chuck cruz. >> so the brazos county sheriff's office kept investigating chuck, even communicating withsibly convening a grand jury. chuck and his lawyer spoke to the detective on many occasions, and the detective continued to think chuck's behavior was suspicious. and that he still seemed nervous. >> did you ever think that maybe the reason that chuck cruz was acting this way was that you guys were coming down pretty hard on him, and he's lost his girlfriend. i mean, is there a way to act? >> i don't know, but he had several things going against him, and we just couldn't walk away from him. we either had to prove that he did it or that he didn't do it. >> but chuck says he should have been cleared right away. so even though the dna didn't match -- >> they insisted on targeting me as the prime suspect. they were trying to build a case that wasn't there. >> while chuck's life had been on hold for a year, kristen was starting to feel like her old self again. in the six months since her attack, she had taken up running, had a new boyfriend, and though kristen hoped the pain of that horribl

. >> chuck cruz was her boyfriend at the time. he said jamie was the light of his life. he remembers when he first laid eyes on her. >> i could barely speak when i saw her, she was so pretty. it was like when the color came on in the wizard of oz. i was living in a dark world and she showed me a world of color. >> she was a loyal friend, funny, outspoken. >> she would tell you what was on her mind at all times. >> it was early one morning in may. jamie's roommates couldn't find her and they called chuck. >> i got a call asking where she was. i said i didn't know where she was. i hadn't talked to her the night before and i went to work. >> the same morning the detective from the county sheriff's office was summoned to the scene of a disturbing discovery. >> there was a young female appeared in her early 20s, nude, extensive road rash on her entire body. she was obviously deceased. >> a jogger spotted the victim in a ditch, nine feet from the side of the road. >> there was probably a half dozen officers here and they taped off the area and blocked traffic. at that point we

cruz. and chuck todd is standing by with an important ted cruz ally. >> not just an ally, it's somebody who described ted cruz as his best friend in the united states senate. it's utah senator mike lee. we've talked to you a few times this week. ted cruz tonight, your best friend. there's a little bit of suspense. is he going to endorse donald trump or not? and can you believe i'm even asking that question of a speaker on the third night of donald trump's convention? >> he's going to give a great speech. that much i can be sure of. he's going to talk about the constitution, that's much i can be sure of. beyond that, specifically with regards to mr. trump, remains to be seen. i haven't had a chance to review that yet. >> you and ted cruz share a lot of the same ideological beliefs -- constitutional-based conservativism, things like that. what does donald trump have to do to convince you? you're not with trump yet, but you have not called yourself "never trump." what does he have to do and say to earn your vote? >> before i endorse any candidate, for federal office, for congress, for senate o

cruz. but chuck casavilles tells me you wanted him to endorse donald trump. >> well, i thought it would have been a lot better if he had endorsed donald trump. i was looking for the statesman in him -- >> reporter: we've got to go here. i'm sorry, sir. we'll send it back to you, brian. >> all right. here's eric trump. >> it is such an honor to be here for a man i love so, so, so, so much. that's my father. 13 months ago my father sat my family down and told us the time had come. he could no longer sit idly by and watch our beloved country, the country that had given our family so much success, so much opportunity, crumble before our very eyes. he confirmed to us that he was prepared to announce his candidacy for president of the united states. he made sure to acknowledge that ours would not be an easy path, that we should prepare ourselves for what was to come, that we quickly learned who our true friends were. without hesitation we each committed our unwavering support. but this time none of us could have predicted what lay ahead. the records he would break. the stadiums he would fill. the

chuck. tonight, mike pence. you say watch ted cruz. >> remember, he fini finished with more delegates officially than any runner-up at a republican convention since a guy named ronald reagan in 1976. ted cruz has his -- he's not satisfied with losing one race for the presidency. he's got his eyes on running some day again. this is going to be a crowd that is going to be with him. in many ways you could argue there are more cruz fans in here than there are trump fans. there may be more trump delegates but they love ted cruz. he could become a more dominant and popular figure tonight than mike pence. that's something the trump campaign ought to be a little concerned about. >> all right. see you two later in primetime. >>> an historic and deadly heat wave gr gripping so much of the country, tens of millions of people in the midwest suffering through extraordinary heat and warnings and watches issued in several states and nbc miguel almaguer is in the hot zone. >> reporter: today for nearly 50 million americans the extreme heat is on scor

