also tonight, donald trump, jr., says this about his step-mom, accused of stealing lines from michelle obama: >> if you work hard for what you want in life... >> she did a phenomenal job. >> pelley: we talk to voters in a state that could decide which way the election swings. show of hands, how many of you are undecided. one, two, three, four undecided. we'll look at the effort to ban russia's entire summer olympic team. and, he used their song, and queen are not amused. this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. reporting tonight from the republican national convention in cleveland, ohio. editio ght, the r nominated donald j. trump. it was a victory of a national insurgence that rested control of the party from its leaders and an achievement for a candidate defeating 16 opponents in his first run for office. his home state new york and eldest son put him over the top. major garrett begins our coverage. >> it's my distinct honor and great pleasure to nominate donald j. trump for the office of president of the united states of america. reporter: it's the moment donald trump crave

donald trump jr. right now, let's bring in cnn's jason carroll. he was at that event where ted cruz double-mega triple-downed on his nonendorsement, as john said. what was it like being in that room? >> a servile puppy dog. that is not something a lot people expected to hear this morning. it was really extraordinary to hear ted cruz speak to the texas delegation at this breakfast. once again, he said he was not going to turn tail and run. he said it would have been easy to do that. it would have been easy not to face the people. but he wanted to come down here, explain himself a little more about his speech last night and what he had to say and it was incredible. he opened it up for questions. allowed anyone who stood in the room, any part of the delegation, to ask whatever they wanted. everyone wanted to know the same thing. why not just simply say the words, i endorse donald trump? why not put the party ahead of any personal feelings? >> well, once again, he double, triple downed and said this is ab

it's tiffany trump's speech and donald trump jr's speech. that's what folks are still talking about. as you look at the signs that are left here, the seats beginning to empty out, the idea that these kids made their father more relatable. and the message i heard more than once, aspirational. they're hoping to show people that the trumps can be, in one delegate's words, a normal family. i spoke with another man who said, hey, who better than a son to talk about what his father means. and one interesting note about melania trump's speech last night, in addition to the accusations of plagiarism, there weren't very many personal stories in her speech. that was different from tiffany trump's speech. and i heard that. they appreciated that, that humanizing story telling coming from the trump family. chris christie's speech, as we look around here, was another notable moment. when you look at our nbc news word cloud that we made of the evening, the biggest word on there is hillary. that seemed to be another theme here tonight. more washington polit

what has happened here is now that this, donald trump jr. speech was quite good, tiffany trump's speech, melania's as presented was quite good. this statement will ensure that for the next, you know, seven hours, before the next night's program starts, this is what we're talking about. so it's just wasting momentum. donald trump is not going to win or lose the white house because of this, but conventions are meant to build momentum behind the candidate. unify, reach out, and this is not that. >> and chris jansing is joining us from inside the q. one of the issues here is whether melania trump needs to have her own staff, which the first -- well the spouses of candidates in the past have. and we've seen how bill clinton has messed up, the tarmac meeting by not being completely staffed and surrounded by someone saying this is what you do and don't do this. and this will really blow up. so even an experienced political leader needs to have help along the way. this is a, you know, a tough game. and chris, does mrs. trump need to have enough peop

they need to make a strong case for donald trump. and to me only donald trump jr. was able to do that successfully. >> well, that's exactly what they expected melania to do monday night. but now her speech they're saying it's possibly plagiarized. you know, why is this controversy not really been spoken about? >> i think it hasn't been spoken about because they haven't dealt with it. their response to it, you know, paul manafort was asked about it and he just denied it and donald trump himself on social media has completely denied it and that's a problem. if they have -- look plenty of people have plagiarized, public figures, including joe biden, president obama, but when it's been brought to their attention think apologize and move on. the problem for melania, this was basically her introduction to the nation. this is when the whole country really gets to see a very knee mig matic figure who many people find fascinating. to have this shadow hang over it and not be willing to make an apology it's a drip drip drip and that's something that will unfortunately always

donald trump jr. joins me live. >>> plus the best political minds will be here live in philadelphia with insights from the campaign trail. >>> hello, i'm jake tapper at the democratic convention in beautiful philadelphia where the state of our union is exposed e-mails just published by wikileaks showing democratic party officials actively discussing possible ways to sabotage bernie sanders even as they were insisting publicly that they were staying neutral during the primaries. the leaked e-mails are dividing

