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CNN International: Democrats Back Harris, As Biden Quits Race; Republicans Shifting Attacks to Harris After Biden Quits Race; Secret Service Director to Testify Before U.S. Congress. Aired 9-10a ET
Aired July 22, 2024 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[09:00:30]
AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: Hi everyone, I'm Amara Walker. This is CNN NEWSROOM. The race for the White House turns on its head. Vice President Harris is already moving the chess pieces in her attempt to earn and win her spot after President Biden drops out of the race.
Donald Trump, fresh off receiving the Republican nomination, is already lashing out on a social media platform about facing a new potential opponent.
And the Secret Service is in the spotlight. In the next hour, the agency's director is set to face tough questions on Capitol Hill over the assassination attempt on the former president.
Uncharted waters. Democrats here in the U.S. are facing an unprecedented political landscape after Joe Biden's decision to drop out of the 2024 presidential race. The President almost immediately endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to succeed him in the Oval Office, and she is getting quick support from some prominent Democrats and big-ticket donors.
Harris says she is ready to earn and win the nomination, but the party leadership had yet to endorse her. And some Democrats are calling for an open process to determine the nominee at next month's convention.
Whatever happens next, Mr. Biden's decision is being met with overwhelming support and gratitude from fellow Democrats.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): This is a president who has a remarkable record of achievement. In the end, he decided to put his country first.
JAIME HARRISON, DNC CHAIR: I am emotional about the President's decision because this president, Joe Biden, has been a transformational president.
ELIZABETH WARREN, U.S. SENATE DEMOCRAT: He's got amazing accomplishments, truly transformative. But today is about what Joe Biden did. He gave America a lesson in patriotism. (END VIDEO CLIP)
WALKER: So right now, about a quarter of the delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination are endorsing Vice President Harris, but none are obligated to vote for her.
Brian Todd looks at the uncertainty ahead as Democrats replace President Biden on the ticket this late in the game.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The process for replacing Joe Biden as the Democratic candidate is uncertain and somewhat messy. It's likely too late for voters to have a chance to weigh in.
LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: The primaries are over. The caucuses are over. You can't redo the primaries or caucuses. You can't elect new delegates.
TODD (voice-over): The Democratic Convention scheduled to begin August 19th could be a free for all, or at least be full of entry. Names of replacements could be put forward, and the roughly 3,900 Democratic delegates from across the country could decide who to vote for as the nominee.
SABATO: Oh, it's up to the delegates. In the end, it's up to them.
TODD (voice-over): President Biden won almost all of those 3,900 delegates in the primaries. But, does he have control over who they support if he is out of the race?
ZOLAN KANNO-YOUNGS, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, THE NEW YORK TIMES: It's not like Joe Biden can say, OK, I'm stepping down. All of you delegates that signed on for me have to now support this other candidate. That's not how it works. Those delegates would essentially be free to move in the way they want.
TODD (voice-over): Like the days of old, backroom deals and lobbying could prevail at the convention, as potential nominees try to convince the delegates to get behind them. In the end, how many of the 3,900 delegates would a candidate have to win at the convention to get the nomination?
ELAINE KAMARCK, MEMBER, DNC RULES AND BYLAWS COMMITTEE: Ultimately, they would have to convince somewhat somewhere in the neighborhood of 2,000 plus Democratic delegates to vote for them on a roll call vote.
TODD (voice-over): There are also additional so-called super delegates, about 700 of them, comprised of party insiders and elected officials who could also be allowed to join in the voting. It all means a late start for any candidate, including in the money race. If Vice President Kamala Harris won the nomination, she would presumably be able to use Biden's campaign war chest because her name is on all the filings. But, any other candidate may have to raise their own money.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALKER: In West Virginia, Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat turned independent, says he will not be a candidate for president. That is what he's telling CBS News.
CNN has previously reported that Manchin was considering re- registering as a Democrat to throw his hat in the ring for the party's nomination. And a short time ago, he told my colleague, Kasie Hunt, he wants to see a process that gives every Democrat a vote.
[09:05:04]
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SEN. JOE MANCHIN (D-WV): Well, let me just put it this way, the calls and everything that's coming in is not quite sure unless they see a process where they really are. Things changed, and yet all, in a coordination, and it doesn't always basically produce, I think, the strongest if you will, the strongest team.
Very well common could be that person, and I think going through some sort of a process would have been very enlightening to everybody. So I'm pursuing the -- the process. I really believe strongly along with, I think, former President Obama and Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Both think there should be a process. They spoke out about that.
And, you know, you're going to find out, as number two, you know, you have your own views, but you're basically part of that team. What's her own views on some of these issues? And it's going to be whether the border, you know, is going to be a hot, contentious situation.
