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Secret Service Whisk Away Trump After Loud Bangs Heard At Rally In Pennsylvania; Secret Service: The Former President Is Safe; AP: Local DA Says Suspected Shooter And At Least One Rally Attendee Dead. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired July 13, 2024 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:06]
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: And they - presumably they will be making a statement soon about what their assessment is right now, what happened, if there were in fact gunshots that hit the former president on the right side of his face near his ear right now.
It's a very, very serious situation that we're watching unfold, and as I keep saying history in the making right now. You don't often see this but unfortunately you see it once in a while and it's pretty scary every time you do.
I want to bring in our senior medical correspondent and trauma neurosurgeon, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, who's with us right now.
Sanjay, what's your analysis? We all saw the former president speaking, all of a sudden we heard some noises, sounded to me like gunshots. But we haven't confirmed that. We haven't heard from the FBI or the Secret Service confirming that. But you could see him raise his right hand towards his face. Then you can see some blood and then he goes down. Secret Service agents rushed the stage over there and bring him over to a vehicle very, very carefully.
But you heard from the crowd a lot of screaming, a lot of shouting, get down, get down, get down. What's your assessment, Sanjay?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, I'm seeing obviously the same thing everyone is. There was obviously an indication that he recognized something that happened, felt pain, whatever that was we don't know. Then goes down. He looks like he does that of his own volition as opposed to sort of collapsing. These are all sort of important clues.
And then obviously once we see him finally raised backup, he does -- you see the blood all over the right side of his face. You also see him sort of pumping his fist into the air, walking on his own. It looks like they're covering him up, but he is walking on his own when they get him out of there.
A couple of things. There's a lot that's unknown and so from a medical standpoint, that sort of broadens probably the work up. You've got -- you know, we see what we see. But was there something else that happened as well that we really didn't see and that he himself may not even be aware of? You know, we don't know again if these are gunshots but if they were, the sounds like there were several. Where else -- could there be any other injuries?
Could there be an injury when he actually went to the ground as well? Well, separate from whatever caused the problem in the first place. But the point being, Wolf, that from a trauma standpoint, that's sort of just entails a very full workup. Let's make sure nothing is missed here. We all see what we see. But what about what we don't see or what we don't recognize or what the former president himself may not recognize in the moment in terms of possible injuries.
It's not to say that there are any, but one of the things that has to happen is a very complete workup. I'll give you an example, even a -- let's say there was a grazing of the bullet, was that just soft tissue? Was there a skull fracture, anything like that? You got to look for these things to make sure you don't miss it. And again, was there any other injuries either in the initial moment or from the being on the ground, being led out of there, you've got look.
So my guess is we're going to hear about -- you can do these workups fairly quickly, but they need to be done, Wolf.
BLITZER: They certainly do. And what was especially scary to me, Sanjay, is not only when the former president raised his right hand towards the side of his face, but then you saw blood near the ear. I don't know if it was coming from the ear or near the ear, something happened that caused the blood to emerge. And then he went down. That was pretty scary stuff when I saw that.
GUPTA: Yes, me, too. I mean, it's really scary. I will say when, and again, these are just observations here but it looked like he sort of went down on his own as opposed to collapsing. These are the sorts of things that the medical team is going to want to know. Was there a reason for him to have collapsed? Doesn't look like it to me, looking at that video. Clearly looks like he raised his hand. He recognizes something has happened that got his attention, got everyone's attention.
But a couple of points to make again is that, was that the only thing? Was there something else? Was there an injury when he went to the ground? Was there an injury when he was transported out? Again, even the sort of escorting him out of there, getting him out of there, you got to like pay attention to everything in terms of possible injuries. It doesn't look like, you know, he's raising his hand. That's a good sign obviously. He's walking on his own. That's a good sign, obviously.
But you've got be thorough in terms of actually checking for all these things from a trauma standpoint. The neurosurgeons clearly, but just the trauma surgeons as well.
BLITZER: Yes, it's just really a frightening development indeed, as we see him, I don't know if he's walking or he's being effectively carried out by Secret Service agents who have surrounded him as he emerges from that stage and into that vehicle just moments ago. We're watching this carefully. CNN's Evan Perez is joining us.
Evan, you've got some new reporting including some reaction from the Trump campaign. What are you learning?
EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, right now, what we're hearing from some of the law enforcement officials is, you know, they're still trying to assess what exactly happened.
[19:05:04]
They obviously know that there was an incident. They know that the former president is being treated for any possible injuries. But, you know, from what you can see on the video, you know, not only, you know, he has -- it appears that he's been injured but also that, you know, if there was a round that was fired who may have -- where did that go. That's going to be part of a longer term investigation.
We have a statement from the Secret Service, which right now this is the only thing they're saying. There acknowledging, they say that an incident occurred at the Trump rally in Pennsylvania. The Secret Service has implemented protective measures and the former president is safe. This is now an active Secret Service investigation and further information will be released when available.
We also heard a Trump campaign spokesman who issued a statement saying that, he was thanking the law enforcement and that he is obviously being treated right now and they believe he's fine. More details they say will follow.
Again not a lot of information coming from law enforcement or from the Trump campaign as to exactly the nature of whatever injury he may have had. And so that's what one of the big questions right now, Wolf. You can hear I think some of our guests have talked about, you can hear that appears in some of the audio that someone says, shooter down, so that's one of the questions is whoever fired this round, what's the status of that person? Have they been detained?
