rachel scott tonight. rachel, thank you. our coverage of the major developments here on day two of the republican national convention, coming up tonight in prime time. we begin at 9:00 p.m. eastern on our digital channel, abc news live, and then of course again 10:00 p.m. eastern, right here again on the network tonight.

rachel scott tonight right down on the convention floor. >> reporter: tonight, donald trump taking the podium of the republican national convention, surveying the vast hall where he will accept his party's nomination for the third time. but first tonight, the nation gets an introduction to the young senator trump tapped as his running mate, j.d. vance of ohio. >> i joke with the president that, you know, i'm very excited about this evening, and i don't plan to screw it up. but if i do, it's too late. he made the pick, right? it's official now. >> reporter: at 39, vance has a compelling story to tell. his working class background the subject of a best-selling memoir, "hillbilly elegy." he's a former marine, serving in iraq, a yale law school graduate, and venture capitalist. he was also once a fierce critic of donald trump. >> i'm a never-trump guy. i never liked him. >> reporter: but vance says trump changed his mind, proving himself as president. he became one of trump's fiercest defenders. >> trump looked for someone he knew would be a rubber stamp for his extreme agenda. >> reporter

abc's rachel scott on the convention floor again tonight. >> reporter: tonight, five days after he nearly lost his life to an assassin's bullet, tonight, donald trump preparing to accept the republican presidential nomination for a third time. >> i got lucky. god was with me, i tell you. >> reporter: trump telling supporters he was changed by his close call with an assassin's bullet. >> that was an amazing, horrible thing. amazing thing. and in many ways, it changes your attitude, your viewpoint on life. >> reporter: after the attempt on his life, trump throwing out the convention script. the theme of the past three days, unity, and an effort to expand trump's base of support. his new running mate, ohio senator j.d. vance, drawing from his working-class upbringing with an appeal to the key rust belt swing states. >> like a lot of people, we came from the mountains of appalachia into the factories of ohio, pennsylvania, michigan, and wisconsin. now, it's one of the ten poorest counties in the entire united states of america. they are very hard-working people, and they are very good people.

and farmers in pennsylvania, michigan, wisconsin, ohio, and minnesota." >> david: let's bring in rachel scott live on the convention floor for us tonight. and rachel, you and i were on the air together when the nomination became official late today in milwaukee. you got a chance to be the first person to interview don jr. as he was walking down the aisle, helping to put those delegates in place in florida to put his father over the top for the nomination here. and you asked him about j.d. vance, and we all know that it was don jr., in particular who was really pushing his father to make this choice. >> reporter: exactly, david. and this campaign is now off to the races. in fact, senator j.d. vance's name already being added to the campaign plane right under donald trump's name. and here on the convention floor, you have delegates taking out their sharpies and pens and writing in senator j.d. vance on their trump campaign posters. as for the trump campaign, they are hoping that senator vance helps mobilize and energizes their base in those critical battleground states, michigan, pennsylvania,

let's go back to rachel scott. she was there when it happened. she was live on world news moments before. and then rachel, i know you've been escorted out. take us where you've been taken at this venue and what you can see now? >> reporter: so right now, we're not far from where this rally took place. so stick with me here. i want to give you a lay of the land here. right where those por o potties are, that's where the rally occurred. you see these white tents. you asked me about the security precautions. when people come to these rallies, they are checked. they go through metal detectors. they are screened by secret service. right now, you have members that are leaving. along here that are being escorted out of this area. so that they can tighten this area off. i can tell you we were inside, live on the air with you and secret service asked everyone to leave. so we had, as press, to leave everything we could on the riser. we're now being pushed further out. stay with me here. we're just going to keep walking. we had to leave our cameras inside. o

