The Hill’s 12:30 Report

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The Hill’s 12:30 Report — Live from Cleveland: Trump camp denies plagiarism charge | Priebus says he’d ‘probably’ fire speechwriter | What to watch, where to go on Day 2 | Police out in force, but protests calm | National Daiquiri Day

Happy Tuesday from Cleveland! Filing from Facebook and Glamour’s “mini Oval Office” where Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) just stopped by to admire the tiny replica, I’m Cate Martel bringing you a behind-the-scenes look at the Republican National Convention, the events to watch and fun insider tidbits along the way. And feel free to track my level of delirium. There’s a good chance my reports will get more and more lively throughout the week from sleep deprivation. 😉 Send comments, story ideas and upcoming events to cmartel@digital-stage.thehill.com, @CateMartel and on Facebook.

MOMENT OF THE NIGHT — THROWBACK SPEECH: Via CNN, Trump’s wife Melania gave an effective, concise speech — one of the best of the night. But wait, side-by-side transcripts show at least one passage in Melania’s speech plagiarized Michelle Obama’s 2008 address. Earlier in the day: Melania Trump said, “I read once over it, that’s all, because I wrote it … with [as] little help as possible.”

See for yourself: http://cnn.it/29R2yt7 

— TRUMP CAMPAIGN REACTION: Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort denied allegations of plagiarism, saying they were “common words and values,” He also blamed the uproar on the country trying to “demean” women who criticize Hillary Clinton. Hmmmmm? http://bit.ly/2aqfxUF

— RNC CHAIR REINCE PRIEBUS’S REACTION: I’d “probably” fire Melania Trump’s speechwriter. http://bit.ly/29VTw2N

— AND TRUMP’S FORMER CAMPAIGN MANAGER CHIMES IN: Corey Lewandowski told CNN this morning that if current campaign manager Paul Manafort had the final say on the speech, he
“would do the right thing and resign.” “Whoever signed off with the final sign off that allowed this to go forward should be held accountable,” Lewandowski said Tuesday. http://bit.ly/29ROgsv 

{mosads}MOMENT OF THE DAY — TOTAL CHAOS ON THE CONVENTION FLOOR: An eruption over party rules came after a group of Never Trump supporters seeking to unbind delegates thought they had secured enough signatures to force a roll-call vote on the convention rules. Those delegates were also joined by those looking to decentralize power from the RNC, a change encouraged by allies of Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas). Outcome: The Republican National Committee ignored the outcry and adopted the convention rules by a voice vote. This resembled the loud, vocal fights you see in the British Parliament. http://bit.ly/29Se7B2

— REACTION: DON’T BE THAT GUY, OK?: Via The Hill’s Ben Kamisar and Yours Truly, Donald Trump supporter Scott Brown, a former GOP senator from Massachusetts, warned that convention rules challenges by Ted Cruz supporters could backfire and cause Republicans to view the Texas senator as the “guy that tried to steal the convention.” http://bit.ly/2a8DCQq

THE SCENE OUTSIDE THE CONVENTION:

Protester swag: “Islamophobin” is being handed out at an anti-Trump rally (via The Des Moines Register’s Jason Noble). Photo: http://bit.ly/29QLdDV

Protester chants: “Abolish the police” (via The Hill’s Peter Sullivan). Photo: http://bit.ly/2aoC4kz

Photos: Here are some fascinating photos inside and outside of the convention: http://reut.rs/29QL5o7

Police: There are police EVERYWHERE. There are also lots of men in suits wearing earpieces. The Hill’s Peter Sullivan summed it up well: “Cleveland streets currently basically roving bands of cops wandering around saying hi to each other with no other people in sight.” http://bit.ly/29PWj98

THE SCENE INSIDE THE CONVENTION CENTER: 

Outfit du jour: (Thanks for this gem, Judy Kurtz!) http://bit.ly/29RqoY3 If you see any contenders in person or on social media, send them to me and I’ll feature each day! 

Disco Ball: “I understand all the balloons in the ceiling, but I haven’t figured out the disco ball yet,” tweeted Daily Mail’s David Martosko. Photo: http://bit.ly/29R3OQu I. Must. Know. 

