The Nashville Police Department held a diversity training session for recruits inside a gay nightclub during Pride Month, bringing trainees together with members of the city’s LGBTQ community. The session took place at Play Nashville, known around Nashville for its drag performances. Video shared by the mayor’s office shows recruits seated inside the venue, participating in a moderated discussion.  Officer Darci Stechman, the department’s LGBTQ liaison, told recruits to come prepared with questions before the discussion: “Otherwise it’s going to be awkward, and you’re just going to be staring at one another for an hour and a half.” She added, “Nashville is very diverse, so we’re exposing the trainees to these different communities and letting them learn a little bit more about the people they may interact with within the community.”   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Mayor Freddie O’Connell (@mayorofnashvilletn) The video also shows recruits speaking with Councilmember Olivia Hill, the first transgender-identifying man elected to the Metro Council.  Nashville Democratic Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s office said the visit was part of the department’s standard diversity tour for recruits, not a one-time Pride Month event. “Metro Nashville Police recruits do a diversity tour before they ever hit the streets,” O’Connell’s office said. “Mayor O’Connell is committed to a city for everyone and that starts by bringing people together.” The mayor’s office and the police department both shared video of the training on social media. The police training is one of several diversity initiatives promoted by Nashville government agencies in recent years. The Daily Wire previously reported that Nashville Electric Service (NES) employees participated in diversity training before a crippling January ice storm left 230,000 customers without power. NES employees were asked to recognize their “implicit biases” and whether they had a diverse friend group.  Trainings were required for all supervisors and managers, and modules were “completed by employees in 2023-2025,” according to an NES spokesperson.  O’Connell is known for his leftist ideas, including his focus on climate change and anti-ICE stance. In May of last year, the mayor doxxed multiple ICE Agents after his office released information on the interactions between ICE agents and Nashville emergency service personnel. The mayor’s office claimed the names were released by mistake. 

More never-before-seen footage of Tyler Robinson was shown in a Provo, Utah, courtroom on Wednesday, showing the accused killer two days after the Charlie Kirk assassination. Robinson, who is charged with murdering Kirk, turned himself in to authorities 33 hours after Kirk was fatally shot. The video footage presented Wednesday shows Robinson being held at the Washington County Sheriff’s Office in Hurricane, Utah, on September 12, 2025. Notably, Robinson appears to be wearing the same clothing he wore arriving on campus that morning.. Robinson is wearing a maroon-colored t-shirt with no graphics or lettering and Converse sneakers, according to the video and testimony. “Never before seen footage of Tyler Robinson being held at the Washington County Sheriff’s Office in Hurricane, Utah before his transfer. Sept 12, 2025,” Gina Milan reported. WATCH: Never before seen footage of Tyler Robinson being held at the Washington County Sheriff’s Office in Hurricane, Utah before his transfer. pic.twitter.com/wyK4cEGTA3 — Gina Milan (@ginamilan_) July 8, 2026 Footage taken on the Utah Valley University campus from September 10, 2025, the day Kirk was killed, shows a man believed to be Robinson wearing a maroon shirt, light-colored shorts, and Converse shoes, according to video and testimony. WATCH: Bad day for the “Tyler Robinson was not on campus that day” retards pic.twitter.com/dMyqO0cuMM — End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) July 7, 2026 During the hearing on Tuesday, security footage played in court appeared to show Robinson walking with what authorities described as a “limp” just minutes before the shooting. “UVU prosecutors just presented this footage of Tyler Robinson arriving on campus for the third time, just minutes before the shooting,” Blake Neff, a producer of “The Charlie Kirk Show,” posted online. “Look at how he is walking, as