US president says 'silent majority is stronger than ever before' – as it happened

Mike Pence has entered the arena in Tulsa to big cheers from the crowd. He will address the president’s supporters before Donald Trump takes the stage. The arena look pretty full now from what I can see, although there are a few empty spots on the floor.

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Letitia James, the New York attorney general, has said she is “deeply concerned” after Geoffrey Berman, the US attorney behind inquiries into Trump’s allies, resigned after the US attorney general William Barr announced his firing.

“I am deeply concerned about the sudden removal of the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, especially given serious questions about who gave the order and the timing of the firing,” wrote James in a statement. “I hope the Department of Justice heeds its own advice and puts public service over public spectacle. Ongoing investigations must not be interfered with, period. There is still much work to be done and it must be done independently. Americans deserve leaders who are committed to justice.”

You can read the full story on Berman here:

The president has landed in Tulsa, and is due to speak at 7pm local time (around 40 minutes) but Trump isn’t known for arriving on time for events. You’d hope he’d start as soon as possible, given that the longer the crowd is in the arena, the longer they will potentially be exposed to Covid-19.

Catherine Troisi, an infectious disease epidemiologist at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, spoke to CNN earlier about the risks of indoor gatherings during the pandemic. “We know what makes transmission of the virus occur more frequently, and that includes close contact, particularly without masking, crowds, [being] indoors versus outdoors, the duration of the contact, and then shouting also increases the possibility of transmission,” said Catherine Troisi, an infectious disease epidemiologist at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

The president - on board Air Force One - has just flown a loop over Tulsa as the city prepares for his rally later tonight.

Donald Trump’s campaign has blamed “radical protesters’ for frightening away the president’s supporters from tonight’s rally in Tulsa. Sure, that and the prospect of sharing a confined space with thousands of others in the middle of a pandemic. And maybe the armed guys “protecting” the rally, despite the presence of police and national guard.

“Sadly, protesters interfered with supporters, even blocking access to metal detectors, which prevented people from entering the rally. Radical protesters coupled with relentless onslaught from the media, attempted to frighten off the President’s supporters. We are proud of the thousands who stuck it out.,” said campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh.

Geoffrey Berman, the US attorney for the southern district of New York who has overseen investigations and prosecutions of key Trump allies including Rudy Giuliani and Michael Cohen, has resigned.

The news came after William Barr, the US attorney general, said Berman had been fired by Donald Trump. Confusingly, the president then said he had not fired Berman. “That’s all up to the attorney general. Attorney General Barr is working on that,” said Trump, even though Barr said it was the president who ultimately fired Berman. “That’s his department, not my department. But we have a very capable attorney general, so that’s really up to him. I’m not involved.”

Hours later, Berman confirmed he had resigned. “In light of Attorney General Barr’s decision to respect the normal operation of law and have Deputy US Attorney Audrey Strauss become Acting US Attorney, I will be leaving the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, effective immediately,” he said in a statement.

Barr had been widely accused of undermining Department of Justice independence even before he moved against Berman.

In a surprise statement released on Friday night, the attorney general said Trump intended to nominate Jay Clayton – chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission but with little experience as a federal prosecutor – as US attorney. The US attorney in New Jersey, Craig Carpenito, would be acting US attorney until Clayton could be confirmed by the Senate.

But Berman said he had not known of the move until Barr’s statement.

Oliver Laughland spoke to some of the workers at tonight’s rally about working at an event where the crowd are no required to wear masks:

It’s obviously well before the start of the rally - and before Trump’s headline act takes to the stage - but early reports have the BOK Center far under capacity. It could well start to fill as we get closer to the main act, and temperature checks and the handing out of masks could be delaying entry, but this photo from the New York Times’ Astead Herndon shows plenty of space.

Atlanta’s acting police chief has assured residents of the city that their 911 calls will still be answered despite reports of officers calling in sick after two of their colleagues were charged over the killing of Rayshard Brooks.

“It is factual that over the past few days, we’ve seen higher than average number of officers call in sick, which caused us to shift resources to ensure proper coverage ... The explanation for calling out sick varies and includes officers questioning their training, officers being challenged and attacked, and unease about officers seeing their colleague criminally charged so quickly ... Neither APD leadership nor the administration are dismissive of these notions. I want each of you to know that we are in this together and we are here to support you,” Rodney Bryant said.

Donald Trump had planned to address the public outside the BOK Center before tonight’s rally, but that segment of proceedings has now been cancelled. Protesters and counter-protesters have been gathering in Tulsa today, and some of them are armed so that may well have played into the decision.

Meanwhile, Oliver Laughland has been inside the BOK Center and reports that most of those gathering are not wearing masks. As a reminder, public health officials think holding an indoor rally in a state where Covid-19 cases are rising, is a very bad idea.