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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Trump Holds Lengthy News Conference At Mar-a-Lago; Trump: I Haven't Recalibrated Strategy Since Biden Dropped Out. Harris and Waltz Speak With United Auto Workers In Detroit; Dramatic New Body Cam Footage From Trump Assassination Attempt; Intel Assessment Warns Of Potential "Retaliatory" Attacks At DNC; Police: ISIS-Inspired Suspect Planned Attack At Taylor Swift Show. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired August 08, 2024 - 16:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[16:00:06]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Yeah, he's wearing a mask on the sidelines of the race, but that is certainly raising a lot of eyebrows.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: Raising a lot of eyebrows and, you know, it's a long -- it's in your lungs, COVID, I can't imagine having to run while battling that. I -- yeah.

KEILAR: Unbelievable.

DEAN: It's -- it's interesting. Okay. Well, thanks for having me today.

KEILAR: It's been great.

DEAN: I'll be back with you tomorrow.

KEILAR: I'll see you tomorrow.

All right. And THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER starts right now.

(MUSIC)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: So, was that press conference supposed to help the Trump campaign?

THE LEAD starts right now.

With Vice President Kamala Harris rising in polls, former President Donald Trump takes questions from reporters saying he has agreed to three debates and going off on crowd sizes and a whole host of other issues. The Trump campaign had thought his ability to take questions for an hour was a potent contrast with Biden. But does this dynamic work against Kamala Harris the same way?

Plus the art of power. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi joining THE LEAD here on set for her take on Trump's press conference, Biden's debate performance, the Harris campaign so far, and much, much more.

And terrifying new details about the alleged ISIS-inspired terrorist attack that was planned for a Taylor Swift concert this week. What investigators are revealing about the suspects in custody? And the stockpile of chemicals and explosive devices found at one of their homes.

(MUSIC)

TAPPER: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.

Less than an hour ago, Donald Trump holding a lengthy and at times meandering, spiraling news conference from Mar-a-Lago. The former president, using the opportunity to announce that he has agreed to three debates with NBC and with ABC and with his friends at Fox. He spent 64 minutes speaking extemporaneously and taking 41 questions from reporters.

He slammed Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and Tim Walz and even Hillary Clinton. Trump also criticizing the media's coverage of crowd sizes at Harris's rallies. He also continued to spread false claims about U.S. elections and January 6 and, wow, so much more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He had a rough debate but that doesn't mean that you just take it away like that.

I think she's worse than Biden. She destroyed San Francisco.

In South Carolina, I had 88,000 people, in Alabama, I had 68,000 people. Nobody says about crowd size with me, but she has 1,000 people, a 1,500 people and they say, oh, the enthusiasm is back.

I just hope we're going to have honest elections. That's all.

She doesn't know how to do a news conference. She's not smart enough to do a news conference.

And nobody was killed on January 6.

You know, with Hillary Clinton -- I could have done things to her that would have made your head spin its like a jobs program for fact- checkers Trump said he doesn't have to do rallies on the campaign trail because he's leading by a lot.

That's not actually the case. The CNN poll of polls, which is an average of reputable polling, has the race today tied nationally at 49 percent versus 49 percent.

In the battleground states, the race is also tightening significantly. "The Cook Political Report", which after the June 27, Biden-Trump debate moved a number of states towards Trump, today, moved three -- Arizona, Nevada, and Georgia -- back to toss-up status.

Trump's only scheduled campaign rally this week is in Montana tomorrow. His Democratic rival, Vice President Harris, rallied in Wisconsin and Michigan yesterday along with her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.

She just spoke to the United Auto Workers union in Detroit and is flying to Arizona later today where she and Governor Walz will rally tomorrow.

We're going to start with CNN's Kristen Holmes who was just inside Donald Trump's news conference -- Kristen.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Jake, I know was actually my question, asking him why he's not campaigning, why it is that he's only doing one rally this weekend, in a non-competitive swing state of Montana. He said he's leading by a lot.

And I can tell you from conversations with senior advisors that they know that that's not the case, that they're watching this very carefully. They are seeing the enthusiasm around Kamala Harris. They are seeing this boost from Democrats and they are seeing movement in those poll numbers.

