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Laura Coates Live

Secret Service Director Resigns Over Trump Assassination Attempt. Aired 11p-12a ET

Aired July 23, 2024 - 23:00   ET

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

[23:00:00]

BOMANI JONES, ESPN PODCAST HOST, "THE RIGHT TIME WITH BOMANI JONES": And to make a point that we don't make nearly enough, which is this -- only the airlines can ruin your day and leave you stuck and lose your bags and everything else, and they don't ever have to give you your money back. I can't think of any other business in the world where they can mess up everything that's going for you and you don't at least get 50 percent off.

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR: Paging Secretary Pete.

JONES: That's right. You guys need to talk to him about that.

PHILLIP: Much more about that. Everyone, thank you so much for joining us and thank you for watching us. "NewsNight" State of the Race is done. "Laura Coates Live" starts right now.

LAURA COATES, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the scenario Republicans dreamed up, turns out it might be a nightmare they can't shake. Tonight on "Laura Coates Live". Okay, so riddle me this. How is it that a campaign that spent literally months arguing that President Biden was not fit to run and should not be running, appears to now be caught flat-footed when he decides to get out of the race?

You really didn't follow what that thread could possibly mean? It's not like Kamala Harris came out of nowhere, right? I mean, she is the sitting vice president. Her name, it was on the bumper stickers. And for months, candidates guessed that a vote for Biden was a vote for Harris.

So, what was the Republican political strategy to perhaps combat the possibility that it might, in fact, be her? They appear to be starting from scratch, and the itch seems crudely familiar. Step one, find a nickname. But Trump hasn't even decided on one as of yet. He seems to go back and forth between insulting her as laughing Kamala and lying Kamala.

Step two, define her, or at least try to define her. In the first 72 hours since Biden decided to not run for re-election, Republicans have been all over the map on how to define her exactly, including debating whether to ignorantly attack her as some DEI candidate rather than acknowledging her formidable resume is worthwhile.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. BYRON DONALDS (R-FL): I don't think we need to even say stuff like that. Don't think so. Look, Kamala Harris --

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Why is that?

DONALDS: Because her record is abysmal.

REP. LAUREN BOEBERT (R-CO): We are just repeating what Joe Biden himself said, and I dropped the receipts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: Well, Vice President Harris, for her part, she seems to be paying none of this any mind. She hit the ground running today as the de facto nominee. There was so much buzz around her first rally in Milwaukee. You could hear the Beyonce tune, right, "Freedom" that has been apparently allowed for her to use, as well. There was so much momentum and energy and crowd size, they actually had to move it to a larger venue. And her message, well, it was exactly what the crowd seemed to want to hear.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Donald Trump wants to take our country backward, but we are not going back. We are not going back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: Look, there's no doubt the Democrats are undeniably energized. They now see a race that was dismissed to them as somehow out of reach. And suddenly now it appears to be a jump ball. And look at the latest national poll. It is indeed a competitive race. Hillary Clinton tonight putting it this way, "The next 15 weeks will be like nothing this country has ever experienced politically. But have no doubt, this is a race Democrats can and must win."

But if that's the shot, well, here comes the chaser. In a memo, the Trump campaign points out the policy issues like inflation and immigration that dragged Biden down in the first place won't be erased overnight by a new nominee saying, quote, "Before long, Harris' honeymoon will end and those will refocus on her role as Biden's partner and co-pilot."

Well, I want to bring in the mayor of Milwaukee, Cavalier Johnson. He met Harris at the airport upon her arrival to Milwaukee. Mayor Johnson, so good to see you, we were all in your city just last week. How are you?

CAVALIER JOHNSON, MAYOR OF MILWAUKEE: I'm doing great. Nice to see you again.

COATES: Well, you were at the rally today, and in the crowd, I mean, they sounded energized completely. Do you have an impression that there is more enthusiasm now for Harris than there was for Biden? JOHNSON: Well, let me tell you this, that this was certainly a shot in

the arm. I was an enthusiastic supporter of President Biden's from the beginning and remained until the end. I respected his decision to stay in the race, respected his decision to bow out of the race.

But Vice President Harris' presence on this stage and in this city and on and in this state has totally changed the game, has totally energized Democrats on the ground here in Milwaukee, throughout Wisconsin.

(23:05:06)

Like we are really pumped. We are amped. We are psyched to see Vice President Kamala Harris take this all the way to Election Day.

COATES: I mean, we remember that Biden only won Wisconsin by a little over, I think, 20,000 votes back in 2020. And most of the recent state polling has shown that Biden and Trump were tied. Now, of course, this is a different ballgame now. Biden's not on the top of the ticket. But one of Biden's biggest vulnerabilities was the cost of living. Does Harris inherit that association and perhaps liability?