if something is hindering his right leg.” (See footage above.) Reports have previously indicated that Robinson appeared to walk with a stiff right leg before the shooting, or with an unusual gait, which some have suggested could indicate he was concealing a rifle under his clothing. Robinson is facing the death penalty for the fatal shooting of Turning Point USA founder and conservative leader Charlie Kirk. Reporters inside the courtroom said the prosecution used surveillance footage to establish that Robinson was on campus four separate times on September 10, 2025, the day Kirk was killed. “The timeline prosecutors are building is strong. Surveillance placing Robinson on campus before, during, and after the shot. Roof access, sniper position in the gravel, that screwdriver left behind, every piece fits,” Jack Posobiec reported on Monday. “Defense is already grasping at procedural straws.” In another video played for the court, a person believed to be Robinson was seen “‘rolling’ over the railing of the Losee Student Center and moving into a prone position just seconds before Kirk was shot,” Neff posted. Security footage also appeared to show a person believed to be Robinson seconds after Kirk was fatally shot. The person was seen running along the top of a campus building “before dropping down onto the grass and heading away from campus on foot, carrying something,” The New York Times reported. The hearing will determine whether prosecutors have presented enough evidence to establish probable cause for Robinson to stand trial for Kirk’s assassination. Related: Don Jr., Wife Condemn ‘Lies’ About Kirk Assassination

The face of the United States Men’s National Team (USMNT), Christian Pulisic, received serious criticism over comments he made after his disappointing 2026 World Cup performance. During a post-game interview after the 4-1 loss to Belgium in the Round of 16, the star player often dubbed “Captain America” made a comment to Fox Sports that set many off: “I sprained my ankle. It’s frustrating to end like that of course, but now I can get time to rest, so hopefully it’ll be okay.” Pulisic was injured at the end of the first half in the opening game against Paraguay, leaving him to sit out the ensuing match against Australia. He suited up for the following three games but failed to score any goals. Critics were unimpressed that Pulisic highlighted the U.S. team’s final-game loss as a positive, spinning it as more time to “rest.” Paired with his own lackluster performance, the remark sent shockwaves across social media. You rest when your playing career is over. Period. — Carli Lloyd (@CarliLloyd) July 8, 2026 He rested the entire World Cup. https://t.co/FwBr3Oy7zp — Sydney Leroux (@sydneyleroux) July 7, 2026 The two women’s thoughts on Pulisic were shared by many across the country, including former USMNT members Landon Donovan and Tim Howard, who appear on the “Unfiltered Soccer” podcast together. Donovan, who admitted to playing poorly himself in the 2006 World Cup, jabbed at Pulisic, saying he had failed to give it his all in the moment it counted most. “The reality is, he came out of a World Cup knockout game at home, with his leg still intact. Because you would have had to f*cking drag me off the field,” he said to Howard and viewers. “And I would have punched the doctor in the face and said ‘You’re not taking me off the field. Put whatever you need to put in me, and I’m staying on the field.’” “I hope for his sake he isn’t on social media for the foreseeable future,” Howard added. The criticism Pulisic is facing was not an opinion that formed overnight. His post-game comment was just the tipping point that set former players off after several lackluster performances of late. In the first half of their final game, Pulisic lost possession 11 separate times — the most of any player in the first 45 minutes of the game. He injured his ankle before Belgium’s third goal, at which point he exited the match. From the beginning of 2026 up until the World Cup training started, he had zero goal contributions in league play. He also sat out of the Gold Cup tournament and infamously called this World Cup “just another big tournament.” It is hard to pinpoint the exact moment it began to all fall apart for Pulisic, but the U.S. soccer fanbase appears to have turned on the man they once called “Captain America.”