Is anyone taking serious the debt that we have, the educational opportunities, or a lack of educational opportunities --
KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST: Yeah.
MANCHIN: -- or student, basically, performance, things of this sort. These all need to be talked about, and we seem to be basically people who are opposed to Donald Trump as thinking that's going to carry the day. It's not. People want issues.
HUNT: You said, I'm pursuing the process. Are you going to --
MANCHIN: I'm just continuing to push this process.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALKER: All right, so that's what's happening on at least the Democratic side.
Donald Trump, in the meantime, is wasting no time slamming President Joe Biden's announcement. He posted this on social media Sunday.
"Crooked Joe Biden was not fit for president and is certainly not fit to serve and never was." Suggesting that Biden should resign immediately and echoing some of those calls by some Republicans.
Now, Trump's campaign, meanwhile, is already shifting its attacks to Vice President Kamala Harris. His leading Super PAC launched a 30- second ad Sunday accusing her of covering up, quote, "Biden's obvious mental decline."
CNN's Steve Contorno joining us now from Middletown, Ohio, where Senator J.D. Vance is set to make his first solo campaign appearance since Donald Trump picked him to be his running mate.
So, Steve, hi there. It's not official, but it seems clear that Republicans are preparing for Harris to be the nominee. Is that welcome to them?
STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Yeah, they've been working toward attacking Vice President Harris for three weeks now. Once the campaign realized that the Democratic hand-wringing over Joe Biden's debate performance was going to continue, they sort of started assuming that this was going to be the eventual outcome and began the preparations for this exact moment. And we saw them during the convention, for example, increase the attacks on Vice President Harris.
We've seen Donald Trump online and in his remarks attacking Vice President Harris. And this is something that they have been building towards for a while. They did spend some time researching some of the other people who have been thrown out there as potential names, the governors Whitmer and Shapiro and Beshear, Senator Kelly of Arizona.
But really, they have been focused on Harris for quite some time. And the attacks on her began almost immediately. As you said, there's that ad that is now running in multiple states.
It's going to be airing in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, and Pennsylvania. those are obviously some very critical swing states. We're also going to see them attack Harris on immigration, crime, and the economy, those areas where they believe that they have some headway against the Democratic ticket, and were planning to attack Biden over as well.
But look, this is going to be a very different campaign. They acknowledged that. They had built a campaign to go up against an 81- year-old unpopular incumbent. Now they're going up against a younger face. They are now the older candidate in the race, which was not what they expected. And they're going to have to shift accordingly.
WALKER: All right. Steve Contorno of Middletown, Ohio. Thank you very much.
And Kamala Harris is expected to speak at the White House in just over two hours from now. And we will be bringing you those remarks to you live when it does happen.
So as we have been reporting, the Vice President has said she plans to seek the Democratic presidential nomination. And President Biden's swift endorsement of Harris appears to be energizing Democratic donors. A spokesperson says Harris raised nearly $50 million on Sunday within hours for her campaign. CNN U.S. National Politics Correspondent Eva McKend is standing by for
us in Washington. So tell us more about what we are expecting to hear from Harris when she delivers these remarks.
EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Amara, when she delivers these remarks later this morning, she is expected to honor NCAA championship teams. We don't know if she is going to address this shakeup directly or if she wants to give President Biden that opportunity.
But we do know that she has been just aggressively working the phones in the hours both before and after President Biden made the announcement that he would not be seeking re-election.
[09:10:04]
She has been in conversation with governors, members of Congress, faith leaders, labor leaders, civil rights leaders, all doing this important work of shoring up internal Democratic support.
I was speaking to some of the people that she was in conversation with, and they told me that she is under no illusion, that she is just going to be able to waltz into this nomination. She really knows that the next few weeks will be pivotal and that she has to convince these delegates to throw their support behind her.
What she does have, though, in her back pocket is the work that she has done for years with key Democratic coalitions who now support her. I'm talking about really powerful groups like Black Voters Matter and Higher Heights, as well as a number of other key organizers so important in key battleground states like Georgia, for instance, in terms of getting out the vote.
WALKER: All right, Eva McKend, thank you so much.
Let's go now to CNN's White House Correspondent, Arlette Saenz. She's in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, where the President has been recuperating from COVID, and that is where a lot of this decision-making happened.
Can you, Arlette, first off, walk us through the timeline? It really was a stunning turn, a rapid turn of events when the President had made his decision and, you know, who was within his circle helping him, I guess, craft this statement to the public.
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, the last 48 hours have really been quite remarkable and unprecedented as President Biden announced just four months out from the election that he was bowing out of the 2024 race.
Now, we are told that this decision really came down to Saturday evening. That is when sources have told us that plans were put into motion for the President to exit this race.
