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Donald Trump Doubles Down On MAGA With V.P. Pick; Secret Service Ramped Up Security After Intel On Iranian Plot To Assassinate Trump, No Known Connection To Shooting. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired July 16, 2024 - 14:00   ET

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

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That they weren't going to be given these kind of speaking roles.

[14:00:03]

But when it comes to what exactly we're going to hear from the speakers tonight, a lot of the speakers, some of them senatorial candidates, they are known for their kind of ramped up rhetoric.

But what we have seen over the past day has been a little bit of moderation in tone as former President Trump himself has made these calls for unity.

Take a listen to what Don Jr., his son said about what he was going to have as his speech, Donald Trump's speech on Thursday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP JR., SON OF FORMER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: It was hot, it's very different. And honestly, as it should be.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Different how?

TRUMP JR.: I just, you know, toned down from that, I think we're trying to, you know, certainly de-escalate some of that rhetoric.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now, obviously, Donald Trump is not known for deescalating rhetoric, but this was a harrowing experience. And we were talking to allies, supporters, advisors behind the scenes, who say they really believe that he is changed and means it seriously when he wants people to tone down that rhetoric, when he makes these calls for unity in the party.

Now, obviously, we're waiting to see what Donald Trump actually says on Thursday. But again, talking to the people around them, even talking to some of his supporters who were in the room last night, when he walked in with that bandage on his ear. The first time so many people had seen him in public since that assassination attempt. They said he looked different, that he looked emotional. And that is -- that is what I am hearing from his senior advisors as well that he is taking this event, this assassination attempt on his life very seriously. Obviously, that is playing into a lot of the themes of this

convention.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Kristen Holmes, thanks so much for the reporting.

Trump's pick for vice president is seen as a doubling down on the MAGA agenda, partly because on some issues, Vance is even farther to the right than the nominee.

Take abortion for instance, earlier this month Vance said that like Trump, he believes the issue should be left up to the states. But he's previously urged Republicans to support a national abortion ban.

In November of last year, he told CNN that while he expects states to adopt their own bans, there should be a "minimum national standard."

And in his own state of Ohio, Vance supported keeping a six week ban without exceptions for rape and incest. However, after that was repealed he criticized Republican messaging on the issue.

On the issue of Russian aggression in Europe, Vance has been a leading opponent of U.S. support for Ukraine. He's unsuccessfully tried to block military aid and once said, "I don't really care what happens to Ukraine one way or the other."

Vance has also been highly critical of the criminal cases against Donald Trump going so far as to call for a, "Takeover of the DOJ." And at one point, suggesting Trump fires civil servants and replace them with "our people."

It's the issue of the 2020 election, though where Vance may mirror Trump the most. Like Trump, the Ohio senator says it was "stolen." He falsely claimed that there was large scale voter fraud and referred to January 6th rioters as political prisoners.

Plus, in a moment, the Biden campaign says is key. Vance declared that if he had been vice president on January 6th, instead of Mike Pence, he would not have certified the election results.

We're joined now by CNN's Senior Political Analyst Mark Preston. Mark, great to be with you. So, Mike Pence brought some would say temperament to the ticket in 2016, as well as evangelical support.

In your eyes, what does J. D. Vance bring?

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, you know, you talked about doubling down, you could say that perhaps Donald Trump has gone all in on the MAGA agenda right now. We have eight years from 2016, we're in a different world, this Republican convention isn't -- I wouldn't say it's entirely different, but the makeup, the composition of the folks who are here, it's a lot different than it was eight years ago.

And I used to know quite a few people across the party and, you know, in the Republican Party in the state parties with local parties. I got to tell you, I don't recognize a lot of these faces. But what that says is that Donald Trump has successfully taken over the Republican Party and J. D. Vance is going to be the person who's going to be the best person to promote the president's agenda over the next couple of weeks over the next couple of months.

SANCHEZ: He notably brings MAGA to a new generation, right?

PRESTON: Absolutely.

SANCHEZ: He's almost half the age of Donald Trump. How do he and Vice President Harris play into the campaign over the next few weeks?

PRESTON: Well, I mean, so let's look at the age. Joe Biden, 81. Donald Trump, 78. Kamala Harris, 59. You know, and now you got J. D. Vance whose 39 years old.

So, you've got to look for in some sense, will there be a youth, will there be a fight about the future, will Kamala Harris be able to go out and prosecute Joe Biden's agenda for him successfully? That's what J. D. Vance is going to do for Donald Trump. Expect those two to be the attack dogs over the next couple of months.