Work it, dude.: “Shoutout to the dude with the killer dance skills. He also does a mean air sax,” tweeted NRO’s Alexis Levinson. Video: http://bit.ly/29R8N0Y

WHAT TO WATCH TODAY: via The Hill’s Ben Kamisar, here are the five things to watch today: http://bit.ly/2aq23YS 

Leaders of the pack: Party leaders, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), House Speaker Paul Ryan (Wis.) and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.), are speaking in support of Trump today. Note: it could be McConnell’s most high-profile defense of Trump.

Theme for the day: “Make America Work Again”

New friends: Speeches from two former rivals-turned-allies, Ben Carson and Gov. Chris Christie (N.J.)

All by myself: Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) takes the stage as the only vulnerable GOP senator who will speak at the convention. 

A Trump we haven’t heard from before: Trump’s 22-year-old daughter Tiffany Trump gets her national stage debut (!).

Not the star-studded bash Trump promised: Trump promised a lot of pizzazz, but the speaker list didn’t include many of the top names he had hoped for. Included are professional golfer Natalie Gulbis, UFC’s Dana White and soap opera star Kimberlin Brown. 

UHH, THIS IS NOT WHAT I WANT TO HEAR: Via The L.A. Times’s Seema Mehta, “At least one staff member of the California GOP at the Republican National Convention has fallen ill with what appears to be the norovirus, or the cruise ship virus, according to a state party warning emailed to the delegation early Tuesday.” http://lat.ms/2a7PQw4

 

NOTABLE TWEETS:

CNN’s Jake Tapper
Please stop sending me the 2008 Obama/DeVal Patrick story and challenging me to report it. I broke it. http://bit.ly/2a62itj

TIME’s Zeke Miller
For the second time today “So happy together” is played by the house band. Starting to think it’s subliminal messaging http://bit.ly/2a4yMUE

Politico’s Hadas Gold
[Trump’s campaign manager] Paul Manafort says he did not know Trump was going to call in to Fox during the emotional Mrs. Smith’s speech http://bit.ly/29Rcmtx

 

EVENTS ON TAP IN CLEVELAND:

3 p.m. EDT: National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Roger F. Wicker and NRSC Executive Director Ward Baker will hold a pen and pad briefing at the Drury Plaza Hotel.

3:30 p.m. EDT: The Hill is hosting a “Pints and Predictions” event featuring former RNC Chair and MSNBC political analyst Michael Steele and Alex Conant, former communications director for Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-Fla.) presidential campaign and partner at Firehouse Strategies. http://bit.ly/2a8abBa

5 p.m. EDT: House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.)and Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) speak at a Morning Consult happy hour.http://huff.to/29JeL4t 

5–7 p.m. EDT: The Black Republican Caucus of Florida is hosting a reception.

6 p.m. EDT: The Washington Post’s Chris Cilizza is hosting a trivia series on U.S. politics, geography and pop culture.

9 p.m. EDT: BuzzFeed is hosting a “Red, White and Blacklisted” event to “celebrate” the media outlets Donald Trump‘s campaign has denied from events. It will feature a “GIF booth.” Here’s the info: http://huff.to/29JeL4t

11 p.m. EDT: Third Eye Blind plays a concert at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

8:30 a.m. tomorrow: Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani speak to the New Hampshire delegation.

10 a.m. EDT tomorrow: Facebook hosts “Make Brunch Great Again,” featuring a mini Oval Office, a Bloody Mary bar, chicken and waffles and donut kabobs. 

10 a.m. EDT: The Hill’s Peter Schroeder is hosting a policy discussion on real estate and the U.S. economy with Evergreen Cooperatives’ Rosalyn “Roz” Ciulla and the American Enterprise Institute’s Edward J. Pinto.

 

NOW STEPPING AWAY FROM POLITICS…:

Today is National Daiquiri Day!

FRONUT ALERT: Via CBS D.C., there will be free doughnuts at the Washington Nationals’ game today outside CF gate. http://cbsloc.al/29R5fBe

IN SPORTS’ NEWS — NO TOTAL BAN ON THE RUSSIAN OLYMPIC TEAM: Via The Associated Press, The Summer Olympic sports federation now says they will deal with individual cases of doping by Russian athletes, rather than a total ban on the country’s team in Rio. http://ti.me/2a5mYmr

And with that, here is a Twitter account that hilariously matches dogs to high school personalities. It’s too real: http://bit.ly/2aqekN1 

 

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