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Day 2 or RNC After Trump Makes Emotional First Appearance Following Assassination Attempt; Biden Campaigns for First Time Since Trump Assassination Attempt; Secret Service at Odds With Local Police Over Security Failures. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired July 16, 2024 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. We are in the convention hall right here, where it is all happening for Republicans this week. Soon, day two of the Republican National Convention kicks off and the buildup begins for Donald Trump's former primary rival to take the stage. Today, Nikki Haley is expected to speak as the convention focus shifts today to crime, immigration and supporting law enforcement and today's theme takes on new meaning now, less than 72 hours after the assassination attempt on former President Trump.

He entered this hall to wild enthusiasm last night. This was his first public appearance since Saturday's shooting. The crowd chanting, fight, fight, fight, at one point, the same words that Donald Trump himself shouted from that rally stage as Secret Service were rushing him off after that attempted assassination in Pennsylvania.

Trump, now officially the Republican nominee after yesterday's roll call vote, appeared with his now new running mate, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance last night, Vance will be giving his big speech here tomorrow, overnight, though, sending out a message that ended with, onward to victory.

There's also a new reporting today on the last minute behind the scenes push that happened to secure Vance's spot on the ticket, including a push from Elon Musk, who spoke with Donald Trump less than 24 hours before he announced his running mate.

A lot to get to that happened last night, a lot to get to that is still ahead. Let's get over to CNN's Alayna Treene to lead us off. Alayna, what are you learning about why Donald Trump selected J.D. Vance? What's the new reporting?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Well, there's a number of reasons, Kate. I am told, actually, that the aftermath of the shooting did not really change his decision. So, J.D. Vance and Donald Trump met Saturday morning. Vance flew to Mar-a-Lago hours before the rally and what ultimately ended up being the attempted assassination on Donald Trump. And I'm told that that meeting went very well. One source familiar with the meeting said that it really felt like the final interview before Vance got the job. Now, Donald Trump was very complimentary of the Ohio senator and they left feeling good about their chances, though, of course, Donald Trump had not yet really offered him the position just yet. Actually Donald Trump, or J.D. Vance, I should say, had just learned that he was going to be Donald Trump's running mate only about 20 minutes before the rest of the world knew. Take a listen to how Vance described that moment last night in an interview with Fox News.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH): He just said, look, I think I'm going to go save this country. I think you're the guy who could help me in the best way. You could help me govern. You could help me win. You could help me in some of these Midwestern states, like Pennsylvania, Michigan and so forth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now, Kate, as you mentioned, a lot of people have been in Donald Trump's ear over the past several months, but especially over the past several days, pushing which candidate they wanted Donald Trump to ultimately choose.

And there was a lot of people who were pushing Vance. That includes Elon Musk. He had just endorsed Donald Trump in the hours after that shooting on Saturday. And then Sunday, I'm told, he called Trump directly and urged him to pick J.D. Vance. Other notable names are Donald Trump Jr., Donald Trump's son, Tucker Carlson, Steve Witkoff, a very wealthy donor who Donald Trump is very close, with a number of Republicans in Congress. All of these people, I'm told, calling Donald Trump up until midday yesterday when he ultimately made his decision, and so, a lot of people pushing for him.

But I also think it's important to keep in mind, from my conversations with Donald Trump's campaign, the reasons he ultimately chose Vance were, one, Donald Trump and him have a lot of chemistry.

[07:05:00]

Trump often remarks that he gets along the best with J.D. Vance. And, as well, there's a lot of people who have argued maybe Vance is too young for this position. However, Trump seems to actually like that about him. He thinks that he had done a lot within his career by the time that he had turned 39 that has impressed the former president.

They also believe that Vance's upbringing in a poor Rust Belt town in Ohio could actually make him very marketable to a lot of those working class voters that the Trump campaign sees as essential to winning in November. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Great reporting, Elena. We're going to be back with you much throughout the day. Alayna Treene for us.

So, for the first time since the assassination attempt on his political rival, President Biden is also back on the campaign trail today. Biden is in battleground state Nevada this morning. And the new reporting is his new focus is to drill down on policy, not personality, as he makes the case against Donald Trump. And he has a full schedule of campaign events planned, more chances also to try and prove Democratic doubters wrong that he can run, win, and lead for another four years.