This is now obviously, Wolf, something that obviously happens very rarely in this country, but this is now going to be an investigation most likely led by the Secret Service, but also involving the FBI. I talked to sources, right, just a few minutes ago and Secret Services is waiting and the FBI is waiting to see what more is needed at the scene before launching any additional resources. You saw the SWAT team sort of like come in there to protect the former president. That's the first obviously part of this.
Now begins the investigation to find out who did this and whether they can face -- obviously they're going to be facing charges for trying to take a shot against the former president -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Yes. And you could see all the people behind the former president ducking down as soon as they heard the shots or whatever that noise was, and as soon as Trump went down they went down as well.
Let me just carefully read the statement that the Trump spokesperson, Steven Cheung, just issued, quote, "President Trump thanks law enforcement and first responders for their quick action during this heinous act. He is fine and is being checked out in a local medical facility. More details will follow." That statement from Steven Cheung of the Trump campaign.
We're getting more statements coming in right now. The House Speaker Mike Johnson just posted on X that he is, quote, "praying for President Trump, praying for President Trump," moments after the former president was taken off stage after he was clearly injured in an incident at this campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The House GOP conference chair Elise Stefanik also posted in that same X platform, "Please pray for President Trump, his family, and all of the patriots at today's rally in Pennsylvania." So statements, reaction coming in very, very quickly.
And I'll read one more time. The Secret Service's official statement that just came in from the chief of communications of the U.S. Secret Service, "An incident occurred the evening of July 13th at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania. The Secret Service has implemented protective measures. And the former president is safe. This is now an active Secret Service investigation and further information will be released when available." That statement from the chief of communications for the U.S. Secret Service.
I want to bring in our chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst John Miller, who's with us right now watching all of this unfold.
What's your analysis, John?
JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, Wolf, what you see, and we've seen it several times on our air, is you hear that pop happened. You see the president reach for his ear. You see him put himself down. Secret Service on top of him. But as you listen to that audio, very carefully, what you'll hear, what is what appears to be Secret Service agents after a second volley of sounds that go pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, they found shooter is down.
We are working to confirm that with the Secret Service, but that's what the audio at the scene tells us. And we do hear that there is a person in custody after that. What you see is everything happened as Jonathan Wackrow described it. First, the counterassault team, when you can hear them say Hawkeye is here, spreads out and adds that protective field with the long guns.
[19:10:03]
You see them decide that that is the moment, now that they've got that coverage, to move the former president towards the vehicles. There is an ambulance that is there, but instead they put him in the armored vehicle which is a decision because he's conscious, he's alert, moving and they'd rather have the protection of that armored vehicle. And then you see them move him out towards medical care.
What you then see is the clearing of that area, and Wolf, as Jonathan also described, that's a crime scene now. Wherever they encountered the shooter, if in fact that's what happened, that is a key part of it. Whatever shell casings or other evidence or a weapon may recover that's a part of it. What you see when you look at the aerial view of this area is a wide open fairground with race track around it and very low slung buildings. There isn't high ground for a sniper so it suggests that someone was probably not inside the perimeter, possibly shooting from outside that perimeter, possibly with a long gun to make this happen because people who come into that inner perimeter, the actual rally would have been magged and checked for weapons.
BLITZER: We would assume they would have been magged and checked for weapons. And let's hope that they were, but this is clearly very, very disturbing.
John, stay with us. I want to play for viewers who may just be tuning in right now the video of what exactly happened. We will start with the former president speaking and then all of a sudden we hear some bangs, which we believe were gunshots. And then he raises his right hand to the side of his face, his right side of his face near his ear. And then we see some blood. But let me play that video from the top, John, and then we'll discuss a little bit more. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Now that's a little bit old, that chart. That chart is a couple of months old and if you want to really see something that said, take a look at what happened --
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hold, hold. Are you ready? On you. Move. Move.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hawkeye is here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hawkeye is here. Move it.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you ready?
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shooter down.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shooter down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're good.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shooter is down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shooter is down. Are we good to move?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shooter is down. We're good to move.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're clear. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's move. Let's move.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're clear.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: Let me get my shoes. Let me get my shoes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got you, sir. I got you, sir.
TRUMP: Let me get my shoes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hold on. Your head, the blood.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, we've got to move (INAUDIBLE).
TRUMP: Let me get my shoes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got to move!
(CROWD CHANTS USA)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: John Miller, you can see the Secret Service agents as they escorted Trump down those stairs completely surrounding him in case there were someone still outside the area over there with a weapon, potentially could fire some more bullets if in fact that is exactly what happened in the course of this very, very scary, dangerous situation that unfolded a little while ago in Butler, Pennsylvania, a few miles north of Pittsburgh, at this campaign rally that we've been watching very closely.
But as you look at it very closely, John, give us your analysis.
MILLER: Well, what you saw there was, you heard the two shots fired then approximately a second and a half, a few seconds later, you hear a lot of shots fired. That's the first two. Now second volley of (INAUDIBLE). That is likely the Secret Service (INAUDIBLE) shooter and returning fire.
As you see the president down, you hear clearly those Secret Service agents getting ready to move him and then they say, shooter is down. Shooter is down. We're good to go. Let's move him now.
[19:15:06]
BLITZER: That was good that the shooter is down, and that's why apparently they were able to escort Trump off that stage into that vehicle. And according to the Secret Service, he's now in a medical facility getting some treatment and making sure that he's going to be OK. They say he's safe. We'll get presumably very, very soon.
