mike pence's koch advantage. winking at 2016, mike pence courts koch brothers.mike pence, a koch favorite, running for 2016. this got a lot more attention when he was thinking about running for president himself in 2016, before his collapse in indiana last spring over that anti-gay bill he signed and then tried to take back and then couldn't explain and said he wasn't taking it back and then did take it back. but even though he's not running for president himself, it's worth considering again now if pence is going to be trump's running mate. it's worth considering whether that might mean that the koch brothers and their network of conservative funders might get off their wallets after all and get involved in the presidential race this year. the koch brothers apparently do not like donald trump. before trump became the nominee, the koch brothers had pledged they and their network would spend 800 or $900 million for the next president to be republican. once trump got the nomination, that's been off the table. the koch brothers and their network have opted out of p

i would love to ask mike pence what his ideal response to adultery is today. it is not still this idea of recognizing this as a grave public moral danger in the way that pence and his circle see morality as the most serious public issue. amy: i would like to ask both of you, staing with jeff sharlet, what about his teaming up with donald trump? >> that is not surprising to me at all. i think there's been a big misunderstanding about what trump is and how conservative evangelicals view politicians for a long time. he is aidea that hypocrite. in his response, i may center. but there is also, especially in the week evangelical circles were easy christian right leader david barton saying trump was not my first choice or my second choice, but i now realize it seems god has chosen him for this. they don't seem as a godly man. man, as him as god's the tool that god is using. there's a long, long history of that. they love going through history and finding examples of leaders who are not exactly moral exemplars who were used. is that the illogical moment. it goes back

for the last 72 hours, people thought it would be mike pence. and it ended up being him. other reports suggested that trump was changing his mind. but nothing that happened at the end will matter.mike pence will rise or fall on whether he turns out to be a good pick. john: i agree with the last part. everything else i disagree with. everything was a wild, uncontrolled rodeo of the highest caliber. you had the leaking of the pens name, the reporting that mike pence was the pick, than the walking back of the name, than the cancellation of the event, now the scheduling of the event. mark: get on google and read about what happened with sarah palin. what happened with joe lieberman. john: i cannot believe that less like the men was saying, we cannot possibly have a press conference tomorrow out of respect for people in nice, and this morning he is tweeting that he made his big earlier than the scheduled press conference. that is a respectful way to treat the tragedy? mark: why would that have an impact on whether mike pence is a good pick? john: i told you that will rise or fa

we hear the beefing up of mike pence's character. a big credential calling card that donald trump wanted to use. and con competence he pointed to the indiana record over and over again and the economy, and then pence went out and said this is how you run something. of course both of them went through categorically america on the world stage and the problems we're seeing around the world and tying second clinton's time with president obama for all of the chaos that we see around the world right now. so again character and competence and i think those are key frames that trump is using and now pence, they're hoping in the way that trump introduced him, to supplement those. >> to bring a little bit more of that party inside momentum to this campaign, caylee is also in cleveland, our cnn political commentator. she's a donald trump supporter. do you think this was handled well, caylee? >> i thought it was handled really well, particularly with contrasting mike pence and his character and honesty to the charge ter of hillary clinton. what d

in the 90s he hosted a radio show called the mike pence show. e gained some notoriety for his role in that indiana religious freedom restoration act. critics said that measure essentially legalized discrimination against gays. pence later amended it, but in the end, few on either side of the debate were happy about it. he'll be returning to indiana later today for that welcome home rally. victor? >> all right. jason carol for us. the announcement first in new york. thanks so much. >>> let's bring in our national politics reporter m.j. lee. we just got essentially donald trump's resume here and good background from jason carol. what are you hearing about the reasoning behind this choice overall? >> christi this is an example of donald trump listening to his advisors. what we know is that those in trump's inner circle, including some of his children have been urging donald trump for a while now to go with mike pence. now, why did they want him to pick pence? it boils down to they believed he was the safest pick. jason touched on some of this, but a

he said he loves mike pence. he said that just recently. t kind of blonts the never trump movement. if pence is on the ticket, that takes a lot of wind out of their sails. >> wind, do you mean like the cities that have a lot of hot air. by the way, that's going to be cleveland. >> communications director for donald trump, jason miller, just tweeted a decision has not been made by mr. trump. we should be careful. we're saying the campaign is still saying -- >> still feverishly tweeting out the decision hasn't been made. >> they want to reveal. >> they want cleveland to rock. >> they asked people to send their phone numbers in so they can get a text with donald trump saying this is my choice. >> and the text afterwards will be, donate money. >>> i have people in cleveland and after the break we'll go there to find out how this kind of energy is resonating in that town as they get ready to launch full force on monday. back in a moment. (guy) oh man, the show's pretty much over. (friend) wish we could start it from the beginning. (jon bon jovi)

