Return to Transcripts main page
Erin Burnett Outfront
Trump Arrives In Milwaukee INSTEAD of Delaying Trip; Video Of Shooter Firing On Trump Rally; Butler County Sheriff Describes What Happened During Rally; Interview With Rep. Michael Lawler (R-NY); Man Killed At Trump Rally Identified As Firefighter, Father Of Two, Interview With Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN); Interview With Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA). Aired 7-7:50p ET
Aired July 14, 2024 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE HUTZ, WITNESSED SHOOTING AT TRUMP RALLY: So I screamed gun, get down, and I grabbed my mom and I yanked her towards the grass because we were so low and he was on top of an 80-year-old woman and I was on top of her, and I remember checking her for blood and everything and four more shots rang out.
DONNA HUTZ, WITNESSED SHOOTING AT TRUMP RALLY: We had a fear that there was more shooters there because if this was happening right on our section, we were the section that everybody sees on TV, that everybody is still sitting there and looking, our section was down.
Personally, I'm still afraid of civil war, but I'm hoping that maybe this will bring up the good. Something good comes out of everything bad.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: The two say they found Trump's response encouraging and empowering.
Thanks very much for joining us tonight. The special edition of THE SITUATION ROOM. A special "ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett. We have a special edition of OUTFRONT on this Sunday evening with the breaking news, the assassination attempt on Donald J. Trump.
We have some new video just into OUTFRONT and this is video of the moment that the shooter begins firing from that rooftop. The distance is just about 400 feet away from Trump. I want to play it for you in full.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get behind the tree. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's lying --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ron (PH), get over here. Ron. Ron, get over here. Ron, get over here. What are you doing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's turning this way. Be careful guys. Keep down.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's right there. Laying down.
(CROSSTALK)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So you see the shooter with the gun there lying down, then you heard the gunshots, the complete chaos. Now, then I want to show you just to slow this down for a moment, the first direct glimpse of the shooter at the moment he fired the shot. So right there, as you can see, we put the spotlight on it so you can see him lying there and you see him holding the gun, lying on that rooftop.
And then, this taken just moments after the officer shot the gunman dead. There he is. And that the officers are up there. He has at that point been killed.
I'm going to speak with the couple who recorded this video and who took that photo in just a moment. They're going to be with us. But right now, officials at this hour are still trying to figure out the shooter's motive. They've got his phone. They don't yet say they have anything about a motive. And we also are trying to understand exactly how he was able to get on that roof, which was just about 400 feet away from Trump's podium at the rally. It was an outdoor rally.
Just moments ago, the former president landed in Milwaukee for the Republican convention. And we've got video of his motorcade right before takeoff. He did say that he thought today about delaying his trip for a couple of days after the shooting, but decided to stick to his planned schedule and so he is in Milwaukee this evening.
And behind me you'll see a live picture of the convention floor in Milwaukee. That is where Trump is scheduled to take the stage this week.
And also tonight, we're waiting for President Biden. He will be delivering a rare Oval Office address. That is expected within the next hour. The last time he did so was right after the Hamas terror attack on Israel back in October. So it is a significant event tonight for him to make an Oval Office address. And it comes in the context of so many questions this hour and our reporters are covering the angles of the story to try to get answers on it.
I want to start with the breaking news from Kristen Holmes. She is on the ground in Milwaukee where Trump just landed.
Kristen, what are you learning from your sources? KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I talked to a number
of people who have spoken to the former president in the last 24 hours. They all say that he is in good spirits. They also say that he is defiant, that he is ready to run this campaign and that even though some of his aides and advisers have privately said they hope that he will take some time to rest, that he wants to continue hitting the ground running.
As noted here and as you said, he did consider delaying this trip, but he is currently on the ground, which was the original plan to be here in Milwaukee. Now I've also talked to a number of his aides, advisers, and allies, who expressed a range of emotions. A lot of them were very rattled. They travel with the former president every day. A lot of them were angry. How could this possibly have happened?
Obviously a question that we're all trying to get to the bottom of. And in fact, one of the things that we know came from the campaign managers, Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles, was something that was really intended to be aimed at some of these campaign aides who were rattled and shaken. It was a memo that said that they were doing everything they could to ensure everyone's safety, but also if there were people who were in D.C. or in West Palm Beach to stay away from their offices there.
But the one thing I have heard from all of these various campaign aides, advisers and allies is the sense of defiance. And Erin, I want to be very clear here. This is something that his aides and advisers say all the time whenever he faces obstacles that he is defiant. But this is the first time I'm actually seeing this high level of resolve among his teammates, among his allies.
