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Next Hour, Harris Makes First Appearance Since Biden's Exit; Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) Calls on Biden to Resign After Ending Campaign; Now, Lawmakers Grill Secret Service Director Over Trump Assassination Attempt. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired July 22, 2024 - 10:00   ET

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

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

We're following two major stories unfolding this hour. Vice President Kamala Harris races to gather support in what is now a brand new presidential race less than four months before the election. Next hour, she makes her first public appearance since President Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed her to succeed him at the top of the ticket.

And at any moment up on Capitol Hill, the other story we're watching, the head of the Secret Service will be facing blistering questions about the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. Kimberly Cheatle is expected to tell lawmakers she failed to properly protect the former president and takes full responsibility for the security lapse.

But, first, in the hours after President Biden's stunning announcement, an outpouring of support for his vice president. A spokesperson for Kamala Harris says she raked in nearly $50 million from donors since yesterday's announcement. She's also secured endorsements from some of the biggest names in Democratic politics, including the Clintons, former Secretary of State John Kerry and Senator Elizabeth Warren, of course, a lot more there on your screen.

Let's discuss now with Democratic Congressman John Garamendi of California is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, of course, a fellow Californian. Congressman, thanks so much for being here.

I guess, first of all, your reaction to President Biden dropping out, and I assume you are endorsing Kamala Harris. What do you say?

REP. JOHN GARAMENDI (D-CA): Well, first of all, let's start with an extraordinary president who made a decision for this country and for the future by stepping out of this race. I've known President Biden since 1988, where I supported him when he was running for president. And ever since then, I've worked closely with an extraordinary individual that put together legislation unequaled and set the nation up for a very good, solid economic future in which all Americans can participate.

So, I'm sad about that, that that's happened. But also I'm very, very excited about Kamala Harris. I've worked with her since 1991 when she was the district attorney in San Francisco and I was the new insurance commissioner. We went after insurance fraud. We were down at an auto repair shop where some fraud was going on, made the arrest right there. She's an extraordinary person.

And Trump is going to find his match far beyond equal here. This is a woman that knows how to go after fraudsters and criminals, and guess what? Trump is a certified felon. So, we'll see. This is going to be a very, very interesting match, and the issues are solid for the Democrats here.

ACOSTA: So, it sounds like she has your endorsement. Let me ask you this. Apparently in the last several minutes, the House speaker, Mike Johnson, has been talking to reporters up on Capitol Hill. He said that President Biden should step down. And he suggested that state officials around the country on the Republican side are going to be challenging putting Kamala Harris on the top of the ticket. Let me play that, get your response to that.

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REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): And I think that's a real problem, and I think there'll be a lot said about that in the days ahead.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So, you expect lawsuits, plenty of numeral lawsuits?

JOHNSON: Well, look, if it violates the rules in some of these states, I expect that there will be litigation over that. So, we'll see how it develops. We're doing our job here in Washington. The states will be handling that. But I do think it's problematic. I think millions of the American people believe that this is problematic. This is not the way the system is supposed to work. There's a reason it's unprecedented. You don't just, you know, steamroll the rules in the process because you decide that your candidate is no longer suitable. That's what's happened here. I think everybody can see it for themselves and we'll see how the campaign unfurls.

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ACOSTA: Congressman, what do you make of that comment from the speaker saying there's going to be litigation in all these states?

GARAMENDI: It's laughable. I was having a hard time not going with a big belly laugh here. Just who the hell does he think he is, messing with the Democrats? The Republicans whining about now they've got a very serious problem. They've got a candidate for on the Democratic side that is going to whip the Republicans.

[10:05:02]

We got a prosecutor that is going to be taking on a certified felon in the presidential election.

And I understand why they're so concerned. Just who do they think they are messing around in the Democratic politics? They can't even take care of themselves. So let's get out of there, Mike Johnson. Pay attention to your own party and don't go messing around with the Democratic Party. It's all legal.

Of course, this is the Trump playbook, isn't it? When you're going down, start suing. Get the lawyers out there and start suing, more of the same.

ACOSTA: And is the Democratic Party prepared for this?

GARAMENDI: Of course we are. Of course we are. We're going to go into the convention with a very, very strong ticket. Kamala Harris is lining up the endorsement and support of the Democratic rank and file across this nation. Certainly, she has mine and she has many, many other members of Congress and undoubtedly have a great majority of them.

The rules are Democratic rules. Republicans, don't go mess with our primary, don't go mess with our convention. Go take care of yourself because you're going to need a lot of help, because we're going to have a very strong, very united Democratic Party going into the convention and coming out of the convention.

ACOSTA: All right. Congressman Garamendi, thanks very much for your time. We appreciate it.

