--:-- Gideon Resnick: Good morning. It's Friday, July 19th. I'm Gideon Resnick, in for Shamita Basu. This is Apple News Today.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: On today's show, the security failures that led to the assassination attempt against Donald Trump, why Texans are still so angry this long after Hurricane Beryl, and how the late Bob Newhart changed comedy. But first, Donald Trump formally accepted the Republican presidential nomination last night for the third straight time.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: In a speech lasting over 90 minutes, a record for a convention speech in modern history, and the first major address since the assassination attempt, Trump returned to familiar themes that have defined his political ascendance over the last near decade, describing the state of America, as the Washington Post put it, as beset by doom and destruction.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: He accused people crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally as staging an invasion, falsely claimed again that the 2020 election was stolen, and assailed the criminal cases against him.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: What was new was Trump reflecting on the moments when a shooter opened fire at him last Saturday.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: I'm not supposed to be here tonight. Not supposed to be here. Yes, you do. Thank you. But I'm not. and I'll tell you, I stand before you in this arena only by the grace of Almighty God.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: We've heard that same message over and over again this week from other Republicans. Faith and divine intervention have been dominant themes at the RNC, where screens were filled with images of the American flag and the Christian cross.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Attendees could buy Trump-endorsed Bibles for $75. And in his speech, Trump praised the evangelist Billy Graham.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: The former president also returned to other old habits, like lying about his record on the economy. We had the greatest economy in the history of the world.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: It wasn't the strongest in world history, let alone U.S. history. But Trump has been pushing that falsehood for years now, hoping it'll stick.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: And throughout the night in spurts, he tried to sell a message of unity to those watching, pledging to be a president for, quote, all of America. not half.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: As long as our energies are spent fighting each other, our destiny will remain out of reach. And that's not acceptable. We must instead take that energy and use it to realize our country's true potential.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: We can do it together. We will unite. We are going to come together.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: But Trump undercut his own message with sporadic attacks on people at the Justice Department, members of the media and undocumented migrants, who he compared at one point to Hannibal Lecter.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: He also threw barbs at President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party. We have totally incompetent leadership.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Of note, though, Trump only referred to Biden by name at one moment, perhaps a reflection of the uncertainty around whether Biden will in fact be the nominee.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: And from Trump's comments to the musical performances you heard throughout the evening and to chants from the crowd during his speech, it became pretty clear that Trump new rallying cry was the true theme of the evening Fighting Fight fight fight.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Seeing the party unite around Trump like this it may be hard to remember that after losing in 2020, many Republicans thought he was done.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: We spoke to Wall Street Journal political reporter Alex Leary at the RNC before the speech about how Trump managed to reclaim control of the party.
--:-- Alex Leary: Lots of Republicans, including those who had once supported him, were beginning to turn against Donald Trump. They wanted to see a new era come in, something less controversial, the less tumultuous than we saw for the four years of Trump in the White House.
--:-- Alex Leary: The tide was really turning against Trump, but he began to rebuild that after leaving office. He never really lost a real heavy core support of voters across the country, and he knew that.
--:-- Alex Leary: And so he kept working to remain present in the media, and also he was doing rallies. And that core worked for Trump. It helped him shake off a disappointing showing for Republicans in the 2022 midterm elections when a lot of the candidates that he endorsed flopped.
--:-- Alex Leary: And he managed to push aside candidates once seen as strong contenders, like Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley.
--:-- Alex Leary: Now the question is whether Trump can pull off something that no former president has done since Grover Cleveland in the 19th century. Get back into the White House after a loss.
--:-- Alex Leary: Everyone is expecting another close election. Now, the caveat there is the tumult with President Biden, And whether he stays in or out could affect that.
--:-- Alex Leary: But right now, we're looking at what should be another very close election. The opinions of Donald Trump and Joe Biden are very baked into the public.
--:-- Alex Leary: And so we're not seeing a ton of movement so far, even after President Biden's disastrous debate performance of several weeks ago.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Former President Trump praised the Secret Service in his speech. But the agency is facing a lot of criticism for allowing a gunman to get a clear line of sight on Trump at his campaign rally last weekend.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: It's one of the top threats the Secret Service is supposed to prepare for. But local police were involved too.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: And throughout the week, there's been a lot of finger pointing about who is ultimately responsible.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: One big question reporters have been trying to answer. Did law enforcement know about the shooter ahead of time?
--:-- Gideon Resnick: We've learned in recent days that local police noticed the shooter about 20 to 30 minutes before Trump even took the stage.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Police officers on the ground who were supposed to be helping the Secret Service monitor the outer perimeter of the rally were circulating a picture of Thomas Matthew Crooks as a suspicious person who was carrying around a rangefinder, behaving kind of furtively, running around this outer building.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: That's reporter Carol Lennig in a video for The Washington Post. Local police shared the photo with the Secret Service, which is raising questions around why Trump was allowed to go on stage at all.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: In a full two minutes before the gunman opened fire, cell phone video footage shows rally attendees pointing toward the shooter and trying to alert authorities as Trump is speaking in the background.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Criminals! We have criminals! He's on the roof! He's on the roof! We have people that should not be here. Right here, right on the roof!
