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CNN's Breaking News on Donald Trump's Assassination Attempt. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired July 15, 2024 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00]
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UNKNOWN (voice-over): This is CNN Breaking News.
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome everyone. I'm Rosemary Church and this is "CNN Newsroom."
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is speaking out after surviving an assassination attempt over the weekend, saying in a new interview, quote, "I'm not supposed to be here. I'm supposed to be dead." His comments come as Trump prepares for the start of the Republican National Convention, kicking off in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in just a matter of hours from now.
Trump says he has rewritten his convention speech to focus on unity, saying he believes this is a chance to bring the country together. The attempted assassination of a U.S. presidential candidate has shaken the country. The FBI says the motive for the shooting at this stage is still unknown.
U.S. President Joe Biden is condemning the violence. In an address to the nation from the Oval Office late Sunday, he said it's time to come together and cool down the political rhetoric.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: Yesterday's shooting at Donald Trump's rally in Pennsylvania calls on all of us to take a step back, take stock of where we are, how we go forward from here. Thankfully, former President Trump is not seriously injured.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: We get the latest now on the investigation from CNN's law enforcement correspondent, Whitney Wild.
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WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: It is not clear exactly how this happened, but the questions are certainly centering on the Secret Service's preparation and response, as well as many questions about the shooter. What we know right now is that this building where the shooter had climbed up onto and shot the former president from was outside the security perimeter.
This building was about 150 yards from where the former president was speaking at the podium. And multiple law enforcement sources that I have spoken with have expressed real concern, real shock, that a building that close, 150 yards or so from the podium, was not included in what they call the hard perimeter, which means it would have been subjected to an extensive security sweep, that it would have required anybody trying to enter that building to go through a magnetometer. So many more questions there.
Additionally, the big question, again, centering on this building, is in what way this building did factor into the overall security plan. So another question is whether or not the building was left out of the perimeter, because for whatever reason, the Secret Service decided that it did not present a security risk. For example, did they determine that the building was in, could not be accessed, that the doors were locked, that no one was inside, no one was likely to go inside. These are the questions that the service would have been asking as they assessed the site, as well as continuing to ask themselves in this extremely pivotal moment.
The investigation is also shifting to the gunman here. This is 20- year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks. What we know now is that he was not known to the FBI, he was not in any databases, that he used an A.R.- style 5.56 rifle that belonged to his father that was purchased legally, and that law enforcement has his cell phone. And what they're trying to do now is get into that cell phone and get some insight into what his motivation was. That is the big question. And at this moment, it is not clear why he did this.
Whitney Wild, CNN, Chicago.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden is putting partisan politics aside for the moment with a rare Oval Office address on Sunday. Mr. Biden offered a forceful condemnation of the assassination attempt against his political rival and urged Americans to unite and, quote, "cool down the rhetoric."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: We cannot, we must not go down this road in America. We've traveled before throughout our history. Violence has never been the answer, whether it's with members of Congress of both parties being targeted and shot, or a violent mob attacking the Capitol on January 6th, or a brutal attack on the spouse of former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, or information and intimidation on election officials, or the kidnapping plot against the sitting governor, or an attempted assassination on Donald Trump.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: CNN's MJ Lee has more from the White House on Mr. Biden's Sunday night address to the nation. BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MJ LEE, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Just one day after an assassination attempt on President Donald Trump shocked the nation, President Biden using a primetime Oval Office address to offer a forceful condemnation of the events of Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania, saying that political violence has no place in America, no exceptions.
[03:05:09]
The president using the speech to connect the dots between some of the more recent moments of political violence in the country, including an attack on former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband, the January 6th insurrection on Capitol Hill, as well as what happened on Saturday at this Trump political rally.
President, in his remarks, called on Americans to take down the political rhetoric, saying that that had become much too heated in recent years. Take a listen.
BIDEN: There's no place in America for this kind of violence, for any violence ever. Period. No exceptions. We can't allow this violence to be normalized. You know, the political rhetoric in this country has gotten very heated. It's time to cool it down. We all have a responsibility to do that.
LEE: The president will continue to be briefed on the ongoing federal investigation into what happened on Saturday. The White House saying that on Monday morning he will be back in the Situation Room being briefed by the various heads of federal law enforcement agencies. And while the White House has postponed the president's trip to Texas that was supposed to take place on Monday, he will still travel to Las Vegas in the afternoon after sitting down with Lester Holt for a sit down interview.
