JUDY WOODRUFF: But, in the meantime, as we have been saying, these conventions this year
are like no other in history.
Now Amna, Amna Nawaz, is back with this look at this unique moment and how we ended up
here.
DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: I humbly and gratefully accept your nomination.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
AMNA NAWAZ: Four years ago in Cleveland, then candidate Donald Trump accepted the Republican
nomination for president in front of a roaring crowd of thousands.
DONALD TRUMP: And we will make America great again!
AMNA NAWAZ: But, this year, President Trump will accept a second term nomination from
the quieter and emptier White House South Lawn.
It's been a summer of back-and-forth for the president and Republican officials planning
this year's Republican National Convention.
PHILIP T. ALONGI, Executive Producer, 2012/2016 Republican National Conventions: I don't envy
them, but I do believe this would have been a great learning experience to go through.
AMNA NAWAZ: Phil Alongi was an executive producer for the Republican Conventions of 2012 and
2016. Alongi knows intimately the challenge of engineering a massive event like this under
normal circumstances.
This year, the degree of difficulty is higher.
PHILIP T. ALONGI: Looking at what we're going through with the pandemic and seeing how people
have had to adjust all of how we do production, it must be an un -- daunting task for the
folks at the RNC to pull off a convention.
AMNA NAWAZ: As it did for Democrats and their convention last week, the pandemic forced
Republicans to dramatically scale back plans.
Today, in Charlotte, North Carolina, the host city that would have been the center of the
spectacle, near empty streets and event signs left behind.
LIZ HARRINGTON, Spokesperson, Republican National Committee: It's been a lot of work in the
last few weeks putting together and planning a lot of great content.
AMNA NAWAZ: GOP national spokesperson Liz Harrington tells "NewsHour" that, despite
the challenges, organizers remain optimistic.
LIZ HARRINGTON: We want people to be engaged. We want more live coverage. We want to bring
people together to experience some of these live speeches in a safe way.
And the message really is that we love our country, we're fighting to defend our freedoms,
and we have a big choice election coming up.
AMNA NAWAZ: The road leading up to this week's RNC has been rocky. Tensions about the pandemic's
impact on convention plans started rising back in May, when President Trump criticized
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper for his strict coronavirus guidelines, threatening
to move the convention if they weren't allowed to host a full in-person event.
As the president and others pushed to convene a several-thousand-person event, North Carolina
officials pushed back. In a letter to the RNC, Governor Cooper argued that -- quote
-- "Planning for a scaled-down convention with fewer people, social distancing and face
coverings is a necessity."
In June, Trump and the RNC announced they'd be moving key convention events to Jacksonville,
Florida. But, as Florida's COVID-19 cases continued to rise, and the state started seeing
record spikes, plans for Jacksonville were scrapped the next month.
LIZ HARRINGTON: President Trump, looking at the situation on the ground, made the best
decision for the citizens of Jacksonville, for our delegates, for members of the media
who would have been traveling there and all of our great supporters as well.
AMNA NAWAZ: This week, in North Carolina, the Charlotte Convention Center will host
some party business, like the delegates nominating ceremony.
MAN: The great state of Connecticut is casting all 28 delegates.
AMNA NAWAZ: Normally, thousands of delegates would participate.
WOMAN: Pursuant to the announcement...
AMNA NAWAZ: But, this year, only 336 attended this morning's roll call, six delegates from
each state and territory.
WOMAN: I proudly cast 28 spicy votes for President Donald J. Trump.
AMNA NAWAZ: Other key convention moments will take place remotely, under the theme "Honoring
the Great American Story," and speakers will include a mix of party leaders and everyday
Americans.
The president, who relishes the raucous, live rally experience, will address supporters
from a distance, asking them to turn out for him once again.
For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Amna Nawaz.