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Trump, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) Officially Nominated for GOP Ticket; New, Secret Service at Odds With Local Police Over Security Failures; New Video Shows Trump Recounts Shooting on Call With RFK Jr. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired July 16, 2024 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:00]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. You are live in the CNN Newsroom. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington.

We begin the hour with day two of the Republican National Convention for Donald Trump, who was riding a wave of support from the GOP after surviving that failed assassination attempt from over the weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladies and gentlemen, the 45th president of the United States and soon to be the 47th President of the United States, please welcome Donald J. Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Trump, as you can see there with a bandage on his wounded ear, is now the official party nominee. Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio is his vice presidential running mate. It's a remarkable turnaround for Vance, a self-described never Trumper in 2016 who once said Trump was unfit for office. Here's his explanation for that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't hide from that. I was certainly skeptical of Donald Trump in 2016, but President Trump was a great president and he changed my mind.

I bought into the media's lies and distortions. I bought into this idea that somehow he was going to be so different, a terrible threat to democracy. It was a joke.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: So, how did Donald Trump choose J.D. Vance as his running mate? At 39 years old, Vance is the youngest vice presidential candidate since Richard Nixon. The Trump campaign hopes the Ohio native will win votes in the Midwestern swing states and, of course, crucial to Joe Biden's re-election, Vance opposes aid to Ukraine and abortion rights. And last night, Vance spoke to anti-abortion Republicans by railing against Democrats. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VANCE: The idea that they can run on this and attack us, when President Trump is the one trying to identify some reasonable compromise, and they're the ones who want pro-life Christians to pay for abortions at 39 weeks, it's insane. I don't think any American buys it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And joining me now to talk about this is former Arkansas Governor and former Republican Presidential Candidate Asa Hutchinson. Governor, great to see you, as always. I really appreciate it.

I guess what's your reaction to Trump selecting J.D. Vance? He could have picked somebody like Senator Tim Scott or Senator Marco Rubio could have helped expand Trump's appeal to voters. He went with J.D. Vance. What do you think?

FMR. GOV. ASA HUTCHINSON (R-AR): Well, when you win the nomination, you get to name who you want. And it's interesting that J.D. Vance, who was once a critic, then becomes a convert, and now is one of his most loyal supporters, fully buying into the Trump agenda for the future. And I think the question is, you know, while he brings a lot to the table, he's got an incredible story, he brings the youth mix to the table lacking on executive experience.

But the question is the Nikki Haley supporters, the independent voters out there, how are they going to react to it? And right now, he really does not have the national profile as many others. And so it's almost a blank slate in some ways. And his speech this week will help define his vice presidency as a candidate.

And then, you know, following the mantra of Donald Trump, how's it going to shape up in the fall campaign? Are they going to reach out? Are they going to narrow it and focus on the base? That's the test to be seen, but not a whole lot of assurance being given to those that are on the sidelines hoping for someone that would be supportive of aid to Ukraine and America's global leadership, and we don't have that in J.D. Vance.

ACOSTA: And, Governor, Vance just blamed President Biden and Democrats for the assassination attempt against Donald Trump. How can Trump and his campaign as surrogates say that he's unifying the country or that he wants to unify the country when his pick for vice president is blaming Democrats for that assassination attempt?

HUTCHINSON: Well, that was a brash an inappropriate message that J.D. Vance sent out after the assassination attempt. And Trump has handled it in the right way, saying we've got to bring people together. It's an opportunity for us. We need to change the tone. We'll see if that sticks true through the convention, but it really gives an opportunity for a greater healing moment in America and to showcase Trump's introspection and a little bit of humility.

J.D. Vance did not show that. I thought it might knock him out of the V.P. selection process, quite frankly, but it did not. And you're going to see a great deal of loyalty and, you know, obedience to what Trump wants in his V.P. candidate.

[10:05:06]

ACOSTA: Yes. And J.D. Vance was once a pretty fervent never Trumper. He questioned whether Trump is, quote, America's Hitler, and in a now deleted tweet from 2016 said, quote, Trump makes people I care about afraid immigrants, Muslims, et cetera. Because of this, I find him reprehensible. God wants better of us. I guess we were hearing earlier in that sound replayed a short while ago that J.D. Vance was saying, well, he said all of this because he was buying into media narratives and so on. But that's a pretty shocking transformation.

HUTCHINSON: Well, that's like, you know, the way before your time, was it Sergeant Shriver went to Vietnam and got brainwashed over there and he came back and that cost him his candidacy. And here, we've got somebody who's a V.P. nominee who was brainwashed by the media. I really think that's a little bit as an excuse. Quite frankly, J.D. Vance spoke harshly against Donald Trump. That's the J.D. Vance that wrote Hillbilly Elegy. And he's had a conversion himself.

