The Latest: Over the top _ Trump clinches GOP nomination
By Associated Press
Jul 19, 2016 6:14 PM CDT
Lt. Gov. Henry McMaster of South Carolina nominates Donald Trump as the Republican Candidate for President during the second day of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Tuesday, July 19, 2016. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)   (Associated Press)

CLEVELAND (AP) — The Latest on the Republican National Convention (all times EDT):

7:10 p.m.

Make it official: The Republican Party has nominated Donald Trump for president.

And now the New York billionaire has completed a remarkable rise from political outsider to major party nominee for the White House.

New York put him over the top in the delegate count Tuesday night at the Republican National Convention.

There was a disruptive fight on Monday night over the party's rules, but a day later that was history.

There was little drama as party delegates united behind the real estate mogul and reality TV star.

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6:58 p.m.

Donald Trump's former campaign manager — Corey Lewandowski — has announced how his home state of New Hampshire is casting its votes for the Republican nomination.

Lewandowski was fired by the Trump campaign last month. But he's remained a vocal supporter of Trump and has advocated for him in his new role as a commentator on CNN.

Lewandowski note that New Hampshire was the first primary contest that Trump won. He says New Hampshire is casting 11 of its votes for "my friend and the next president of the United States, Donald J. Trump."

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6:43 p.m.

Republican convention officials are giving some delegates won by Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Ohio Gov. John Kasich to Donald Trump.

Rubio won the District of Columbia convention and got 10 delegates. Kasich came in second and got nine. That's how the district's delegation announced its tally from the floor of the convention.

But the convention's presiding officer awarded all 19 delegates to Trump.

Here's what delegate Chip Nottingham thought of that move:

"The chair, in a power play, just deemed that all 19 would go to Trump 'cause they don't want any dissent even though they clearly have a majority of votes that they need."

Nottingham demanded that the delegation be polled. But convention officials didn't give him the chance to speak.

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6:35 p.m.

Donald Trump now has recorded more than half of the delegates needed to become the GOP presidential nominee.

The state-by-state roll call is still going on at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland.

It takes 1,237 delegates to win the nomination.

Trump hit the halfway point when Illinois cast 54 delegates for Trump, six for Ohio Gov. John Kasich and nine for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.

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6:20 p.m.

The state-by-state roll call to nominate Donald Trump as the Republican presidential nominee is underway.

There's not much drama but lots of noise — chants of "We want Trump" broke out as the roll call reached California.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz's name isn't formally placed in nomination even though he was closest to Trump in the primaries.

Earlier Tuesday, some Republicans were saying Cruz's supporters wanted to gather enough signatures to allow the Texan to be nominated.

Being officially nominated means a candidate is entitled to have supporters deliver a nominating and seconding speech. But Trump's campaign and GOP officials eager for a show of unity behind Trump worked to head that off.

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6:10 p.m.

New York Rep. Chris Collins has seconded the nomination of Donald Trump for the Republican presidential nomination.

Collins — a delegate to the Republican National Convention — says Trump will build a wall to secure the U.S.-Mexican border. He says Trump will defeat terrorism and make the U.S. safe again.

South Carolina's lieutenant governor, Henry McMaster, is also voicing his support for Trump.

McMaster is one of Trump's highest-profile early endorsers and says Trump wants to go to work "for us."

Many observers wondered why McMaster — an establishment Republican — was getting behind the unconventional candidate when he endorsed Trump ahead of South Carolina's February primary. McMaster's inner circle questioned the support, and some were disappointment he hadn't picked another candidate.

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6 p.m.

Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions is painting a dire picture of the state of America as he nominates Donald Trump for president at the Republican National Convention.

Sessions is returning to themes that other speakers focused on during the first day of the convention. He says the U.S. has gotten off-course and the political system isn't working.

Sessions says incomes have dropped and terrorist attacks have increased. He says respect for the U.S. has fallen, while crime has risen.