[19:05:06]
Just really heading into this election, more determined than ever before. So obviously something we're watching there. Now just briefly and I don't want to just completely pivot to politics because obviously we're still reporting out what happened yesterday. But this is a critical moment for Donald Trump's campaign. He has still not named who his vice-presidential pick is going to be. We expect that to be possibly tomorrow morning. That is what are hearing from various sources.
But he has until Tuesday. And as we have reported, he is in control of the rules here, so he can make that determination whenever he wants to -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Kristen, thank you very much.
And as Kristen said, there are right now more questions than answers in this investigation. Danny Freeman is OUTFRONT in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. That is near the home of the shooter with the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Take a look at what happened -- DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Moments after former
president Trump came under fire Saturday evening about 500 feet away on a rooftop just outside the security perimeter, the would-be assassin himself was shot and killed by Secret Service snipers. The suspected shooter identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All units operating on Butler Farm show grounds. Facility's on lockdown. Everyone stay inside.
FREEMAN: A source tells CNN that local law enforcement spotted Crooks near the event metal detectors on Saturday. He appeared to be acting suspiciously and an alert was put out over the radio to keep an eye on him. Later, just before Crooks opened fire, the Butler County sheriff tells CNN that an officer encountered Crooks on the rooftop, but was forced to retreat after Crooks pointed his rifle at the officer.
This video taken from his high school graduation in 2022.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's got a gun!
FREEMAN: Law enforcement officers still have not announced a potential motive for the shooting.
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I urge everyone, everyone, please, don't make assumptions about his motives or his affiliations. Let the FBI do their job and their partner agencies do their job.
FREEMAN: CNN has learned Crooks was a registered Republican and federal election records showed he made a $15 donation to a Democratic aligned group back in 2021.
TRUMP: This is a big crowd.
FREEMAN: This presidential election would have been the first the gunman would be eligible to voting. In his Bethel Park neighborhood, just south of Pittsburgh, a heavy police presence remains Sunday as investigators processed his home. A law enforcement official familiar with the investigation told CNN, the shooter had explosive material inside of his car and his residence. Other law enforcement officials told CNN the gun used in the attack was an AR-style weapon.
The rifle was traced to the shooter's father, Matthew Crooks. When reached by CNN Saturday, Matthew Crooks said he was still trying to figure out, quote, "what the hell is going on," but would, quote, "wait" until I talk to law enforcement before speaking about his son.
What was your reaction when you heard the news that this was the shooter?
JASON KOHLER, ATTENDED HIGH SCHOOL WITH GUNMAN: Crazy. Unbelievable.
FREEMAN (voice-over): Jason Kohler went to the same high school as Crooks. He remembered him as an outcast who was bullied.
KOHLER: Just because like he was -- he wasn't like what a click. So he was always had I guess target on his back. When I would see him, he was just very, very bland. He didn't so no
facial expressions. Just very, I don't know, very, very to himself.
FREEMAN: On Sunday, Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation confirmed Crooks worked at the center as a dietary aide. They said they were shocked and saddened to learn this news, adding Crooks performed his job without concern and his background check was clean.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FREEMAN (on-camera): Now, Erin, I'll just note a few more things that we learned late this afternoon from the FBI. First, the FBI believes that Crooks did indeed work alone at this point. They also found no indication at this point of any mental health issues.
Also, of course, the FBI says that they are still at this point searching for any sort of ideology or motivation for this attack. And the one thing I'll say, Erin, and you mentioned it right at the top, is that the FBI believes they may find some of those answers in Crooks' cell phone. But at this point still don't have access to that cell phone. The cell phone is on its way to Quantico, Virginia, for more analysis -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Danny, thank you.
At the top of the show, we showed video that was captured by one of the attendees at Trump's rally, Mike DiFrischia, where you can actually see the moment the gunman fired at Trump. Let me play it again.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get behind the trees.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's lying --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ron, get over here.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ron, get over here. Ron, what are you doing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's turning this way. Be careful, guys. Get down.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's right there, laying down.
(CROSSTALK)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[19:10:21]
BURNETT: And Mike and his wife Amber join me now.
And I am -- I'm sorry to both of you to be speaking with you under these circumstances. You know, we're watching that, what you filmed.
When did you realize something was happening, Mike? I guess that was your phone and you actually started filming.