>> david: rachel scott among the mod ray tomorrows asking the questions today. rachel, thank you. >>> we turn now to the breaking headline. the accused mastermind of the 9/11 attack and two co-defendants have reached a plea deal. authorities say they will now plead guilty to multiple charges including the murder of 2,976 people, reportedly to be spared the death penalty. khalid sheikh mohammed, the alleged mastermind, and the two alleged co-conspirators, have been held at guantanamo bay for years now. abc's mary bruce with the details just now coming in. >> reporter: tonight, the accused mastermind of the 9/11 terror attacks and two other defendants striking plea deals with prosecutors. "the new york times" reporting they struck that deal to avoid the death penalty. in addition to khalid sheikh mohammed, two others have agreed to plead guilty. "the times" reporting war court prosecutors sent a letter to family members of victims of the attacks, saying for the exchange of the removal of the death penalty, the three accused have agreed to plead guilty to all of the

we -- we're a little bit creeped out, but we're not afraid. >> david: let's bring in rachel scott tonight. rachel, vice president harris heading to georgia tomorrow. the latest presidential poll shows the race there tightening, as well, in this race. now that we're dealing with a race between kamala harris and donald trump. this as her campaign continues to vet possible running mates. everyone is watching this very closely. we know just a short time ago here, one leading contender, pennsylvania's popular governor josh shapiro, was out campaigning for vice president harris, saying she's ready, and he brought up the debate. let's listen. >> she's not only ready, she's damn ready. and you know who else knows she's ready? donald trump knows she's ready. and, you know -- you know how i know this? because he's afraid to debate her now. do you see that? >> david: michigan governor grichen whitmer by his side on that stage. and rachel, vice president harris expected to pick her running mate by august 7th. that's just a little more than a week from now. >> reporter: yes, david. vice president harr

>> david: rachel scott live up on the hill. rachel, thank you. more quick question on this tonight, let's get right to mary bruce, live at the white house. and the white house had to have been listening very closely to former house speaker nancy pelosi today. she's still very influential, of course. and you heard pelosi suggest today, give the president the week, and that she'll stand behind whatever decision he makes. but you've reported here, the president has said he's staying in this race, so this certainly does not appear to be settled. >> reporter: no, it certainly does not. look, even as the president tries to turn the page here with this nato summit here in washington, the president, the white house, his campaign have all been adamant that he has made up his mind and that he isn't going anywhere. it was just two days ago that the president sent that letter to democrats, stating bluntly, quote, i am firmly committed to staying in this race. and he hasn't been budging, which is why pelosi's comments today were so surprising. tonight, his ca

>> rachel scott leading us off tonight here. thank you. >>> we turn to new reporting here.cement telling abc news that moments before the suspect fired at former president trump, a local police officer says he confronted the gunman. there is some reporting that the officer actually got up on the roof where the gunman was. but then that officer fell, and the suspect turned toward him and pointed his weapons toward him. the shooter then turned back and started firing at the former president. here's our justice correspondent pierre thomas now. >> reporter: tonight, a law enforcement officer telling abc news that a local police officer was on that roof and confronted the shooter seconds before he opened fire on the former president. the butler county sheriff telling us late today, a police official told him that a butler township police officer was vaulted up to the roof where the shooter was perched. adding the suspect quickly turned and aimed his gun at that local officer, forcing him to retreat and fall down. moments later, that suspect firing several shots toward trump. sou

>> david: rachel scott, we'll see you in prime time right here on abc later tonight. thank you for that. let's get straight to our chief white house correspondent mary bruce, also with us. she's live in las vegas, where president biden is headed as he returns to the campaign trail tomorrow. and mary, president biden already weighing in tonight on trump's v.p. choice, calling vance a clone of donald trump? >> reporter: david, the president calling him a clone. his campaign says j.d. vance will bend over backwards to enable donald trump's extreme age agenda. and the biden team is highlighting jans's positions. vance has criticized exceptions to abortion laws for rape and incest survivors. vance saying previously two wrongs don't make a right. the biden team also noting that vance has said he would not have certified the 2020 election results. now, tonight, we are told vice president kamala harris has welcomed him to the race, saying she hopes they can meet on the debate stage. david? >> david: mary bruce with us, live in las vegas, mary, thank you. >>> we turn now to jo