speaker we may hear this week, because there's a lot of love for ted cruz in that convention hall tonight. >> yeah, there was actually, chuck, there was a lot of love for ted cruz earlier today. the texas senator held a rally for his campaign supporters from earlier this year. and evidently, when the name "trump" was mentioned there was a smattering of boos. when the trump 757 coincidentally, or maybe coincidentally, flew overhead of the rally, there were much larger boos. this man is a texas delegate and he was there. you said you were one of the booers? >> absolutely. >> reporter: so chuck, in this section tonight, we will be looking very closely at this delegation. what kind of noise comes from here when the texas senator gets on stage. probably the most high-profile or one of the most high-profile speakers other than the indiana governor, as well as newt gingrich, the man who lost out for the job. >> and jacob, we still don't know whether cruz is going to endorse. there's one report that says that he is not actually going to say those words. that'll be something to watch for tonight. jacob soboroff on the floor, thank y

i want to bring in chuck todd and savannah guthrie. let's go back to the ted cruz moment. before that he was getting a rousing reception from this crowd and a speech that when you saw it, you said it's ted cruz 2.0. >> yeah, it was ted cruz 2.0 and also i said 2020, perhaps an audition for the election in 2020. this wasn't the ted cruz we saw on the stump during the primary. this was a ted cruz talking about broadening the appeal of the republican party. he said the bill of rights protects gay and straight. he invoked lincoln signing the emancipation proclamation and the passage of the civil rights act. it was clear that he had this speech that he thought would really position him well. what is also clear in light of what happened is that he badly miscalculated this room. >> things went a little sideways. chuck, let me turn to you. the speech tonight. two audiences the one behind us and the one in the living room. >> it's interesting. donald trump is never really worried about the audience in the living room very much when he's done these rallies because he feeds off of en

chuck todd. we are seeing ahead and announcing her resignation, might we see a ted cruz moment here? >> i don't know, i mean bernie sanders in the interview that i had with this morning says this is not going to change. this is more of hillary clinton. he doubled down on that and he said that he believes it is fortunate to beat donald trump. i don't think we'll have that. but, how does he endorse clinton tomorrow night and how does he make that case? i think it is an important speech. i think tomorrow is very important for hillary clinton if this convention is going to get off to a good start. we saw what happens and this unity broke out the first day on the republican convention. it does feel like on the eve that we could have this moment. talking to sanders' manager today, he says the best way to unify the party is just happen. the debbie wasserman shultz just happened today. that makes the delegates more open to clinton now because they got her jerez neiresignation. >> chuck todd is here with us. thank you. >>> thousands are on the verge of this convention. they are on high alerts

cruz speech. nicolle wallace and chuck todd on the floor of the convention in cleveland said, if he just leaves itthat might be a great way to handle this. chuck supposed that he would make it to midnight before at least he commented. he did not make it to midnight. >> hallie jackson? >> reporter: hey, guys. if you can see me okay. i know there's a little bit of breakup in our shot. the reason i keep looking over my shoulder, i am not ignoring you, i am not looking away. it's because we are watching the departure of trump's inner circle, his top aides not responding to shouted questions about everything that went down today, about the drama that happened tonight with ted cruz on the floor. i did get a question in to donald trump himself. he turned around, said "i loved it." a trump aide confirming, following up, saying they had seen a copy of the speech, they knew cruz was not going to endorse, that trump insisting only came out to see eric trump speak in that vip box. it was just coincidental that it came out at the end of ted cruz's speech and that he was in fact happy with the reaction, not bec

