The Note: Running Mate Interrupted
— -- NOTABLES
--TRUMP POSTPONES VP ANNOUNCEMENT DUE TO ATTACK IN FRANCE: Donald Trump postponed the press conference scheduled for this morning where he was set to announce his vice presidential pick. Trump and his campaign team have made repeated announcements this week that he would be formally announcing the name of his vice presidential pick on Friday, at the end of a week of detailed speculation over who he would choose. Thursday, Trump asked Mike Pence to be his running mate, and the Indiana governor accepted, a source with direct knowledge told ABC News. ABC’s MEGHAN KENEALLY has more: http://abcn.ws/29MM9d7
--BACKSTORY: It became clear that Trump was warming to the prospect of selecting Pence in recent days, since he spent time with him in Indiana on Tuesday and Wednesday. More from ABC’s JOHN SANTUCCI, MEGHAN KENEALLY, CANDACE SMITH, RICK KLEIN, TOM LLAMAS and INES DELACUETARA: http://abcn.ws/29HJEbp
--EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT MIKE PENCE: http://abcn.ws/29TikJM
--TWEETED OVERNIGHT: @joshbhaskell: Spotted on Acela tonight from DC --> NY: @PaulManafort and @JasonMillerinDC working phones on Trump VP/Cleveland Convention
@joshbhaskell: Manafort said he was headed to meet Pence tonight after what's sure to have been a very long day for the Indiana Governor
--ANALYSIS -- ABC’s RICK KLEIN: If Donald Trump really, truly hasn’t made his final, definite, for-sure decision on his running mate, hasn’t it been made for him at this point? Consider the scenario: Trump and Mike Pence have a conversation that Pence considers to include an offer that he accepted. The sitting governor of Indiana boards a flight to New Jersey and spends a night in a Manhattan hotel room in expectation of a Friday announcement that he’ll join the ticket. Trump is cheered by his own party for picking Pence – silencing talk of insurrection in Cleveland, and sparking near-celebration among conservative leaders who see Trump making a grown-up choice. Then the horrible attack in Nice, hours after word leaks … and Trump changes his mind and picks someone else? It’s hard to imagine a single action – even from Trump – that would more inflame his own party than going back on his commitment to Pence at this stage. He would be ensuring chaos at his own convention – and would immediately undo any of the goodwill he’s accumulated among prominent party voices.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: THE PRESIDENT AND THE PEOPLE. Full coverage from yesterday’s presidential town hall moderated by ABC’s DAVID MUIR: http://abcn.ws/29Lr835
--OBAMA URGES POLICE, COMMUNITIES TO COME TOGETHER DURING TOWN HALL: 'IT'S NOT US VERSUS THEM'. Obama took on the issue of race and policing, facing down critics on his support for police and trying to bridge the divide between a law enforcement community reeling from the deaths of five officers in Dallas and those impacted by recent police-involved shooting deaths of two black men. The president, who has addressed the nation about both issues, called for local police departments and communities across the country to work together as the nation sits on edge and urged that it's not "us versus them." He also tackled concerns of some about the "Black Lives Matter Movement," saying it's not anti-police and that no one wants to avoid police shootings more than cops themselves. More from ABC’s LAUREN EFFRON: http://abcn.ws/29WKnF9
--OBAMA RECALLS WHEN HE FACED RACIAL PREJUDICE AS A KID. President Obama yesterday said his empathy for the grievances expressed by black people about how they are treated by police and fellow citizens is rooted in his experiences as an African-American man. A person in the audience — in light of the national debate over whether law enforcement officers unfairly target black people — asked Obama if he was ever pulled over by police. Obama said he has been pulled over, though he was careful not to say it was due to racism. More from ABC’s MARGARET CHADBOURN: http://abcn.ws/29U2Q8w
THIS WEEK ON ‘THIS WEEK’: Ahead of the Republican National Convention, George Stephanopoulos anchors an action packed show from Cleveland with expert analysis on the convention from our Powerhouse Roundtable featuring ABC News contributor and Democratic strategist Donna Brazile, Purple Strategies chair and Rebuilding America Now PAC strategist Alex Castellanos, ABC News political analyst Matthew Dowd, and ABC News contributor and Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol.
