The Republican National convention. Heres lester holt. Good evening, everyone, from cleveland, ohio, where the excitement is building on the floor, as this crowd awaits the woman who could be the next first lady of the United States, Melania Trump. Its been a wild day inside the arena. With us for all of it, chuck todd and savannah guthrie. Were between texas and colorado. We thought there would be fireworks. The stop trump movement, maybe its last gasp. It was, and it was loud. They tried to get a fullfledged roll call, trying to see what they could do. But trump and the rnc gavelled their way out of it. Some delegates tonight who were not part of the never trump movement, didnt like how the Trump Campaign and the rnc treated these folks. This could become a problem later in the week, just for how they treated the detractors. I think of a Political Convention as an outreach for the party, to reach people that may not have been paying attention. But savannah, the tone weve heard here over the last couple of hours is more akin to a rally speaking to the believers. So far weve heard a lot of red meat, speaking to the parts base. Thats part of what the convention is about. But its also about the audience sitting at home, and its the mission of the candidate to then expand out that mission to the general electorate. Its early in the convention. Well see if they can do it. By the way, donald trump breaking with tradition tonight, going to be on this stage to introduce his wife melania. Usually we dont see them until the last night of the convention. We expect to see him very quickly. Stay with me, guys. We want to take you to the tarmac earlier this evening when our matt lauer boarded the trump plane moments after the trumps touched down here in cleveland. An exclusive conversation with donald and Melania Trump ahead of her big speech. Here is some of the conversation. You guys have flown in this plane all across the country for the last year or so. Did this flight feel different . Was there a Different Energy on the plane . A little bit. Theres a lot of energy right next to us, right in that hall. Theres a lot of energy going on. Is it surreal to finally be here . Weve talked about this week for so long, mr. Trump. Is it surreal to be here . I think its just a great feeling. Its a great accomplishment. But the real accomplishment, and you know what it is, make America Great again. Thats what im doing it for. Thats why im doing it. Its a lot of work. Its a lot of activity. But i will say, you see that hall, you see the kind of enthusiasm they have. They want to see something happen. Its make America Great and safe again, matt. One part of the Campaign Ends in that hall tonight, another part begins. Your wife is going to get to speak to the delegates about you. Has she gone over the speech with you . Did you practice it on the plane . I read once over it, thats all, because i wrote it, and with a little help. Are you nervous . It would be okay to be nervous. No. Im excited. Its an exciting night. What do you want to tell the delegates, mrs. Trump, about your husband that they havent learned in the last year . Hes amazing. Shes learned a lot from you. That was really good. Hes an amazing guy. And he really wants to bring america to the next level. Matt is going to have much more with donald and Melania Trump tomorrow morning on today. We expect to see her maybe in about ten minutes, theyre running about ten minutes late. Rudy guiliani, former new york mayor, is right now speaking to the crowd. As i look at the numbers, that puts him about ten minutes or so behind. I dont think thats an accident. I think they want rudy in this 10 00 hour. Guiliani got himself in the 10 00 hour one way or the other. We have hallie jackson, andrea mitchell, and peter alexander. Hallie, who have you been talking to tonight . Hi there, savannah. Were leaving one of the areas near the convention stairs because a protest just erupted outside, were actually being told to move here. What you saw was Donald Trumps convention, night one, interrupted, like so many of his rallies, by a protester, this particular one from code pink. Well show you the vip box, governor pence off to the side, seated next to senator dole, as the Trump Campaign and others here try to show a unified fronted. The family is here too, tiffany trump, along with donald trump jr. And tonight i spoke with donald trump jr. Just moments ago as he was walking out of the vip booth where we finally got back down to now. He said he was unconcerned about the delegate chaos on the floor today, calling it more of a media creation than anything else. He said he was looking forward to melanias speech tonight and his own speech tomorrow. You just saw the vp nominee, mike pence, chatting with bob dole, one of the imminence grises of the party. What was the shouting match on the floor all about . Do you think this is something that will come back later in the week . I think that potential exists. Were here in ohio. As Rudy Guiliani brings the crowd to its feet, no republicans have won the white house without winning this state. Its home state governor, john kasich, basically taking a series of insults from the Campaign Manager for donald trump and from donald trump himself, saying in effect, his Campaign Manager did, that its an embarrassment what hes done. Some of these delegates saying in the past they were right there at the 50yard line. This time around theyve been exiled to left field. Back to you. Rudy guiliani, a guy who has not necessarily been on the same page with jump, seems to be firing up the crowd. Lets see what hes saying. Its time to make america safe again. Its time to make america