Jonathan Wackrow, you're a former Secret Service agent, any additional analysis, any additional points you want to make that was very impressive how the Secret Service reacted so quickly. And as you correctly point out, this is what they train for, God forbid, the shooting incident involving a president or a former president. And people might not know that former presidents of the United States get extensive Secret Service protection long after they leave the White House.
JONATHAN WACKROW, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST (via phone): You know, and I think, you know, there's one thing I want to just talk about the security structure that's put around the former president right now. There is an extensive security program. There is a detail that's with the president 24 hours a day, but also you have to remember the former president isn't that long out of office. So there are still threats that linger, that carry over from his time in office.
And because of that, you actually see a robust structure around former president Trump. That, coupled with the fact that he is a presidential candidate, so thankfully today you actually saw a lot of those assets that usually are in the background actually come to the forefront and reacted very quickly. One of which is the tactical team, the counter- assault team. You actually see that tactical team come on to the stage.
They provide a secondary ring of protection around the former president. Again, ensuring that they can, you know, suppress any secondary threat that presents itself. And then help move the former president safely from the stage, again moving off of the X, moving from the stage back to the armored limousine. And again, moving the president away from this site. So you're seeing a lot of things, a lot of actions by the Secret Service and assets of the Secret Service come into play that typically the general public does not witness.
But here you're seeing everything, you know, fall into place exactly as every single one of these agents trained for. And again, I cannot stress enough the countless hours that these agents put into this exact moment, again, you know, focusing on an attack on the principal on a stage, making that principal safe. And then moving them to a safe and secondary location. And if there is any type of medical concern which in this case there is, there is the medical component that these agents are trained for in the near term until other additional medical personnel are able to examine the former president.
So again, quick reaction by the Secret Service, quick reaction by law enforcement partners, really, you know, prevented, you know, what could have been a real tragedy today.
BLITZER: Yes. And they say the former president is now at a medical facility getting treatment because you can see the blood on the side of his face over there near his ear. We don't know where that blood -- why that blood originated, whether it was a gunshot wound or he fell and something else happened. But we're going to be getting a lot more information in the minutes ahead to be sure.
Statements are coming in from all over the place. We're getting a lot more detail on what exactly happened.
Julia Kayyem is with us as well. Juliette used to work at the Department of Homeland Security.
This is a nightmare scenario that we've been watching, but give us your analysis.
JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: OK, well, first of all, I mean, the nightmare scenario is because this is not over. I mean, first you're going to have of course the investigation. What in fact were the noises, lots of rumors on the X and elsewhere about maybe someone is down or there were other victim. How is the former president and also the candidate to be president for the Republicans?
And then let's just fast forward it. We are in an increased threat environment regardless of what happened today, and the -- and what is about to happen is an entire party and its political leadership is meeting for their convention starting essentially tomorrow. That increased threat environment means that the security is going to have to change for the convention. Its posturing is going to have to change to ensure that whatever was the cause of this and the motivations do not actually rear their head again.
We already, Wolf, we -- I mean, I received this stuff still from the department. We were already an increased threat environment for both conventions for different reasons and that increase will be felt over essentially now until November 3rd, if not after.
[19:20:04]
We are now in the moment that a lot of us have been warning on, that our democracy, you know, this was a horror. It looks like we averted a tragedy. Most people younger than you and me have not experienced a potential assassination -- I want to be careful here -- attempt on a candidate or a president or let alone a former president. The democracy, our democracy we know is fractured. And people have been more prone to utilize violence or the threats of violence in 2024.
We are now seeing the results of that and how we come back from this brink is not at all clear right now. This is a moment and a tragedy especially if there are other victims. But it is also a signal that all of us have to come together and bring us from this fracturing that leads to this kind of violence and the threats of violence that permeate or democracy. We are heading into a convention week right now with a potential threat or -- you know, whatever it was right now. We're still going to wait and we have to be careful about what we say.
Donald Trump and the people around him perceive themselves to be under threat. And that's all that matters. That is not legitimate. That is wrong. You hear the screams from the audience, people are terrified, and that is the kind of atmospheres that we are going to be living with. And I don't have a good answer about how we bring it back right now. There's -- this is just, you know, this is going to be an investigation, but it's larger. It's about our democracy right now.
BLITZER: Yes, you know, it's really, really a scary, scary moment in American history as we watch all of this unfold.
And Andrew McCabe is with us, former deputy director of the FBI. Andrew, I assume as a result of this incident, security in all these
presidential rallies whether at the convention in Milwaukee this coming week or at the Democratic convention in Chicago in August, a few weeks down the road, and all these other political rallies, security is going to be heightened dramatically out of an extensive abundance of caution as we watch what's going on. But I'm anxious to get your thought.
ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: No question about it, Wolf. Security will -- which is already very high for any sort of event involving a president or a former president. They will elevate that bar even higher now and a lot of how they think about securing the next round of rallies and gatherings will be informed by what they learned from this investigation that will now take place about this attack.
So let's talk about that really quickly. Jonathan was absolutely right that the Secret Service will hold this crime scene and then the FBI will come in and conduct that investigation. I can tell you from my experience running the counterterrorism division, probably the entirety of the Pittsburgh field offices on their way back into the office right now to start that work, as well as the counterterrorism division here at FBI headquarters.
And they will start by coursing over that scene with incredible detail to retrieve every single piece of evidence they possibly can find, whether that's fragments of projectiles or blood spatter. They'll look for things that people may have left behind. They'll try to recreate take that entire event forensically, which they will do with the assistance of the evidence response team from the Pittsburgh office and then other assets they'll send in from the region.