CNN ran with a quote from a parody account during a segment about Republicans who say they have spoken with ailing former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) during his recent hospitalization. Host Audie Cornish introduced the segment, which came as speculation continues to swirl about McConnell’s health. Cornish noted that several prominent Republicans had spoken up in recent days to say that McConnell was still recovering but doing well. “You have a lot of Senate Republicans coming out, we’re going to show some onscreen, all saying, ‘I talked to him,’ ‘I talked to him,’ ‘I talked to him for 20 minutes,’ ‘I talked to him for 45 minutes,'” she said. “We’re hearing these pundits talk not just about his potential health, but what they think the issue is: a special election deadline.” WATCH: OOPS: CNN This Morning cites parody account of fake congressman @RepJackKimble on list of quotes about Sen. Mitch McConnell’s health. pic.twitter.com/GBXJ37bkoe — Nick (@nspin310) July 8, 2026 But as Cornish spoke, the posts on the screen were from former McConnell adviser and CNN commentator Scott Jennings, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, and Majority Whip John Barrasso. A fourth post, attributed to “Rep. Jack Kimble,” was found to be a parody account. The quote that appeared on the screen read, “I spoke to my old friend Mitch McConnell this morning, the senior Senator from Kentucky. He’s still recovering in the hospital. We talked for just shy of 45 minutes.” But the full quote posted by the parody account took the joke a bit further: “I spoke to my old friend Mitch McConnell this morning, the senior Senator from Kentucky. He’s still recovering in the hospital. We talked for just shy of 45 minutes. He’s so sharp. Just like always he let me do all of the talking. He’s a great listener. After that we prayed silently for awhile and had a staring contest. Just like always, he beat me. I told him we want to see him back at work as soon as possible.” I spoke to my old friend Mitch McConnell this morning, the senior Senator from Kentucky. He’s still recovering in the hospital. We talked for just shy of 45 minutes. He’s so sharp. Just like always he let me do all of the talking. He’s a great listener. After that we prayed… — Rep. Jack Kimble (@RepJackKimble) July 7, 2026 Other posts from Kimble’s account might have given it away as a parody as well. July 6: “Donald Trump had no choice but to get Balogun reinstated. He’s a birthright citizen and The Supreme Court just ruled we can’t take away their citizenship or give them red cards. Blame the liberal judges.” June 30: “The Supreme Court is just a regular court with sour cream.” Kimble’s X bio should also have given CNN a clue, as it claims that he represents California’s 54th Congressional District. The state of California only has 52 Congressional Districts.

The U.S. Navy on Tuesday identified the aviator who went missing after the MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter he was aboard made an emergency landing in the Arabian Sea. Cmdr. Gabriel Edwards, commanding officer of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 5, remained missing after the helicopter made an emergency landing around 3:30 a.m. EDT on July 1. Three other crew members were rescued, but search efforts spanning 102 hours and 14,000 square miles ended without locating Edwards. “Commander Gabe Edwards was the epitome of selfless leadership, who dedicated himself to service and sacrifice for the last 20 years,” said Capt. Matthew Lewis, commander of Carrier Air Wing 7. “Our deepest gratitude and sympathy go out to his family.” Edwards had served in the Navy for two decades and was leading Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 5, which flies the MH-60S Sea Hawk, during the USS George H.W. Bush’s deployment. The Sea Hawk is a multi-mission helicopter used for logistics, search and rescue, medical evacuation, and other fleet missions. The search included Navy and Air Force aircraft, destroyers, and helicopter squadrons from across the region. The Navy suspended search-and-rescue operations on Monday. “The efforts concluded following an extensive search by the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility,” the service said in a statement. The Navy previously said there was no indication that the helicopter’s emergency landing was caused by hostile activity. Officials have not released additional details about what led to the emergency landing, and the incident remains under investigation. Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao said in a Tuesday statement that Edwards would be promoted to the rank of captain posthumously. “For 20 years, Commander Edwards served our nation with courage and integrity,” Cao wrote. “In recognition of his extraordinary service and sacrifice, I have directed that Commander Edwards be posthumously promoted to his selected rank of captain.” Edwards is survived by his wife, Rebecca, and their two children. In a statement, the family remembered him as a devoted husband and father and thanked those who took part in the search. “Gabe has dedicated his life to serving his country with honor, courage, and commitment,” Edwards said. “He led with humility, integrity, and compassion, always putting his people before himself.”