Can Cruz’s defiance and other signs of GOP division turn into a plus for Trump?

GWEN IFILL:

For Donald J. Trump, the moment is at hand. The Republican presidential nominee addresses this convention, and the nation, tonight. It comes as the campaign is making a bid for unity, after a day, if not a full week, of division.

Correspondent Lisa Desjardins begins our coverage.

LISA DESJARDINS:

Today's walk-through for Donald Trump and daughter Ivanka at the podium where they will each speak Tonight Was Customary. And then, came the mic test.

DONALD TRUMP, (R) Presidential Candidate: I love the media. They're so honest. They're such honorable people. I love Cleveland. I love Ohio. It's great to be here. Thank you, everybody. I love Cleveland. And they're doing a great job. And the police are doing an incredible job. Thank you very much.

ANNOUNCER:

Ted Cruz of Texas.

LISA DESJARDINS:

But much of the day was dominated by what happened last night, when Trump's primary challenger, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, balked at endorsing the nominee.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-Texas):

Stand and speak and vote your conscience. Vote for candidates up and down the ticket who you trust to defend our freedom and to be faithful to the Constitution.

(SHOUTING)

(BOOING)

LISA DESJARDINS:

As he finished, Cruz was booed off the stage. And his wife, Heidi, was escorted off the convention floor to safety, while Trump delegates vented their anger.

WOMAN:

I'm ticked. Who does he think he is? He lost. He's a poor loser. I'm ashamed of him. He's done, as far as I'm concerned, in the Republican Party.

LISA DESJARDINS:

Some Cruz supporters, on the other hand, defended their man.

MAN:

I don't blame him either way. You know, it was a very bruising primary. I think some of Trump's attacks on him were nasty and personal. And so I can understand why there's still some hesitation, but, again, it's a decision of conscience.

LISA DESJARDINS:

Later, Trump took to Twitter to say: "Ted Cruz got booed off the stage, didn't honor the pledge to support the party's nominee. I saw his speech two hours early, but let him speak anyway. No big deal."

DONALD TRUMP:

Lyin' Ted Cruz.

LISA DESJARDINS:

During the primaries, Trump had referred to Cruz as lyin' Ted and attacked his family members. This morning, the senator showed no sign of backing down at a breakfast for his home state's delegation.

SEN. TED CRUZ:

I am not in the habit of supporting people who attack my wife and attack my father. And that pledge wasn't a blanket commitment that if you go and slander and attack Heidi, that I'm going to nonetheless come like a servile puppy dog and say thank you very much for maligning my wife and maligning my father.

LISA DESJARDINS:

Cruz wouldn't say if he will vote for Trump, but said he would never vote for Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort argued that the show of party divisions may actually rally Republicans behind Trump.

PAUL MANAFORT, Trump Campaign Manager:

In a backhanded way, even with what Senator Cruz did, we think Mr. Trump's commitment to unifying the party was enhanced last night. Senator Cruz, the strict constitutionalist, chose not to accept the strict terms of the pledge that he signed. So, as far as the contract was concerned, he was the one in violation, not anybody else.

LISA DESJARDINS:

All of that demonstrates why unity will be at the top of the agenda on this fourth and final night of the Republican Convention, where the theme will be make America one again.

Speakers leading up to Trump's keynote address will stress unity, leadership, solidarity, and trust, all in an effort to shore up support for their nominee. The lineup includes tech billionaire Peter Thiel, a co-founder of PayPal, and Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin, co-chair of the Republican Platform Committee.

Those outside the Quicken Loans arena are braving scorching heat to show their opposition to Trump. Demonstrators took to the streets this afternoon, and plan to rally again this evening.

Over the convention's first three days, there've been about two dozen arrests, far fewer than initially expected.

For the "PBS NewsHour" in Cleveland, I'm Lisa Desjardins.

GWEN IFILL:

We head down to the convention floor now.

NPR's "Weekend Edition Sunday" host — I always have trouble with that — Rachel Martin is with us this week and next for our joint "PBS NewsHour"/NPR prime-time coverage of the conventions.

Rachel, I see you're in the Washington delegation. What are you watching for tonight?

RACHEL MARTIN:

Well, there's a whole lot of electricity in the hall, as you might imagine, Gwen, because this is the big night. This is when Donald Trump comes out and accepts his party's nomination to be president of the United States.

But as you heard in Lisa's reporting, it's been a tumultuous few days and there are a lot of sore feelings after Ted Cruz's speech last night, so people here today are ready to turn the page. They're going to be looking to Donald Trump to unify this party.

In the speech that he's about to give, we will hear a lot of the themes we have heard throughout the week of an unsteady world, of it's a chaotic world. He wants to be the strong and steady arm that can kind of steer America in the right direction.

Could also be the most scripted thing we have seen him, although his son said he might go off-script, which his supporters are probably looking forward to — Judy and Gwen.

GWEN IFILL:

Thank you, Rachel.