Start your week smart: Assassination attempt on Trump, suspect killed, witnesses describe chaos, reaction and analysis
CNN
CNN’s 5 Things brings you all the news you need to start your week smart.
Let’s get right to the news. There’s a lot to catch up on, so we are devoting the weekend summary to last night’s attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. • What happened: Trump was injured Saturday evening during his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in what the FBI says was an assassination attempt. The gunman and at least one audience member are dead, the Secret Service said, and two other attendees are critically injured. Trump said he was hit by a bullet in the “upper part of my right ear.” Follow live updates.• The suspect: Authorities identified the gunman as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. Crooks fired multiple shots at Trump while perched on the rooftop of a nearby building outside the rally’s security perimeter, authorities said, and was killed by Secret Service agents.• Chaotic scene: Witnesses described the moments after the shooting as “pure insanity.” Rico Elmore told CNN that he jumped over a barricade to comfort an individual who was bleeding after being shot.• Reaction: President Joe Biden spoke with Trump after the shooting and denounced the violence in remarks. Biden returned to the White House from Delaware earlier than planned so he can continue receiving briefings from law enforcement.• Analysis: The attempted assassination opens a dark new chapter in America’s cursed story of political violence. MondayThe Republican National Convention kicks off in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where the GOP will officially nominate Trump as the Republican candidate for the 2024 presidential election. The event is expected to draw some 50,000 people to the city, and security will be on high alert. Trump is also expected to finally announce his choice of a running mate during the convention. If you’re heading to Target, leave your checkbook at home. The retailer will stop accepting personal checks to make checkout easier for shoppers. Target will continue to accept other payment methods, including Apple Pay, SNAP/EBT, buy now/pay later services, Target Circle Cards, its store card, plus cash, credit and debit cards. TuesdaySpeaking of shopping, Amazon’s 10th Prime Day event kicks off just after midnight and runs through the following day. And if you are wondering what all the fuss is about, Amazon raked in nearly $13 billion in sales from customers globally during the event in July 2023. WednesdayThe State Opening of Parliament takes place in the UK, marking the formal start of the parliamentary year and setting out the government’s agenda for the 2024-25 session. The event includes The King’s Speech, which will be read in the House of Lords chamber by King Charles III. The speech is written by the government and contains an outline of its policies and proposed legislation for the new session. The State Opening of Parliament starts with a ceremonial search of the cellars in the Houses of Parliament, commemorating Guy Fawkes’ “gunpowder plot” of 1605.
A Florida teenager has been arrested after he “brandished a machete in an aggressive, threatening posture over his head” at two women Tuesday outside an early voting location near Jacksonville, police said.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk has issued a series of political predictions this week, based on strong Republican showings in early voting turnout data, that former President Donald Trump is “trending toward a crushing victory” in Pennsylvania and that Vice President Kamala Harris should even be “worried about losing Virginia.”
Vice President Kamala Harris maintains a narrow advantage in two of the three “blue wall” states that collectively represent her clearest path to an Electoral College victory over former President Donald Trump, according to new CNN polls conducted by SSRS.
Up to 35 ISIS operatives were killed in US strikes against multiple ISIS camps in Syria on Monday evening, the US military announced on Wednesday.
Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday distanced herself from President Joe Biden’s comments that seemingly referred to Donald Trump’s supporters as “garbage,” setting off a political firestorm a week before Election Day.
A divided Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed Virginia to implement a program that state officials say is aimed at removing suspected noncitizens from its voter registration rolls, siding with Republicans in one of its first significant decisions tied to next week’s election.
A man in Arizona told detectives he put his deceased father’s body in a freezer and moved it around the state for four years — all to keep a roof over his head, police say.
CNN’s 5 Things brings you the news you need to know every morning.
Joe Biden’s withdrawal was almost Trumpian in that it was unexpected, unprecedented and released unpredictable forces. Chief among them, the person the outgoing president tapped to replace him on the ticket, Vice President Kamala Harris.
“The great ones get their backs up. They say ‘No one can do this job as well as I can.’”
Democrats are mounting an unprecedented digital advertising campaign in the closing weeks of the presidential race, pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into a targeted effort that the party hopes will tip the balance in one of the closest elections in US history.