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Former Rivals Speak at RNC, Make Case for Electing Trump; Biden to Push for Supreme Court Reforms; FBI, DHS Warn of More Potential Attacks After Shooting; Investigation Reveals Shooter's Movements Ahead of Attack; Demonstrators in Kenya Demand President Ruto's Resignation; Cyanide Poising Likely Cause of Six Deaths in Bangkok Hotel. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired July 17, 2024 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM, I'm Rosemary Church. Let's take a look at today's top stories now.

The Trump campaign says its first rally since the attempted assassination of the former president will be held indoors. Trump and his new running mate, J.D. Vance, will appear together this Saturday in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It comes one week after a 20-year-old fired at Trump, grazing his right ear.

J.D. Vance's 2016 memoir, "Hillbilly Elegy," is the new number one book on Amazon. And the 2020 movie adaptation is in the top ten on Netflix. The senator from Ohio getting a boost after Donald Trump picked him as his vice presidential running mate on Monday.

A man was fatally shot by police about one mile away from the Republican National Convention on Tuesday. Police say he had knives in both hands and was trying to attack another man. No one else was injured.

CNN's Kristen Holmes has more now on day two of the RNC from Milwaukee in Wisconsin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The second night of the Republican Convention could have been called Donald Trump's rival night. We saw a number of Donald Trump's previous rivals in various elections, including Senator Marco Rubio, who now, of course, this cycle, was a VP contender as well. Senator Ted Cruz, who Donald Trump faced down in 2016.

But perhaps the most critical rivals that spoke tonight in support of Donald Trump were those he faced in the primary this cycle. Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who backed the former president emphatically.

NIKKI HALEY, FORMER U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'll start by making one thing perfectly clear. Donald Trump has my strong endorsement, period. (APPLAUSE)

RON DESANTIS, (R) FLORIDA GOVERNOR: Let's send Donald Trump back to the White House.

HOLMES: I asked a number of Trump advisers what they thought about that speech. One of them, talking about Nikki Haley specifically, said, I stopped listening after I heard the word endorse.

Now, Haley's endorsement was critical for a number of reasons. Despite the fact that Haley only won two primaries during the cycle, she continued to win tens of thousands of voters in critical battleground states like Pennsylvania and Arizona, even after she had dropped out of the presidential race. Those are voters who purposely did not vote for the former president.

Tonight, Haley reached out to them, specifically called on them to back the former president in this election in November, to not sit on the sidelines and to not vote for President Joe Biden. Something the Trump campaign was not only hoping she would do but was thrilled that she did on that Tuesday night.

Kristen Holmes, CNN, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: U.S. President Joe Biden is considering publicly endorsing major reforms at the Supreme Court, which would make him the first sitting president in generations to do so. At the top of the list is a push for term limits for the nine justices who currently serve lifetime appointments. Also, under consideration is a new ethics code that would contain an enforcement mechanism and a constitutional amendment to reverse the court's ruling earlier this month that gave presidents broad immunity for some actions they take while in office.

The court has been under intense scrutiny following a series of controversies surrounding some of the justices, including conservatives Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. That along with several highly charged rulings have led to dismal public approval ratings. President Biden has this warning about the future of the Supreme Court if Donald Trump is reelected.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There's going to probably be two more appointments to the court. There's probably two people going to resign or resign, retire. Just imagine the court if he has two more appointments on that, what that means forever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: More worrying signs for President Biden.

[04:35:00]

CNN has obtained polling from the firm Blue Labs, which is funded by some Democratic donors. The data was taken after the debate and shows the president losing ground to Donald Trump in 14 key states. They include the five that Biden flipped against Trump in 2020. Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. He's also vulnerable in Colorado, Minnesota, Maine, New Mexico, Virginia and New Hampshire.

The polling also found four Democrats outpaced Biden in a matchup with Trump in battleground states. Those Democrats are Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, Maryland Governor Wes Moore, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

The FBI and U.S. Department of Homeland Security are warning there could be follow up attacks after the assassination attempt on Donald Trump last week. In a joint bulletin, the agency's noted chatter in some online communities either threatening or encouraging violent follow up attacks. Officials fear other campaign events could also be targeted throughout the election season.

Authorities are also concerned about hoax bomb threats, reports of fake crimes to trigger a law enforcement response or doxing of election officials in an attempt to disrupt political rallies and events.

