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Interview With Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM); Interview With Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL); Secret Service Director Resigns. Aired 11:30a- 12p ET
Aired July 23, 2024 - 11:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:30:04]
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: All right, we're going to take another quick break. We will continue our breaking news coverage right after this.
The Secret Service director, Kimberly Cheatle, has stepped down.
We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: During Monday's House Oversight Committee hearing, the U.S. Secret Service director, Kimberly Cheatle, took full responsibility for the July 13 security failure, but struggled to answer questions from members of the committee about how the shooter was able to come within inches of potentially killing a former president of the United States.
[11:35:14]
Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JAMES COMER (R-KY): You answered more questions with an ABC reporter than you have with members of Congress.
REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): The notion of a report coming out in 60 days when the threat environment is so high in the United States, irrespective of party, is not acceptable.
REP. NANCY MACE (R-SC): You're full of (EXPLETIVE DELETED) today. You're just being completely dishonest.
REP. RO KHANNA (D-CA): Do you really genuinely in your heart believe that you being in this role is what's right for America at this moment?
REP. ANDY BIGGS (R-AZ): You should have come today ready to give us answers. I call upon you to resign today.
REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): So, I think that this relationship is irretrievable at this point. (END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: And now, of course, Cheatle has resigned.
I want to get reaction from a key member of the House. Congressman Jared Moskowitz is a Democrat from Florida and a key member of the House Oversight Committee. He was at that hearing yesterday with Cheatle. And, as you heard, he publicly called for her to resign.
Congressman, what's your reaction to Director Cheatle now taking this step and resigning?
REP. JARED MOSKOWITZ (D-FL): I mean, good.
I mean, you're talking about a former president almost being assassinated live on television to the world, for the world to see on her watch.
Look, when you take these jobs, -- and I was a former director of emergency management in the state of Florida. When you take jobs like that, you know that, if disaster happens on your watch and you don't do a good job, OK, you're going to be held accountable.
When we had a bad response to Katrina, the FEMA administrator resigned. When we had January 6, the head of Capitol Police resigned. And she is doing the right thing. She has to be held accountable. And so I'm glad it happened. The hearing yesterday was a complete disaster. She was not prepared.
She may, Wolf, have had too many Wolf Spritzer before she came to that hearing. But this is the right thing to do. I support the task force that the Republicans are trying to create. I hope to try to get on that task force. We got to do an after-action review to figure out all the things that failed, so that we can fix them, to make sure that this never happens again.
And so that, I think, you're going to see us work on in Congress on a bipartisan basis.
BLITZER: So I don't know if you have got any thoughts, but what structural changes, Congressman, do you think need to be made at the Secret Service right now, based on the blunders that occurred over the past few days?
MOSKOWITZ: Well, look, after the shooting in Parkland in my hometown at Marjory Stoneman Douglas, my high school, there was the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Commission that was set up to figure out all of the failures.
And, look, there were obvious failures that people saw with their own day -- right? The SRO didn't go into the building. Police waited outside at his direction. But there were lots of things we didn't know that failed in the building, training, all sorts of things.
And so I think that's why the task force is necessary. And then we will know whether we need procedural changes, process changes, structural changes, training changes. We're going to find out probably that there were massive comms failures between when the perpetrator was seen and getting that information, that threat level up to the Secret Service between local law enforcement.
We found that different police departments in Parkland couldn't even talk to each other because they had different radio systems. And so we're going to find out all sorts of different inoperable issues once we start digging into the failures of just 10 days ago.
BLITZER: And they have to learn from those failures to make sure it never, ever happens again. And this political season is heating up big time right now. There are going to be a lot of political rallies going on indoors and outdoors, and they got to learn from the failures that occurred the other day.
As you know, President Biden said he would appoint a new director of the Secret Service very soon. Any ideas who should that be?
MOSKOWITZ: Well, it's someone who probably knows the agency, has been in the agency for a while, someone that's going to instill confidence in the Secret Service and in their 7,000, 8,000 employees.
No doubt morale is low, due to the failures of the rally, the fact that the director has now resigned. So we got to reinstill morale within the Secret Service, and then someone who's going to pledge to obviously get to the bottom of what happened.
And so I have total faith in President Biden to find that person. And I look forward to hearing who that person is going to be.
BLITZER: We will see who that person is going to be. Maybe he will announce it tomorrow. He is coming back to Washington, as we now know. The White House has confirmed that.
Congressman Jared Moskowitz of Florida, thank you so much for joining us.
MOSKOWITZ: Thanks, Wolf.
BLITZER: And our breaking news coverage will continue right after a quick break. We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:44:18]
BLITZER: The U.S. Secret Service director, Kimberly Cheatle, has resigned just one day after a House hearing, her testimony that was panned, panned by lawmakers of both parties.
Joining us now, Democratic Senator Martin Heinrich of New Mexico.
Senator, thanks very much for coming in.
It's just happened like an hour or so ago. What's your reaction?
SEN. MARTIN HEINRICH (D-NM): I think it was the right thing to do. This should have never happened, ever.
I -- as somebody who owns a few range finders, because I spend a lot of time hunting in New Mexico, I can't even imagine walking into a presidential event with a range finder and not being stopped at some point.
BLITZER: He was on a roof about 150 yards or so from where the former president was getting ready to speak at this political rally.
[11:45:03]
HEINRICH: Yes.
BLITZER: And, apparently, there were indications there was a suspicious man on the roof. There were indications of this range finder.
HEINRICH: Right there.
BLITZER: And nobody did anything.
HEINRICH: Right there, the president -- the former president should not have gone out on the stage. I mean, that should not...
BLITZER: The Secret Service should have prevented...
HEINRICH: Shut it down, figure out what the situation is, and then move forward once you have established security.
