On Friday's episode of The Excerpt: Was this a new Donald Trump on stage for his acceptance speech? USA TODAY Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page says there were signs of a candidate pushing for unity, while still using some of his trademark tactics. Melania Trump raises eyebrows by not making a speech at the Republican National Convention. USA TODAY Investigative Reporter Nick Penzenstadler asks whether history should remember the Trump shooter. Bob Newhart has died at 94. The Paris Olympics will feature an ambitious broadcast plan.

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Taylor Wilson:

Good morning, I'm Taylor Wilson and today is Friday, July 19th, 2024. This is The Excerpt.

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Today, that's a wrap on the Republican National Convention. Plus we discuss how to put the shooter from last weekend's assassination attempt in context. And we remember Bob Newhart.

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Former President, Donald Trump, accepted the GOP's nomination on the final night of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. In all, the speech had more of the air of a campaign rally than a carefully crafted acceptance address. And at 92 minutes, it was the longest acceptance speech in modern times. Still, in the wake of the assassination attempt last weekend, Trump called for unity.

Donald Trump:

In an age when our politics too often divide us, now is the time to remember that we are all fellow citizens. We are one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Taylor Wilson:

For more on Trump's speech and the GOP strategy going forward, I caught up with USA TODAY, Washington Bureau Chief, Susan Page, who joined me from the center of the action in Milwaukee. Susan, thanks for making the time.

Susan Page:

What a convention. These conventions are always so much fun.

Taylor Wilson:

So this was a different RNC than the one we'd been expecting before last Saturday when an assassination attempt was made on former President Trump. There was a lot of talk, Susan, about turning down the rhetoric and unifying the country, and Trump himself struck an emotional tone almost right at the top, recounting the story of the assassination attempt.

Donald Trump:

There was blood pouring everywhere, and yet in a certain way, I felt very safe because I had God on my side. I felt him.

Taylor Wilson:

I felt that. What was your biggest takeaway from Trump's speech last night?

Susan Page:

This was a tale of two speeches, the tale of two Trumps. He started with the compelling story of what he saw, what he felt, what he was thinking during this assassination attempt just five days ago. And that was very moving. Many in the convention hall were moved to tears. But then he went into a riff of the classic Donald Trump full of grievance, complaining about the Democrats saying Biden was first president in American history, referring to crazy Nancy Pelosi. This was not in his script. This was not the plan for his campaign.

So you really got both Trumps there all at once. This convention generally has been trying to recast Trump as a more sympathetic figure, someone with softer edges and it's done that. But in this speech, you saw both possibilities, the classic Trump and the new Trump.

Taylor Wilson:

And you know, Susan, speaker after speaker leading into this final night of the convention described Trump as a kinder and gentler version of the bombastic Trump voters have known in the past. Did he pull that off last night? And was he able to win over any moderate voters?

Susan Page:

That's the question, because Republicans now think it's possible they can have a really sweeping victory in November given the disarray of the Democrats and the shooting and the already iconic photograph of him raising his fist and shouting, fight, fight, fight. That is compelling stuff politically. But you also heard that Donald Trump that has so polarized our politics for nearly a decade, he cast America as a nation in decline and he blamed Democrats for that decline.

Taylor Wilson:

One of the big developments this week was of course Trump's choice of J.D. Vance as running mate. Just how big a part of this convention was Vance, Susan, and what's the tone like around him, among Republicans moving forward with this campaign? Was there a united front around this decision and in general this week?

Susan Page:

This is a united Republican party and there are some elements of the party less than thrilled with J.D. Vance. He's got a very America-first foreign policy. He's spoken against aid to Ukraine for instance. But in general, there was no dispute, no objections about anything, not even about the big changes that were made in the party platform.

Taylor Wilson:

It wasn't that long ago, just a few weeks that the country's focus was on President Joe Biden and his debate disaster. Calls continue from his own party for him to drop out of the race. How big a part of the conversation has that been among Republicans at the convention this week?

Susan Page:

This has given Republicans the hope that they could win not only the electoral college but the popular vote as well. That's something no Republican has been able to do for 20 years. In hopes of not having one of these very close elections that we're accustomed to, but having a more sweeping victory in November.

Taylor Wilson:

Does the Republican strategy change if President Biden drops out and say, Vice President Kamala, Harris or another democratic figure like Governor Gretchen Whitmer becomes the nominee? What's the sense, Susan, after these past few days of the Republican approach here going forward?

Susan Page:

I think Republicans assume as many Democrats do that if Biden isn't nominated, it's going to be Kamala Harris. And Trump's strategists insist that they can hold the vice president as responsible for the record of the administration as the president. That said though, if Biden is not nominated for a second term, if Kamala Harris becomes the top of the ticket, that is going to be a different race in some fundamental ways than the one we've been covering for a year.

Taylor Wilson:

Great insight, as always. At the end of a busy week, Susan Page is USA TODAY's Washington Bureau Chief. Thank you, Susan.

Susan Page:

Thank you.

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Taylor Wilson:

Former First Lady, Melania Trump, attended the convention's final day, but she did not deliver a speech after being mostly absent from the campaign trail this year. The decision not to speak was unusual given her addresses at the 2016 and 2020 Republican conventions. It also ended a tradition dating back to Barbara Bush in 1992, where first ladies and candidate spouses have given such addresses. Trump's son, Eric Trump, did speak at the convention yesterday to say his father has proven that he has not fueled by personal ambition, but by courage, determination, and love for the American people.

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The shooter who attempted assassinating, former president Donald Trump could become a historical footnote, but advocates say the focus should be on motive, not notoriety. I spoke with USA TODAY, Investigative Reporter Nick Penzenstadler for more. Nick, always good to hear from you.

Nick Penzenstadler:

Yeah, thanks for having me.