we know donald trump picked mike pence, but his gut, we're told, was chris christie. as a process full of drama and full of doubt. our sources tell us trump got angry for leaking word that pence was the pick and even after hours after offering the slotted to the indiana governor trump was asking top aides is this the right call? any way i can change my mind in the trump campaign is aggressively saying we are wrong in the media and here at cnn and the candidate, he wants you to think that mike pence lapped the field. >> i found the leader who will help us deliver a safe society and a prosperous, really prosperous society for all americans. indiana governor mike pence was my first choice. i've admired the work he's done especially in the state of indiana. >> now there's a lot of chatter in the media and among the delegates about trump listening to his staff and not his gut and some think that's a good thing and not so much. in the hall, pence is a win and they have no doubts about trump's number two. during his first big national moment used the staple line of his speech

does mike pence help you? >> hugely. mike pence is a pro.body has been asking for is the pivot. so they know donald is rich. they know he's capable and they know he's a great businessman and they know he's a celebrity and they want to see a little bit of presidential tone and a little bit of that ability to build consensus, but remember, consensus just goes to the lowest common denominator, but pence is a pro and legislative enactment and governing. as chris christie, we had a transition team meeting today. i have to tell you i was so impressed as to what can happen with trump, so trump assigns christie as a transition team management. i sat for 15 minutes and listened to him and said you've got to come with me to my wall street brethren because in 20 minutes you will convince them that we are going to do something that hasn't been done. it will be a team -- >> even though christie is not on the ticket? >> look, having christie there will be more powerful than the job that he'll take probably than vice president, but it's another sign of the

and joining me to talk about mike pence is someone who knows him quite well, steven, who served as pence'sunications director while he was in congress. steven, welcome to you. what do you think of everything? how excited are you for your former boss? >> thank you, alex. thanks for having me. i am very pleased for mike. i think he was a fantastic choice by donald trump. and i think he'll do a great job on the campaign trail, and as vice president in the future. >> okay. what can you tell us about him, from your years working with him, when he was a congressman? i think '01 and '02. >> sure. mike's a very personable guy. on a personal level, he got to know all of his staff. after the 9/11 attacks, he had his entire staff over for a party at his house, just as a gathering, and to thank us all for the work we had done for him. on a personal level, he and his family are just really wonderful. he's also a very gifted communicator. in my role as press secretary, he was really a joy to work for. he was very disciplined in his messaging, and knew how to get the message across to the people. >> i wa

back to mike pence. so, one of the primary reasons i chose mike was i look at indiana and i won indiana big. that is where trump was going down. they agreed i would win new york and pennsylvania and all the places, but indiana was want to be the firewall. is like that the study indiana and i got to study new york and a lot of other places and i saw how nafta side by bill clinton has drained our manufacturing jobs. just drained as like we have never been drained before. nafta again find by bill clinton. nafta is the worst economic deal in history of our country. manufacturing down in some states 55%, 50%. , 60%. i have a friend who is a great builder. all he does is build plants. the biggest in the world. i said how was business? he goes, unbelievable. really, i am surprised, why is it unbelievable? he said, what we are doing in mexico, you won't believe. mexicobuilding plants in the likes of which we have never seen. so what about this country? how much? that was the expression. not much. mexico, he said

mike pence. he is known as being mild mannered, well disciplined in his words. and then just in the last 24 hours, donald trump shifting and saying, no, no, i'm not looking for an attack dog. i'm actually looking for someone solid, someone who's strong, who's policy focused. a lot of people believe that is mike pence. but again, just a flurry of activity here as so many people wait to hear what's coming out of the governor's mansion. >> you mentioned dana. we'll get the scoop from dana bash in a second. i love that we're to the point we are reporting on flower delivery activity. jason, you are across the country there in sunny california. trump is there, he's scheduled to have a couple of fund-raisers. what are you hearing? >> reporter: well, a number of things, brooke. first, trump was able to raise $51 million just last month in terms of fund-raising. some of the folks out here in southern california feel as though mike pence would add to his fund-raising efforts here in this state. there are a