JOHNSON: Well, I think what we saw in the Biden administration was that inflation in the United States was in a much better position than what inflation has been in developed countries all around the world. So, if we're talking about, you know, President Biden's record and reflecting on Kamala Harris, the fact of the matter is that the U.S. is in a much stronger position than countries all around the world.

The question I would ask, talking about President Biden, folks ask questions about his age, is now Donald Trump is actually the oldest presidential nominee in American history. Those are the questions I think folks should be asking now.

COATES: I certainly think they will be asking that question. And also, it'll be curious if the same issue that Biden had in the economy, which was, on the one hand, touting his successes, on the other hand, trying to deal with what I call the feelonomics problem. Do people feel as though they had the success that they could trickle down to themselves? That'll be the challenge to convey that same sentiment here.

Also, what's challenging, though, Mayor, for me to try to comprehend is this accusation, this ignorant attack of Harris as somehow a D.E.I. hire, ignoring the qualifications that she has. Listen to what Republican Wyoming Congresswoman Harriet Hageman had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. HARRIET HAGEMAN (R-WY): I mean, intellectually, just really kind of the bottom of the barrel. I think she was a D.E.I. hire.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: I want to see that barrel, because if the bottom is a former attorney general, former senator and vice president, that's a hell of a barrel, Mayor.

JOHNSON: It's quite the barrel. And look, Kamala Harris' record speaks for itself, right? She's got a history of sticking up for the little guy, of fighting for the people. This vice president has a history of taking on fraudsters, of taking on perpetrators, of taking on criminals and cheats, right? That's why she is the best position to prosecute the case against Donald Trump.

And if Republicans want to talk about D.E.I., well, on January 20th, 2025, Kamala Harris is going to make them understand that D.E.I. means duly elected incumbent. And that's directly from my friend Mayor Brandon Scott in Baltimore.

COATES: I love a good -- what is it called? What do you call it? An acronym? Thank you. So, you're going to say an anagram, an acronym. Look, it's 11:07, okay? Mayor Johnson, thank you for joining me today. I appreciate it.

JOHNSON: Thank you.

COATES: With me now, Liam Donovan, a Republican strategist and former National Republican Senatorial Committee aide. Also, with me now, Ameshia Cross, a Democratic strategist and former Obama campaign advisor.

Glad to have you both here. First of all, I want to focus on this idea that it seems like there was no plan for the Republicans to try to go at effectively the possibility that it could have been someone other than Biden. Was the plan really just to dangle the possibility that he should not be there, and that was the end of the consideration?

LIAM DONOVAN, FORMER NATIONAL REPUBLICAN SENATORIAL: Well, you mentioned the dream turning into a nightmare. I think this was your right-wing uncle's fever dream playing out at every step of the way over the last month. Biden got up there and fell apart on the debate stage. They were going to come around and switch him out.

But the expectation was always that it was going to be somebody else. It was going to be Michelle Obama. It was going to be Gavin Newsom. It was going to be Gretchen Whitmer. I think Republicans are still struggling with the idea that Democrats not only have rallied around Kamala Harris, but they seem to be really excited about this.

And in an environment where Republicans over recent years are mostly happy when Democrats are sad, I think there's a fundamentally disorienting experience to watch as the plan comes to fruition, and wait, everybody's happy.

It's like the Grinch stole Christmas, and the Hoos are singing around the Christmas tree. I think that's what's thrown them. There's a messaging vacuum right now. Into that space, you're having people coming out in front of the mics and saying really dumb things. I do think you're starting to see the real attacks start to percolate.

David McCormick's messaging in Pennsylvania, or some of the ads you're going to start to see, and I think that will be followed. But Speaker Johnson is right when saying Republicans are stepping on their own messaging, and actually it's the best favor that you could do for Kamala Harris is to insult her in personal terms because people don't think like that. They're being reintroduced to her.

COATES: Wait, the best they can do is to attack her personally?

DONOVAN: Or Democrats. No, no, I'm saying --

COATES: But what's the message for Republicans, to be able to suggest that -- what is the issue?

DONOVAN: You can't assume that people consume the same right-wing media that files her away in the way that you think they are as a Republican member.

[23:10:01]

You have to be reintroducing them to her record. She was the 50-verse vote for the Biden spending that brought on inflation. She was at the borders are at a time when the border's out of control. These are the sorts of messages I think you're going to see them hit her on.