And he's not going to have a hard time handling this. He's just going to say, I got to know Trump. I like what his policies were. I was wrong back then. So, even though that's a storyline, the Democrats will use it. I don't see that as a sticking point. J.D. is smart enough to be able to handle that and say, I was wrong. He was right. I'm in line now. And I love the MAGA agenda. Let's move forward.

ACOSTA: And you were a pretty tough critic of former President Trump during the primary process. Does J.D. Vance help get you on board with supporting Donald Trump for president? Where are you?

HUTCHINSON: Well, first of all, Donald Trump has done a good job in the way he has handled himself, showing strength at the time of the assassination attempt, understanding the importance of his candidacy to America, and that he not succumb to this act of violence, and, and that's impressed me.

And you contrast that to Joe Biden and his debate performance. Those are choices that really are stark. And so and then, of course, how Donald Trump has handled himself afterwards saying, this is an opportunity to bring America more together. He invited Nikki Haley, who I'm looking forward to hearing speak at the convention.

So, Donald Trump's steps have impressed me. And although I had picked somebody else's V.P., he won the nomination. That's what he gets to do. For me, I'm going to wait this out. There's time left and I'm delighted to be here with my fellow Republicans have a little bit more of an independent voice, but I want to wait and see how this shapes up for the fall.

ACOSTA: All right. Governor Hutchinson, thanks very much for your time. We appreciate it.

HUTCHINSON: All right. Thank you. ACOSTA: All right. And let me send it out to CNN's Manu Raju. He is inside the RNC hall in Milwaukee. Manu, interesting what Governor Hutchinson was saying a few moments ago that he likes what he's heard from Donald Trump since the assassination attempt, he likes the way that Trump handled that in the moments after that occurred, but he's not yet ready to sign on with Donald Trump, and he was quite critical of J.D. Vance.

MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And, look, that's -- he's of course a minority of people of Republicans in this hall. This is very much the Trump Republican Party. Thanks for that, Jim.

I'm here actually with the Montana Republican Senator Steve Daines. He's the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. He's, of course, responsible for efforts to win control of the Senate for the GOP in November. Senator, thank you for talking to me.

SEN. STEVE DAINES (R-MT): Good to join you.

ACOSTA: Absolutely. So, before we get into J.D. Vance, the politics of it, the fallout of it, I want to talk to you just about what you have to deal with, which is try to win back the Senate for the GOP. When you look at the polls, Joe Biden is underwater in some of these key states, but Democratic Senate candidates are actually doing better than Joe Biden. There's a New York Times/Siena poll just yesterday, you can see on your screen there, Bob Casey, the Democratic candidate, running ahead somewhat significantly over the Republican candidate there in Pennsylvania and Biden behind Trump.

This has been a trend in other polls and other states. I'm wondering, are you concerned that your candidates are not yet getting traction yet?

DAINES: It's not unexpected. You've looked at the history when Trump's been on the ballot, 2016, 2020, looking at Senate races. Think about this for a moment. In 2016 and 2020, there were 69 in total Senate races during these big presidential elections. In 68 of the 69 Senate races, when President Trump won that state, the Republican Senate candidate won that state. When Biden won that state, the Democrats in the county went 68 out of 69. The only exception to that was Susan Collins in Maine, where Susan Collins won Maine, despite Biden winning Maine as well.

So, what will happen, as we get closer, get a turn the corner on Labor Day, get close to the election, you're going to start seeing the Senate ballot match much closely to the presidential ballot when you've got a Tester down, maybe a couple points in Montana, but Trump up 20 points in Montana.

[10:10:17]

That's going to be tough for Jon Tester to close that gap into a hold a seat.

RAJU: And for Sherrod Brown having J.D. Vance on the ticket, what does that look like?

DAINES: Well, look, I mean, if from my perspective from the U.S. Senate, J.D. Vance has been a great pick for many reasons, but let's look at the Senate for a moment. This is a son of Ohio, J.D. Vance, born and raised in Ohio, a U.S. Marine, went to Ohio State. That spells trouble for Sherrod Brown.

Right now, we have President Trump up about 10 to 11 points in Ohio. I think you're going to see Bernie Marino's numbers shift significantly here as we turn the corner on Labor Day, and, of course, get to November.

RAJU: But wouldn't it be better for Trump to have picked a Nikki Haley, for instance, someone who could actually appeal to suburban voters, who could be more effective, perhaps, with some of your down ticket candidates?