the thing that is a risk about mike pence, when he was in the national spotlight, he choked. better than that. he is a very steady guy. very steady politically. the good thing about pence is if trump is going to went through this race, he is what to make the story about hillary clinton. if he had chosen newt gingrich or chris christie, it would not have been about hillary clinton. i think pence will have a good week. he will be prepared. he will have good people around him. he will be good at the convention. he will be good in his meeting interviews. i think that was primarily why he was picked, to take -- to put the focus on trump and clinton which is what trump wants. >> can you imagine newt gingrich or chris christie making the case against hillary clinton on ethics? it would've been laughable and counterproductive. vice presidents, we get all excited. it do they carry this or that? you have to go back to lbj to find one that really made a big difference. mike pence in that sense is a very safe choice. >> the other thing i think about pence he is a steady influence and a po

mike pence has faced a pink slip. happy for my party, too, because i do not want the republican party to be the party .f the elite i think it is a really positive step forward, especially when it seems at a time when hillary clinton is having a difficult time gaining trust and projecting herself as a person of the people. mark: positive step forward if he is choosing mike pence. kellyanne: right, hypothetically. you are like the zelig of american politics, very close to donald trump, very close to mike pence, very close to ted cruz, whose super pac you helped direct when he was a candidate. kellyanne: i'm thrilled senator cruz is speaking at the convention. he will have a lot to add. i'm thrilled mr. trump asked and senator cruz agreed to speak. mark: why has he not endorsed? kellyanne: everybody is so tired of that word. what does it mean? he is going to the convention. he will inspire lots of folks there. he came in second. he won the silver in a very tough year when so many odds were against them. they got the gold

clearly mike pence, potential choice for donald trump, much has been said about how their relationship has been developing over the last few days. donald trump met here yesterday for a breakfast meeting with pence's family and some members of the trump family. sources telling cnn they've been getting along fabulously. it's interesting that trump has changed his tune about the qualifications he's looking for in a running mate. for so long he said he wanted an attack dog, a fighter. a lot of people noted then, wolf, that didn't necessarily -- wasn't in line with mike pence's personality, more mild mannered. in the last 24 hours, donald trump saying i'm not looking for an attack dog, looking for someone strong, someone solid. it's interesting he's also used the word solid, wolf, to describe mike pence. >> i want to bring in chief political correspondent dana bash working her sources as well. all signs apparently pointing to pence. >> they do at this pointed. that as we've been reporting for the last several days, he's been the choice of donald trump's kids, in particular his son-in-law wh

all right. [ applause ] back to mike pence. so one of the primary reasons i chose mike was i looked at indiana and i won indiana big. remember, indiana was going to be the firewall. that's where trump was going down. they agreed i'd win new york, pennsylvania, win all these places. indiana was going to be the firewall. so i got to study indiana. and i got to study new york and a lot of other places and i saw how nafta signed by bill clinton has drained our manufacturing jobs. just drained us. like we've nrve been drained before. nafta, again, signed by bill clinton. nafta is the worst economic deal in the history of our country. manufacturing down in some states, 55%, 60%. it's a horror show moving to mexico, moving to other places. i have a friend who is a great builder. what he builds is plants. that's all he does is bill plants. he doesn't build buildings, he builds plants, biggest in the world from what i hear. i said how is business? i was with him the other day. how's business? he said unbelievable. really, wow, why is it

that is not, amanda carpenter, mike pence.to say i'm a christian, i'm a conservative, i'm a republican in that order, now, he's got that fourth thing, donald trump's running mate. where is the trump list going to fit into that list of three. >> yeah, it's going to be an interesting tap. we'll know a little more about mike pence's speech. is he conservative decoration? or is he there for a sprinkle of conservatism. eye candy, is this weird to think about, or is he a partner in the trump administration? will he be able to provide donald trump with any guidance, input, advice. i don't sort of seeing that happening. but if pence could convince people that would be the case that would go a long way. >> is he going to chant lock her up, lock her up, that's clearly the theme, not not make america great. we heard last night, at hillary clinton now belongs in prison? this is a tweet he put out. come on, we can make the case that she shouldn't be elected without jumping the shark. the lockup theme has resonated this week. >> sure. but i

the man on the right-hand side of your screen is mike pence. elivering his speech tonight as the vice presidential pick. kelly o'donnell joins me from inside the q in cleveland. i understand you have new information about pence's speech. >> reporter: i can tell you that the governor has been working on it himself, but has collaborated with the trump team. you would expect that. i'm told that pence, who has a lot of experience doing speeches as the current governor of indiana and prior to that in congress where speeches are a big part of what happens on capitol hill, that he has written a lot of this. it will reflect his own voice and own manner, which as we have come to say in the days is starkly different than the trump brand, which is about bigness and bravado. you'll see in mike pence a quieter sort of approach, but that doesn't mean he won't argue the case. i'm told very forcely in about 25 minutes or so he will try to do a few things. first, introduce himself to the nation. mindful even in the republican party, there are many unfamiliar wit