rachel scott on the floor for us again tonight. thank you. our coverage of this final night of the republican national convention tonight in prime time, turn to abc, 10:00 p.m. eastern for donald trump's speech. our entire time will be here -- our team, i should say. and if we have any new reporting on president biden's future, we're tracking that right into the night. 10:00 p.m. eastern, abc, the place to turn tonight. thank you. >>> in the meantime, we turn to news in the investigation into the assassination attempt. it's picking up speed tonight. and we have just learned that the former president has met with the embattled director of the secret service, right here in milwaukee. and new details tonight on the suspect here. sources now telling abc news that he looked up donald trump, he looked up president biden, he looked up the dates of trump rallies, and of the democratic national convention in chicago. here's our chief justice correspondent pierre thomas again tonight. >> reporter: tonight, we're learning more about the shooter's moveme

rachel scott with us tonight. rachel, what are you learning? what concerns the trump campaign most with this switch, with the democratic ticket? and how is the trump campaign responding to what appears to be a message from a growing number of democrats -- you had some of them there in the piece -- that it's now donald trump the oldest in this race, and that he alone will face that scrutiny over age and mental fitness moving forward? >> reporter: david, tonight, donald trump's senior advisers and his aides are fully aware this is something he's going to have to grapple with. they wanted to run against president biden in november, especially given all the questions about his age and mental fitness. but now, it is donald trump at 78 years old, who will be the

we're a little bit creeped out, but we're not afraid. >> so let's bring in rachel scott tonight from ington. rachel, vice president haters heading to georgia tomorrow. the latest presidential poll tightening as well in this race now that we're dealing with a race between kamala harris and donald trump. this as her campaign continues to vet possible running mates. everyone is watching this very closely. a short time ago here one leading contenchder popular governor josh shapp rewas out campaigning for vice president harris and said she's ready and brought up the debate. >> she's not only ready. she's damn red, and you know who else she's ready. donald trump knows she's ready, and you know, you know how i know this because he's afraid to debate her now. dur see that. >> michigan's governor grich gretchen right there by her side also campaigning for vice president and vice president harris is expected to pick her running mate by august 7, just a week from now. >> reporter: vice president harris has to make this decision and make it quickly. we're told that the vetting process is fully un

rachel scott tonight. rachel, thank you. our coverage of the major developments here on day two of the republican national convention, coming up tonight in prime time. we begin at 9:00 p.m. eastern on our digital channel, abc news live, and then of course again 10:00 p.m. eastern, right here again on the network tonight. i hope you'll join me and the entire powerhouse political team 10:00 p.m. eastern right here on abc. >>> of course, in the meantime, where do things stand with the nomination of president biden? after pressure to get out of the race from some democratic leaders, the president firing back in a new interview over continued questions about fitness for office and that debate performance. biden now asking, where are the fact checks of the repeated lies that trump told during that debate? well, tonight the president is in las vegas, and after nancy pelosi's comments that she awaits the president's decision, george clooney's words, and now congressman adam schiff's warning, is biden determined to be the nominee? he

>> david: rachel scott right there in charlotte for us. rachel, thank you. >>> mean time, on capitol hill tonight, the welcome and the protests with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu addressing a joint meeting of congress. making the case for continued u.s. support for the war in gaza saying, quote, give us weapons faster, we'll finish the job faster. his address met with a warm welcome in the chamber, but dozen or of lawmakers were no-shows, including vice president harris and senator j.d. vance. matt gutman was in the middle of protests. martha raddatz tonight on the speech. >> reporter: it was a thunderous, largely republican welcome, with prime minister benjamin netanyahu offering a full-throated defense of israel's war in gaza, and no mention of a cease-fire. >> our enemies are your enemies. our fight is your fight. and our victory will be your victory. >> reporter: there was a sizeable contingent of democrats in the chamber, but dozens of high-profile lawmakers, including nancy pelosi, skipped the event. vice president kamala