DAINES: Well, look, every V.P. pick will have, you know, some pluses and some minuses. Look what J.D. Vance brings to this ticket. First, he'll be the first U.S. Marine ever elected as a vice president. I think he relates to what's called the lunch bucket Democrats.

I grew up with that in Montana. My great uncle was a union steward. Went to work every day at a smelter in Great Falls, Montana. These are these Democrats that once upon a time used to vote blue, but the Democrats have left them. And now they're moving and they're voting Republican. J.D. Vance uniquely appeals to those kind of voters in places like Pennsylvania, in Michigan, in Wisconsin, not to mention other places even like Nevada and Arizona.

RAJU: I want to talk about what's happening here tonight. There's going to be a number of your Senate candidates who are actually going to be speaking on the stage tonight. Typically in an election year with a polarizing person at the top of the ticket, your people down ticket are running away from the top of the ticket. For Trump, who is controversial, who is polarizing, who's been convicted on felonies, he's found liable for sexual abuse, is it a good idea for these candidates in tough races to be up there stumping for Trump?

DAINES: Absolutely. I'll tell you. The candidates who are running away at the moment are the Democrat Senate candidates. They don't want to see Joe Biden or Kamala Harris show up in Montana. I mean, Manu, I'm willing to pay for a full flight tank of gas on Air Force One to bring Joe Biden into Montana. Let's bring Joe Biden into Ohio. Let's bring Kamala Harris into Ohio. Let's bring her into Montana.

Look, Jon Tester and Sherrod Brown's nightmare would be to have Joe Biden or Kamala Harris show up in the state. Look what happened. Joe Biden came to Wisconsin here recently. Tammy Baldwin had a scheduling conflict. It's the Democrats who don't want to appear with their nominees. We are proud to stand with President Trump with J.D. Vance. And, look, he's leading in every one of these battleground states right now.

RAJU: But I do want to ask you, because Larry Hogan, the Maryland Senate Republican candidate, he was on with Wolf Blitzer yesterday. He would not endorse J.D. Vance on top of the ticket and he wouldn't endorse Donald Trump. He's not here tonight. Isn't he doing what you're criticizing Democrats for doing, running away from the top of the ticket?

DAINES: Look, Larry Hogan is running in Maryland, not Mississippi. Larry Hogan is uniquely a maverick. That's why a Republican governor like Larry Hogan has been so popular in a very Democrat state like Maryland. He doesn't identify with any particular person, even party. He runs as a maverick and independent brand. That's why Larry Hogan is so popular in Maryland.

Look, Biden is going to win Maryland by 25 points. That's not new news for Larry Hogan. He, as a Republican, wins despite the fact he is governing any Democrat.

RAJU: And just quickly, he's good for him to say no thanks to the Trump endorsement.

DAINES: Yes. Larry Hogan is going to run Larry Hogan's race as a maverick in Maryland.

RAJU: Okay, all right. Steve Daines, the chairman of the Senatorial Committee on the Republican side, thank you so much for sitting down and talking to me. I appreciate it.

All right, Jim, back to you in Washington.

ACOSTA: All right, Manu, thanks very much.

Still to come, pointing fingers, the Secret Service and local law enforcement at odds over the massive security failure at Saturday's Trump rally. What the head of the Secret Service is saying, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:15:00]

ACOSTA: Secret Service and local police are at odds this morning over the security failure during the attempted assassination of Donald Trump. Both claim it was the other's job to secure the building where the gunman was positioned.

A source tells CNN that a local sniper team was actually stationed inside that building during Saturday's rally. And we've learned that nearly two minutes passed between the time witnesses spotted the shooter and when shots were fired. The Secret Service director tells ABC that attack should never have happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIMBERLY CHEATLE, DIRECTOR, SECRET SERVICE: The Secret Service is responsible for the protection of the former president.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So the buck stops with you? CHEATLE: The buck stops with me. I am the director of the Secret Service. It was unacceptable and it's something that shouldn't happen again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: CNN's Danny Freeman joins us now from Pennsylvania. Danny, we're learning more about the shooter's movements leading up to the attack, but still a lot of questions. What can you tell us?

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jim. And still so many questions, especially when it comes to the biggest one, what caused this young man to go up on that roof behind me and open fire at the former president.

But let me tell you what we do know, especially as you noted about the movements that this man made prior to this shooting. So we're talking about Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20 years old from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. We know that on Friday, before Saturday's shooting, he actually went to the sportsman's club that he belongs to, and he practiced at a shooting range there.