This will be investigated I'm sure as a potential act of terrorism. Anytime there is an act of violence directed at a political figure, it's certainly, you know, a former president about as high on that list as you can get, that's going to be treated as an act of -- potential act of terrorism, act of domestic terrorism as it should be. So there will be no resource or efforts spared in figuring out exactly who did this.
Now, if they know that already, if they have a shooter who's already been taken into custody or eliminated, that investigation will focus on that person and any network or associates that they might have had, because that's the piece that will tell you what you need to think about and protect from in the rallies and the events that come. You want to see if whoever was involved in this might have been planning other attacks or maybe the thinking about other events, and you want to render every piece of intelligence you can on this investigation to help better protect the former president and the current president, and the rest of our political figures going forward. So it's a scary and dark time that we are going into now.
[19:25:03]
The fact that we have this sort of political violence rearing its ugly head again in the United States is incredibly concerning. It's something every American should take note of.
BLITZER: And we are getting word, Andrew, that the shooter involved in this incident at the Trump rally in Pennsylvania is no longer an immediate threat. That according to multiple law enforcement sources.
We had heard people shouting, shooter is down, shooter is down, so it looks like that shooter and I'm sure they're going to be investigating who this alleged shooter was and is, and as you correctly point out, if he's just an isolated incident or part of some sort of group that's behind this kind of terror that we're watching right now.
So we're watching this very, very closely. This investigation has clearly, Andrew, only just beginning.
Evan, you're getting some more information --
MCCABE: Just beginning. Yes.
BLITZER: Yes. Evan is getting some more information on the shooter. What are you learning, Evan?
PEREZ: Well, that's right, Wolf. We're now hearing from multiple law enforcement sources that the term that's being used by law enforcement is that the shooter, the person who fired the shot at the former president, has been neutralized.
Now generally that word is used when someone is dead, that that person is no longer a threat. And that is the word that law enforcement tends to use when a threat to someone who is a protectee, in this case the former president, is no longer a threat. So that's what the word that is being used by law enforcement that he's been neutralized, that the person, the shooter, has been neutralized.
Now we expect that we're going to hear a lot more in the few minutes -- in the next few minutes or in the next coming hours from the U.S. Secret Service because now they're trying to put together an investigation into the way this could have happened. Obviously, there's a team that is in place there with the former president. They're going to -- they're good at collecting evidence. They know how to do that. And so that's one of the first things that's happened is to try to secure the crime scene and to determine everything about how this came to be.
Where did this shooter, this person, get access to the grounds? Is it inside? Was it outside? Was this person essentially a sniper who was firing at the former president? All of their background, all of that stuff is being done now as we speak. Now the FBI is also there in the case of Ronald Reagan, the former president Ronald Reagan, when he was shot by John Hinckley Junior, that became an FBI -- a Secret Service and an FBI investigation that obviously went to all of the parts of that case.
And so that is likely what is going to happen here, Wolf, but right now, again, we're still just getting the basic information from the scene, and as you pointed out, the shooter is no longer believed to be a threat to the safety of that scene. And so now the investigation moves to another phase. So that's what we know at this point, that the shooter was neutralized and that's a term again that we hear from law enforcement when they mean that that the shooter is dead.
BLITZER: And I think it's significant, Evan, correct me if I'm wrong, when law enforcement officials used the word shooter that's a very, very specific word. That means that someone was firing shots at the former president of the United States.
PEREZ: Right.
BLITZER: That it wasn't just some banging noises we heard. These were gunshots. When I was watching this live and I heard that noise, to me it sounded like a gunshot right away, but now that multiple law enforcement sources are calling this individual who fired these shots, the shooter, I think that's significant in what we know. Right?
PEREZ: That's right, Wolf. Look, I mean, I think the word that there is a lot of caution by the Secret Service in releasing some of this information. We'd probably going to hear from them very, very soon with a lot more information about exactly what happened with this incident. But yes, I mean, the idea is that there is some kind of shot that was fired at the former president or in that direction, and that he was injured by something.
Now, again, it could be a gunshot. There's a lot of speculation online about what kind of -- could be a pellet of some kind. Again, those are things that we're going to find out more concretely obviously when the crime scene is up and running and the Secret Service is able to get a lot more information out about exactly the nature of this incident, but yes, what you're detecting is obviously that law enforcement believes that someone fired a shot at the former president.
Now, what kind of shot that is, again, is something that we have to hear more directly from law enforcement in the coming hours.
[19:30:03]
BLITZER: All right, everybody stand by. I want to play the video one more time. Let's watch what unfolded and it starts with the former President Donald Trump speaking to this crowd in Butler, Pennsylvania, and then all of a sudden we hear what we now can confirm, gunshots and then he raises his right hand to his face, then you see some blood coming out and he goes down.
But let's watch the video an additional time right now, especially for viewers who might just be tuning in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Oh that's a little bit old that chart. That chart is a couple of months old and if you want to really see something that said -- take a look at what happened -- oh.
(GUNSHOTS)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get down. Get down. Get down.
(PEOPLE screaming)
(GUNSHOTS)
(INCOMPREHENSIBLE CONVERSATION)
(PEOPLE screaming)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Moving to stair. Hold. Hold. When you're ready. On to you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ready.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Move.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Move.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hawk eyes here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hawk eyes here. Moving to the stairs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stairs get ready. Stairs get ready.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You ready?