--:-- Gideon Resnick: The Butler County Sheriff's Office told CNN that they did receive calls about a suspicious person and sent officers to look for the suspect.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Initially, they did not realize he had a gun. But when an officer tried to approach him, the gunman turned his gun on the officer.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: The officer took cover, and that's when the shooter opened fire at Trump.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Another big set of questions is who was responsible for what parts of security for the event Initially Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheadle claimed that local police were in charge of securing the inside and outside of the building where the shooter was ultimately perched.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: But we also know that law enforcement officials told the Secret Service in advance that they did not have the resources to place officers or a patrol car outside of that building.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: In an interview with ABC on Monday, Cheadle said she takes responsibility for the security failures. The buck stops with me. I am the director of the Secret Service.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: It was unacceptable, and it's something that shouldn't happen again. Cheadle has said that she won't resign.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: But several elected Republicans, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, say she should be gone.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas was recently on CNN.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: He did not directly respond when asked who was responsible for the failure, but he did say unequivocally that what happened that day was unacceptable.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: We are speaking of a failure. We are going to analyze through an independent review how that occurred, why it occurred, and make recommendations and findings to make sure it doesn't happen again.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: That is just one of several investigations, including by the FBI. And Cheadle is expected to testify before the House Oversight Committee next week.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Nearly two weeks after Hurricane Beryl slammed into Texas, over 6,000 homes and businesses still have no power in the punishing summer heat.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: There are at least 20 deaths in connection to the storm, with several caused by heat exposure. Beryl made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane, plunging millions into the dark, cutting off critical resources like air conditioning and refrigerators.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Houston bore the brunt. And many residents are furious with Centerpoint, the power utility company.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Locals say it's taking too long to restore power. And experts have criticized the company for poor communication.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: The local ABC affiliate spoke to Patricia Taylor from Houston's Third Ward about a confusing message she received from the company about power in her neighborhood.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: They say we have oil lights, but we don't, so somebody lying.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Now, the blackout caused by Beryl is not an isolated incident. Texas has more weather-related power outages than any other state.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: That's according to data from the U.S. Department of Energy over the last 20 or so years.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: And each time it happens, the conversation turns inevitably to how to make it stop.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: We've got a lot of work to do. People have a right to be frustrated and angry. I share that.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: That's Houston's Mayor John Whitmire. He has blamed Centerpoint. Governor Greg Abbott called for an investigation of the company's response.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: The Texas Tribune reports on why these blackouts keep happening.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: One factor is that lawmakers have focused on power generation more than protecting existing power lines.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Remember, Texas is unique when it comes to energy. It's the only state with its own grid.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: And experts say that infrastructure needs to be much stronger so it can better handle extreme weather.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Here's what Tribune climate reporter Emily Foxhall told us about that.
--:-- Emily Foxhall: Texas has had to make a calculation about how much they want to spend on the power infrastructure we have versus how much they want to charge residents for power who live here.
--:-- Emily Foxhall: And several people are saying, you know, it may be that Texas got that calculation wrong.
--:-- Emily Foxhall: And climate change is definitely a piece of this, right? Heat is getting more intense here hurricanes are more likely to be stronger fire seasons are getting longer
--:-- Emily Foxhall: So the infrastructure that we have built now may not have been built with climate change in mind
--:-- Gideon Resnick: One idea to shore up the grid involves burying power lines underground. But that might not work for areas like Houston that are prone to flooding.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Plus, underground lines are more expensive.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: The state needs to figure out solutions soon, though.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Because as one Houstonian told the New York Times, this hurricane seems to have broken a lot of people.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: And now some are getting ready to leave Texas altogether.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Finally, here are some other stories being featured in the Apple News app.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Major airlines grounded all flights temporarily because of a tech outage around the world.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Broadcasts were taken off air and various industries were affected, from banks to healthcare.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Even emergency services. Alaska and Arizona officials say that some 911 call centers were affected.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: It's apparently connected to an issue at the global cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, and it's having widespread impact on Microsoft software.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: CrowdStrike said it was not a cyber attack, and it's not clear whether all the many problems reported worldwide are linked.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Both CrowdStrike and Microsoft said they have fixed the issues.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Meanwhile, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has been found guilty of spying and sentenced to 16 years in prison by a Russian court.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: He, the Journal, and the American government vehemently deny the charges.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Russian authorities have not provided any public evidence to support the allegations.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: In a previous court appearance, Gershkovich was held in a padlocked box with his head shaven, as required by Russian prison authorities.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: In U.S. legal news, Hunter Biden is calling for the conviction in his gun trial to be thrown out.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: The president's son is pointing to the recent decision from federal judge Eileen Cannon to throw out Trump's classified documents case.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Judge Cannon said the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith in that case was not done properly.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Leaning on that rationale, Hunter Biden's team says that his case should also be dismissed, since it, too, was brought by a special counsel.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: And finally, the comedian and actor Bob Newhart died yesterday, at the age of 94.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Newhart was known for his deadpan approach. Among his many achievements, he popularized comedy albums.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: His first was the button-down mind of Bob Newhart in 1960.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: In 2002, he told CNN how it transformed his career.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: I mean, all of a sudden, you know, two years ago, I was working at the unemployment office, and now I'm getting calls, how many Ed Sullivan shows do you want to do?
--:-- Gideon Resnick: So it was a heady time.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: The album was number one on the charts for a whopping 14 weeks and won three Grammys, including Album of the Year.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Newhart quickly put out a follow-up.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: And as Rolling Stone notes, at one point, Newhart's albums were number one and two on the pop charts.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: It would be decades before another artist pulled that off again.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: And if you are already listening in the news app right now, we have a Narrated article coming up next from Vanity Fair.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: It asks what role the Obamas are playing as some Democrats try to convince Biden to drop out of the race, while others insist he stay in.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: If you're listening in the podcast app, you can follow Apple News Plus Narrated to find that story.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: And we're excited to share that our host, Shamita Basu, will be back with the news on Monday.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Thank you.