CNN's Arlette Saenz is tracking this for us. She's at the White House this morning. Arlette, the public calls for Biden to bow out have gone totally silent in the recent days. What are you hearing about this?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, President Biden's allies had hoped that these calls for him to step aside in their race would subside in the wake of that assassination attempt, and also some of the president's performances over the past few weeks. But CNN has learned that, privately, the pressure is still growing on the president from some top Democrats to leave this race that includes a top Democratic pollster, Stanley Greenberg, sending regular memos to Biden's inner circle warning about what he has seen when it relates to the president remaining on this ticket.

There are also some Democratic lawmakers who have been trying to urge Biden's team to consider what the president's legacy would be if he were to continue on the top of the Democratic ticket and potentially lose not just his own race, but also impact the chances of Democrats in House and Senate races.

Now, so far, President Biden has not shown any sign of backing down, even as someone in his party have raised these questions about whether he should remain in this race. And the president today is charging ahead with his campaign, hitting the battleground state of Nevada. While he is there today, part of his goal will be trying to court black voters, participating in a BET interview, also speaking at an NAACP convention. Tomorrow, he will turn his focus to courting Latino voters at a key summit there in Las Vegas.

The president today is also expected to really drill in on policy, rolling out some new actions to try to address housing costs in this country. That includes calling on Congress to cap the annual increase on rent to 5 percent of that would apply to major landlords who own over 50 units. He's also making a push specifically for Nevada, potentially repurposing unused or underused federally owned land to create about 15,000 new affordable housing units in the state. Nevada is a state that has been hit in recent years by a housing shortage as well as high costs.

But another key challenge for President Biden in these coming days is how to campaign and the kind of language he uses as he makes his case against Donald Trump. In an interview with NBC last night, the president admitted it was a mistake to use the term, bull's eye, in a call with supporters as he was trying to urge them to turn their focus to Trump. And he also had this to say about the challenge he is facing at a time when he's encouraging Americans to lower the temperature in this country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LESTER HOLT, NBC NEWS ANCHOR: But have you taken a step back and done a little soul searching on things that you may have said that could incite people who are not balanced?

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: Well, I don't think -- look, how do you talk about the threat to democracy, which is real, when a president says things like he says? Do you just not say anything because it may incite somebody?

Look, I have not engaged in that rhetoric. Now, my opponent has engaged in that rhetoric.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Now, while the president is out in Nevada today, his campaign is also zeroing in on former President Trump's new running mate, J.D. Vance. Yesterday, the president said that Vance is simply a clone of President Trump when it pertains to issues. We also know that Vice President Kamala Harris has reached out to Vance, leaving a voicemail on his phone, welcoming him to the race, but also saying she hopes that they can meet at the CBS News debate, which the debate still has not -- or the date has still not been set but all eyes will be on that debate and the Biden campaign moving forward, as they're looking not just to make their arguments about against Trump now, but also Vance as well.

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BOLDUAN: Yes, absolutely. The argument against J.D. Vance, we saw that very quickly what Joe Biden, how he's going to be using that to campaign.

It's great to see you, Arlette. Thank you so much. We're going to have much more from the convention hall. Republicans who are here in town, they're going to be joining us to talk about what happened last night and what's going to be happening today, much more to come throughout our show this morning. John, Sara?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Excellent, great job out there, Kate. Thank you so much.

This morning, new questions about how a shooter was able to get a clear shot of the former president with local law enforcement in the building. We have new details on the major security failures.

And new information about the gunman's movements in the 48 hours leading up to the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:15:00]

BERMAN: New CNN reporting this morning, the Secret Service appears at odds with local law enforcement over who exactly is to blame for the security failures leading up to the attempted assassination of Donald Trump. President Biden weighed in on these concerns.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: I feel safe with the Secret Service.

The question is, should they have anticipated what happened or should they have done what they needed to do to prevent this from happening? That's a question that's -- that's an open question.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right, with us now, CNN's Whitney Wild. Aside from what the president said, the question here seems to be, who had responsibility for the key area where the shooter was?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: There is a lot of finger-pointing this morning. And let me walk you through what we know and then give you some context here because we're really getting a glimpse into a relationship that is normally closed off to the general public, but it's very, very close.