(INCOMPREHENSIBLE CONVERSATION)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shooter's down. Shooter is out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He is \out. Shooter is out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very good.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shooter is down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shooter is down. Are we good to move?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are we good to move?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are we clear?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're clear.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's move. Let's move.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are clear.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're clear.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can come up.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Let me get my shoe. Let me get my shoes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got you, sir. I got you, sir.
TRUMP: Let me get my shoes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hold down your head. It's bloody.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, we've got to move to cars. We have to move to the cars.
TRUMP: Let me get my shoe.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Okay, the shoes -- get the shoe.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Watch out.
(INCOMPREHENSIBLE CONVERSATION)
(CROWD chanting "USA.")
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: We have Jonathan Wackrow, former Secret Service agent. Clearly, those Secret Service agents who were there on the scene had trained for this, were well-prepared, and they managed to get the former president of the United States into that vehicle safely.
We are told now by multiple, multiple law enforcement sources that the shooter -- and that's the word they are using -- the shooter involved in this incident at the Trump rally in Pennsylvania is no longer an immediate threat.
But go ahead and give us the latest information you're getting.
WACKROW: Yes, Wolf, listen. You know, what we heard Evan talk about was, you know that the statement was that the threat has been neutralized or the shooter has been neutralized. That actually now confirms what we heard the agents on the stage in that audio just a moment ago, actually say.
Now, I want to just, you know, give the viewers just a little bit of insight --
BLITZER: They said, I'll just interrupt you for a second. We heard -- we heard those Secret Service agents say "Shooter is down. Shooter is down."
WACKROW: Right.
BLITZER: Is that what you heard?
WACKROW: So, that's actually really important, Wolf, and the reason being is because as the agents came in and pushed the former president down and they basically create -- you know, they tackle him down and they put themselves in between the former president and the threat.
They are not going to move that former president or any protectee if there are active rounds coming in.
So when we heard that word, "The shooter is down" was really important. That was a key moment for the detail leader to then make the call, we are going to move to the next terrain feature. We are going to take the protectee, in this case former President Trump. We are going to remove him from this stage and we are going to move him -- the immediate action is to move him to the armored limo, again, getting into a safe location as quickly as possible.
Now, the question remains: Who addressed that threat? We know that there was a shooter, so who neutralized that threat? Was it a member of the Secret Service? Was it a member of law enforcement? And I think it is important to understand that when you think about the site dynamics here in the way that Secret Service, the protective methodology is actually applied to this type of event, it is actually concentric rings of protection.
What we are witnessing on air in looking at the stage is the closest ring to the protectee, but that ring radiates out in terms of law enforcement, special agents, private security firms -- all of that combined create the security structure of this site.
So what we don't know right now is who actually identified that threat in the moment and then neutralized it.
BLITZER: Jonathan, hold on for a moment --
WACKROW: But we did here is an immediate -- sorry.
BLITZER: Hold on for a moment.
[19:35:06]
The Associated Press is now reporting that according to the local DA, the suspected gunman, and at least one rally attendee are now dead. Very disturbing information.
The local prosecutor says, the suspected gunman and at least one attendee are dead. That's a significant development in and of itself right there.
The shooter, the suspected gunman, as they are calling him and one attendee is dead in this incident.
Go ahead, Jonathan Wackrow, finish your thought.
WACKROW: Well, I mean, it just -- it talks about the gravity and the tragedy that just occurred, right? We have a member who attended this rally who is now dead. It talks about the dynamic and unpredictable nature that these threats present, but again, law enforcement trains for this.
And Wolf, what I was saying just before that information was, we did hear the initial gunfire. Then there was a slight pause and then you heard rapid gunfire in response. So to me, not, not -- just listening to that audio shows that there was a shooter and then there was some response from law enforcement and now, we heard from Evan at that the shooter was neutralized. We heard from the agents on the stage that the shooter was down.
So that was a key moment for the agents part of the shift to then be able to feel that it was a safe enough moment or there was a lull in the gunfire that they could -- they could move the president from the stage to the limousine when safe and when the appropriate assets were surrounding the former president to include that tactical team that we are seeing.
You know, we are seeing the agents just create that bubble around the president as they are moving him offstage. What you're seeing again is if you look into the crowd, you're seeing special agents. Everyone has their weapons out, they are scanning for, you secondary threats. They are ensuring that that wasn't a distraction and that another threat was coming inbound.
So you see a heightened sense of awareness, increased situational awareness by all members of law enforcement, even as the president is being moved off of stage, again, really important and great work by all law enforcement, including the Secret Service.
BLITZER: Yes, and once again, the suspected gunman in this particular case is dead, and at least one rally attendee is dead as well.
More information is coming in relatively quickly, right now, you see.
And Jonathan Wackrow, I just want to get your thought, you know, when he clearly is hit on the side of his face near his neck, near his ear, Trump falls down. I don't think the Secret Service was pushing him down at that point, although they did go down and then eventually lift him up and take him to a vehicle.
But it looked like he just went down right away as he raised his right hand towards the side of his face.
WACKROW: Listen, it could be -- you know, I don't know what type of instructions the detail leader had given to former president when protection had started.
Typically, when there was a perceived threat, we tell the protectees to lower down, the safest place for them to be when there is a perceived threat is to go down. That's the safest area, and the agents are right there on top of them.
So again, I think that in this moment, you could see the former president was looking towards the right, again the moment that he felt something hit potentially hit his ear or that he felt that he was in danger, he did the right thing by going down.
