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Secret Service Says it is Confident in RNC Security Plans; Biden Campaign, DNC Held Staff Call Sunday to Navigate After Attempted Assassination; Republican National Convention to Take Place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Donald Trump Describes His Experience during Assassination Attempt at Political Rally in Pennsylvania; Secret Service to Cooperate with Congress in Independent Review of Potential Security Issues that Led to Assassination Attempt on Donald Trump. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired July 15, 2024 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

BRIAN SCHIMMING, CHAIRMAN, REPUBLICAN PARTY OF WISCONSIN: -- that were involved in these elector situations in some of the states who didn't believe they were doing anything illegal at all. So really we have good, good Republicans. As to other states that are in their delegations that didn't feel as though they were doing anything wrong, and then some states that was the legal feeling on it, too. So that's not an issue for us at all. The bigger issue for us is coming out of here unified for Donald Trump in a state in the polling where, I mean, right now, those states you mentioned, Donald Trump is ahead in every single one of them.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: I mean, when you cannot under -- you cannot overstate how important Wisconsin is going to be in terms of the path to 270.

We're still waiting for a V.P. announcement from Donald Trump. Have you gotten any insight when that announcement might be coming, and what we might be seeing on that stage Wednesday night?

SCHIMMING: No, I don't think it will wait until Wednesday night. Let's put it that way. But no, I don't have an insight on -- I think we'll all hear the name the finalists, right, of the common finalists, but I don't have a good guess.

I'll say this, though, Kate. We have half a dozen, eight, ten people that any single one of them that Donald Trump would nominate for vice president will have the unified support of this convention, absolutely.

BOLDUAN: We're going to see it all play out together. Thank you for being a welcoming host. Good luck. Your schedule is probably extremely brutal.

SCHIMMING: Yes, it is, but happy to be with you this morning.

BOLDUAN: Thank you very much, Brian, really appreciate it.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

At the top of the hour, I am Kate Bolduan in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where really any moment we could find out who Donald Trump's running mate will be as the Republican National Convention soon officially kicks off here. The former president is here in Milwaukee less than 48 hours after he was shot during an assassination attempt. We're showing you, this is the video as he walked off his plane as he was arriving in Milwaukee.

This morning, we are learning new details about Saturday's tragic rally shooting. Sources are now telling CNN the would-be assassin bought has ammunition just hours before his attack. As for a motive, the FBI says that is still unclear.

But breaking overnight, Donald Trump is sharing his first reactions to what he lived through and how the experience, he says, is now reshaping his view on the week ahead. Here's the, quote, "I had all prepared an extremely tough speech, really good, all about the corrupt, horrible administration. But I threw it away. I want to try to unite our country. But I don't know if that's possible. People are very divided."

This morning, we know that President Biden briefly spoke with Donald Trump on the phone as he too is making that appeal, the appeal for national unity in the face of this tragedy, and also calling on all Americans to cool down the political rhetoric.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: A former president was shot, an American citizen killed while simply exercising his freedom to support the candidate of his choosing. We cannot, we must not go down this road in America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: We have team coverage. Here with me in Milwaukee, John Berman, Sara Sidner are standing by in New York. Let's start with CNN's Steve Contorno for the latest on Donald Trump. on the former president. Steve, what are you hearing from his team at this hour? There's so much that seems to have changed overnight in terms of Donald Trump's view on what this entire convention is about.

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Kate, Trump's team is determined to demonstrate that they have the resolve to move ahead despite the unspeakable tragedy and this assassination attempts on their candidate. And we are hearing from Trump for the first time describing the harrowing details of what he experienced on Saturday in an exclusive interview with "The New York Post." He said that the Secret Service agents who tackled him were, quote, "like linebackers", and they, quote, "hit me so hard, my shoes fell off." And he went on to say his shoes were on very tight.