All of that is something that they are watching as they are calibrating their campaign against Kamala Harris. Now they are projecting optimism overall, saying that they believed the end of the day this is going to be the same race over the policies that were unpopular under Biden. And now, they're going to be unpopular because they are linked to Kamala Harris.

She, of course, is at the top of the White House, the top of the administration where those policies were formed, particular really on immigration, on crime, and on inflation.

[16:05:01]

But when it comes to this press conference today, it was clear moments after the press conference, a senior adviser came up to me and said, could Kamala Harris have done that?

This is clearly part of the narrative that they've continued to say that she won't take questions from the press, that as part of the reason that they decided to get reporters into that room today, to have them answer questions from former President Donald Trump.

And as you said, this was at times a rant, it was at times meandering and at times really talking about some of Donald Trump's greatest hits, some of the things that he often brings up. It was clear. He was asked about the crowd sizes of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, that that had gotten under his skin. He ranted about that incessantly, saying the media was unfair, they would never talk about how big his crowds were.

And in fact, after he mentioned that January 6 had been a peaceful transfer of power, something he was questioned on by reporters. He was then asked to reiterate that and he started talking about how his crowd on January 6 was the same or bigger than that of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech clearly again, very fixated on the crowd number here. But, overall, the thing to point out of what is going on here, Donald Trump is trying to yet out there, they are still recalibrating their campaign against Kamala Harris. They say it's the same campaign. They say nothing has fundamentally changed, but they also acknowledged the shift in polling polls, the shift in Democratic energy.

And Donald Trump today almost through his own actions, through his kind of fierce fighting back and defensive nature on certain questions about why he wasn't campaigning, he called my questions stupid, why he -- the media -- what he thought about those crowd sizes, he got upset about that saying it was the media's fault. They weren't paying attention to.

Clearly, this race has taken a shift and Donald Trump has noticed. And I will tell you, it's not just Donald Trump, His own allies have told me they're worried about the campaign. They are worried about the direction that it is going. They are worried that this is not ramping up enough ahead of November. He says, it will ramp up after the Democratic convention.

TAPPER: I mean, for the record, Kristen, your question is the one that's on the minds of everybody, including Trump supporters that I talked to. Why is he not out there on the stump campaigning? It's a great question.

Thank you so much for that report.

Let's bring in CNN's Tom Foreman, who is digging into Trump's claims. Tom, it was -- it was a long press conference. I don't even know where you were -- a fact checker would even begin, but I hand you the floor.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was a torrent of misleading statements and false. He said that -- that Kamala Harris was the border czar under the Biden administration. We were reporting other news outlets as well as way back in 2021 that was not the case. That was overinflating her role.

In any event, he said the border was a giant collapse down there. He inflated the numbers that he says are coming across right now way beyond where they are now, and there have been declining.

He also said something he said many times before that other countries all around the world are emptying their mental institutions in their prisons into people who are coming across U.S. border in the United States. Zero proof of that. We've never been given proof of that. He says it over and over again.

He talked about the economy big issue for many people said, we're on the verge of a dip freshen, not a recession, a depression? Absolutely not true.

A depression, the 19 -- the big Depression, 1920s, which he cited, unemployment down 25 percent. We're at 4.3 percent right now. So not even close.

He exaggerated the role that energy prices had in the economic downturn in this country, saying that it was bad management of energy. This is false. Gas prices were part of the equation, but so was the backlog of demand and supply problems related to the pandemic that lead into it. So that's another thing.

He threw in there as he often does, that if the Democrats take over, they're going to force everyone to buy electric cars. No, that also is not in the plans.

And on and on it went, with many claims about this, but most of all, he kept circling around when he would come to one theme if there was a theme, it was to say, well, Kamala Harris is somehow behind all of this. She's the problem with all of this, through all of the falsehoods, Jake, I'd say the one truth we got is that she is getting under his skin -- Jake.

TAPPER: Indeed. Tom Foreman, thank you so much.

CNN's Kaitlan Collins, David Chalian, and Jamie Gangel join me now to talk about the performance we saw.