Now, again, we don't know what other injuries the former president may have sustained in this moment. Again, the Secret Service came immediately on top of him. The detail leader would have been doing a rapid assessment to see if there were any secondary wounds, any other type of injury prior to moving the former president. We didn't get to see that because they were down behind that front shield, the bunting in the front of the stage. But that's what's going on with the Secret Service, all the while gaining intelligence and gaining information around what is the situation and ensuring scene safety before the president is moved.
BLITZER: Yes, that's the most important thing to make sure, they protect the former president of the United States and get him to a safe location and we are now told by his campaign, he is at a medical facility getting treatment for what just happened.
Pamela Brown is with us here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
You're getting new information. What are you learning?
PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST AND CHIEF INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: That's right.
(AUDIO GAP) he did confirm one spectator is dead, that this shooter is dead. A second spectator is in serious condition. Importantly, former President Trump is going to be okay.
We know from the Trump campaign statement that he is going to be fine. The district attorney confirms that he is going to be okay. He was removed from the scene as we know from the US Secret service.
[19:40:07]
Now, the district attorney did not know if the shooter died through a self-inflicted wound or not. We also don't know more details about what kind of shooter this was. I think we need to be really careful until we find out more.
I asked, you know, was this -- did the shooter have a gun? Is that what you're saying? He said, I can't confirm that right now. I can't confirm anything about bullets or anything like that. So I think we need to be really careful till we get the actual confirmation of what kind of shooter this was.
But the Butler District Attorney, Richard Goldinger is confirming that one spectator is dead, a second spectator is in serious condition and the shooter is dead.
I asked him, how did this person -- the shooter -- that he did not have details about by the way -- get through security and get -- have access to cause an injury to the former president there. And he said to me, look, that's the million dollar question right now. That is what we are all trying to figure out and we know the US Secret Service right now is leading this investigation and that's a big question because as we've heard -- we just heard earlier from Wackrow -- Jonathan Wackrow, Wolf, the security is so tight at these campaign events.
You have a former president there, security is as tight as it gets and how this happened is just a major question. BLITZER: Yes, they've got to learn from this incident because this campaign, these campaigns are only just beginning and the current president of the United States is about to go to a whole bunch of rallies as well and there has got to be heightened security at all of these events.
There is a Republican Convention in Milwaukee this week and a Democratic Convention in Chicago a few weeks later in August, already they had been planning even before this incident major, major security concerns, various Department of Homeland Security officials, FBI officials, local law enforcement, US military and others have been engaged in worrying about what potentially could happen at these two conventions.
And now, as a result of this, I am sure security is going to be expanded even more so.
BROWN: Yes, absolutely.
I mean, you can imagine security was already going to be tight at the Republican National Convention, the Democratic one. Now, it is going to be that much more.
And I think you know, as you point, Wolf, this is a learning lesson. This is historic what has happened here today, where you have the Republican nominee for president, former President Donald Trump who is injured. You have a shooter that somehow made his or her way in to that space enough to injure the former president. You have a spectator who is now dead, and you have another spectator who is in serious condition.
This is -- this is historic. This is a huge deal, and this is going to be the top focus for the Secret Service to figure out what happened.
I am in touch with the Butler County district attorney, who by the way, says he can make it on the show in a little bit, so we look forward to hearing directly from him.
BLITZER: And we'd like to speak to him if you can make sure he calls him.
BROWN: Yup.
BLITZER: If it is even on phone or video, we'd like to get his thoughts and let our viewers know exactly what he knows.
It is interesting that they are calling this a suspected gunman, the shooter, so clearly there were shots fired at the former president of the United States. That's why you could see him raising his hand and blood coming out of the side of his face. We are watching all of this unfold.
Pamela, excellent reporting. Thank you very much.
Joining us on the phone right now is Kip Tom. He was at the event in Butler, Pennsylvania and he was actually about 40 feet or so away from the former president.
Kip, give us your eyewitness account. What can you tell us?
KIP TOM, EYEWITNESS (via phone): Yes. As you said, I was about 40 feet away to the right of former President Trump, and -- but I saw the gun smoke and I saw -- heard the fire immediately, that it was coming from the stands to the left of President Trump, towards the top because you can see the gun smoke about that time is when President Trump went down.
It seemed like there was maybe six or seven shots a little bit of a pause and a person behind me about 15 feet was hit. I am not so sure he is the one that was killed, but then I thought I heard, there is a little bit of a pause and then I thought there were gunshots that came from behind me at the same elevation as across.
Now, it could have been just echoing across the area where we were all sitting, but the reality is, it really seemed like there was possibly a second shooter.
BLITZER: A second shooter. Is that what you suspected? Because we haven't gotten any word of that yet.
TOM: Yes, I know that, but I am just saying, at first I saw that gun smoke coming from across, I knew right away what to look for and I saw it over there, and then there is a big cloud of dust that appeared and then the shots stopped, but then additional gunfire occurred and I thought it was coming from behind me and people from around me were turning around and looking up and behind us, which had been stage right of President Trump.
BLITZER: Because the additional gunfire earlier, we had been told probably came from law enforcement, either the Secret Service or local law enforcement who were shooting the suspected gunman in this particular case.
[19:45:08]
And now, we are told by the Butler County district attorney here, Richard Goldinger, that the suspected gunman is dead, another person at the rally is dead, and a second spectator is described as being in serious condition right now.
You must have been so scared out of your mind as all of this was unfolding, Kip. Give us your sense.
TOM: You know, I've been trained long time ago to stay calm and I actually continued to stand up and look for where the gunfire was coming from and of course, was watching over, I wanted to see how Trump was reacting and make sure that he recovered and they got him off stage.