mike pence on his way home just hours after trump formally announced pence as his running mate. the event was very, very different than anything we've seen like it in the past. no surprise. this campaign has been different from anything else we've seen. not only did trump appear on stage himself, it took 28 hins for him to introduce his running made, mike pence. look at what we saw in 2008, this is when sarah palin was introduced. the on theics very different. let's talk about all of it. mark preston is with us. tom la beian cois with us. kaley mcenany, kaley is a trump supporter, and paul is a clinton supporter. if you don't know that by now, you haven't been watching enough cnn. mark preston, i thought about it in the first two minutes when trump didn't introduce pence. then it was five minutes, up to 28 minutes. what do you think of it? >> first of all, were we surprised? i don't think we can be surprised that donald trump -- >> i was surprised because this was a pick that was, you know, a really safe pick and -- >> right. and this should have been mike pence's day. >> yeah.

who mike pence is.cause i think that goes into why this is so awkward, to piggie -- mike pence is in favor of trade. he was an avid supporter of nafta. mike pence praised hillary clinton for going into libya. mike pence voted for the iraq war. mike pence is everything that donald trump is talking about not being, so that's why this relationship is awkward. but to donald trump's credit, i think that although mike pence doesn't put any fear into the hearts of democrats like a newt gingrich or a chris christie did due to their oratory skills, or their bombastic personality, i do think he was the best in terms of what the choices were there, there was no tim scott, there was no marco rubio, and to david's point briefly, this is an amazing opportunity, however, this is about character witnesses for donald trump. and donald trump's character witnesses are pretty -- antonio sabado and tim -- >> you said they disagree on iraq, here it is, this is the interview tonight. >> yeah, you went to iraq, but that was ha

when donald trump becomes next president, mike pence's vice president is going to help that agenda get implemented. >> of course mr. trump made sure to mention governor pence is his first choice and one of the reasons he chose pens was to promote party unity. is there anything for pundits to read between the lines there that pence was a compromise choice? >> i don't think so. i've talked to donald. he's excited about mike pence. he's excited for the right reasons. he's a governor. he's got experience but he also has great relationships and experience in congress, and he believes in this country. he believes in the american dream. that's what the republican party believes in. we believe you can come from any zip code, any family and achieve anything. that's what mike pence believes, donald trump believes. this is donald trump's agenda, build jobs, american jobs, destroy isis, build our military. that's the agenda that's going to go forward. >> now that governor pence has been chosen as veeps pick, game on. in what areas does governor pence need coaching or prepg for as he will now be un

>> that is not mike pence at all. mike pence is humble. when he went back to indiana last night, they had pizza night at the governor's mansion. he thanked everyone. he said, this has been such an overwhelming experience. he had tears in his eye. in the beginning trump was saying i don't know if i should do it. by the end he was pinching himself saying i really want to do it. there were thoughts and then tweets. the bottom line, i laugh at the critics. when joe biden gets picked for 48-year-old barack obama, so experienced and smart guy. you have an experienced guy, boring. you don't need exciting. you already have exciting. >> they bring different things to the table. >> at least they acknowledge that. >> the base likes mike pence, so there are a couple of goals of the rnc here this week in cleveland. one is to show america, what would america be like with donald trump as president of the united states. they're going to roll that out. number two, it's all about unity and that's where mike pence helps mr. trump. >> without unity, guys, we

indiana governor mike pence was my first choice. >> let's have a fair and balanced debate. e now official trump-pence ticket affects the political landscape. angela mcglowan, a fox news political analyst and in cleveland, careen jean-pierre a democratic strategist. thank you for joining us. i want to start with you and get your reaction. i assume that you listened to the press conference. is this a ticket now, we're seeing them join forces, two very different stielyles, sometg that hillary clinton should be worried about? >> oh, not at all. i don't think so at all. as far as the democrats, we unanimously basically passed a progressive platform which has never been seen before, especially coming out of the primary we came out of where bernie sanders really had a message that resonated, bringing in new voters, bringing in young voters, and so having that and being unified and having bernie sanders come behind her, i think we're in a good place for our convention in philly. look, when it comes to donald trump and the vp pick, the vp pick is supposed to be a do no harm. it's sup