The President, here in Rehoboth Beach on Saturday, huddled with two of his longest and closest serving allies and two of his closest running advisers. That included Steve Ricchetti and Mike Donilon. And during that meeting, the two men really presented President Biden with a full electoral picture that has played out since President Biden's debate performance last June.
They showed him polling. They talked to him about where top Democrats stood about him staying in this race. And ultimately, a source with knowledge of the meeting said that what they presented was that their path to victory was basically non-existent for President Biden heading into November.
At the end of that meeting, the President indicated to his two advisers that he was going to drop out of the race and he asked them to start drafting that letter that was eventually posted on social media Sunday afternoon.
Now, this was a very closely held decision. It's just a small group of senior advisers and the president's family who knew that he was set to drop out of the race on Sunday afternoon.
In fact, there were some senior advisers to the President who did not find out until minutes before that letter was posted on social media.
But another remarkable moment yesterday was that within 30 minutes of bowing out of the 2024 race, President Biden threw his full support behind Vice President Kamala Harris. The two of them spoke multiple times, we're told, yesterday.
But ultimately, Harris did not know until close to the final minute that this was in fact going to be the final decision until Sunday just yesterday.
Now, so much of what the campaign is trying to do now is really shift their apparatus to help support Vice President Harris as she seeks the Democratic nomination. You've seen changes to their social media accounts.
You've seen new logos saying Harris for president. And they are also trying to mobilize their fundraising machine to raise the necessary funds so that she can continue and try to seek this Democratic nomination.
In fact, we're told that since yesterday, Harris has raised $49.6 million from grassroots online donations alone. Some donors telling CNN that they really feel re-energized in this moment to give to the Harris campaign after her decision and President Biden's decision to bow out of this race.
So the -- what the challenge that the Vice President is facing now is trying to secure and corral all that Democratic support. As you heard Eva mention, she's been working the phone, speaking with President Obama, President Clinton, and also reaching out to Democratic Party leaders as she is looking to earn their support heading into the August convention.
It's still unclear whether there will be any Democrat who decides to challenge her for the nomination, but she said that she intends to earn and win that endorsement going forward. Now, back to President Biden for a moment. He did say he wants to address the nation at some point about his decision. It's still unclear when that might happen. The President is still here in Rehoboth Beach as he is recovering from COVID-19, and really so much of his schedule for the coming days depends on when he gets cleared of that COVID diagnosis.
So we're still waiting to hear word on when President Biden will speak, but aides do anticipate that that could be coming soon as he will return to Washington at some point this week.
[09:15:09]
WALKER: All right. Just such an extraordinary time for this country and of course for the President himself. Arlette Saenz, thank you very much, live for us there in Delaware.
Many Congressional Democrats are lining up behind Kamala Harris as a nominee, but not all of them, including some top members of party leadership. An update from Capitol Hill is coming up.
Plus, the U.S. Secret Service Chief is headed to Capitol Hill to face tough questions over Donald Trump's assassination attempt and the security lapses that we've heard about so much. What we can expect from today's hearing is just ahead.
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REP. DEBBIE DINGEL, (D-MI): It's Democrats that we have to unite each other coming out of the Democratic National Convention behind our ticket because we do know who the Republican nominee and his vice president are. It's on all of us to unite and make sure that we are campaigning hard to make sure we know and get elected the person that we have to get elected so that women still have the right to choose, so that we don't have people in office that think January 6 was OK. And I could go through a long list of issues you will hear about between now and November.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALKER: U.S. House Democrat Debbie Dingell of Michigan imploring her party to unite quickly around a new candidate following President Joe Biden's decision to leave the race, his announcement drawing a harsh response from some top Republicans on Capitol Hill.
In fact, House Speaker Mike Johnson is saying Biden should go a step further, writing on social media, quote, "If Joe Biden is not fit to run for president, he is not fit to serve as president. He must resign the office immediately."
Now, meanwhile, several prominent Democrats are already speaking out in support of Kamala Harris, praising her record as a vice president and calling -- and senator and calling her a genuine leader. Now, even though a growing number of Democrats had urged President
Biden to exit the race, his announcement still evoked strong feelings of sadness and loss among his supporters. CNN Senior Political Commentator Van Jones described his reaction.
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VAN JONES, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Joe Biden's body may not be as strong as it used to be. His language skills may not be as sharp as they used to be. His heart is as big as ever. His heart is as big and as true and as strong. And this is -- this is the difference between a politician and a leader.
He made a selfless decision. And people are heartbroken. Even people who are pushing for this to happen. It's kind of like when your grandpa, you got to take the keys. And everybody, you got to take his keys, you got to take his keys. And he's fighting, and he's fighting. And everybody's so frustrated.
