'This Week' Transcript: John Kerry and Reince Priebus

— -- THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT FOR 'THIS WEEK' ON July 17, 2016 and it will be updated.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Starting right now on THIS WEEK WITH GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ready for Cleveland -- the reality TV star about to be crowned the GOP nominee.

And, after a tortured VP search, the big reveal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: The next vice president of the United States, Governor Mike Pence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The unconventional candidate makes a conventional choice.

Will it pay off with his party?

Plus, our new poll reflecting the deep divide and the steep trough (ph) for Hillary.

And, terror fears -- tragedy in Nice, tanks in the streets of Turkey -- what the worldwide instability means for the fight against terror.

From ABC News, it's THIS WEEK live from the convention.htm" id="ramplink_Republican National Convention_" target="_blank">Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio.

Here now, chief anchor, George Stephanopoulos.

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC HOST: Good morning from the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. The GOP convention opens here tomorrow and Donald Trump may break tradition again by taking the stage on the convention's first night. It would be just the latest surprise in the most unpredictable presidential race we have ever seen.

And this convention, this entire city, braced for more. Cleveland is armed to the teeth, barricaded block by block in the wake of recent terror attacks here at home and abroad. Orlando and Dallas, Nice, France, and now turmoil in Turkey.

That terror, the anxiety and anger it is creating may well define this race.

And for the brand new Republican ticket, the stakes of this convention are sky high.

Donald Trump likely bought some peace with his new party by picking conservative favorite Mark Pryor to be his running mate. But that rollout was pure Trump. After the 28 minute riff on everything from Hillary Clinton to his new hotel in Washington, DC, Trump turned over the stage to the man he called his first choice for veep.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I found the leader who will help us deliver a safe society and a pros -- a prosperous -- really prosperous society for all Americans. I also admire the fact that he fights for the people and he's going to fight for you. He is a solid, solid person.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANOPOULOS: This week, that new team has its best chance to make a case for change in Washington. And our brand new ABC News/"Washington Post" Poll shows they will be speaking to a deeply divided country pretty disgusted with both candidates.

A remarkable 58 percent of registered voters now say they are dissatisfied with the choice before them. The top line, Hillary Clinton draws 47 percent, Donald Trump at 43. That's a sharp drop for Clinton from her 12 point lead in June.

The toll makes clear both candidates enter the convention with huge challenges. Sixty-four percent have an unfavorable view of Donald Trump. Hillary Clinton at 54. And coming off the FBI director's blistering criticism of her as extremely careless, 72 percent now say Hillary Clinton is too willing to bend the rules.

Donald Trump's big weakness, 60 percent call him unqualified.

Majorities of Republicans and Democrats now say they are voting against the other side rather than for their own candidate.

Some pretty sobering numbers there.

So let's bring in Jon Karl. He's going to be here with us in Cleveland all week -- and, Jon, we have never seen voters so unhappy with their choices heading into the conventions.

JONATHAN KARL, ABC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: That's for sure, George. I mean look at the numbers you just cited, the fact that 60 percent of voters do not think that Donald Trump is qualified to be president would be crippling going into a general election, except for the fact that so many voters simply don't trust Hillary Clinton and her honesty and trustworthy problem has actually gotten worse in the wake of the email scandal.

I've talked to Republicans who fear that they may be nominating the one Republican who cannot beat Hillary Clinton. And I've talked to Democrats who believe or fear that they may be nominating the one Democrat who could lose to Donald Trump.

STEPHANOPOULOS: A lot of Republicans here, though, do seem to be happy with this choice that Donald Trump did settle on, Mike Pence, to be his running mate. It certainly shores him up with conservatives.

KARL: Well, it absolutely helps him right here at this convention, George. Mike Pence is a no doubt about it conservative Republican, well liked by the very groups that do not trust Donald Trump in the Republican Party. So it helps end once and for all the idea of some kind of an anti-Trump uprising here at the convention.

But you saw that, uh, that opening announcement. I do not expect that Pence will be out there much side by side with Donald Trump.

STEPHANOPOULOS: OK, Jon, thanks.

Let's get more on this now from the chair of the RNC, Reince Priebus.

Thank you for joining us, Mr. Chairman.

Let’s start out with a reality check. July 2014, you and your committee pick Cleveland, pick the Quicken Loans Arena.

Did you have any idea that Donald Trump would be the nominee?

REINCE PRIEBUS, CHAIRMAN, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE: No, I didn’t, but actually I think he gives us a great opportunity to win. And I think this place looks incredible. The stage is fantastic and people are really excited to be here and the city is beautiful, and I’m excited about the week to come.

STEPHANOPOULOS: You say he gives you a great opportunity to win. And our new poll out this morning does show that he’s closed the gap somewhat with Hillary Clinton. We show a 4 point race now among registered voters, but you still have those 60 percent of Americans who don’t think he’s qualified to be president. That’s a killer number.

PRIEBUS: Well, Reagan had the same problem in 1979 going into 1980. And I think what it does show in reality is that he has a lot of space to grow. I think as he pivots to the general election, picking Mike Pence, I think he’s much more precise in his rhetoric, in his tone, in his attack, I think he’s got a lot of room to grow and one (INAUDIBLE)...

STEPHANOPOULOS: You think that 28 minute riff yesterday before introducing Mike Pence was precise?

PRIEBUS: Well, look, I think he -- listen, I think he’s spent a few days and there were things going on he didn’t have a chance to respond to. And this is Donald Trump. He wants to respond. You know how he is.

But I think that he also knows -- and I know how he is in private. I know what we talk about and what we have meetings about. And he’s there. He knows the pivot is important. He has been better and I think he’s going to be great moving forward.