we're waiting for mike pence to speak at welcome home rally. he will do that at the indianapolis airport. trump and pence made their first appearance together and he offered praise for trump's presidency and they took a few jabs at hillary clinton. >> what she's done with her e-mails and what she's done with other things and i see the ads up all the time, she's totally bought and paid for by wall street, the special interests, the lobbyists, 100%. she's crooked hillary. >> americans can choose a leader who will fight to make america safe and prosperous again and bring real change or we can elect someone who literally per sonifies the failed establishment in washington, d.c. >> so making america safe again is one of the themes of the trump campaign and the events of the last two days of course bring that into very strong focus no doubt, one of the big parts of everybody's thinking right now is what has happened in nice over the last few days bill. >> yeah. martha, as we look at the promenade behind me it's been a stunning sight to see the hundred

recently, mike pence made a couple of comments about the state of the race. ch more measured and unique in the content then maybe what i think garden-variety commentators were saying. help onke pence will the policy part. donald trump moving into areas of policies. to reform thelan veterans administration this past monday in virginia beach is vary -- very specific and concrete. he is also well respected. i want to point out two quick things -- one is people missed were jeff was very glowing about his friend and former colleague. jeff is a senator from arizona who was pretty salty towards nominee trump when he had his meeting in the senate. some people thought it was a bit disrespectful, but it definitely was confrontational. pence on theke ticket, it is another window to getting the nominee part of that party unity in all corners. secondly, the donors and consultants in the trump movement are longtime friends and longtime supporters of governor and congressman mike pence. this is the is first major decision by the nominee in terms of personnel. what say you ab

so, mike pence leaves this room full of energy.s a speech that was long, undoubtedly. inarguably, it was long, but he absolutely held the room for the whole speech. obviously, it was very, very well received. steve schmidt, can i ask you a little bit about what is typical in terms of the staging? we saw donald trump leave the family sort of vip box earlier after his son, eric, spoke, and then we did see mr. trump come out for a hot second at the end of mike pence's speech, while the applause was ringing through the hall. how are these things usually done and how does tonight compare? >> in recent election cycles, rachel, the candidate who previously had just made an appearance on the night they accepted the nomination, has entered the hall on the earlier nights. and typically over the last couple of elections, you see the presidential nominee come out, congratulate the vice presidential nominee, stand for a few moments on the stage, get the photo op, get the picture together, then exit, and of course, come back tomorrow night for t

and we are going to change that. [ applause ] back to mike pence. so one of the primary reasons i chose mike was i looked at indiana. i won indiana big. remember indiana was going to be the firewall. that was where trump was going down. they agreed i would win new york and pennsylvania and these places. indiana was going to be the firewall. i got to study indiana and i got to study new york and a lot of other places. and i saw how nafta signed by bill clinton has drained our manufacturing jobs, drained us like never before. nafta signed by bill clinton. nafta is the worst economic deal in the history of our country. manufacturing down in some states 55%, 60%. it is a horror show moving to mexico and other places. i have a friend who is a great builder. what he builds is plants. he doesn't build buildings. he builds plants, biggest in the world from what i hear. i said how is business. he goes unbelievable. i said really, i'm surprised. why? i think of him as building in this country. he said donald, what we are doing in mexico you won't believe. i sa

fascinating and eye opening for me but mike pence pushes him to one side on women, mike pence voted toefund planned parenthood, staunchly anti-abortion and hopes roe versus wade would go away. and he said this morning, i'm a christian and conservative and republican in that order. does pence help trump with enough women? >> i think he has the ability to because he has soft side. you mentioned abortion and same-sex marriage. when you look at gallop and the importance of people who see those issues as the most important problem we face, either 1% or statistically insignificant. most women like conventional voters care about the economy and terrorism. i think trump -- pence can help to soften trump's image. he's very principled and even tempered and in that regard he can help trump with women and drive home the economic message which will win women in the end. >> even tempered but his principles are at war with the voters they need to win. >> do you agree with that? >> right, here's the thing about the pence pick, which i think we have to the donald trump campaign was built without diggin

and it's not mike pence's fault. it's that the star of night is going to be the man that is now going to have more delegates for a losing candidate at a convention since ronald reagan in '76. not bad company to be in. and i'm talking about ted cruz. >> absolutely. and somebody who has demonstrated time and again that he's good at this kind of thing. >> this kind of speech is in his wheelhouse. that's right. >> look at the backgrounds of pence and cruz. who's done this kind of thing more? cruz, by tenfold. and he's good at it. he will probably move around the room, move around the stage, to the extent he's allowed to. he doesn't look different. he's really good at throwing out red meat. he's really good. there are a lot of reasons that he came in second when many people thought he wouldn't. now, trump overshadowed that, because trump came in first. but cruz, i think, is going to get a really nice reception, and it will be tough to deal with. >> that room is probably secretly more pro-cruz than pro-trump. in the arena.