MIKE DIFRISCHIA, CAPTURED VIDEO OF GUNMAN FIRING SHOTS: It was actually a minute or so before I started filming. My wife had nudged me and said, what's going on, and there was -- there were somebody running through the crowd behind us and that's when we initially realized somebody was up on the roof. Somebody they're watching the rally trying to get a better viewpoint. And I didn't think nothing of it for a few seconds.
And then shortly after that, a guy behind me said that he had seen him. He had a gun and then when he said that, I moved over a couple feet and I was able to get a perfect -- I was able to see him perfectly and I see he had the gun and that's when I started to film. My wife ran up to law enforcement, was trying to tell them, you know, where he was but they couldn't seem to see him because they weren't in the right spot to see him on the roof. They were too close to the building. So it just got very hectic very fast.
BURNETT: I mean, it's incredible. We're looking at your footage here, Mike. And as you zoom in, you literally see the gun. You see the gun on his hand, you see him lying down. You see it aiming.
Amber, when you see this, and then you start yelling at officers, what happened? I mean, how quickly did you see him realize there's a gun and start screaming at the police officers to tell them?
AMBER DIFRISCHIA, CAPTURED VIDEO OF GUNMAN FIRING SHOTS: Immediately. immediately because like I said, there was commotion prior, you know what I mean, like probably two minutes prior, there was a lot of commotion that's why it caught my attention to like, look back, you know what I mean? Like. So it was like what's going on? Well, then people started to run and then we hear gun, and it was just chaotic.
It was so fast. First thing is fine coverage and it was just the scariest thing, you know, there's not a lot of places you could hide there. So we were like -- and where we were there was only like 50, 70 people. So it was sort of a small crowd, you know, and we literally were trying to hide behind two trees just to make sure we weren't going to be, you know, hit by the bullets.
BURNETT: Mike --
A. DIFRISCHIA: It was why it was so insane.
BURNETT: I mean, and I know that those 33 seconds had to feel like an eternity as you're there. Mike, you said something, though, looking at these images, you looked up and start filming and we see the shooter and we see he's gone and we see him lying. It's all right there, right. It's excruciatingly painful. You're going, oh, my god, something horrible is going to happen. But when you and Amber yell at law enforcement, you said something really crucial. You said they were too close to the building. So when they looked up, they didn't have an angle to see him? M. DIFRISCHIA: None at all. No, they had no line of sight and they
even looked at us and said, you know, where's he at and we were pointing to them, you know, he's right there. Now this was before I started to film, but we said he's right there and they just -- they were too close to the building.
One officer did try to climb up on the building and he got all the way up and he just wanted to get up on top. And then he just kind of let go and fell to the ground. I don't know if the guy startled him or what exactly happened, but one officer did make eye contact with him. Then that was shortly before he started to shoot.
BURNETT: Right. Yes, I know there was an officer who did try to go up. I guess the shooter had pointed the gun at him and then maybe that's why he went away. I'm not sure if that's the one that you're talking about, though. I just want to play --
M. DIFRISCHIA: Yes, there was only one.
BURNETT: There's only that one. So then it must have been, perhaps that was why then he dropped down. As all this happened then Trump's on stage and the clip of what happened in that moment. Let me just play it again, Amber. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Take a look at what happened --
(GUNSHOTS)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get down, get down, get down.
(GUNSHOTS)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What are we doing? What are we doing? Where are we going --
(CROSSTALK)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[19:15:02]
BURNETT: So, Amber, that moment and all those shots, that's after you had been screaming at police and pointing at the shooter and then all these shots happened.
A. DIFRISCHIA: Yes. Yes.
BURNETT: What did you even think in that instant?
A. DIFRISCHIA: I don't -- you don't -- I didn't really think. I was, you know, you don't -- I've seen the gun and then hear the shots and then you're like, is he shooting at us? Is he -- you sorted just freeze in that second, you know, like I wasn't beside Michael when it happened, and because I froze, I seen the gun and -- M. DIFRISCHIA: She went running for law enforcement to try and help
them and show them where he was at. And I knew that he was (INAUDIBLE) short shooting towards us. I can see in the video and with my eyes that he was shooting towards the crowd. I didn't know if he was shooting at the president or just the crowd.
BURNETT: Yes.
M. DIFRISCHIA: I could tell that he was looking into the crowd.
BURNETT: And then you took photos, Mike, that are graphic, but I want to share them so people understand the horror of that moment. They shoot the gunman on the rooftop. And at this point, officers are standing over his body. So he's dead. When did you realize what had happened, right? That he had shot Trump on the stage and that that was -- and that the gunman then had been shot himself and that's what actually transpired.