GARAMENDI: Good to be with you.

ACOSTA: All right. Good to be with you. In the meantime, you are looking at live pictures up on Capitol Hill, where the Secret Service director is in the hot seat over one of the agency's biggest crises and debacles in decades, the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump.

Kimberly Cheatle is expected to tell the House Oversight Committee that her agency failed in its mission on July 13th. Committee Chairman James Comer has promised that the six-hour hearing would be both detailed and extensive with Comer and ranking member Democrat Jamie Raskin have just finished up their opening statements.

Let's bring in our CNN reporters. Evan Perez joins me here in Washington. Whitney Wild is up on Capitol Hill. John Miller is in New York. Also joining us is Paul Eckloff. He's a former Secret Service agent, was a special agent in charge, assistant special agent in charge for former Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump.

Evan, we just heard the Secret Service director, I mean, that she's going to be admitting that her agency failed. That's kind of stating the obvious here.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: It is stating the obvious, but, remarkably, we hadn't heard that yet until now from the agency and from her, Jim. She's said very little. She's done a couple of interviews, including with Whitney. But the fact that she says on July 13th, we failed, again, it's stating the obvious, but there's so many things that we've learned in the intervening days since that assassination attempt.

There are questions about the assets that were in place, the preparations that were in place. How is it possible that knowing that there were threats against the former president, including one from Iran, that someone was able to get on a roof with a view and an access to a place where they could take shots at the former president narrowly missing him?

And so the disaster that happened that day could have been so much worse. Obviously, someone was killed and two others were injured, but the Secret Service certainly has a lot of questions to answer over the next what we anticipate to be six hours here.

ACOSTA: Yes. And, Whitney Wild, what do you think some of those questions are going to be just to jump off of what Evan was saying?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: I think they will be sort of these bigger picture, large conceptual questions about why, as we now know, assets were denied to the former president in the two years leading up to the rally. That is a significant about-face that emerged over the weekend. Initially, the Secret Service was adamant they did not deny assets to the former president, but now they're saying that, in fact, over the last two years, they did deny assets to the former president. So, the big questions are going to be why and was he treated with the requisite alarm surrounding a potential threat stream? And then further, were any assets denied on the day of the rally?

So, those are going to be the big questions. And then we expect many questions that are more technical. And so some of those questions will surround what was the advance, were the specialty teams part of the advance? And what I mean by the specialty teams, was the counterassault team part of the advance? Was the counter-sniper team? And at what point did that advance occur? Because all of these layers of security are meant to find vulnerabilities far in advance of the actual event. So, where along the timeline was the breakdown?

And then, finally, there's a big question about the communication between the local law enforcement and the Secret Service. So, another big question that we expect to hear today is, were they on the same radio channels? Were they able to communicate relevant information in real time that would have stopped this threat?

And then finally, Jim, another big question is why the Trump team was not notified that there was a potential threat. What we know from excellent reporting from Kristen Holmes is that the Trump team did not know there was a potential threat. This attempt to try to find that shooter was going on as the former president was preparing to take the stage.

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So, that is going to be a big question. Jim, these are all questions that lead up to a single question, which is, how did the biggest failure for the Secret Service in decades happened under her watch?

ACOSTA: Yes. And, Paul, I do want to go to you because as a former Secret Service agent yourself, I mean, I just have to wonder, you know, should she just step down? I mean, should you just step aside, let new leadership come in? Is that ultimately where we're headed here?

PAUL ECKLOFF, RETIRED U.S. SECRET SERVICE: These are questions that need to be asked. And if we look back at incidents that we've seen in the history of the Secret Service, some directors have stepped down and others have not. In this case, I believe there is a need for new leadership.

In just my personal opinion, it is not this moment, that a time should be decided in the near future, and there should be a smooth transition, and a training, and a thorough vetting of who that next director should be. For context, James J. Rowley is a legend in the Secret Service. He was director from 1961 to 1973.

Any armchair historian can see that there was an assassination of two members of the Kennedy family during that time. Rather than assign blame, and I'm sure there was a lot back then, they established our training center that bears his name and eventually led to the federal law enforcement training center in Glencoe, Georgia, and in Maryland. He was kept on to apply lessons learned and help the Secret Service emerge a better and stronger agency.

And I think what we saw, if anything, on July 13th, is that's what needs to happen. The Secret Service needs to adapt and improve its methodologies. Simply put, the Secret Service is facing 21st century threats with a 20th century budget and manpower stance based on 19th century assassinations. We need the United States Secret Service ready to emerge and face the threats of the 21st century and beyond. Current leadership needs to be adjusted and augmented.

