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New Report Details Stunning Failures Around First Trump Assassination; Evacuations Underway as Florida Faces Major Hurricane Threat; Schools Closed, Homes Evacuated After Chemical Leak in Ohio. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired September 25, 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]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking this morning, brand new details on the mounting security failures surrounding the first assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, a Senate investigation revealing the chaos that day and several, quote, preventable failures.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, happening now, an active evacuation underway in Ohio, a train car leaking dangerous chemicals near Cincinnati.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Florida is bracing right now for what could become the strongest storm to make landfall in the United States in over a year. Tropical Storm Helene gaining strength and some parts of Florida already being told to evacuate.

I'm Kate Bolduan with John Berman and Sara Sidner. This is CNN News Central.

SIDNER: Breaking for you this morning, we're learning new details on the stunning security failures by the Secret Service that led up to the first attempt to assassinate Donald Trump. The new Senate report found a breakdown in communication by the Secret Service at the Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. There was no sole decision-maker and Secret Service leadership was non-existent and it was unclear who was responsible for what. The report says, the security failures were foreseeable and preventable. Even more concerning, the issues are still a problem because they remain unaddressed, according to the report by the Secret Service.

Former President Trump plans to return to Butler just ten days from now, on October 5th. CNN's Zach Cohen has new details for us. Tell us more about what is in this very damning report.

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, Sara, bipartisan consensus that this new report shows it was incompetence on the part of the Secret Service. That largely is the reason and largely is what to blame for the reason a gunman was allowed to nearly assassinate Donald Trump on July 13th at his rally in Butler.

And specifically the report points the finger at the Secret Service's failure to really take control of the decision-making process during the planning in the days leading up to the rally. It details several specific areas where the Secret Service dropped the ball. That includes not putting anything in to obscure the direct line of sight from between that building where the shooter was ultimately perched and the rally stage. We know from previous reporting that that was a concern identified beforehand, but this report making clear that despite the concerns nothing was done about it.

This report also notes that there was no plan on how to secure that building despite the fact that it is the Secret Service's job to communicate that to the local law enforcement who were ultimately believed to be in charge of securing that building and failed to do so.

And there's also new details about how requests by the Secret Service for additional resources were denied certain resources assets that they had asked for it to be at that Butler rally were not provided and other requests were not made despite the fact that these were certain items that they identified ahead of time as potentially things that could help secure the rally site, one of those being the bulletproof glass that Trump has since been given at his outdoor rallies.

But, look, this also goes into the communication failures on the day of the rally itself, which we've known a lot about, but frankly the most stunning part of this report is an interview, an excerpt from an interview the committee did with the lead sniper that was part of Trump's detail that day. And he describes the moment that he realized something was wrong only minutes before the gunman fire, said, quote, I think one actually had a pistol facing towards the ground, talking about law enforcement, local law enforcement running toward the building out of a holster. That's a pretty big deal for us. So, immediately we turned and faced our guns towards the threat area. We didn't know what was happening, but it seemed pretty serious, especially with the locals response.

Now, this is again the minute that the Secret Service snipers realized there was a problem. They didn't hear the warnings from local law enforcement over the radio and ultimately told the committee that they didn't think to notify anyone about getting Trump off stage despite concerns about something potentially being wrong.

SIDNER: Yes, a lot of breakdowns there. What do lawmakers expect to see from the Secret Service now after this report?

COHEN: Yes.

[07:05:00]

Lawmakers are essentially calling for a broad overhaul of the Secret Service, and that includes changes at the top of the leadership structure there. Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, had some very strong words for the Secret Service ahead of this report's release. Take a listen to what he said about what needs to change in order to address these issues.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): I'm really hoping there'll be fundamental far reaching reform in the way that the Secret Service conducts protective activities, devoting more resources, but most important, more competence in management, the allocation of those resources.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: So, we've heard from acting Director Ronald Rowe. We've heard him call for additional resources and identify some of the personnel issues, the strain that Secret Service agents are under. But at the end of the day, there has not been a clear plan articulated for how to address these longstanding and fundamental issues at the service itself, the one that lawmakers on both sides of the aisle agree have to change in order to adequately protect people like Donald Trump and the sitting president.

SIDNER: All right, Zach Cohen, thank you so much for your reporting there. John?

BERMAN: All right. Happening now, Florida is bracing for a major hurricane, Tropical Storm Helene, it is getting stronger and making a line toward landfall as soon as tomorrow.

