will be integrated into our plan and be able to reach promoters there and set the unique convention insight to the platform, so we are excited to get that off the ground.

facebook will have some buildup space and they will be helping us with getting backstage content from our stickers on instagram, so you can look at the instagram gop convention. helping with that content collection as well, and they will have some space on media row and elsewhere. we also have google, artificial live stream video provider, so you can see the stream on our youtube channel, gop convention, and they will also have it filled out. great to see that the companies actually have a physical presence and not just online presence. we have our little mascot here, flat stanleyeated content campaign around her, use #gop and you can see some of the things she has done and we have shared it with parties, delegations and they have been sharing it online, and you have heard everybody taking pictures

and keep on the lookout for her and we will see more during the convention. we are really working hard and you will have about several or 50 plus professionals to help us support our operations and we are appreciative of that. it takes a lot of work to go into it. i imagine i'll be running around everywhere, but we had content teams that try to capture the delegates from the events going around the convention. supportalso be having for live streaming and making sure speeches are automatic and archived after their completed. it is really about making sure everything is amplified and the moments living on past the conclusion of the program for each evening. we are bringing the convention online, making it accessible online, creating opportunities

for people engaged in the convention and beyond the speeches. it is exciting and we think we are going in a good direction to make sure that no matter what you want the vehicle to be, you will engage with convention. host: that was the digital director for the republican national convention in cleveland, ohio. , about one mile from where we are situated, we are at the skylight financial group facilities, spaced in downtown cleveland, and inside , the final preparations are underway. they are getting ready for tomorrow to kick off at 1:00 p.m. eastern time. that screen there, very high resolution, the highest resolution that they could get. it will be interesting to see how they use that curved the screen and new technology, ask samantha was talking about their , when we talk to the digital director recently, and the chairs on the floor are for the delegates, and they will have

prime seating for the housekeeping that they will do starting on monday, but also, all of the speeches and the speaker list that peter talked about earlier has been released. there have been some tweaks, subtractions, ads, people saying that they are coming to cleveland for the convention and others saying that they will not be attending. we will hear from the presumptive republican nominee on thursday night, and that is when he loses that perceptive from the -- presumptive from the front of this title and he will be the nominee for the republican party. donald trump, who yesterday in his vice announced president running mate, indiana governor mike pence, who will also get some prime time at the republican convention. we are getting your thoughts this morning on the convention, one day before it starts, and we will go to marcus in new york, republican. you are next. good morning. caller: good morning.

at these mad as hell a gunheads making this free zone. don't they know that guns make people safer? that would be the safest place in the world if they let everyone there open carry their guns. those protesters were not try anything, but i do not know. we all know that guns do not kill people. we are all just immortal souls trapped in the temporary shelter of meat and earth. i am so disappointed in these freakin bureaucrats. an openere is a still carry law that exists in cleveland, but there is a perimeter, the closest circle andde the q and arena

certain things will not be allowed in that perimeter that could be threatening to those that are inside the convention hall and also the candidates gettinges that are secret service protection, secret service in charge of what is going on inside the q and the security for it. there is also lots of law enforcement outside of the quicken loans arena in downtown cleveland. ist outside our studio there a major thoroughfare that goes from our studio to downtown cleveland, and that has been blocked off as well for protesters, who will be wanting to make their way and give their voices to whatever causes they care about as they march along from just behind our studio to the quicken loans. there is the road right there as they march their way to the q.

we expect that to happen tomorrow afternoon at some point and we will begin to see the protesters. it starts at 1:00 p.m. eastern time on monday, an afternoon session, and then on tuesday, it will get underway later in the day, as well as wednesday and thursday night for prime time around 7:00 p.m. eastern time. you can join in on the conversation by calling in to c-span during our productions. phone calls before and after and on "the washington arenal congo but if you active on social media, you -- "the washington journal," but you are active on social media, you can share your clips on a website and we have a special page for viewers with the latest scheduling information to let you know what is happening at each

convention session, video on demand of every speaker to access and share it quickly, and you must conference of guide of every moment of the convention floor because we will not be interrupting it. there will not be analysis or anyone talking over the top of it, you just get to watch and see it unfold. in south dakota, democrat. we are taking your questions and comments this morning about the convention. go ahead. am linhart, democrat democrat, member of sioux tribe in south dakota and i am responsible for america's first native american day passed in south dakota in 1990. anyway, my question to america is how come us indians are never process?n the

you hear about blacks, mexicans, whites against blacks and all of that, but you never hear anybody talk about american indians, other than mr. trump talking about pocahontas. reservation inr south dakota, our unemployment rate is 30% to 50%. my question is how come this country refuses to take care of the american indians? shame on you, america. shame on you, donald trump. you know, what are you going to do for us american indians? host: you might be interested because tomorrow the focus is on veterans issues and republicans will be focusing on what happened in and ghazi, -- in benghazi, september 11, and that will be on the first day of the republican convention. roy, independent, good morning.