Of course, even until recently, we had expected that the interview would focus a whole lot on the president's age, his fitness to serve and the moment of political peril that he is in. And now, of course, the backdrop of that interview is very different.
MJ Lee, CNN at the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: President Joe Biden is ordering an independent review of the security situation at Donald Trump's rally on Saturday. The U.S. Secret Service faces intense scrutiny in the wake of the shooting, including how the gunman could have accessed a roof within sight of the former president. The president says the results of this independent review will be shared with the American public.
Meanwhile, Mr. Biden has instructed the Secret Service to assess all security measures for the Republican National Convention, which is set to start in the coming hours. Well, forensic analysis of audio from Saturday's shooting suggests
that as many as three weapons were fired. The first three shots were consistent with alleged weapon A. The next five were consistent with alleged weapon B. And the final acoustic impulse was emitted by a possible weapon C. That is according to experts at the National Center for Media Forensics at the University of Colorado. The FBI says that the shooter acted alone and sources told CNN that the gunman was killed by the Secret Service.
CNN's senior national security analyst Juliette Kayyem joins me now from Jamestown, Rhode Island. Appreciate you being with us despite these unfortunate circumstances, of course.
JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SR. NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Thank you for having me.
CHURCH: So some are calling this the biggest U.S. Secret Service failure in decades, with serious questions being asked about how it was possible for a lone gunman to get a clear shot at former U.S. president and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, very nearly killing him, but hitting and killing a man behind him and injuring two other attendees. What's behind this massive failure, do you think?
KAYYEM: I want to begin with this inexplicable, but it needs to be explained. In other words, what we're seeing now are a couple of areas that just you can tell even if you're not an expert. I mean, one is that the security perimeter did not include the rooftop and the potential for a sniper. And so why was the building accessible? Why was that outside the security perimeter?
And then there's other questions about communication. If so many people who were attending the rally saw him, if other local law enforcement, there's lots of questions about what they were trying to do, saw him, why did it take so long to communicate what was clearly many people saw as a threat?
I think, you know, finally, you know, there is a question about the speed by which they protected the president, as well as whether the president was honestly sort of allowed to do too many things during that period. I mean, it seems like a long time I've talked to a bunch of Secret Service agents about, you know, about needing to ignore the protectee. I mean, their job is to protect the constitutional position, former president, potentially future president again.
And so there's lots of questions and there's no -- there's no sort of explanation yet because we really haven't heard from the Secret Service. And now President Biden says there will be an independent review of it.
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CHURCH: Yeah. And what does the U.S. Secret Service need to be doing now to explain themselves and, of course, correct future security procedures, particularly given the Secret Service now says there are no plans to tighten security around this week's Republican National Convention? Is that wise considering what just happened?
KAYYEM: I had the same reaction when I heard that press conference, which was I'm not, why are we, why are we having this press conference if to tell us that it's a status quo? I know the designation of any political convention is called an NSSE, a national special security event. It's the highest elevated event in terms of planning. You get federal, state and local authorities working together. You have an incident commander. It's a very sort of long process, 12 to 14 to 16 months.
And so it's a well-structured. So, in other words, it is secure. But the idea that you wouldn't respond or the Secret Service wouldn't respond to a new threat environment, which we're clearly in, seems odd to me. And I thought that that was just a weird first salvo by the Secret Service. Their job is to not only assure the protectee that they have his or her back, but that the American public can have confidence that what was once an elite law enforcement agency can perform its primary function to protect the people who represent the constitutional order, that they -- that they can continue to protect them.
CHURCH: And meantime, we are seeing a lot of Secret Service conspiracy theories out there on various social media platforms. How -- how are they going to be debunked and how dangerous a conspiracy theory is like this when the country stands at this most consequential and indeed unnerving moment?
KAYYEM: Well, the only way to combat them is to actually address them, and that's why the Secret Service's silence isn't that helpful. I think President Biden has been good in sort of asserting what was given to the Trump campaign, what the increased presence of Secret Service around the campaign and particularly around Donald Trump. We're going to learn a lot more.
