Summary
We’re going to wrap up our live blog politics coverage for the day. Click here for today’s Campaign Minute summary – and see you back here tomorrow!
Yes! The aviators! At the VP's boyhood home in Scranton. pic.twitter.com/4Br4o9ceLj
— Jennifer Palmieri (@jmpalmieri) August 15, 2016
Trump now calls for equal treatment for all Americans:
As your president, I will be your single greatest champion. I will fight to ensure that every single American is treated equal.. we will reject hatred and bigotry... as one American people.
That’s the end, he says thank you, the crowd chants Trump.
Trump compares fight against homegrown jihadis to fight against mafia
“Similar to the effort to take down the mafia, this will be the understood mission of every federal investigator and prosecutor in this country,” Trump describes the job of expunging homegrown jihadism.
Trump proposes a commission on radical Islam to included “reformist voices in the Islam community who will hopefully work with us.”
He says the commission will develop protocols for police, federal investigators and immigration screeners. He calls for a round of applause for law enforcement. Great cheering, then a Trump! Trump! Trump! chant.
“We will also keep open Guantánamo Bay and place a new emphasis on human intelligence,” he says. “Foreign combatants will be tried in military commissions.”
Trump:
Hillary Clinton wants to be America’s Angela Merkel. And you know what a disaster immigration has been to the people of Germany... it is a catastrophe.
We have enough problems in our country. We don’t need more.
Trump describes 'extreme vetting'
Now Trump describes his plan for a new fortress America:
I call it extreme vetting. I call it extreme, extreme vetting. Our country has enough problems. We don’t need more.
On Trump’s list of people to be excluded
– sympathizers of terrorist groups
– those who do not believe in our constitution
– those who believe in bigotry or hatred
– those who believe shariah law should supplant US law
– those not expected to “flourish in our country”
– those who would not embrace American ideals
To put these new procedures in place, Trump explains, we will have to suspend immigration from countries “that have a history of exporting terrorism.”
The state department would ID regions where “adequate screenings cannot take place.” “There are many such regions,” Trump says.
Note: this post has been updated to correct an item on the list of types Trump’s extreme vetting would screen for. The correct entry is “those who believe shariah law should supplant US law” not merely “those who support shariah law.”
Updated
Trump: 'we will work closely with Nato' to fight terror.
Trump says he told everyone “keep the oil, keep the oil, keep the oil” after the invasion of Iraq. He wanted to use oil revenues – Iraqi oil revenues – to heal wounded veterans, he said.
“In the old days, when we won a war, to the victor belonged the spoils. Instead, all we got from Iraq and our adventures in the Middle East was death destruction and tremendous financial loss.” Troops could have been stationed at oil fields and stabilized the country, he says.
Then he says that national building would end under his presidency.
Just to be clear: Trump opposes "nation-building," but supports using US troops for coerced natural resource extraction.
— Micah Zenko (@MicahZenko) August 15, 2016
Trump:
— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) August 15, 2016
"KEEP THE OIL! KEEP THE OIL! KEEP THE OIL!"
[1 min later]
"The era of nation building will be brought to a swift and decisive end"
He wants an international conference with allies in the Middle East including Israel and Jordan and Egypt, and “all others who recognize this ideology of death.”
“We will also work closely with Nato,” Trump says. “I had previously said that Nato was obsolete... since my comments they have changed their policy and now have a new division focused on terrorism.”
Technically true, although the implied cause-and-effect isn’t.
Updated
Trump turns to hit Clinton and Obama for “the reckless way in which they pulled out” of Iraq. “We should never have made such a sudden withdrawal on a time table advertised to our enemies.”
“Who would do this but an incompetent president?” Then he skips back to Libya, then to Syria and Egypt.
Trump:
“It is now time for a new approach,” against “our current strategy of nation building and regime change.”
Trump repeats the lie that he was an opponent of the Iraq war from the beginning; asked by Howard Stern in September 2002 whether he favored the invasion of Iraq, Trump said, “Yeah I guess so.”
Trump, s-l-o-w-l-y:
It all began in 2009 with what has become known as President... Obama’s... American... apology... tour...
Boos.
Trump goes on to hit Obama for his 2009 Cairo speech. He says Obama lacked moral courage and “tried to draw an equivalency between our human rights and theirs.”
“The failure to establish a new status of forces agreement in Iraq” and the scheduling of an Iraqi parliamentary election on an American political timetable “surrendered our gains in that country,” Trump says.
“Hillary Clinton’s policies launched Isis onto the world stage,” he says. He says she “threw the Middle East into turmoil.”
