MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
The Republic National Convention wraps up tonight with an acceptance speech from the party's nominee for president, Donald Trump.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
The speech comes less than a week after the former president was wounded in an assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania. After the attack, he said he rewrote the speech he'll deliver at the RNC. The big moment at the convention last night came when Trump's running mate Senator J.D. Vance addressed the delegates.
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J D VANCE: I officially accept your nomination to be vice president of the United States of America.
(CHEERING)
MARTIN: NPR national political correspondent Don Gonyea was there, stayed up late for us. Thank you for that. And he is with us now.
DON GONYEA, BYLINE: Indeed. Hi there.
MARTIN: Hi. So Vance has been in the Senate for less than two years. He's 39. You know, he is the author of that bestselling memoir, "Hillbilly Elegy," that was later made into a movie. It gives his perspective on his childhood in rural Ohio. But I don't know whether that means that most potential voters know who he is. So what did he talk about in the speech?
GONYEA: Well, a lot of people read the book, but that doesn't mean voters really know him. He did talk at length last night about his family's struggles, including opioid abuse and addiction, and how there was so much of all of that all around him in the town. He survived it and joined the Marines and served in Iraq. And then after that, it was off to Ohio State University on the GI bill, and then eventually onto law school. But even with his success today, he talked last night about how that life still feels present.
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VANCE: Every now and then, I will get a call from a relative back home who asks, did you know so and so? And I'll remember a face from years ago, and then I'll hear they died of an overdose.
MARTIN: I understand his mother was in the audience.
GONYEA: Beverly Vance was there. She has dealt with drug addiction in her life. But in introducing her, he said his mom is almost 10 years clean. He was not raised by her. His grandparents raised him, and he credited his grandmother last night. He was also introduced by his wife, Usha, who is an attorney. They met at Yale Law School as students. So these were all the prominent women in his life whom he really called out and spoke about in the speech.
MARTIN: So does he relate all of that family history back to the campaign?
GONYEA: He said it all shapes who he is. Expect him to hold a ton of events in working class areas of Michigan and Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, battleground states all. He mentioned them repeatedly last night. And he did this thing where he ties policy decisions over the years, ones he sees as bad decisions by politicians, to his youth. And it reminds people that he is of a new generation of leaders. Give a listen.
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VANCE: When I was in the fourth grade, a career politician by the name of Joe Biden supported NAFTA, a bad trade deal that sent countless good jobs to Mexico.
(BOOING)
GONYEA: You hear the booing there. That line goes on to blame Biden, who was a U.S. senator. He mentions bad trade deals with China. He mentions Biden's support for the Iraq War. That's when he was in 12th grade. So that's kind of the pitch he's giving.
MARTIN: OK, what do we expect to hear from Trump tonight?
GONYEA: We all know about Trump's speeches by now. They're in your face, you know, tons of self-promotion, attacks on political opponents. But Trump has said, since the assassination attempt just five days ago, that he's reworked the entire speech, that it'll be more introspective, more inclusive. We'll see if it actually does seem like a different kind of Trump speech.
MARTIN: That is NPR's national political correspondent Don Gonyea. Don, thank you.
GONYEA: You're welcome.
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MARTIN: Officials in western Pennsylvania are speaking out about the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah, they say the Secret Service failed to secure the building accessed by the shooter while their officers responded quickly to reports of a suspicious person. Now, these officials have now been called to testify on Capitol Hill next week. Lawmakers are demanding answers and accountability.
MARTIN: NPR's congressional correspondent Claudia Grisales is with us to tell us more about all this. Good morning, Claudia.
CLAUDIA GRISALES, BYLINE: Good morning.
MARTIN: So what are lawmakers planning?
GRISALES: The number of congressional investigations into the security plans for this rally are growing by the day. For example, House Speaker Mike Johnson announced one of the newest probes yesterday. And that will be comprised of a bipartisan task force that he plans to launch on Monday. He says this task force will have subpoena power, and he argued they will be able to work faster. These investigations are about the lapses that led to the shooting. But the FBI is conducting its own inquiry into the gunmen's motives, and President Biden ordered an independent review of what happened.
MARTIN: So this seems like a lot - as you just kind of pointed out, there seems to be some overlap here.
GRISALES: Right.
MARTIN: Where do these various things stand?
GRISALES: Right, the Democratic chair of the Senate homeland security panel will lead a bipartisan probe into the shooting, while several individual senators say they're conducting their own investigations. And this is also the case for several members in the House where the Republican-led House Oversight Committee has already subpoenaed the head of the Secret Service, Kimberly Cheatle, who is now set to appear on the Hill on Monday.
And this is as the GOP-led House homeland security panel is also expecting to hear testimony from Cheatle and the heads of DHS, which oversees Secret Service, and the FBI. The panel's chairman for homeland security Mark Green asked law enforcement officials with the Pennsylvania State Police and Butler County, where the shooting took place, to also testify.