one again. One america. What happened to theres no black america, theres no White America there is just america . What happened to it . Where did it go . How has it flown away . I know, i know we can change it, because i did it by changing new york city from the crime capital of america to the safest large city in the United States. [ cheers and applause ] what i did for new york, donald trump will do for america. [ cheers ] i have known donald trump for almost 30 years. And he has created and accomplished great things. In my city and all over the world. But beyond that, this is a man with a big heart. Every time new york suffered a tragedy, donald trump was there to help. [ applause ] hes not going to like my telling you this, but he did it anonymously. When Police Officers were shot, when firefighters were hurt, when people were in trouble, he came forward and he helped and he asked not to be mentioned. Well, i am going to break my promise to him. I am going to mention it. This is a man with a big heart who loves people, all people, from the top to the bottom. From the middle to the side. [ applause ] i am telling you this because i am sick and tired of the defamation of donald trump by the media and by the clinton campaign. I am sick and tired of it. This is a good man. [ cheers ] and america should be sick and tired of their vicious, nasty campaign. You deserve to know this about your next president. Hes been a great father. Fatherinlaw, grandfather, and friend to me, my wife judi judith, and my family for now almost 30 years. I know him personally. And this is a very good and decent man. And he will be a great president. Decent protrump speech of the night. Rudy guiliani, former mayor of new york, really playing to the theme, which is make america safe again. I think the line there was, donald trump will do for the United States what i did for new york city. Were also for the first time really hearing a testimonial for the character. He just said this is a person i know, ive known him a long time, he has a big part. An endorsement. Its something that has been missing. It struck me, oh, wow, there had been no trump testimonials. Rick perry, former governor of texas, never uttered his name. And its firing up the crowd. Andrea mitchell has her spot at the podium right near where the speakers step off after theyve given their speeches. Andrea, we would be remiss if we didnt say who is not in this convention hall. A lot of establishment figures, a lot of the graybeards of the Republican Party, not here. The only former republican nominee who is here tonight is bob dole. I talked to him extensively about that today. He said that while he supported jeb bush, that he thinks both jeb and george w. Bush, the former president , should have been here out of respect, and because the Republican Party has been good to them. He said he has not missed a Republican Convention since 1964, and that in fact donald trump, whom he doubted could do this, has now proved that hes beginning to moderate his rhetoric, and can be a credible commander in chief, better, he says, than Hillary Clinton. By the way, rudy juliguiliani is right on the theme of the night now, which is law and order and National Security. And i covered him when he was briefly running for the senate. He is a tough law and order advocate. And thats, were told, what were going to hear from donald trump thursday night, a speech echoing Richard Nixon in 1968. Savannah . Andrea, thank you so much. Were still waiting for Melania Trump to be introduced by donald trump in a short time. Its go back to rudy juliaguiliani who seems to have this crowd eating out of his hand. Our enemy sees us as weak and vulnerable. Donald trump has said the first step in defeating our enemies is to identify them properly and see the connections between them so we can find them and catch them, to defeat islamic extremist terrorists we must put them on defense. If they are at war against us, which they have declared, we must committee ourselves to unconditional victory against them. [ cheers ] this includes undoing one of the worst deals america ever made, obamas Nuclear Agreement with iran. That will eventually [ audience booing ] that will eventually let them become a Nuclear Power and that is putting billions of dollars back into a country thats the Worlds Largest supporter of terrori terrorism. We are actually giving them the money that are funding terrorists and killing our allies. We are giving them the money. Are we crazy . Donald trump will make sure that any agreement with iran meets the original goals of the u. N. And our allies. A nonnuclear iran. [ applause ] donald trump is a leader. He will reassert americas position as the nation with the best values to lead the world. It was Hillary Clinton who advocated for the overthrow of qaddafi and libya. Now libya has in chaos. Hillary clinton is accountable for this and much more. Her dereliction of duty and failure to keep her people safe played a major role, as you heard tonight, in the horrific islamic terrorist murders on september 11th and 12th, 2012, in benghazi, which claimed the lives of four brave americans. Ambassador j. Christopher stevens, Sean Christopher smith, amay they rest in peace. And clinton and the Obama Administration for political reasons, lied about the purpose of the attacks, including Hillary Clinton lying directly to the families of the people who were killed, right to their face. [ audience booing ] Hillary Clintons answer to congress about the death of these four brave americans, because of her gross failures as secretary of state, was, quote, what difference at this point does it make . [ audience booing ] what