Every position she took out of step with the mainstream in 2019 in the context of the 2020 primaries, that's what you're going to see over and over. But stay away from the personality stuff. That's only going to blow back for you and Republicans.

COATES: I mean, Speaker Johnson seems to agree with that philosophy of the policy is not the personality. But then again, tell a baby not to cry in these politics. I mean, already talking about a DEI hire, I have no idea what that is supposed to mean other than the acronym that was used.

But I do wonder from your perspective, Ameshia, I mean, this is somebody who is likely going to inherit some of the ill will, if not all, towards Biden as being a part of the ticket. This one that Biden had to contend with in terms of his association with former President Barack Obama. Are there obvious Achilles heels that Harris has to contend with and she could distinguish herself from her, well, her running mate of yesteryear?

AMESHIA CROSS, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Absolutely. And I think to your point, it might have been a smarter track for them to go after policy. However, I would argue that they are going to stay in a very uncomfortable lane for a lot of people in the DEI attacks, in the black womanhood attacks, because they love to concert in racism.

That is where they get their excitement from, even though it isolates many minorities across this country, as well as younger populations who are not comfortable with that language at all. I think that what we're seeing here is someone who, in Kamala Harris, knew exactly the -- the underpinnings of being on this ticket, originally, because she saw the polls.

Americans largely do not like the current economic status. And the mayor was right. We stand as a -- exemplar to the world when it comes to bringing the economy back from the pandemic. But moms going to the grocery stores are not comparing their tickets now to what European moms have. They are looking at the cost today versus the cost five, six years ago.

I think that she's going to have to be able to wrap around an economic message of progress and growth, but also actually speak to where people are. Lean in on the fact that folks are having a really hard time with the cost of living right now. Rent increases, things like that. Bringing that to bear, having those voices also on the campaign and talking about strategies, working with communities to alleviate that pain.

Those are things she's going to have to do. We're already seeing her move forward in some of the -- some of the agenda items, specifically around what we see with the with the protests related to Israel and Gaza. She is not going to be at that joint session of Congress. Obviously, she's going to have a separate meeting with Netanyahu, but she's not going to be at that joint session.

COATES: Is that problematic for her not to attend? And there are some who are going to characterize that as a boycott. And there are those who are actively saying they're not attending because they will do it as a boycott.

She has been intimated in some respects that maybe it elevates her, that she's not somebody simply in a perfunctory role who is just overseeing, but instead she'll meet personally with Netanyahu, a world leader. How do you think she needs to address that point of her absence?

CROSS: Well, I think it's just that. First and foremost, she said she had another engagement. But beyond that, I think that it is she is having this meeting with him one on one. If she is to be the next leader of the free world, those are the types of meetings that she's going to have to engage in.

As a vice president, she did not have to do that regularly. Of course, she met with nation state leaders across the globe. But to be the person who may, in fact, be the next commander in chief, it matters that she is exemplifying that power and that strength and that positioning right now.

COATES: And that's precisely what they're going to try to attack her on if they were to focus on policy and that being second in command is not the same thing as being first in command. And that's interesting because there's suggestions, you have --somehow she was running the country because of cognitive decline of President Biden, which there's no evidence of.

But how do you focus on the issues of policy when there is an appetite for so many to go against her and attack her on culture wars issues, on race and gender? There are echoes of birtherism, although albeit for different reasons, but that same philosophy behind it. How do you get the Republicans to focus on those issues and not alienate, as Ameshia is talking about, those who have no appetite for that, well, malarkey? DONOVAN: The campaign has to set the tone. I think that's part of the

issue here is they've been awfully quiet out of the gate. And I don't think that's because they were unprepared. But I do think they're trying to get their bearings before they get the message out. I think that's part of the key is getting people on the same page. I don't think that the sort of talking points are going out to the surrogates or going out to the Hill. That needs to change, I will say this.

The Trump campaign over the last nine, 10 months has been the most organized and disciplined it has been. The candidate is always going to be the candidate. But even for Donald Trump, he has been trying to step away from some of these landmines. He's listening to his campaign. And I think that needs to come from the top. And we'll have to see if they can pull that off for the next 15 weeks.

COATES: I mean, also, this time is so crucial to expand the tent for both Republicans and Democrats. And listen to what Susan Rice had to say when she was addressing this ignorant claim of Harris being a DEI candidate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUSAN RICE, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: That's extremely offensive and dehumanizing.

[23:15:01]

And let me tell you what it means when somebody calls a person like me or anybody else a DEI hire. What that means is if you are a woman of any background, if you are a person of color, if you are an immigrant, if you are LGBTQ, if you are disabled, if you're a religious minority, if you're a veteran and you achieved success, rose to a position of leadership, you didn't deserve it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: She expanded the tent in the notion of who you're thinking about for DEI. Is that going to be problematic for Republicans?