ACOSTA: John Miller, what do you think? I mean, obviously we're going to hear a lot of talking points today, a lot of finger-pointing. You know, initially, it sounded as though the Secret Service was trying to put this on local law enforcement. They backpedaled from that. I mean, that just has not been a great week or so for the Secret Service. I mean, obviously, as Paul was saying a few moments ago, lessons learned, yes, obviously those need to be applied, but the public seems to be calling out for a lot more than that.

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, the Secret Service director stepping down is probably, as Paul said, a bad idea at a bad time. You're coming out of one political convention, you're going into another. She has been intricately involved with a large team and the massive planning of that. In fact, that is likely one of the things, if there are factors, that drew resources away from these campaign events on the road.

But that said, there's a core question here today that we're going to listen to this hearing searching for, which is, is the failure that occurred in Pennsylvania, and the director has taken accountability for it at this point, a one-off event because people at that event didn't perform up to par, or is it a systemic problem throughout the Secret Service? And that question will be mined a little bit in this hearing, but then much later by the secretary of Homeland Security's independent panel by the DHS inspector general's investigation.

So, they're going to be taking a holistic, basically an MRI, of the entire agency. What Whitney knows, what I know, what Paul knows is the Secret Service is too small. It's long been too small because its mission has grown beyond the size of the agency. This director has fought to make it bigger, to get it more money, to get it more resources. But there's going to be a real question going forward in today's threat environment. Does it have to be a much bigger agency?

ACOSTA: Yes, John, that's a very good point. I mean, I remember those questions coming up when I was covering the White House. And, I mean, Evan Perez, this has always been a big problem for the Secret Service.

PEREZ: It is. I mean, look, the important questions have been raised before about the Secret Service. Should it, should it be doing financial investigations? That's a legacy from when they were part of the Treasury Department and they were attached to the, you know, essentially the people who are in charge of our currency.

And so the question is, you know, should they be more narrowly focused on this one mission, which is to protect our political leaders? In this case, you know, obviously, you know, the former president is a former president. He doesn't have everything that a current president gets.

So, that's one of the things that I think you're going to emerge -- it's going to emerge from this is, you know, the stretch of resources and how they move things around. Yes, there were things denied in the past couple of years, but there's nothing to indicate that that is about Sunday, or I'm sorry, last Saturday, two Saturdays ago. There is nothing to indicate that that affected that.

It appears that they went with a plan that just did not work, did not -- it's one of those things that John, I think, certainly has been around long enough to know, we keep seeing this in federal law enforcement, where there is what we call a failure of imagination, right?

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It happened in 9/11. January 6th was exactly that. And here we are, with someone coming up with a plan, not putting someone on that roof, not thinking about the sort of possibilities, the vulnerabilities that were inherent in a plan where you have a building with a clear line of sight at the former president just, you know, about football field and a half, about, you know, 150 yards away from where he was speaking. That's kind of something basic at this point that we now know that will be, I think, examined a lot.

ACOSTA: Yes. I mean, I hope, Whitney, with all the talking points flying back and forth, I mean, that still, to me, just thinking about it to this day, mind boggling lapse, that you would have a rooftop 150 yards from the former president, that there's just nobody with an eye on that. I mean, people in the crowd, that video, I'll never forget that video, people in the crowd pointing it out and saying, what's going on here? And it just seems like, you know, you can toss the Secret Service Director overboard, but this is just basic stuff.

WILD: Right. And that's what I'm getting at with these more technical questions, is how was it that the advance allowed that roof to be so vulnerable? And so when was the advance conducted? Who did it? What were the qualifications of the people who were leading that advance? Those are some of the more technical questions that may also speak to what John was talking about is, was this really at a time when you had these systemic problems that erupted and exposed major vulnerabilities within the Secret Service, either with their manpower or just their general orientation toward putting these high-profile events together. Because as what you're hearing from Evan and Paul and John, the reality here is that the former president's threat was very likely far outsized for what he was on paper, which was a former president.

And so how do you balance those two realities? That is the major question for the Secret Service director and clearly something did not go right. That is what she is certainly going to be grilled upon today.

ACOSTA: Yes. And, Paul, just to get back to you and it sounds like you and John are in agreement that having the Secret Service director stepped out in the middle of a presidential campaign in between two different conventions would just be a bad idea from a leadership standpoint, but what about the -- there seems to be a crisis in confidence in the Secret Service right now.

ECKLOFF: That's an excellent question. Once again, I do believe there is a crisis in confidence, not just within the Secret Service, but within the American people's trust in the Secret Service. And that is an invaluable bond that the Secret Service operates under every day. It is only successful because the people that go to those sites believe they are safe because of what they know and believe about the Secret Service.