I'm going to be a little bit cruel here. I think that the president should put the head of the Secret Service on leave. I think that they essentially had one job and they failed.
And I think if this agency is going to move forward, people have to pay the consequences for it. You can't simply put this on. Oh, it was that agent or that agent. As I said, this was the -- this is their primary function and they failed. I think that if you can begin to -- to think about the Secret Service of getting new leadership and potentially, honestly, outside leadership, the Secret Service needs an outsider to come in and to really focus on what its primary duties are and what happened in this -- in this terrible incident.
CHURCH: And Juliette, we now know that a local police officer tried to stop the gunman on that nearby rooftop, but was unable to engage him. That's according to the Butler County Sheriff. But once this would be assassin was spotted, shouldn't more have been done to stop him and why wasn't there a sniper on that nearby rooftop before the rally? Even got away. I got underway.
KAYYEM: Yeah, this is -- this is the $100,000 question was if you have counter sniper capabilities, right, if you if you -- if you deploy them, clearly the Secret Service believed that a sniper could be a threat. So why would you leave the one building? I mean, we've all seen the maps, the one building that looks basically out of a movie set in terms of it's you know, this is where the sniper is going to go. Right. If you saw that map. Right. Of course.
And how come they could leave it so -- so open? Seems surprising to me. I think people have the wrong conception of what a security perimeter is.
A security perimeter is really a crowd control perimeter. It says if you come into this area, you will get metal detectors or whatever kind of primary, secondary screening. That does not mean that what's outside the security perimeter is safe. It simply means that there are other layers of defense and security that go into place. And that seems to not have happened in this instance.
CHURCH: Juliette Kayyem, many thanks for your expertise and your analysis. I Appreciate it.
KAYYEM: Thank you.
CHURCH: Attendees captured video of the gunman on the roof before the shooting, and we will hear from a witness who captured this extraordinary video.
And leaders around the world are speaking out against political violence to turn the global response to the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump.
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[03:15:00]
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CHURCH: We are learning new details about what people in the audience saw before the shooting video captured by one of the attendees at the rally shows the moment the gunman fired at the former president. And we want to warn you, the video is disturbing.
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CHURCH: Earlier, my colleague Erin Burnett spoke to the couple who captured that video, and here's what they had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE DIFRISCHIA, CAPTURED VIDEO OF GUNMAN FIRING SHOTS: A minute or so before I started filming, my wife had nudged me and said, what's going on? And there was -- there was somebody running through the crowd behind us. And that's when we initially realized somebody was up on the roof. Somebody there watching the rally, trying to get a better viewpoint, and I didn't think nothing of it for a few seconds.
And then shortly after that, a guy behind me said that he had seen him. He had a gun. And then when he said that, I moved over a couple of feet and I was able to get a perfect. I was able to see him perfectly. And I seen he had the gun. And that's when I started to film.
Now, this was before I started to film, but we said he's right there and they just -- they were too close to the building. One officer did try to climb up on the building and he got all the way up and he just went to get up on top and then he just kind of let go and fell to the ground. I don't know if the guy startled him or what exactly happened, but one officer did make eye contact with him. And that was shortly before he started to shoot.
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CHURCH: Events unfolded rapidly at the rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, and chaos quickly followed with the deeper investigation getting underway. CNN's Tom Foreman breaks down that what happened moment by moment.
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TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 6:04 Saturday evening before an adoring and roaring crowd, former President Donald Trump steps to the podium 7.5 minutes later.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Take a look what happened --
FOREMAN (voice-over): Pandemonium amid a series of sharp pops, Trump touches his ear and ducks. Three seconds later, Secret Service agents are swarming in to shield him and security snipers have opened fire on the would-be assassin.
JOSEPH MEYN, RALLY ATTENDEE: It seemed initially like firecrackers went off.
FOREMAN (voice-over): As chaos erupts among the attendees. One rally goer sees another man has been killed despite the rescue efforts of bystanders.
MEYN: They jumped the bleachers and started clearing the bleachers, and then I helped carry the body of the man down out of the bleachers and I took him to a tent behind the bleachers. We put a towel over his head, but he's deceased.
[03:20:02]
FOREMAN (voice-over): It all happens fast. 30 seconds after the first shots ring out, the podium's microphone catches Secret Service agents coordinating Trump's evacuation from that stage.
