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Trump ready to complete improbable rise at GOP convention

Many party leaders and rising stars have steered clear of Cleveland, wary of being linked to the nominee. Delegates erupted in competing chants in a televised dispute Republican leaders had hoped to avoid. Most protesters will not be able to access this area. “It is a remarkable thing”. But that was briefly interrupted by Trump, in an unusual appearance by a presumptive nominee, and his wife, who promised her husband would be inclusive. After the shootings in Baton Rouge, in which three other police officers were wounded, the head of Cleveland’s police union, Steve Loomis, asked Governor John Kasich to suspend state laws allowing people to openly carry firearms, but Kasich said he lacked the authority to do so.

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Earlier this month the slaying of a black man in Baton Rouge by white officers led to protests nationwide and heightened concerns about the state of race relations in America.

House Speaker Paul Ryan said Clinton represents a third term of Barack Obama’s presidency instead of the “clean break from a failed system”.

“Everyone right now, focus on words and actions that can unite this country, rather than divide us further”, Obama said.

Republican Donald Trump seized on the shooting deaths in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to bolster his case the United States is leaderless and he is the better candidate in the November 8 US presidential election to restore law and order than his rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Trump’s Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, was slower to respond, taking several hours before releasing a statement that said the shootings were “an assault on all of us”. Trump’s announcement that Pence would be his running mate came just days before the convention.

The day before the Republican National Convention got underway in Cleveland, the fatal shooting of three police officers in Louisiana on Sunday added new concerns about security as huge crowds were expected to protest and the city police chief prepared officers to deal with the open carrying of weapons as allowed by state law.

Trump has thrilled supporters with a willingness to hurl insults at Democrats and Republicans alike: “Little Marco” (Rubio) and “Crooked Hillary” among them. His blunt tone and aggressive approach to immigration and terrorism has done the same with key segments of general election voters: women, blacks and Hispanics, especially. The convention closes on Thursday with the theme of “Make America One Again”.

“He doesn’t have natural filters”, said New York GOP Chairman Ed Cox.

Williams says he witnessed one encounter on Public Square between eight or nine Trump supporters and about a dozen people who are against the candidate. That’s probably going to be the most watched acceptance speech ever, because it’s going to be dramatic. “I would suspect 98 to 99-percent of the people are all in agreement, and that everything will go very smoothly”.

An estimated 30 million people watched 2012 nominee Mitt Romney address the convention four years ago.

Speaking Monday at a Bloomberg Politics breakfast for reporters, Manafort likened the impact of disruption on images of protesters making it hard for Trump to get into one of his own events in California earlier in the year.

But on Monday she delivered her speech with deliberation and poise, and it was rapturously received by convention delegates.

Vermont’s top Republican official, Lieutenant Governor Phil Scott, has said he won’t be attending the convention.

Yet the first act Monday was likely to underline how divisive Trump has been. Pence will speak on Wednesday.

The only professional athlete on the program is pro golfer Natalie Gulbis, after college football star Tim Tebow called his attendance “a rumor”.

Priebus says the selection of Pence shows Trump didn’t want to surround himself with “yes people”.

Priebus tells CNN “there is no religious test on the table”, despite Trump’s statement in December calling for a temporary ban of foreign Muslims from entering the US until elected leaders could figure out “what is going on”.

The Republican National Convention is set to kick off as the nation reels from another deadly shooting and dissident delegates stage a longshot, last-gasp effort to deny Donald Trump the GOP nomination for president. Delegates were due to vote Monday afternoon on the rules that will govern the convention week, and insurgent delegates circulated a petition on Monday trying to force a state-by-state vote – a move that could disrupt floor proceedings even if they fail.

The defeated mavericks reacted angrily, with some delegates leaving the convention floor and others vowing to not help Trump. The featured speakers on Tuesday include Trump’s children Tiffany and Donald Jr. To do it, the RNC chairman suggests that for this week, the infamously freewheeling Trump would do well to follow the script. “It really is, I think, presidential”.

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As Paul Manafort, the chairman of Donald Trump’s campaign, said earlier Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation”, the confab will truly be a Trumpian affair.

Dissident delegates seek showdown vote at GOP convention