difference does it make . Watch the video yourself and see the arrogant disregard for american lives lost unnecessarily because of her. And then make up your own mind. Anyone who usa usa usa it means were getting to them. It means were getting to them. It means were getting to them. Anyone who can say that it makes no difference how or why people serving america are killed should not be entrusted with the awesome responsibility to protect them and us and should not be allowed to be our commander in chief. [ applause ] who would trust Hillary Clinton to protect them . I wouldnt. Would you . No donald trump will change all of that and more. In short, he will lead by leading, not by following. You know donald trump will secure our borders. His opponent has had her chance to do this and she has failed. Hillary clinton is for open borders. [ audience booing ] she is in favor of even taking Syrian Refugees even though the Islamic State has told us theyre going to put their operatives in with the Syrian Refugees, operatives who are terrorists, who are going to come to western europe and come here and kill us. Theyve told us that. And she still wants to take in those syrians. We cant afford to repeat the mistakes of the past. [ applause ] Hillary Clintons experience is the basis for her campaign. Hillary clintons experience is exactly the reason she should not be president of the United States. [ applause ] theres no next election. This is it. Theres no more time for us left to revive our great country. No more time to repeat our mistakes of the Clinton Obama years. Rudy guiliani, a former new york mayor with a point by point takedown now of Hillary Clinton after a strong endorsement of donald trump. We are awaiting to see donald trump very shortly. He will be introducing his wife Melania Trump. In the meantime were joined on our panel. Nicole wallace, nbc news political analyst is with us, and former speaker of the house newt gingrich, great to have you. Great to be here. Things didnt turn out exactly as you were hoping for. Oh, i think im very satisfied with mike pence. I think trump and i spent two and a half hours discussing it last thursday. I think given where hes at, he doesnt need, as i put it at the time, a second pirate on the ship. He needed somebody to balance it and to give him access to the republican regulation and the people who were worried about him. I think pence will be a very effective ambassador. We saw the first signs of im not picking you up at all, by the way. Can you hear me now . Oops. Now we lost your mike. We should note were all in these tricky getups here. Were not used to being Britney Spears here. Hey, nicole, since your mike is on, what do you make of the tone so far . Its amazing. The whole night is really underscoring the anxiety. This is sort of anxiety night, big it into focus. I think conventions are a fourpiece story. Tonights installment is about fear, about everything that donald trump thinks he can win by simply being stronger than his predecessor and his opponent. We heard from those who were contractors in benghazi, we heard the families of those who were killed by undocumented workers, very somber. Very grim. I mean, this is the kind of night you leave needing a stiff drink. This is Donald Trumps cor core message. Im sorry, the soundtrack. This song may only mean one thing. There he is. [ cheers ] this is a trumpian way to enter, thats for sure. Very rockstarlike. Yes. Wow. Oh, my. Weve never seen this before. I thought bill clintons walk in 2000 was the rock star entrance. This one may top it. Im not picking up anything. Thank you. We love you. Thank you very much. Oh, were going to win. Were going to win so big. Thank you very much. Thank you. [ cheers ] thank you very much. Thank you. Were going to win so big. Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. Were going to win so big. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, it is my great honor to present the next first lady of the United States, my wife, an amazing mother, an incredible woman, Melania Trump. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. [ cheers ] thank you. Thank you very much. You have all been very kind to donald and me, to our young son barron and our whole family. Its a very nice welcome, and we are excited to be with you at this historic convention. [ applause ] i am so proud of your choice for president of the United States, my husband, donald j. Trump. [ cheers ] and i can assure you, hes moved by this great honor. The 2016 republican primaries were fierce and started with many candidates, 17 to be exact. And i know that donald agrees with me when i mention how talented all of them are. They deserve the respect and gratitude from all of us. [ applause ] however, when it comes to my husband, i will say that im definitely biased, and for a good reason. I have been with donald for 18 years, and i have been aware of his love for this country since we first met. Everyone had a hidden agenda when it comes to his patriotism, because like me, he loves this country very much. [ applause ] i was born in slovenia, a small, beautiful, and thencommunist country in central europe. My sister, an incredible woman and a friend, and i were raised by my wonderful parents. My elegant and hard working mother introduced me to fashion and beauty. My father installed in my a passion for business and travel. Their integrity, compassion, and intelligence reflects to this day on me. And for my love of family and america. [ applause ] from a young age, my parents impressed on me the values that you work hard for what you want in life, that your work is your bond, and you do what you say and keep your