more about donald trump, less about mike pence? ch do you think pence ultimately really matters to the ticket? >> i think he checks a lot of boxes that trump could have used. social conservative. christian conservative. the party is starting right next door. >> i guess so, we're on lout speaker. >> he's in congress. chairman of the subcommittee on middle eastern foreign affairs committee, leader in congress, executin a big state now. it brings a lot of experience to the ticket that is quite helpful. wh do you believe that mike pence knew that he was the definitive choice for vice president. we've had all sorts of conflicting words about that, advisers, whispers. what do you think? >> as you know, mr. trump is not a big believer in leaks. >> didn't like them. >> unless he's doing it. >> right. >> but i believe wednesday night was probably the night that he told -- >> then why is it that both newt gingrich and chris christie as late as friday morning had not been told that they were not? >> as soon as you tell somebody they're not, th

mike pence or eric trump. we'll be right back. . >> it is about to get real on the an at 30:00, known for the apprentice,a.m. rosa now the director for african-american outreach. >> she has no secret, for donald trump, even after being fired in the first season, joins us liver from cleveland tonight, we're glad to have you here >> so glad to be on with you, hello to everybody in the nation's capitol. >> hello, let's get right to it, let's keep it real. you have a lot of work to do. >> as we look at the african-american community, you see record high unemployment. you see folks struggling, you see all kind of racial tension in our community, certainly we need to repair some of the things that have happened under this democratic administration. >> great and meaningful. sorry. what does donald trump plan to do? what are his policies that he plans to do to repair all of that? >> so, as i was saying, it is very important for us to repair the things that have happened in the last seven years. and so, first and for m

>> mike pence is one of the brokers of that and to understand mike pence and that religious conservativee to not think of social conservativis conservativism, but pence says, our goal, mission, is to marry fiscal and moral values. he sees them as one in the same, so when you go back in the record and look at his speeches about abortion, which are really something. he's probably the most anti-abortion presidential or vp candidate we've had. you see him also bringing in financial. he sees if we don't stop abortion, our economy will collapse. he's the guy who sort of stands in the middle between those two factions of the republican party. >> and just to make that point, just a few sort of bullet points on mike pence as far as the issue, banning abortion because of genetic anomalies and signed a law mandating, and this is weird, women who have a miscarriage or abortion have to have a burial for the fetus and must cremate after a miscarriage or abortion. signed a law religious believes diskrim nation in lawsuits, and after a backlash, revised the law to exclude lgbt discrimination that got hi

when the indianapolis star reports, it's mike pence, that has real weight to me. they know a ton of people in indiana. they know all the pence people in indiana. so the pence people seem to believe it is them. that doesn't mean though it's him for sure. so you know, my guess is pence because usually most of the time the reporting is right. but it's trump, right? and i feel like anything with him, i'm not willing to say a hundred percent until i hear him say the words. i think that's one of the reasons people are hesitant right now to say yeah, this is it. because trump has instincts of a showman and that's the potential knock on pence. just the question of, is he flashy enough? would trump think he is exciting enough to add it a ticket? >> and you know, to the point congressman davis made, i think it is really -- it is hard to get into the mind after politician generally. but like hillary clinton for example, we know she values governance. she is cautious by nature as a politician. she will make a traditional orthodox pick. that's why you think of tim kaine. with t

why might trump feel compelled that indiana governor mike pence was his first choice, that he really likes mike? >> perhaps, perhaps speculation it's the big cnn scoop that mr. trump was having doubts until the very last minute asking top advisers until midnight thursday night if it was still possible to back out and choose someone else, possibly chris christie. i don't know. the drama, the intrigue, the heartbreak, here to talk about it all cnn political contributors bakari sellers who supports hillary clinton and ana navarro, republican, who does not know who she will vote for, corey lewandowski. >> are you a hillary clinton supporter? >> i'm going to the convention. >> maybe we'll talk about that next week. >> please. >> complicated. corey, let me address this issue about chris christie here. from the perspective of chris christie and this is all speculation and he was first, major current office hold tore come out of the box and support donald trump. he took a lot of heat for it in state among his supporters, and he's acknowledged he was disappointed that he wasn't picked. >> dona

