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New Details in Assassination Attempt; Trump to Appear After Assassination Attempt; New Details about Ryan Routh; Thomas Gibbons- Neff is Interviewed about Speaking to Routh; Polls Show No Change in Race Post Debate; Trump Comments on Swift. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired September 16, 2024 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Has been identified, as you all noted, as Ryan Wesley Routh. We know that he is a self-employed home builder in Hawaii. And that he has been a bit critical of the former president's. In some of some of social media posts, as you also noted, he has some strong opinions about supporting the war in Ukraine. In fact, we know that he traveled to the Ukrainian capital back in 2022. And that according to Ukraine's foreign legion, he reached out to them about volunteering in the work effort - or the war effort out there rather. We know that he also was arrested back in 2002 for barricading himself inside of a building with a weapon in North Carolina.

Now, yesterday, CNN was able to speak with Routh's son, Orin (ph), who described his father as a loving and caring father. An honest, hardworking man. He went on to say that he is a good father and a great man.

Of course, there are plenty of unanswered questions this morning, including just how this 58-year-old was able to get within 400 to 500 yards of the former president as he was out here golfing. We know that his trip to this golf course was a last-minute decision. It was not on his public schedule. And so it is still unclear just how Routh knew that the former president would be here.

Here now is the sheriff yesterday talking about some of the security measures that were in place at this golf course when the former president took to the course out here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF RIC BRADSHAW, PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLORIDA: You've got to understand, the golf course is surrounded by shrubbery. So when somebody gets into the shrubbery, they're pretty much out of sight, all right? And at this level that he is at right now, he's not the sitting president. If he was, we would have had this entire golf course surrounded. But because he's not, the security is limited to the areas that the Secret Service deems possible. So, I would imagine that the next time he comes to a golf course, there will probably be a little more people around the perimeter. But the Secret Service did exactly what they should have done.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SUAREZ: All right, so the director of the Secret Service is expected here in Florida today. He is going to meet with law enforcement officials and investigators here on the ground. And, Sara, we expect the director to also meet with the former president. And we expect to get details from both of these meetings throughout the day.

Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: There's a lot of details unknown, just want to remind people. We've got this new picture of the suspect. And that is the scene where he was arrested there on the highway as they stopped him. There is the suspect in the alleged attempted assassination of Donald Trump.

Thank you so much, Carlos Suarez. Appreciate it.

Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: There does seem like there's going to be a lot of movement on this potentially today. And also we're going to - we're likely to see Donald Trump today for the first time. This morning the message from Donald Trump is, "nothing will slow me down. I will never surrender." That is what he e-mailed supporters just hours after that apparent second attempt on his life.

Later today we will see him for the first time since this happened. CNN's Steve Contorno tracking this, joining us now.

Steve, what are you learning about what we could see today?

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Well, overnight, Kate, we heard from the former president for the first time in a social media post where he wrote, quote, "I would like to thank everyone for their concern and well wishes. It was certainly an interesting day." He went on to thank the Secret Service and local law enforcement for their response saying, quote, "the job done was absolutely outstanding. I am very proud to be an American."

We also recently just heard from House Speaker Mike Johnson, who recalled his conversation with the former president shortly after the Secret Service responded. Take a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): He was in very good spirits, as you might expect. That's who he is. He's so resilient. And we were really grateful to see him.

There's no leader in the history of America that has been so attacked and has remained so strong and so resilient. He's one of a kind. He is not going to stop fighting for the American people. And it was really encouraging for us to sit and visit with him right after that happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CONTORNO: As you said, Kate, the former president is expected to make an appearance today, at least virtually. He is launching a new cryptocurrency venture with his family. That is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. tonight at Mar-a-Lago. We'll wait to see if we see anything else from him throughout the day.

BOLDUAN: Yes, absolutely. At least seeing him for the first time likely tonight. And we'll see what happens today.

Steve, thank you.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, a brand-new poll shows Harris with a six-point lead over Donald Trump. So, what's the problem for Democrats? We will show you the big one.

And break up the band. What sparked this rock star shoving match.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:39:25]

BOLDUAN: This morning we're getting a glimpse into the life and mental state of the man now in custody for the second apparent assassination attempt on Donald Trump. Among the new details coming out is that Ryan Routh self-published a book titled "Ukraine's Unwinnable War." And in it he criticizes Donald Trump and describes being turned away by Ukraine's army.

Clare Sebastian is looking into this. She's got much more - pulling more detail out for us.

All pieces of a bigger puzzle. We're not sure how it all fits together yet. But what have you been able to piece together about his views on Ukraine?