it is donald trump at 78 years old who is the oldest candidate in this race, david. >> david: rachel scott right up there on the hill tonight. rachel, thank you. >>> tonight, the speculation over who might be tapped to be kamala harris's running mate. tonight, jon karl with the names getting a lot of attention already, and what they're saying so far. >> reporter: as vice president kamala harris edges closer to getting the pledged delegates she needs to clinch the democratic presidential nomination, her team is already focusing on the process for choosing a running mate -- tapping former u.s. attorney general eric holder and his law firm to prepare to begin vetting potential candidates. and speculation among democrats close to harris has focused on several elected officials, including -- north carolina governor roy cooper, who has been elected governor twice in a state democrats hope to win this year. democrats hope to win this year. popular first-term governor josh shapiro of pennsylvania, a state harris needs to win. kentucky governor andy beshear, a moderate and rare democratic governor

that job, fully focused on getting that republican ticket to the white house, david. >> david: rachel scott down there on the convention floor tonight. rachel, thank you. >>> next tonight here, we are tracking severe storms in the northeast at this hour. 50 million americans on alert, winds up to 70 miles an hour. we're talking about washington, d.c., up through philadelphia, new york city, right into new england. the system spawning this ef-2 tornado in rome, new york, near utica in central new york. the damage from 135-mile-an-hour winds. let's get right to chief meteorologist ginger zee, tracking the storms again tonight. hi, ginger. >> reporter: hi, david. we've got severe thunderstorms just about 60 miles to our west coming this way, sweeping in with that cold front. and there have been more than 80 severe storm reports already tonight. and we're just getting started. that was from alabama up to new hampshire. a lot of this action around philadelphia, up in upstate new york, even up into vermont. so, i want to take you through the timing. it's overnight tonight, and that cold front pas

rachel scott, appreciate it.rge's exclusive interview with president biden airs tonight at 8:00 eastern here on abc. the interview will air in full. again, that's tonight at 8:00. >>> we do move on to tropical storm beryl now taking aim at the texas coast this weekend. the storm slowing from a hurricane but still packing winds up to 70 miles per hour. beryl then expected to make landfall as a hurricane again sunday night, hit wagtds life-threatening storm surge, up to 15 inches of rain and flash flooding. abc's mireya villarreal is in texas. >> reporter: tonight, texas is bracing for beryl after the category 2 hurricane roared across mexico's yucatan peninsula near tulum with 110-mile-per-hour winds knocking out power in resort and vacation facilities. officials in texas are urging residents to get ready. >> we need a prepared community, not a panicked community. >> reporter: beryl has killed 11 people and left a trail of destruction across the caribbean. the now tropical storm churning in the gulf, where it will

rachel scott, thank you. and again, that abc news exclusive interview with president biden on friday, his first since that debate. george stephanopoulos one-on-one with the president, that's friday on "world news tonight." the entire interview airs sunday on "this week." >>> now to former president donald trump, wasting no time trying to capitalize on the supreme court's historic ruling concerning presidential immunity. 24 hours after the bombshell decision, trump now trying to claim immunity to overturn his felony conviction in the hush money case here in new york. his sentencing, which had been set for next week, now delayed two months. here's abc's aaron katersky. >> reporter: tonight, the first ripple effect from the supreme court's landmark decision granting donald trump presidential immunity. trump was to be sentenced next week in his criminal hush money case in new york. but today, judge juan merchan pushing that to september 18th so he can consider what, if any, impact the supreme court ruling will ha

she owns all of these failures. >> david: rachel scott with me here in new york at the desk. rachel brought you the breaking news this afternoon. in the meantime, back to this campaign tonight. donald trump was hoping many believe that joe biden would be the nominee straight through november. he now has potentially someone else that he now has to target in kamala harris. obviously, if she officially gets the nomination. how does this look moving forward? >> this was a curveball the trump campaign saw coming but not one they really wanted. they thought they were best positions against president biden given all the questions about his age and the debate perf performance. if kamala harris is the nominee and that debate goes forward in september, he'll by facing off against a former prosecutor. >> david: already questions about whether donald trump is willing to get on a debate stage

