Tuesday morning news: July 16, 2024

AUDIO: The great state of South Carolina proudly cast all 50 of its votes for President Donald J. Trump! [cheers]

Delegates nominate Trump » A majority of delegates from all U.S. states and territories cast their votes for the former president on day one of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. And House Speaker Mike Johnson made it official.

JOHNSON: Donald J. Trump, having received a majority of the votes entitled to be cast at the convention, has been selected as the Republican Party nominee for President of the United States.

And with that, Trump made history, becoming just the third Republican to be nominated for president three times joining Richard Nixon and Thomas Jefferson.

And, of course, he is the only Republican ever to be nominated just two days after being shot by a would-be assassin’s bullet.

Vance vice president » And just hours after Trump announced his running mate, he too was nominated.

AUDIO: Ladies and gentleman, I am proud to announce that Senator J.D. Vance has the overwhelming support of this convention to be the next vice president of the United States. [fade cheers under]

The 39-year-old Ohio lawmaker would be the youngest vice president in roughly 70 years.

Vance served 4 years in the U.S. Marine Corps and is an Iraq War combat veteran.

And Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, just before announcing Vance’s nomination added…

HUSTED: He graduated summa cum laude from Yale Law School and is the author of the best selling book Hillbilly Elegy.

Vance's bestseller about his roots in rural Kentucky and blue-collar Ohio made him a national celebrity in 2016. The book sold more than 1.5 million copies.

Vance was elected to the U.S. Senate just 2 years ago.

Republicans at the convention praised Trump’s choice of Sen. Vance. His fellow GOP Sen. John Kennedy remarked:

KENNEDY:  If I had to pick one word to describe J. D., it would probably be sagacious. And by that I mean he's very astute, he's very thoughtful, he's very rational.

President Biden, though, wasn’t impressed, calling him a “clone” of President Trump on the issues.

RNC security » Security, as one would expect, is extremely tight in Milwaukee. Mayor Cavalier Johnson.

JOHNSON:  The designation that we have here in the city of Milwaukee for this convention is a national special security event. It is the highest designation that, uh, our federal government provides for an event of this caliber, of this magnitude. So I feel pretty confident, uh, in what we've, uh, worked to establish in terms of public safety for this.

The Secret Service and local law enforcement officials also said they were confident in the security measures already in place for this event.

Protestors have gathered outside Mikwaukee’s Fiserv Forum.

AUDIO:  Free, free Palestine! Free, free Palestine! Free, free Palestine!

Some also chanted “no KKK, no fascist USA.” But so far, there have been no security incidents or concerns.

Biden interview/White House on assassination attempt » Less than 24 hours after President Biden delivered an Oval Office address calling on America to turn down the temperature with political rhetoric, he once again called Donald Trump a “threat to democracy.”

In an interview NBC’s Lester Holt asked the president:

HOLT: But have you taken a step back and done some soul searching on things that you might have said that might incite people who are not balanced?

BIDEN: Well, I don’t think — look, how do you talk about the threat to democracy, which is real.

Biden said it was a mistake to tell donors last week that it was time to “put Trump in the bullseye,” but said Trump’s rhetoric is worse.

BIDEN: Look, I’m not the guy that said I want to be a dictator on day one.

That referring to a remark that Trump made last year in jest, drawing laughter from the crowd which the Which the White House has framed as a serious remark in warning as a threat to democracy.

Biden also again took a past Trump comment out of context saying Trump promised a bloodbath if doesn’t win, while in context the former president was referring to the economy.

Case dismissed » A federal judge has dismissed the classified documents case against Donald Trump.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon ruled that the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith to prosecute Trump was unconstitutional. That’s because Congress never approved Smith’s appointment or funding.

Former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani said the ruling was a big win for the former president.

RAHMANI: I think that the election fraud cases are potentially more damaging to Donald Trump, but this was the most readily provable case because Trump affirmatively mishandled classified documents and allegedly obstructed justice. So the fact that the strongest case against the former president was dismissed is a huge win for him.

But speaking to Fox’s America’s Newsroom, Kentucky Congressman James Comer said the entire process was politically motivated from the start.

COMER: All these cases that I consider legal warfare against Donald Trump are falling to the side and the American people can focus now on electing the next leader of the free world.

A spokesman for the special counsel’s office says Smith has been authorized to pursue an appeal.

Hamas » The U.S. State Dept. says negotiators are still working to achieve a cease-fire agreement in Gaza. Spokesman Matthew Miller:

MILLER: We continue to talk with the mediators about, as I said, what the remaining sticking points are and some of the practical ideas that we have and that others have for how to bridge the sticking points.

Israeli officials are still trying to determine if a weekend attack in Khan Younis killed Mohamed Deif the leader of Hamas’ military branch

NETANYAHU: [Speaking Hebrew] Mohamed Deif is a master of murders, the Hamas chief of staff, number two in the chain of command. And was the planner and leader of the 7 October massacre.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Deif was the mastermind behind the October 7 terrorist attack against Israel.

But Israeli Defense Forces have confirmed that the strike did kill the commander of the Khan Younis Brigade.

I’m Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: Case dismissed in Donald Trump’s classified documents indictment. Plus, a graduation speech for troubled times.

This is The World and Everything in It.

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