Taylor Wilson:

So Nick, what does research tell us about notoriety and fame and that for many, would-be assassins or indeed assassins, that's what they're looking for when they carry out these acts?

Nick Penzenstadler:

Yeah, this really picked up steam after obviously some of these heinous school shootings and they call these rampage violence events where relatively unknown people are shooting innocent bystanders. People in malls, churches, theaters, and the victims and their families are left to pick up the pieces. And what they have been lobbying for is to not provide notoriety to these shooters. And there are some folks who've banned it together and put some research behind it that proves that there's both this drive for copycats to perform these acts and then get the notoriety. And also, originally, that's what some of these people are after. They want infamy and notoriety after usually having a life that hasn't had that.

Taylor Wilson:

Yeah. I want to hear a little bit more about this, no notoriety approach to shooters. What have you heard from some of the folks that advocate for this?

Nick Penzenstadler:

Yeah, there's a group that was co-founded by Tom Teves, who we talked to this week, and his son was killed in the Aurora theater shooting. And they have a protocol for journalists and historians that basically says, try to limit the likeness and image and the name of these shooters and to dig into their motivations, their psychology, maybe what drove them, some of the red flags to try to prevent this, but their names, their photos, those can be left aside in this argument to try to deflect that attention and not give them that attention that they're looking for.

Taylor Wilson:

Nick, others say that the publicity for these types of shooters really cannot be avoided in a free society and that it's up to journalists and historians to find the right balancing act. Can you talk through those ideas a bit for us?

Nick Penzenstadler:

Right. So there's kind of this counterbalance, especially with obviously this Trump assassination attempt that some events are going to be churned and studied and their names are part of the historical record. And one of the authors I spoke to said that this particular shooting is going to be hinging on whether it changes the course of history. Obviously, we think of these famous characters with John Wilkes Booth and some of the people who really altered the course of history, and it remains to be seen whether this is a pivotal moment and how this person's going to be remembered.

Taylor Wilson:

I want to get into the history of this a little bit more, Nick. We can clearly learn some lessons about just how last weekend's gunman might be remembered. What is the assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan by John Hinckley Jr. tell us, and could this build to be part of Trump's legacy the way it was for Reagan?

Nick Penzenstadler:

Right. So I talked to this author who wrote a book about this, and John Hinckley Jr. has been studied and written about, and he compared it to that, but it's really a different case. One, because that shooter lived. Two, because he left this huge trove of writings and obsessions, and then he was studied by psychologists and he had a long criminal trial. And then since then, he's been appealing and slowly gaining his freedom back and he's been back in the news. Whereas this Trump shooter, we don't know a lot about him, he's really young, he's 20 years old, and there's not much of a trail of what led up to this as of yet. So kind of a different situation and that might lead to not having as big of a footprint in the future.

Taylor Wilson:

And you touched on this a bit, Nick, but some do say that it is important to learn something about the shooter's past warning signs, at least even if we're trying to forget the shooter's name. What do those folks advocate for as we try to figure out the correct way to understand or talk about this shooting going forward?

Nick Penzenstadler:

Exactly. Yeah. And I talked to Mark Barden who tragically lost his son in the Sandy Hook shooting, and he's working with this group, the Sandy Hook Promise, and their whole thing is not ignoring warning signs. And it's kind of this bystander's syndrome where you may have picked up on something that was concerning, but you didn't say anything or someone was making a joke and you weren't sure if you should take it seriously. And they've put together, again, these resources that are well for students and parents and anyone in society that's supposed to spot these signs, speak up, tell a trusted adult to intervene, and try to stop these things from happening. And their whole point is none of these events have to happen. They're all preventable. Someone can step in and cut this off before it turns tragic.

Taylor Wilson:

All right. Nick Penzenstabler is an Investigative Reporter with USA TODAY. Really interesting and important work here, Nick. I appreciate it.

Nick Penzenstadler:

Yeah, thank you.

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Taylor Wilson:

Bob Newhart has died. He was an accountant when he got his comedy start doing monologues built around one-sided telephone calls. That led to a best-selling landmark 1960 album, the first to receive the Grammy for Best Album, and then to guest stints on variety shows. Newhart would go on to star in his own namesake shows multiple times and become an icon of deadpan humor. Newhart was nominated for Emmy Awards nine times but didn't win until 2013 for a guest appearance on The Big Bang Theory. His characters had a trademark stammer, which he said was not an act, but the way he talked. Bob Newhart was 94.

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NBC has ambitious plans to bring the Paris Olympics to your TV screens later this month. NBC will be the flagship home for coverage, while Peacock will stream every sport and event, including all 329 medal events. One of the unique parts of these Olympics will be the opening ceremony taking place on the Seine River with athletes floating throughout the city. From a technical television perspective, it will be the most complicated event that has ever been produced.

The Olympic Broadcasting Service will have a hundred cameras along the parade route. Each delegation will have access to a live mobile phone camera on the boat. NBC will be tracking the U.S. team's route and the Americans will be second to last down the river because the U.S. hosts the 2028 games in Los Angeles. NBC will then have an additional 40 cameras on the scene. Meanwhile, at USA TODAY and the USA TODAY Network, we'll have dozens of folks on the ground in Paris. That includes photojournalists, reporters, and editors who run our video effort and social media. They'll be covering the athletes' competition and off-the-field issues like security and how to help keep athletes safe during the opening ceremony.

You can read more with a link in today's show notes and the opening ceremony is set for next Friday.

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Thanks for listening to the excerpt. We're produced by Shannon Rae Green and our executive producer is Laura Beatty. You can get the podcast wherever you get your pods, and if you're on a smart speaker, just ask for the excerpt. I'm Taylor Wilson, and I'll be back tomorrow with more of The Excerpt from USA TODAY.

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