BLITZER: And they got to figure out why that didn't happen...
HEINRICH: That's right.
BLITZER: ... because that was -- clearly, if you have a suspicious individual on a roof not very far away from the political rally where the former president is about to speak, and you know there's a range finder there to determine all sorts of specific information...
HEINRICH: Yes.
BLITZER: ... you go ahead and stop that and you put a hold on it.
HEINRICH: Yes, which is why we need to move forward with the entire investigation, right? We need to...
BLITZER: Who should lead the investigation?
HEINRICH: We need to understand...
BLITZER: Is this a congressional investigation, an administration investigation?
HEINRICH: I think both. I think both.
It's appropriate for Congress to do oversight. It's also appropriate for the Secret Service, the remaining leadership there, to do an internal investigation, because it's their credibility that's on the line here. And we all have to have confidence in the Secret Service to do their job.
BLITZER: We're now told that President Biden will return to Washington later today from Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, where he's been recuperating after testing positive for COVID.
HEINRICH: Right.
BLITZER: And he's now scheduled to address the nation, a television address, tomorrow night. What would you like to hear from him?
HEINRICH: I'm -- this is somebody who, in the hardest of moments, has put country over his personal career.
And I think he's just got an amazing story to tell. He's somebody who is both a very effective president, probably, legislatively, the most effective president in the last 80 years. But, also, he's just a good human being. And I want to hear what he has to say.
BLITZER: You were quick to endorse the vice president, Kamala Harris.
Now that she's atop the ticket running for president as the Democrat, what would you like to hear from her?
HEINRICH: Well, I think what's clear is that Kamala is in command. She took the existing infrastructure of the campaign and just ran with it from moment one.
And that's what we need right now to unite Democratic voters. And I have actually never seen -- in a presidential environment, I have never seen Democratic voters so united so quickly.
BLITZER: And so you think that's going to continue? What's your assessment, especially in your home state of New Mexico? How does it look?
HEINRICH: It feels really good.
I was walking around my neighborhood and I saw a yard sign that someone had modified from 2020 to a 2024 Harris yard sign. And they wrote, "V.P. TBD." And I took a picture of it and I just put it on social media.
It's gotten 90,000 -- 96,000 likes. Like, people came together around her so quickly. And I think, at the end of the day, Democratic voters just want to be confident that, in 2025, we will have an adult in the White House who will put country first.
BLITZER: What should she be looking for as she decides who's going to be her vice presidential running mate?
HEINRICH: I think enthusiasm and a measure of youth, so that we can continue the momentum that she's already demonstrated.
I mean, we have a nominee on the Republican side who falls asleep in trial, who falls asleep at the convention. I think she can create an incredible contrast both in terms of energy. But, also, like, this is a prosecutor versus a felon. This is a Hollywood script.
BLITZER: And you hear some of the blistering attacks against her from not only Trump, but from J.D. Vance, who's the vice presidential Republican nominee, as well.
HEINRICH: Yes.
BLITZER: When you hear that, you know -- or I assume you have met with the vice president, and you have gotten to see her in action over the past three-and-a-half years. What's your assessment of her?
HEINRICH: Well, they're scared. That's what's very clear.
And I served with her on the Intelligence Committee. I watched...
BLITZER: When she was a senator from California.
HEINRICH: When she was a senator. I watched her during the Russia investigation. And she is a consummate prosecutor.
And I think that scares them to death. And I think she should run this campaign like she's prosecuting the case.
BLITZER: You know, clearly, New Mexico is an important state. And, obviously, you represent New Mexico. What are the chances that she could carry New Mexico?
HEINRICH: She will carry New Mexico.
BLITZER: You think so?
HEINRICH: I feel very good about that.
People came together around her incredibly quickly. The vibe I got at home just two days ago was -- it was unanimous.
BLITZER: You know, it's hard to believe, but she's running for president of the United States now against a convicted felon.
HEINRICH: Who'd have ever thought America would be here?
But, like, if you're going to create a contrast, and you're a prosecutor and the other side nominates a felon, I think that's an amazing story to tell.
[11:50:07]
BLITZER: We will see what happens.
Senator Martin Heinrich, thanks very much for coming in.
HEINRICH: Glad to be here.
BLITZER: Appreciate it. HEINRICH: Thank you.
BLITZER: Vice President Harris made her first official visit to campaign headquarters on Monday, and, of course, confirmed that she is running for president of the United States. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(CHEERING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: She was introduced by her husband, the second gentleman, Doug Emhoff, a very, very important moment, the first public statements from her.
That song you just heard, by the way, as she was being introduced walking to the podium, that's Beyonce's "Freedom." And it's safe to say you will be hearing a lot of that song over the next 104 days, until the November election.
A source tells CNN that the singer gave Kamala Harris campaign approval to use the Grammy-nominated record as a campaign song. No official endorsement now from Beyonce, at least not yet. But her mother, Tina Knowles, posted this photo to endorse Kamala Harris, writing -- and I'm quoting now -- "New, youthful, sharp energy. Let's go."
And we will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:55:43]
BLITZER: Finally this hour, happening now in France: The Olympic Torch tour is under way at the Palace of Versailles.
Over the next three days, torchbearers will carry the historic symbol to the Olympic arena in Paris. And, once there, the torch will be used to commence the start of the Opening Ceremony of the Summer Olympic Games.
Snoop Dogg will be on the final -- one of the final torchbearers during the ceremony. This is his latest photo he's posted leading up to that event. All this will happen on Friday.
And thanks very much for joining me here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. I will be back later tonight, 6:00 p.m. Eastern, in "THE SITUATION ROOM."
Stay with us. "INSIDE POLITICS WITH DANA BASH" starts right after a short break.