caller: good morning. oy on the phone. host: we are listening. caller: i would like to comment .n the choice of the word pick i have heard the parents on the media, who repeat over and over media, whoots on the repeat over and over, mr. .rump's pick you pick corn, you choose, select or designate, and vocabulary is important. thisnot know who has used word and started it off, but everybody is parroting that word pick. it is such a nonsense word. there are all kinds of words in the vocabulary that would be better, and if the media

representatives had better vocabularies, they would not constantly repeat that word "pick." it is a stupid word. host: noted. [laughter] got it. jamie, independent in washington. caller: how are you? host: doing well. you know, i am following this and the convention center is beautiful. i want to thank david and you guys for covering all of this. wow. i voted both sides of the fence in my years in the united states. i am proud to be a citizen of the united states of america. i love my country. i love what it used to stand for. mean, -- i wake up, i does mr. trump [indiscernible]

in light of people who protected us? the whole liberal-democratic party in the last eight years has almost destroyed this country and is getting really close to doing that. host: we will try to get in a couple more phone calls. you are taking "the washington journal" until the top of the hour for this morning's program, coverage from cleveland, so a couple more calls, but first, peter with more details about what is happening in the rock 'n roll capital city. peter: the digital director of the convention who was on a little bit earlier, talking about how technology changes conventions, and in some ways, it is giving control over two of the delegates. this is a judy, a delegate from new hampshire, her tweet -- our

hotel in downtown cleveland is secured, credentials required to enter checkpoints, she writes. just quickly, this is what it looks like in downtown cleveland view.udy's point of she is from new hampshire. that is a quick look at what downtown cleveland is starting to look like now. delegates are arriving and the convention begins. "cleveland plain dealer" put this together, about one minute long. here it is. [video clip] >> the week before the actual convention, the rules committee meets to set the rules for how the convention will unfold, including the rules for delegate voting. in most conventions, this is a process where the rules are set, the vote is taken, the vote typically happens the last day before the nominating speech,

sometimes on the wednesday of the convention. they pulled each of the delegations, a spokesperson for the delegation gets up and says -- ohio cast its 66 votes for whomever the candidate is predicted candidate does not win on the first talent, according to the current rules, the delegates are released from the commitments and then it is up to each of the state party delegations to determine where they proceed. some may choose to continue to exist as a bloc, which gives them more influence. others may say as individuals, the delegates can vote whatever to go and thatnt splits up your state party delegation vote. this is the thing that goes into the rules. generally speaking what we have seen in the past, the go to a second or third ballot, after that first vote, the releases to occur because of that allows us to negotiate the bargain between state delegations to build the coalition in order to then become the nominee. that is how things could

unfold tomorrow. convention kicks off tomorrow in cleveland at 1:00 p.m. eastern time. if you want to see it happen, tune in to c-span, www.c-span.org or get the c-span radio app. you will be able to watch or listen to every minute of this 2016 republican convention. in our closing minutes, we will try to get in more phone calls. dimitri in california, democrat. lincoln hadham abolished the party system after the civil war, and he installed the national union party, so what doesn't anyone advocating for the national union party, where everybody is on one valid -- on one ballot and you don't have opponents? why aren't people doing this national union party instead of

the two-party system because that is based on slavery, the north against the south? host: as dimitri is talking, then you trump-pence logo going up there inside the convention -- thehe q, to get loans quicken loans arena where the cavaliers play. lauren in minnesota, republican. caller: how are you doing? i am confused. i thought the people are supposed to choose the president . why should a few people tell us who to vote for? we need to get rid of those delegates. that is a bunch of crap. host: what do you think in tennessee, independent? caller: i do believe that we are all born equal under the sun and that we all have our own opinions to how we feel, whether

we have hillary or whether we have donald trump, but in the overall view of the spectrum of this infrastructure system, we have to remember how we got here. we have to remember the brave ones that fought and died to make a pot for us to be able to live today, to even have this discussion. a lot of people do not understand that we don't even have history today unless it .ame from a historical past i just feel that we all just simply need to sit down as a nation, let the people decide what they feel what is better for their country because whatever is sped up for their country is going to be better for the outcome of their little ones and generations to come. host: all right, james. let me get in barbara. i want to get in barber in texas, republican. one more voice this morning on

this sunday, july 17, as we come from you live from cleveland from the skylight financial groups space in downtown cleveland. barbara, go ahead and finish up the conversation for this morning. caller: ok, i am watching you on caller: i'm watching you on tv and cleveland looks great. to the gentleman who called in who is american indian, he was talking about being ignored, which is probably true. although he did not mention he has been under a democratic president for a long time now he mentioned shame on mr. trump and it makes no sense. the person who thinks hillary is not any more di