I think Thursday night’s a critical night for him, delivering a great speech, the balloon drop and the people in this country saying I can see Donald Trump being in the White House, I think he’s presidential.

And it’s the same thing that happened in 1980 when the bottom fell out of Carter, when people said, Ronald Reagan can be president, I can trust him, and I see him in the White House (INAUDIBLE)...

STEPHANOPOULOS: So that’s the bar. You think if he can bring that qualified number, he wins.

PRIEBUS: He wins easily. I mean, if people -- number one, who do you want to have a beer with is a -- is a great question on the ballot. He can win that. He’s likable. And people that don’t know, they want to like him. He’s interesting to people. He’s intriguing. But they want to see that Donald Trump in the White House. And he’s getting there and he’s going to pivot there.

Mike Pence is a -- is a mature pick. I think it’s going to help. And I also think he gets it totally.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Clearly, Mike Pence is going to help you here in the convention hall this week. But Democrats are already taking aim at him, saying he’s going to hurt especially with women.

Let’s take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you willing to hold up this entire budget over defunding Planned Parenthood?

GOV. MIKE PENCE (R), INDIANA: Well -- well, of course I am.

I long for the day that "Roe v. Wade" is sent to the ash heap of history.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANOPOULOS: Are you concerned at all that Mike Pence is going to hold you back with the voters you need to attract in the general election?

PRIEBUS: No, I don’t think so, because I think, in many cases, they look at the top of the ticket. But I also think that when you lay it out to the American people in regard to Planned Parenthood and late-term abortion and a lot of the craziness that went on with selling fetal parts and all those sort of disgusting things, people get that (INAUDIBLE)...

STEPHANOPOULOS: There was never any proof of selling fetal parts.

PRIEBUS: OK. We want -- I’m not going to go down that road with you, but the point is, is that even if we don’t discuss that part, most Americans agree that federal money, their tax money shouldn’t be used to help pay for abortions.

And so that piece alone is something that the American people are with us on.

As far as whether Planned Parenthood, you know, provides, you know, contraceptives or things like that, that’s something that gets in the middle. But I think you focus in on that, I think most Americans are with us. But they also look to the top of the ticket on those.

STEPHANOPOULOS: You've still got some "Never Trump" delegates agitating in this convention. You shut them down pretty effectively in the committees on Friday, but many are saying they’re going to look for ways to spring a surprise on the convention floor, maybe force a roll call that will delay the whole proceedings.

PRIEBUS: Right.

STEPHANOPOULOS: How worried are you about that?

PRIEBUS: Well, I mean, if you want to delay the proceedings, you know, they -- all they’re doing is delaying the evening and -- and helping Hillary Clinton. I mean, there -- there is no candidate.

There -- to those people, who is your VP?

What money are you raising?

What is your goal, other than to distract and cause problems?

Look, I...

STEPHANOPOULOS: You sound pretty irritated by that.

PRIEBUS: No. Because -- we offered -- we worked together to get a really good deal together. And at the last second, it just didn’t -- it didn’t happen. And so they didn’t have the votes. And I’m sorry but, you know, if they don’t like the idea that 14 million people in the grassroots picked someone that they -- that they didn’t want to support, well, it’s either -- it’s a binary choice. It’s Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. And Hillary Clinton is going to give us two more Sonia Sotomayors. She’s not going to sign a Paul Ryan budget. This -- we’re here to help save our country. And we have a binary choice. And Donald Trump is the person that’s going to do it.

STEPHANOPOULOS: But you think they might be able to disrupt the proceedings?

PRIEBUS: I don’t know if -- I don’t -- I don't think so, but listen, I’m not going to just shut people down. But I’m also going to make sure that our rules our followed. And I don’t think they’re going to be successful. I don’t think there’s the support there. We demonstrated that last week. We were prepared -- prepared for this week. And we’ll be ready to go.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Compare the conventions. When you look ahead to the Democrats, they’re going to have two presidents speak. They’re going to have the sitting first lady, the sitting vice president. And your convention, the two last Republican presidents are not appearing. The two last nominees are not appearing.

How much does that concern you?

PRIEBUS: It really doesn’t because, you know, I’ve been through -- I’ve been chairman at the last convention. We didn’t have the last two -- you know, our presidents there, which is their choice. And we love them. Not -- the same thing happened in St. Paul.

You know, I think that the reality is, is that there’s a shift in the mood in this country that’s very anti-Washington. The movement on both parties was Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump. We ended up picking the movement candidate. They didn’t pick the movement candidate. And I just have a feeling like surrounding Hillary Clinton with all of these sort of politicians and political fixtures, I don’t know what that gets here. I think that, you know, there’s a real choice here. And a play that’s being made in both conventions. And we’ll find out who made the right choice. I think we will.

STEPHANOPOULOS: This is Donald Trump’s convention. You expecting more surprises this week?

PRIEBUS: You know, there will be a few surprises and I think it’s going to be a little bit different. I don’t think it’s going to be as much to back to back to back, you know, four minutes, four minutes from every politician in America. But there’s going to be some that, and there will be some fun as well.

STEPHANOPOULOS: And I’m going to go out on a limb right now, how much of a bounce do you get?

PRIEBUS: I don’t -- I just want a bounce. I don’t want to predict how big. But I think -- I think Thursday night, Donald Trump on the stage delivering a great speech is going to go a long way for Donald Trump in pivoting to the general.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Mr. Chairman, thanks for joining us.

PRIEBUS: Thank you.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Good luck this week.

PRIEBUS: You bet.