Then, just over a minute after the violence started, the all clear. At 6.12 p.m., the agents rise with Trump and try to usher him rapidly away. But he says--
TRUMP: Let me get my shoes, let me get my shoes. FOREMAN (voice-over): Shortly after, he's on his way to a safe
vehicle, but he tells agents to pause again. He turns to the rattled crowd in what will become an historic photo.
Soon, pictures start surfacing of what appears to be a dead gunman on a roof not more than 500 feet away from Trump's right side as he stood on the stage and the much more methodical police work begins.
UNKNOWN: We need the public's help. Anyone who was on scene who saw anything.
FOREMAN (voice-over): As the FBI and partners start piecing together who the assailant is, how he got there, whether he acted alone and ultimately why he fired. An investigation that certainly will go on for months into a violent explosion of seconds.
FOREMAN: We know so much more now than we did in those first frantic moments, but it is the unknowns that will keep driving this forward. The unknowns about whether anybody else was in any way involved in planning or allowing this attack and whether or not anybody should be held responsible for not stopping it.
Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Sources tell CNN former President Donald Trump spoke to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Sunday. The two spoke by phone following the assassination attempt. The prime minister condemned the violence and expressed his condolences to the victims and their families. He also wished Donald Trump and others injured a quick recovery.
Well, for more on global reaction, we're joined now by CNN's Clare Sebastian. Good morning to you, Clare. So what are other world leaders saying about the attempted assassination of Donald Trump?
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Rosemary, in terms of the initial reactions that we got, I think most global leaders were united in their shock, in their concern, both for Donald Trump and, of course, the state of American democracy and democracy beyond that. And I think the stakes perhaps particularly high for Ukraine, which sees itself on the front line of the defense of global democracy and, of course, especially dependent on a stable America. Take a listen to President Zelenskyy on this.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): An attempt on the life of Donald Trump, an appalling crime, one that can only be condemned and which shows how serious the global challenges to democracy are right now. Violence in any form and anywhere must never prevail.
(END VIDEO CLIP) SEBASTIAN: Now, Russia was the outlier when it came to those initial reactions, the Kremlin spokesman coming out and saying that, well, he didn't blame the current U.S. administration for what happened. They did, he said, create an atmosphere which essentially provoked this, this clearly an attempt, if not to heighten divisions in the U.S., at least to emphasize them, which serves Russia.
But now, look, that we've seen the initial sort of shock settle down a little bit. The debate is being revived internationally about the relationship between media rhetoric, online rhetoric and actual physical violence. Here in the U.K., there was a pretty unfiltered tweet from the head of Reform U.K., Nigel Farage. Take a look at that.
He said, mainstream media have spread a narrative of hatred against my friend Donald Trump. I hope they are proud of themselves, calling them disgusting people. So, look, he has an agenda there. But we've also seen a more sober debate on television here about how politicians can balance the needs of democracy, of getting out in the people and also their own safety.
And in Israel as well, within hours of the news breaking through at a cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Netanyahu criticizing law enforcement in what he saw as failings in protecting him. Ministers were shown a video of clips of incitement against the prime minister and him saying essentially that, you know, people in the U.S. are saying that the writing was on the wall here.
We see the writing on the wall in Israel. So he has already been criticized for that being self-serving. Obviously, he is fighting for his own political survival amid the war against Hamas. But I think this shows internationally that this has come in a context not only of a heightened political climate in the U.S., but also internationally. And I think the ripple effects of this will continue.
CHURCH: All right. Our thanks to Clare Sebastian bringing us that live report from London.
Still to come, has his near-death experience changed Donald Trump's outlook on the coming election? A journalist shares details with CNN about her call with the former president.
Plus, the former president is already in Wisconsin to attend the Republican National Convention, set to begin in the coming hours. But how will the attempt on his life affect security there? We'll take a look.
[03:25:10]
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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Returning to our breaking news coverage now of the assassination attempt on former U.S. President Donald Trump's life. He is now in Milwaukee, where the Republican National Convention is set to begin in just a few hours from now. In a new interview with the New York Post, Mr. Trump said, quote, "I'm supposed to be dead, adding that he is still here by luck or by God." President Joe Biden made a rare address from the Oval Office on Sunday night condemning the shooting.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: Disagreement is inevitable in American democracy. It's part of human nature. But politics must never be a literal battlefield, and God forbid, a killing field. I believe politics ought to be an arena for peaceful debate, to pursue justice, to make decisions guided by the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution. We stand for an America, not of extremism and fury, but of decency and grace.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: In the aftermath of the shooting, U.S. congressional members on both sides of the aisle are saying it's time to cool the heated rhetoric and put an end to political violence. Among them is U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson.