And we are learning more about what the shooter did in the days leading up to Donald Trump's rally. Officials say Thomas Matthew Crooks requested Saturday off from his job at a nursing home because he, quote, had something to do. Crooks told his co-workers he'd be back the following day.

While speaking at the Republican National Convention on Tuesday, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson promised the investigation into the shooter would be thorough.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), U.S. HOUSE SPEAKER: The House is conducting an immediate and thorough investigation of these tragic events.

(APPLAUSE)

And that work has already begun. The American people deserve to know the truth and we will ensure accountability. I promise you that. I promise you that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The director of the U.S. Secret Service tells CNN they were solely responsible for implementing and executing security at Donald Trump's rally last week. This comes amid questions on how the shooter was able to gain access to a rooftop from where he attempted to assassinate Trump. CNN's Danny Freeman has more details on the investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: On Tuesday, we started to get some answers to some of the biggest questions that we've been wondering about this investigation and this attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. But there are still many things that we don't know. But let me run through what we do know at this point.

Let's start first with Thomas Matthew Crooks. That's the 20 year old shooter from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. We do know that on Friday before the shooting, we believe that he went to his sportsman's club and actually practiced shooting on that rifle range at the sportsman's club, not too far from his home.

We then know on Saturday morning, the shooter went to Home Depot and purchased a ladder. Not long after that, we know that the shooter then went to a gun shop and purchased 50 rounds of ammunition. Then law enforcement sources have been telling CNN the shooter drove to Butler, Pennsylvania, to the Trump rally that occurred behind me back on Saturday.

And the shooter actually was spotted by law enforcement at one point looking suspicious near the metal detectors, but then went relatively undetected, as far as we understand, until later on when he ultimately fired those shots towards former President Donald Trump.

But here's what we still don't know. We still are no closer to understanding what may have motivated this particular shooting. The FBI is saying that it has done over 100 interviews of witnesses at the scene, law enforcement officers, family and friends of Mr. Crooks. They also searched the home and the car of the shooter. They also looked at the past Internet search history of the shooter, and they actually were able to crack into the shooter's phone.

Still, though, no evidence pointing to any ideological reasons that would have led him up to that rooftop to fire those shots at the former president.

And now I want to turn to the investigation and this back and forth between U.S. Secret Service and local law enforcement agencies that were on the ground here as well. We have learned from law enforcement sources that there was a sniper team actually inside of the complex where the shooter Crooks was on top of the roof.

But these snipers, they were actually looking through second story windows towards the crowd, not actually on what was happening above them on the roof. This comes as Secret Service told us that they were not responsible for sweeping and clearing the area that contained this particular building because it was outside of the perimeter that they were focused on where the Trump campaign event was happening. The Secret Service said that was law enforcement's responsibility.

[04:40:00]

However, we have heard from a number of local law enforcement agencies here in this particular area, including the Pennsylvania State Police, who not only said that they gave Secret Service all of the resources that they asked for, but specifically said in these types of situations, during these types of events, Secret Service is the lead agency. Then 48 hours after the shooting on Saturday evening, we finally heard

the first comments on the record in a media interview from the director of the Secret Service who said explicitly the buck stops with me. So it's unclear if we're going to see more back and forth between local law enforcement and between Secret Service. But we still don't have an answer to the question of why that particular roof was left unattended.

Danny Freeman, CNN, Butler, Pennsylvania.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: CNN senior national security analyst Juliette Kayyem joins me now from Cambridge, Massachusetts. Good to have you back with us.

JULIA KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Thanks for having me.

CHURCH: So we have learned that the U.S. Secret Service ramped up security around Donald Trump in recent weeks in response to intelligence indicating an Iranian plot to kill him. Now, sources say there are no known links to the assassination attempt on Trump Saturday. But that raises even more serious questions about how the shooter was still able to get a clear shot of the former president with all this additional security. What's your response to this?

KAYYEM: That's exactly right. I mean, in some ways, this story just makes it worse because knowing that there were additional threats against the former president, though foreign, foreign, they did respond to that. So one has to believe that there was a greater security focus on Donald Trump even at his rally.

And yet the breach and the assassination attempt still occurred. Now, it is true, as you said, that the suspect, that the that the assassin has no known ties to any foreign intelligence agency. There'll be lots of speculation from all accounts coming out of the FBI and state authorities.