He says the Clintons made almost $60m when she was secretary of state. He says she lacks the judgment, stability, temperament and moral character to lead the USA.
“We cannot let this evil continue,” Trump says. The line draws applause.
“Thank you,” he says. “Thank you.”
Inside the Trump skin suit, Stephen Miller is reading a speech
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) August 15, 2016
Trump, reading from teleprompter today, is turning from one screen to the other, just like the impersonation he does of teleprompter reading
— Jill Colvin (@colvinj) August 15, 2016
Some guy on Valium and giving a swivel-Prompter speech is on cable news.
— Jon Ralston (@RalstonReports) August 15, 2016
Trump is reading this speech very slow and very carefully, even for him.
— Holly Bailey (@hollybdc) August 15, 2016
And he's hoarse. https://t.co/C7rRxuTv9s
— David Catanese (@davecatanese) August 15, 2016
Updated
Trump lists terror attacks
“Today we begin a conversation about how to make America safe again,” Trump says.
He begins with a list of terror attacks going back to the 2013 Boston marathon bombing. When he gets to the shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando he falters in pronouncing LGBTQ. “LG....B..T.....Q” he says.
Trump includes attacks abroad.
“France is suffering gravely, and the tourism industry is being massively affected,” he says. He mentions the Brussels attacks, the Nice attack, the Charlie Hebdo attack, and the 26 July Normandy church attack, which he says happened “a couple of days ago.”
Updated
Trump running mate Mike Pence now introduces Trump:
You will hear today a broad-shouldered vision to confront our enemies, restore our security, and once again have America command the respect of the world.
Giuliani, apparently forgetting where he was, refers to what Trump did “in the state of Indiana.”
He attempts a recovery:
“’Scuse me. We’re going there next. We’re going there next. Youngstown Ohio. I love Youngstown Ohio!”
Giuliani is cracking the crowd up a bit.
“She has destroyed more emails than I have ever written, but of course I don’t do yoga,” he says. Some of Clinton’s emails published by the state department were about yoga.
“Enough about her, because we’re not going to have to think about her after November goes past,” Giuliani says.
“Donald Trump has the intellect, the stamina and the strength to confront our enemies. No one doubts that,” Giuliani says. “And he has the temperament to win.”
“She’s running on her experience,” he says of Clinton, and chuckles audibly. “If I were her, I’d be running away from my experience!”
The crowd likes the line.
Former NYC mayor Rudolph Giuliani appears to introduce Trump.
“Donald is our only hope for change in the way in which we approach radical Islamic terrorism,” he says.
Biden finishes to big applause. Meanwhile Trump is preparing to take the stage in Youngstown, Ohio. Here’s a live stream:
Biden points out that Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah at the weekend repeated Trump’s claim that Obama founded Isis.
Biden quotes Nasrallah:
This is not a simple speech. This is an American presidential candidate. This was spoken on behalf of the American Republican party. And he has the data and documents to back it up.
Biden says it’s plain that for US soldiers abroad, “The threat to their life has gone up a couple clicks.” He points out that the US has been accused of the role in the attempted Turkish coup.
Trump has already made the world less safe, Biden says.
“Hillary has forgotten more about American foreign policy than Trump and his entire team will ever understand.”
Biden: Trump 'can't be trusted' with nuclear codes
Biden says, “There’s a guy who follows me, right back here, who has the nuclear codes. God forbid something happens to the president...”
On Trump:
He’s not qualified to know the code! He can’t be trusted.
Biden hammers Trump, using some lines he debuted at the convention:
What bothers me most about Donald Trump is that his cynicism is unbounded... there’s one thing I’ve noticed...and that is that, the way you were raised, if you ever showed a lack of empathy for someone in trouble... think about the phrase [he’s most proud of], ‘you’re fired’... think about your mother or your father or your grandmother or grandfather would have said to you. Think about what you learned as a child... and he’s trying to tell us that he cares about the middle class. Give me a break. And to repeat myself, it’s just a bunch of malarkey.
This guy doesn’t care about the middle class... because he doesn’t understand it. He doesn’t have a clue. He has no clue.
Biden says that no major party candidate “has known less or has been less prepared to deal with our national security than Donald Trump”:
And what amazes me is, he doesn’t seem to want to learn it... this man is totally, thoroughly unqualified to be president of the United States of America...
People says he lacks the temperament. I’d feel better if that’s all he lacked.
Biden spies members of his extended family in the crowd and interrupts himself.
By the way my family’s right there! How are you, I didn’t even see you. Secret Service, see that beautiful young girl right there? Make sure she gets back when I leave the stage. Because I’m not leaving till I get a hug.