M. DIFRISCHIA: If you listened in the video, I will actually tell people behind me to get down because he turned our way. I did not realize until after watching it several times yesterday and today that when I thought he was looking at us, that was when he was actually killed, and he just dropped down because by the time my video, you guys only have a short clip, but the video was like over a minute long.
And when I pan back to him he is already deceased at that point. So I knew that he would be deceased at that point, but when I first seen him looking our way, I thought that he was actually, you know, maybe going to start shooting this way. I did not realize he had already been shot.
BURNETT: All right. Well, I appreciate your time, Mike and Amber. Thank you very much very.
A. DIFRISCHIA: You're very welcome. M. DIFRISCHIA: Thank you.
BURNETT: And OUTFRONT now, the Butler County Sheriff Mike Slupe. He was at the rally when the shooting happened.
And Sheriff, I appreciate your time and I know you had a chance to hear that yourself. Mike and Amber, they took the video of the shooter on the roof and you heard him say at one point after they were yelling to officers, he did see an officer tried to climb up the building, who then he said dropped down. What happened in that moment?
SHERIFF MICHAEL SLUPE, BUTLER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA: Well, from what I understand, the officer got lifted up to the roof and when the contact -- eye contact was made, my understanding is the shooter turned towards the officer and the officer dropped his grip and fell to the ground at that point. And I'm assuming hearing from your last -- Mike there, he said that the shooter then started shooting shortly thereafter.
BURNETT: It appears that's what happened. I mean, just trying to understand and there's so many things we don't understand yet, Sheriff, obviously. But since you were there, you know better than anybody else. The building itself, and we were talking about where the shooter was, was positioned about 400 feet away from the podium where Trump was. Now obviously before the rally, there's all sorts of processes and procedures that happen and Secret Service works closely with local law enforcement.
Do you know who was technically responsible for securing that building?
SLUPE: I do not have an answer to that.
BURNETT: Do you did you feel when you went in that everything was -- you know, all the ducks were in a row, that everybody knew what they needed to know? Did it feel like everything was right before anything happened?
SLUPE: Everything felt well, you know, we worked with the Secret Service, state police, our office, Butler township police, bomb squad, dog squad. I mean, everybody knew what -- the ESU, the emergency service unit, I mean, everybody had an idea of what they needed to do. There's plenty of law enforcement on the ground. I felt comfortable. I felt good and, you know, the vibe there was really good except for the fact that it was 93 degrees and people were dropping like flies at that point.
BURNETT: So when you were inside the rally and you just heard Mike described what he saw, you know, when his wife Amber was yelling at the police officers who were there and he described that some of them as too close to the building to be able to have an angle to see the shooter on top.
What did you see inside the rally when all of this happened?
[19:20:01]
SLUPE: Yes. Well, first of all, that makes sense. So you're going to go along the building. You're not going to be so many feet away. So to give the shooter an opportunity to shoot you, so the officers absolutely did what they needed to do and what they're trained to do. But during the rally, I mean, the president was speaking and next thing you know I hear what really sounded like firecrackers. So I looked off to the left. There's little pop of smoke and the next thing you know, I look to the right because there was a set of speakers that were on a crane and we believe he hits a hydraulic line there, and the speaker started coming down.
And right about the same in time, the president went down, the Secret Service went on top of him. I look back to the left, the shooting had stopped at this point, people were all over the ground. They were all huddled down. And I'm being waved over like very vigorously to come over to the bleachers behind me. And of course I got to make my way over top of people because they're all laying on the ground.
I get to the bike rack and the guy says he's shot and that's the first time I knew that this was a serious, serious incident. I got on the radio, called for medics, the ambulance, and literally within seconds we had a physician, we had a nurse. We have EMTs with the ESU unit. I had a doctor come up behind me, vaulted him over the bike rack to get him help. And at the same time trying to get people off of the bleachers.
At that time that event is over. So now it's about getting people away and potentially securing some of the witnesses so that whoever was investigating could have opportunity to talk to them. So we did that and they carried his body away. Took it to a separate location and then, you know, I understand there were two other people that were injured quite seriously at that point. Today I find out that they are in stable condition. Thank God.
BURNETT: Yes. Thank God for that. And we're going to hear more about the man who was killed in a moment.
Sheriff Slupe, I appreciate your time. Thank you very much. And next --
SLUPE: Can I say one last thing?
BURNETT: Yes.
SLUPE: Everybody praised for all law enforcement and that fire chief that was critically injured, keep everybody in their prayers. Thank you, guys, very much.
BURNETT: Yes. And thank you.