[08:40:02]

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kate, so we're building up a picture of someone who is - has displayed not only a keen interest, but really I think bordering on obsession with supporting Ukraine. He seems, according to a book that he self-published and various media interviews, he seems to have traveled to Ukraine in the early months of the war. Initially it seems to volunteer, but that didn't work out. He was told, according to his own book, that he was too old and didn't have any military experience.

So, after that, he turned his attention its recruiting, it seems, foreign soldiers. That also didn't really go to plan. He was picked up on a clip from AFP in around April of 2022 where he appears to have set up a military office in central Kyiv, but police apparently dispersed that.

And then he targeted Afghan soldiers who were fleeing the Taliban. That also didn't come to anything. At one point he apparently, according to his book, tried to build drones for Ukraine's army using a sort of group of foreign engineers, but that didn't come to anything either.

And look, I think the question is, obviously, how do you get from this interest in Ukraine and these efforts to help Ukraine to being a suspect in a potential assassination of a presidential candidate. But there's a clip that he - from an interview that he gave to "Newsweek Romania" where we get a sense of how he seemed to transfer those frustrations.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN ROUTH, SUSPECT IN SECOND TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT: Well, I've been dealing with Russia for my entire life, you know? We had one period where it was OK. But now we let it slip - slip back into - into terror - terrorism. So, it's just, the world needs to respond, you know? Why world leaders are not sending military is beyond me. We're going to have to elect new leaders the next go around that have a backbone and that, you know, have the fortitude to say, hey, we're not going to tolerate this type of behavior.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN: So, you can see there him saying, we'll have to elect new leaders next time around. This was more than two years ago, this interview. And, obviously, there's a lot that we don't know about his connection to Ukraine, how he funded his efforts to help the Ukrainian army, for example, what the - what he meant by that comment in that clip that you heard when he said that he'd been dealing with Russia at his entire life.

But as for Ukraine, well, several groups of the Ukrainian military that handle volunteers, foreign volunteers, have said that he had nothing to do with them. One group saying that he'd contacted them multiple times but called his ideas, quote, "delusional."

BOLDUAN: Clare, thank you for putting all that together. Much more to learn, clearly.

John.

BERMAN: All right, with us now is Thomas Gibbons-Neff, currently a National Correspondent for "The New York Times," who spoke to the would-be shooter, what, a year ago or so? Thomas, how did it come to pass that you spoke with him?

THOMAS GIBBONS-NEFF, NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Yeah, thanks for having me on. So I was connected to Ryan through a colleague and friend, Najim Rahim. He was a Kabul Correspondent for "The Times" and had known an Afghan in Iran who had been connected to Ryan, and Ryan had promised to get him to Ukraine to fight. And then from there, I got his contact information and gave him a call. I think that was March of '23.

BERMAN: And the reason was to find out about, what, Americans looking to fight or help the fight in Ukraine?

GIBBONS-NEFF: Yeah, we were working on a story. My colleague and I, Justin Scheck, were putting this story together about kind of the foreign volunteers that were fighting and volunteering in Ukraine that kind of had a sordid past. I mean, I think, you know, they're usually equated to, you know, Walter Mitty types, people who kind of showed up in the beginning months of the war and, you know, with grand designs of valor in combat or making a name for themselves. And Ryan definitely -- Mr. Routh definitely fell into that category.

BERMAN: And again, I wanted to lay the groundwork for how it was that you came to talk to him and why, really, to get to the question I think everyone is interested in, which is, you spoke with the guy. What was he like when you talked to him?

GIBBONS-NEFF: Yeah, I mean, he was definitely an interesting character. He was very driven to help Ukraine, even though some of his ideas were completely nonsensical. I mean, he kind of spoke with the self-assuredness that he was going to get from A to B and nothing was going to get in the way, even though his plans were already running into major obstacles.

And, you know, I talked to Najim last night who talked to that Afghan in Iran who had spoken to Mr. Routh a few days before his arrest yesterday. And I guess he was financially despondent, had around $60 in his bank account and was living out of the back of his car. So it kind of seemed like the end of his grand plans for Ukraine.

BERMAN: I mean, did it feel like, and you've been a reporter who covered Ukraine for a long time, and you talk to a lot of people when you're a foreign correspondent or a war correspondent because, as you said, there are these people who hang around.

[08:45:06]

Did he seem to you like a guy who could really get things done?