The local police is the same. The Secret Service is successful because of the incredible work and heroism of the local police every day in establishing security zones that are far outside of the Secret Service's capability.

Losing leadership right now, I believe, would create a vacuum in that confidence for the men and women that are standing opposed as we speak, that are standing by a rear entrance, standing a rooftop or standing by a stage as we saw those men and women collapse onto the former president on July 13th..

I don't believe you want to destroy their leadership during that time, but I do think they should immediately bring in outside leadership to help take an immediate look and not wait for the Blue Ribbon panel, which will do an excellent job, and not wait for congressional inquiries or hearings. They need answers now because there are men and women standing around the world relying on the protective model that failed July 13th.

PEREZ: : You know, one of the things that I think is remarkable is that, you know, when you think about the agency, we're talking about 5,000 agents, right? And, you know, they have to protect not only current president, vice president, family members, they have to protect obviously the former presidents and they're all doing events. This is a political season.

It is kind of remarkable that they're able to do this and they rely a lot. One of the questions that you keep hearing from lawmakers is the dependence on local law enforcement. I think we're about to hear from him at the beginning of this hearing.

ACOSTA: Yes, let's go ahead and listen into the hearing.

REP. JAMES COMER (R-KY): -- senior director of global security at PepsiCo. Before her role at Pepsi, she served 27 years in the Secret Service. Pursuant to Committee Rule 9G, the witness will please stand and raise her right hand. Do you solemnly swear or affirm that the testimony that you are about to give is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?

Let the record show that the witness answered in the affirmative. Thank you.

We certainly appreciate you being here today and look forward to your testimony. We normally limit testimony to opening statement to five minutes, but take all the time that you need. Obviously, the rules that we will abide by when you're finished with your statement, we will then turn to questions.

[10:20:09]

Each member will have five minutes. And just a note to the members, I'm going to strictly adhere to the five minutes. Once five minutes is up, I will hit the gavel. If the director is in the process of answering a question, we'll certainly let her finish her answers and then we will move on. We're going to have about 100 percent attendance here today plus a few additional add-ons. So, this will be a very lengthy hearing and we want to make sure every member gets their five minutes uninterrupted to be able to ask these important questions in this very bipartisan hearing today.

I now recognize Director Cheatle for your opening statement.

KIMBERLY CHEATLE, SECRET SERVICE DIRECTOR: Thank you. Good morning, Chairman Comer, Ranking Member Raskin, and distinguished members of the committee. My name is Kimberly Cheatle, and I am the Director of the United States Secret Service. I appreciate the opportunity to appear before you today.

The assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump on July 13th is the most significant operational failure of the Secret Service in decades, and I am keeping him and his family in my thoughts. I would like to offer my sincerest condolences to the family of Corey Comperatore, a former fire chief and a hero who was killed in this senseless shooting. I would also like to acknowledge those who were injured in Butler, David Dutch, and James Copenhaver, and I wish them a speedy recovery.

I would be remiss if I did not also extend my condolences on the passing of your colleague, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee. Ms. Jackson Lee was always engaged in the oversight of the Secret Service, and her passing is a great loss to this body.

The Secret Service's solemn mission is to protect our nation's leaders. On July 13th, we failed. As a director of the United States Secret Service, I take full responsibility for any security lapse of our agency. We are fully cooperating with ongoing investigations. We must learn what happened, and I will move heaven and earth to ensure that an incident like July 13th does not happen again.

Let me state unequivocally, nothing I have said should be interpreted to place blame for this failure on our federal, state, or local law enforcement partners who supported the Secret Service in Butler. We could not do our job without them. We rely on the relationships built over years of working together to secure events and conduct investigations. Our agents, officers, and support personnel understand that every day, we are expected to sacrifice our lives to execute a no fail mission.

As witnessed on July 13th, our special agents shielded former President Trump with their own bodies on stage while shots were being fired, selflessly willing to make the ultimate sacrifice without hesitation. I am proud beyond words of the actions taken by the former president's detail, the counter-sniper team who neutralized the gunman and the tactical team who was prepared to act.

I will be transparent as possible when I speak with you, understanding though, at times, that I may be limited in providing a thorough response in this open setting due to associated risks with sharing highly sensitive protective methodologies. I do not want to inadvertently provide you today with inaccurate information.

Since January 1st, 2024, the Secret Service has successfully secured over 7,500 sites. Every protective advance comes with its own set of challenges and requires a customized mitigation strategy, including specific assets. Security plans are multilayered, providing 360 degrees of protection. These layers include personnel, technical, and tactical assets, which are a force multiplier for our protective posture.