Biden gives the home address of every member of his extended family and names everyone who used to live in the neighborhood.
“If you listen to Barack, you’d think I’d just climbed out of a coal mine with a lunch box. I’m the kid from Scranton,” he says. “Well I am from Scranton. And I was once a kid...
“Home is where your character is stamped. Where it’s stamped into your soul.. to me it was 2446 North Washington, around my grandfather’s table, where I learned that money does not determine you net worth... I learned that no one is worth more than you and that everyone is your equal.”
Biden: People of Scranton "deserve someone who's with them and they deserve someone who's made of the same stuff: That's Hillary Clinton."
— Sabrina Siddiqui (@SabrinaSiddiqui) August 15, 2016
Clinton is going through her punch-punch kick-kick treatment of Trump:
He wants to keep his plan his secret. And then it turns out that the secret is there is no plan.
I said in Philadelphia that a man you can bait with a tweet is not a man you can trust with nuclear weapons... there is no doubt that Donald Trump is temperamentally unfit and totally unqualified to be president of the United States and commander-in-chief.
Clinton says she’s hiring organizers in Pennsylvania and invites sign-ons. Then she turns to Biden.
Clinton is accelerating the pace of her intro. She’s talking fast, fast enough to botch one of her usual lines, her response to Trump accusing her of playing the “woman’s card”. “Well you know what I say,” Clinton says, “if playing the woman’s card is Deal Me In! [sic]” The crowd chants along.
Then Clinton makes her pitch to undecideds.
“I know some of you...have friends that are thinking about voting for Trump,” she says. Boos.
“Friends should not let friends vote for Trump!” she says. Cheers.
Clinton: "Friends should not let friends vote for Trump."
— Sabrina Siddiqui (@SabrinaSiddiqui) August 15, 2016
She advises people with friends considering a Trump vote to tell them that Trump wants trillions in tax cuts for corporations and “Wall Street money managers.”
Clinton: "We need serious leadership. This is not a reality TV show. It's as real as it gets."
— Sabrina Siddiqui (@SabrinaSiddiqui) August 15, 2016
Updated
Clinton is tapping Biden’s local popularity:
“Joe, I hope you know how much, not just Scranton, but America, loves you and your family.”
Lots of cheers.
Clinton’s announcement of the presence of Pennsylvania auditor general Eugene DePasquale gets a robust cheer. It’s a friendly crowd.
Clinton is now introducing Biden. “Wherever he goes he’s always the same guy. A fighter for everyone who needs a champion, for towns like Scranton and above all a fighter for families!”
The crowd chants Joe! Joe! Joe!
Biden and Clinton address campaign rally
Here now are Clinton and Biden. They play them in to Bruce Springsteen’s The Rising, which they played in Grant Park in November 2008 too.
“It is so great to be back in Scranton, Pennsylvania!” Clinton says.
The Clinton-Biden livestream is now bringing us remarks by Bob Casey, the state’s junior US senator. “I’m only going to be up here for two minutes,” he promises.
Here’s a live video stream of the Biden/Clinton event, scheduled to begin in about 15 minutes:
The Biden has landed in Scranton:
.@HillaryClinton greets @VP Joe Biden at Scranton Airport ahead of his first rally with her: https://t.co/b9nXNjK6Ap pic.twitter.com/pCl04zgcKN
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) August 15, 2016
There’s a band to warm up the crowd. We’ll have a live video stream of the event in about 30 minutes.
Live band for @JoeBiden in Scranton, Pa., of course: pic.twitter.com/p5NLujajXM
— Ruby Cramer (@rubycramer) August 15, 2016
Trump to propose 'ideological test' in speech
Donald Trump is expected to propose creating a new, ideological test for admission to the country that would assess a candidate’s stances on issues like religious freedom, gender equality and gay rights, the AP reports:
Through questionnaires, searching social media, interviewing friends and family or other means, applicants would be vetted to see whether they support American values like tolerance and pluralism.
Trump will also declare an end to nation building if elected president, replacing it with what aides described as “foreign policy realism” focused on destroying the Islamic State group and other extremist organizations.
In a speech the Republican presidential nominee will deliver on Monday in Ohio, Trump will argue that the country needs to work with anyone that shares that mission, regardless of other ideological and strategic disagreements.”
Any country that wants to work with the U.S. to defeat “radical Islamic terrorism” will be a U.S. ally, he is expected to say.
“Mr. Trump’s speech will explain that while we can’t choose our friends, we must always recognize our enemies,” Trump senior policy adviser Stephen Miller said Sunday. [...]