STEPHANOPOULOS: You heard it from the top of the GOP. Now let's hear from voters. All this week our Martha Raddatz was on the road from Dallas to Cleveland talking to voters about their hopes and fears in this wild election year.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTHA RADDATZ, ABC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Five days, 1,500 miles from Dallas to Cleveland. A week in the life of America, or it sometimes felt of many Americas.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I get pulled over, assaulted. These police are scared of black men, period.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From what I see on TV there's a lot of angry people.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've never been stopped by a cop and feared for my life.

RADDATZ: On our first day, I met Brian and Erin Bent who live in the tidy Dallas suburb of Plano.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know, we found ourselves turning off the TV multiple times these last couple of days because even though my daughter can't read, I don't want her to hear gunshots.

RADDATZ: They started to frame in presidential election in the stark language of physical safety. But not how you might expect.

Who will keep your kids safe?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's going to be Hillary.

RADDATZ: You've never voted for a Democrat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have not, you're right.

I feel like I am at an impasse.

RADDATZ: From Dallas, we drove to Ferguson, Missouri, where the police shooting of Michael Brown became a catalyst for the Black Lives Matter movement. Gerald Paul lives nearby.

So, how would you say the relationship between the black community and police department in your neighborhood.

UNIDENITIFIED MALE: Lack of trust. They don't trust them. I'm 50 years old and it's been like that for so long. I mean I had all kinds of experience. I mean, I had the bad ones, but I had some good ones. But I had more of the bad ones.

RADDATZ: Do you know who you'll vote for in the presidential race?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Probably Hillary.

RADDTAZ: do you trust her?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't trust none of them, really.

RADDATZ: Whether you call it an impasse, distrust, indecision, we heard it again and again. This is Berta Benwett (ph), a Mexican immigrant we ran into in Missouri.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm independent and still nobody has convinced me yet. One is too aggressive, and the other is too corrupt.

RADDTAZ: Do you want to tell me which is which?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don't you guess?

RADDATZ: Leaving Missouri, we crossed into Illinois, a state with a big urban rural politicaldivide. In Springfield, the town that launched Barack Obama's political career as a state senator, we wandered into Abe's Old Hat Antiques and met the proprietor Trudy Nailler (ph).

Are you a Hillary Clinton supporter?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I am.

RADDATZ: And why?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because, number one, the other choice would be awful and, number two, I'm a lifelong Democrat.

RADDATZ: Let me ask you about the emails. You heard the FBI director say she was extremely careless.

UNIDENITIFIED FEMALE: Should she have known? Yes.

RADDATZ: There were some full-throated defenders of their candidate. A gun range in rural Illinois is a good place to look.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you see that?

RADDATZ: I got a really simple question. Raise your hand if you're a Donald Trump supporter. OK, that's unanimous. And why?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's pro-gun.

RADDATZ: Westfield, Indiana.

We made it. Last stop on our tour. Mayor Andy Cook.

And you trust Donald Trump?

ANDY COOK, MAYOR OF WESTFIELD: I trust especially Mike Pence because I know Mike Pence.

RADDATZ: Do you trust Donald Trump?

COOK: I'm still figuring that out.

RADDATZ: That's the view from Westfield, now on to the main event.

For This Week, I'm Martha Raddatz, ABC News, Cleveland.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHANOPOULOS: And Martha will be us tomorrow. Our powerhouse roundtable is next here, plus the city of Cleveland on edge. Pierre Thomas and Mayor Frank Jackson here with the latest security threats. What's being done to take them on.

And later, turmoil in Turkey, more terror in France. Secretary of State John Kerry joins us with the U.S. response.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PENCE: Let me say from my heart, having spent some time with the next president of the United States, Donald Trump is a good man and he will make a great president of this nation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANOPOULOS: There's Mike Pence back home in Indiana just hours after being named Donald Trump's running mate. We're going to talk about what he means for the ticket. A lot more what to expect in this convention with our roundtable when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PENCE: Donald Trump understands the frustrations and the hopes of the American people.

TRUMP: I often joke, you'll be calling up Mike Pence. I don't know whether he's going to be your governor or your vice president, who the hell knows.

I've got three people that are fantastic but I haven't made a final, final decision.

Indiana governor Mike Pence is my first choice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANOPOULOS: Took just a few days to get there but Mike Pence is Donald Trump's running mate. Let's talk about that and a whole lot more now on our roundtable, joined by our political analyst, Matthew Dowd; Democratic strategist Donna Brazile; Bill Kristol of "The Weekly Standard;" Alex Castellanos, Republican strategist, also running a pro-Trump super PAC.

I want to get to that V.P. in just a second. Let's begin -- we had this new poll out this morning, as you saw, a 4-point lead for Hillary Clinton among registered voters. There's a new poll out by NBC, shows a 5-point lead; CNN shows a 7-point lead.

Matthew Dowd, this is a fairly stable race, even though, in our polling, it's tightened up a bit over the last few weeks.

MATTHEW DOWD, ABC NEWS SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think this race has stabilized about a month ago or a month and a half ago within a very small range in this.

And I think that's actually beneficial for Hillary Clinton, because the range seems to be trading between even and plus or minus six or seven, which is very good news for her.

We'll see in the aftermath of the convention, the course of this. The other big factor in this is how defined these two characters are and how defined the environment is. Two-thirds of the environment want -- it thinks we're on the wrong track, they want something new. But Donald Trump's unfavorables are very high and her unfavorables are very high.

This is a competition between an environment that wants change and an environment that's very reluctant to go with the change that Donald Trump is proposing.

