Jude Sheerin
Reporting from the convention

Former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani has just held an impromptu press gaggle outside the Republican convention centre here in central Milwaukee.

He accused Donald Trump’s security detail of incompetence for how they handled Saturday’s assassination attempt.

“It was incompetent to put the small people up front and the tall people at the back,” says Giuliani.

“If you remember, at one point, one of them put their hand up like that. That’s an indication of incompetence.

“If you have a gun, you can shoot right through the hand. The hand is almost telling you where to shoot. ‘Oh yeah, lemme hit the hand, I’ll kill the president.’"

Giuliani said he knew the Trump campaign had asked for more resources.

Giuliani also said the Biden administration’s recent decision to grant Robert F Kennedy Jr Secret Service protection detail after repeatedly rejecting the longshot White House hopeful’s previous requests, was inadequate.

Third-party contenders, like Kennedy, do not tend to receive the same level of protection as main-party candidates. And Trump has protection for life because he is a former President.

But both Kennedy's uncle and father were assassinated.

"Completely indefensible not protecting Robert F Kennedy Jr," Giuliani said.

Brandon Livesay
Reporting from the convention

Earlier today I was at a Donald Trump Jr event on the sidelines of the Republican convention.

Among the attendees at the event I said a very brief hello to former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, (who took the time to make fun of my own hometown, just down the road from his - "Well, we all have our problems," he said).

But Rudd's attendance shows the outside world is likely watching this convention closely.

One of the most striking moments at the event was not about politics at all, it was Don Jr talking about the moment he found out his father had been shot.

"I was out with my daughter, we were actually out fishing," he said.

He said he got a phone call saying "your father was shot", and it was "90 minutes before I even knew he was alive".

In a light-hearted moment, Trump Jr said when he first talked to his father after the shooting he asked: "how's the hair".

Apparently, Trump told him apart from "a lot of blood in it", his hair was fine.

Brandon Livesay
Reporting from the convention

After bruising debates against each other, Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis will give speeches on party unity.

They are scheduled to speak right after each other later tonight (local time).

Also on the speaker list is former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.

And two of Trump's political rivals from 2016 will speak tonight as well, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio.

The key message of the day seems to be coming together to support the Republican Party's officially selected candidate, Trump.

Brandon Drenon

Image source, Getty Images

Democrats have already begun calling for Robert Menendez to step down after his conviction Tuesday.

Shortly after the jury dropped its guilty verdict, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer released a statement saying: "Senator Menendez must now do what is right for his constituents, the Senate, and our country, and resign."Democratic Senator Jack Reed said on X, formerly Twitter: "He had his day in court and got a fair trial. The jury has spoken. Senator Menendez has been found guilty and should resign."

The calls for his resignation are the latest pleas among a number of similar appeals, dating back to 2017 when Menendez faced a separate set of corruption charges.

It's also an added headache for Democrats in Washington who are simultaneously fielding calls for Joe Biden to abandon his re-election campaign.

The recent Democratic infighting appears in stark contrast to the unified and sometimes jubilant crowd of Republicans in Milwaukee.

Brandon Drenon

Image source, Getty Images

Behind the news of Donald Trump's criminal indictments and convictions and near-death encounter - and Joe Biden's fumbling debate performance and Democratic party implosion - there has been the slow developing storyline of Bob Menendez.

For months, the New Jersey senator has been facing trial for conspiracy to commit bribery, accused of trading political power for wads of cash, a luxury car and gold bars.

On Tuesday, Menendez was found guilty on 16 counts.

Formerly the head of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Menendez now faces the prospect of decades in prison.

However, he said he plans to appeal the jury's decision.

"I have never been anything but a patriot of my country," Menendez said, shortly after the verdict dropped.

"I have every faith that the law and the facts did not sustain that decision and that we will be successful upon appeal."

For more on Menendez's guilty verdict, read here.

Brandon Livesay
Reporting from the convention

Image source, EPA

Hello from Milwaukee. where it's day two of the Republican National Convention and another busy day in US politics.

Senator Bob Menendez’s criminal conviction over a bribery scheme has become Democrats’ latest headache, with several top party figures calling on the New Jersey senator to resign.

Republicans meanwhile kicked off their celebration here in Wisconsin last night, which was all about the former president’s big entrance to a cheering crowd - his first public appearance since the attempt on his life Saturday.

Today he will again be the name on everyone's mind, but some attention will turn to his former political rivals. Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis are expected to speak about party unity, which has emerged as a clear theme here at the convention.

There's plenty going on the sidelines, too. This morning I went to an event where Donald Trump Jr spoke at length about his father. A small but vocal group of supporters gazed on while journalists listened in for any clues on what might happen next in this historic election. We will bring you some more updates from Trump Jr a bit later in our coverage.

And we’ll bring you the top lines from President Joe Biden’s visit to the key battleground state of Nevada, where he is expected to speak to a group of black voters at the NAACP convention later.

Stick with us.