Let's get right to CNN Meteorologist Allison Chinchar, who is tracking this storm. What do you see?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's right. So we take a look at the current statistics. The storm has increased overnight, now strengthening up to winds of 65 miles per hour, only 10 miles per hour shy from hurricane status. It is located just ever so slightly to the east of Cancun. It's then expected to spread into the Gulf of Mexico.

That water is extremely warm, which is fuel for these types of storms. That's why we expect further strengthening into not only a hurricane but a major hurricane by the time we get to Thursday. Then by Thursday night, it's expected to make landfall.

Here's the thing, though. This storm is also expected to speed up. It could likely be at least 25 miles per hour. that forward speed by the time it makes landfall. That means as it makes its way inland, it can move pretty quickly, meaning it's not going to have much time to weaken. That's means even areas of South and Central Georgia could see still be dealing with hurricane strength winds, even when it makes it as far north and as far inland is Atlanta, Georgia, likely to be a high end tropical storm in terms of winds.

Storm surge is expected to be pretty widespread, really up and down pretty much the entire west coast of the Florida Peninsula. You're looking at some level of storm surge. Obviously, the highest is going to be right here in the Big Bend region of 10 to 15 feet. But even some of the surrounding areas looking at significant numbers, even places like Tampa, St. Pete, Sarasota, looking at those numbers around five to eight feet. The winds, because it's moving quick, will be able to spread pretty far inland. Right along the coast, you're looking at those winds of 110 miles per hour or higher, even places like around South Georgia, so looking at about 75 to 110 miles per hour. But even places like Atlanta, you could be looking at wind gusts up around those 60-mile-per-hour range. Rain is also going to be pretty widespread and again, even far north places like the Southern Appalachians could be looking at anywhere from 6 to 12 inches of rain before this system finally exits the area.

BERMAN: Yes. And it's a big storm. It could push a lot of water. Pay attention to the watches and warnings. We will keep you posted minute by minute. Allison Chinchar we will let you get back to work. Thank you very much. Kate?

BOLDUAN: And breaking overnight, the IDF says it intercepted a ballistic missile heading toward Tel Aviv. The first time ever a missile fired by Hezbollah has gone that far and gotten that close to that major city.

And a new report this morning finds that Boeing workers were pressured to prioritize speed over quality, this coming out now some nine months after the door plug blowout of the 737 MAX.

And Sean Diddy Combs now facing 11 civil lawsuits, even as he remains behind bars on criminal charges. Details on the new allegations from a woman who says he drugged and assaulted her with the help of his bodyguard.

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[07:10:00]

BOLDUAN: Right now, schools in a town near Cincinnati, Ohio, are moving quickly to cancel classes as mandatory evacuations are also being put in place after a dangerous rail car chemical leak.

We're going to show you the video. You can see it right there. Very obvious that something's venting out. That is a chemical known as styrene, which is both toxic and flammable. It started venting out of the rail car on Tuesday.

The good news here, I guess, is officials say there is no longer a risk of explosion, but there is a lot more to it.

CNN's Brynn Gingras is pulling it all together for us. What's going on here, Brynn?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, slight silver lining there, Kate, with that. But still there's a lot going on that they are taking care of right now. Really, no end in sight of when this will not be an issue no longer.

Let's talk about what's happening right now this morning. We know federal authorities are headed to that area, including the federal -- authorities from the Federal Railroad Administration along with environmentalists going to that area. We know that air quality testing results are expected today. Those tests were taken yesterday after this leak was discovered.

But as you also mentioned, we also know there are three schools in that area, half a mile circumference of that area that kids are not going to be allowed to go to those schools. There's about 200 homes. People living in those homes who have been displaced are waking up this morning in different places or without homes or in shelters. So, it's a pretty dire situation there currently right now.

Now, this occurred yesterday, 2:00.

[07:15:00]

And unlike what we saw last year with the trail derailment on the other side of Ohio, this is actually just as you saw an open valve leaking this chemical, and as you said, it's called styrene. It's an odorless, very highly flammable toxic chemical. It can cause headaches. It can cause nausea, respiratory issues, and it can also have some long term health effects, including organ damage. So, this is pretty serious, as you can imagine, with officials quickly trying to take action.