STEPHANOPOULOS: And, Alex Castellanos, that's why in we just heard Reince Priebus making the point. They think because there is a changed environment out there with the wrong track that if Donald Trump can sort of reassure people past that bar of acceptability, voters who want change will feel free to go there.

ALEX CASTELLANOS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: And we've seen that. You know, when other events dominate the news, whether it's the shooting in Dallas, guess what happens, Donald Trump's numbers actually go up here.

The --

STEPHANOPOULOS: They literally go up. She goes down, right.

CASTELLANOS: She goes down but the race tightens. This race wants to go for change and that's I think the big issue in this country.

Donald Trump is leading Hillary Clinton by 25 points among voters who want sea change in this country and he is change. It's hard for her to make that case when she is so close to Barack Obama and been so big a part of the last eight years.

DONNA BRAZILE, VICE CHAIRWOMAN, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE: Yes, but look at Barack Obama's numbers. Who would have thought at this point in his presidency, given right track-wrong track, that he would be at 56 percent?

She has great personal attributes that voters like, her empathy, personal values. And also voters see her more qualified than Donald Trump. So I think despite the falloff from the past week with the FBI inquiry, Hillary's still in a strong position to expand her base and, I do believe, energize Democrats and others.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Bill Kristol, you're a Republican, who's made no secret of his distaste for Donald Trump over the course of this campaign. What we're seeing though, in our poll, is that he's gone up from about support of about 77 percent of Republicans to up above 80 percent.

How much room does he have to grow there?

BILL KRISTOL, "THE WEEKLY STANDARD": I mean, I think he has some room to grow because I do think he has -- it's a changed election. And the one thing I learned in 1992 in that first Bush White House is that if people want change, they're willing to forgive some of the attributes of the candidate who's for change or willing to rationalize some of the less likable attributes of that candidate, less admirable attributes, if the candidate helps them do that.

Clinton crossed the bar at the Democratic Convention in 1992 with the Gore pick, his own acceptance speech and suddenly a guy who looked questionable before and was running second or third behind Bush and Perot takes the lead --

(CROSSTALK)

STEPHANOPOULOS: So what does Donald Trump --

KRISTOL: -- has to do.

So I -- I think it's a big moment, that Thursday night speech. People, tens, how many millions of people are going to watch that speech?

And if he has the ability -- and I don't think he does -- to say, you know what, I'm running for President of the United States and I regret some of the things I've said during this campaign. I'm a colorful guy. I say what's on my mind. How I made fun of some people in a nasty way; I've said some things about women --

STEPHANOPOULOS: Mea culpa in an acceptance speech.

DOWD: That's an R word he will never use: regret.

KRISTOL: But I do think this is why --

(CROSSTALK)

CASTELLANOS: I don't think you do that.

KRISTOL: Hillary Clinton cannot change the fact that it's the wrong track environment and that she's the candidate of the status quo. What Trump can do is change the fact that he is unacceptable right now as an alternative to Hillary Clinton.

CASTELLANOS: At the end of the day, I think the dreaded positive commercial and the dreaded positive message may make a big difference in these. Both of these candidates --

STEPHANOPOULOS: Haven't seen much of that yet.

CASTELLANOS: -- not yet but I think you will as you go on.

Both of these candidates have very high unfavorable ratings. They need to let you like them. But Hillary Clinton in this survey has a big problem and we know what it is and it's honesty. She is very big on the nine commandments. She has one that is a real issue for her.

DOWD: But Trump has to get across the bar. Hillary, everything is known about Hillary.

(CROSSTALK)

CASTELLANOS: At the end of the day, I think here's how this race resolves. People don't end up voting for Donald Trump. They don't end up voting for Hillary Clinton. They end up voting for themselves; 71 percent in this survey; 68 percent, wrong track, we need a change.

DOWD: Well, what the real dynamics in this poll is that voters right now are voting against somebody, the majority of each party's supporters are basically saying I'm not voting for Donald Trump. I'm voting against Hillary. I'm not voting for Hillary, I'm voting against Donald Trump in this course of this election.

To me, if we had -- go to something I know Bill has talked about -- if there was any credible third-party candidate that could catch fire, that would sort of demand of the public that they consider them, they would be in a great position.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Yes but we put Gary Johnson, Libertarian, in the poll. He doesn't seem to change the race.

BRAZILE: And Jill Stein (ph) on the Green side, they don't change it because even if they catch fire, they cannot what I call get a break in terms of the electoral college.

Look, I do believe it will be a close race because that's where we are as a country but, at the end of the day, voters look for people that they can at least agree with on the issues and Hillary leads on most of the issues.

Donald Trump and Hillary they're tied only on the economy. But I also think, Alex, that empathy, personal values, go back to 2012 with Mitt Romney. Obama, you had a wrong track environment but people believe that Barack Obama cared about them and they believe that Hillary Clinton cares about them and that future.

CASTELLANOS: -- empathy and personal issues, which is why you're going to see a good family on that stage this week and that's going to be very important for Donald Trump.

Maybe the most important thing Donald Trump has built is not a building, it's a great family and that's going to be a great testament to him.

DOWD: Well, to me, that's the real test of this convention that we're about to see over the next four days, which is a test of something that Donald Trump hasn't been very good at, which is consistency of message.

And conventions are only powerful and only have an impact and only change the numbers if through four nights of a convention and four days of going on there is a consistency to the message that you want to convey. My fear for Donald Trump and his supporters is that they're not going to see a consistency of message.

STEPHANOPOULOS: That is one of the big questions right here and you did see Donald Trump make what a lot of people considered a disciplined pick for his vice president when he got Mike Pence.

