• On Saturday, a gunman attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump at one of his campaign rallies in Pennsylvania. While Trump was not seriously injured, he said on social media that one of the bullets did graze his ear. President Biden addressed the nation on Sunday evening, acknowledging one of the more shocking instances of political violence in recent history. This all happened just two days before the Republican National Convention kicks off in Milwaukee. We dive into what we know about the shooting so far, and what it means for the week ahead.
• And in headlines: Israel killed dozens of Palestinians in a strike on southern Gaza, half a million people are still without power from Hurricane Beryl, and honor celebrities we lost over the weekend.

• What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcast
• Follow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/

TRANSCRIPT

Tre’vell Anderson: It’s Monday, July 15th. I’m Tre’vell Anderson. 

Josie Duffy Rice: And I’m Josie Duffy Rice and this is What a Day. The show that was not invited to the wedding of the son of the richest man in Asia. The nuptials took place in Mumbai over the weekend and it was a extremely star studded event. 

Tre’vell Anderson: I just think our invite got lost. Okay. You know, it had to cross the ocean, you know. 

Josie Duffy Rice: Why wouldn’t you have us to your wedding? And if you’re listening to this and you’re getting married, invite us. [laughter] [music break]

Tre’vell Anderson: On today’s show, Israel kills dozens of Palestinians in a strike on southern Gaza. Plus, we remember celebrities we lost over the weekend. 

Josie Duffy Rice: But first, on Saturday evening, a gunman attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump at one of his campaign rallies in Pennsylvania. Though Trump was not seriously injured, he said on Truth Social that one of the bullets did graze his ear. He was rushed off stage by the Secret Service. The assassination attempt is one of the most shocking instances of political violence in recent memory, and the AP reports that it was, quote, “the most serious attempt to kill a president or presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981.” 

Tre’vell Anderson: For those who haven’t seen the video, tell us a bit about what happened. 

Josie Duffy Rice: So the rally was held in Butler, Pennsylvania, which is home to around 13,000 people. According to the AP, at about 6:15, as Trump was in the middle of quote, “showing off a chart of border crossing numbers,” there were suddenly gunshots, so Trump immediately reached for the side of his face. He dropped to the ground. Secret service agents then attempted to move him off stage, but not before Trump looked at the audience with blood on his face, mouthing fight, fight, fight and fist pumped the air. Here’s audio of the audience reacting after the fist pump. 

[clip of Donald Trump] Wait wait wait wait. [cheers]

Josie Duffy Rice: He was then taken to the hospital. The Trump campaign said the Republican presidential candidate is, quote, “fine.” Donald Trump junior said in a statement that his father was, quote, “in great spirits.” While Trump was not seriously injured. One person was killed in the shooting. Rally goer Corey Comperatore, a 50 year old former firefighter who lived in the area, was apparently killed after he tried to shield his wife and daughter from the bullets. Two other rally attendees were injured in the shooting and are now in stable condition. The shooter was also killed by the Secret Service immediately following the incident. 

Tre’vell Anderson: And what do we know about the shooter? Who did this? 

Josie Duffy Rice: The shooter was identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20 year old who lived in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. And it’s not immediately clear what, if any, political ideology may have driven him to commit such an act. Like he was a registered Republican, but had apparently donated $15 to Democrats in 2021. According to The New York Times, Crooks had a limited presence on social media. He worked as an aide at a nursing and rehab center and seemed to have no criminal history. Law enforcement has said they believe he acted alone, but investigation into his history and motive is still ongoing. Authorities do know that the AR style rifle used in the shooting was legally owned by his father, and after the shooting, authorities reportedly also found and disarmed a possible explosive device in his car. 

Tre’vell Anderson: Okay. And now how was this gunman able to actually shoot at the president? Right. We always hear about these rallies having tight security. 

Josie Duffy Rice: Yeah, that’s a good question. And on Sunday, in response to the shooting, Biden called for a, quote, “independent review” of the secret services security measures. But what exactly happened is not yet clear. The BBC interviewed one rally goer who claimed that they saw the shooter and tried to alert law enforcement, but he said that they were too slow to respond. 