GIBBONS-NEFF: No, he seemed, like I was saying before, he seemed very much like that crew that showed up in the war's early days who really just thought it was going to be a time to recreate themselves as something that they weren't. I mean, Mr. Routh has a criminal background. And I think he was certainly invested in the cause up until a point, but also invested in, you know, changing who he was as a person, as a lot of these volunteers were.

And to be fair, there are many volunteers in Ukraine who are not like this and are there for the right reasons.

BERMAN: I don't know if you had the time or the resources to follow up on him over time. I know at one point I think he said he had a big meeting planned in Washington. Do you know if he ever did the things that he claimed to you that he was doing?

GIBBONS-NEFF: No, I mean, there was no follow-up. I think, you know, the most Najim found out last night is that he very much stayed in touch with the Afghans he was trying to help. He seemed very invested in their success or survival. I think he was sending money to them. This is what Najim reported up until the end, sending what little money he had to a couple of the Afghans who were trying to still either get to Ukraine or get out of Iran or elsewhere.

BERMAN: All right, Thomas Gibbons-Neff, someone who's actually spoken with this man now, suspected of trying to shoot at former President Trump. We appreciate your time this morning. What a story that turned out to be. Appreciate it.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: OK, a fascinating conversation. Great to hear from him.

Coming up for us, a brand-new poll showing Kamala Harris with a six- point lead over Donald Trump, but it also includes warning signs for Democrats. We'll lay it out for you.

And we're tracking a new tropical threat that is soaking people along the southeast coast this morning, and what you need to watch out for.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:51:25]

BOLDUAN: Right now, more than 2 million people are under tropical storm warnings along the coastal Carolinas. Those colors mean problems. Some places could see heavy winds, tornadoes, flooding and dangerous storm surge. Flood watches are in place in cities like Raleigh, North Carolina, and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Up to ten inches of rain is in the forecast for some places today.

This morning, TikTok will have about 15 minutes to plead its case in front of a federal appeals court. The social media platform is trying to convince the judges to not allow a law to go into effect that could force its Chinese parent company to sell off the app or be banned as early as January. TikTok content creators will also have a chance to address the court. TikTok claims a ban would violate the First Amendment, but Congress passed this law, the Biden administration is now arguing that user data could be compromised and used for intel purposes by China, posing a real national security threat.

And talk about hitting a sour note on stage. Two members of the band Jane's Addiction got into something of a - I think we'll call it a fight. Some are calling it a scuffle. But I don't know if you can use the word scuffle. Onstage, in the middle of a show in Boston. Yes, watching. Watching.

(VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: You see the crew like stepping in there, saying stop. Crew members intervened. The band later apologized and called - and called off its next show too. I -

BERMAN: Boston is such a peaceful city. I can't believe anything like that would happen there.

It makes me so sad.

BOLDUAN: They - they just - they need to - I mean -

BERMAN: You know.

BOLDUAN: It looks like you or me off stage.

BERMAN: Yes, take it backstage, as we - as we well know.

BOLDUAN: Exactly.

BERMAN: If it's going to be a fight, you take it backstage.

BOLDUAN: And we do - that's what we do with so much walking around.

BERMAN: Yes.

BOLDUAN: You just nonchalantly like throw, right in.

BERMAN: (INAUDIBLE). Exactly.

BOLDUAN: But it was not my fault. He's just on my mark.

BERMAN: I'm in the way. I happen to be in the way.

BOLDUAN: All the time.

BERMAN: All right, see you later.

All right, so, there was this brand new poll from ABC News and Ipsos, which showed Kamala Harris up by six points over Donald Trump among likely voters. So, what's the problem for the Harris campaign then you ask. Well, with us now, CNN senior data reporter at an undisclosed location somewhere. I don't know - oh, you're just - you're still right here. Harry's in an undisclosed location to explain to us why this poll in and of itself isn't either, a, surprising or, b, that great news for Harris. Explain.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: All right, so, you know, it's not that surprising, Mr. Berman, from my undisclosed location, you'll never guess where I am.

So, take a look here. National polls in the last month, including leads within the margin of error. Look, Kamala Harris leads in pretty much every single national poll. She's lead in nine of the polls that have been released over the last month. Trump has just led in one national poll over the line last month. And we've had one tie. So, the fact that a national poll shows Kamala Harris ahead, not really much of a surprise because, John, pretty much all of them do.

BERMAN: And the thing is, Harry, thanks to the founding fathers, this isn't a national election exactly is it? Oh, now you're suddenly behind me. You keep on moving. There's Harry, still at an undisclosed location, but at least virtually behind me, making me very nervous.

All right, Harry, talk to us about what the states look like, the battleground states.