Clearly going to make conservatives in this convention hall happy. But if you pick up on Alex's point about the positive message, do you think, Bill Kristol, that this convention, by the end of the four days, people will see a different side of Donald Trump?

And is that possible if he doesn't -- if he can't give the kind of speech you're saying he should give?

KRISTOL: Yes, I think he has to, because, I mean, Reince Priebus, in your interview, twice mentioned that he's got to pivot. Well, to pivot successfully you have to account for what has happened before.

Why do 65 percent of the American public think he's not qualified to be President of the United States?

Because of things he has said and done, not because of opposition ads or negative attacks on him.

If he doesn't take account of that, he can run out -- Alex will run an excellent super PAC and Trump can give all the speeches he wants and cavort around. At the end of the day, he will be too risky a change.

If you're the change candidate you still have to get above the bar and he's not above the bar right now of being an acceptable candidate for president.

CASTELLANOS: But if you're not seen as change at all -- and Hillary Clinton isn't. She is not -- she may be seen as qualified to hold the office but not qualified to bring change -- she is continuity when -- she is swimming upstream in this election.

If Donald Trump -- the only one with a positive message, by the way, what is it, make America great again, right.

What is Hillary Clinton's positive message?

BRAZILE: Stronger together.

And let me just tell you --

CASTELLANOS: Oh.

BRAZILE: You keep talking about change, Alex.

Change for what?

Change to hurt people, to hurt minorities, to hurt women, to insult people with disabilities?

I mean, that's why Donald Trump is not the perfect change messenger. He doesn't even look like change.

And if Trump is such a great --

CASTELLANOS: -- perfection.

BRAZILE: -- and if he's -- I agree with that. If Trump is such a great businessman and manager, why does picking a vice president -- which is one of the big tests of a presidential candidate -- why does it devolve into a clown show?

DOWD: Well, I actually think his pick of the vice president was the first time, I mean I think the process, I think they messed up the process; it made it look like a Keystone Kops situation.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Well, it sure seemed like he had second thoughts late Thursday night.

(CROSSTALK)

DOWD: -- his pick --

CASTELLANOS: -- there was a terrorist attack in the middle of all of it, slightly disruptive.

DOWD: Well, it didn't disrupt him to get on FOX News two or three times in the midst of it.

CASTELLANOS: And talk about the attack, yes.

DOWD: But I think that his pick was actually the first time when you saw Donald Trump -- I think there is an assumption by many voters that say I don't think he really believes everything he says. They sort of give him a pass on many things.

And so when he picked somebody like Mike Pence, who is conservative but feels strong and steady, was a governor, was a congressman -- gives him an insight, oh, wait, he may actually put together a cabinet and a team that actually is what I think he might do.

KRISTOL: I think that would be the wise thing to do at this convention, talk about the kinds of people he would have, reassure he would have a serious secretary of state, a serious attorney general, who's not going to use the Justice Department to come after his personal enemies.

Instead, if it's going to be this ridiculous personality show, with his wife, his wonderful family, the three wives, that's really going to be great, Alex.

CASTELLANOS: Oh, no.

KRISTOL: That's what he wants to do, though. He doesn’t want us to talk about issues.

CASTELLANOS: But you're going to see -- I don't know whether he's going to name a cabinet or not. But you're going to see the Republican Party come together. You're going to see a lot of people of that kind of stature, who could be in a cabinet, whether Chris Christie, whether Newt Gingrich, those people are going to be around and on the news all week.

(CROSSTALK)

BRAZILE: Alex, all the big stars are staying home.

CASTELLANOS: But character matters, though, the personality matters. Can we trust this guy and we're going to -- yes, family counts.

KRISTOL: If he can show some character and not just personality, I think he has a chance.

DOWD: I want to speak --

(CROSSTALK)

DOWD: People that have been married more that once, I think if you've been married more than once, you're the ultimate optimist. And if he can present --

(CROSSTALK)

BRAZILE: Whoa.

DOWD: -- if he can present the...

BRAZILE: That's low.

(CROSSTALK)

BRAZILE: As somebody who's never been married but has looked around a lot...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have looked around?

BRAZILE: Hell, yes. I even look around at you sometimes when I'm bored.

(CROSSTALK)

DOWD: -- optimistic vision, but in the end, conventions have to be disciplined. And that's the biggest test of Donald Trump.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

BRAZILE: Look at all of the people who will not be here, all of the rising stars in the Republican Party.

DOWD: That's an amazing thing.

BRAZILE: I mean that is -- that's the amazing thing and the -- the governor of this great state is not going to...

(CROSSTALK)

STEPHANOPOULOS: -- is going to be in Cleveland, he says he's not going to be inside...

BRAZILE: Right.

STEPHANOPOULOS: -- the convention hall.

BRAZILE: Thank you.

CASTELLANOS: I want to...

BRAZILE: I mean...

CASTELLANOS: -- I want to go back to the importance of family again. A lot of czar keys -- if you're going to take me somewhere, what do I want to know, uh, give me the car keys. I want to know where you're going to take me -- policy, plans, make America great again, but I also want to know can I trust you to take me there?

And there's no better test a mid -- to who a person is than the family he's built.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Do you think Donald...

(CROSSTALK)

STEPHANOPOULOS: Wait a second. Hold it. Hold it.

CASTELLANOS: By the way, we hear that...

(CROSSTALK)

STEPHANOPOULOS: Alex...

CASTELLANOS: You're going to see his kids have -- you're going to see how they've been raised and you're going to see the kind of people they've become. Come back in a week and tell me that that does not impress...

