Im fernando espuelas. The balloons have dropped at the Republican Convention, and democrats will soon be crowning their own nominee later this week in philadelphia. While some may think that the conventions are canned shows with little substance, these gatherings are critically important to the candidates and their chance to win novembers election. Will they be able to unify their respective parties and entice independent voters . Here to explore this critical moment for both parties is the Washington Post politics editor rebecca sinderbrand. She joins me from now cleveland. Rebecca, welcome to the program. Rebecca thanks for having me. Fernando thank you. Lets talk conventions. First, the convention that just ended the Republican Convention. ,i guess one of the biggest surprises was ted cruzs speech, the nonendorsement of trump. Whats behind that . Whas the feeling there . Rebecca well, first of all, the important thing about this week has been the conventions are supposed to give a message of what the party represents, what the candidate wants his image to be. And there has definitely been a message sent this week that may not be exactly the message that the Republican Party hoped to send. A lot of divisions they hoped were behind them were on display this week, and one of those was , of course, ted cruz. Him speaking at the convention was supposed to be a symbol of healing, coming together after a rough and tumble primary season, and instead, it left exactly the opposite impression. Fernando and is it fair to say that he was giving a speech for his 2020 candidacy, as opposed to a speech supporting his partys nominee . Rebecca you look at what he did the whole day before the speech. Essentially, he gave a Campaign Rally where you had supporters chanting 2020. Trumps plane flew overheard, and it was booed. It was a campaign atmosphere. It could have been april of this year all over again. And that feeling continued into his speech that evening. He was very much, very carefully speaking, and while trump knew he was not going to get an endorsement, it hadnt been discussed with cruz aides. Cruz had given him a copy a few hours beforehand, but he had seen there was no endorsement in there. The supporters, trump supporters, did not know that. So as the speech went on, they grew more and more unhappy with what they werent hearing. Fernando i ow conventions are judged relative to each other. So we havent had the democratic convention, but what would be your overall impression of the Republican Convention . Has it been successful . I know there were many issues, but has it been successful . Rebecca at this point, i think it is very tough to say it has. Its been successful in the sense you do have the feeling that the establishment has coalesced around trump. The other side of this, and the other way this convention was going to be judged in a different way than other conventions are judged, is it was one of the first big events that we have seen the Trump Campaign put on. It was very much a test, because there have been questions about their ability to coordinate and organize, get their act together, and there have been missteps this week that have left those questions hanging, even as the convention ended. Fernando and now, rebecca, looking forward, the democrats gathering in philadelphia. Are there expectations that theyll do better . Is there a bigger test they have to do well on . Or in some way has this become kind of a low bar . Rebecca i mean, the democrats are certainly hoping they do better. One of the biggest differences , of course, is that Bernie Sanders clintons chief rival, unlike ted cruz, has endorsed clinton. Unlike in the Republican Party, where you have the top primary challenger Still Holding back, not offering support, with Bernie Sanders it was a long , slow road, but he got there and he says he supports clinton , for president. Hell be speaking at the convention, as well, and you can be sure clinton will want to see a copy well before two hours earlier, which is when the Trump Campaign apparently got a copy of cruzs speech. So we will have to wait and see. Fernando rebecca, thank you so much for joining as. Really appreciate your insights today. Announcer coming up a country , in a state of emergency. But what does it mean for democracy . When we think the fire cant spread any further, it does. Announcer and conventional parties. Wow, its been fun, hasnt it . Announcer and broadwaystyle show stoppers do overthetop campaign theatrics grab your vote . Fernando while republicans at their Cleveland Convention called for projecting americas strength across the world, americas most important ally in the middle east, turkey, was engulfed in a bloody coup attempt. A key pillar of nato and formerly an island of stability in the region, turkey nevertheless dissolved into chaos as factions of the military sought to seize power and kill the democraticallyelected president. But how does this coup affect america . Joining me now to answer that question is michael rubin, resident scholar at the American Enterprise institute and an expert in the middle east. Michael, welcome to the program. Michael thanks for having me fernando. , fernando thank you. The situation in turkey, obviously worrisome how does this impact america posture in the middle east . Michael right now, the chief concern for the United States is the fight against the islamic state. We actually operate aircraft out of a base in southern turkey, and what president erdogan seems to be saying is we wont let you use that base unless you extradite this cleric who lives in exile in pennsylvania. Fernando who is being blamed . Michael who is being blamed for the coup . Fernando right, right. I understand flights have resumes from that base, but on a broader scale, is this really a big hit to the United States . Are we now facing a middle east thats in flames . Michael well, increasingly, when we think the fire cant spread any further, it does. But turkey is a front line state against syria, and you had a newspaper that the president endorsed that actually spread the Conspiracy Theory that United States was responsible for the coup. Now one of the problems is, initially, the u. S. Embassy in ankara, the capitol, originally talked about the uprising, rather than the coup, and a lot of turks are picking up on this. Fernando and is there any validity to that claim . Is the United States behind