On Wednesday, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence accepted the Republican vice presidential nomination and gave the American people more insight into who he is.
"I'm a Christian, a conservative, and a Republican, in that order," he said. Pence shared that his grandfather was an immigrant, he was raised in southern Indiana with a cornfield in his backyard, and the heroes of his youth were John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. "We were raised to believe in hard work, in faith, and in family," he said, before introducing his mother, Nancy; wife of 31 years Karen; and children Charlotte, Audrey, and Michael.
Pence got in digs against Hillary Clinton, saying she should be disqualified from being president and would be a "third term of Obama," but spent a lot of time talking about Donald Trump. "He is a doer in a game usually reserved for talkers, and when he does his talking he doesn't tiptoe around the thousand new rules of political correctness," Pence said. "He's his own man, distinctly American, and where else would an independent spirit like this find a following than in the land of the free and the home of the brave." On the world stage, Trump will "lead from strength," Pence added, and he will "rebuild the military and stand with our allies, confront radical Islamic terrorism at its source, and destroy the enemies of our freedom." At the end of Pence's speech, Trump came out to shake his hand, the nominee's third appearance at the convention. Catherine Garcia
Poll after poll has shown former Vice President Joe Biden with a growing lead over President Trump, and with COVID-19 cases surging again, the president's approval level is sinking as well. It's all leading Trump to claim "the polls are all fake" and, when he does believe them, beg for advice to turn it all around, Vanity Fair reports.
In recent days, Trump has appeared "down in the dumps," Republicans who have spoken with him tell Vanity Fair. "People around him think his heart's not in it," one Republican close to the White House said of his campaign. Trump is reportedly stuck between appealing to his base and suburban voters, leading him to even call Fox News' Tucker Carlson last week and beg "What do I do? What do I do?"
In other instances, Trump has appeared in denial of his sputtering campaign and claimed "the polls are all fake," a Republican in touch with Trump tells Vanity Fair. But at other times he reportedly believes the polls — and blames them on his son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner. But the reported blame games haven't stopped the bad news from pouring in, namely when it comes to the resumption of campaign rallies where Trump usually thrives. With coronavirus spreading throughout Florida and a mandatory mask policy now in place in Jacksonville, the Trump campaign is reportedly ready to cancel his 15,000-person rally at the Republican National Convention next month "so that Trump doesn’t suffer another Tulsa–like humiliation," Vanity Fair writes.
Read more about Trump's growing campaign woes at Vanity Fair. Kathryn Krawczyk
Hugh Downs, the beloved TV broadcaster who hosted Today and 20/20, has died at 99.
Downs died on Wednesday at his Arizona home, his family confirmed in a statement, The New York Times reports. His great-niece said he died of natural causes, per The Associated Press.
Over the course of his TV career, Downs spent more than 10,000 hours on the air, and he once held the record for the person with the most hours on network television until he was surpassed by Regis Philbin, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Downs hosted Today for nine years beginning in 1962, as well as 20/20 for more than 20 years. He additionally hosted the game show Concentration and was announcer for Jack Paar on The Tonight Show. He retired in 1999.
"Along with his late wife Ruth, he bridged generations with his erudite, compassionate, smart broadcasts," tweeted Geraldo Rivera, adding that Downs was "a great American." Paley Center curator Ron Simon told The Washington Post Downs "represented the entire history of broadcasting," as "whatever the format, he was that consummate, quintessential broadcaster who could adapt his style to what was needed." Brendan Morrow
The FBI has explained why it took a year after the arrest of Jeffrey Epstein to take his associate Ghislaine Maxwell into custody.
Maxwell was arrested Thursday morning in conjunction with the Southern District of New York's investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, who died by suicide last year while awaiting trial on allegations of sex trafficking. She faces five charges, including transporting and enticing minors for illegal sexual acts, as well as committing perjury while testifying in the Epstein case.
The FBI had been "secretly keeping tabs" on Maxwell for the past year, most recently finding she had "slithered away to a gorgeous property in New Hampshire, continuing to live a life of privilege while her victims continue to live with the trauma inflicted upon them years ago," Bill Sweeney, the assistant director of the FBI’s New York Field Office, said in a Thursday press conference. A grand jury had recently voted to indict her, and the FBI "moved when we were ready," Sweeney said.
The indictment details how Maxwell had a "personal and professional relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and was among his closest associates." And from 1994 on, Maxwell allegedly "enticed and groomed multiple minor girls to engage in sex acts" with Epstein, the indictment reads, going on to detail how Maxwell built trust with these victims knowing they would be abused. Find the whole disturbing indictment here. Kathryn Krawczyk