[09:20:11]
And then you finally get the keys back. And then you just cry. Because this is somebody that you love. This is somebody that you care about. This is somebody who was there for you. This is somebody you wouldn't be here without him. And you have to take something from him.
Now, this is not -- look, politics is politics. But this is a human moment for one of the great humans in America. This is a huge moment for him, for his family, for all of us who love him. For all of us who wanted him to get across the finish line. But if you're a young person watching this, this is leadership.
This is patriotism. This is what it means to put the country first and put the party first and put the cause first. When your arm gets tired, you let somebody else finish pitching the game. That's what Joe Biden has done. And he's done that for all of us.
And so I just want to say I don't know who's going to be the VP, the non-VP. I don't know anything about politics. I just know that I love this man. I care about this man. It was painful every day to sit up here and talk about him like he's just some problem for the party.
Wait until we get to the convention. You're going to see people crying, standing, screaming, cheering. He may not get a chance to talk for 10 minutes. We finally get a chance to put our arm around this guy. He did the right thing for this country. He did the right thing for this party. All of us are going to be in this situation someday. And I hope that we take a moment to honor this man and to love this man.
I love Joe Biden. I appreciate what he's done. And a lot of people are heartbroken today. Even if it's the right thing, it's still just horrible.
(END VIDEO CLIP) WALKER: That was Van Jones. And as we mentioned earlier, several Democrats are already speaking out in support of Kamala Harris. They're praising her record as a vice president and senator and calling her a genuine leader.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS COONS, U.S. SENATE DEMOCRAT: I have confidence, as does our President, in Vice President Harris. I served with her in the Senate. I've seen what a difference she has made as vice president, ensuring that we get 200, more than 200 federal judges seated, who are among the highest-qualified, most diverse judges in our history.
She has fought hard for freedoms and for rights of Americans. And she is a genuine leader. And I'm glad that President Biden has endorsed her today and made it clear the direction that he intends to take as the most respected senior leader in our party this fall.
REP. ERIC SWALWELL, U.S. HOUSE DEMOCRAT: We can finish the work that Joe Biden has done to restore our democracy and build our economy, or we can turn the greatest country in the world over to a felon, judged rapist, six-time bankrupt businessman who sent his friends to violently storm the last office from which he was fired. To me, the choice isn't hard. And it's pretty clear that Kamala Harris would be the best one to inherit that work.
JARED POLIS, COLORADO GOVERNOR: I personally am backing Kamala Harris. I think she's ready day one. She's the vice president. She's ready to take on the responsibility of leadership. She has the energy. She's a vision of Colorado's future.
Let me say something else. As the father of a 10-year-old girl, I couldn't be more excited to have the opportunity to elect a woman as president of the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALKER: Well, it has been 56 years since a U.S. president dropped out of a reelection race. That was Lyndon B. Johnson. The year was 1968. The country was embroiled in the Vietnam War. And only one state primary had taken place.
But this time, the Democratic primaries have all taken place, and Election Day is less than four months away. Randi Kaye looks at how things played out back then.
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LYNDON B. JOHNSON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I do not believe that I should devote an hour or a day of my time to any personal partisan causes.
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Fifty-six years ago, President Lyndon B. Johnson suddenly ended his campaign as Joe Biden did today.
JOHNSON: I shall not seek and I will not accept the nomination of my party for another term as your president.
KAYE: That stunning announcement during what was billed as a speech about Vietnam shocked the country.
DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: When he withdrew from the race, he talked about the fact that he just wanted to use those remaining months for presidential duties, hoping to bring the war in Vietnam to a close rather than campaigning, and the response was extraordinary.
KAYE: At the time there was widespread disappointment in Johnson's handling of the Vietnam War and his approval ratings were down. Like with Joe Biden, there were concerns about LBJ's health and there were doubts could win a second term.
GOODWIN: He'd done something for an ambition for the country rather than himself, that in all of his 37 years, he had never sacrificed himself this way.
KAYE: After Johnson withdrew, Vice President Hubert Humphrey announced his candidacy. Senator Robert F. Kennedy of New York was also in the running for the nomination, but wouldn't survive the primary season. After declaring victory in the California primary in June 1968, Kennedy was assassinated in Los Angeles at the Ambassador Hotel.
GOODWIN: Bobby Kennedy was killed and then that summer, they go to the Democratic convention with the war is still going on. Chaos reigns.
[09:25:07]
KAYE: The 1968 Democratic convention, which also happened to be in Chicago like this year's convention followed not only the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, but also Martin Luther King. The country was in turmoil and protests have broken out over the Vietnam War.