MORE ON THE PENCE PICK:
--PENCE VS. TRUMP: WHEN THEY HAVE DISAGREED. Donald Trump and his pick for running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, haven’t always agreed. In fact, on some of Trump’s signature issues -- and signature controversies -- the two have stood in direct opposition. For example --Donald Trump’s controversial call for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States” met with broad criticism from elected officials, including Pence. ABC’s CHRIS GOOD has more. http://abcn.ws/29UGZxx
--GOP TRUMP SKEPTICS PRAISE SELECTION OF 'ANTI-TRUMP' PENCE FOR VP. In interviews on Capitol Hill Thursday, half a dozen congressional Republicans wary of Trump’s campaign welcomed the addition of Pence to the GOP ticket. Pence, who served in Congress for 12 years from 2000-2012, was a leading social conservative in the House -- a reassurance to many Republicans concerned about Trump’s political history as a registered Democrat who has shown little command of policy as a 2016 presidential candidate. ABC’s BENJAMIN SIEGEL has more. http://abcn.ws/29BVZuK
--ANALYSIS: IN CHOOSING MIKE PENCE, TRUMP HEDGES BIG BET. A candidate renowned for doubling down has hedged his biggest bet. Donald Trump is using his vice-presidential selection to do one of the least Trump-like things he’s done during his freewheeling campaign. After a wild, reality-show-worthy veepstakes, Trump went traditional and predictable -- for once taking the advice of his inner circle and the cacophony of outside voices who wanted a stable selection, ABC’s RICK KLEIN writes. In offering the job to Gov. Mike Pence, Trump is choosing to team up with someone who is everything he is not. Pence is a solid social and fiscal conservative, with both Washington and statehouse experience, not to mention a Midwestern vanilla manner that leaves him a virtual unknown outside Indiana. http://abcn.ws/29U6QG9
YESTERDAY ON THE TRAIL with ABC’s VERONICA STRACQUALURSI and ADAM KELSEY
ANTI-TRUMP EFFORTS TO UNBIND DELEGATES FAIL IN REPUBLICAN RULES PANEL. A last-ditch effort to block Donald Trump's nomination by freeing delegates to vote for whomever they want has been soundly defeated in the convention's rules panel Thursday night. “It’s over folks. We need to get behind our candidate," said Steve Scheffler, who also pushed additional language to clarify that delegates are bound. It's still not technically over for the group: anti-Trump leaders will have until Monday to submit the names of 28 rules panel members who support the effort in order to force a vote on the floor of the full convention. This appears unlikely, but despite last night's failure, it's still possible, ABC’s RYAN STRUYK, SHUSHANNAH WALSHE and JOHN PARKINSON report. http://abcn.ws/29ABzmM
KAINE AUDITIONS AS CLINTON'S VP, SLAMS TRUMP. Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine took the stage with presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton Thursday, lashing out at Donald Trump and appearing to audition as Clinton's running mate, reports ABC’s JESSICA HOPPER, LIZ KREUTZ and JOSH HASKELL. Kaine is one of several people reportedly being vetted by the Clinton campaign as a potential vice presidential running mate. Thursday, he broke out his fluent Spanish to explain why he is "listo" or ready for Clinton. http://abcn.ws/2adMrrp
GINSBURG APOLOGIZES FOR 'ILL-ADVISED' TRUMP COMMENTS. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg apologized for her "ill-advised" comments on Donald Trump, in which she called the presumptive Republican presidential nominee “a faker” who lacks consistency, described a Trump presidency as unimaginable and suggested that she’ll move to New Zealand if he wins in November, notes ABC’s JOHN KRUZEL. “On reflection, my recent remarks in response to press inquiries were ill-advised and I regret making them," the 83-year-old justice said in a statement released by the Supreme Court Thursday. http://abcn.ws/29xVuq8