rachel scott, who is on the floor, and has covered the donald trump campaign, rachel remarkably subduedin the moment. >> 48 hours ago, david, i was at that rally in butler. the crowd was screaming in fear and in terror. tonight, the former president of the united states, after surviving an attempted assassination, is back before his supporters and they are chanting the final words that he said before he left that stage, "fight, fight, fight." i'm here with mike. you're a delegate from pennsylvania. you were at that rally. what is it like seeing the former president back before his supporters here today? >> i'm glad he's alive. we're going to fight for him. we're going to win pennsylvania. i'm glad he's okay. it's surreal for him to be here. i'm emotional, because i was there. i think god bless america, god bless donald j. trump. he's fine, he's safe. we're going to move forward. >> i was just a few fe a few feet away during that rally witnessing the assassination attempt that he now has survived. david, it felt like the room just stopped. you heard the crowd cheer. there was also this m

juju. >> rachel scott, thank you. and of course, stay with abc news as we continue to follow the latest on president biden and the presidential race. coming up, vanessa williams, she was the hated boss in ugly betty. and now taking on a role of another famous boss, the iconic miranda priestly from the devil wears prada. >> with purina one true instinct, her true instincts really came alive from day one. it's the high protein nutrition she instinctively craves. it's making a real difference, supporting healthy energy and strong muscles. purina one true instinct is the food she was born to eat, helping her live the life she was born to live. >> purina one true instinct a difference from day one. >> looking for a smarter way to mop? >> try the swiffer power mop, an all in one cleaning tool that gives you a mop and bucket clean in half the time. our cleaning pad has hundreds of scrubbing strips that absorb and lock dirt away, and it has a 360 degree swivel head that goes places. a regular mop just can't. so you can clean

abc's senior congressional correspondent rachel scott was there and joins us from the floor. rachel >> juju was a moment that almost brought this room to a standstill. former president donald trump, just 48 hours out from surviving an attempted assassination on his own life, coming back before his supporters. of course, i was there in pennsylvania. it was just 48 hours ago when we saw the crowd yell in fear and in terror as gunfire erupted. well, tonight, the former president, back in front of his supporters, they were chanting usa, usa, trump, trump, trump, fight, fight, fight! those were the last words that the former president said before secret service rushed him off of that stage and into that armored vehicle. we know the former president trying to set a new tone going forward. we are told that he's revamping the speech that he set to give here in just a few days. and of course, he now has a running mate, ohio senator jd vance, on the ticket. now with former president donald trump. juju rachel scott. >> thank you. it was a night filled with anticipation from those hoping

>> juju: rachel scott, thank you.ekend long for abc, thanks. >>> now the trump campaign already seems to be stepping up attacks on vice president kamala harris, painting her as a possible challenger. earlier tonight, i talked to abc news chief white house correspondent mary bruce and asked her whether the biden campaign was able to put this horse back into the barn or if it's too late? >> that is the question of the night. the biden team is hoping this interview along with his public appearances and his plans for the next coming days will be enough to right this ship. and of course, the trump campaign, no surprise here, they are relishing this moment and all of the attention and questions about the president's age and mental fitness and acuity. look, the biden campaign is hoping that if they can just stay the course, that this too shall pass. they really do feel very strongly this is being overblown, that the president has been underestimated before that he has shown that he can come back and win. and they think this

back to rachel scott who's our senior congressional correspondent also has been covering the campaign for us. rachel was inside the arena during this event and while we were on the air for world news and it was minutes later when she heard those shots ring out. you've now been escorted outside. you've been with us the entire evening. what are sources telling you now? >> reporter: this is the scene that's happening right now. we are escorted outside of the trump rally. we are still not far from where those shots rang out inside. i want to show you right here. there's been so much conversation about the security. these white tents right here. this is where supporters were screened by secret service. you go through metal detector, your bags are then searched. there are certain items like large bags that are prohibited then you are screened and go inside. off into the distance, this is this area that's an active crime scene. we were inside the moment this happened. we were on air with you live, whit, for world news tonight. then the former president took the stage. within several minutes,