He also described that image that has been reverberating around the world, telling "The Post" usually you have to die to have an iconic photo. And he also previewed in another interview what he expects the convention to look like now that he has undergone this experience. And we've seen him talk about tossing his convention speech and bringing in some new material. Let me read you exactly what he told "The Washington Examiner." "The speech I was going to give was a real humdinger. Had this not happened, this would have been one of the most incredible speeches. Honestly, it's going to be a whole different speech." Now, we are expecting a very different convention, at least a tone of it. They're going to march ahead with the four-day schedule, largely as planned.

[08:05:00]

We're still waiting to hear who Trump picks to be his vice presidential candidate. There are four contenders that we are closely watching. The three front runners that we've known about for a while, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, Senator J.D. Vance, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina also still in the mix.

We know as well that after the debates that the Trump campaign had not made a decision yet on who that nominee would be. And it was likely that the performance by Joe Biden was being entered into their calculus, and especially if they thought that the Trump -- the Biden campaign might change who the nominee would be.

Well, now there's been another major shift in their calculus, and it will be interesting to see whether or not the events of the last 48 hours is going to change how and who they pick for Trump's running mate.

BOLDUAN: Steve, stand by. Thank you so much.

Let's also go now to CNN's Whitney Wild, who has been tracking the law enforcement investigation into the shooter, into every development that we're trying to pull together on how and what really happened. And Whitney, as we were just reporting, you just learned in the last hour that the suspect both the ammunition just hours before he carried out this tragedy. What more are you learning about this?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Kate, I'll tell you that that follows a very similar pattern when we see shooters like this, that frequently what we see is that the either the firearm or the ammunition are purchased within even just a few days, or even the day of an incident like this.

What we're learning, Kate, is that this is 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks. He's from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. That's about an hour south from where this shooting took place, this attempted assassination took place. And what we've learned is that he used his father's AR-15 style rifle. That firearm was purchased legally. We also know that there were explosive devices found in his in his car as well as in his home. Those are now being analyzed by the FBI at Quantico.

What you see on your screen here is a little more information about Thomas Crooks. He is a registered Republican, although at some point it appears, based on our reporting, that he may have made a very negligible donation to a Democratic aligned political action committee. And what our CNN investigative team has learned is that he seemed to suggest that he had some interest in politics shortly after turning 18. In fact, he was registering to vote just a week after his 18th birthday.

All of this, Kate, does not yet make a motive clear, and that's really what the FBI is trying to drill down on here. They do have his cell phone, they're trying to get inside of that. They have gleaned a little bit from text messages and phone calls. But right now, there's just very little they know about why he did this.

Meanwhile, there is a lot of scrutiny on the Secret Service posture that day, the planning, and the reaction on the ground. Witnesses say that there was -- the gunman was seen outside of the perimeter. We know that a senior law enforcement official has told CNN that he was spotted, that information about him acting squirrelly at the perimeter was passed along to law enforcement, including the Secret Service. So the big questions Kate, are why law enforcement wasn't on top of him quickly.

Sources I have spoken with have also been extremely alarmed at the close proximity of that building to the former president's podium. Sources are telling me that the major questions they have are, what was the site survey of that area? In what way did this building factor into their overall security plan? Who was responsible for securing that building? And ultimately, Kate, why wasn't there a cop on the roof given the proximity and the possibility and the potential opportunity for a critical incident like this, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yes, critical questions, exactly. You've got them all. Whitney, thank you so much. Steve, thank you as always. Much more reporting to be coming out as this day begins and the Republican Convention is about to kick off. John?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, thanks so much, Kate. So in her first statements since the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, the director of the Secret Service says the agency will participate in an independent review and work with Congress on any oversight action.

With us now, CNN senior law enforcement analyst and former deputy director of the FBI Andrew McCabe. Also with us, former Secret Service agent Denny Schlindwein. Andy, let me start with you. If you are this independent review and-or Congress doing oversight what are the major questions you need answered first?

ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: The first question that the reviewers will have, they'll go to the Secret Service and say, give us every document that you have upon which you based your security plan. They want to see that plan. What was the -- what did the Service think before the event took place? What was their assessment of the intelligence and the threat? Picture, and how did they plan to address it? Because the first thing you're looking for is to see if any responsibilities that they identified, they failed to cover. [08:10:01]

That may or may not be the case. We'll have to see what comes out of the review. And then beyond that plan, then you want to see how they reacted to the conditions on the ground.

BERMAN: And Denny, we've all seen the map now of this location and saw where the shooter was positioned, some 130 yards from the lectern where Donald Trump was standing. That rooftop where he was was outside the tight perimeter, and in theory, within the oversight of local law enforcement. How is that supposed to work.

DENNY SCHLINDWEIN, FORMER SECRET SERVICE AGENT: Well, in my career, when you went to a site where the protectee was going to be, there wasn't any real defined perimeter where the Secret Service shouldn't be involved. In this case, the Secret Service should have been involved with the entire perimeter with regards to where the problem could be. So if that state of that building where the shooter was, was a little ways away, it still is a threat. And that that particular site should have been just unbelievably looked at and secured from the very beginning.

BERMAN: Andy, what's your view on that? I think because even though the uninformed spectator looking at this, you're like, how could there have been someone with ill intentions on that roof?

MCCABE: I think -- and I think what your guest says makes a great point. We're talking about the security perimeter. That doesn't mean that outside that perimeter is completely uncontrolled. The significance of the perimeter is simply that anyone who comes within it has to be go through the magnetometers. The Service is still responsible for any threats that might be posed to the principal anywhere in that area, in what they call the envelope of vulnerability, or the threat envelope.

The building is clearly within that scope. It presents an obvious danger because of the elevation and the sight line that it maintains to the stage. And so by any estimation, that building should have been covered either with the police officers standing on the roof to prevent anyone from getting up there or other officers on the ground watching it. So there's many ways they could have addressed it. It doesn't seem, from the facts that we know, that they took any of those steps.

BERMAN: Denny, how far out do you have to push? And 130 yards is clearly not enough here. When you look, we can see the overhead picture here, there's actually a lot of buildings. There are a fair number of structures in that area.

SCHLINDWEIN: What the photos I saw, the one included basically the stage area as well as where the shooter was stationed, I thought it was very ironic that it wasn't obviously secured better. In fact, I thought to myself, CAT, being the way CAT operates, they want to be at the highest point with the greatest visibility. And ironically, I haven't heard anybody mentioned this, I would have thought had I been doing the advance, why not put the CAT team itself on top of that building to have a great view of most part of the site, how ironic it would have been if he had been up there when the assassin attempted to get to that point.

So I think that the advance guy evidently didn't think it was that a big of a problem to not have someone on top. And I think that the coordination and with CAT team could have been such that they could have even put CAT team up there. After all, CAT team's main responsibility is visibility and to react to any possible problem.

BERMAN: Andy, are there questions about the coordination, systemic questions that need to be addressed about the coordination between Secret Service and local law enforcement? Any time a principal goes somewhere, there, is that coordination. It's regular, but does it need to be looked at again?

MCCABE: Well, by definition, the Secret Service can't handle every responsibility, every security responsibility at every location they go to. And so for that kind of manpower resource, they draw on state and local officials to help out. The coordination is absolutely essential. Typically, in an environment like you see in Milwaukee this week, that has been designated as a national security special event, so it has the highest level, the most practiced, executed amount of coordination, multi-agency coordination for any security events we do in the country.

But that doesn't mean that at smaller events like the rally we saw over the weekend, you don't have to have absolute positive contact, hands-on coordination. Those local officers, many of whom may have never worked with the Secret Service before have to understand, even if they're in the outer perimeter, beyond the magnetometers, they've got to know exactly what you need them to do, and most crucially, how and where you communicate the threats that you're identifying on the ground.

BERMAN: Andy McCabe, Denny Schlindwein, thank you both so much for being with us this morning. Sara?

SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: All right, there are major questions about how the 20-year-old gunman managed to evade security measures and come so close to assassinating a former president during a political rally. Up next, we'll take you live to the convention in Milwaukee where Kate Bolduan is going to be speaking with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

And new details about security has just been announced by Milwaukee's mayor as he prepares his city for the Republican National Convinced. That's all ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, the Secret Service says, it is confident in its security plans for the Republican National Convention here in Milwaukee in the wake of Saturday's assassination attempt on former President Trump, and the city's mayor also speaking out, facing questions about that as well.

[08:20:05]

CNN's Ryan Young is here in Milwaukee with me, tracking all of this for us.

Ryan, you've been really looking at the security measures that are in place. They're very visible in many respects, but we also heard from the mayor ahead of today's opening of the convention, what did he say?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely.

We've been tracking this for over five months when it comes to security they have been setting up in the city. The mayor feels really confident about the plans they have in place.

They said they've been working this plan for some 18 months and some of the plans that you can really see just right when you're just coming down the road here, this bridge has been shut down. This is part of the hard barriers that they've put up.

But also the waterways around here, the Milwaukee River has been shut down. So you see the Coast Guard and their officers moving up and down this way, and the reason why they made this cutoff is as you come down the bridge, and Kate, you've already experienced this yourself, you start seeing the hard perimeter that's been set in place.

Anything behind these gates, you have to have a pass to get through. Let's not forget, they believe 50,000 people will be swelling into the city. A lot of fans of Donald Trump, we were talking to some folks at the airport yesterday who said they did not want to miss this event. They were not concerned about the security. They really do believe the plans that were put in place will keep them safe.

But this is the whole idea here. Once you get down to one of the locations like this, you have to check in. But take a listen to the mayor feeling confident about their plans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR CAVALIER JOHNSON (D), MILWAUKEE: The director of the United States Secret Service continues to have faith in the work that happened over the last 18 months for security and I have faith and confidence as well in the Secret Service, in the Milwaukee Police Department and other law enforcement agencies that are providing public safety here today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: Kate, you had to walk through the zone that you're in, right now, that is a barrier that most people will never make it toward in terms of just how thick the security is. We've talked to a lot of people who just wanted to get close to see how close they could get to see Donald Trump.

You look down there, there are officers from around the country here. I have counted seven different departments so far. Charlotte, we've seen people from Virginia Beach. The idea here is officers are swelling in, each sort of barrier is set up and controlled by these officers. You have to have a pass to get through.

But this is all part of it. That's the stuff we can see. We do know there's monitoring from above. We saw a Coast Guard helicopter flying across this area all day yesterday.

You understand the presence of security. You know why people have been talking about it, especially after that attempt on Saturday, people are concerned about these next steps and did they need more of these? I can tell you what a difference 24 hours makes in the city when it comes to the extension of security and how far they pushed the zone out.

There will be protests later on this morning that starts 10 o'clock local. We will be marching along with them. At first, that was the big concern. At this point now, with the perimeter setup, no one thinks that the protesters could ever make it toward the zones that are now protected the way they are -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yes, and the take from the chair of the state Republican Party here in Wisconsin, his take to us a little while ago, was he thinks Milwaukee is the safest city in America right now because of the extent of the law enforcement presence that we are seeing and you're seeing it firsthand and much more to come though.

Ryan, thank you very much.

We also have new this hour, here is a quote for you: "There is no charted course for what we are going through in this country and for this campaign," that is from the Biden campaign's chair in a call with the DNC and campaign staffers.

Let's get more about this from CNN's Arlette Saenz at the White House.

What more are you learning about this call that happened?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, the Biden campaign and the Democratic National Committee held a call with its staff just hours before President Biden addressed the nation last night in the wake the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump.

And in that call, the Campaign Chair Jen O'Malley Dillon really acknowledged the difficult moment that the country and the campaign he is trying to navigate at this time.

As you noted, she said that there is no charted course, no precedent for this type of situation. And that what the campaign team needs to focus on is leaning on each other and continuing their work through this time.

But it really speaks to the sensitive and complicated political dynamic that the Biden campaign is really trying to chart at this time.