STEPHANOPOULOS: So I want...

CASTELLANOS: -- the American people.

STEPHANOPOULOS: You're -- you're part of a pro-Trump super PAC, not part of the Trump team.

But I just want to ask you, do you think Donald Trump knows today what he's going to say Thursday night?

CASTELLANOS: Yes, I think he's been saying it since he started the campaign. I think, you know, at times, certainly he's erratic and he wanders in -- at delivering his message. But the core message has been constant all the way through. And that is that this country is stuck and stagnant and there's something better for us and that the elites who are running it and who think they're better than you have done a terrible job and need to be fired.

And this country needs a change to get all of that done...

STEPHANOPOULOS: On all...

(CROSSTALK)

CASTELLANOS: We could make America great again.

STEPHANOPOULOS: I only have about 10 seconds left...

(CROSSTALK)

CASTELLANOS: She's had it all.

BRAZILE: It might be a good message, but he's the wrong messenger.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Who here thinks that Donald Trump will be ahead at the end of the convention...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think...

STEPHANOPOULOS: -- to get the bounce needs?

DOWD: I think -- I think the problem with it is that as this convention and the other convention begin. So I think -- I don't think we'll ever have a clear insight on that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.

DOWD: If he's not ahead at the end of this, it's a huge problem.

BRAZILE: Correct.

CASTELLANOS: I think he's in a tie race.

STEPHANOPOULOS: A tie race after, we may know after the first week of August, after both.

Thank you all very much.

Up next, this convention after that terror attack in Nice, a coup attempt in Turkey. Donald Trump blames Hillary Clinton and the Obama administration. We're going to hear from secretary of State John Kerry next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

STEPHANOPOULOS: There is a the Turkish president beating back the coup with the help of Face Time.

Now, that coup did collapse within hours, but it's raised new questions about how the U.S. can work with a key ally in the fight against ISIS.

We're going to talk about that and the latest terror in France, with secretary of State John Kerry next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

STEPHANOPOULOS: You see that chaos in Turkey Friday and as the country's president moved to crush an attempted coup just one day after that horrific attack in France, both adding to the global challenges facing the next commander-in-chief.

And Secretary John Kerry is going to join us in a moment.

But first, let's get the latest from ABC's Alex Marquardt in Istanbul -- good morning, Alex.

ALEX MARQUARDT, ABC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, George.

This is one of the bridges over the Bosporus that was briefly shut down by soldiers in these tanks. This morning, President Erdogan is tightening his grip on this country, a vital U.S. ally, carrying out a purge and demanding that the U.S. hand over the cleric who lives in Pennsylvania, who he says is behind this attempted coup.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUARDT (voice-over): Thousands under arrest and dismissed this morning as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan goes to work rooting out those behind this dramatic attempt to seize power. And has singled out a Turkish cleric, Fethullah Gulen, for being behind it all.

The crowd here chanting for his death.

Gulen lives in self-exile on a compound in rural Pennsylvania. He has denied any role in the attempted coup, instead saying it's a Turkish government staged plot.

Erdogan has demanded that President Obama hand him over, setting up a diplomatic showdownwith the U.S.

Turkey is a crucial partner in the fight against ISIS, which this weekend claimed responsibility for the horrific attack in the French city of Nice. A 31-year-old Tunisian with no known terror ties used this 20-ton refrigerator truck to mow down hundreds along the waterfront.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUARDT: France and Turkey are among the country's hardest hit by ISIS or ISIS inspired attacks as it loses ground in Iraq and Syria. The U.S. has boasted about its successes in shrinking ISIS' territory and number of fighters, but ISIS has shown they are still fully capable of carrying out or motivating attacks around the world -- George.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Thanks, Alex. And we are joined now by the Secretary of State John Kerry. Mr. Secretary, thank you for joining us today.

First thing, let's talk about Turkey. Are you confident now that Erdogan is fully put down this coup and is in control of the country?

JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: We believe that is the case. It seems clear. What we hope is that it will literally calm down and this will not have such an open, accelerated amount of retribution or taking advantage. It’s done through a process in a very methodical way. But, yes, it appears as if he is fully in control. And we support that.

STEPHANOPOULOS: You just hinted at one -- you just hinted at one of the concerns here, is that President Erdogan will take this opportunity, use it as an excuse to crush dissent, crack down on democracy even more.

KERRY: Obviously there are coup plotters and the coup plotters need to be held accountable and they will be. But I think we’re -- we’re all concerned. And we’ve expressed that concern that this not fuel a reach well beyond those who engaged in the coup, but that they strengthen the democracy of the country, strengthen the process, and use it as a moment to unite the nation.

STEPHANOPOULOS: As you know, President Erdogan thinks that one of the plotters is this Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen who lives in the United States in Pennsylvania. He’s called for the United States to extradite Mr. Gulen.

I know you said you’re going to consider any evidence. Has Turkey presented any evidence and made a formal request for extradition?

KERRY: There has not been a formal request made, but in the conversation I had with Foreign Minister Cavusoglu yesterday afternoon, I reiterated that the faster they get us the evidence, not allegations but evidence, we will immediately evaluate it. We will do our due diligence. We’re not -- we’re not holding back from doing anything, nor have we ever been. We’ve always said, look, if you have evidence of X, Y or Z, please present to us. Turkey is a friend, Turkey is an ally, Turkey is an important coalition partner in the fight against ISIL, and we’ll do our due diligence within our legal process.

But as you know, and everybody knows, we have very strict standards in order to protect people’s rights. We will go through our legal process. They tell me they are assembling the evidence, putting it together it in a dossier. Their minister of justice will apparently be in touch with us shortly and we look forward to receiving the evidence they have.