MARTIN: So I get the sense that the local officials seem to have a different take on all this.
GRISALES: Exactly. As we mentioned at the top, they're expected to defend their officers in detail, how the Secret Service may have had a lapse in planning. For example, one of those witnesses asked to testify, Butler County Sheriff Michael Slupe, told me his deputies performed their duties at their assigned areas. They went above and beyond before and after the shooting started to help witnesses and assist police in clearing nearby buildings.
And he also recounted that it was an officer from Butler Township who attempted to confront the shooter on the roof. But the shooter aimed at the officer, who had no choice but to turn back. And yesterday, our colleagues obtained a new statement from Butler Township saying their police were largely charged with traffic control, but they responded quickly at reports of a suspicious person and confirmed one of their officers pulled himself up to the roof's edge but had to let go and fall when the shooter took aim at this officer. And another official said they believe this confrontation is what ultimately threw off the shooter's plans.
MARTIN: Where does this all leave the Secret Service?
GRISALES: They are in crisis. Last night at the Republican National Convention, several U.S. senators confronted Cheatle, who was there, sharing this bit of a surreal moment on video where they accused her of stonewalling and saying she owes Trump answers. But we should also note, this is a reminder of how much politics plays out today with these sort of recorded confrontational moments. That said, Cheatle's testimony will be a high-stakes moment for her and the agency on Monday. She was part of a series of virtual closed-door briefings on the shooting yesterday for members that left some leaving the meeting calling for her resignation, including Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell.
MARTIN: That is NPR's Claudia Grisales. Claudia, thank you.
GRISALES: Thank you.
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MARTIN: President Biden has tested positive for COVID. He was in Las Vegas campaigning. The White House said he developed a runny nose and a cough, so he took a COVID test and got the news.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah, now he's back at his beach house in Delaware, where the White House says he'll continue his normal duties, but this comes at a time when very little in his campaign is actually normal. The health of this president and his ability to seek a second term is definitely under the microscope.
MARTIN: NPR senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith is with us now from Milwaukee. Good morning, Tam.
TAMARA KEITH, BYLINE: Good morning.
MARTIN: So what do we know about how the President is doing?
KEITH: Last night as he got on Air Force One to return from Las Vegas, the White House said he'd already taken his first dose of the antiviral drug Paxlovid, and his symptoms were mild with a normal respiratory rate and temperature. But his cough was quite noticeable in an interview he did just before testing positive. We know that his doctor generally says he's in good health for his age. But, you know, he had that cold three weeks ago that he blames for his very bad debate performance.
MARTIN: OK, his age. He's 81. That's been a subject, an issue throughout this sort of campaign season, and especially since that debate where he really struggled to explain himself. Democrats have been asking whether he has what it takes to keep the White House and, frankly, to govern if he does keep the White House. Now he's got COVID. How is that affecting the conversation about this race?
KEITH: You know, a lot of people are getting COVID right now, but talk about terrible timing. Biden was in the middle of a tour meant to shore up support with Democratic base voters and to show those in his party who are anxious about his chances that they're underestimating him, that he has what it takes, that he's vigorous and has the drive to win. And now he's stuck at home instead. And the timing is really bad in another way. Yesterday, prominent House Democrat Adam Schiff called for Biden to pass the torch, adding to a growing list.
And we know that Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer went to see him last Saturday in Delaware, which is unusual. And he's issued a pair of uncharacteristically terse statements since. Schumer said he shared the concerns of Senate Democrats with the president and that the meeting was good - not exactly a ringing endorsement. And House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries has been pretty circumspect as well. So we don't know exactly what these leaders said to Biden. But White House spokesman Andrew Bates told us, quote, "the president told both leaders he is the nominee of the party, he plans to win and he looks forward to working with both of them to pass his 100 days agenda to help working families."
MARTIN: Well, so that sounds like the president is still quite insistent that he is the best candidate and that he is staying in.
KEITH: Publicly, at least, we aren't seeing any cracks from the president or his inner circle of advisers. Two weeks ago, he said only the Lord almighty could convince him to get out of the race. He didn't interview with BET News earlier this week. And in that interview, he said that one thing that could change his mind would be some kind of serious medical condition. When he walked off Air Force One last night in Delaware, he responded to the reporter shouting questions that he was doing well.
But at least for a few days, at this key moment in the campaign with questions swirling about the viability of his candidacy, Biden is going to be largely invisible, isolating at his beach house. Meanwhile, Democrats are fighting among themselves, while Republicans are at their convention here in Milwaukee projecting massive confidence and presenting a united front behind their nominee who just survived an assassination attempt and came out looking stronger.
MARTIN: That is NPR's Tamara Keith. Tam, thank you.
KEITH: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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