rules. >> donald trump jr. is getting praised this morning for his address to the convention last night. he's also getting questions. 38-year-old speech writer already came forward saying he wrote both the speech and the article. he told the associated press that makes the similarities, quote, not an issue. now the next two days of the convention are pretty jam-packed. tonight a big first for indiana governor and the vice presidential nominee, mike pence. tracie potts is live in cleveland now with what to expect in the day ahead. tracie, good morning. >> reporter: hey, aaron. here's the question. who is mike pence? obviously the governor of indiana. a lot of people don't really know much about him. our new survey monkey poll came out at the top of the hour. nearly half of registered republicans said they don't know enough about him to like him or d when he takes the stage tonight, he's got a job to do. he's got to introduce himself to the american people. who is he? what's he done? what is he about? >> tracie p

, from tiffany trump, from donald trump jr., ivanka trump, who is donald trump's eldest daughter. she will be the one who do introductory speech for him thursday night when he's due to accept the nomination formally. we expect to hear from mr. trump himself not in person, but by remote. he, from all reports, unexpectedly left the site of the convention last night and flew back to new york. this was a surprise specifically to the large number of donors who were due to meet with him this morning in cleveland where he was a no-show. back to jacob soboroff on the floor. >> reporter: i'm here with donald trump jr. how do you feel right now? >> it's awesome. it's totally surreal to be able to throw him over the top in this race after everything we have gone through in the last year in this process. totally awesome. >> reporter: melania trump has come under fire for that speech. accusations of plagiarism. how will that affect the nomination? >> it won't. she delivered an incredible speech for someone who avoided the public eye to get on that stage and to be able to do that, the way she d

trump jr., and if she can deliver, he can deliver, and i think it can erase the memories it would be a big lift for him, but that's a challenge and one of the things i want to ruminate on here is this is a reprise, what we've seen from the excerpts and a very familiar theme from trump again and again. are people looking for that or are they looking for something fresh? >> i think -- i don't know the answer to that. i would think something fresh, and that would be wrong. >> you hear on this question of something fresh and he's going back to his original themes. we know from these brief excerpts that we've had, very heavy on law and order. donald trump jr., said quote, unquote, it will be disciplined which is important, but yet not what some people want from donald trump. >> there is a whole new audience tuning in to donald trump that haven't been following every one of his rallies or events over the course of the last 13 months. >> right. >> so he does need to present some of those core principl

katy tur just had an interview with donald trump jr. in which he said the decision on vice president has not yet been made. with so much swirling around veepstakes, we now have something of a program for next week's festivities here in cleveland. the speaker of the house included among many others. let's go out to hallie jackson who has more on that and the veepstakes. we'll start with the program. >> we have a better idea of how this is going town fold next week. the theme for each night starting with playing off the campaign theme of make america great again is make america safe again. you have people like football player tim tebow, senior campaign official, con sfirminge will take the stage. in fact, in recent days, he's been backing off of that say in he did you want want to reinvent the wheel. he wants to pay respect to institution of the convention. the bigger news will be who will be take iing the stage on wedney night. that's the vp slot traditionally. the question is who is it going to be. our reporting is indicating that donal

ben carson, and two trumps tonight. donald trump jr. and tiffany trump as well. the focus now continues to be on what melania trump said last night. it resembles what michelle obama said at a democratic convention eight years ago. >> that your word is your bond. that you do what you say, and keep your promise. >> that you treat people. >> that you treat people with dignity and respect. >> morals in your daily life. >> because we want our children and all children in this nation to know that the only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work for them. >> cnn's jim acosta is outside of trump tower in new york and manhattan on how the candidate and the campaign are handling are controversy. a tough day. melania trump whethering widespread accusations of plagiarisms. >> we did catch a glimpse of melania trump. she stepped out, we did not have a chance to ask her any questions. we did hear from a trump campaign official that said an internal memo has been drafted and circulated throughout the campaign instructing