And, Jamie, this was in many ways vintage Donald Trump on display, especially with this peculiar fascination with crowd sizes. Let's just run a little bit about what Mr. Trump had to say about that important issue that so many voters care about.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: But in crowd size, in history, for any country, nobody's had crowds like I have. And you know that.

And when she gets 1,000 people and everybody starts jumping, you know that if I had 1,000 people would say people would say, that's the end of his campaign. I have hundreds of thousands of people. In South Carolina, I had 88,000 people, in Alabama, I had 68,000 people.

[16:10:06]

Nobody says about crowd size with me.

But she has 1,000 people, 1,500 people and they say, oh, the enthusiasm is back.

No, no, the enthusiasm is with me and the Republican Party.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Just a reminder of how the Trump presidency began, here's then White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, Donald Trump's brand new press secretary, talking about his crowds at the inauguration back in January 2017.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN SPICER, FORMER WHTE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period, both in-person and around the globe. (END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Here we go again.

JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Deja vu all over again. I mean, this is -- you said something at the beginning of the show, was this opposed to help I don't think this press conference changed any minds. One political strategist who supports Kamala Harris texted me, I hope he does this every day.

Ari Fleischer normally, a Trump supporter, tweeted, Trump should stop the news conference now, time to get off the field up. Earlier this year, we know Trump advisers were saying trying to sell the campaign as the new disciplined on message Donald Trump. This was not that today.

TAPPER: And, Kaitlan, during the press conference, Trump continued to bash the very popular conservative Republican governor of Georgia, Brian Kemp. This is a result, it seems, because Governor Kemp's wife, Marty, said a few days ago that she would not be voting for Trump.

You interviewed Governor Kemp last month and he told you he didn't vote for Trump in the Georgia presidential primary. This obviously really bothered him and he keeps bringing it up.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Jake, that was a conversation I had with Brian Kemp the day before the debate when Donald Trump was coming to Georgia, their relationship, which has not been good since the 2020 election, had kind of turned into this detente where they essentially, Brian Kemp said he was going to vote for Trump in November, but he wasn't out on the campaign trail with him. They do not speak and have not spoken.

But I asked him if he had voted -- if he had voted for him in the Republican primary because Kemp had not answered questions from reporters in Atlanta about who he had actually cast that vote for. He told me that he did not vote for anyone and it was on top of his wife, Marty Kemp, also not voting for Donald Trump. Not surprisingly, I mean, Donald Trump tried to get her husband fired and once predicted that his political career would go down in flames.

Obviously, we saw Kemp soundly defeat the primary challenger that Donald Trump had endorsed. And then went on to be re-elected as the governor of Georgia. And so, it's this remarkable moment, though, where you hear Trump's allies, people like Senator Lindsey Graham saying, it doesn't make any political sense for Donald Trump to go after an incredibly popular Republican governor and not just a popular Republican governor in a state that Trump lost in 2020 but also, he's got a potent political force around him.

He doesn't really rely on the Republican Party of Georgia, which is spending a lot of money on legal fees for those who tried to overturn the election there. He's got his own operation -- something that can be probably pretty beneficial to Donald Trump, Jake, if he is trying to win Georgia which most Republicans thought would be pretty easy if he had not stoked his fight, again, with the Republican governor there who may not be as compelled to go out and campaign on his behalf or urge people who are skeptical of Donald Trump to vote for him.

And Jake, you heard Trump during that press conference marveling at the fact that he can win Alabama and South Carolina by large margins and still lose Georgia. Obviously, Metro Atlanta would like a word on how that works and it's not similar when it comes to the electorate with the other two states, Jake. But it is a real concern that Trump could essentially get in his own way in the state of Georgia by trashing Kemp.

TAPPER: Once again, a concern.

And, David, our colleague, Ron Brownstein tweeted this after the press conference. It was overshadowed by Biden's collapse but this news conference reaffirmed a big conclusion from the June debate. Trump's capacity to drive a message or even to string together coherent thoughts has also markedly declined since 2020, much less 2016. He's also diminished.

What do you make of that criticism?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, I never want to differ with Ron Brownstein. I think it's a pretty smart guy. But no, I do think he is right.