so he can make that case as a former cruz supporter, i'm with donald trump. i want to unite the party. >> chuck todd. thanks very much. >>> tonight pk spk justice ruth bader ginsburg is acknowledging that her public criticism of donald trump was a bad idea. ginsburg has been broadly criticized from the right and left from steering out of her lane by making negative quips about the republican candidate in recent print interviews, and she's now expressing her regrets, but it may be hard for her to put the controversy behind her. justice correspondent pete williams joining us to explain. >> reporter: lesseter, a surprising end to a back and forth between a supreme court justice and presidential candidate. ruth bader ginsburg today calls her recent remarks ill-advised and regrets making them. judges should avoid commenting on a candidate for public office. and she promises to be more circumspect. in recent print interviews he called donald trump a faker with a big ego and joked that she might move to new zealand if he's elected. he responded by saying she should resign and she might be losing her m

chuck, walk through how extraordinary what we just witnessed. >> it's an extraordinary moment. here we are wednesday night, this is mike pence's night, introduction to the country. ted cruz hadn't had a chance to address this convention. the cruz and trump campaign did cut a deal and they weren't sure what cruz was going to do. sure enough he decided not to fully endorse. what makes it extraordinary is, again, this is mike pence's night, but the news is going to be cruz not endorsing. not since ted kennedy, jimmy carter had to chase ted kennedy around the 1980 convention looking basically hoping that kennedy would raise his hand and endorse. essentially many carter people believe kennedy ruined carter's convention. many trump people will believe that cruz just ruined at least mike pence's night and maybe this third night of the convention. >> you know what else is fascinating, lester, is up until this moment you just described, ted cruz owned this room. this is a raucous crowd of thousands of people. they were wrapped, they were listening. you could hear every word that ted cruz was saying. he was having a moment. then when he decides not to endorse and he says vote your

some people looking back to 1976 wondering if ted cruz will have a reaganesque moment that sets him up to run later. chuck? >> reporter: you're absolutely right. i was writing down. ted kennedy, 1980. ronald reagan, 1976. both of those gave incredibly well remembered speeches that, at conventions where the eventual nominee ended up losing and they want to live on. haley barbour is here. ted cruz is probably thinking about that reagan '76 speech and what it is like. should he be? >> you know, having run the white house for ronald reagan. thinking about any speech ronald reagan made is a smart idea. >> let me ask you. >> tonight will be interesting here in this respect. this convention hall is not filled with die hard trumpians. it is filled with a lot of republicans. this could be the biggest reception. is that a problem for mike pence? >> i think it is highly unlikely, he will be well received. look, chris christie was well received. rudolph giuliani was well received. i expect him to be well received. i think most of it ought to be -- >> i have to say, it is striking. we are night three of the convention

cruz's moment on that wednesday night. i will say though, tamron, there's one big difference. on "meet the press" this morning bernie sanders was interviewed by chuck todd and he said debbie wasserman schultz needs to go. but this doesn't change my support for hillary clinton. i'm fully onboard with her. and i do think that is a big difference between ted cruz and where the democrats are right now. and so the democrats being able to rip off this debbie wasserman schultz band-aid they at least think allows them to be in a better place than republicans were last week. >> and i get the point that you've made. bernie sanders is a key player in how this is handled. the temperature of all of this. but we're going to be joined in a second by the former head of the naacp, a bernie sanders supporter. he is among those as bernie sanders has endorsed hillary clinton still unwilling to put his support behind hillary clinton. so this doesn't just evaporate, mark. >> it doesn't evaporate, but i will saberny sanders' speech tomorrow night is key and important to all this. you're going to have millions of americans tuning in and a very solid speech by him saying w

cruz though he still had fondness force dawn timmeney. it refocuses the attention on the principals, the candidate, dawn timmeney himself. >> chuck todd isjoining us from washington now. there are few really big moments in the presidential campaign. the choice of vice president is one of them people say it's the first presidential level decision. with that predicate, what do you think of mike pence? does this shore up trump's conservative bona fides? it sends the message that the professional political operatives in trump world wanted to send to the republican party which is that dawn timmeney will play pragmatic politics when necessary. this is a very pragmatic political pick for a nominee that is struggling to have his party united. mike pence is somebody that can campaign with any republican in the country in any district. dawn timmeney is not going to be invited to campaign with every senator up for re-election that's a republican. mike pence is somebody that can. it's a way of showing some leadership. i have to say i am surprised in this respect because the most successful vp picks are those that seem to help animate or reinforce a