trump, jr., his eldest son, will put donald trump over the top. so that will be coming up very shortly, and while we are waiting for that moment, we're going to go down to john dickerson at the podium. john? >> john: well, scott, that's right. we're about to reach that magic 1,237 total. that number we heard so much during the bitter primaries as donald trump fought off 16 opponents. that number is almost here, as you said. the order has been rearranged so that new york can take him over the top. they have pride of place here right in the front. and it's very crowded up here. they're itching for this, and that will make donald trump the official nominee on the nominee for that 45th spot as president. and we've got the whole... everybody's crowding around here to try to be in the mix at this famous moment, and now we just will have the wait until the totals are arrived at. >> pelley: john, you know, there has been so much controversy at this convention about the republican party being divided and anti-trump dissidents being voted down yesterday, bu

we will hear from two donald trump children, from tiffany trump and also from donald trump, jr. it was donald trump, jr., who actually put his father over the top in terms of the delegate count needed to get the nomination. our dana bash was on the floor with the adult trump children and spoke to them right after the vote was cast. >> reporter: that's right. i'm right here with the children, and i can just -- right next to ivanka. i vafrngvanka ivanka, you're getting emotional. can you tell me how you feel? >> it's surreal. i'm so proud of my father. we all are. >> did you think you would be here nominating your father for the president of the united states? >> it's amazing. he's the ultimate outsider and we are so proud of him and i've never underestimated my father, ever and he's amazing. i've never underestimated him, and it's an amazing night for our family. >> tiffany, you're speaking tonight. >> i'm so honored and the crowd sounds very excited for everything that's going on. we'll see how it goes. >> we look forward to your speech. don, jr., we are live on cnn right now. t

>> i thought donald trump jr.'s message was excellent tonight, he had a thoughtful passion nalt defense of conservative principles and this is something we've said all along at the republican national college committee, if we have a genuine, awe thent you can conversation with voters our age about conservative principles, they will eventually come over to our side because it's free market and liberty minded principles that run millennial's lives so that's discordant with a liberal establishment that wants to run things from the top down from washington, d.c. >> we thank you for your comments and being a young millenni millennial who was able to talk to the nation with your message. >> thank you so much. >> so, you know, when we see this, a young millennial like that and donald trump jr. resonating with them, and in fact, many people said donald trump jr. should be running because they believe a star has been born with a political future ahead of him. 30 years old and a father of five and perhaps what he said tonigh

and facebook says donald trump jr. came out on top last night. 66% of you thought he had the best speech. he was followed by chris christie with 23%. >>> it is day three of the republican national convention. the theme make america first again. mike pence now the official gop presidential nominee -- vice presidential nominee. also speaking texas senator ted cruz who has yet to endorse donald trump as well as florida senator marco rubio who will appear on video. tonight's other primetime addresses include eric trump, scott walker and former house speaker newt gingrich. speeches kick off at 7:00 p.m. eastern. we will see you back here on "fox & friends first" at 4:00 a.m. tomorrow but "fox & friends" starts now. >>> driving people so that they can achieve their full potential. that's a great quality to have in a father, and better yet, in the president of the united states. >> this is a nation where every coin in our pocket and every bill in our wallet says in god we trust. so are we willing to elect someone as president

donald trump jr. who made the case who said if you think he doesn't understand the little guy, think again. >> he spent his career with regular americans. he hung out with the guys on construction sites. pouring sheet rock and hanging -- pouring concrete and hanging sheet rock. he listened to them and he valued their opinions as much and often more than the guys from harvard and wharton locked away in offices away from the real work. >> so donald trump is on his way here. they pl he's going to mike a dramatic entrance here. trump is being trump. a lot of people in politics say move past the melania story, get away from it. the campaign says there was no plagiarism. donald trump is tweeting on his way to cleveland. he said good news is melania's speech got more publicity than any in the hospital of politics especially if you believe that all press is good press. donald trump hardly ever stops at one trump. he said the media is doing more forensic analysis on melania's speech than hillary clinton's e-ma

minute that donald trump, jr. wrapped up they got right out of here. governor pence is still in the booth. he is sitting there talking to many people in the booth. but let me tell you this, the topic of conversation all day has been melania trump's speech. in this room, i can tell you people here do not care. they said give her a break. move on. we have real stuff that we need to focus on. so i'm standing here with someone who is sitting in the trump family both, amarosa, sitting in the family booth because? >> i am family. i have been with this family for a very long time. >> how long you have known done all trump. >> since 2003, the first season of "the apprentice" and he just appointed you, let me get the title right, head of the african-american outreach. what exactly does that mean? >> that means that we are tbing to really reach out to communities and bring them in to the fold. and let them know how inclusive this campaign. is we already have an amazing support group in the african-american community but we