Trump on Monday is also expected to outline a new immigration policy proposal under which the U.S. would stop issuing visas in any case where it cannot perform adequate screenings.
It will be the latest version of a policy that began with Trump’s unprecedented call to temporarily bar foreign Muslims from entering the country — a religious test that was criticized across party lines as un-American. Following a massacre at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, in June, Trump introduced a new standard.
“As he laid out in his Orlando remarks, Mr. Trump will describe the need to temporarily suspend visa issuances to geographic regions with a history of exporting terrorism and where adequate checks and background vetting cannot occur,” Miller said.
The candidate is also expected to call in the speech for declaring in explicit terms that, like during the Cold War, the nation is in an ideological conflict with radical Islam.
Updated
Donald Trump is to hold a rally this afternoon at Youngstown state university in Youngstown, Ohio. Polling averages have the race for the state’s 18 electoral votes within two points. Trump campaigned in Columbus, Ohio, on the first of the month, just as Clinton’s post-convention charge began to take hold.
Hillary Clinton’s challenge in Pennsylvania is to run up a lead in Philadelphia and environs, while performing credibly in the Republican-sliding southwest and holding down blue-collar voters in places like Scranton in the north. Which is where Joe Biden comes in – their event together today is set to begin in a couple hours.
Apart from his local ties, Joe Biden could be a powerful ally for Clinton owing to his appeal among white voters without a college education. YouGov polling indicates that while Biden does not enjoy majority favorability with non-college educated white voters at large, his numbers are a lot better than Clinton’s:
Joe Biden and the white working class https://t.co/VjrT79UgEZ pic.twitter.com/bkOCZKWiPM
— YouGovUS (@YouGovUS) August 15, 2016
Manafort denies receiving cash in Ukraine
Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort has denied a New York Times report saying that a secret ledger indicated he received $12.7m in cash from parties aligned with the Moscow-aligned former Ukrainian kleptocrat Viktor Yanukovych.
“I have never received a single ‘off-the-books cash payment’ as falsely ‘reported’ by the New York Times,” Manafort says:
Paul Manafort on @nytimes/Ukraine report: suggestion he accepted cash payments "unfounded, silly and nonsensical" pic.twitter.com/EyQzIOradc
— Hallie Jackson (@HallieJackson) August 15, 2016
Only thing he's denying is getting cash payments. Check? Wire transfer? Gold bullion? https://t.co/txtfBt0IJ2
— Max Boot (@MaxBoot) August 15, 2016
New York rejects Trump in latest state poll
Polling averages showing Hillary Clinton 19 points ahead of Donald Trump in New York state may embarrassingly underestimate the margin of her lead, to believe a Siena College poll out this morning.
Clinton leads Trump in New York by 30 points, 57-27, the poll found. (Siena College is located in the northern suburbs of Albany, the New York capital.) In a four-way race Clinton led Trump by 25 points, according to the poll.
Trump and his kids have repeatedly predicted he would carry his home state. New York went for Ronald Reagan in 1980 and 1984.
Hello and welcome to our live-wire coverage of the 2016 race for the White House. Vice-president Joe Biden was to join Hillary Clinton on Monday for a campaign event in his hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania, whose Working Joe voters and 20 electoral votes Clinton is not taking for granted. Polling averages have Clinton ahead of Donald J Trump by seven points in the state.
What’s leaky, less than 140 characters and smells of sour grapes? Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski’s tweet last night of a New York Times story reporting on a secret ledger showing $12.7m in cash payments to current Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort from former Ukrainian kleptocrat Viktor Yanukovych, that’s what:
Secret Ledger in Ukraine Lists Cash for Donald Trump’s Campaign Chief https://t.co/7bh7iIHHaY
— Corey Lewandowski (@CLewandowski_) August 15, 2016
Lewandowski was booted from the Trump campaign in June, a couple months after Manafort was brought aboard. At the time it appeared that Lewandowski had lost a power struggle with Manafort. Nothing to contradict that impression here.
But this morning, Lewandowski is explaining that he tweeted the story not to spread the word about it but to undermine it. Which makes sense because retweets aren’t endorsements etc.
Alisyn Camerota asks Lewandowski why he tweeted Manafort story: He says he tweeted it to prove NYT biased against Trump campaign
— Dorey Scheimer (@DoreyScheimer) August 15, 2016
Catch up on our weekend coverage of third-party candidates’ attempts to win a place on the presidential debate stage here:
And read more about Trump’s latest attack on the media here:
Thanks for reading and please join us in the comments.
Updated