let's bring in rachel scott, our senior congressional correspondent. ve been out on the campaign trail, rachel, you were there on january 6th. you've also been following closely what the trump campaign is saying. and even this morning, he's been following this and he's been posting things on social media and even deflecting and saying, hey, it's not that big of a deal for me. maybe it's something joe biden should worry about when it comes to presidential immunity. >> wait, i'm told from a senior adviser to the trump campaign that we are expecting a statement from the former president at any moment very quick point. so while it is an absolute total victory for donald trump in the legal sense, this the court does not affirm what trump has been saying on the campaign trail. trump has been saying that presidents have absolute immunity for anything that you cannot charge a president or a former president for anything that happened while while he or she was president. but the court does say in the opinion in the opinion, there is no immunity for unofficial ac

what they told our rachel scott. >> reporter: today, behind closed doors, senate democrats listened for more than two hours as top biden campaign officials made their case for why the president could still win in november and should stay in the race. >> what's on everybody's mind, there is a clear path to victory here? and can we honestly say we're on a path to defeating donald trump and holding on to the senate and holding on to the house of representatives? >> reporter: one senator describing the meeting as tense at times. we're told a number of lawmakers complained they were being put in difficult, impossible, and untenable positions. having to defend the president's disastrous debate performance to their constituents back home. one senator telling abc news, "i needed to see hard data that showed a path to success in november, and we did not get that." two hours later, the meeting breaking up. the president leaving. senators filtering out. >> some of my concerns are allayed, some others have gone deepened. >> reporter: i spoke with senator sheldon whitehouse as he was heading into th

i'm rachel scott, in for david. we begin tonight with the president vowing to stay in the race, as another democratic lawmaker calls on him to step aside after his debate performance. today, the president insisting he is not leaving, that he's in this race until the end. his campaign doing damage control, trying to calm fears about his age and mental fitness. abc news learning nor details about that critical meeting between president biden and democratic governors at the white house. sources say the president told governors he needs more sleep and wants to stop scheduling events after 8:00 p.m. he also revealed he had a medical checkup following the debate. tomorrow, president biden sits down with abc's george stephanopoulos for his very first televised interview since that debate, and what could be a make or break moment for the president. abc's senior white house correspondent selina wang leads us off tonight. >> reporter: tonight, president biden trying to reassure democrats as his political future hangs in the b

what they told our rachel scott today. >> reporter: democratic lawmakers huddling for hours today behind closed doors, wrestling with whether to stick with president biden as their party's nominee, or call on him to drop out of the race. but tonight, while there are concerns behind closed doors, many lawmakers acknowledging they have little power over the situation, and that the president will be their nominee. >> are you all on the same page? >> no. >> what do you mean you're not on the same page? >> not even in the same book. >> reporter: sources describe the meeting of house democrats as "rough." several people who were inside telling us a number of lawmakers believe the president should quit the campaign, but are unwilling to say so publicly, because biden insists he's in it to stay. after, house democratic caucus chair pete aguilar, only saying this -- >> right now, president biden is the nominee, and we support the democratic nominee that will beat donald trump. >> reporter: the president is getting a boost from the powerful congressional black caucus, still squarely in his camp. >

another consequential night ahead, and abc's rachel scott leading us off tonight. >> please welcome the next -- >> reporter: tonight, another sign donald trump tore up the script for this convention after dodging an assassin's bullet in pennsylvania. the theme here in milwaukee, unity. togetherness. a subdued trump, a bandage on his wounded ear, greeting the delegates. tonight, a surprise addition to the schedule. his former primary rival, nikki haley. haley once unsparing in her criticism. >> many of the same politicians who now publicly embrace trump privately dread him. they know what a disaster he's been and will continue to be for our party. >> i want to thank ambassador nikki haley. >> reporter: but haley has since endorsed trump, and tonight, she's been invited to address the convention. as trump works to build support, this week, he also reached out to robert kennedy jr., asking for his endorsement. a member of kennedy's team recording video of the call. and then kennedy's son posting it on social media. >> i would love you to -- and i think it would be so good for you and so bi

