'Start Here': California shooting, Trump's Baltimore backlash, cop killed in Italy
It's Monday, July 29, 2019. Let's start here.
1. Shooting in California
At least four people, including a suspect and a 6-year-old boy, were killed in a shooting at the annual Gilroy Garlic Festival in California, according to police officials.
Gunfire erupted on Sunday as the popular three-day food festival was winding down. Witnesses described a chaotic scene, taking cover wherever they could. Gilroy Police said they shot and killed a suspect shortly after arriving.
"They could see the bullets hitting the ground, they could see dust coming up, they could hear the gunshots going off, and that's when they began to run," reports ABC News' Alex Stone.
2. Trump doubles down
After widespread backlash for blasting four Democratic congresswomen of color over the last two weeks, President Donald Trump is again accused of making racist remarks for attacks on Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., and his majority-black district, calling it a "disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess" over the weekend.
Trump insisted his comments weren't racist, and he doubled down against the African-American congressman on Sunday, saying: "If racist Elijah Cummings would focus more of his energy on helping the good people of his district, and Baltimore itself, perhaps progress could be made in fixing the mess that he has helped to create over many years of incompetent leadership."
Cummings, the chair of the House Oversight Committee, responded to Trump's attacks on Twitter: "Mr. President, I go home to my district daily. Each morning, I wake up, and I go and fight for my neighbors. It is my constitutional duty to conduct oversight of the Executive Branch. But, it is my moral duty to fight for my constituents."
Trump's ongoing attacks against minority Democratic lawmakers are a part of a "high risk, high reward" campaign strategy to appeal to his base and recreate the conditions of his 2016 electoral victory, according to FiveThirtyEight's Perry Bacon Jr., who says it may not pay off: "This is a very risky approach that has the potential to mobilize a lot of people against the president."
3. Coats off
Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence, is set to step down next month, the president announced on Sunday.
In his place, Trump said he would nominate Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, who had a tense exchange with former special counsel Robert Mueller "about decisions that weren't reached" on obstruction of justice during his congressional testimony last week. Ratcliffe likely would face a tough confirmation fight, according to ABC News White House Correspondent Karen Travers.
"This is somebody who's only been on the House Intelligence Committee for seven months," she says. "He's a junior Republican on this committee. He's been involved in the oversight efforts about the Russia probe, but not deeply involved in intelligence issues."
As intelligence chief, Coats often clashed with Trump over the intelligence community's assessment that Russia meddled in the 2016 presidential election, including after the Helsinki summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin when Trump said he didn't see "any reason why" Russia would interfere.
Coats responded in a statement at the time: "We have been clear in our assessments of Russian meddling in the 2016 election and their ongoing, pervasive efforts to undermine our democracy, and we will continue to provide unvarnished and objective intelligence in support of our national security."
4. Murder in Rome
Two American teenagers are accused of killing an Italian police officer in what investigators are calling a drug deal gone wrong.
Italian police said Finnegan Lee Elder, 19, and Gabriel Christian Natale-Hjorth, 18, stole the backpack of an Italian man after they were sold fake drugs and allegedly demanded he pay them "100 euros and 1 gram of cocaine" to have it returned. When Mario Cerciello Rega and another undercover officer showed up for the exchange, Rega was killed, police said.
The teens allegedly confessed to the stabbing death after investigators found "overwhelming evidence" in the pair's hotel room, according to police, but a leaked photo showing Natale-Hjorth blindfolded and handcuffed while in custody prompted questions about their reported confessions.
An Italian police official said the teenager was "illegally blindfolded" and the officer responsible made a "mistake."
There's "anger and outrage" over the story in Italy, ABC News Senior Foreign Correspondent Ian Pannell reports from Rome.
"This is very rare for a policeman to be killed like this," Pannell says on "Start Here." "We're expecting to see large numbers of people to come out to mourn him at his funeral."
"Start Here," ABC News' flagship podcast, offers a straightforward look at the day's top stories in 20 minutes. Listen for free every weekday on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn or the ABC News app. Follow @StartHereABC on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for exclusive content and show updates.
Elsewhere:
'He has too much of a track record for being part of the status quo': Bill de Blasio talks about Joe Biden with George Stephanopoulos.
'Distinctive pink handbag': Authorities are looking for an alleged bank robber dubbed the "Pink Lady Bandit."
'Tragic news': A seventh NYPD officer has committed suicide in 2019.
From our friends at FiveThirtyEight:
What Americans know about religion -- and what they don't: It gets murky for people outside of the basics.
Doff your cap:
Today we doff our caps to whisky, one of mankind's single greatest inventions.
Read all about Paula Froelich's trip to Scotland and recent whisky tastings here, and learn why sometimes whisky is spelled "whiskey" here.