CROSS: I think it will be problematic for Republicans long-term. But more importantly, it's going to be a real tough spot in some of these battleground states. Because I do think that Republicans have been using the DEI framework, the anti-DEI framework for quite some time now, eliminating it across multiple states and colleges and universities.

We saw it be led to the forceful removal of the first black president of Harvard University. We also saw those attacks on Secretary Lloyd Austin. You name the black successful person, they've been attacked as a DEI hire, irrespective of all the work they did to get to the positions they are.

I think it's really frustrating to watch. But I also feel like America has awoken around what this is. It is being used as a pseudonym for the N-word when we're talking about black people. But we're also seeing it attacks on white women, as well. We just saw it with the Secret Service --the head of the Secret Service. She was described as one, too. I think that there is something to be said about a push to isolate women in minority groups. And this conversation that expands the definition of DEI to also include the people that it does. Veterans, disabled populations, immigrant populations. You're attacking so many people that are not heterosexual white males under one umbrella. And I don't think America is going to sail for that.

COATES: You're shifting in your seat. Why?

DONOVAN: I think it is a difficult minefield to walk through at a time when the incentive structures on the right are geared towards some bombastic rhetoric that doesn't play to the sorts of voters that are necessary to win this election.

I will say I think at a time when President Trump is banking on making significant inroads with people that don't typically vote Republican, with diverse audiences, it absolutely has to be something they're attuned to. They need to watch their message. And I think if they can keep it to policy, that's their best opportunity.

COATES: Well, we'll see how it unfolds. Thank you, both of you, so much. Listen, President Biden is back at the White House preparing to speak to the American people directly for the first time since he dropped out of the race. But what will he say and how will it be received? I'll ask Obama's former speechwriter and the White House bureau chief for "The Washington Post", next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:22:05]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LYNDON B. JOHNSON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I do not believe that I should devote an hour or a day of my time to any personal partisan causes or to any duties other than the awesome duties of this office, the presidency of your country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: Well, that speech helped define the legacy of President Lyndon B. Johnson. He decided not to run for reelection back in 1968 after division in discord from the Vietnam War and civil rights movements swept across the country.

Tomorrow night, a similar speech could define President Biden's political legacy when he reveals why he's withdrawing from the race. He is the first president since LBJ to not seek reelection. The president arriving back in Washington tonight after recovering from COVID.

With me now, Toluse Olorunnipa, White House bureau chief of "The Washington Post", and Terry Szuplat, who is here as well, a former speechwriter for President Obama and author of the upcoming book, "Say It Well". Glad to have both of you here.

Now, we got the sort of political Dear John letter that came on Sunday. It was not lengthy by any stretch. We heard his voice yesterday on that campaign headquarters call and moment. But Tolu, this will be the first time we're going to hear President Biden speaking to the American audience about his decision. And I wonder, what are you hearing about the nature and substance of what he will say?

TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA, WHITE HOUSE BUREAU CHIEF, "THE WASHINGTON POST": Well, first, the context of the president's speech. Just a couple of weeks ago, he was being accused of being too selfish, putting his self-interest ahead of the party, ahead of the country. That has totally flipped on his head.

Now, a lot of the people in the Democratic Party are saying that this is an act of selflessness. He is a statesman, and I imagine that's what you're going to hear from him as he speaks to the country, talking about his legacy, talking about what he's done over the last three and a half years.

And also putting it in the context of his 50 years in public life and talking about the importance of saving the democracy and the types of things that were a part of his reelection pitch are now going to be a part of his legacy pitch and talking about how he wants to make sure that his legacy is remembered as someone who stood up for democracy, stood up for these various ideals.

But at the same time, he has to remember that he is now a lame duck, and that means that he is going to be competing against history, competing against his own vice president, who's going to be soaking up more of the spotlight. So, this may be the last opportunity that he has, this huge platform, to give his message, because very soon, the spotlight is going to be shifting much more onto Kamala Harris, and he's not going to have the same kind of focus that he has had as president thus far.

COATES: I mean, Terry, it's a needle to thread, on the one hand, wanting to have your legacy be known on your own terms and then not be boisterous, bombastic, or narcissistic about your approach to relaying it to people. And as Toluse rightly points out, he is a lame duck.

[23:25:00]

But he also, because his vice president will be the Democratic nominee, he's aware that his words could have an impact on her own candidacy. What would you write for this president to say?