That one of the big takeaways from the June debate was that Donald Trump's performance was not stellar. It really wasn't. Obviously, it was completely overtaken by events of how disastrous Joe Biden's performance was leading to his departure from the race.

But one of the big takeaways on in the immediate aftermath of the debate is that Donald Trump was meandering in his answers, was not as sharp. And, obviously, he's not the same Donald Trump of 2016 or of 2020. It's clear to anybody that can watch.

Remember, he's now the old guy in the race.

[16:15:02]

He is now the guy that is running to be the oldest to ever serving president -- elected president of the United States. And so, that is a different dynamic than he it was facing with Joe Biden and one that is going to come under scrutiny with this generational difference with the Democratic opponent.

TAPPER: And, David, Trump has also said, the biggest news from this conference was he said he agreed to three debates against Kamala Harris, ABC just said that Harris has agreed to its debate on September 10th.

So it sounds, though, we will have at least one presidential debate this fall.

CHALIAN: Yes. Thank goodness. I mean, the country needs a debate between these candidates and that's a good thing, our former colleagues at ABC are skilled at this and I'm sure it will be a very important affair for everyone to watch. We'll see if there are more debates. What I find so interesting about this is that Donald Trump was clearly a little more desperate to get this debate on the books, than was Harris because just a week ago --

TAPPER: He said he wouldn't do it.

CHALIAN: Exactly.

TAPPER: Yeah.

CHALIAN: Where just a week ago, he said, ABC's off the table. I'm not doing that ABC debate on the 10th. I agree to that with Joe Biden and I won't do it.

And the Harris campaign's posture was, we're not talking about any other debate other than the one agreed to on ABC on September 10, and it looked like that they were at loggerheads over that. Donald Trump completely caved -- completely caved to Harris' demand that if you want debates, it starts with the ABC debate on September 10.

TAPPER: And, Jamie, there was also this moment. I think this is a question from Kristen Holmes, our Kristen Holmes. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: You have not had any public campaign for nearly a week now. Tomorrow, you'll be in Montana, which is not a swing state. Some of your allies have expressed concern you're not taking this very seriously, particularly this time --

TRUMP: What a stupid question.

HOLMES: -- where there's enthusiasm on the other side. Why haven't you in a campaign in the last days (ph)?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: OK. So, first of all, not a stupid question. That's perfectly legitimate question.

GANGEL: Correct.

TAPPER: I don't know why politicians do that. They always -- they just look so thin-skinned and defensive, but beyond that, this was event today, which is not nothing. He took questions for an hour. We'd love to see Kamala Harris and Tim Walz do that, but this is at his house.

GANGEL: It's a great question. Where is he? He complained altering the trial in New York? That he couldn't get out and campaign.

He's not getting out and campaigning. He's -- he's sitting there and doing this from Mar-a-Lago. He's very defensive. He was defensive about the polls.

You saw him triggered by this. He is watching the Harris-Walz rallies. TAPPER: Yeah.

GANGEL: And that's why he's so upset about her asking that question.

TAPPER: And, Kaitlan, ahead of the press conference today, his former press secretary, Stephanie Grisham, posted on Twitter, why she thought he was doing it. She said, quote, he is panicking.

I've seen this play many times. He thinks his team has failing him and no one can speak better and save his campaign and defend him, but him. He hates the coverage Harris is getting and thinks only he can fix it.

Is she right?

COLLINS: There's definitely some frustration inside the campaign, specifically from Trump directed at his team as he's been watching all of this play out. He is highly attuned to cable news coverage and the front pages, which has been littered with pictures of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, and obviously not Donald Trump until he came out to do this press conference today.

I also think crowd sizes has always been an animating factor for him. You heard him saying that she only got 1,500 people. We actually heard from the Harris campaign yesterday that between Wisconsin and Detroit, it was closer to 25,000 people, 27,000 people that she had out at those rallies.

And so that is something that Trump is seeing and he's very clearly, you know, ingesting that and worried about that and figuring out how to deal with that in real time. I think that's part of what led to today's press conference, which was organized just a little over 24 hours ago to have him come out and be taking questions.