i want to bring in abc's rachel scott. rachel, you're learning a senator is trying to organize a group to discuss biden's path forward. >> mark warner is trying to get a group of democrats in the senate together to discuss president biden's path forward and whether he should step aside. we were told that privately senator warner himself has raised concerns about whether president biden is suited to defeat donald trump this november. no senate democrat has publicly called on the president to step aside. of course biden served in the senate for 36 years. this is a sign that even some of his former colleagues have serious doubts, whitt. >> whit: rachel, thank you. george's exclusive interview with president biden airs tonight at 8:00 p.m. in the west on abc. the interview will air in full at 8:00. >>> we do move on to tropical storm beryl now taking aim at the texas coast this weekend. the storm slowing from a hurricane but still packing winds up to 70 miles per hour. beryl then expected to make landfall as a hurricane again

i'm rachel scott in for linsey davis. as we come on the air, millions along the east coast are on alert for severe weather. it comes as americans gear up for the holiday week and one of the busiest travel times of the year. the tsa predicting it will break its all-time daily record in the coming days. friday was already the fourth busiest day in the agency's history. the threat tonight impacting more than 61 million americans from north carolina to maine. severe thunderstorms, flooding, and tornadoes all possible fueled by hot and humid conditions. out on the west, days of heavy rain leading to flash flooding in the albuquerque area. flash flood warning is in effect until this evening. our weather team is standing by with the forecast. and abc's faith abubey leads us off from the atlanta airport. >> reporter: tonight, amid record-breaking holiday travel, more than 61 million americans under severe thunderstorm watches from north carolina to maine. the system already bringing heavy rains and damaging winds to the midwest.

rachel scott came out. she did not hold anything back. she asked a tough question from the beginning, and it was something that really set former president trump off. he went on a bit of a rant as he is wont to do, and it was an interesting thing for us to see out in the audience, particularly because we're used to journalists being buttoned up. we are meant to be unbiased, we're meant to share with our communities what we hear, but not necessarily what we feel. and that definitely came into play in the room for sure today. >> yeah, it was it was an incredible scene to watch. i think many of us did not expect it to start that aggressively at the beginning. frank when the, the, the, the former president came out to, to speak to this crowd, you know, the tone of him coming to speak here was to appeal to the black community, an area that he is trying to make inroads in that voting bloc. and this was a chance to do that. but i'm not really sure. based on the tenor of the conversation, whether that's going to happen now, i we'll go back to som

it started with trump attacking one of the three moderators, rachel scott of abc news.he asked, why black voters should trust him given his past comments about members of the black community. and it just went downhill from there. as he went after his political opponent, vice president kamala harris. >> first of all, i don't think i've ever been asked a question so -- in such a horrible manner, first question. you don't even say hello. how are you? are you with abc? because i think they're a fake news network, a terrible network. >> i have been the best president for the black population since abraham lincoln. >> better than -- >> that's my answer. she was always of indian heritage. and she was only promoting indian heritage. i didn't know she was black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn black. and now she wants to be known as black. she's the border czar. she's the worst border czar in the history of the world ever been a border czar like this. >> how do you intend -- >> she didn't pass her bar exam. and she didn't think she would pass it. the democra

so i want to go to our senior congressional correspondent, rachel scott. the most important audience probably right now for the president and the white house are those democratic leaders on capitol hill, and there has been some ferment in the last couple of hours? >> exactly, george. and they were watching tonight, i can tell you that. in fact, just minutes before your interview aired, you had a fourth democratic lawmaker come forward in the house and call on the president to step aside. that was congressman mike quigley of illinois. i have talked to a number of democrats that were glued in, watching this interview. one democratic senator telling me that the president is clear-eyed about the demands of the presidency, the urgency of the moment, and the importance of defeating donald trumps. but others say they still have concerns, that the dam hadn't broken tonight but the bleeding hasn't stopped either. another telling me better, but they're not sure it's enough, they need more than one interview, more than 22 minutes to prove the president has the stamin