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REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), U.S. HOUSE SPEAKER: It's a dark time in the history of the country. This is a dangerous time. And we've been suggesting that all elected officials from the president on down really try to draw the country together. We need a unified message. We need to turn the temperature down.
[03:30:00]
And I think it's a time for moral clarity. I mean, I think everyone in elected office has a responsibility in all of this. And we need to remind this country that we're all together. You know, there's no place for this rhetoric that has heated up the political environment. And it leads to this kind of -- of action. And we all have to do our part.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Salena Zito, a U.S. politics reporter with "The Washington Examiner," says she was supposed to interview the former president during a flight after his rally. She ended up speaking with him by phone and she told CNN's Abby Phillip about the change in his tone.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SALENA ZITO, U.S. NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER, "WASHINGTON EXAMINER": I asked him if I could interview him, just talk to him. About those moments and about how this changed him. And -- and that's when he said, well, I was going to do a speech that was going to be a real humdinger. I think those were his exact words. But, you know, everything changed in that moment. And Abby, you have covered his -- his events before. When you -- when you watch him at a rally, he always looks forward, always looks forward. He never looks to his right or to his left. And he -- he had put a screen up that showed a chart also never does
charts. And he looked to his right, something he never does. And as he looked to his right, the -- the bullet grazed right past his face. And I was standing right there when it happened.
And he said in that moment, he understood that everything had changed for the country and for himself. He said he was going to focus on bringing the country back together. He thought that it was very, very important that in that moment, when that happened to him, he understood this is what he was -- what he wants to do, what he's supposed to do.
And -- and he talked a lot about when he stood up and there's that sort of iconic moment when he puts his fist up. And -- and he told me that he really wanted to project to people. He said it wasn't about him at that moment. He wanted to project it as people. And he says he loves these people and they are the back. But this is a rust belt area. This is a blue-collar white working class, mostly crowd. And he wanted to project to the he thought it was important to project to the country in that moment that everything was OK.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: We could see that new outlook reflected in Donald Trump's comments this week at the Republican National Convention. CNN's Jeff Zeleny has more details on what to expect.
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JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: The Republican National Convention will formally open here in Milwaukee on Monday. Former President Donald Trump arriving in the city Sunday night with one of the biggest decisions yet to unfold. That, of course, is who he will name as his running mate. That is expected to take place Monday afternoon when Republican delegates from across the country gather in the Fiserv Forum here behind me to formally start nominating and voting for the delegates.
Now, there is no question this campaign has changed dramatically given the events of the weekend.
One question hanging over all of this convention and indeed the rest of the campaign is, will there be a sense for more unity from both sides? That was the plea of President Biden delivering an Oval Office address on Sunday night.
And former President Donald Trump is conveying through his advisers he would also like to invoke themes of unity. Of course, that remains a very open question, giving the tenor and tone of this campaign so far.
But there are some indications the program here is changing somewhat. Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, one of the longest standing rivals of Donald Trump in the primary campaign. She has now been invited to give a speech here on Tuesday night. I'm told she will be invoking themes of unity for Republicans and indeed the country as well.
There is no question that this is an entirely different moment in this campaign because of the assassination attempt.
Former President Donald Trump will be greeted here as a hero by Republican delegates. Yes, it's his third Republican convention. But the one four years ago, of course, happened during a pandemic. And eight years ago, when he first won the nomination, the party was still divided.
Now this Republican Party is unified behind him and they believe he's on a good track to defeating President Joe Biden.
Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Milwaukee.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: CNN political analyst Julian Zelizer is a historian and professor at Princeton University, and he joins me now from Sag Harbor in New York. Thank you so much for being with us.
JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST, HISTORIAN, AND PROFESSOR, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY: Thanks for having me.