And he was saying he'll be on the campaign trail this week. It's only in Montana, obviously, a reliably red state, Jake, with an important Senate seat, but certainly not seeing him out on the campaign trail that you are seeing a lot of J.D. Vance.

TAPPER: M, maybe you can do some fishing. I wish I was in Montana right now.

Jamie, Kaitlan, and David, thank you so much.

And, of course, if you didn't get enough Kaitlan Collins just now and who -- who does really get enough Kaitlan Collins just with one hit? You can see her show. She has a show, what's called "THE SOURCE WITH KAITLAN COLLINS," and it airs on this very network at 9:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

It's not just the White House up for grabs in November, of course, as Kaitlan was just talking about. There's a big Senate race in Montana. The House and Senate are both on the ballot as well.

So, do Trump's comments today help Republicans in those races? I'll ask a former Republican congressman and Trump ally next. Plus, dramatic, never before seen police body camera footage from the moments before that horrific assassination attempt on Donald Trump and the moments after a sniper took out the shooter, this is just into CNN. We're going to show it to you ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:23:48]

TAPPER: Continuing our 2024 lead, in an effort to shake up a very close presidential race and blunt the growing momentum behind the Kamala Harris campaign, former President Trump just held a wide- ranging news conference from his Mar-a-Lago resort,

Here now is former Republican congressman from New York, Lee Zeldin, a supporter of the former president.

Congressman, thanks for joining us.

So, moments ago. The former president was asked if he has changed his campaign strategy now that Harris has been -- has replaced Biden, Joe Biden on the Democratic ticket. Here's his response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I haven't recalibrated strategy at all. It's the same policies, open borders weak on crime. She's I think she's worse than Biden because he got forced into the position. She was there long before -- she destroyed San Francisco. She destroyed California.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Today, the Cook Political Report shifted its ratings for the battleground states, Arizona, Georgia, and Nevada from lean Republican to Trump -- from lean Trump to toss-ups. Do you think Trump needs to recalibrate the strategy? He has a completely different opponent now.

LEE ZELDIN (R), FORMER NEW YORK CONGRESSMAN: Well, President Trump is right to focus on the issues that matter most to Americans.

[16:25:01]

When he's talking about the need to secure the border, a lot of Americans are saying that is their number one issue. They care about the state of our economy. They care about being able to afford to pay their bills. They want a strong and effective foreign policy and they want our nation to be energy independent.

So talking about these issues substantively, if voters are saying it's their number one issue to decide their vote, that's the number one thing to own it on.

TAPPER: Speaking a battlegrounds specifically, Georgia, Trump continued to attack Brian Kemp, the popular Republican governor of Georgia.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I got him elected. Without me, he wouldn't be governor. I got him elected. He was doing terribly. I got him elected.

With that being said, I hope we can repair it, but if we don't, the people who still that people and they're going to vote.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: I assume you would prefer that he'd be talking about immigration and inflation and not about this feud with Governor Kemp.

ZELDIN: I thought that the Republican convention that we just finished was very unifying. It was electric and that is the type of energy that we're going to need between now and 89 days from now. And we are just a few weeks away from ballots going out in North Carolina and Arizona and Pennsylvania, once we get past Labor Day.

So, it's important to be communicating for all of us to be communicating directly to the voters no matter what you're running for and being as unified as a party as possible.

TAPPER: Trump's former press secretary, Stephanie Grisham, said that the news conference today is an indication that the former president is panicking. Why do you think Donald Trump is not holding more campaign events? I mean, one thing that we in the media and the public are used to is him having a very vigorous schedule and dueling rally after rally after rally in battleground, after battleground.

And this week he's only doing one rally in one state, Montana.

ZELDIN: Yes. So, President Trump has been since he came down, that escalator in 2015, operating with a schedule that I've never seen before in politics and he is up early. He is up late. He barely gets any sleep.

He's a type of guy who can go campaign, doing five rallies in five states. It could be sunny in one state. It can be snowing in another. And I'm sure that we will continue to see that level as we saw him standing there for an hour. Answer any questions from any reporter that is out there and quick frankly, the way his style is, he probably stay there for another hour.