This was a sort of loner, isolated 20 year old with lots of -- with access to lots of guns. We don't quite know his motive. But even though these are two different stories, they sort of converge on the Secret Service in terms of knowing what they knew. How did such a seemingly obvious gap in their security planning remain unchecked?

CHURCH: Yes. And of course, you and I have talked previously about the bewildering decision not to post a sniper on the roof of the building where that shooter was located. The Secret Service now saying that no one was put on that building because it was dangerously sloped.

What do you say to that, given the shooter apparently had no issue with the angle of the roof?

KAYYEM: Yes, I don't even know what dangerously sloped means. I mean, does that mean that that that they're you know, that they can't get out there? Obviously, someone got up there who wasn't trained. But it's also like I sort of I was saying to myself, what century are we in? I mean, it's the 21st century. They couldn't have drones surveying each of these.

You don't have to necessarily put a physical body on it. You just want to make sure that someone else doesn't have access to it. And the sort of openness of the building that he could get access either on the inside or outside and then remain on the rooftop.

And it was only members of Donald Trump's, you know, sort of the people who went to his rally. That was the first sort of visuals that that then started to alert people that there was a danger on the rooftop. It was nothing that the Secret Service did.

CHURCH: Yes, they certainly still need to answer many of those serious questions.

KAYYEM: Yes.

CHURCH: Of course, meantime, there are still no leads on why this shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, a registered Republican, would have carried out this attempted assassination on Donald Trump. What more should the authorities be doing to try to establish a motive, particularly with this new intelligence relating to Iran?

Although no link has yet been made. But as you point out, I mean, there's going to be a lot of conspiracy theories about this given the timing of this.

KAYYEM: That's exactly right. There's going to be lots of people speculating on who he was and what his motivation were, what were the clues that we know, at least so far, are that he was isolated. He seemed to have no community.

He had a job. He apparently told that job he was going to be returning on Monday. He'd asked for the day off.

He didn't seem to have a network of ideological sort of kin. So it's hard to tell. You know, he wasn't very involved with any political movement.

Look, we've had cases like this before. In particular, we had a mass shooting in Las Vegas in which, you know, there's nothing that would tell you beforehand that this person was about to do something so violent or so dramatic. And a lot of the, say, for example, school shooting cases here in the United States, you know, there's sort of a long trail of hints that someone's going to do something.

[04:45:02]

But every once in a while you get a case like this that sort of stumps everyone. At least that's where we are right now.

Look, there's two types of sort of ideal of -- two types of groups or people that we worry about. So one is what I would call sort of the Proud Boys types. Right. The people who are joining groups, terrorist organizations, lots of ideological foundation behind what they're doing.

And then there's a group that we sort of call the lonely boys. Right. This is the groups that have sort of isolated 20 something generally white men access to guns. And they're not really tied to any movement. And I think we're going to find that that may be the case here.

CHURCH: And Juliet, we are also learning that Crooks was seen at the metal detectors that was set up to enter the rally Saturday, acting strangely, apparently. And police notified the Secret Service before Crooks got on that building rooftop. So how is it possible that this was not followed up by the Secret Service or if it was this this Crooks even still ended up on the roof?

KAYYEM: That's right. So he's apparently seen as suspicious and then sort of left alone. The fact that no one approached him, no one determined, you know, was he a threat? Was he carrying any weapons? So then he leaves and then finds another position. The oddity of this is that it shows you that good security actually can work to deter a threat.

He could not get through the metal detector. He knew he was armed. He could not get through it or closer. So then he recedes. The problem here is that no one is taking into account, well, he's not going away. He's just trying to find another place to shoot from.

On the terms -- in terms of communication, the gap that we need to answer is that both people at the rally and law enforcement noticed him, noticed him as suspicious, as well as then on the roof. That should have immediately triggered some sort of conduct by the Secret Service to protect the protectee better. Donald Trump was left exposed for some period of time, a couple of minutes, in fact, after the first notification.

And then that time you really could have protected him much better.

CHURCH: Yes, still a lot of serious questions to be answered. Julia Kayyem always a pleasure to chat with you. Many thanks.

KAYYEM: Thank you.

CHURCH: All were found dead at a luxury hotel in Thailand. Now, police believe they know what caused their deaths. We have the latest on the investigation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone.