Chicago Mayor Richard Daley called up the National Guard to protect the convention arena and put thousands of Chicago police on 12-hour shifts. There were also tense moments on the convention floor among competing sets of delegates pushing to be seated. Even some of the media was roughed up, including CBS's Dan Rather, while trying to talk with anchor Walter Cronkite from the convention floor.
DAN RATHER, CBS NEWS: Walter, as you can see --
WALTER CRONKITE, CBS NEWS ANCHOR: I don't know what's going on, but this -- these are security people apparently around Dan obviously getting rough up.
RATHER: What happened is a Georgia delegate, at least out of Georgia delegate sign-on was being hauled out of the hall. We tried to talk to him to see why, who he was and what the situation was, and at that instant, the security people -- well, as you could say, put me on the deck. I didn't do very well.
CRONKITE: I think we've got a bunch of thugs here, Dan, if I maybe promoter to say so.
RATHER: Well, I'm all right. It's all in day's work.
KAYE: In the end, Hubert Humphrey won enough support from delegates to become the nominee. But after all the upheaval in the party, it wasn't in the cards for Democrats that year. Republican Richard Nixon ultimately defeated Humphrey to become the 37th president.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALKER: All right, thanks to Randi Kaye for that report.
Still to come, there is optimism in the air as Democratic donors throw their weight and their wallets behind Kamala Harris. But how would she fare against Trump in a head-to-head? We will look at the evidence when we come back.
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[09:30:03]
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington. America wakes up this morning to an entirely new presidential race, one that could see Kamala Harris become the first black woman in first Asian America to lead a major political party's ticket.
This is not her first time seeking the Democratic nomination. She ran against Joe Biden back in 2019 for the right to take on Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential race. This time around, she already has the backing of high-profile Democrats, including President Biden himself.
Let's stay on this with CNN's Jeff Zeleny. Jeff, you've had a lot of political news to cover in recent days and weeks, and yesterday, no exception.
I wonder, of course, we've heard a long list of Democrats, quite prominent Democrats, come out very quickly to endorse Kamala Harris. Are there any expectations, rumblings, that a prominent Democrat might raise their hand and say, well, I'm going to challenge?
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Jim, there absolutely are not. All the talk of an open convention really have closed down, and Democrats are circling the wagons and closing ranks around Vice President Kamala Harris. There is still time, of course, a couple weeks or so before Democrats begin their virtual roll call.
And what that is, they are just going to have the delegates, so there's about 4,700 of them, vote on who the party's nominee is. But it was really extraordinary on Sunday, hour by hour by hour, her support grew, not only from members of Congress, senators and members of Congress, but also a state, Democratic delegations. There was a call last evening where every state Democratic chair, all 50, voted to support her.
Labor unions have different groups on Capitol Hill, the Congressional Black Caucus, the Hispanic Caucus, Progressive Caucus, really, so all corners of the Democratic Party, people are coming to support her. Will there be perhaps someone who sticks their head up? That is possible, but no significant challenge is expected.
And that is one reason, it's respect for her. But, Jim, I think the bigger reason is, talking to Democrats, is because Democrats want to get on with this. They want to turn this race back into a contrast with Donald Trump. They know that a few weeks' time has been lost with President Biden making his decision. So that has coalesced her support, the ticking time clock.
SCIUTTO: Jeff, until 1.45 p.m. yesterday, there was division inside the Democratic Party over President Biden continuing the race. What led to this very swift unity? I mean, was there any decision made or attempted to be made? Did President Biden signal down to other Democrats, this is the way I want it to go? Or has this been more organic?
ZELENY: It was a mix of both, Jim. I mean, there is no question when President Biden first put out his bombshell statement that he was not going to seek re-election and would instead return to focus his effort on the presidency. He did not in that statement say he was endorsing Kamala Harris.
So I would say for about maybe 10 minutes or so, there was a question of if he was not going to endorse her, that would have led to a potential mini-primary, a potential free-for-all. But then when he sent out his endorsement of her, that really quieted things down very quickly.
Shortly after that, former President Bill Clinton, Secretary Clinton also came out in support of her. The one exception, former President Barack Obama, he praised Joe Biden, did not offer his endorsement, and as of this moment has not as well.
But I'm told that is not that he does not support her or is behind her, but rather is staying on the sidelines and hopes to unify the party should that be necessary going forward. Nancy Pelosi also is not. You know, she played a very critical role in making President Biden see the light on this, I guess, if you will.
But it is pretty extraordinary how quickly people came around her. But Jim, I think the most unifying factor, the biggest reason is, again, Donald Trump. Democrats are so terrified about the path ahead. And we should say, this race is still a very challenging one for Democrats, no doubt about it.