[14:05:07]

Look, Donald Trump, for all that he's saying that he is trying to bite his tongue and he's trying to lower the temperature. The question is, can he really do that? If he can do that, J. D. Vance can then fill that void.

SANCHEZ: Well, we were trying to get some reporting on this attempted call between Vice President Harris and J. D. Vance, it seems like she left a voicemail yesterday, we're trying to figure out if she actually got a chance to connect with him today.

But a part of the message from her was not only to congratulate him, but also to express hope that they could meet in the vice presidential debate that's been put up by CBS.

If it winds up being on the books, what does it look like? How do you think it might impact the race?

PRESTON: Well, I mean, look, everyone's going to focus on them and say, God, I want to see a Rock 'Em Sock 'Em debate, you know, between these two -- number twos, so to speak.

But, again, let's just go back to what issues are they going to talk about? How are they going to carry forth their nominee's agenda forward? And Kamala Harris really has to be able to really step up, you know, given what has happened to the Biden campaign right now, and how they've been knocked back on the heels. We're going to have to see Kamala Harris step up and at least try to, you know, shows some of the enthusiasm that perhaps we've seen lacking in the Democratic Party over the past couple weeks.

SANCHEZ: So, Mark, tonight the message, Make America Safe Again, right, it could be dark. Well coincidental given the fact that there was this attempted assassination attempt on former President Trump. What are you expecting to see?

PRESTON: Just certainly coincidental because this is something that he's been talking about ever since, you know, he started running for office back in 2015.

Look, I do think it's going to be kind of a dark night. You know, the idea that the border is wide open and that illegal immigrants are coming across and they've been released from mental hospitals and what have you. I think we're going to hear all those stories tonight, perhaps could hear some really terrible stories about folks who have lost loved ones.

SANCHEZ: Mark Preston, thanks so much for the perspective. I want to send it back to my co-anchor Brianna in D.C.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Yes, we do have some breaking news here, Boris. We are learning of a plot to assassinate former President Trump a plot with no known connection to Saturday's assassination attempt, I should mention, that's obviously very news -- noteworthy.

Let's bring in senior justice correspondent Evan Perez for the details on this. Evan, what do you know?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, in recent weeks, the U.S. government received intelligence from a human source that indicated that the Iranians were plotting to try to kill former President Donald Trump.

Now, that led immediately to an increase in the protection for the former president. We heard over the weekend from the Secret Service that in recent weeks, they had increased their protection for the former president. And so, the question was exactly why. We now know that this is the reason why it was specific intelligence that was deemed to be credible enough, and that's reason why they increased the protection for the former president.

It's very important to point out that there is nothing to indicate at this point, in part of this investigation of the -- of the events on Saturday, that the shooter, the would be assassin that tried to assassinate the former president on Saturday. There's no indication that it had anything to do with this Iranian plot. It appears to be a coincidence, obviously.

But it is one of those things that is raising new questions I think for the Secret Service, and for everybody involved in the protection of Donald Trump. How it was that these events took place as they did on Saturday. How did someone this 20-year-old person get onto that roof, again, knowing that they had this intelligence and Secret Service was aware of this intelligence? And they had taken obviously, some additional steps, but how did that person get on a roof and be able to fire off these shots that almost killed Donald Trump? Those are very, very big important questions that you're going to have -- Secret Service are going to have to answer in the coming weeks.

And then, the other -- the other issue, obviously is, you know, how much of this played into some of the preparations for this rally. We know that over the period of months that the former president's campaign has been told and has been warned by the Secret Service about the inherent risks of holding these very large, these outdoor events where it's inherently more risky for his security.

And, you know, the Secret Service much prefer for Donald Trump or anyone who's running for office like this to hold events in a closed environment where they have better control of who gets in and out and who might have access to him.

And so, the question there is, you know, were they aware of -- to our knowledge, they weren't necessarily read in on the specifics of this plot. But the question is, you know, should they be holding these outdoor events where there's clearly more risk than, you know, to do events if they did an inside, for instance, an arena.

[14:10:08]

KEILAR: And so, this knowledge now, in retrospect, knowing why they amped up the security that they had all the more reason to be cautious, obviously, in the setup of the situation, there in Butler, Pennsylvania, when we also look though, and of note, as you point out, this was not connected to what happened on Saturday.

But what happened on Saturday was sort of seen as something obviously, a lone gunman, something that was a little more ad hoc, we've learned now that it was almost two minutes that people saw this man on the roof before he took a shot. And that raises a lot of questions about how security was responding there.