Kamala Harris has not had a tough interview -- has not had a tough interview since she became the nominee since President Biden stepped aside. She hasn't done a tough press conference. And I think it's important to be willing to answer those questions.

I think the vice president stand for an hour answering tough questions at a press conference. I think that she should sit down for an unedited live interview and being able to answer all sorts of tough questions. What we just witnessed was President Biden getting 14 million Democratic Party primary votes at the end of the process the elites have Democratic Party didn't like the polling and he took them out.

That's how Kamala Harris got this nomination. And I think that there are a lot of important questions that need to be asked and answered. And I don't think Kamala Harris can just stay behind a teleprompter between now and November 5th and get away with it and she shouldn't get away with it.

TAPPER: We have certainly been saying on this show for many days that it would be good for her to do a press conference and for her to do an interview as soon as possible.

Former Congressman Lee Zeldin of New York, thanks so much for your time. I appreciate it.

ZELDIN: Thanks, Jake.

TAPPER: CNN has just obtained never before seen body cam video of the moments before that shooter fired his gun at former President Donald Trump during that campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. It also shows the moment a police officer saw the gunman just before that horrific assassination attempt. And we're going to walk you through it all, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:34:01]

TAPPER: Our 2024 lead, the Kamala Harris campaign is continuing its swing through key battleground states. Just moments ago, Vice President Harris wrapped up an event with United Auto Workers union in Detroit and is now headed west for a rally in Phoenix, Arizona, tomorrow.

CNN's Arlette Saenz is live for us in Detroit.

Arlette, what did we hear from Vice President Harris and Governor Walz?

And how is the Harris campaign responding to Trump saying that he has agreed to participate in three debates in September?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, that was actually the key question for Vice President Kamala Harris today, myself and several other reporters approached the rope line trying to ask her on multiple occasions whether she would agree to the three debates that former President Donald Trump says he has committed to. I asked her specifically about that, and she would not answer.

Now, it is worth noting that Harris had already committed the to an ABC debate to take place on September 10th and the Harris campaign had really been arguing that it was Trump that was moving the goalpost posts relating to these debates.

[16:35:03]

In a statement that was released on Saturday, Michael Tyler, the communications director for the Harris campaign, had said that Harris would show up at a September 10 debate on ABC and also added that they would be happy to discuss further debates after the one both campaigns have already agreed to.

So we will see whether the Harris campaign has anything else to say about this debate, about the debates, as I'm playing today. Now, Harris was here at a local UAW union hall, really trying to rally the working class voters, and rank-and-file union members to her campaign. Both she and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz talked about how they are supportive of collective bargaining and achieving fairness for union members.

It comes as Harris has earned the support of UAW leadership, but there is still work for her to do heading into November's campaign to try to win over those rank and file members that former President Donald Trump has also been trying to appeal to this campaign.

Of course, those types of workers are key in a state like Michigan, where the auto industry is huge, as well as other blue wall states like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. These are all efforts Harris will really have to lean into as she's heading into this November election.

TAPPER: Arlette, Vice President Harris, Governor Walz are now heading to another crucial battleground state, Arizona. What's on the agenda there?

SAENZ: Yeah, they will be making two stops tomorrow, holding events in areas -- in Phoenix Arizona area, and then traveling on to Las Vegas, Nevada, on Saturday. Of course, those are two key battleground states out west, with significant Latino populations as well.

You have seen the Harris campaign today rolling out a new television advertisement trying into introduce Harris's biographical record, believing that it will resonate with Latino voters.

It comes at a time when polling has actually shown that Harris has to improved her standing among Latino voters compared to when Biden had been in the race against Trump over the course of the past year and into the summer. This recent polling from New York Times found that Harris has 57 percent support of Latinos over Trump. So this will be a key constituency that the campaign is trying to woo over in the month heading into November. And a lot of that work will take place on the ground in Arizona and Nevada in the coming days.

TAPPER: All right. Arlette Saenz in Detroit, Michigan, battleground, Michigan -- thanks so much.