CHURCH: So in a rare primetime Oval Office address to the nation, U.S. President Joe Biden called for unity and condemnation of political violence in the wake of this effort by a lone gunman to assassinate his rival, Donald Trump. And later Monday, we also learned that Donald Trump has rewritten his RNC speech to focus on unity.
[03:35:03]
But how difficult will it be to bring down the temperature, as the president suggests, and stop the violence, the divisions, the conspiracy theories and unite this country, given the deeply rooted history of political violence in America, which you have just written about?
ZELIZER: It's extremely difficult. The problem of political violence, first of all, is very deeply rooted. It's not something new. The country has had many assassinations, assassination attempts and just outright violence.
Second, the forces causing the polarization you're talking about from partisanship to the media and the nature of social media in particular doesn't go away.
And finally, we're in the middle of a campaign and, you know, come next week in the week after the candidates, the parties will be going after each other. So it's likely this will be like January 6th or COVID where there is a temporary move to unity. But that breaks apart very quickly.
CHURCH: Yes, because, of course, the Republican National Convention gets underway in Milwaukee in the coming hours. The big question now is, will Donald Trump and his allies use this event to ratchet up the rhetoric or find a way to bring down the temperature, calm nerves and unite Americans? What are your thoughts on this?
ZELIZER: Well, if we're looking at recent history of the party of the former president ratchet things up, there might be, you know, some remarks that offer a little insight or opening for unity, but that's not the way Trump does business, even after the shots were fired. You know, he -- he gets up and the first words out of his mouth were fight.
So I think that will be the theme of the campaign. And I do think that will be the theme, not just in the convention, but going right through November.
CHURCH: And meantime, of course, there is still an election looming. So how do you expect this attempted assassination will play into the November race? Given two new polls, one from Fox, another from NBC, both showing narrow leads for Donald Trump against President Joe Biden.
ZELIZER: The irony is this might very well save President Biden's position within the Democratic Party. It seems there's less willingness in the next week, at least, to keep pushing for him to not run.
And the clock is ticking, but he's still in a very weak position. And some would argue that after this event and after the way it unfolded, Trump will come out stronger than ever. So it might very well end up saving the president politically for the time being, but costing Democrats the White House and maybe Congress come November.
CHURCH: Yeah, I wanted to discuss that a little more, because, of course, there's still these questions of President Biden's age and what impact might a pause in the drumbeat for President Biden to step away have on the news cycle as the RNC takes center stage this week, of course, all attention on that.
ZELIZER: Yeah, I'd just add it's not just age, it's the polls, you know, more broadly. They're just not very good right now. And I think a lot of Democrats in Congress here are very worried about where this is all going. But again, this pause because of this, you know, horrific event that just happened.
And now the Republican Convention might make it hard for that momentum that had gained ever since former Speaker Nancy Pelosi made some comments earlier this week to rebuild. And so Biden will probably be the nominee at this point, but he's a weak nominee and his opponent, former President Donald Trump, is getting stronger. And I think the combination of how, again, this unfolded, the unity surrounding the reaction to the assassination attempt culminating with a convention might really solidify Trump in a way that seemed impossible about a month or a month and a half ago to many Americans.
CHURCH: Julian Zelizer, thank you so much for joining us and sharing your analysis on this issue. I Appreciate it.
ZELIZER: Thanks for having me. CHURCH: A "New York Times" photographer set out to cover what he thought would be a routine Donald Trump rally. Instead, he landed a front row seat to history and an extraordinary photograph. He talks about how he got this incredible shot. That's next on CNN.
And reaction is pouring in from leaders around the globe. When we return, how the world is responding to the attempt on former President Donald Trump's life.
[03:40:00]
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CHURCH: 94 seconds passed from the first gunshot to the moment former President Donald Trump was taken off the stage by the Secret Service. And you can see Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer for The "New York Times," Doug Mills, highlighted here. He was where he often is when news is happening in the front row. And he captured the chilling moment as a bullet whizzed past the former president's ear. Mills explained how the chaotic scene unfolded as he was capturing photos of Trump by the podium when he heard the gunshots.
Our Kaitlan Collins spoke to Mills earlier.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOUG MILLS, PHOTOGRAPHER, THE "NEW YORK TIMES": I guess I was, you know, trying to put him between the flag and the podium and photographing there. And then when he kind of gestured to his right and I heard the pops, you know, I don't have a gun, so I don't know what an A.R.-15 sounds like. Never heard one.