But just knowing that an ad hoc situation was able to almost succeed, raises questions about what a state actor might be able to achieve, and knowing what we now know about this Iran plot, what kind of notes they or another entity that is an enemy of the U.S. what kind of notes they might be taking.

PEREZ: Right, exactly. And the issue is, obviously, the threat from Iran has been a known factor, right? There's been warnings about Iran, and the fact that they do want to strike back against the United States, obviously, the 2020 assassination of Qasem Soleimani on Iran -- sorry, in Iraq, the top general there in Iran, has prompted increasing concerns about specific officials inside the U.S. government who could be targeted, including the former president, but also Mike Pompeo, John Bolton, we've all seen these people being, you know, protected to a greater extent than you might see former officials usually protected. So, we've seen all of that visibly.

And so, the questions you're asking are exactly the ones that I think everybody is on everyone's mind. Because we know, for instance, that the Justice Department has arrested people who did have tried -- they did try to come up with plans to go after John Bolton and so, all of that information, I think, makes you wonder, you know, why the events happened on Saturday the way they did.

I should reach -- I should note that we did get a statement from the Trump campaign. And they said we do not comment on the President Trump's security detail. All questions should be directed to the United Secret -- United States Secret Service, which of course, is the big question, right?

They're going to be facing hearings, they're going to be facing very important questions from members of Congress who already are asking, you know about exactly what went wrong here.

KEILAR: We have all kinds of questions. So, if they ramped up security in light of knowing this with this threat that they thought was credible. Did they have more snipers perhaps than they would usually have, we don't know the answer to that at this point. But certainly, that would be interesting to know.

We also know that Iran has targeted Iranian dissidents on American soil. And as you mentioned, other plots as well, but this gets to a new level, right?

PEREZ: Right.

KEILAR: This is talking about the presidency, someone who has been president and may very well be president again, that seems like a new level.

PEREZ: Right. It takes -- it takes the Iran threat, certainly, I think to a new height that I think a lot of officials -- you know, I think a lot of people who don't know exactly, you know, what's been going on behind the scenes, I think, maybe now understand that the threat from the Iranians is at that level, obviously, Russia and China are seen as the biggest adversaries for the United States.

But to try to -- try to take out a former president of the United States, someone who right now is leading in many polls and is you know, at this point, if you were to held an election right now, you know, could very well be the president -- the next president again come January, certainly does indicate that this is an increased level of threat.

And that's what the Justice Department, that's what the FBI, that's what the intelligence community, the Homeland Security Department, everybody is very, very keenly aware of and so, the way to protect someone like the leading candidate and protect the current president of the United States is it makes it a lot more complicated. We know that politicians want to have these kinds of events where they have more interaction and closer access to their supporters.

And so, that's always the push and pull that you have between the Secret Service and the security services, the intelligence agencies and so on, to try to inform them.

And so, that question, I think we're going to -- we're going to have emanating from this is did they add additional resources at in Butler, Pennsylvania, right? Did they have additional snipers? We don't know that, we know that there's at least two Secret Service sniper groups.

[14:15:02]

KEILAR: And two local. PEREZ: And two local. Correct. And we know that one of the sniper groups was able to get a shot that killed this person in that time that he was able to fire off these shots.

KEILAR: Well, this report, obviously raising huge questions about, you know, what that would catapult the U.S. into, if there would be a threat carried out like that.

Evan, thank you so much. We know you're going to continue to dig on this. Thank you for the report.

Boris, back to you.

SANCHEZ: Yes, a huge development. And as we're getting this news here at the RNC in Milwaukee, I want to go now to CNN's Kristen Holmes, because Kristen, you've been talking to sources on the Trump campaign, how are they receiving this news about an Iranian plot to assassinate former President Trump?

HOLMES: Well, as I've said, Boris, this campaign officially is not commenting, which is not that surprising. Instead, they said we don't comment on the president's security detail and divert us to Secret Service.

But I can tell you a couple of notes that I have, one, from things that I have witnessed, and two, when I have spoken to what I've learned from advisors and aides, one of them is that there was a notice that there had been increased Secret Service protection by a lot of these aides and advisors. They were not sure why exactly.

And this is from the people that I have spoken to, again, and it's unclear what exactly, what levels of the campaign might have known about this plot, who was briefed on it, if they were briefed at all.

But from the people I've spoken to. They believed that this was in part because of the fact that he was about to become the nominee. He was a former president before, that they likely needed to ramp up some of the security around him.