WHITE HOUSE REPORTERS RAISE ALARM OVER TRUMP AND CLINTON’S TREATMENT OF PRESS. The White House Correspondents’ Association is raising the alarm about the treatment of the press by both the Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton campaigns in a new op-ed published in USA Today. “We are concerned both with the rhetoric directed at the media in this campaign and the level of press access to the candidates. Both Clinton and Trump can do better,” outgoing WHCA president Carol Lee and incoming president Jeff Mason write in a co-authored column, according to ABC’s JORDYN PHELPS and ALEXANDER MALLIN. http://abcn.ws/2ad0IVk
CONVENTION PREP
--CLINTON CAMPAIGN, DNC PLANNING COUNTER-CONVENTION DURING RNC. The Clinton campaign and Democratic National Committee are gearing up for their own joint counter-convention during the Republican National Convention next week, sending a full staff to Cleveland to troll the Republicans and fight back against every attack made against them throughout the week, ABC’s LIZ KREUTZ reports. The effort, according to a Clinton campaign official, will be titled “Better Than This” and will include daily press conferences, press calls and rapid response from top aides and surrogates. The RNC runs July 18-21. The campaign –- which will work out of their headquarters in Cleveland located less than a mile from the RNC's venue, the Quicken Loans Arena -- has also enlisted celebrities and other allied organizations. They plan to tweet along with the convention program using the hashtag, #BetterThanThis, the aide said. http://abcn.ws/29JsMB0
--TIM SCOTT: REPUBLICAN CONVENTION SHOULD FOCUS ON 'FAIRNESS AND OPPORTUNITY.' As the nation debates the state of race relations and police use of force in the wake of the deaths of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling, prominent legislators are beginning to stand up and speak about their own experiences. Sen. Tim Scott, R-South Carolina, made a speech on Wednesday on the floor of the U.S. Senate about his own experience being profiled by police officers, even as an elected official, reports ABC’s NOAH FITZGEREL. http://abcn.ws/29HhRp2
--FLASHBACK: THE LAST THERE WAS A CONTESTED CONVENTION. The last time the fight for delegates was nearly as intense as during this year’s Republican presidential primary was back in 1976, when Ronald Reagan was first running for office and then-President Gerald Ford was fighting to hold on to the White House. A contested convention -- where no candidate secures a majority of candidates -- was avoided this year when Donald Trump passed the key mark of 1,237, but 40 years ago, there wasn’t such a solution going into the convention. ABC’s MEGHAN KENEALLY takes a look back: http://abcn.ws/29yqE0I
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
TRUMP AND CLINTON WEIGH IN ON POKEMON GO. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are trying to catch 'em all -- voters that is, by weighing in on the phenomenon that is Pokemon Go. Clinton made a joke about the game during her event yesterday in Annandale, Virginia, while Trump was asked whether he plays Pokemon Go in an interview with the Washington Examiner, writes ABC’s VERONICA STRACQUALURSI. http://abcn.ws/29FUuvv
WHO’S TWEETING?
@SenSanders: My thoughts are with the families and loved ones of those killed in Nice. The United States stands ready to support the French people.
@meganliberman: Sen. Mike Lee talks to @jonward11 about the possibility of a demonstration on the floor of the GOP convention. http://yhoo.it/29A1Q8l
@TexasTribAbby: In the world of Ghostbusters, what should be the role of government? http://bit.ly/29MItbO
@maggieNYT: From First Read, an important point: "Why cancel your VP announcement event because of France, but then call in, twice, to Fox?"
@LizMair: .@maggieNYT ...and fact that Trump family totally divided about who it should be. But we all know that...