that was an exciting moment to be with the trump family and donald trump jr. in particular. >> it was a human moment. these are the kind of things we try to capture on the surface. the human drama to show what happens off the stage. you don't see a lot of emotional stuff with the trumps. they're usually pretty cool customers, and i was with him in elko when he gave his first speech back during the primary. and it's been fun to kind of watch his evolution. he's a big talent. >> don jr. >> don jr. he's a big talent. you could see he got really pumped up and kind of excited, kind of amped up. but that was a family thing. that wasn't just politics. that was kind of where you see the sort of thing you would with your family or i would. to have this moment that they worked for so hard and he got to put him over the top and call his dad and said, we did it. >> do you know what his dad said to him on the phone? >> donald jr. said, thanks, we did this together. it was a great moment. >> what did you think of the rnc this week? how did they do? >> well, the important po

so last night, donald trump, jr. says we don't want hillary clinton responding to the 3m phone call about an international emergency. they cannot handle a plagiarism controversy. >> what should they have do. >> we'll avoid it in the future done. >> paul manafort many be many things, an one of them is not dumb or handling scandal. what he is betting on here is, hmm, people don't like you, the people who vote for me don't like you and don't trust you, cuo cuomo. if you say i did something wrong, there is a chance i'll get past it. the people i want to vote for me, maybe they're lying about this little thing, hillary clinton lies about big things. we still win. >> he is bet ting if he lies enough, you'll get tired that he lying. >> except, i will tell you, the response we've had to the situation is in major part, one, you're right. two, so what. she is much worse. why don't you go after her for her lying, instead of this penny anty lying you're going after. >> after there is enough lying and enough proof of really distu

, his eldest son donald trump, jr. addressing the crowd where he spoke about his father bringing the country back. >> if the first time parents no longer think they'll be as swell off as we were. we lost the confidence in our leaders, but web one thing, we are still americans and one country and we are all going to get it all back. [cheers and applause] >> we are going to get it back better than ever before. i know we will get it back because i know my father. maria: that wasn't the only big moment of the night, new jersey governor chris christie on the attack taking trump's unlikely opponent hillary clinton. >> let's do something fun tonight, tonight as a former federal prosecutor, i welcome the opportunity to hold hillary rodham clinton accountable. hillary clinton putting big government spending finance by the chinese ahead of good paying jobs for middle-class americans, is she guilty or not guilty? maria: big party set for tomorrow when donald trump will address the convention live on stage, whether he talk to the

donald trump jr. said a few lines last night that seemed similar to someone else's work, the initial reaction, not again. turns out it wasn't quite plagiarism, maybe a bit of recycling with the trump campaign now pushing back. a false alarm spreading fast online after the "daily show" tweeted similarities between donald trump jr.'s speech and the clutch by conservative writer frank buckley. >> our schools used to be an elevator to the middle class, now they're tall stalled on the ground floor. >> turns out he was a principle speechwriter. it's not an issue. it's no clear who's behind melania trump's speech, similar to michelle obama speech. sources tell nbc news the trump team hired veteran speechwriter matthew scully, the draft submitted shows none of the passages in question. a senior trump aide telling nbc news, that draft was mostly rejected, but remaining tight-lipped about who added these lines -- >> the values. >> you work hard. >> you work hard for what you want in life. >> that your word is y

that was an exciting moment to be with the trump family and donald trump jr. in particular. >> it was a human moment. these are the kind of things we try to capture on the surface. the human drama to show what happens off the stage. you don't see a lot of emotional stuff with the trumps. they're usually pretty cool customers, and i was with him in elko when he gave his first speech back during the primary. and it's been fun to kind of watch his evolution. he's a big talent. >> don jr. >> don jr. he's a big talent. you could see he got really pumped up and kind of excited, kind of amped up. but that was a family thing. that wasn't just politics. that was kind of where you see the sort of thing you would with your family or i would. to have this moment that they worked for so hard and he got to put him over the top and call his dad and said, we did it. >> do you know what his dad said to him on the phone? >> donald jr. said, thanks, we did this together. it was a great moment. >> what did you think of the rnc this week? how did they do? >> well, the important po