But the whole audience, I don't think no one knew how to react at the time. It was a big surprise. Some people probably thought it was fireworks to start with, but as people exited, you heard all kinds of talk about was it just fireworks? Was someone shot? Or just, know, they didn't realize the president had been shot.
So, a day for our country.
BLITZER: Kip, you were only about 40 feet away from the former president of the United States. To get into that rally, did you have to go through a metal magnetometers?
TOM: Yes. Everybody went through metal magnetometers that I understood. They probably had a rack of -- I don't know, maybe eight or ten of them running.
BLITZER: So everybody who walked in and that even relatively close to the former president went through metal detectors, is that what you're saying?
TOM: Yes, sir.
BLITZER: All right, well, we don't know how --
TOM: I am assuming was the goal. You know, I can't -- I can't verify that everybody went through, but they were set up to screen everybody.
BLITZER: And do you know how far away the suspected shooter was from the president?
TOM: I would have said, if you had went off to the side area, you're talking probably, a hundred foot away, hundred and twenty foot away, maybe.
BLITZER: And you think people that far away went through metal detectors, too?
TOM: Yes. Yes. I mean, they were setting and the stage is to the right into the left and then there was of course people in behind President Trump sitting behind him as well.
BLITZER: Yes, that's encouraging that at least security was tight. We don't know how this suspected shooter got as close as he apparently did to the former president of the United States and fired shots at the former president and in the process killed somebody who was just there, and then this shooter is now dead as well.
We heard the Secret Service agents shouting out "Shooter down. Shooter is down. Shooter is down," so we suspected that shooter had been shot by local law enforcement or the Secret Service or the FBI or the military, all of whom protect a former president of the United States just as they protect a sitting president of the United States.
Any other points you want to make, Kip, before I let you go?
TOM: No. I mean, it was after just a number of the shots came off that you could tell there was a different caliber gun shot so there was a lot going on there, but I am saying it was after five, six, seven shots. I heard a different caliber gun being fired, so I assume that's a Secret Service with their guns having identified who was shooting at him. BLITZER: Yes, well, Kip I am happy you're okay and a lot of other people okay. This could have been, God forbid, even a whole lot worse than it already has been reported.
Kip Tom, thank you very much for calling in. We appreciate it very much.
John Miller is still with us, our chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst. Do you want to give us, John, your analysis of what we just heard from this eyewitness?
MILLER: Sure. And I think what Ambassador Tom is experiencing is what we call the fog of war, which is having been there as the eyewitness and remembering it the way he remembers it.
But as we have shown this video a number of times, what you hear is to three rapid shots before the president goes down and when I say goes down, people -- his agents are yelling "down." He grabs his ear and he puts himself down on the ground and then they go around him.
But what you hear immediately after that, you hear multiple shots and that is law enforcement returning fire against the shooter.
Now, the question that keeps coming up, and we can get enlightenment on this from Jonathan Wackrow is how does the shooter get into a rally or close enough to shoot down a presidential candidate with the magnetometer that kind of checks everybody that comes in.
What we are being told by my law enforcement sources now is that the shooter was in a field outside the perimeter of this event, this fenced-in event that he made his way to a low rooftop of the single story buildings and when you look at this see area, you see that it is a giant field surrounded by these low buildings. They are like one- story buildings, possibly stables that he made his way to the rooftop, that he fired a couple of shots and that the counter sniper teams in place likely, for just this purpose, probably returned that fire because that's where you hear that six or seven shots of a different caliber in rapid succession.
[19:50:29]
And then total quiet, so that we are told by far law enforcement according (AUDIO GAP) and that will be the end of this entire second chapter, which is who is he? Where is he from? What do we learn from the background investigation talking to his friends, his family, digging into his social media, the search warrant that is going to be -- being drawn up right now as we speak to hit his house or whatever house he is staying in, his phones, computers, documents, and so on.
Because they're going to need to know, is this a lone individual who did this completely on their own? Is this person part of a known group? Either one that exists in life or exists online. Are there others in this group? We are at the very, very early stages.
But I think one of the things that Jonathan Wackrow could help us with is at these events, there is the counter assault team. They are ready to engage anybody that comes forward as a threat, especially an armed threat, but there are also the counter sniper teams.
Now, this is a very challenging environment. You've got this field, this wide-open field. You have the president -- a former president at one of his rallies, and there is no high ground around it, except for these low rooftop buildings and I am being told by sources that the shooter had climbed up on to one of these single-story rooftops and use that to shoot over the fence into the event. He wasn't inside the event.
So Wolf, that is how the information is shaping up. Now, I am going to preface this by saying, of course, this information is early. It will evolve and possibly change, but that's the facts that law enforcement is working on right this minute.
BLITZER: And we are told once again that the suspected shooter has been "neutralized," meaning he has been shot and killed by authorities, law enforcement on the scene.
Jonathan Wackrow, explain to our viewers what a counter assault team and a counter sniper team from the Secret Service is all about.
WACKROW: Well, Wolf, these are tactical assets that the Secret Service has in place that support the working shift, so when you think about what we typically see with the president of the united states, former presidents, is we typically see the working shift. Those are the women and men that are the close protection around the protectee.
But supporting that for the tactical support is the counter assault team, that is for all intents and purposes, that is a tactical team that works to support the protection of the former president and their job is just as John Miller stated they are there to suppress any immediate threat that presents itself or they, in some instances, may draw the fire of an attack, again, to allow the working shift enough time to move the protectee away.