undermining this regime . Michael no, we are absolutely not undermining this regime. That said, when you have a situation like the coup, a situation as polarized as turkey, it almost seems our policy is that of a gambler that only wants to place his bets on the table once he sees what all of his opponents cards are, and thats not the way to win friends and influence people. Fernando now the president of turkey has been criticized for being an authoritarian figure. Hes trying to amass power, trying to change the constitutional system, so it is president ial, as opposed to parliamentary. In march, you wrote an impression peace talking about the situation today, that there would be a coup. Now that has come to pass. What surprised you on your own prediction . Michael turkey has had four coups before, 1960, 1971, 1980, and 1997, and each time the military worked like clockwise. This time, it didnt. But what also surprised me was the sheer depth of the crackdown afterwards. To arrest more than 50000 people, you had to have that list in advance. So turkey is very polarized, and he faced opposition. He has been very intolerant of that opposition, and he said it was like a gift from god when the coup fizzled and seems like he is willing to run as far as he can in trying to repress society even further. Fernando he has tried. He has made it a crime, or at least its a project in the parliament to make it a crime to criticize him. How does that square with a democratic government that the United States can then support . Michael well, it doesnt, and this is the problem. According to reporters without frontiers, turkey has more reporters, more journalists in , prison per capita than any other country on earth, and that includes china and russia, so we have a real problem. Now erdogan talked about, when he was first running for election, the democratic system, but if you go back to when he was mayor of istanbul back in the 1990s, he said democracy is like a street car, you ride it as far as you need and then you step off, and it looks le he just took a flying leap off that street car. Fernando wow. And another dynamic within this very complex picture is, supposedly, the closing in of the relationship between turkey and russia, which was highly damaged by the shoot down of russian fighter some months ago. Is this putin trying to once again influence the middle east through another country that is an american ally . Whats going on there . Michael you know, when the United States looks at diplomacy, oftentimes we look at diplomacy as how to get to yes, how to come to a winwin situation. When Vladimir Putin looks at diplomacy, its a zerosum game, and so i think his thought process is really quite simply, this ian opportunity to capitalize off the distress of the United States, because, remember, this crisis between turkey and the United States is going to continue as the two governments fight about whether or not to extradite fethullah gulen, this pennsylvaniabased cleric. Fernando lastly, looking ahead, once things stabilize in turkey, do you think this alliance, which goes all the way back to the 1940s, do you think turkey and the United States will once again reconnect or are we seeing , now the beginning of the end . Michael i think we are seeing the beginning of the end. According to a Pew Global Attitude survey, and they survey around the world, turkey is one of the most antiamerican countries on earth right now, even though its a nato ally, ironically. That has a lot to do also with the lack of free press, because the government has found in its favor to whip up nationalist fervor, sometimes even conspiracy theories, and often the United States and americans take the brunt of that. Fernando michael, thank you so much. Really appreciate your insights today. Announcer up next our plan will put a america first. He had his turn. I dont know if any of you subjected yourself to watching the Republican Convention. Now its hers. What advice does this speechwriter have for these two rivals . It continues all the way through the election. Plus, she a ghostbuster on the big screen, but off camera, shes blasting trolls across the internet. The power of penny compels you. Why is this actress waging war against racism . People love my portobello mushroom buttery jack, made with portobello mushrooms, grilled onions, and garlic herb butter. Ever wonder how i came up with it . Well. Actuallyi came up with it at the water cooler. But i thought youd like this cowboy story better. The portobello musoom buttery jack is back. Part of the buttery jack family. Taste it before its gone. Fernando what will Hillary Clinton do to match Donald Trumps broadwaystyle entrance in cleveland . Democratic Convention Planners have probably discarded a peter pan stage flyby, but nevertheless, trump has set the bar high, at least in terms of theatrics. And while countless hours will be spent on the optics of the show, it will be the big political speeches that ultimately persuade voters. With me now to discuss the impact of these speeches is eric schnure, former speechwriter for Vice President al gore. Eric welcome to the program. , eric thank you, pleasure to be here. Fernando thank you. Just a general question to start why should people Pay Attention to speeches at conventions . Eric well, i think its important for most people, because that is really the starting point of a president ial campaign for them. In washington, we hang on every word and every event and every vote even before the primaries, but for most americans, its the first time to watch a candidate learn about their views, about , who they are. And that goes for the parties, as well, learn a little bit about whether that party and that platform aligns with how they feel and what they hope for. Fernando so what do you think, if you were giving trump and clinton some advice on substance and delivery, what would you say . Lets start with trump. Eric so my advice to donald would be, remember, now that you are out of the primaries, you are speaking to voters other than primary voters. That starts with the convention speech, but it continues all the way through the election. His primary voters are not enough to put him over the top, to win ultimately. So my advice to him is more one of content and message, as opposed to delivery. People love his delivery. They love him from tv. They love him from his matteroffactness. They love his