I can also say from attending numerous rallies of former President Donald Trump's, we did not notice any kind of heightened security presence. But one thing we did notice is that at times, it did appear to take longer to go through some of the security lines, we did hear people complaining about it, but still not clear if that was actually related to this plot or not.

The other part of this is that I have personally firsthand witness some of these kinds of clashes between the Secret Service and the campaign at various events, one of them being his arraignment in Washington, D.C., I saw an agent trying to rush Trump one way that campaign was having him go another way.

But to be clear, the campaign does differ to Secret Service when it comes to his protection. One of the things that Donald Trump did a lot starting last January back in 2023, he started having off the records or OTRs. And essentially, that is when he shows up at a location and nobody

knows about it ahead of time, the pool, the traveling with them doesn't go -- they don't know about it until you arrive at the destination or they're not allowed to share that location. And it's kind of a surprise for the people who are in that room. Most of them or all of them are not swept by Secret Service, as most people who come into contact with Donald Trump are.

There was a period of time in which they started doing these off the record events, but everyone had to be swept before and then they stopped doing them at all. Partially I was told because of Secret Service, because of the security threat.

So, it's not just these conversations about outdoor rallies. They were people who were concerned within the agency that Donald Trump showing up at a location where people weren't swept was going to cause a problem.

Again, this was a while ago. So, clearly, you can see that there has been conversation around his security for some time.

Now, about this specific plot. It still remains completely unclear what or if anyone within the campaign actually knew about this. One thing to point out here, the reason why they would notice an increased security presence, Donald Trump has traveled with a very close group of Secret Service agents, that is called his detail. These are the people who keep him safe on a daily basis. And we know that he has a very close relationship with them. They like him a lot. He likes them a lot. There's actually been conversations around the fact that they serve as almost an entity with Donald Trump, not necessarily a communicate -- not necessarily just with the Secret Service back in Washington D.C. because they spend so much time together.

So, obviously, for the people who spend every single day with him, they would notice if this detail was growing.

But again, from whom I've spoken to, they didn't know why, they just assumed it was because one, there's potentially something going on with the fact that he was going to be the nominee. And because he had been a former president, maybe he had less security before becoming the nominee.

SANCHEZ: Kristen Holmes, fascinating detail there. Let's get some perspective now from former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe. We're also joined by a former Secret Service agent Jonathan Wackrow, I believe is also with us.

But first to you Andy, I'm curious to get your reaction to learning that Saturday shooting happened after there was already an increase in security because of this Iranian plot?

ANDREW MCCABE, FORMER FBI DEPUTY DIRECTOR: Well, Boris, it's not surprising to me at all that the former president is really still on the Iranian's radar on a personal level, because he was president when the United States took out the General Qasem Soleimani. The head of the IRGC Quds Force, an a beloved, almost iconic figure in Iran. [14:20:23]

I wrote a piece at the time suggested that that debt would -- they would try to get have that debt paid off at some point, this was not something that was going to go away quickly. They would, you know, dedicate themselves to trying to avenge his death, whether it happens today, or 10 years from now.

So, he is still in a significant target for the Iranians on that reason alone.

Plus, of course, they've got no love for the United States, generally, particularly now with U.S. support to Israel. So, the opportunity to strike back against the United States in the United States would be a really, you know, significant accomplishment for them, it's easier to strike out at a former president than it is at a current president because of the vast difference in the security apparatus around them.

That being said, if this threat was communicated to the Secret Service, which I've no doubt that it was, it makes the potential mistakes and missteps that we've all been talking about, for the last few days, even more glaring, because when you receive threat intelligence like that, credible threat intelligence, which that's what this has been reported, that is the time to step up your game and make no mistakes to go to add additional resources, which it looks like they did, and to make sure that every assignment is covered assiduously.

So, it does -- if there were mistakes made on Saturday, which it seems like there were, it raises even more significant questions about how that could happen under the current threat environment.

SANCHEZ: And I just want to point out again for our viewers, there's -- as of this point, zero, no known connection between this Iranian plot and what actually transpired on Saturday.

Jonathan, I'm curious to get your perspective on what Andy was just discussing, the idea that the Secret Service was already on alert before Saturday, and then we watched what unfolded in Butler, Pennsylvania.

JONATHAN WACKROW, FORMER SECRET SERVICE AGENT: Yes, Boris, Andy is right, we have to get to the bottom of understanding what type of security lapses and failures occurred and why very, very quickly, right?