Now, this is important because that shooting range is about 200 yards, just a little bit more than the estimated distance between where he was perched on that roof and where former President Trump was speaking. Then we know that on Saturday morning, he went to a Home Depot, purchased a ladder. A little bit later on Saturday, he went to a gun store and bought 50 rounds of ammunition.

[10:20:01]

And then, according to law enforcement sources, he drove up here to Butler.

Now, at that point, he was actually spotted by local law enforcement around the area of the metal detectors, acting suspicious. But then there's a lapse in time here, and the next time that he pops up, as far as we understand from law enforcement sources, is when he's opening fire at former President Donald Trump.

Now, Jim, I mentioned this before, we still, though, don't have a question -- we don't have an answer to the question of motive. And just to give you a sense of the scale, the FBI has said that they have 100 interviews with witnesses, with local law enforcement agents, also with family members and friends of Thomas Crooks. And also they've searched his home, his car, his internet search history, and they were finally able to crack into his phone. They were hoping that could lead to a trove of evidence. But at this point, Jim, still no clear sign to pointing to an ideology or a reason that would have made this young man again, get on that roof and open fire at the former president, still a mystery there, Jim.

ACOSTA: And just incredible, Danny, that it's still a mystery all this time after what took place on Saturday. Typically, you know, one of these situations like this, we learn about a motive by now. But Danny Freeman, you're on top of it. Thanks so much. I really appreciate it.

Now more to the timeline of what took place on Saturday, at least one minute and 57 seconds. That's the amount of time estimated by CNN through video and witnesses between when the crowd first noticed the gunman on the roof and when he fired his first shot. Here's how it all played out moment by moment as CNN has synced the footage with official time stamps from the rally.

On the left side of the screen, I'm going to show it to you right now, you'll see video of the shooter getting in place on the right, Trump speaking, and on the top right the clock. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look, they're all pointing. Yes, someone's on top of the roof. Look. There he is right there, right there. See him? He's lying down. You see him?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, he's laying down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's happening?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right on here, he's on the roof, he's lying right here, right on the roof. He went right on the roof again.

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In recorded history, we had the best border. In fact, if they could ever put up a chart -- I don't know if they could.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: All right. We're about 45 seconds in right now. That was from one TikTok video of the shooter on the roof. Now, we're seeing just Trump speaking and referencing a screen with a chart behind him. Soon, you'll see a split of videos as the first shot rings out and hits the former president in the ear. Let's listen back into the tape.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Take a look at the arrow on the bottom. See the big red arrow, right? So, that's when I left office. That was the lowest point, and that comes right from the government services, comes right out of Border Patrol. Take a look at that.

So, that arrow is the lowest amount of illegal probably 20 million people. And, you know, that's a little bit of a --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's got a gun.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: That amount of time passing there from the start of that video to that moment right there. We'll discuss more from this video just ahead. A lot of questions remain like what was the gunman's motive and how was this such a massive security failure? We're asking those questions and more with the full panel of law enforcement and campaign experts as CNN investigates the attempted assassination of Donald Trump. Stay with us.

And coming up, we'll head back out live to Milwaukee for day two of the Republican National Convention now that the nominees are set. More coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:25:00]

ACOSTA: There's new video this morning of former President Donald Trump talking about the assassination attempt against him in a since deleted video posted to social media by RFK Jr.'s son. Trump can be heard speaking to the independent presidential candidate, describing the bullet that wounded his ear as the world's largest mosquito.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I just turned my head to show the chart and something wrapped (ph) me. It sounded like a giant -- like the world's largest mosquito. And it was, it was a bullet going around. You know, what do they call that, an AR-15 or something? That was a big gun. Those are pretty, pretty tough guns, right?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Let's bring in CNN's Manu Raju now to discuss. Manu, I mean, this is pretty fascinating video. We haven't really heard Donald Trump talk about this assassination attempt all that much, and the fact that he's talking about it on this phone call with RFK Jr. kind of puzzling, kind of strange, but also very revealing.

RAJU: Yes, it's actually very interesting, especially given the fact that Trump has absolutely attacked RFK Jr. for months, knowing that seeing him as a threat of sorts, to peeling off some of the voters that are Trump-aligned voters. And it is interesting, Jim, that actually this would be leaked and this would be put out there and shows, you know, what he's thinking at this key moment.

So, we're going to discuss a little bit more about all of this and where things are within the campaign with co-founder and CEO of Axios, Jim VandeHei, and White House reporter at the White House -- at The Washington Post, I should say, Tyler Pager.

[10:30:01]

Thank you guys both for joining me this morning from Wisconsin.

So, Jim, I want to start with you as a son of Wisconsin.