I first I thought it was like a motorcycle or some sort of machinery. And then when I saw him grab his ear and he kind of winced and then immediately went down, I thought, oh, my God, he's been shot. I mean, I get chills saying it now.
And it was there was so much adrenaline going on then. And once he went down, my first reaction was to run around to the side and try and get a picture of him down on the ground. And by that time I got there, he was completely covered by the Secret Service agents that are on his detail. And, you know, all the staff is yelling. The Secret Service is yelling at me, yelling at all the other photographers. There were four of us in the -- in the buffer zone, as you know.
And it was pretty chaotic. And they just kept yelling, get down, active shooter, get down, get down, get down. And I probably didn't do the safest thing because I reacted and went straight to the stage and started shooting. Just, you know, shoot taking pictures just like a lot of the other photographers.
KAITLAN COLLINS, "THE SOURCE" ANCHOR: Then you take this photo. I mean, this is the photo where in that red circle, that's what appears to be the bullet that ultimately pierced his ear. Did you know that you had no idea? MILLS: No, I mean, when I started looking through my Sony camera to
try and transmit him back to the office, the first things I was thinking of is I got to get the pictures of him coming off stage, showing his bloody ear and that defiant fist pump that he gave.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Extraordinary shot there.
Well meanwhile, world leaders are condemning the attempt on former President Donald Trump's life. Here's what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We all watched in shock yesterday the criminal assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, a U.S. presidential candidate. This is not only a heinous crime. It is also an attempt to assassinate American democracy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: In a rare primetime address from the Oval Office on Sunday, U.S. President Joe Biden urged Americans to lower the temperature of the country's politics and to commit to working together to resolve differences.
[03:44:55]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: Here in America, we need to get out of our silos. We only listen to those with whom we agree where misinformation is rampant, where foreign actors fan the flames of our division to shape the outcomes consistent with their interests, not ours.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: For more on global reactions, CNN's Marc Stewart joins us now live from Beijing. Good to see you, Marc. So the U.S. has accused China of interference in the past. How does its response play into this?
MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Nice to see you, Rosemary. We are really seeing two different paths of response from China.
On one hand, we have the official government response that is expressing sympathy and concern to former President Donald Trump. Yet on the other hand, we have state media, which could be argued as a mouthpiece for the government, that's taking a much more critical view, a much more critical response to this incident in the United States, very much falling under this idea that President Biden brought up of foreign actors getting involved, fanning the flames. Let me show you some of the reaction that we are seeing in Chinese state media. First, an editorial that appeared in "China Daily." It's an English publication by Chinese state media. The headline there reading Trump incident reflects U.S. polarization, divisions.
Another headline piece in China's "Global Times", also state media. The headline there reading shooting at Trump rally shows rising political violence as U.S. divides further. This again, all serving as a tool for China to discredit the American political system to the Chinese population and to the world as a whole.
I should also point out that we're seeing a lot of chatter, a lot of highlights on Chinese social media, which is typically heavily- censored by the Chinese government. For example, on Weibo, which is China's version of X or Twitter. We saw one response that said, what democracy and freedom? I now really think elections in other countries are not so different from talent shows; The world is but a circus.
Another comment discrediting the American political system. People are also referring to this as a house of cards, referring to this unstable political environment in the United States, but also some more benign comments about gun violence in America and how this may bolster Trump's chances in the election.
Some people felt that he came across looking strong after this. Others calling him lucky. Rosemary, this is just a sample of the social media and government response that we are witnessing here in Beijing.
CHURCH: All right. Our thanks to Marc Stewart joining us live from Beijing with that.
Well, we know more now about the movements of the gunman in the assassination attempt, plus more questions about security. That's when we come back.
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[03:50:00]
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CHURCH: Investigators are still working to learn more about the man they say was behind the attempted assassination on Donald Trump. They have identified him as 20 year old Thomas Matthew Crooks. He was killed by Secret Service agents at the scene. And while investigators search for a motive, we are learning more about what he did before the shooting.
CNN's Brian Todd explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We have new information now on the shooter's movements just before and during the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump.
CNN's analysis shows that the shooter was roughly 150 meters away from where Trump was standing at the time he started opening fire. That's less than 500 feet away from the former president.