STEPHANOPOULOS: As you mentioned, Turkey is an important coalition partner in the fight against ISIL. We’ve seen the suspension of flights from the Turkish air base. How much is this hurting the effort? And how long will it last?

KERRY: Well, the foreign minister emphasized that there will be no effect negatively on Incirlik by them. They are fully committed to the fight. They’re going to continue. That fight is going on. But apparently there was some refueling of some of the aircraft that were flying during the coup that came out of Incirlik, and I think they’re trying to chase that to ground and find out if there were conspiratorialists who were somehow involved in those flights.

But they’ve assured us, and to date we don’t see a negative drag on the effort with respect to counter ISIL.

STEPHANOPOULOS: And in recent weeks, the United States and the coalition had been making progress against ISIL in Iraq and in Syria, but we’ve seen this backlash all over the world, most recently in Nice, France. Is this, in your view, a strategic shift by ISIL? How concerning is it? What can we do about it?

KERRY: Well, of course it’s concerning.

Unfortunately there’s already a dispersion of some people who are supportive of what the ISIL folks are doing. And -- you know, it’s very, very difficult. Worse than a needle in a haystack, to know where one person may suddenly surface, go nuts the way this guy in Nice appears to have been radicalized, and then go out and do something to hurt people.

And so law enforcement authorities have the huge burden, and governments have the huge burden of trying to get this right everywhere, every single instant of every single day. Every day of the year. The terrorist has to get it right for 10 minutes, five minutes, for a moment, where out of nowhere they suddenly appear and decide to do harm to people.

But we believe the network is growing, which is sharing information, which is beginning to gather who is where and how they are connected. I think that frankly there’s been a very significant job done in shutting down many, many different plots in many different places, and that’s why it is so important for us to accelerate the effort against ISIL, which is what President Obama has been working on so hard over the course of these months.

And the president has been directly, personally engaged. We’ve had meetings at the Treasury Department, at the Defense Department, at the State Department regularly assessing how we upgrade what we’re doing, intensify our efforts. And from military to the diplomatic engagement, to various intelligence efforts, we are significantly growing our capacity. And that’s what we will be doing this week when we host 45 nations. Defense ministers and foreign ministers will be gathering in Washington to not only assess where we are, but to lay down plans for how we shut these guys down forever.

STEPHANOPOULOS: As you know, while that’s happening, Republicans are gathering here in Cleveland. Again, yesterday, Donald Trump laid out a broadside against President Obama and his foreign policy, saying it’s caused the Middle East to spin out of control. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Never been like this. Out of control. After four years of Clinton, who really led the way, and led Obama down a horrible path, every single thing they touched has turned to horrible, horrible, death-defying problems.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANOPOULOS: He has also called for a formal declaration of war against ISIL. What’s your reaction to what he said and that call for a formal declaration of war?

KERRY: Let me just say that we have assembled a coalition of 66 nations. We have taken back now more than 40 percent, 45 percent of the territory that ISIL held in Iraq. We have taken back a large percentage of what they held in Syria. About 130 of their major leaders have been taken off the scene of battle forever. They cannot move easily. They’ve had to change their tactics, their revenues have been cut. I think a very significant job is being done under circumstances in which it was clear that the members of the Congress were not prepared to send American troops to Syria. I think that’s still probably true today. I would look forward to somebody who has an alternative plan, if they do.

But we are making, as I said, very significant progress. And the attacks that are taking place -- ISIL has not gained one foot of territory and held it in either Iraq or Syria since we began this effort a year ago. I define that as success. What is difficult are these individual players, some of whom appear to be radicalized at absolutely the last moment by something that we are, you know, still trying to calculate. And in my judgment, we are deeply engaged, we’re making enormous progress, and I believe before the next President of the United States is sworn in, we will have made even greater progress and ISIL will be having a very, very difficult time in both Iraq and Syria.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Mr. Secretary, thanks for your time this morning.

KERRY: Thank you.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Up next, the threat of protests in the shadow of that terror attack in Nice loom large over Cleveland, will the city be safe for the Republican convention?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

STEPHANOPOULOS: And we're back now with the extraordinary security situation here in Cleveland, so tight, we almost didn't get in the arena in time this morning. Our senior Justice correspondent, Pierre Thomas, is here with more on that.

And, Pierre, there are always security issues around a convention; this year, more than ever.

PIERRE THOMAS, ABC NEWS SR. JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, George. One day from the start of the GOP convention and law enforcement is facing perhaps the most volatile and complicated security picture in recent memory.

And what happened In Nice has only intensified those concerns.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

The carnage in Nice happening less than a week after the Dallas massacre and the police killings of black men in Baton Rouge and Minnesota. All this a little more than a month after the massacre in Orlando.

This is the threat picture as the Republican convention is set to begin. Here in Cleveland, the Secret Service and police officials are preparing for every possible contingency, from unruly protesters to lone wolf mass shooters to terrorists.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have to be prepared for everything. It's a different world today.

THOMAS (voice-over): And while there's no specific credible threat to the convention…

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh.

THOMAS (voice-over): -- there are concerns that volatile political organizations from each end of the spectrum can show up and fuel chaos.

JEH JOHNSON, SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: I think we have to be concerned about things getting out of hand very definitely.

JAMES COMEY, FBI DIRECTOR: It's a threat we're watching very, very carefully.

JOSEPH CLANCY, DIRECTOR, SECRET SERVICE: We have been planning for close to a year, tabletops, tactical groups coming together to train in one location.

