The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - July 15, 2024

Starting point is 00:00:00 Howdy folks, today is Monday, July 15th, and you're listening to the Texans Daily Rundown. I'm the Texans Assistant Editor Rob Lausches, and here is the rundown of today's news in Texas politics. First up, while speaking at a campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday, shots rang out in an assassination attempt on the now-confirmed Republican nominee for president, Donald Trump. A shooter fired at Trump and struck him in the ear. Firefighter Cory Comperatore, an attendee at the rally, was shot and killed. Two other rally attendees, David Dutch and James Copenhaver, were also hit and are in stable condition. The shooter was killed by U.S. Secret Service agents at the scene. In multiple videos of the incident online, gunshots can be

Starting point is 00:00:52 heard ringing out, resulting in Trump grabbing his head and falling to the ground. Secret Service agents then rushed to the president's aid. Once the agents lifted the president up and began rushing him off stage, blood could be seen coming from the right side of his head in what appeared to be a grazing wound near his ear. Trump paused the agents to salute the crowd and indicate that he was okay before being ushered to the presidential motorcade. President Joe Biden postponed his scheduled Monday, July 15th speaking engagement in Austin following the assassination attempt, and the Biden campaign has paused all campaign communications and advertising. Speaking on Sunday from the Oval Office, Biden called for America to, quote, lower the temperature in our politics, adding that he spoke with Trump after the shooting and is praying for him. Biden also mentioned that the investigation

Starting point is 00:01:42 is ongoing and that the shooter's motive is still unknown. Multiple investigations are currently underway in the wake of the attempted assassination. Questions concerning Secret Service protection before, during, and after the event have been voiced, and multiple federal lawmakers are planning investigations. House Speaker Mike Johnson has announced that the U.S. House of Representatives will conduct a, quote, full investigation. Texas Congressman August Pfluger, chairman of the Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence Subcommittee, penned an op-ed where he said, quote, Congress will investigate. U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheadle issued a statement the day after the Trump rally shooting, saying that, quote, The Secret Service is working with all involved federal, state, and local agencies to understand

Starting point is 00:02:29 what happened, how it happened, and how we can prevent an incident like this from ever taking place again. Texas Congressman Ronnie Jackson said his nephew was among the injured in the crowd after the attempted assassination. The former White House physician and current U.S. representative said on X, quote, My family was sitting in the front, near where the president was speaking. They heard shots ringing out. My nephew then realized he had blood on his neck and something had grazed and cut his neck. Thankfully, his injury was not serious and he is doing well. Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, a freshman from Dallas, signed onto a resolution back in April that would have stripped Secret Service protection from Trump had he been sentenced to prison, a proposal that is now gaining attention following the assassination attempt. In its aftermath, Republicans in the Texas legislature started circulating a joint letter calling for Crockett to resign from Congress. The initial letter, released Monday morning, has three Texas senators, 14 incumbent House members, and 10 GOP nominees for House seats.

Starting point is 00:03:31 Minutes after the shots rang out, tech mogul Elon Musk fully endorsed Trump for president. Musk wrote on X, quote, I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery. In other news, Texas Governor Greg Abbott lambasted Centerpoint Energy on Sunday as more than 600,000 residents of the greater Houston area remained without electricity amid sweltering summer heat, adding to the death toll in the week since Hurricane Beryl made landfall July 8. While the company has now restored power to more than 1 million customers, Abbott noted during a press conference in Houston that CenterPoint had not restored power to some hospitals and nursing homes as of Sunday. Abbott said he had directed Public Utilities Commission of Texas Chair Thomas Gleason to launch an investigation and vowed to promote new legislation next year, but said that solutions cannot wait while the region is amid hurricane season.

Starting point is 00:04:24 He gave CenterPoint until July 31st to provide a list of actions. Also, the state of Texas, along with two professors from the University of Texas at Austin, prevailed in obtaining a preliminary injunction against the Biden administration's revised Title IX rules that would protect, quote, gender identity. On Friday, July 11th, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kazmarek in Amarillo granted the state's request in part. He wrote, quote, The final rule inverts the text, history, and tradition of Title IX.

Starting point is 00:04:55 The statute protects women in spaces historically reserved to men. The final rule inserts men into spaces reserved to women. Last but not least, the Amarillo Sanctuary City for the Unborn Ordinance is one step closer to a ballot initiative election in November. The ordinance was first initiated by the Citizen Committee in December. A sufficient number of signatures were collected and validated by the city secretary in May. On June 11th, the Amarillo

Starting point is 00:05:22 City Council voted down the ordinance, which prohibits from conception both surgical and chemical abortions within the city limits, transporting an individual through Amarillo for the purpose of an elective abortion, and aiding and abetting the procurement of an abortion for an Amarillo resident, including with money or resources for the transportation. The initiating committee then notified City Secretary Stephanie Coggins in late June that it had voted unanimously to, quote, certify its desire to have the ordinance placed on the ballot in November. Thanks for listening. To support The Texan, please be sure to visit thetexan.news and subscribe to get full access to all of our articles, newsletters, and podcasts.

The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - July 15, 2024

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