We're also told by Butler County Sheriff Michael Sloop that law enforcement officers, local police officers got word of suspicious activity on the rooftop around there and went and investigated it. At that point, according to the sheriff, one officer hoisted himself up to the ledge of this rooftop here, saw the gunman.
The gunman saw the officer, according to the sheriff, and pointed his weapon at him. At that point, the sheriff had to drop down for his own safety because he was clinging to the ledge of the roof and did not. He was not able to draw his weapon to engage the shooter. So he had to drop down for his own safety.
Also, we're told by a senior law enforcement official that just before the shooting, the shooter was seen acting somewhat suspiciously in the area of magnetometers. They would presumably be in these areas here.
Not clear exactly where he was around these magnetometers, but according to a senior law enforcement official, he was acting somewhat suspiciously around the area of the magnetometers. The key question is, what was he doing? Was he probing for a possible shooting position? Was he on a recon mission that will be brought out in the investigation?
Another piece of information that we're getting here is that this is according to Ben Maser, who is a witness who told CNN affiliate KDKA of the shooter's movements just before he took that position. According to Ben Maser, he saw the shooter move from roof to roof to roof in the moments before he took that position to take shots at the former president.
So these had to have been these roofs here because this -- these buildings are all seemingly attached. If this witness saw the gunman moving from roof to roof to roof, it would have been right about there and these buildings right there.
Also, we have some video of the gunman in the moments just after he was neutralized by law enforcement. The body of the gunman lying on the -- on the -- on the roof -- of the -- of that building where he was, and as we look at the post shooting scenes here, what I can show you is there are some scenes here of the chairs and the debris.
But when we take a look at the grandstand, I'm going to pause the video for just a second here. You take a look at the grandstand. We have new information also from the governor of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, who told us about the deceased victim, Corey Comperatore, a firefighter from Butler County. Corey Comperatore was in these grandstands. He might have been in this one here. We're not sure if he was in that one or possibly this one. But he was hit with gunfire and was killed.
But according to the governor, Josh Shapiro, Corey Comperatore committed a very heroic act during the shooting. He dove on top of his own family to protect them from the shooting and, of course, was killed by a gunshot in the process. Again, we're trying to find out which of these grandstands Corey Comperatore was in when he was shot and killed.
As we go back to the scene here, we were told that President Biden has ordered an independent review of the shooting. And according to our law enforcement analyst, Andrew McCabe, the most basic elements of securing an outdoor site, especially outdoors, is that you have to eliminate the sight lines to where a protectee is standing or speaking. A key component of this investigation is why was that sight line so close to the former president not eliminated?
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: First Lady Jill Biden spoke with the former First Lady Melania Trump on Sunday afternoon. The conversation came one day after the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump and follows a phone call between Trump and President Joe Biden.
[03:54:50]
Melania Trump released a statement calling on the country to, quote, "ascend above the hate, the vitriol and the simple minded ideas that ignite violence. We all want a world where respect is paramount. Family is first and love transcends. We can realize this world again. Each of us must demand to get it back. We must insist that respect fills the cornerstone of our relationships again."
Republicans in Wisconsin have been praying for Donald Trump's recovery ahead of their national convention. Supporters gathered in a park in Milwaukee to write get well messages and pray for the former president at a vigil hosted by right-wing group Turning Point Action. As we have reported, of course, Trump is already in the city for the convention, and his campaign says he is fine. Multiple attendees told CNN they believe God spared him from being killed on Saturday.
Civil rights advocate Martin Luther King III is calling for Americans to rise above their divisions in the wake of the shooting. In an interview with CNN, he said the attempt on Donald Trump's life offers the nation an opportunity to change course.
And we are learning more about the three audience members who were shot at the rally. 57 year old David Dutch and 74 year old James Copenhaver. Both Pennsylvania residents were wounded in the gunfire. Both are in hospital and are now in stable condition. And the wife and daughters of 50 year old Corey Comptor mourning the loss of their girl dad. Corey's family says he dove on them to protect them from the bullets that ultimately took his life. A GoFundMe page has been set up for his family and the others impacted.
I want to thank you so much for your company this hour. I'm Rosemary Church. CNN's breaking news coverage continues after a short break with our Jim Sciutto.
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