Sessions is blaming President Barack Obama for the nation's ill and says Obama "does not lead." He says Trump isn't intimidated by the challenge.

Sessions has been one of the most prominent backers of Trump's hard-line position on immigration. He says Trump is the "singular leader that can get this country back on track."

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5:50 p.m.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus has gaveled in the second day of his party's summer convention in Cleveland.

The session started with the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance and the singing of the Star-Spangled Banner.

Set to give speeches are House Speaker Paul Ryan, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie plans to speak, as do two of Donald Trump's children — Tiffany and Donald Jr.

But the big event is the state-by-state roll call vote for the GOP presidential nomination, when Donald Trump will become the party's White House nominee.

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4:40 p.m.

Donald Trump's campaign says the presidential candidate will be back in Cleveland for a "Family Welcome Event" on Wednesday afternoon at the Great Lakes Science Center.

He's expected to arrive by helicopter at the center on the shore of Lake Erie and next to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

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3:43 p.m.

Hillary Clinton says the Republican National Convention has been "surreal" and she's comparing the event to the "Wizard of Oz."

Clinton says the GOP event has amounted to "lots of sound and fury — even a fog machine."

She says that "when you pull back the curtain, it was just Donald Trump with nothing to offer to the American people."

Clinton is in Las Vegas, speaking to the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, a trade union.

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2:45 p.m.

As Donald Trump prepares to receive the nomination for president on Tuesday evening, Ohio Gov. John Kasich will be nearby — speaking to the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Trump has angered Hispanics with his call to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico and to make Mexico pay for it. Kasich has refused to endorse Trump and is skipping the Cleveland convention.

Trump's campaign chairman has called Kasich's decision to skip the convention "petulant" and "embarrassing."

Kasich's advisers say he's trying not to be rude but has moved on to helping other candidates on the Republican ticket.

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2:27 p.m.

The commission on presidential debates is switching the site of the first presidential debate from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, to Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York.

Wright State already had announced it was pulling out as host.

The debate is scheduled for Sept. 26.

Hofstra hosted a presidential debate in 2012. The school had been designated as an alternate debate site for 2016.

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2:01 p.m.

When it came to her moment in the spotlight, Melania Trump chose a dress not by an American, but by a Serbian-born designer based in London.

She wore an off-white dress with three-quarter length, bell-shaped sleeves for her convention speech Monday night.

It's from Roksanda Ilincic, whose designs are popular among celebrities.

Samantha Cameron, wife of former British Prime Minister David Cameron, wore a colorful, flared dress from the designer when she left Downing Street last week.

Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, has worn her designs to at least three events this summer, including a brilliant yellow dress with blocks of white to Wimbledon.

Michelle Obama wore the designer's beaded wool satin dress and wool coat to meet the Chinese president in 2011.

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1:38 p.m.

The White House is staying out of the debate over similarities between Melania Trump's GOP convention speech and Michelle Obama's speech to the 2008 Democratic convention.

Spokesman Josh Earnest says Michelle Obama received an enthusiastic reception and strong reviews back then because of the speech, her life story and the values of integrity and hard work that she and the president try to instill in their kids

Earnest says what matters most in the 2016 race is the agenda being put forward to advance those values. He says voters will decide in November whether Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton is the best candidate to instill those values in the next generation.

Trump's campaign has dismissed as "just absurd" criticism that two passages in Melania Trump's speech were lifted nearly word-for-word from Michelle Obama.

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12 p.m.

Another musical act is telling Donald Trump to stop using their music.

The classic rock band Queen Tweeted Tuesday that they never approved Trump's use of "We Are the Champions" during the 2016 Republic National Convention.

Before Melania Trump gave a speech in Cleveland on Monday night, Trump made a brief appearance to introduce her and walked onstage to Queen's 1977 hit song.

The band wrote on Twitter, "An unauthorized use at the Republican Convention against our wishes."

Other musicians who have asked Trump to stop using their music include the Rolling Stones, Adele and Neil Young.

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