It's this almost familial relationship between law enforcement agencies. Sometimes that relationship under the surface is fraught, but it rarely bubbles up into public view, and that is certainly what is happening here.

There's new CNN reporting this morning, a source telling CNN that there were local snipers inside the building where the shooter later perched to shoot former president Donald Trump. What we know is that there were snipers who were inside that building, they were on the second floor, and they were providing overwatch.

We also know that the Secret Service did not sweep that building themselves because they say that was outside of the perimeter and that local police were supposed to secure that area. The Secret Service director, Kimberly Cheatle, spoke out. She says she's taking responsibility for this. Here's her interview with ABC News.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIMBERLY CHEATLE, SECRET SERVICE DIRECTOR: The Secret Service is responsible for the protection of the former president.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So the buck stops with you?

CHEATLE: The buck stops with me. I am the director of the Secret Service. It was unacceptable, and it's something that shouldn't happen again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILD: Members of local law enforcement that I have spoken with are taking serious issue with the director's comments. For example, the president of the Fraternal Order of Police sent out a statement last night taking a lot of issue with what they perceive as way too much blame being put on local law enforcement for what was ultimately an operational plan signed off on by the Secret Service.

Additionally, the executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police said this. Apparently, it took two days for the buck to stop. There is going to be an erosion of this trust caused by the Secret Service's injudicious statements. Additionally, the Pennsylvania State Police which was one of the agencies that was involved in this operational plan, has said that they work with the Secret Service to provide whatever is requested but, ultimately, that they are the lead in that security.

So, again, you're seeing this fracture here, who's responsible for what. And certainly within local law enforcement, there's a perception way too much blame is being put on local law enforcement for what was a Secret Service operational plan. Meanwhile, the Secret Service is saying that they are taking responsibility for this. However, I think the issue here, John, is that they are not detailing their own failures here.

Back to you.

BERMAN: what's going to be important is to figure out how to fill these holes. They have to take responsibility for it so they can figure out what to fix.

Whitney Wild, thank you so much. Sara?

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. We have new details about the FBI's investigation into the shooter. Despite gaining access to his phone and his computer and conducting more than a hundred interviews with his friends and family, a definitive reason for why the government opened fire on the former president and the crowd still not clear.

CNN's Danny Freeman has been tracking this for us and joins us now from Butler, Pennsylvania. Danny, what more details have you learned about this investigation into the assassin?

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sara, I'm going to tell you what we do know right now, because, as you noted, the biggest question that we still don't have an answer to is what led that gunman, 20- year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, to perch on the rooftop behind me and take shots at former President Donald Trump.

But let me talk about what we do know. We do now know a better sense of the timeline of the shooter's actions leading up to that tragic and fateful moment. We know on Friday Thomas Crooks went to his sportsman's club not too far from his home and he went to a rifle range there. Sara, that's significant because that rifle range is about 200 yards, notably longer than the approximately 150 yards distance between where he was perched on that roof to where the former president was standing and giving his remarks.

Then on Saturday morning, we know that Mr. Crooks went to a Home Depot. He purchased a ladder. Shortly thereafter, he went to a gun store and purchased 50 rounds of ammunition that he drove up here to Butler.

[07:20:01]

And then he was spotted by local law enforcement in the area, acting suspicious, especially near the metal detectors, but then, as far as we understand, was not spotted again until he ultimately was perched on that roof and opening fire.

Now, let's get back though to what we don't know, Sara, because this has been frustrating and really perplexing to both of local and federal law enforcement agencies who are trying to get some sort of reason here. The FBI, they say they've conducted 100 interviews of witnesses and local law enforcement here on the ground. They've interviewed family of Thomas Crooks. They've interviewed friends of Thomas Crooks. They've searched his home and his car, completed both of those searches, searched his internet history, and then you noted, Sara, one of the big, hopeful pieces of evidence they were looking for was that cell phone. They were able to complete their analysis, and still at this point, they do not have an answer to what was the motivation behind this shooting.

Still a mystery at this point, Sara, but these investigators still working to find that answer just for some closure for all of us who have been following this story. Sara?