cruz's controversial speech at the republican national convention. >>> we're looking at the lines as southwestern airlines is recovering from a computer glitch that left people grounded. >>> chuckell has four tngs you need to know about your forecast. >> it's going to be a nice day outside today. four things you need to know about the forecast, enjoy today, everybody, because the heat is coming. there will be a lot of sizzle around on your friday afternoon. there's a triple digit threat for temperatures over the week. heat and humidity combining. heat you have to remember is a cumulative thing. each day we don't cool off as much and that makes it more and more dangerous with time. the best way to describe the coming weekend is the bonus material. >>> 66 eastbound is our focal point now. new accident, blocking the left center lane. we've got an abrupt delay as everybody approaches it now within a delay. before, it was at posted speeds. please be careful. baltimore washington parkway has been interesting. both directions there had been a crash southbound. guess what. . >>> a big day ahead in the republican national convention, it is the final day of the gathering and tonight we e

it's hillary clinton and chuck schumer and barack obama who would rather play politics with the issue than get something done. >> chris, stand by for a moment because ted cruzs now speaking. i want to listen in briefly to see if in fact he goes and endorses donald trump. >> we want ted! we want ted! we love ted! we love ted! we love ted! we love ted! we love ted! >> you know with be this afternoon, this afternoon is really for one very simple purpose, and it is to say thank you to each and everyone of you. thank you from the very, very bottom of our hearts. [ applause ] more than anything else, heidi and i are filled with extraordinary gratitude and thankfulness. together, the men and women here, we have been part of an amazing journey. and it has been the privilege of our lifetimes to stand with each and everyone of you fighting for our country. the men and women gathered here today, you are patriots. you love this country. you love our constitution. you love our freedom. you love our children. and you believe in tomorrow. and this campaign i believe was about a lot more than one campaign, or one candidate. this was a movement all across this country. you

chuck todd. >> who is first here? >> go ahead, buddy. i think the more anti-clinton stuff coming out with priebus -- one thing about last night i thought got lost because of cruz, last night was the first night they didn't spend all of the 8:00 and 8:30 and the 9:00 first half just beating up clinton. you heard more pro-trump, back to firing up the crowd. >> what's missing, not to be a political critic, but the real choice in every election, guys, is in or out. you like the way things are going, keep that party in. if you don't like the way things are, go with someone else. our polling at msnbc or nbc and "wall street journal," shows people do not like the way we're headed. you would think a political party out of power like the republicans would say let's exploit that. here's a line that finally does it but it's buried in the excerpts we were allowed to read from before donald trump speaks tonight. the problem we have now -- the problems we have now will last only as long as we continue relying on the same politicians who created them. a very direct charge, you need to clean house, have new people in or you will have the problems they created. i'm not sure it

chuck hagel will join us. trump supporters scott brown with us and the ceo of norwegian cruz lines, frank del rio is with us.ith us. big lineup. the republican national convention. donald trump pulled announce his vice presidential pick as house speaker newt gingrich are on the short list as new swing state polls just came out. live in cleveland where we will have the republican convention kicking off this weekend. good morning to you. >> good morning, maria. the latest numbers show the fbi decision not to indict hillary clinton for allegedly mishandling her e-mail may not have done much good for her with voters because the very reliable quinnipiac poll shows are losing support in swing states. trump is now up by three points. 42-39, a state where clinton was up eight at the of last. in ohio, clinton and trump type 41 to 41. in pennsylvania, trump is at 43-41. its debris trail by one must not give pollsters say the thing having hillary the most is her honesty and trustworthiness and trump is looking to keep his upward trend going by picking a popular vice president who is directly got a little bit of a bump

chuck todd on my radio show this morning, told me about a hash tag he found mamusing, the ted wedding. for those who are political junkies, in 1976, ronald reagan delivered an amazing speech. ted cruz was delivering that speech. i was rapt attention, watching the crowd, loving ted cruz and saying, this is the guy who or ates. and i thought he was going to move to i will help donald trump save our country. when he pivoted away from that and milked the moment and had some fun with the new york delegation and then didn't endorse him. the boos began. 1976 became 1964 when nelson rockefeller was booed out of the cow palace and nelson gave the famous one-fingered salute to the delegates. ted cruz didn't do that. so what you had last night was a moment in american political history people will talk about for generations. does it have any impact on donald trump? no. eric trump made it three for three for the trump kids. i don't think it will affect donald trump's speech tonight. i don't think it will change any votes in america. it changes ted cruz's political future. >> i'm wondering, rick, as we who are immersed in this minutia and about who said what and there was applause, whether outs