SCIUTTO: No question. We're going to touch on the polls shortly here. Jeff Zeleny, thanks so much.
ZELENY: Sure.
SCIUTTO: Well, CNN's poll of polls shows there is no clear leader between Harris and Trump. In an average of six recent polls done before President Biden's announcement, 48% said Trump would be their choice, 47% Harris. That, of course, within the margin of error. All of the polls surveyed registered or likely voters and were conducted just after June's CNN presidential debate. Only one of them was done after that assassination attempt of Donald Trump. Goodness, just nine days ago, how quickly the news moves.
Coming next hour, the director of the U.S. Secret Service will be in the hot seat on Capitol Hill, Kimberly Cheatle. She's going to testify before Congress, where she is expected to acknowledge that her agency failed to prevent the assassination attempt on the former president.
[09:35:13]
Lawmakers are expected to grill Cheatle on the events that led up to and took place on July 13th in Butler, Pennsylvania, when a gunman shot Trump, killed one man, wounded others. That bullet coming so close to the president's head.
This hearing comes less than two days after the Secret Service confirmed it denied requests from the Trump team for additional resources and staffing over the course of the past two years.
Joining me now is CNN Senior National Security Analyst Juliette Kayyem.
And Julia, goodness, you know, the news moves so quickly, right? I mean, this was nine days ago, a near successful assassination of a former president now running for president. But listen, there are many, many hard questions that remain here.
The Secret Service Chief is acknowledging it was the Secret Service's failure. Do you have a better sense in the week and a half or so since then what those specific failures were?
JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yes, I think we have a sense at least. I mean, one was -- one error, it was well before the assassination attempt had happened, which was how the security perimeter was formed, how they were working with state and locals in terms of who was in charge of which piece of it, because we know there was a lot of confusion, communications and making sure that that was tight, the lack of use of, say, drones in terms of getting a better capture of what was happening. All of that could have been tightened well before the assassination attempt.
Then you have the problems during it, the time lag between people -- when people are noticing that Trump is under threat and the Secret Service actually not doing anything until Trump is shot at. And then, of course, the sort of after part, which the Secret Service should be criticized for as well.
I mean, they threw the state and locals under the bus. They weren't very transparent. So we should get some answers today on at least the operational side of what happened last just last weekend. It's kind of -- I'm sorry, I'm laughing. It's just, you know, it was just last week.
SCIUTTO: Let me ask you this, because, as you heard in the introduction, there are there are some stories now about resources denied, et cetera. Now, you know how this nation's or some in this nation's mind works in this current environment.
KAYYEM: Yeah.
SCIUTTO: Folks will leap from that to say, oh, there was there was something behind this, right? What were those actual resource requests and why might they be denied? I mean, was it was there a reasonable case made that, well, we've got this covered and this is -- this -- this is the amount of resources we typically debt dedicate to this sort of thing? Or are there -- are there other questions there?
KAYYEM: There would have been. So basically, when a request is made from a protectee or protectees team, say the Secret Service will take it under advisement. They'll look at the threat assessment. Are there specific concerns about him? They'll -- they'll -- they'll see whether their own planning is adequate. So they'll -- they'll determine whether they feel like they have it under control. They were wrong in that assessment this time.
So I've been in the situation where -- where entities are asking for more protection. And you can't just say yes, every single time you're doing a resource and threat allocation. They made a terribly bad judgment call here. But part of it has to do with the assassin and just the lack of knowledge about who he was. I mean, we still don't know motive. And so that's -- that's the challenge with these -- these kinds of threats that obviously will be buttressed.
I will say one thing, you know, in terms of the personnel assigned to Trump, I've talked to a lot of Secret Service agents. You know, you have people who are paying attention. Notice that his -- that his Secret Service team now is -- is -- is, let's just say, more male and larger.
I mean, a big part of this was, are they able to get the protectee protected and out of the way in time? And I think that you're going to see maybe even personnel changes to -- to Trump's detail, even not related to gender, but just related to the protectee needs to be moved very quickly.
SCIUTTO: We have a new candidate, right, a new Democratic candidate for --
KAYYEM: Yeah.
SCIUTTO: -- for the office. We have a nasty political environment in this country, but more importantly, a nasty threat environment by all accounts. And prior to the assassination attempt, as you know, the FBI has long said domestic extremist groups are the biggest domestic terrorism threat.
Now you have this assassination attempt in the wake of it. You have concern that there might be retaliatory attacks. And I just wonder what -- what your assessment is of the security environment right now as relates to the candidates in this race three months or a little over three months from Election Day? [09:40:02]
KAYYEM: I mean, it wasn't -- it wasn't as if it was good. I would anticipate it gets worse. And the reason why is the presumptive Democratic nominee is a woman and she's African-American or an ethnic.