Secret Service, when it comes to what happened, is on the defense tonight. And the agent who was shot during an attempt on Ronald Reagan's life is OUTFRONT to talk about what he thinks happened here. And a doctor in the audience at that Trump rally, he watched as a man nearby took that bullet to his head and he helped carry that body out of the bleachers. He's going to tell you what happened that night.
Plus an OUTFRONT exclusive, Congressman Dean Phillips was the only elected official to challenge President Biden for the Democratic nomination months before the debate. Remember that? Now he's breaking his silence in his first national television interview.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:25:53]
BURNETT: All right. Breaking news, we've got some new video just in. Former president Trump landing in Wisconsin for the Republican National Convention and this video was just tweeted out by Trump's top adviser Dan Scavino just one day after Trump survived an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
Now President Biden is also just minutes away from giving a rare Oval Office address tonight about the assassination attempt, set to begin in a few minutes. It comes as new video obtained by OUTFRONT shows the gunman actually opening fire from a rooftop toward Trump before he is shot and killed seconds later. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get behind the trees.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's lying down.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ron, get over here.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get over here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And everyone is now here with me.
Former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe, let me just start with you.
You know you see the video, you see the man on the roof, you see the gun, and you heard the couple who filmed it talk about what they saw, that they say they tried to alert officers, because the angle those officers were too close to the building and couldn't see up, and then the gunman opened fire.
How big of a failure is this?
ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: You know, Erin, what it looks like is a series of mistakes that ultimately led to a pretty colossal failure. Provisionally, those officers, what, be they local officers or deputy sheriffs, wherever they're from, their job on the outer perimeter is to look for suspicious incidents and people and immediately radio that intelligence into the command post so it can then be fed to whoever needs to action it. In this case, it would have been of course the counter-snipers.
So when they get that report from the woman before they even attempt to look on the building that should have been radioed in. Once we've now heard that an officer was essentially boosted up to look over --
BURNETT: Right. Lifted up to look over the roof.
MCCABE: Right. To look over the roof at the shooter and the shooter somehow looked at him and he dropped off. I mean, in that interaction alone. See, looking at an armed unauthorized shooter, not in a uniform, not displaying identification like he would certainly have been authorized under federal operational standards anyway to engage that target himself on site.
So there's a bunch of decisions that we don't know everything that went into these -- seeing the investigative results yet obviously, so there's still a lot of questions to be answered, but there's a bunch of decisions that really call out for some scrutiny.
BURNETT: Tim McCarthy, you literally took a bullet to protect then president Ronald Reagan, as one of his Secret Service agents. That was back in 1981. So when you're looking at this now and thinking about what happened, to you, how obvious should this rooftop have been for them to look for a potential gunman?
TIM MCCARTHY, SECRET SERVICE AGENT SHOT DURING REAGAN ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT: Well, it was pretty clear that they recognize during the advance that they had some high ground problems or some high ground issues. That's why they had a counter-sniper team that comes out, does a survey of the area, looks at ranges from naturally the podium out to those locations and from their locations out there. So sure they did that, if they needed two teams, they would have had two teams.
The issue and it doesn't take a security expert to figure out that why wasn't that area posted, it was outside the perimeter and to a large extent, that's OK. But as long as you have identified a high ground issue, it needed to be posted and it should have been posted, whether it was a local officer, a Secret Service agent, state police, or anyone else. That high ground should have been covered because they recognized that they had a problem that's why they had counter-sniper.
Now the officers I don't know what they actually knew when they attempted to get up on that building, what the people actually told them if they said it was a gunman. I certainly agree with Mr. McCabe. It should have been called in. If not, what they attempted to do may have helped rush the shooter's timeline to shoot. It may have helped cause him to miss thankfully. So that'll be part of the investigation, but they absolutely should have called it if they knew it was a gunman.
If they had gotten through quickly enough to the Secret Service, through their joint command post, the agents would have and should have taken the president off the podium to a safe room or in this case, probably evacuate him to the armored car and get him out of the area.
[19:30:15]
BURNETT: Republican Congressman Mike Lawler, you introduce a bipartisan bill, you and Ritchie Torres, your Democratic colleague, you've got enhanced secret service protection. You want a bill for Biden, Trump, and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., for all of them --
REP. MICHAEL LAWLER (R-NY): Yes.
BURNETT: When you hear all this, what questions does this raise in your mind about what you want to know from the Secret Service?