chuck. thank you. another news update for you in 25 minutes. but for now back to the "today show" after this short break. >>> it's 8:00 on "today." coming up, texas size snub. ted cruzhe convention floor by not endorsing donald trump. >> i appreciate the enthusiasm of the new york delegation. >> the former trump rival upstaging the nomination of his own party's vice president and as donald trump gets set to make the biggest speech of his life, we'll look back at three decades of the donald on "today." >> 33 years old, worth all this money. you say you didn't say you want to be worth a billion. >> i want to keep busy and be active and interested in what i do. there's all there is to life as far as i'm concerned. >> plus, training like a champion as we countdown to rio, natalie takes us inside the olympic training center for a rare peek art technology that team usa is depending on. >> i love this. >> and sets her own personal best in the pool. >>> and born to be a star. >> i know you're looking for something. let me help you find it. >> oscar winner alicia vikander stops by studio 1a to talk about teaming up with matt damon in a new installment of the "bourne" franchi

. >> so chuck todd, when -- >> i don't want this to end now. >> what the heck? >> when the ted cruzn twitter. >> why did you do that? >> because i get good stuff on twitter. it's great material. michael besh loss, never seen anything quite like this. that's michael saying it. >> he would know. >> he would know. it was -- it was -- and jeff greenfield said, this is what conventions used to be like. like 70 years ago. >> right. >>. >> everybody aired their dirty laundry out there. >> but last night, whoa. ted cruz. and it seems, if he was trying to help himself in 2020, at least the feeling around this set is all he did was help donald trump in 2016 unite a frared party. >> he's betting on trump not just losing by a little, losing by a lot. i mean, you know, i have always thought that there's a bunch of people, even the ones that took forever to get on, who have always been -- if you're doing that, you're not just betting on trump losing. you're betting on him losing in a landslide. you're almost rooting for it at this point. a close loss, they won't ever forget. >> let's be clear. te

cruz and still had praise for donald trump. what it does for newt gingrich and chris christie is that it focuses on the candidate donald trump himself. >> let's go to chucka few big moments in a presidential campaign and the choice of a vice president is one of those. people say it's the first presidential level decision. so with that, what do you think of mike pence and does this show up the trump conservative voting days? >> well, it sends the message that the professional political in trump world wanted to send to the republican party that donald trump will plague the politics when necessary. this is a political pick for a nominee that's struggling to have the party united. mike pence is someone that can campaign with anyone in the country in any district. donald trump is not going to be invited to campaign with every senator that's up for re-election. mike pence is someone that can. it's a way of showing the leadership. i have to say that i'm surprise in the respect because the most successful vp pick are those that seem to help and animate or reinforce the larger message and a meaning to the campaign. what is amazing about this pick is that mike pen

chuck todd and lester holt. we couldn't help it. we were boogying down like it was our job. >> they will do that. no question. >>> while we talk about the contention, drama last night highlighted by ted cruzge after they failed to endorse donald trump. peter alexander just spoke to trump's son, eric, to get his reaction to that. peter, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning to you. make no mistake this has been a dramatic at times chaotic convention. no better example than what happened last night. after a powerful and resounding speech that lasted 23 minutes, ted cruz it became clear would not be endorsing donald trump, the republican audience especially the new york delegation, would have none of it. cruz faced boos and jeers as he walked offstage. at that very moment, donald trump arrived in the arena to loud applause. there was that moment as it took place. i just spoke to trump's son, eric, about donald trump's speech scheduled for tonight. he says it will be honest. it will be optimistic. and during the course of our conversation just within the last 30 minutes, i asked him which donald trump we'll see tonight. >> i can't take the us suspenset of tonight. i can't give it awa