U.S. security officials are warning about possible retaliation against Democrats after the assassination attempt on Donald Trump how they're preparing to protect the crowds at the Democratic National Convention just over a week away.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:41:57]

TAPPER: Just in to CNN in our law and justice lead, dramatic, never before seen police body camera footage just obtained by CNN show critical moments before and after the attempted assassination on former President Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania last month, including the moment that a police officer spotted the shooter, Thomas Crooks, on the roof, and then duck down after the shooter spotted him.

CNN's Danny Freeman got this new video.

Danny, walk us through it.

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Jake, I mean, this is a moment that we have heard about pretty much almost right after the assassination attempt happen. This moment when a police officer hoisted himself on the roof and we got this video because our team was able to get a public records request fulfilled out of Pennsylvania.

So, you can see right here, this is about other township police department officer arriving at the AGR building. This is prior to the assassination attempt. You can see he's looking at the crowd. We've been reporting for some time that a lot of crowd members were trying to alert police. Hey, there's someone on the roof that needs your attention.

TAPPER: Yeah, that very day, we reported on, yeah.

FREEMAN: Exactly. And now, this is the moment where he jumps up on this rooftop. This is about less than a minute, less -- about 30 seconds before the shots ring out. You can't see Crooks on this video, but you can see the tone of this officers body language immediately changes. He rushes back and starts to alert other law enforcement agents.

This is a little bit later in the video after Crooks has been neutralized. He is able -- the same officer able to get back-up on that roof and figure out exactly where Crooks was. Just -- it's stunning video, Jake, but not only are these particular images fascinating, but we also have some audio from other body camera videos in this public records quest, including the frustration of another officer affiliated with Butler Township who was specifically concerned about Secret Service not taking that vulnerable area on top of the roofs seriously. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED) I told them they need to post the guys over here. I told them that the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) -- the Secret Service, I told them that (EXPLETIVE DELETED) Tuesday. I told them to post (EXPLETIVE DELETED) guys over here.

(INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, we're inside.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Alpha one, bravo one --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED) I told them to post (EXPLETIVE DELETED) guys over here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: Jake, that video is from about 10 minutes after the shooting. So that's how quickly local law enforcement officers were saying we knew that this was a spot that needed attention.

TAPPER: I told them on f-ing Tuesday, they said.

FREEMAN: I told them on f-ing Tuesday.

TAPPER: And it took place on Saturday, the shooting.

FREEMAN: Exactly.

Secret Service, we reached out to them about this new video. They had no comment for us today.

TAPPER: All right. Danny Freeman, great reporting, thank you so much.

Speaking of that shooting, CNN has also obtained an intelligence report which shows that U.S. officials are on high alert for what they are calling possible, quote, retaliatory attacks against Democrats following the attempted assassination of former President Trump. The threat assessment is a joint effort by the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and local Illinois police.

[16:45:01]

It was issued ahead of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, which kicks off in just 11 days.

Let's get right to CNN's Josh Campbell who broke the story.

Josh, more -- Josh, what more are you learning about this potential threat that has official so concerned?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Jake. Well, it's important to note at the outset that there's no indication that the shooter who fired at former President Donald Trump was acting based on politics, his own political leanings appear to diverge.

Nevertheless, we saw spirit, theories start to spread online after that attack. And what law enforcement now is fearful obvious that you might have extremists that are seeking some type of revenge at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

I'll read you part of that intelligence assessment that we obtained. It says the FBI and DHS remain concerned about the potential for follow-on or retaliatory acts of violence following the 13 July assassination attempt on Trump, particularly given that individuals in some online communities have threatened or encouraged or referenced acts of violence in response to the attempted assassination. Now, it's worth pointing out this is one of several different types of threats authorities are on alert for. We know obviously that security officials have been saying the alarm about the threat of foreign terrorism as well.

You just look to the Taylor Swift concert threats that shows us that groups like ISIS are still active and still plotting. And so, certainly, Jake, when this massive footprint of law enforcement there in Chicago greets visitors and just over a weeks' time, they will have a lot to grapple with, with many different threats that they're on the alert for.

TAPPER: And, Josh, just how are law enforcement officials preparing?