Over the weekend, they did put a pause on their television advertisements, as well as outgoing communications like fundraising e- mails, and other proactive messages. It is still unclear when exactly those will resume, but officials have signaled that the president and Democrats are expected to return to campaigning in the coming days.

One key thing to keep an eye on this afternoon will be that interview President Biden is conducting with NBC's Lester Holt. He then will travel on to Nevada at a time when he is expected to continue making his case regarding his record and the issues he thinks voters should be focused on in this election.

BOLDUAN: Arlette, thank you so much. We've got much more Arlette has got great reporting. She is going to continue bringing that to us from the White House.

But right now, joining me right now, is the Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas.

[08:25:10]

Of course, Secretary, the Secret Service is under the Department of Homeland Security. There are so many questions today about what happened on Saturday. What did the Secret Service do? Not do? What kind of a failure was it in their planning and their protocol? How was that man able to get so close to assassinating a former president?

What is, first and foremost, the latest you know, about the man who did this? Do you think we will learn a motive, Secretary?

ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS, US HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Kate, we will deliver answers to the American people to the fullest extent possible. That is our responsibility and not ours alone.

As I hope you know, the FBI is conducting a criminal investigation and President Biden has directed an independent review of the incidents on Saturday. But let me take a step back and echo President Biden's very, very important words. We are so relieved that former President Trump is okay. Our hearts break for the Comperatore family and of course, we pray for a speedy and safe, full recovery for those injured.

We have to -- we have to tone down the rhetoric in this country. We are in a heightened threat environment. Our incredible protective services adapt to that dynamic threat environment and make the changes that are necessary. That is indeed what an independent review as directed to do -- identify what occurred, make recommendations to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again.

We have a fail proof responsibility.

BOLDUAN: But what level of failure was it? I mean, it has been called by some lawmakers a security failure at the highest level. We now know just this morning, we learned the Secret Service director in her first public comments said this: "The Secret Service is working with all involved federal, state, and local agencies to understand what happened, how it happened and how we can prevent an incident like this from ever taking place again."

But Secretary, do you call this a security failure on the part of the Secret Service?

MAYORKAS: An incident like this cannot happen. That is precisely why President Biden directed an independent review, so that that review, its conclusions and its recommendations have the full confidence of the American public.

We will carefully analyze in an independent and thorough fashion what occurred. Recommendations will be made. Those recommendations will be implemented.

We are in a dynamic threat environment. We adapt to that dynamism every single day. Changes have been made to the Republican National Convention just as the 18-month planning calls for. It calls for changes based on changes in the threat environment and that is where we are now.

BOLDUAN: If you don't want to say because a review is still happening, who failed in terms of the security around this rally? Do you agree that it was a failure?

You said this cannot happen, but first and foremost, before you make sure you make the changes, you have to acknowledge what a failure this was.

MAYORKAS: Kate, when I say that something like this cannot happen, we are speaking of a failure. We are going to analyze through an independent review how that occurred, why it occurred, and make recommendations and findings to make sure it doesn't happen again. I couldn't be clearer.

BOLDUAN: And I sincerely appreciate the clarity on this.

I did want to ask you, because this has been, because this has popped up. Republican Congressman Mike Waltz, he said on social media on Saturday, and I am going to read this for you because it does talk about you, Secretary: "I have very reliable sources telling me that there have been repeated requests for stronger Secret Service protection for President Trump denied by Secretary Mayorkas."

Your department has already pushed back on that, calling that absolutely false, but he is putting this on you. Can you respond to that, please?

MAYORKAS: Well, that is -- yes, that's a baseless and irresponsible statement and it is one that is unequivocally false.

BOLDUAN: How confident are you now that the Secret Service are up to the task, right now of protecting President Biden and former President Trump through the duration of this campaign now?

MAYORKAS: I am confident that they are. With respect to the Republican National Convention, the plan has been put in place, in development for 18 months. This is a responsibility that not only the United States Secret Service's shoulders, but we work with our federal partners and state and local partners to ensure the safety and security of the Republican National Convention. [08:30:21]