Who is J.D. Vance, Trump’s VP pick? And, an R&B jam addresses climate change

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Today's top stories

Former president Donald Trump has selected Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio as his running mate in the presidential election. Vance, previously an outspoken Trump critic, has shifted his stance in recent years to become one of the former president’s steadfast allies. Here's everything you need to know about Vance, who rose to fame with his 2016 book Hillbilly Elegy. Trump announced his pick for vice president at the Republican National Convention, which kicked off yesterday. It was his first public appearance since the attempted assassination against him at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa., on Saturday.

• 🎧 NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben tells Up First that there are two ways to look at Vance. On one hand, he has criticized Trump in the past, even comparing him to Hitler. On the other, he's now considered a convert. "Converts can be really powerful messengers,” Kurtzleben says. Being a former "never Trumper" and relatively young, he might potentially appeal to new voters.
• 🎧 Ohio Public Media's Sarah Donaldson spoke to people in Vance's home state about what they thought of his vice presidential nomination. Here's what they had to say.
• ➡️ Meanwhile, local GOP leaders aim to return Wisconsin to Trump in November. They hope the RNC will provide resources. This is their plan for building a ground game and engaging new voters.
• ➡️ For the latest updates from the 2024 RNC in Milwaukee, check out NPR's live blog.

The Secret Service faces questions and sharp criticism following the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. The shooter took advantage of a security hole because officials failed to cover a building 130 yards — around the length of a football field — away from where the former president was speaking. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who oversees the Secret Service, says an independent review of the incident will be made. Several members of Congress are launching multiple investigations of their own.

• 🎧 “Many are at a loss at how this happened,” NPR's Claudia Grisales says. She adds that answers are expected quickly, especially ahead of the November election. A spokesperson for the Secret Service tells her that the agency traditionally assigns inner and outer zones when securing outdoor rallies. The building the gunman used was in the outer area, which was left to local law enforcement to secure. This morning, the agency issued a new statement saying any reports suggesting they’re trying to shift blame to local authorities are false.

President Biden is heading back out on the campaign trail. When gunshots interrupted Trump's rally this weekend, his campaign paused ads and outreach. He resumes his campaign today in Nevada, where he’s expected to talk about high rent prices and meet with Black and Hispanic civil rights groups.

• 🎧 NPR's Deepa Shivaram says that for a long time, Biden's campaign has tried to break “Trump amnesia” by reminding people of what Trump said and did during his presidency. But now “it’s getting more complicated” because Biden’s language is more scrutinized. The president has to balance his calls for unity while contrasting himself with Trump in this close election. A House Democrat who requested anonymity tells Shivaram's colleague Claudia Grisales that discussions about replacing Biden have stopped for now due to instability after the Trump assassination attempt and concerns about more political violence.

Find all of NPR's latest news and analysis of the Republican National Convention on the Election tab of the NPR app. Download it today.

Deep Dive

People incarcerated in women’s prisons have less access to higher education opportunities compared to men’s prisons across the U.S., according to the Vera Institute of Justice, a nonprofit that tracks educational opportunities for incarcerated people. For many people in prison, access to college courses depends on access to federal financial aid such as Pell Grants. Pell Grant-eligible courses are more accessible in men's prisons, but money isn’t the only issue. In 11 states, Vera found no college programs at all in women’s prisons. Here is why — and what could help:

• 📚 A law went into effect last July that fully reinstated Pell Grant access to all incarcerated individuals for the first time since 1994. Though course offerings have expanded, many incarcerated people don’t know how to apply for Pell funding.
• 📚 In Maryland, two bills by State Delegate Marlon Amprey were signed into law earlier this year. The laws require the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services to help incarcerated people access federal Pell Grants. All 12 public colleges in the state will also eventually offer bachelor's degrees and credit-based certificates to incarcerated individuals.
• 📚 Many incarcerated students have full-time assigned work, which means they can only take classes later in the day. Classroom space is also limited. Goucher College in Maryland plans to build trailers at each prison they work with so classes can be held all day. It's also working with the Department of Corrections to make college a student's work assignment.

Today's listen

What do R&B music and heat pumps have in common? They're both hot and cool — and they've somehow found themselves intertwined in a collab of sorts. A pair of musicians, Will Hammond, Jr. and Mike Roberts, released “(I’m Your) Heat Pump,” a slow jam full of double entendres.

• 🎶 The clever song eases the listener into messages about climate change with its sultry lyrics and old-school vibe. Listen to the catchy tune here and learn why they wrote it. (via KQED)

3 things to know before you go

1. Copenhagen announced a new initiative, CopenPay, to encourage more sustainable behaviors among tourists, such as walking, biking and taking public transportation. Rewards range from free ice cream to a free kayak rental.
2. On Sunday, the price of Forever postage stamps increased from 68 cents to 73 cents. It's now the 6th price hike since January 2021.
3. So far this year, California’s wildfire season has burned around 20 times more acres of land than this time last year. There have been over 3,500 wildfires across the state since the beginning of 2024 through early July, causing about 207,000 acres of land to burn.

This newsletter was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.