Conflict at the convention, similarities in the speech, terror on the train. It’s Tuesday, and here are the 5 things you need to know to Get Up to Speed and Out the Door.
1. GOP convention
Donald Trump, a master of reality television, promised to hold the most entertaining political convention the nation had ever seen. Well the 2016 Republican National Convention, which kicked off yesterday in Cleveland, was entertaining all right, but probably not in the way he planned. There was drama from the beginning, with anti-Trump forces being shouted down as they tried to force a roll call vote that could have embarrassed the soon-to-be GOP nominee. Colorado’s entire delegation walked out at that point. Now this was probably the last gasp for the #NeverTrump movement, but still, it’s not a good look. Trump committed an unforced error himself, when he called into Fox News last night, taking attention away from a series of speakers blasting away at Hillary Clinton on Benghazi. Missed all the fun? Here’s Day 1 of the convention in 90 seconds. Want to know who was telling the truth and who was lying? Check out our handy-dandy fact check.
2. Melania Trump
Despite all of the day’s turmoil at the convention, the centerpiece of the night — Melania Trump’s speech on her love for her country as well as her husband — seemed to go well. That was until folks realized that parts of it sounded a lot like Michelle Obama’s speech from the Dems’ 2008 convention. So did she plagiarize? Social media and political commentators on TV say yes. The Trump campaign said, move along, nothing to see here, and noted in a statement that her speech, while written by others, had “fragments that reflected her own thinking.” Which really doesn’t explain anything, but whatever.
3. Police deaths
What a difference a year makes. Shooting deaths of police are up 72% over this time last year. Sunday’s slaying of three police officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, raised the total for the year to 31 deaths, compared to 18 such deaths last year. Is this because of the rhetoric coming from groups like Black Lives Matter? Maybe, says Steve Groeninger of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, who notes that “there are those who are apparently targeting law enforcement because of the uniform they wear or the role they play, and it’s very troubling.”
4. German train attack
An ax-and-knife wielding teen attacked people on a train in southern Germany yesterday, seriously hurting four people. The teen, a 17-year-old Afghan who lived in Bavaria, jumped off the train after the attack and was hunted down by police and killed. Another lone wolf terror attack? Possibly. A hand-drawn flag, that looks a lot like the one used by ISIS, was found in the teen’s room, and he reportedly yelled “Allahu Akbar” during the attack.
5. Brexit
Lots of Brits don’t want to lose the sweet travel perks that come with being part of the EU — like visa-free visits to the 27 other countries in the bloc — so they’re racing to get their hands on passports from other EU nations. Interest in citizenship applications to Germany, Italy, Sweden, Poland and Hungary have soared since last month’s Brexit vote. Germany’s embassy in London was getting 200 calls and emails a day about it. Some Brits are also eyeing an Irish route, since U.K. citizens with Irish parents or grandparents are entitled to passports.
BREAKFAST BROWSE
People are talking about these. Read up. Join in.
About time
NFL’s going to start putting computer chips in footballs in some games next season, so finally the refs can stop guessing (badly) where to place the ball.
Beam me up
The new “Star Trek” series will be on Neflix, but slow your roll, it’ll only be available internationally. You gotta have CBS’ streaming service to see it here.
Take that haters
Leslie Jones put her “Ghostbusters” haters on blast yesterday, putting up their vile, racist tweets for all to see. She received nothing but love in return.
Stagnation generation
Bad news for millennials in the UK. They’re on track to be the first generation to make less money than their parents, says a new report.
Number of the day
2 billion
The number of rides given by Uber, reaching the milestone yesterday, just six months after hitting the 1 billion rides mark back in December.
AND FINALLY …
Water wows
No better way to get through the dry, dog days of summer than watching these wicked water bottle flips.