Because, you know, with the global threat environment, this new directed threat towards the former president, coupled with, you know, the issues that we're facing domestically on the threat landscape, we have to make sure that every single site that the former president and everyone that's engaged in, you know, this campaign from the political side, you know, can feel safe. Right?

And right now, they don't feel safe, because there's a lingering question as to was this a one time series of issues that led to this incident happening? Or is there a problem with the mission with the -- with the application of protection that the Secret Service is doing?

This is why a mission assurance review needs to be conducted immediately, and then communicated out to the public so that they know that this is a safe election, that our political leaders while they may be operating in a threatened environment are safe.

Now, we have to look at why did this individual get up onto an elevated shooting position within 130 yards of, you know, former president and the leading Republican candidate and get shot.

That is unacceptable, but we have to find out why that happened, and ensure that it will never happen again. And that needs to be -- that needs to come from the top. It needs to come from DHS. It needs to come from the Secret Service to reassure the public that this election is safe.

The same way, Boris, that we do it with our election technology and the reinforcement of the election integrity, we need to ensure from a physical security standpoint that the American public is reassured that whoever's engaged in this political process are safe.

SANCHEZ: Andrew, what do you know of Iran's capacity to actually carry out that kind of attack?

MCCABE: So, Iran has long had the capacity to reach out and affect outcomes in foreign countries. And a lot of what they do is relying on their terrorist counterparts and Hezbollah. We know that Hezbollah has engaged in terrorist activity in multiple countries around the globe, notorious bombings in places like the Middle East and South Africa -- I'm sorry, South America and other places, historically. Hamas is one of the most high -- most well-trained, most professional, most lethal terrorist organizations on the globe. And part of that is because they benefit from the support and training of the government of Iran. So, the two of them are absolutely connected at the hip, you almost can't take them apart.

[14:25:13]

So, if Iran has a particularly dirty and lethal operation that they want to -- that they want to take place somewhere around the globe, they often push that responsibility out onto Hamas, because it makes it more deniable for the government of Iran. They can disclaim any involvement with it, and try to avoid some of the international political repercussions that come from that sort of terrorism.

But make no mistake about it, they have been a sponsor of international terrorism for decades. And this is exactly the kind of thing that you know, it fits with the sorts of things that they're trying to accomplish.

And avenging the death of Qasem Soleimani is something that hangs over their heads to this day, and they will not stop until they feel like they satisfied that blood lust.

SANCHEZ: Jonathan, I want to ask you about something that Kristen Holmes alluded to, and this sort of push and pull between Secret Service and campaign folks.

And obviously, I imagine that whatever intelligence is shared with law enforcement, there's a wall and it doesn't make its way to the campaign. But how does that sort of work in your experience when there's perhaps a disagreement or there's an understanding among the campaign that there's going to be additional security protocols and additional security personnel in place moving forward. And we can't really tell you why.

WACKROW: Well, listen, that push and pull isn't just isolated to the Trump campaign in his detail, that is every Secret Service protectee, you know, I think going back as far as my time in the Secret Service, there's always going to be this push and pull, because they're their political leaders, they want to be out there in the open, they want to be able to, you know, connect with the people and have full exposure.

The Secret Service, knowing what the threat environment is, specifically, if there's a direct threat towards one of the protectee wants to apply a lot of control measures, they want to restrict the movement, they want to restrict the visibility as much as they can of that protectee, so they don't become a target.

So, it comes down to communication and how the Secret Service detail, the Secret Service leadership sits down and discusses exactly what the threats are, what is within the world of the possible that they can do to work with a campaign to help them achieve their mission, but also provide an elevated level of protection.

And that level of protection can come from, you know, just additional physical resources around the former president, but it also can come in the form of technology, it can come in the form of additional resources for advanced protocols, for you know, types of surveillance and counter surveillance measures that are out there.

So, a lot of things can be done. But what is really important is that communication between all the stakeholders so everyone is aligned, you don't have to divulge exactly what the threat is and what the potential consequences are. But you have to at least work with the stakeholder group to ensure that you can apply this level of security and then it's additive not detracted from what needs to be done.

SANCHEZ: Jonathan Wackrow, Andy McCabe, great to get your expertise. Thanks for being with us.

WACKROW: Thanks, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Of course. Still ahead, we have much more from the Republican National Convention. Former Governor Nikki Haley was once one of Donald Trump's biggest rivals for the nomination. She's going to take the stage and be speaking just hours from now.

We're actually going to connect with a congressman who once had hoped that she would be the Republican nominee, stay with us.

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