The long-range threats, and this is what we think that this incident is involving, the long-range threats are mitigated through the counter sniper team. And again, that's another tactical asset. What they're looking at is out beyond the security perimeter. They are looking for that long-range threat, that rifle range threat that could potentially present itself.
Again, what we don't know is whether or not they were the ones that engaged this shooter or if it was a post stand or a member of local law enforcement that worked along the perimeter to neutralize that threat.
But right now, what we are seeing is again, a different side of the Secret Service. You're seeing how they react in these dynamic situations and we are seeing in introducing the counter assault team, the counter sniper team, you're starting to see other assets that are present all the time. We just don't talk about it in the media that often, but it is really important to talk about that right now because they played a very important role in successfully resolving this situation to move the president, the former president, off that stage and into that limousine. BLITZER: And once again, we are told that at least one spectator at this Trump rally in Pennsylvania is dead, another was injured in this shooting at the rally for Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania. That according to the Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger, who has been speaking to CNN.
[19:55:04]
The suspected shooter, he says is also dead. He did not know, Goldinger did not know if the shooter died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound or was shot by someone else during the court of the incident.
The DA tells CNN the injured spectator is in serious condition right now.
Priscilla Alvarez is joining us over at the White House right now. I understand we are getting some reaction from the White House -- Priscilla.
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, we are still waiting for that reaction by or from the White House. We have asked the White House for comment on the matter. I should note, Wolf, that when this incident did happen, the president was at mass. He is currently in Rehoboth, where he has a residence. Right when he departed church, right around 6:23 is when reporters asked him if he had been briefed. He had said no.
We now know however, that he has been continuously briefed by senior officials that includes Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Now, we should remind viewers the president is not here at the White House. He is at his residence in Delaware and we are waiting to hear reaction from the president on this incident -- Wolf.
BLITZER: That's the incident right there. That's the incident right there.
Now, Pamela Brown, you're getting some more information. What else are you learning?
BROWN: That's right. Our Ryan Young is learning from the Secret Service that the shooter or the Trump rally was killed by the US Secret Service.
BLITZER: He was shot and killed by the Secret Service.
BROWN: He was shot and killed.
BLITZER: This was not a self-inflicted --
BROWN: This was not a self-inflicted wound. So this is new critical information coming in that the shooter was killed by the US Secret Service and an attendee, as we reported earlier, was also killed during the incident. The US Secret Service confirming that, and this is really interesting, Wolf, because we heard from John Miller earlier saying that he is learning from his sources that the shooter was actually on -- outside the perimeter, but on a low roof and was able to obviously gain access to former President Trump and this other attendee and another that was killed and another one that was injured and harmed them, and killed, too.
And so we are now learning that the US Secret Service was able to locate that shooter, kill the shooter and end the threat.
Now, what is interesting here is normally what you will hear is that there is an all-clear, that they ruled out if there are any other gunman or accomplices. That is not happened yet.
I will say, Wolf, typically in these situations, it is a lone gunman, but that does not mean that that is always the case. And so that is also something that I am looking out for, is there an all-clear now that we know the Secret Service has killed this shooter. Has the threat there at the scene been completely eradicated?
BLITZER: Yes, and even if he was at this particular incident, a lone gunman, that doesn't mean this individual didn't have contacts --
BROWN: Exactly.
BLITZER: -- with a group of other individuals who may have been planning this and behind this whole incident. We don't know.
BROWN: We don't know and that is something that law enforcement right now, I guarantee there are going through any, you know, any chat sessions, anything online to look for any clues as they try to identify the shooter, figure out who this shooter might have been talking to leading up to this event and find out if this shooter organized or worked with any accomplices. That's all part of this -- all part of any investigation.
And this, as we noted, Wolf, is being led by the US Secret Service because you're dealing with a former US president and a presidential nominee for the Republican Party here.
BLITZER: Yes, the Secret Service is responsible for protecting not only sitting presidents, but former president and major Republican and Democratic presidential candidates as well. That's the Secret Service's job.
BROWN: Exactly.
BLITZER: So we are watching all of this very, very serious -- I think Dr. Sanjay Gupta is still with us.
Hold on, Sanjay for a second. Alayna Treene is getting some more information.
I understand you're with an eyewitness, Alayna.
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: I am, yes.
Hi Wolf. I am here with Joseph Mine (ph). He was sitting actually behind Donald Trump in the bleachers today when this all unfolded. He -- I am going to let him share exactly what he saw. It was a very harrowing moment that he was there for.
Can you please tell us what happened, Joseph.
JOSEPH MINE, EYEWITNESS: Yes, I was attending the rally. It seemed initially like firecrackers went off. It was a little -- it was very confusing initially because I knew it was gunfire, but I could couldn't quite tell where it was coming from. It is not like it was coming from high in the bleachers and a man in the bleachers kind of, to the right of me in the bleachers took a gunshot wound to the head and was killed, and another woman -- I don't know exactly where she was in place, I think she was either behind me or to the right of me.
She got a round in the -- she got hit in the forearm and hand, it looked like, but she was wounded. She wasn't killed.
TREENE: Can I ask you how you're feeling? Obviously, you just witnessed something terrible happen, a lot of chaos was in the room. How exactly are you feeling right now, Joseph?
MINE: You know, it is something you don't expect. You know, it is a bold out of the blue, so it is very shocking. It's just -- I think a lot of people in the crowd just thought it was fireworks going off. I knew immediately it was gunshots. I knew they were close and then when I saw someone get hit and go down, that's what I knew it was probably serious.
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