LAWLER: But for the grace of God, we would be having a very different discussion tonight. We are talking about a millimeter of difference, and thankfully, Donald Trump survived this assassination attempt. I think, obviously as a country, our elections are decided by votes at a ballot box, not violence at a rally and so, it is critically important in this moment that we make sure that the United States government is taking all precautions to protect President Biden, President Trump, and RFK, Jr. whose family obviously has been victim to this twice.
This cannot that happen in America, and I think we need to make sure that all candidates have an enhanced security detail and that we make sure they have the protections in place. BURNETT: And we are going to talk more about what we understand about Trump's detail in a moment. But Maggie, now he said he was going to take a couple of days. He didn't. He decided, okay, I am going to go to Milwaukee as scheduled, so he is there tonight.
How do you think this impacts him?
MAGGIE HABERMAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well personally according to everyone I've spoken to who has talked to him, he has actually sounded fairly normal. There is -- completely normal -- as if nothing had really happened.
You know, he spoke to Congressman Ronny Jackson who is his former White House doctor, and according to the congressman, he was talking about how looking at that chart that he was looking at and you can see in that video at the rally saying that that saved him because his head was turned and you can see that the angle that it was at, it likely meant the bullet went in a different direction.
He has said that he is determined to move ahead with the convention. What this looks like at the convention in terms of how this has factored in, I don't think we know yet. You have seen him stressing in his own messages on Truth Social, unity. I think that he is going to recognize that this is a different kind of moment.
You have not seen, for instance, merchandise selling off of what just happened, whereas when he was indicted or when he was convicted that happened almost immediately.
BURNETT: Say with the picture of him with a fist bump in the air.
HABERMAN: Yes. Look, the picture from yesterday was remarkable. My colleague, Doug Mills took one of the images that's been all over the internet, and it is a remarkable image.
I think you may see this play differently in terms of how he approaches it. This is just fundamentally a different thing, but anybody who is trying to predict number one, what the rest of this campaign looks like or how he is going to talk about it, or how Democrats are going to talk about him, I think it is a mistake. There is a lot we don't know.
BURNETT: Alyssa --
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, there are so many unknowns. I thank God he is okay. I think that the messaging from the campaign has actually been quite disciplined. I think the memo internally to staff was smart to show that they are taking their safety seriously as well.
I suspect that Trump is going to be on prompter at this. This is a big moment for him at the convention. I think he is going to talk about a message of unity. I think, you know, having Nikki Haley there, bringing her back into the fold. What I would be watching for is this, what are other candidates, people running for office saying at the convention? Are they taking advantage and spiking when the rhetoric in a moment where we need to be really sober and how are Democratic politicians responding?
There is a responsibility on both sides of the aisle to take the temperature down. We don't -- you don't want to see copycats. You don't want to see repeats, but it is a historic moment.
I think Trump gets the gravity of it. I can't see how he wouldn't, and I think he is going to try to fold that into to the convention.
JAMAL SIMMONS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, I just watch these images and I think about so much of my life I've spent at rallies just like this for presidents, for presidential candidates that I've worked for and everybody who is there, you know, you're planning one of these events as I think a couple of us have here, you're thinking about this because you have a Secret Service lead and you're walking through all the different ways that things may happen and what happens to the cars and where people go and all those things.
So for me, the first thing is thank God, he is alive. Thank God that this did not go worse. And then the second thing is, the president, President Biden's reaction to this to me has been so strong because what he has been doing is showing the kind of leadership that I think people want from the president, which is putting the country first, informing the country very directly talking to Donald Trump, even though the two of them clearly don't get along, talking to Donald Trump because he is the victim here and making sure that he is okay, however, that conversation went.
And then leading the conversation with the law enforcement officers, we saw the Situation Room photo. We've seen him sort of talk about this. That's exactly what you want from a president.
There's a very key point here that I just don't want to get lost. When you win, it is still your obligation to care for those who have lost, right? And so the president is modeling the kind of country that we all believe we ought to have, which is that just because you win an election doesn't mean that everyone else doesn't matter anymore.
[19:35:11]
BURNETT: All right, all, thank you very much.
Of course, we are waiting that Oval Office address, which will begin in just moments here, we anticipate from the president.
I want to bring in Dr. Joseph Meyn now, a doctor from Grove City, Pennsylvania. He was standing just 10 yards from Corey Comperatore when he was shot and killed, and Dr. Meyn then helped carry Corey's body out of the bleachers. It was Dr. Meyn's first time attending a Trump rally.
And Doctor, I am -- I am so sorry for what you witnessed, but for the grace of God, but you carried him. You saw him hit, you saw him hit in the head. You saw him die and you took the photos of the bleachers, which is where Corey's body fell when he was hit.
