Highlights from Night 3 of the RNC

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Following the end of Vice President Mike Pence's speech tonight from Fort McHenry in Baltimore, President Trump and Melania Trump joined the second family on stage to chants of "four more years."

After exchanging handshakes, the four stood on stage while country music singer Trace Adkins sang "The Star-Spangled Banner."

After the anthem, the Trumps and Pences mingled with the crowd. Trump kept some distance, but members of the audience did not wear masks and did not distance themselves from each other at all as they tried to get closer to the President and Vice President.

Several minutes later, the President and first lady departed, hand in hand, followed by the Pences.

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With reporting from Nikki Carvajal 

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Vice President Mike Pence used a portion of his remarks to deliver a pro-police "law and order" message, saying "the violence must stop" whether in Minneapolis, Portland or Kenosha.

Kenosha, Wisconsin, has been the site of ongoing unrest and protests after police shot Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, multiple times in the back as he tried to enter an SUV with his children in the vehicle.

"My fellow Americans, we are passing through a time of testing. But in the midst of this global pandemic, just as our nation had begun to recover, we’ve seen violence and chaos in the streets of our major cities," Pence said.

"President Trump and I will always support the right of Americans to peaceful protest, but rioting and looting is not peaceful protest, tearing down statues is not free speech. Those who do so will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," the vice president continued.

While the vice president mentioned Kenosha in his remarks, he did not mention the shooting of Blake by a police officer, nor did he mention Kyle Rittenhouse, who is accused of killing two people Tuesday night.

Pence went on to praise law enforcement and defended the Trump administration's response to racial unrest. He said he and the President would not defund the police, "not now, not ever."

"President Trump and I know the men and women that put on the uniform of law enforcement are the best of us. Every day when they walk out that door, they consider our lives more important than their own," he said.

The vice president also took a swipe at Joe Biden, claiming that last week during the Democratic National Convention, he "didn’t say one word about the violence and chaos engulfing cities across this country."

Earlier today: In the 90 minutes before he was scheduled to speak, Pence decided he would address the unrest unfolding in Wisconsin.

Whether or not he would bring up Wisconsin when he took the stage remained up in the air all day Wednesday. In the morning, a source said he would reference it. Then, around 8 p.m., a source familiar with the speech said Pence would not address the matter whatsoever and said the draft of his speech was locked.

But after seeing how dramatically events had escalated throughout the day, as he watched from his residence Wednesday afternoon, Pence added a last-minute reference to Wisconsin into the final drafts of his speech, making the ultimate decision only after he had landed in Baltimore to headline the third night.

With reporting from CNN's From Kaitlan Collins and Jeff Zeleny

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Denouncing former Vice President Joe Biden’s record on foreign policy, Vice President Mike Pence claimed that Biden “even opposed the operation that took down Osama Bin Laden.”

Facts First: There is a solid basis for this accusation: Biden himself said in 2012 that he had advised former President Barack Obama “don’t go” — don't launch the raid — without first obtaining more information. Biden’s account of his private advice to Obama has changed over time, but former top officials in the Obama administration have written in their memoirs that Biden was "against the operation," that he was "firmly in favor of waiting for more information," and that he was concerned about the risks of a raid.  

In a revised October 2015 account of what happened, Biden said that he did not actually give Obama a "don't go" opinion at the 2011 meeting. (He said he had merely suggested that they should make "one more pass" with a surveillance drone to make sure bin Laden was present.) Rather, he said, he withheld his opinion until he was alone with Obama after the meeting — then made clear to Obama, "as we walked out of the room, and walked upstairs," that "I thought he should go."

You can read a longer fact check here. 

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Vice President Mike Pence claimed that the Trump administration inherited “an economy struggling to break out of the slowest recovery since the Great Depression.” 

Facts First: While it’s true that the US economy recovered more slowly after the Great Recession than after any other on record, this needs context.  

In terms of the average pace of GDP growth, the recovery from the Great Recession is the slowest expansion since World War II, when the government started tracking quarterly GDP.  

But while the recovery was slow, it was one of the longest expansions on record, lasting more than 10 years. It ended just this year due to the pandemic. Since World War II, the American economy has typically grown for about five years and then slowed down. 

In terms of job creation, the recovery from the Great Recession was stronger than the 2001 to 2007 expansion under President George W. Bush.  

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Vice President Mike Pence expressed his condolences for the families who have lost loved ones to coronavirus.

"After all the sacrifice in this year like no other, all the hardship, we're finding our way forward again," he said. "But tonight our hearts are with all of the families who have lost loved ones and have family members still struggling with serious illness. In this country we mourn with those who mourn, we grieve with those who grieve."

He continued: "And this night, I know that millions of Americans will pause and pray for God's comfort for each of you."

Pence also praised frontline workers for their "heroic" efforts.

"Our country doesn't get through such a time unless its people find strength within. The response of doctors, nurses, first responders, farmers, factory workers, truckers and everyday Americans who put the health and safety of their neighbors first has been nothing short of heroic," he said.

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RNC

Vice President Mike Pence accepted his party's VP nomination as a crowd in Baltimore, Maryland, cheered, "Four more years."

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Vice President Mike Pence spoke to a live audience at Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland, on the third night of the Republican National Convention.

Even as the coronavirus pandemic continues across the country, only a few of the attendees seated in front of Pence wore masks, with no proper social distancing in seating arrangements, which are two of the primary safety precautions recommended by health experts.

"The campaign staff has been better about masks but not all here are wearing them," CNN's Jason Hoffman reported.

Second lady Karen Pence was also seen sitting among a separate group of people with no masks on.

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Vice President Mike Pence used the opening remarks of his speech at the Republican National Convention to acknowledge the efforts underway in Louisiana and Texas to prepare for Hurricane Laura.

More on the hurricane: Hurricane Laura has strengthened into a Category 4 storm as it heads toward the Texas and Louisiana coasts.

The National Hurricane Center warns that "unsurvivable" storm surges of up to 15 feet could overwhelm parts of the Gulf Coast.

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Madison Cawthorn, a Republican House candidate in North Carolina, claimed in his speech that James Madison, one of America’s founding fathers, signed the Declaration of Independence when he was the same age as Cawthorn.

“James Madison was just 25 years old when he signed the Declaration of Independence,” he said.

Facts First: This is incorrect. Madison did not sign the Declaration of Independence. He was 25 when it was ratified.