bluntness. That is working for him. He shouldnt change that. But the content needs to appeal to a wider audience. With Hillary Clinton its the , opposite challenge. People know that she knows what she is talking about. They dont question what she knows, they question what she can do. She has to find a way to be both forceful but friendly. She has to be tough but trustworthy. So she has a balancing act that she has to do, and that would be my advice to her. To find where is that line . , fernando based on what we have heard and seen at the Republican Convention, what do you think hillary have to do in her speech next week in order to make a big impact . Eric i think it actually starts before her speech, and the biggest contrast will be can hillary and her campaign run a convention smoothly . So all the talk with the Republican Convention, first there was a plagiarism issue, then there was another issue, and then ted cruz stole the show by not endorsing, and then the final night is trumps big speech, but the narrative was different each night because of things that werent managed well. So if Hillary Clinton is going to draw a contrast between what she offers an what donald trump offers, i do not think that starts thursday night with her speech although that is the single biggest moment. It actually starts monday. If the argument is, if they cant run a three, fourday meeting, how are you going to run a country . Well, you contrast that starting monday with look at how smoothly , and on message and disciplined we can run our show. Fernando what is the role of humor in a speech . Often times, if it is successful it would have either an opening , joke or somewhere there is something funny that allows you to maybe engage a bit more. Eric absolutely. I always say to people that humor shouldnt just be at the opening. It has become cliche that we open with a joke. I have a favorite farside cartoon where it is the back of abraham lincoln, and it says ths not a duck, four score , and seven years ago, so its a cliche to use humor at the beginning. But humor can do so much for an audience and audiences, as they might, kind of, be dozing off during the speech, and all the sudden it has a joke, and it lifts them up. It can help make a serious point. You might be able to Say Something, particularly in politics, you might be able to Say Something about your opponent that you otherwise couldnt. And it certainly makes things more memorable, and on top of all of that, it humanizes the speaker. Fernando well, eric thank you so much for joining me today. Coming up next, who ya gonna blame for americas racial divide . I dont know if thats a race thing or a lady thing. How one comic actress is fighting back against twitter trolls. Fernando the allfemale cast of the reboot of ghostbusters is a big hit at the box office. But as i reported earlier, the four female stars were pummeled by waves of genderbased criticism. Perhaps most notorious, leslie jones received an overwhelming barrage of public harrassment by twitter trolls, solely based on the color of her skin. The attacks included vulgar images and cutting words, abhorrent enough to push the actress to leave twitter. And even twitter suspended the accounts of several abusive users. Is this just another example of the continuing racial divide . At the Republican National convention, Colorado Senate candidate darryl glenn blamed president obama. Bethis president ran to commander in chief. Unfortunately, his rhetoric has made him divider in chief. Were more racially divided today than before he ran. Fernando while the racial divide is about 400 years old todays strained racial , environment is undeniable. In looking ahead to the november elections, we have an opportunity to select both local and National Leaders who will work to strengthen us, rather than divide us. Hashtag united. Twitter trolls be damned. Send your thoughts and tweets to matteroffact. Tv. Check in on facebook or connect with our video site for videos from all our programs. When we return, whos hiring . You are. When we return, whos hiring . You are. What job qualifications are you when we return, whos hiring . You are. What job qualifications are you hey guys lunch is here its on me fellas. With the chase mobile app, Stephen Curry can send money to more people in less time. Thanks, steph no problem. Even to friends in a growing numberf other banks. Yall ready to go . Come on fellas lets go easy to use Chase Technology for whatever youre trying to master. Fernando with the Republican Convention behind us and the democratic partys starting, we will soon have a clearer picture of what each of these candidates will do if the American People hire them for president. And while donald trump and Hillary Clinton will grind it out across the country, trying to convince as many people as possible to support them, we the people must also be doing our work as citizens. Are you ready to cast an informed vote . I think this election is pivotal, literally marking the direction of america for years to come. The big choices we make as a country on defense, economic strategy, and immigration, for example, will determine whether america will continue lead the world or step back into isolation. Unfortunately, many people will vote ideologically. Instead of analyzing the mathematical impact of each candidates proposal, they will surrender their vote to emotion and partisanship. But there is another path, dispassionate, factbased analysis. We must demand the true cost of each policy. How will it impact our country . Who wins . Who loses . Verified facts will matter. I would argue that we can no longer afford ideology. These times call for Intelligent National action. Your analysis and vote in november will truly decide the future of our nation. Im fernando espuelas. Have a great week. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] female from studio 20 at kofytv, its the show that makes you sweat to the beat of 70s disco funk. Its kofytvs dance party. Im your dj, dj katie. And now the man who brings the party right into your living room, its our host franco finn. [cheering] kofytv Dance Party Make some noise [cheering continues] are you guys ready to get funky tonight, everybody . Yeah well, this is our 70s disco funk episode. Were having a good old time and, dj katie, lead us into the first song please. All right. Our first song is from the bee gees, night fever. [cheering]