THOMAS (voice-over): And this taking place in Ohio, an open carry state, where citizens are allowed to openly carry firearms in public places outside the convention perimeter.

THOMAS: The union trying to suggest that you didn't have enough resources.

What say you?

CALVIN WILLIAMS, CLEVELAND POLICE CHIEF: We're prepared. We have enough resources; our officers have been trained and trained and trained.

THOMAS (voice-over): Authorities claim they're ready. Tactical teams from the Secret Service have been training with SWAT teams from Cleveland and the FBI's hostage rescue team. All kinds of technology being deployed including robots.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

THOMAS: George, there are thousands of federal and local police here. Feels like on every corner.

STEPHANOPOULOS: No question about that, Pierre Thomas, thanks very much.

Let's get more on this now from the mayor of Cleveland, Frank Jackson.

Mr. Mayor, thank you for joining us this morning. We just heard Pierre say, up until today, there had been no specific and credible threats to the convention.

Is that still the case?

FRANK JACKSON, MAYOR OF CLEVELAND: Yes.

STEPHANOPOULOS: And what can you tell us about the overall security situation and the kinds of precautions you've put in place?

As we saw there, there had been some concerns from the police union earlier this month that they weren't well trained. They didn't have the resources they needed.

JACKSON: Well, that's from that source. As the chief said, as you heard him say, we are prepared. And we're prepared not only on a local level but at the state and the national level.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Which threat concerns you the most right now?

JACKSON: None of them really. I can't say one threat concerns us. We're prepared for everything.

And, as you know, anytime something happens, particularly if it's unusual, then you tweak and you modify whatever you're doing to accommodate that in order to minimize it or mitigate the possibility of it.

STEPHANOPOULOS: How much was the situation changed by that attack we saw at the end of last week in Nice, France?

JACKSON: I don't know for sure. That's probably a better question for the Secret Service and my police chief and those FBI. But I'm pretty sure that they made some adjustments.

STEPHANOPOULOS: You sound pretty calm right now. That's a good thing for all of us,

But your city has taken, I think, what, $50 million in protest --

(CROSSTALK)

JACKSON: Right.

STEPHANOPOULOS: -- insurance. You know the possibility that there could be real, real unrest out in those streets, perhaps not on this floor.

JACKSON: Well, as you also know, we're not strangers to unrest and demonstrations and protests. So we're prepared for that also. And an insurance policy is what it is. Of course, we would have liked to have had a lower premium associated with that.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Any city would.

JACKSON: That's right but that wasn't the case. So you have to meet whatever the circumstances are.

STEPHANOPOULOS: And how much does Ohio's open carry law complicate the security situation?

I think a lot of people are surprised. You talk to people out on the streets, the idea that you can -- you can't carry glass jars out in the events but you can carry a loaded weapon.

JACKSON: Well, you know, it's the state law. We're -- whether or not we agree with it or not is not -- is irrelevant at this point. It is state law.

But as you also know, there are conditions to open carry which means you can't have open carry if you're brandishing it or pointing it or threatening, that kind of thing.

And we've also had experience in the past with open carry kind of demonstrations at public square and so we've dealt with that before. But the difference is, as you point out, is in the intensity of this moment. And so it's just an added thing that you have to deal with and the added precautions you have to take.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Ready for a long week and late nights?

JACKSON: I'm ready to put this on and do it good.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Mr. Mayor, thanks for joining us.

JACKSON: Thank you very much.

STEPHANOPOULOS: And when we come back, Cokie Roberts on the convention floor after this from our ABC stations.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

STEPHANOPOULOS: Back now with a look ahead to the convention this week, with Cokie Roberts, here on the convention floor.

And, Cokie, I guess this is, what, your 21st convention right now. You've also written a book about first ladies. And the star of tomorrow night is going to be Melania Trump, really the first introduction to most of the American public for Mr. Trump's wife. And this tradition of having the first lady speak relatively new.

COKIE ROBERTS, ABC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. Eleanor Roosevelt spoke in 1940 for the first time and said it was no ordinary time -- and it wasn't. And there was not another first lady to speak until 1972, when Pat Nixon -- and then it became sort of de rigueur after 1984, with both the first lady and the other candidates' wives speaking.

So it's now tradition, And you can hear here, George, they're testing the microphones to see how it's going to go for the voting, which is always an exciting moment at a convention.

I tell you one little tidbit, Nelly Taft went to the -- even though her husband was running as the Republican candidate in 1912, went to the Democratic convention. She was the first First Lady to go to a convention -- and intimidated William Jennings Bryan into saying nice things about her husband instead of mean things.

STEPHANOPOULOS: You mentioned Eleanor Roosevelt saying no ordinary time. I guess that could be the theme of this convention as well. It's not going to be an ordinary convention.

Echoes of any others for you?

ROBERTS: Well, you know, Rules Committee fight sounds so arcane. But the truth is that they can often set the course for the party for years to come.

And when I really saw that most was my first convention in 1964, when the Democrats were having a fight over the Mississippi Freedom Party and integration. And that -- they were not ceded by that convention but the conventions from there on out had very mixed delegations -- and that's true until to this day.

STEPHANOPOULOS: As the chairman of the Republican National Committee, Reince Priebus, said, he does expect a few more surprises this week.

Cokie, I know you'll be here for all of those.

For now that's all for us today. We'll be here all week long in a big way; special editions of "WORLD NEWS," "GOOD MORNING, AMERICA" and "NIGHTLINE" every day. Our prime time coverage every night at 10:00 Eastern, special reports when news breaks plus livestreaming all week long on abcnews.com. I'll see you tomorrow on "GMA."