I am warning people these images are extremely graphic, but Corey went to this rally because he supports Trump. He wanted to be there. He went for a nice Sunday afternoon with his family and this is what happened.
Dr. Meyn, can you tell me exactly what happened as you saw it.
DR. JOSEPH MEYN, EYEWITNESS: So, I was attending the rally and I was actually in the folding chairs that were situated on the other side of the barrier just in front of the left bleacher, at the very end of the bleachers to the left of the stage.
You know, I was looking -- I was recording President Trump on my iPhone in my right hand and the way the angle where I was sitting, President Trump's head was covered by the right screen of the teleprompter. So I was leaning in to get a better angle to get pictures of him speaking, but you know, there was information that was being projected on the jumbotron to my left.
So you know, as I was holding my iPhone on my right hand, I looked at the jumbotron and just as I was glancing down from the jumbotron and moving my head from left to right. That's when I noticed gunfire, immediate -- it was a hot, muggy day in Pennsylvania, immediately there was vapor trails of bullets right in front of me just above me.
And then there was there were seven gunshots relatively loud, quickly. All seven gunshots were shot or fired, just over a second or maybe under a second and-a-half and as I was changing my vision and moving my head from right to the left, on my left visual field, I noticed a man in the bleachers you know, where the gunfire was coming from, I assume that the gunfire was coming from behind the bleachers, it sounded about a hundred meters distance.
He was hit in the head and killed instantaneously and as I continued to look from left to right in my right visual field, that's when I noticed that one of the vapor trails from the bullet struck President Trump. Just before the bullet struck him, I mean, the moment before President Trump looked from right to left and I saw the vapor trail of the bullet slice the top right portion of his ear.
And you know, there was some blood and some tissue and what it looked like --
BURNETT: So you actually saw some tissue --
MEYN: Yes, sorry.
BURNETT: Well, I am amazed when you're talking about these vapor trails that you could actually see that and given the heat, I understand it was 93 degrees. That's probably before the heat index. The humidity level, which is an incredible thing for you to describe.
When you talk about seeing Mr. Comperatore killed though, with one of those bullets, when you saw that vapor trail, you then also -- you were -- you managed to well, it seems to capture the moment when his wife realized that he had been shot.
I just want to play what you shared with us play. (VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)
BURNETT: Dr. Meyn, I know that Mr. Comperatore's whole family was there and that he died protecting them. He had literally thrown his body on top of them to protect them.
What did you see in that moment?
MEYN: Well, you know, I was kind of shocked but, you know, muscle memory kicked I ran to provide aid, so I jumped the metal divider barrier between where I was sitting and went into the bleachers.
When I was there, there was -- the Pennsylvania State policemen were already there and there was, I believe, an emergency medical technician and I introduce myself because I'm a surgeon, I can provide, do you need help? And at that point --
[19:40:08]
One, either it was a Trooper, but I believe it was the EMT technician who was there who said the man was dead and at that point I noticed that the Troopers had each picked up an arm or a limb or a leg and they were bringing the body down from the bleachers, so I assisted briefly.
And at that point, an order was given the take the body to a tent behind the bleachers so they can continue to evaluate and I again, asked if they needed assistance and at some point the order was given again, so that why it was confusing to me if they were giving me order but it seemed like it was an order for everyone.
But at that point, a 20 or 30-year-old female approached me and she asked, "Is he going to be okay?" And someone said he is dead and she gave off just a blood curdling wail that I never hear -- I never hope to never hear again in my life, just you could hear her heart breaking and it sounded like her soul was just crushed.
BURNETT: Doctor, thank you very much.
MEYN: It was just a horrific scene.
BURNETT: Thank you, sir.
MEYN: You're welcome.
BURNETT: We are going to take a brief break and we will be back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: We have breaking news.
You are looking at live pictures of the White House where President Biden will be addressing the nation just minutes from now. He will be speaking from the Oval Office about the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump/
MJ lee is OUTFRONT live from the White House.
And MJ, obviously, a significant address, his first since October with the Hamas terror attacks. What do you anticipate the president will say and how long will these remarks be?
MJ LEE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Erin, the fact that the president has chosen a primetime Oval Office address really does speak volumes.
[19:45:07]
They are rare and they are reserved for the most solemn and heaviest moments in this country, and as you said, the last time that he chose a setting like this was back in October, just days after Hamas' attacks on Israel and a Biden official tells us that we should expect a forceful address. He is going to provide an update to the country on the horrifying events of yesterday and also call on the nation to come together to unite and to condemn all kinds of political violence, but it is clear that the president understands that this is no small undertaking.