You talked about how it is flammable. I want you to hear from official real quick about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF MIKE SIEFKE, LITTLE MIAMI JOINT FIRE AND RESCUE DISTRICT: Right now, our concerns still are maintaining the temperature. We don't want the material to get too hot. The three quarter mile shelter in place, and then the evacuation order for a half mile still stays at this point.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GINGRAS: All right, so that's something that they're still keeping their eye on right now. But the big thing here, Kate, is that there's really no time frame of when this will actually get cleaned up. So, everybody's sort of in a waiting period as we wait to learn more. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Yes, a waiting period with a toxic chemical in the air and a whole lot of questions and uncertainty around it. Brynn, thank you so much. Brynn's going to be bringing us more updates on this as it develops this morning. Sara?

SIDNER: All right. New overnight, Hezbollah launched a missile that was intercepted near Tel Aviv. That is the furthest they have been able to fire into Israel, first time that has happened. And the nightmare ends some dream vacation homes as the ocean, look at that, reclaims part of a picturesque beach. Those stories and more ahead.

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[07:20:00]

SIDNER: New overnight, Israel's military said it intercepted a Hezbollah missile near Tel Aviv. This is significant because it's the first time a rocket has made its way that far into Israel from Lebanon. Hezbollah said it targeted the headquarters of Israel's intelligence service, Mossad, which it blames for the deadly explosions of pagers and walkie-talkies in Lebanon last week.

The IDF released this video, which it says shows a strike destroying the missile launcher that targeted Tel Aviv.

Plus, new footage shows the moment an Israeli airstrike hit Tel Aviv the Lebanese city of Jiyeh causing a huge explosion scene in the distance there.

CNN International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson joins us live from Tel Aviv. Nic, what can you tell us is the latest of this continuing escalation between Hezbollah and Israel?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes. Well, the video you were just looking at there, that huge explosion there in Lebanon, that's believed to be an ammunition storage site of Hezbollah's in Lebanon, and that's what the IDF say they're continuing to target. They've had an intense round of strikes in the past couple of hours, again, at the same sort of infrastructure that supports Hezbollah's ability to fire missiles.

But what we saw and what we woke to this morning here in Tel Aviv was the sound of the sirens going off about 6:30 in the morning. A million people by the way woke to the sound of those sirens in Central Israel because this was, if not an escalation, a small escalation in many ways, because Hezbollah was doing something it hadn't done before. It fired a ballistic missile. These are not like the short range missiles that go just across the border or just 30 miles or so into Israel. This is a long range missile that fires high in the sky, arcs up, and comes down with a very big, hundreds of kilograms of explosives on board.

And it was intercepted not by the Iron Dome, but by David's Sling, which is a more sophisticated, higher altitude intercept rocket system that Israel uses, and it used it successfully this morning to protect what Hezbollah said it was going to target, which was the Mossad headquarters outside of Tel Aviv.

So, the fact that Hezbollah has now done that, used ballistic missiles, show something of an escalation, but it's not what Israel feared that Hezbollah might decide to trigger a massive barrage of these very big missiles system, missiles, and try to overwhelm the defensive system here. That hasn't happened.

So, this is a sort of a signaling, if you will. And there were no injuries in Israel today that we're aware of as a result of that ballistic missile. But it does continue to show that the trajectory of this confrontation right now is only escalating. Troops very close to the border between on the Israel side of the border. The IDF not saying whether those troops are going to go across the border, but they are saying that these are the best equipped, best trained, best ready troops that they have available. So, at the moment, we understand the prime minister's had various security briefings today and is expected, we understand, to delay his trip to New York, to the U.N. General Assembly, although it is still expected to happen, but he's leaving a little later than it was originally planned, Sara.

SIDNER: Yes, the escalation is clear. Nic Robertson in Tel Aviv, thank you so much. I appreciate you. John?

BERMAN: All right. This morning, we are standing by as Vice President Harris is set to unveil new details of her economic policy plan. What we are learning about these proposals.

And Football Hall of Famer Brett Favre reveals he has Parkinson's disease. We've got new details this morning on The Diagnosis.

[07:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: Overnight, police in Tempe, Arizona are investigating after they say gunshots were fired into a Democratic campaign office on Monday night. No one was in office when this happened, but this is the second incident at this office, raising concerns, of course, about safety. Last week, police say the front windows appeared to have been shot with a BB gun or pellet gun.

Also today, Vice President Kamala Harris going to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to lay out her economic vision for voters.

[07:30:00]

A senior campaign official tells CNN her remarks will focus in part on manufacturing. Her speech comes after Donald Trump pitched his vision.