And we saw this with -- with Obama. We -- we his -- his threats were incredibly higher if people will remember when Obama -- when the transition was happening on -- on the inauguration day, George Bush's Secretary of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff, was asked to stay because they didn't want to transition that day because the threat environment was so high. I think a combination of factors because of the amped up radicalization. We know it's related to race. We know it's related to white supremacy.
Part of it is going to be how does the Trump campaign and the Trump proxies play the race issue with Kamala Harris? They've already come out on Black Lives Matter. So I have to suspect that race is going to be a big part that then animates the white supremacy groups.
SCIUTTO: It's a great point. And watch that public rhetoric because we've learned that it can matter.
KAYYEM: Yeah.
SCIUTTO: Juliette Kayyem, thanks so much.
KAYYEM: Thank you.
SCIUTTO: Still to come, world leaders react to the news of Joe Biden stepping out of the presidential race, what they're saying, how they're reacting just ahead.
And Israel's Prime Minister heads to Washington to meet President Biden, but also address Congress. We're going to have a preview ahead.
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SCIUTTO: We have some news just in to CNN. That is that Maryland Governor Wes Moore has now endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for President. Moore joins a growing list of Democrats who are endorsing Harris and quite quickly sends the President's surprise announcement that Moore is significant because Moore himself is seen as someone in the party who might one day and perhaps soon run for President himself. So yet one more significant Democratic endorsement for Kamala Harris as the nation absorbs this news from yesterday.
Politicians around the world, they've been absorbing the news of Joe Biden's decision to not seek a second term as President. Australia's Prime Minister had this to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTHONY ALBANESE, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: President Biden deserves today I think to be recognized for once again not putting himself forward first but giving his first consideration to being what he believes is in the interest of the United States of America as he has done his whole public life. And I pay tribute to him today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz posted on X saying, quote, "My friend Joe Biden has achieved a lot for his country, for Europe and the world. His decision to run not to run again deserves respect."
And Israel's Minister of Defense says, "Thank you President Joe Biden, for your unwavering support of Israel over the years. Your steadfast backing, especially during the war, has been invaluable."
[09:45:04]
CNN's Fred Pleitgen has more on what leaders outside the U.S. are saying. It's interesting, we have the Israeli Defense Minister there. Did the Israeli Prime Minister say anything similar as he comes to Washington?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Not like the Israeli Defense Minister said. But on his way to Washington or as he was about to board the plane, Jim, Benjamin Netanyahu did say that Israel would remain America's main partner, most important partner in the Middle East, no matter who the president is in the future.
Of course, you're absolutely right to point out that the relationship has been quite rocky between Benjamin Netanyahu and pretty much the entire Biden administration. But by and large, when you look around the globe, and especially here in Europe where I am right now, there is a lot of praise for the president's decision and a lot of respect also for the political legacy that no doubt he is going to leave behind.
Of course, one of the things that we've been reporting so much about, Jim, is that here in Europe, President Biden really seen as someone who brought transatlantic relations back on track. You just read that quote from German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
And I can tell you from looking at the relations that they've had with one another, they really are very close politically, but also especially on the issue of the war in Ukraine and Russia's aggression in Ukraine. Of course, someone else who's also very close to President Biden on that issue is the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. I want to read you some of what he posted on social media.
He said, quote, "Ukraine is grateful to President Biden for his unwavering support for Ukraine's fight for freedom, which along with strong bipartisan support in the United States has been and continues to be critical. Many strong decisions have been made in recent years, and they will be remembered as bold steps taken by President Biden in response to challenging times."
Of course, for the Ukrainians, those challenging times first and foremost facing down that Russian aggression. And of course, the U.S. has been instrumental in leading some of those European NATO partners as all of that has been unfolding. The special relationship, however, of course, here in Europe is
between the United Kingdom and the U.S. And I want to listen in to some of what the U.K.'s new Prime Minister had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
Keir Starmer, British Prime Minister: I respect the decision that he has now made. Not an easy decision, but a decision that I know that he will have arrived at taking into account the best interests of the American people. We will work with whoever the American people elect into office, as you would expect, particularly given the nature of the special relationship between our two countries.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PLEITGEN: A bit more subdued the reactions that we're seeing from the U.S.'s partners in Asia. I want to read you some of what the Prime Minister of Japan had to say. And this is a quote.
"I refrain from commenting directly on this issue because it involves domestic politics in the U.S. But I recognize that President Biden's decision is based on his desire to make the best political decision. The U.S.-Japan alliance in this cornerstone of this nation's democratic security." So you can see there a lot of leaders obviously commenting on all of this, a lot of them, of course very much interested in what's going to happen in the U.S. going forward, Jeff.