SIDNER: Which is the entire country. Danny Freeman, thank you so much for your reporting there.

All right, coming up, from vocal Trump critic to loyal running mate, how J.D. Vance is explaining why he once referred to Trump as, quote, America's Hitler.

And President Biden returns to the campaign trail today, excuse me, his strategy to appeal to voters using the cost of rent and what he called a mistake when he was talking about Donald Trump.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:25:00]

SIDNER: Donald Trump tapping J.D. Vance to be his running mate and seemingly dubbing him the heir apparent to the MAGA movement. Vance is a staunch ally of Donald Trump now, but it hasn't always been this way. Vance posted online in 2016 about the damage he thought Trump's divisive rhetoric had caused the country. And in a private message to a friend he wondered if Trump was, quote, America's Hitler. But he was perhaps now the most supportive of three V.P. frontrunners certainly publicly. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VANCE: I was certainly skeptical of Donald Trump in 2016, but President Trump was a great president and he changed my mind.

I said some bad things about Donald Trump ten years ago, but I think it's actually important to be able, again, to admit that you're wrong. And if I can make a good case to the American people, people who may have been skeptical of the president back in 2016 who can be skeptical now that we've seen the results.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SIDNER: There you see him talking about his past comments.

Joining us now, CNN Senior Political Commentator Scott Jennings and CNN Political Commentator S.E. cup, both looking fabulous this morning.

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I didn't get that.

SIDNER: Oh, I'm sorry. Yes. John always -- look at this. What else could you do? I mean, perfection.

I'm going to start with you, Scott. This change from really going after Trump, worse than some of the Democrats, to be honest, some of the things that J.D. Vance said, to just being effervescent, just being overflowingly supportive of him. Donald Trump loves this, does he not? This is sort of the -- seeing this change, you can use it.

JENNINGS: Yes. Well -- and J.D. Vance is not unlike other people in the Republican Party who initially had serious concerns about Donald Trump. But if you look at where Trump sits now, he is unquestionably the head of the party. What's different is some of the people who had Vance's position before, maybe they left the party, and Vance went the other way. He says he had a change of heart, that Donald Trump changed his mind, and that he thought the results of the Trump presidency were great. Some of the people who held his position before went the exact opposite direction.

SIDNER: Yes, we did. Yes, we did.

JENNINGS: Yes, and looking down the table.

And so for Trump, though, you know, it's an interesting messenger. I interpret the pick as setting up a MAGA succession plan for the Republican Party. You know, this is someone who has avowed to carry on this kind of policy agenda and he's 39 years old. So, to me, this is a confident pick, someone who thinks they're on their way to winning, and they're thinking about legacy.

BERMAN: I'm going to pick up on that last one. I do want to come back to this sort of succession plan later, because I think that's interesting and perhaps fraught. But, S.E., I know you look at this pick and say, this tells you something about how Donald Trump perceives the race right now and who he's running against right now and until November.

S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, I think a couple things. One, I think if Donald Trump really thought that Democrats were going to dump Joe Biden and put Kamala Harris in there, I don't think he would have picked J.D. Vance. I think he would have called an audible and picked someone more, say, demographically interesting to compete with that. I think he feels very good about his position against Joe Biden to put, basically, double down on another white guy from a state he won twice and will definitely win again, right? So, there was no demographic interest here. This was about loyalty, and I think Scott's right about the future. But I also think it channels that Trump wants Trump wants to win. Listen, say all the things we've already said about Trump. He has not made a lot of mistakes in this election in the past few months. Someone smart is telling him, do not dance on Joe Biden's grave right now. Let the news cycle play out for the Democrats. Keep your mouth shut. Someone smart is telling him, distance yourself from the 2025 Project. It doesn't have to be true. Just say it because it looks bad for you right now. He is doing the things he needs to do to win. He's got a very smart political operation around him this time. Gone are the days of Pepe the Frog and all of those sort of silly mistakes he made in previous elections.

BERMAN: Can I just say that J.D. Vance is someone you pick to win or you pick because you think you're going to win? Those are two different things.

CUPP: I think in a way both.

[07:30:00]

You believe you're going to win against Joe Biden. Again, I think he would have changed, had that changed. But I also think you want to win.