ENTEN: Yes. So, look, this is about the Electoral College, right? So, let's take a look at the average margin. Nationally, Harris is ahead in the average poll by 2.5 points. But look in those seven key battleground states, Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

[08:55:05]

Harris is only ahead by 0.3 points, John. So, the bottom line is, in those seven key battleground states, it's a significantly tighter race than it is nationally, John.

BERMAN: So, Al Gore and Hillary Clinton are calling right now, Harry, asking what the chances are that Harris could win the popular vote but lose in the Electoral College.

ENTEN: OK. So basically you note that 2.5 point lead nationally here, right? OK, Harris' chances, if she wins the popular vote, by two to three points, that chance she wins the Electoral College is only 53 percent. The bottom line is, once you have to get all the way north to about three to four points for Harris to have a clear - clear, clear chance. The majority, the clear majority chance of winning the Electoral College. If she only wins by less than two, look at that, only a 23 percent chance of winning.

Right now, Harris is right now in that danger zone where basically about half the time, given that popular vote margin nationally, she would win. And so here's the situation. Chance Harris wins the popular vote at this point, is about 70 percent. But the chance she wins the Electoral College is only about 50 percent. So, the bottom line is, at this hour, John, there's about a 20 percent chance that Kamala Harris wins the popular vote but actually loses in the Electoral College.

So, we could be heading towards one of these splits that we saw in 2016 and in 2000, whereby one candidate, Kamala Harris, wins in the popular vote but loses in the Electoral College. Basically, at this hour, we're right in that sort of weird middle zone where we honestly don't know what's going to happen based upon the popular vote. And that is why those national polls that show Kamala Harris ahead at this point really don't matter that much.

BERMAN: Harry Enten, thank you so much wherever you are. Stay safe, my friend.

ENTEN: All right.

BERMAN: And, Sara.

SIDNER: Continuing the conversation, she's right here with me, I do not have to search around, CNN political commentator and "BATTLEGROUND" host S.E. Cupp.

S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Hi.

SIDNER: The post-debate polling you saw there from Harry, a sign of something in the future or the post-debate bump that everyone was expecting.

CUPP: This race was, is and always will be very, very close. And that's why we're looking so narrowly at these swing states. And within the swing states, very specific voters. Independent, undecided, moderate voters. And so the name of the game here is not - it's not complicated, it's not confusing, it's real clear. Both campaigns have their basis. They both need to reach these voters.

SIDNER: Right. The base will come out and vote.

CUPP: They're there. Right.

SIDNER: It's the other undecideds -

CUPP: Right.

SIDNER: That - and the independents.

All right, I - you know, we had this - this incident over the weekend that should never happen in this country.

CUPP: Right.

SIDNER: And it's happened again. An apparent attempted assassination of President Trump.

Right before that happened, a few hours before that happened, he tweeted something and it was about Taylor Swift. And this is what he said. "I hate Taylor Swift." Is he trying to, a, get people not to buy her music, b, make sure she gets online threats or, c, something else?

CUPP: I think it's something else. I think whatever a thread of a tether he had to some self-control, some discipline, and I, on the objective of this race, is gone. And he's sort of devolving into his feelings, right? I think he's upset that she's turned on him and mobilized her - h r fan base against him. I think he's feeling a little desperate as he's watching these polls. I think he doesn't still know how to get at Kamala Harris effectively. And he's lost his eye on the prize, which is what we just said, getting those swing voters. Those swing voters have told us over and over again, in their own words, we don't like this. The personal attacks, the feeling of chaos, the feeling that someone is completely out of control and not focused on the issues, they hate that. It is repelling them. He can't seem to sort of get around that though.

SIDNER: I want to talk to you about someone else that he has been hanging out with. She's been on a plane with him. We've seen him talk about the fact that he says that she's this great woman. She - he has been hanging around a right-wing activist called Laura Loomer. And I want to show you just some of the things that she has put out on social media. And it's go - it goes back very far.

CUPP: Yes.

SIDNER: But let's start with - with - here's what she said about Sheila Jackson Lee. After Sheila Jackson Lee died, she called her a "ghetto b-I-t-c-h." And then she speaks about black women this way. Again, she - she tweeted - this is another one. "If Kamala Harris wins, the White House will smell like curry." So, another racist attack. She's also tweeted about Kamala Harris, calling her a "stupid, brain dead, lying B-I-T-C-H." And then listen to this. She's talking about several women of color, several black women, Letitia James and others.

[09:00:07]

It's including Kamala Harris.

Here's what she said about them.