SCIUTTO: Yeah, Kishida recently in Washington as President Biden joined him, and the South Korean leader helping to warm their differences. So a significant relationship there. Fred Pleitgen, thanks so much.
As we were discussing, the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, says his country will remain America's most important ally in the Middle East, regardless of who is in the White House. Netanyahu spoke in Tel Aviv before taking off for here in the U.S., where he will meet with President Biden but also address Congress.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: I will tell my friends on both sides of the aisle that regardless of who the American people choose as their next president, Israel remains America's indispensable and strong ally in the Middle East. I plan to see President Biden, whom I've known for over 40 years, this will be an opportunity to thank him for the things he did for Israel in the war and during his long and distinguished career in public service.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: And sometimes a fraught relationship between Biden and Netanyahu. In Gaza, the Palestinian Ministry of Health says at least 14 people were killed, including six children and four women (ph), in an Israeli attack on Khan Yunis. Earlier Monday, the IDF ordered people in the east of the city to evacuate, saying Israel would be acting against terrorist organizations in the area.
CNN's Nada Bashir, she's been following the latest developments. And I wonder first, Nada, there has been a slowing of Israeli military activity in Gaza in recent weeks relative to the tempo prior to that. But as this attack shows, the attacks are still coming there and with enormous consequences for the civilian population.
NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: Absolutely. And there are fears that these attacks could continue to deepen in this southern region. We've heard from the Israeli military now issuing a renewed warning to civilians in the eastern part of Khan Yunis to move, to relocate to what is being described as a readjusted humanitarian zone on the Al-Mawasi coastal area.
[09:50:13]
Now, this area has previously been designated as a humanitarian zone. We have seen this area being targeted by airstrikes in the past, as we have done with other humanitarian zones that have been designated in southern Gaza, like parts of Rafah.
But as you can imagine, many of the civilians that have received this warning today have been told on multiple occasions to move. This is not the first time that they have been forced to flee their shelters, their points of refuge.
There is simply nowhere else to return to. For many of them, we have seen footage emerging from Gaza today showing distressed families and children being forced to flee once again. And as you mentioned, Jim, the Israeli military has said that it has intelligence that it is focusing and targeting on terrorist infrastructure in the southern part of Gaza.
But as we know, this is a densely populated area. There is very little room for civilians to move around, to flee, too. There are very few safe places left. In fact, the U.N. has repeatedly said that there are no safe places left, so a huge moment of concern once again for the safety of civilians in southern Gaza.
SCIUTTO: No question. And you see the level of destruction there. So familiar. Nada Bashir in London, thanks so much. And we will have more news right after the break.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): From my view as a Chinese citizen, whoever wins as U.S. president, I don't think it will impact China too much.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As for me, I'm really interested about how America was happening now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, it's a huge problem. It's complicated. So I obviously don't have a solution for it, but yeah, there are definitely issues.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: Outside of Washington, voters across this country are reacting after President Biden's withdrawal from the 2024 race. His endorsement of his Vice President Kamala Harris could set the stage for her to make history as the first black woman, first Asian American. At the top of the ticket of a major political party, she still, however, must formally win the nomination of her party.
CNN has voters in Pennsylvania, of course, a key swing state, how they view Harris and whether they believe she can beat Donald Trump in November.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Harris pulls well against Trump. I think she has a real shot at winning.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It feels pretty hopeless at the moment.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's exciting. However, I still don't know.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would absolutely vote for Kamala.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think she's going to win. It's too late.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I don't know if a woman -- I still think there might be issues with her getting elected. I think if she is the nominee, for her to have a strong male running mate, I think would boost her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who is she going to pull a ticket with, do you think? Pete Buttigieg or Newsom? (Inaudible) And I'm just scared. I mean, same as when Hillary ran. Like, we're going to see all that misogyny again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think anything should be given to Vice President Harris. I mean, I think the DNC needs to look hard at all possible options. You know, we have a wonderful governor here in the state of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro. You know, so, you know, could it be a Harris-Shapiro ticket? I don't know.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think any rivalries that might come up, if people start re-vetting Democratic candidates, it's going to be -- it's too close to the election. We need to get somebody that's, you know, been running, that has been on the campaign trail already with Joe Biden. That's Kamala Harris, so.
[09:55:03]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If they had made her the nominee in the first place, she could have been a very good candidate. I think that everything that's happened with the attempted assassination on Donald Trump and the way that the -- you know, what's going on in Palestine currently, we really are broken up as Democrats at the moment. (END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: We have lots of conversations like that around the country in the coming weeks and months. I will be back at the top of the hour with another edition of NEWSROOM. Please do stay with CNN.
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