[clip of unidentified rally goer] We could clearly see him with a rifle. Absolutely. Um. We’re pointing at him, the police are down there running around on the ground. We’re like, hey, man, there’s a guy on the roof with a rifle. And the police are like, huh what, you know, like like they didn’t know what was going on. 

Josie Duffy Rice: It’s worth noting that this is an ongoing investigation. The AP reported that a local police officer who had been alerted to the shooter attempted to climb onto the roof where the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was like hunched, waiting. Crooks then pointed his rifle at the officer, and the officer then climbed back down the ladder. According to the AP. Crooks then quickly fired at Trump. 

Tre’vell Anderson: And as you might imagine, the response from elected officials has been universal in condemning the act. Here’s President Biden in an address from the Oval Office Sunday night, calling on all Americans to de-escalate the political rhetoric. 

[clip of President Joe Biden] There’s no place in America for this kind of violence, for any violence ever. Period. No exceptions. We can’t allow this violence to be normalized. You know, the political rhetoric in this country has gotten very heated. It’s time to cool it down. We all have a responsibility to do that. 

Tre’vell Anderson: And that’s really the tone that we’ve seen from Democrats, especially, calling on folks to unite in this moment and declare political violence as unacceptable. And at the same time, others have noted how the hateful rhetoric of this campaign season, often espoused by Trump and his surrogates, have contributed to a heightened political temperature that could lead to something like this and endangering the safety of not just our electeds, but countless others. Democrat Representative Ritchie Torres even reached across the aisle to partner with Republican Mike Lawler, both represent New York, on a bill they plan to introduce that would enhance Secret Service protection for both Biden and Trump. 

Josie Duffy Rice: Yeah, and today kicks off the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where Trump is set to officially be selected as the nominee. So how has the shooting impacted the RNC? 

Tre’vell Anderson: Well, Trump has said he’s, quote, “defiant in the face of wickedness.” And so he made his way to Milwaukee as planned last night. And the RNC is set to move forward also as planned. Law enforcement officials have said they are expanding the security perimeter around the event so attendees can expect a heavy police presence. But in terms of what’s happening on stage, not much will change. A who’s who of the Republican Party will be giving speeches throughout the four day event. Tucker Carlson, Vivek Ramaswamy, House speaker Mike Johnson, Don junior, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley will also be there, not to mention the mainly men on Trump’s VP shortlist, which includes Ohio Senator JD Vance, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum. We’re still waiting for Trump to announce his pick, but that person is expected to address the convention on Wednesday night. And it seems as if the shooting has really put a battery in the backs of the party in a lot of ways. According to reports, we’ll be hearing a lot of speeches about unity, which was already a theme going into the RNC. So most of the speeches that had already been written before the shooting won’t change much. Obviously, there is so much we still don’t know about the shooting, about how it’ll come up at the RNC, but that is the latest for now. We’ll get to some headlines in a moment, but if you like our show, make sure to subscribe and share it with your friends. We’ll be back after some ads. [music break]

Josie Duffy Rice: Now let’s wrap up with some headlines. 

[sung] Headlines. 

Josie Duffy Rice: An Israeli strike killed at least 90 Palestinians, including children, in southern Gaza on Saturday. Israel was targeting Hamas’s military chief, Mohammed Deif, striking an area that the Israeli military had declared safe for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. The Israel Defense Forces are still investigating whether they killed Deif, who has been in hiding for decades. The IDF did confirm the death of Deif’s believed deputy Rafa Salama during the strike. Hamas says Deif survived the strike and condemned the, quote, “horrific massacre,” according to the AP. Israel, Hamas and many other diplomats are still working to secure a cease fire deal, and it’s unclear what this weekend’s attack could mean. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has maintained that Israel will not stop fighting until all of its military objectives have been fulfilled. 

Tre’vell Anderson: The number of customers without power in Houston fell below 400,000 on Sunday, according to the city’s main energy provider. CenterPoint energy said that it restored power to 1.8 million customers over the weekend. That’s about 80% of the outages caused by Hurricane Beryl. The company also released a new power outage map that indicates which areas have power and when customers can expect to have their power restored. But many Houston residents say it’s not accurate. CenterPoint has not released an estimate for when all of its customers will be back online. 