Clashes continue on the streets of Kenya as police confront protesters demanding that President William Ruto step down. CNN's Larry Madowo reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LARRY MADOWO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kenyan President William Ruto is a man under siege. [04:50:00]

These young people don't want him leading them anymore. They're shouting right now, Ruto must go.

They have largely organized on social media, many of them Gen Z. Young people, as young as 18, protesting for the first time, disillusioned with his government.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are in a mess. So we are trying like to straighten up things. We don't have the easy way. It's just Gen Z power and power for the people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ruto, you must resign. You must resign.

MADOWO: Protesters want Ruto to go, and the police want them to go from the streets.

So they've been using water cannon trucks all day to clear them from the street. And they keep coming back.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police are not here to protect us. They are here to actually cause violence. We are here to peacefully protest, but the police are here to fight us.

MADOWO: Oh, they are. They are throwing water cannon at us. We're clearly marked.

We are clearly marked. We're clearly marked as journalists, but they're doing this indiscriminately. This is all. This is not responsible.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop killing the youth. That is the information we are sending to the government. You can't kill us at the same time, lead us. That is something we are not going to accept.

MADOWO: Tear gas everywhere. These young people getting pushed back by police just keep saying they want Ruto to go. They're tired of corruption. They're tired of the high cost of living.

Many of these people are also out here on the streets to honor those dozens who've been killed in protests in the last few weeks that they feel the government has not fully acknowledged.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Our thanks to CNN's Larry Madowo for that report.

And just ahead, a hotel room in Bangkok becomes a crime scene after six people were found dead, apparently poisoned. We have new details on what police are saying.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. A U.S. federal jury has found an exiled Chinese billionaire guilty of fraud and money laundering. Guo Wengui, also known as Miles Guo, was convicted of defrauding thousands of his followers of more than a billion dollars.

He gained a loyal following by portraying himself on live streams as a former insider revealing business and political scandals after China exiled him in 2014. He will be sentenced in November and faces decades in prison.

Authorities in Thailand believe they have identified the suspect in the deaths of five people found poisoned in a Bangkok hotel.

CNN's Marc Stewart is following developments from Beijing. He joins us now. So, Marc, what more are you learning about this investigation into a deadly crime?

MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, such an unusual story. It started to unfold late last night. That's when we started to cover it.

Now, all of these hours later and after a briefing by police in Bangkok late this afternoon, we're getting a little bit of a better idea, a better narrative.

[04:55:00]

First, police are telling us that the six people who died, two of whom are United States citizens, likely drank from tea and coffee cups that were laced with cyanide.

Police go on to tell us this all happened following a dispute linked to bad investments. These individuals were all found in a fifth floor suite at the Grand Hyatt Erawan. They had missed check out by more than 24 hours. That's when concern was raised.

The door was locked from the inside, but a back door was left unlocked. And according to a police official, at least one of the blood samples found or collected from one of the people, a deceased man, had traces of that chemical.

So now police have this question -- have a question at hand. Were these victims murdered or did they choose on their own to take their own life -- their own lives? According to police, according to the deputy police commissioner, they believe one of the members of the group had poisoned the five others.

This is the rationale. Sometime during these hours, one of these individuals ordered tea to the room. None of the other individuals were there. When this person arrived, they appeared to be distressed. The individuals arrived later and that's when they were discovered dead. So that is the explanation that we are given by police.

The U.S. State Department is certainly aware of all of this and offering condolences and is monitoring the situation.

So, Rosemary, again, it appears that these individuals who died were ingesting cyanide found in coffee and teacups. The question is, was this something that was brought upon them or did they take their lives on their own?

That's what we know thus far -- Rosemary.

CHURCH: We continue to get details on that. Marc Stewart joining us live from Beijing. Many thanks.

Well, finally, this hour, the Summer Olympics haven't started yet, of course, but the Mongolian athletes already have a big victory. They have won over the Internet with their national uniforms for the Paris Games. They feature intricately embroidered vests, pleated robes and accessories inspired by traditional Mongolian attire.

The Mongolian National Olympic Committee says the opening and closing ceremony outfits took an average of 20 hours each to craft. Beautiful.

I want to thank you so much for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. Enjoy the rest of your day. CNN "THIS MORNING" is coming up next after a short break.

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