we appreciate it. >>> up next, what does hillary clinton say about mike pence pick? also continuing to await for governor pence to arrive back if indiana, of this live welcome home rally. we will begin, continuing from fourth street live right here in cleveland. stay with us. at clorox 2 we've turned removing stains into a science. now pre-treat with clorox 2! watch stains disappear right before your eyes. remove 4 times more stains than detergent alone. you only earn double miles when you buy stuff from that airline. wait...is this where you typically shop? you should be getting double miles on every purchase! switch...to the capital one venture card. with venture, you earn unlimited double miles on every purchase, everywhere, every day. not just ...(dismissively) airline purchases. seriously... double miles... everywhere. what's in your wallet? >> welcome back. we are coming to you live from cleveland. today construction teams walling off a secure area, city and security officials preparing for thousands of residents, attendees and protesters to flood this whole do

mike pence will never be afraid to speak the name of our enemy. radical islam. now, i think if you look at one of the big reasons that i chose mike, one of the reasons is part of unity, i have to be honest. so many people said party unity. i'm an outsider. i want to be an outsider. it's one of the reasons i won in landslides. this was not close. that's not the usual rationale people give. >> no the reason you should be choose your vice presidential pick you die in office and is that person qualified to be president. the answer is unequivocally yes, mike pence can do that. i think, you know, to play the political game, pence is going to be effect nif the rust belt. from a humorous standpoint, usually your vice presidential pick is the bad cop, and the presidential pick, trump, would be the good cop. here it's totally reversed. >> right. >> pence is known as a nice guy. he's nonattack dog. he has to be somewhat. we have the vice presidential pick as the good cop and trump out there attacking people being the bad cop. it's interesting. >> just a guy on cops who want

what do you think about the mike pence vp pick? >> i think it seems a little exciting. ar more about mike, i want to hear more about how his, you know, his stances and his policies and donald trump's will either work together, how they'll kind of work that out between the two of them, but i think governor pence seems like a really smart pick for donald trump just because they seem to have different strengths and they seem to have different areas where maybe they're going to be able to challenge each other and grow together. >> reporter: all right craig, similar theme we continue to hear is the delegates don't care about the melania trump speech controversy, but they are focussed as they said on the vice presidential nomination and the speech tonight. >> jacob, the best walker and talker on television, a bigger kudos to your photographer who spent the better part of half a mile walking backwards in downtown cleveland. >>> msnbc's kelly o'donnell inside the q, cleveland's own kelly o'donnell inside the arena there again where mike pence is set to as we understand it do a b

mike pence, governor pence, taking center stage at the rnc. >> he's a man known for a large personality, a colorful style and lots of charisma. and so i guess he was looking for some balance on the ticket. >> why our next guest says this man could be the ticket to the gop's victory come november. stick with us. >>> there seems to be so many things that divide us. so few great purposes that unite us as they once did. and it's at moments like this, moments when politics fail, that i believe we do well to remember that what unites us far exceeds anything that sets us apart in america. >> governor mike pence focusing on bringing the country and the party together, but did his speech help? >> hear to weigh in, morgan ortagus. thanks for being with us. >> so this was mike's time to shine and he's someone that likes to write his speeches himself. it hit a lot of different notes about his family, about how a lot of people don't know who he is, kind of laughing about that, but also talking about the importance of unity and bringing the party together. what was your reaction to it? >> for me, mik

formally announces this weekend, indiana governor mike pence as his running mate. telling the crowd pence was his first choice. >> indiana governor, mike pence, was my first choice. he fights for the people, and he is going to fight for you. >> donald trump is a good man, and he will make a great president. >> joining me right now is shawn spicer. he is a rnc communications director and chief strategist. >> welcome to cleveland. >> this is great. >> i know. fox has done an amazing job with the setup. the stage is set. as you mentioned. we're ready and fired up. >> we are, too. and what i want to get at is what would be success from this convention from your standpoint? i want to ask about mike epence but what do you need to see? >> three things. one, people need to get to no know donald trump beyond on tv. you will hear from his friends, family, and business associates from 20, 30 years. understanding the guy behind the tv. number two is making sure we draw a clear contrast and what is at stake, and number three is i hope more people see the values and principles an