Josie Duffy Rice: Less than two weeks before the Olympic Games began. Demonstrators took to the streets of Paris on Sunday to honor the hundreds of Ukrainian athletes who have died since Russia began its invasion in 2022. France’s Union of Ukrainians held the march to pay tribute to those who were lost, including some of whom served as soldiers on the frontlines of the war. The vice president of France’s Union of Ukrainians said on Sunday, quote, “these athletes were killed at a time when they could have been training to be chosen for the Olympic Games. Russia did not give them the choice to train and go to Paris.” The International Olympic Committee drew backlash last year when it said that Russian and Belarusian athletes would be allowed to compete in this year’s games amid the war in Ukraine. But the committee has banned them from attending the opening ceremony. 

Tre’vell Anderson: And finally, it was a sad weekend in Hollywood with the deaths of some major stars. On Saturday, actor Shannen Doherty passed away at the age of 53 after a nearly decade long battle with breast cancer. Doherty was best known for starring in and being fired from the hit shows Beverly Hills 90210 and Charmed. But her final act was candidly documenting both her battle with cancer and the many public ups and downs of her life on her podcast, Let’s Be Clear. Like when she talked about what her own funeral might look like on an episode with her best friend. 

[clip of Shannen Doherty] And there’s a lot of people that I think would show up that I don’t want there. 

[clip of Shannen Doherty’s best friend] Right. 

[clip of Shannen Doherty] Like, I don’t want them there. Because the reasons for showing up aren’t necessarily the best reasons, like they don’t really like you. [laughter]

Tre’vell Anderson: Also on Saturday, fitness guru Richard Simmons died at his home in Los Angeles. He celebrated his 76th birthday the day before. Simmons built a fitness empire with his over-the-top personality and his own story of being an overweight teen. He helped countless people lose weight and eat better. And on Friday, we lost famed sex therapist Doctor Ruth Westheimer at the age of 96. Westheimer, popularly known as Doctor Ruth, was a Holocaust survivor. She rose to fame in the 1980s with her call in radio show, Sexually Speaking. She went on to host a handful of TV shows and write dozens of books. Here she is during an interview with CBS’s Sunday Morning back in 2002. 

[clip of Dr. Ruth Westheimer] I’m very conscious that many people are alone, so that’s why I talk about masturbation. If you feel that sexual tension go out, buy a vibrator. It doesn’t have to be the one that I’m suggesting. It can be any vibrator. 

Tre’vell Anderson: I know, that’s right. Westheimer was also one of the first people to use her platform to champion gay rights and talk about the Aids epidemic. In case you want to know more about Dr. Ruth, there is a fabulous documentary on the Hulu about her life and her work. 

Josie Duffy Rice: I will be watching that. 

Tre’vell Anderson: It’s so good.

Josie Duffy Rice: And I will be repeating the Shannen Doherty mantra of even in death, there are people I don’t fuck with. I love that. I was so inspired. 

Tre’vell Anderson: Icons all around, all three of them. 

Josie Duffy Rice: Icons all around. And those are the headlines. 

[AD BREAK] 

Tre’vell Anderson: That is all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, binge watch Charmed and tell your friends to listen. 

Josie Duffy Rice: And if you are into reading and not just wedding guest lists like me, What a Day is also a nightly newsletter. So check it out and subscribe at Crooked.com/subscribe. I am Josie Duffy Rice.

Tre’vell Anderson: I’m Tre’vell Anderson. 

[spoken together] And invite us to your wedding. What are you waiting on? We’re great, we’ll dance, we’ll party.

Tre’vell Anderson: I’m the best dancer. If the music’s good though. 

Josie Duffy Rice: I’m not. [laughter] I’m not. But I’m enthusiastic. 

Tre’vell Anderson: And that’s what matters. 

Josie Duffy Rice: That is what matters, I agree. [music break]

Tre’vell Anderson: What a Day is a production of Crooked Media. It’s recorded and mixed by Bill Lancz. Our associate producers are Raven Yamamoto and Natalie Bettendorf. We had production help today from Michell Eloy, Greg Walters and Julia Claire. Our showrunner is Erica Morrison and our executive producer is Adriene Hill. Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard and Kashaka. 

[AD BREAK]