CAMPBELL: So, this has been deemed what's called a national security special event by the secretary of homeland security, which means that you will have hundreds and hundreds of law enforcement officers, both from Chicago. Those brought in from around the country, federal agents with various specialties. They'll obviously be securing the facilities themselves, but also they'll -- I'd be looking for securing critical infrastructure, threats to -- from cyber attacks and the like.

A lot of these types of security precautions we will see ourselves, the massive law enforcement presence, a lot of them will be unseen to include anti-drone technology that will be brought in. But despite so all of that, what officials are saying is law enforcement can only do so much. Authorities just held a press conference not long ago. They basically said we are leading on the public to help us if you see something, say something that's not just a throwaway line.

In order to try to stop threats in advance, they need people out there to report things that they may be -- they may see that could be concerning, Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Josh Campbell. Thank you so much.

New details today about three teenagers, three now, suspected of plotting an attack at a Taylor Swift concert, including one who was allegedly an ISIS sympathizer radicalized online the latest on that investigation, next.

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[16:51:41]

TAPPER: In our world lead now, Austrian police have questioned three teenagers suspected of plotting a terrorist attack at a Taylor swift concert in Vienna. This includes the main 19-year-old suspect who was inspired by ISIS, law enforcement says, after becoming radicalized online.

CNN's Salma Abdelaziz is in Ternitz, Austria, near the home of that suspect where he was stockpiling chemicals and explosive devices.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Chilling new details are emerging about the terror plot on a Taylor swift concert in Vienna. Three Austrian teenagers aged 19, 17 and 15 now detained in facing questions, the head of Austria's domestic intelligence service telling CNN one of the radicalized teenagers had obtained a job working at the venue he planned to attack just days prior to his arrest.

OMAR HAIJAWI-PIRCHNER, AUSTRIAN DIRECTOR OF SECURITY SERVICES: One of the suspects got an application a few days ago.

ABDELAZIZ: So, he had applied for a job?

HAIJAWI-PIRCHNER: He had.

ABDELAZIZ: Officials now investigating what they believe could have been a three-pronged attack, targeting one of three sold out Swift concerts for an estimated 65,000 fans each night. Investigators considering the possibility that the suspects plan to run over fans gathered outside the stadium with a vehicle and had even obtain the blue light similar to what police attached to their cars to force their way through the crowd. Then they plan to attack innocents with knives and machetes. And in a final stage, detonate explosives at the site.

The 19-year-old suspect who lived in this home an hour outside of Vienna is the alleged mastermind. Authorities say he has confessed to the terror plot. Items found inside his home included chemical explosives, detonators, ISIS propaganda, 21,000 euros in counterfeit cash, machetes and knives.

All three suspects were radicalized online by ISIS recruiters.

HAIJAWI-PIRCHNER: It's very worrying. We can see that in Austria, we have very young guys that are radicalized due to the fact that they are using the online propaganda that is brought out from ISIS, and also IS-KP.

ABDELAZIZ: The prime suspect had pledge allegiance to ISIS. Neighbors say his family was always reserved.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): They lived very reclusively. We did not see them in their backyard or their children outside.

(SINGING)

ABDELAZIZ: A depraved plot that could have killed and maimed many.

(SINGING)

ABDELAZIZ: The Swifties have filled the streets of Vienna and they are singing her songs loud and very clear.

Fans are sad but grateful to be safe. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is what we're all about. It's like we make the best of a bad situation and rain and sunlight will be ours.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABDELAZIZ (on camera): And, Jake, we are learning that the U.S. tipped off Austrian officials, warn them about this terror plot. They're still unraveling the details, but it's what they found in this home right behind me here. The home that belonged to that 19-year-old suspect, the machetes, the knives, the chemicals, the potential detonators that really has -- that really has investigators concerned -- Jake.

[16:55:03]

TAPPER: All right. Salma Abdelaziz live in Austria for us, thank you so much.

What did former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi think when she saw President Biden's dismal debate performance? Does she think Vice President Harris needs to be doing more interviews as Republicans and the media are saying? I'll ask her when she joins THE LEAD in just minutes.

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TAPPER: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.

This hour, an update on a story that CNN's Nick Watt has been covering aggressively for THE LEAD for three years, including just yesterday.