widespread reaction to governor mike pence as his vp pick. before welcoming his running mate to the stage, trump made it clear why he picks pence. >> the strength of indiana has been incredible and i learned that when i campaigned there. and i learned that when i won that state in a landslide. >> and to roar ache plus a there, governor pence wasted no time going after hillary clinton. >> for donald trump wants to cut tax, hillary clinton plans to raise taxes. on working family, fall businesses and family farms. where donald trump is committed to repeal obamacare lock stock and barrel [ applause ] >> hillary clinton looks at obamacare as a good start and wants to take bernie sanders' path down to single payer socialized medicine. hillary clinton must never become president of the united states of america. [ applause ] >> nbc's katy tur is joining me from new york. your big take away from today is what? >> reporter: well, number one, that donald trump spent 30 minutes before he bought the to governor pence, mostly talking about himself, act his

mike pence and newt gingrich.reakfast this morning, feeling even more -- fueling more speculation about whether pence will be his guy. we'll follow any developments on that rate. >>> opening bell on wall street this morning, let's look at the big board here. of course we know that the dow starting the day at the highest point ever and appears to be in positive territory again this morning. allison is joining us from the new york stock exchange, allison, we are now at record territory. why suddenly it surge? >> well you know what, gone are the worries about the brexit vote, crashing oil prices we saw and china's economy slowdowns which seems that wall street is putting all of that on the back burner. on friday, so what that's translating to is two all time at the highest level ever after a three-day winning streak. s&p 500 hit it's all-time high monday. it sure has been a wild ride for stocks this year. the nasdaq hitting a significant mark, the first time we've seen it turn positive for the year. dow and s&p 500 a

decision, did you push him to go to mike pence? t is amazing. we have known chris for 15 years. >> why did you pick mike pence? >> i had dinner with mike last week. we had amazing dinner. he's an amazingly thoughtful person. he's kind. he's tough. he believes, which is really nice. beyond that, i think my father picked him because the economic record of indiana is flawless. >> what's been the high point over the past year and the follow up, the low point? >> i think last night might have been the high point. when he won new hampshire. we were sitting in a hotel room. it was some random hotel and it was us as family. i think you might have been the one who came across. cnn announced donald trump is the winner of new hampshire. i'll never forget that moment. it was an incredible moment. it was our first win in politics. we kind of all hugged and embraced. it was amazing. the other one was right after indiana when cruz dropped out and kasich dropped out. last night when the three of us was on the floor. the next high point will be on n

back to mike pence. , one of the primary reasons i chose mike was, i looked at indiana and i won indiana big. indiana was going to be the firewall, that is where trump was going down. indiana was going to be the firewall so i got to study indiana and i got to study new york and a lot of other places, and i saw how nafta, signed by bill clinton has drained our manufacturing jobs. drained us like we have never been drained before. .afta, signed by bill clinton nafta is the worst economic deal in the history of our country. manufacturing down in sums dates -- in some states 65%. i have a friend who is a great builder. what he builds his plans. he does not build buildings, he builds plans, the biggest in the world from what i hear. i said, how is business? i was with him the other day. he goes, unbelievable. i am surprised. why is it unbelievable? he said, donald, what we are doing in mexico you will never believe. we are building plants in mexico the likes of which we have never seen. what about this country

how does mike pence help to unify this party for donald trump? >> party unity is the goal of this convention. mike pence is an unconventional pick because donald trump is an unconventional candidate but he's a traditional vice presidential pick if you think about how vice presidential nominees can help the top of the ticket, mike pence has many deep relationships in congress, having served several terms in the house before leaving to run for governor of indiana. so he has executive experience as governor. donald trump talk a lot about the need for someone who has political experience will stop donald trump as an outsider candidate and a businessman who has never been involved in politics officially as a candidate, so mike pence can help those gaps. he received a lot of applause from people like paul ryan and other party leaders and conservative activists who seek mike pence as a strong conservative. he has demonstrated his appeal in that way in congress and in indiana. he has also received criticism from conservative activists for his handling of

and if it is possible to not actu actually pick mike pence, and this is after he offered the job to mikeence, and they flew him to new york, and they had him sitting in a hotel room, and in manhattan thinking that he is going to be the vice presidential pick, and he just basically dumped his own plans for reelection in indiana as governor. so -- >> is that all? >> and so what this tells us is that this was so out of donald tru trump's comfort zone. he does not operate like this. he operates with the gut, and by all accounts if you were following the gut, he would have gone with chris christie, but everybody around him in the campaign apparatus had been making these moves to make it so that mike pence would be his running mate. flying him to new york. making and leaking it to the press that he was going to be making the call, and telling people in and around the cleveland convention where conservatives especially are gathered and don't worry, wink, wink, nod, nod, it is mike pence, and the fact that he is so uncomfortable with it, and he is saying i am not sure around midnight last night