When we heard him speaking at the White House earlier today, he said that unity is the most elusive goal of all, but that nothing is more important than that right now.
Now, the events of yesterday aside, Erin, we should note the idea that political violence is a threat to American democracy that has been a central theme and a through line in the president's candidacy, in the president's presidency and certainly tonight, we expect him to address the events of what happened to his political rival, but also addressing a country that is still reeling from national trauma and national shock.
BURNETT: For sure, MJ Lee, thank you very much.
Of course, MJ Lee at the White House for that Oval address.
And next now, Democratic Congressman Dean Phillips of Minnesota joins me. He was the only elected official who ran against Joe Biden for the 2024 Democratic nomination and this is his first national interview since CNN's debate between Biden and Trump.
And congressman, you know, I really appreciate your time and I remember our conversations when you were running and your reasons for doing that, and now, here we are in this tense and sad moment for this country and obviously, awaiting an Oval Office address from the president of the United States, talking about an assassination attempt on his rival.
What should the president's message be tonight in this moment?
REP. DEAN PHILLIPS (D-MN): Well, Erin, I think the president's great superpower is compassion and empathy and I expect both of those to be shown loud and clear tonight.
I think this is a magnificent opportunity for him, for our country, even for former President Trump, who I send my thoughts too as well, to actually do something that this country needs more than ever and it is set aside the nonsense, stop the insanity, and actually show some compassion and empathy for a country that is really hurting right now.
I expect to see that tonight and I am pulling for the president to make a wonderful, remarkable, inspiring and compassionate speech.
BURNETT: You know, you've been hosting a series of gatherings in Minnesota with Democrats and Republicans, Congressman. You've been trying to -- trying to create that unity yourself. What has that shown you?
PHILLIPS: I have to say, I've been doing a series called "Common Ground" for years now because I ran for Congress in no small part to try to prevent what we saw happen yesterday in Pennsylvania.
The series called "Common Ground." We do it in conjunction with Braver Angels, which I encourage people to take a look at, Democrats and Republicans actually working together to build bridges and find common ground.
We sit at a table, six Democrats, six Republicans. I do it as much as we can. For a couple of hours, we have a meal, talk about policy, share life stories, and at the end, we go around the table and everybody shares a little perspective on what they derive from this experience.
Recently we had a young woman, Emily, looks across the table at Dave and says, Dave, when you drove up in your pickup, your F15 with a Trump sticker in the parking lot, I almost got back in my car and left. I didn't even want to sit at a table with you.
But she said, I am so glad I stayed because I had never sat with a Trumper and I learned something and you're a good guy. Goes around the table to Dave, he looks at Emily, says Emily, when you drove up in your Prius, I wanted to run it over. Everybody laughed, of course. And then he said, but I've got to say I've never sat with a progressive before and you really changed my mind about liberals, Democrats, and at that moment, Erin, the dyed-in-the-wool Trump or the bleeding heart liberal, stood up in front of our table and they hugged, they embraced.
And I am here to tell everybody watching right now that we can do this. But everybody has got to play a role, that's why I do the series and I am calling on every single one of my colleagues tonight to initiate something similar in their districts, so we can get to know each other, find our common ground, and actually inject some optimism into a country that needs it.
BURNETT: I hope they will, and that optimism is so desperately needed. You know, as I said, this is the first time you've done a national interview since the debate and since then, of course, in the Democratic Party, there have been vocal calls from donors, from Democrats for the president to step aside.
And now, the majority has just spent a few, right, but every day more, right, and you've had big high-profile names, people like George Clooney.
You have been very quiet. You posted on social media the day after the debate, though Congressman speak only if it improves upon the silence.
So you're speaking tonight. Obviously, choosing to break your silence. What do you think Joe Biden should do?
PHILLIPS: Well, Erin, look, it is a conversation I am willing to have. I don't think today is the time to have that. It is a day of mourning, I think the country is in crisis.
[19:50:06]
The president will be speaking in just a few moments. I made my case to our country, tried to nine months ago because I thought this would be a matter of when not if. Here we are in this conversation right now. I'd love to come back on after our country has some time to reflect and express some compassion for one another, and then I'd be happy to share my perspective about where we are at right now.
BURNETT: All right, well, Congressman Phillips, I very much appreciate your time tonight. Thank you.
PHILLIPS: Thank you, Erin.
BURNETT: All right, and we are just a few moments away from that Oval Office address. Our breaking news coverage continues now with AC 360.
[19:50:50]