During every advance, we attempt to strike a balance between enabling the protectee to be visible and our protective requirements to be secure. I know this because I have spent 29 years in this agency. I came up through the ranks. I've secured events for every president since President Clinton, supervised on Vice President Cheney's detail, led our training center, oversaw all of the investigations and protective visits in the state of Georgia, supervised on Vice President Biden's detail and the agency's entire protective mission during the Trump administration.

The comprehensive advance process involves collaborative planning between our Secret Service, the protectee staff, local law enforcement partners, and the level of security provided for the former president increased well before the campaign and has been steadily increasing as threats evolve.

[10:25:00]

The security plan included a full assessment of the Butler Farm Show grounds to identify security vulnerabilities and craft a security plan for the protectee, attendees, and the public.

Immediately following the assassination attempt, I directed the activation of my crisis center. I assembled my executive team to begin surging more protective resources to the former president and to ensure the wellness of our people post-incident, all while securing an active crime scene. I immediately ordered a re-evaluation of the Republican National Convention security plan and I increased the security posture in the National Capital Region for all permanent protectees and sites.

At the same time, I initiated a mission assurance investigation within our agency. I have instructed my team that all necessary resources will be dedicated to investigating these matters. We will not rest until we have explored every option, and we will leave no stone unturned.

But I want to be clear, I am not waiting for these investigations to be completed prior to making changes. Over the past two weeks, we successfully led the planning and execution of the 75th NATO Summit and the Republican National Convention. Over the next few months, we will implement security plans for the Democratic National Convention, the United Nations General Assembly and have already begun planning and coordinating the 2025 inauguration.

It is now more important than ever for the men and women of the Secret Service to remain resilient and to focus on what is necessary to carry out our critical mission. Our agency needs to be adequately resourced in order to serve our current mission requirements and anticipate future requirements.

The Secret Service currently protects 36 individuals on a daily basis, as well as world leaders who visit the United States, like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who arrived in Washington, D.C., today. The coming years will bring an unprecedented heavy protection tempo. I have no doubt that the processes that I have implemented during my tenure as director, in addition to my nearly 30 years of experience in this agency, have positioned the Secret Service to be stronger.

Our mission is not political. It is literally a matter of life and death, and the tragic events on July 13th remind us of that. I have full confidence in the men and women of the Secret Service. They are worthy of our support and executing our protective mission.

I will now answer any questions that the committee may have.

COMER: Thank you very much, Director Cheatle. We'll now begin our five minutes questions and I will begin.

Just for the record, the Secret Service has an annual budget of around $3.1 billion, and I believe around 8,000 employees. Is that correct?

CHEATLE: Yes, sir.

COMER: Obviously, there were many security failures on the day of the attempted assassination and leading up to that day. Let's start with the building that the shooter used to shoot President Trump from. At any point Saturday, did the Secret Service have an agent on top of that roof?

CHEATLE: Sir, I'm sure as you can imagine that we are just nine days out from this incident and there's still an ongoing investigation. And so I want to make sure that any information that we are providing to you is factual.

COMER: Okay. Why did the Secret Service not -- can you answer why the Secret Service didn't place a single agent on the roof?

CHEATLE: We are still looking into the advance process and the decisions that were made.

COMER: Okay. Wasn't that building within the perimeter that should be secured, do you agree with that?

CHEATLE: The building was outside of the perimeter on the day of the visit. But, again, that is one of the things that during the investigation we want to take a look at and determine whether or not other decisions should have been made.

COMER: One of the things that you said, I believe, in an interview that there wasn't an agent on the roof because it was a sloped roof. Is that normal and do you fear that that immediately creates an opportunity for future would-be assassins to look for a slanted roof. I mean, this is a huge question that every American has, why wasn't a Secret Service agent on the roof? And there have been reports that agents were supposed to be on the roof, but it was hot that day and they didn't want to be on the roof. Can you answer any of those questions, Director?

CHEATLE: So, I appreciate you asking me that question, Chairman. I should have been more clear in my answer when I spoke about where we place personnel in that interview. What I can tell you is that there was a plan in place to provide overwatch and we are still looking into responsibilities and who was going to provide overwatch. But the Secret Service, in general, not speaking specifically to this incident when we are providing overwatch, whether that be through counter- snipers or other technology, prefer to have sterile rooftops.

COMER: Did the Secret Service use any drones for surveillance that day?

CHEATLE: So, again, I'm not going to get into specifics of that day in itself, but there are times during a security plan that the Secret Service does deploy an asset, like a drone. [10:30:02]

COMER: There were reports that the shooter used a drone just a few hours before the rally start time. Is that accurate?