Trump news: Four RNC attendees test positive for Covid as president gives full pardon to Alice Johnson after she praised him in speech

Senator attacked outside White House after Trump RNC speech calls for FBI probe into group 'paid to be anarchists'

Rand Paul on Friday called on the FBI to investigate the crowd that swarmed him as he left the White House on Thursday night following Donald Trump's formal acceptance of the Republican nomination for president.

Speaking to Fox News, Paul said the group that chanted his name and pressured a police escort was paid to incite a riot. 

"I believe there are going to be people who were involved with the attack on us that actually were paid to come here and are not from Washington, DC, and are sort of paid to be anarchists," Paul said. "The FBI needs to investigate but the only way you can do it is you have to arrest people."

New Behind the Headlines podcast episode

The Democratic and Republican conventions are over, with both Trump and Biden accepting their party's nomination for president.

But what have we learnt over the last fortnight? From Trump using the White House as a party political tool to Biden surprising viewers with his speech to the nation - where are we now as we head towards November?

Host of The Independent's Behind the Headlines podcast Ben Kelly is joined by US Voices Editor Holly Baxter and US Reporter Chris Riotta who have both been covering the conventions.

Mary Trump calls president's endorsement by family 'disturbing to watch'

Mary Trump, Donald Trump's niece, has said she found the US president's family speeches at the Republican National Convention "disturbing to watch".

Ms Trump, a vocal critic of Mr Trump, wrote the explosive tell-all book about the president's family and his upbringing: Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man.

Speaking in an interview with CNCBC on Thursday, Ms Trump described how she had found the entire convention "disturbing" but in particular her extended family's endorsement's of the president.

"The idea of passing him off like a great family man is like trying to pass him off as a great businessman," she said.

She added: "It's disturbing to watch honestly, the whole thing has been disturbing but that in particular."

Louise Hall reports.

Trump said 'Biden' 41 times while Biden didn't mention Trump at all during their acceptance speeches

Newsweek did the math on these so no one has to sit through the speeches again if they were curious about the tally.

Trump's speech last night was a barrage of attacks on Biden, who was called out by name exactly 41 times.

Some of the biggest swings included "Biden is weak", "Biden is a Trojan Horse for socialism", "Biden's agenda is made in China", "Biden shutdown' is a surrender to coronavirus", "Biden's record is a shameful roll call", and "Biden's hollow words of empathy", among 35 other mentions.

Biden, meanwhile, didn't mention he who must not be named when saying the president had "cloaked America in darkness for much too long".

Thousands attend Mach on Washington, a few practice social distancing

Martin Luther King III, a son of the late civil rights icon and the Reverand Al Sharpton delivered keynote addresses to the March on Washington calling for federal policing reforms.

"We've come to bear witness, to remain awake, to remember from where we've come and to carefully consider where we're going," King said. "Whether you're here in person or watching on (television networks), thank you for joining us for this March on Washington."

While organizers reminded attendees to practice social distancing and wear masks throughout the program, images from outside the official seating showed many attendees disregarding coronavirus distancing measures.

Additional reporting by Associated Press

MGM Resorts to lay off 18,000 furloughed US employees while Coca-Cola and United Airlines plan thousands of job cuts

Casino operator MGM Resorts International informed its staff on Friday it would lay off 18,000 furloughed employees in the United States as the coronavorus-induced travel curbs hurt its operations.

The company will start the process on Monday, according to a letter from Chief Executive Officer Bill Hornbuckle to employees and seen by Reuters. MGM employed nearly 52,000 fulltime and 18,000 part-time people in the United States as of December 31.

"Federal law requires companies to provide a date of separation for furloughed employees who are not recalled within six months. Regrettably, August 31, marks (that) date," MGM's Hornbuckle said in the letter.

Earlier in the day, Coca-Cola said it would cut thousands of jobs as sales had slumped, while United Airlines confirmed it was preparing for the biggest pilot furloughs and will need to remove 2,850 pilots this year.

Many companies have decided to cut jobs as the US economy recorded its sharpest contraction in at least 73 years in the second quarter due to pandemic-led disruptions, with corporate profits sinking deeper.

MGM was forced to close all of its casinos and furlough about 62,000 of its workforce in the United States in March due to the lockdowns.

It brought back tens of thousands of employees when many of its casinos opened for business as the restrictions eased, but it still had to leave out 18,000 of them.

Hornbuckle said that employees who will be laid off will remain in the company's recall list and if hired back by the end of 2021, they shall retain their seniority and benefits.

- Reuters

Trump has two longest presidential nomination acceptance speeches since 1984

Trump spoke for 45.5 minutes more than Joe Biden in a comparison of this year's presidential nomination acceptance speeches. (Mentioning Biden every 1.7 minutes on average). 

At 70 minutes, according to C-Span's count, Trump was beaten only by himself in 2016 when he spoke for 75 minutes.

The closest anyone has come since 1984 was Bill Clinton in 1996 (64.5 minutes), and George Bush in 2004 (62 minutes).

Biden, meanwhile, spoke the least of any candidate of either party since '84 with his 24.5 minute speech. The next closes speak-in-brief was Walter Mondale, who spoke for 33 minutes against Ronald Reagan's 55 minutes.

Interestingly (but likely randomly), the nominee who spoke the longest went on to win the election on seven out of nine occasions. 

More on Trump's full pardon to Alice Johnson after former inmate praised him in RNC speech

Donald Trump has given Alice Johnson a full pardon just one day after the former inmate praised the president at the Republican National Convention.

The pardon was announced on Friday afternoon in the Oval Office with Ms Johnson and reporters present.

"We're giving Alice a full pardon. We are going to do it right now," Mr Trump said.

Danielle Zoellner will be following this story as it develops.

MELANIA TRUMP'S RNC DRESS USED AS GREEN SCREEN

Melania Trump's outfit choice for the final night of the Republican National Convention has resulted in a new meme format, due to the unique colour of the dress.

On Thursday, the first lady arrived at the convention, which took place on the South Lawn of the White House, in a $3,000 neon green Valentino gown with pleat details and a cape.

Shortly after her arrival, social media users began pointing out the resemblance between Ms Trump's dress and a green screen, a visual effects tool that can be used to superimpose videos and images.

The realisation prompted many people to transform the first lady's dress with everything from coronavirus charts to Democratic candidate Joe Biden's face.

 Chelsea Ritschel reports.

Kyle Rittenhouse extradition hearing delayed

An Illinois judge granted a delay to the hearing on Kyle Rittenhouse's extradition to face charges of killing two people in Kenosha, according to the Associated Press.

Assistant public defender Jennifer Snyder asked for the delay so Mr Rittenhouse has time to hire a private attorney. Another attorney of Mr Rittenhouse, Lin Wood, said that the teenager was acting in self-defence.

"From my standpoint, it's important that the message be clear to other Americans who are attacked that there will be legal resources available in the event false charges are brought against them," he said. "Americans should never be deterred from exercising their right of self-defence."

According to the criminal complaint, Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, followed the teenager and attempted to take his weapon. The medical examiner found that Mr Rosenbaum was shot in the groin, back and hand. He also suffered a superficial wound to his left thigh and a graze wound to his forehead.

Mr Rittenhouse was then chased down the street by several people before Anthony Huber, 26, was allegedly shot in the chest while trying to wrest the gun away, according to the complaint.

Gaige Grosskreutz, 26, meanwhile, appeared to be holding a gun when he was shot in the arm 

Associated Presscontributed to this report.