and rachel scott is back with us now. rachel, you've been here since the beginning. tonight we were talking to each other during world news as the rally was just getting underway. and you've been getting these horrific stories from witnesses. and you're with another one tonight. >> yeah, yeah, we're with another group of witnesses that saw what happened. >> i will tell you hours ago, this area right here was filled with trump supporters eager, waiting to go inside of that rally right now, tonight. this is an area where trump supporters are gathering. they're left with shock about what happened. tell me what you saw inside. >> yeah, i was just about like 30ft from trump. and then i saw the people that had been shot and they were bringing them down in the stands right above me, and i just didn't want to get down. i just kept standing. but i saw yeah, i saw the man that was hit in the head. and he was a lot of blood, and i knew there was no way he was going to survive that. and then there were two of them that they brought down. but it was like real chaos and chaotic. b

stephen, thank you again, let's go back to rachel scott. i believe she's still there in pennsylvania, still there in pennsylvania. she was at this event. and rachel, you've been speaking with witnesses. and who are you with right now? >> yeah, i'm with a woman named aaron. you were in the very first row in the middle seat. you told me. what did you see? what did you witness? >> i was in the first row and i was in the middle. i was directly in front of president trump, so i saw him come on the stage, and i was maybe about 3 or 4 minutes. everybody all the photographers saw him come in. they all cleared away. he started speaking and then we heard pound, pound, pop, pop, pop and everybody's mind. it was like 4th of july. somebody must have been still doing firecrackers. then i saw the four secret service jump up and immediately push him to the ground. then the people that the news people that were around him, they all fell to the ground. there was four of them down there. and then we all stood up. none of us moved. we wanted to protect presiden

the words the former president said as he was being rushed off that stage by secret service. >> rachel scott was at that rally, immediately went on the air for us at abc, witnessing the horror that saturday night. and rachel, we thank you. that image used tonight will likely be used straight through november for this campaign. the countdown is on for j.d. vance, the junior senator from ohio, 39 years old, he will be introduced by his wife. they have three little kids together. we will hear how he introduces himself to the country here. live coverage of the republican national convention, night three, continues in a moment. stay tuned. [ music playing ] hey, flo. cool leg warmers. thanks. they are just for the bus ride to work. they are not part of the official uniform. no tunes today? no. my apartment was robbed last night. took my cable ready tv, vcr, portable cassette player. yup. all the latest tech. if only progressive had renter's insurance like their home insurance. then we could bundle our cars and get the same 24/7 protection. -i think we just invented that. -huh. this is the best da

the moderators selected for the event are rachel scott of abc news, harris faulkner of fox, and kadia goba of semaphore. but the decision to invite the former president has really drawn backlash and vision among members, even prompting a co-chair to step down from her role in the event this is happening as vice president kamala harris's campaign says she is set to name a running mate by tuesday, and she's going to hold her first rally with her vp pick in philadelphia on tuesday, kicking off a series of campaign events it's in key battleground states. cnn's arlette saenz is live for us in houston, where the vice president is headed later. but first let's go to cnn anchor sara sidner, who is at the nab, j conference in chicago. sara, what should we expect to see this afternoon? >> look i think there's going to be a robust conversation that happens especially with the three journalists that are going to be sitting there asking different questions. there was also eddie bj said is going to be a real-time fact that happens as donald trump is speaking. but already, it's being used as cannon

rachel scott was in the hall. good morning. >> reporter: all week donald trump said he wanted this speech to focus on unity, to turn the page from the divisive rhetoric after the attempted assassination on his life. that didn't last long. the former president going off script, launching into partisan attacks and making false claims. overnight donald trump accepting his third republican presidential nomination. >> so tonight, with faith and devotion, i proudly accept your nomination for president of the united states. [ cheers and applause ] thank you. >> reporter: it was his first public speech his surviving an attempted assassination. >> i'm not supposed to be here tonight. not supposed to be here. >> yes, you! yes, you are! [ crowd chanting ] yes, you are! yes, you are! yes, you are! yes, you are! yes, you are! >> reporter: after the shooting trump saying he wanted to focus on calls for unity, even pledging to be a president for all americans. >> in an age when our politics too often divide us, now is the time t