TERRY SZUPLAT, FORMER OBAMA SPEECHWRITER: Sure. Well, you know, when I was in the White House, I always sort of struggled when folks on the outside told us how to write our speeches. Because we were in there, the speechwriters, President Biden's speechwriters know him best. They know his voice, which is really the job of a speechwriter, to make sure you're channeling the voice of the person you're writing for.

I mean, I've always, you know, speeches are stories. Every speech is a story. And I think this one probably has four big parts. I think the opening part is he'll recount, I would expect him to recount his record of achievement. And they're significant over the past four years. And as Toluse said, the past 50 years.

I would expect him to secondly describe in very personal terms why he is doing this. Obviously, he said in a letter the other day why he did it. But now we can see him. We can look at him. We can hear his voice. He can explain to us why he's doing this.

Third, you know, he still has six months as president. A lot can happen in six months, both on the campaign and presidents can sometimes have great achievements in six months. So, I think he'll probably lay out what his goals are for the next six months.

And then I think, finally, he'll frame this moment in American history. He'll frame this election as a defining moment for our democracy and expect a forceful endorsement and defense and support for his vice president, Kamala Harris.

COATES: I mean, you've got Truman, LBJ, and now, of course, Biden, different reasons. And, of course, historians could quibble with it truly being magnanimous or not. There's greater context surrounding why LBJ and, of course, Vietnam and all the things were going on.

But when you look at this, the idea of a lame duck, I mean, is he sort of unshackled now as a lame duck, even though his running mate is now going to be the candidate? Will the executive orders be coming into play? Will there be more action, a little bit more of a, you know, a bite and a bark?

SZUPLAT: Well, he doesn't have to think about reelection anymore, so he is somewhat unshackled. He can do the types of things that may be politically risky, but because he's not running for reelection, he's not facing the voters anymore, he could, you know, do some things with executive actions.

I do expect us to see some of that, but we also have to remember that he's done quite a lot of executive actions over the past three and a half years because he's had, especially over the last two years, he's had a Congress that has not been willing to pass very much legislation, very tight margins over the course of his presidency. And so, he's resorted to executive action over and over and over again.

And so, some of that has already been exhausted. There are some things that he hasn't yet done, and some people who are more progressive have been pushing him to do, things like declaring a climate emergency, for example. And he could do those things. There are a lot of things on foreign policy that he may do, as well. So, I wouldn't be surprised if we see him using his pen and his phone in the last six months of his presidency.

COATES: A new type of bully pulpit, perhaps, one that's a little bit unbridled. I do wonder, from your perspective, Terry, I mean, with him deciding to essentially retire at the end of this term, there are those who are in his peer group immediately who are stepping down from leadership positions, just to name a few. Is this an end of a kind of era? Is that part of the legacy that this will mark?

SZUPLAT: I think, you know, one of the things I talk about in the book is sort of what makes a great leader, what makes a great speaker. And so, often we hear speeches that are not backed by words and deeds. Ted Sorensen, JFK's speechwriter, famously said that a speech, even an eloquent and elevated speech, is still just a speech. Saying it so doesn't make it so.

So, another way to think about that is, you know, words have to be backed up by deeds. And so, I think what we're seeing right now is a leader, Joe Biden, actually backing up his words with deeds. We read the words, yes, in the letter. He's actually backing up with most profound deed of all, something that leaders in this country and around the world almost never do, which is to give up power.

That is a profound act of sacrifice, whether you're Republican or Democrat. That is a profound act. It's rare. And I think it immediately sort of takes Joe Biden out of the sort of partisan politics, the daily fights that we're surrounded by. And I think it has the potential to elevate him. I think his speech tomorrow could be one of the more significant speeches in American history, because, again, it's being matched by deeds, a deed that is so profound.

COATES: I'll be curious to see. It'll be a kind of a Rorschach test. I won't be looking for his mention of cognitive decline or anything else. He, of course, I was unlucky to mention any of that as his reason for wanting to step aside. But you're right. This is a particular point in American history. And the entire world is really watching what's happening in this country.

SZUPLAT: We're going to hear something tomorrow that we've rarely heard.

COATES: We certainly will. Thank you both so much. Well, how is Trump handling this big campaign shakeup? We'll get inside his mind with the one and only Anthony Scaramucci, plus the Secret Service director resigning today as we get the first look at body cam video from officers who were on the scene right after an assassination attempt

[23:30:00]

LAURA COATES, CNN ANCHOR: -- the Secret Service director resigning today as we get the first look at body cam video from officers who were on the scene right after an assassination attempt on Donald Trump.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:34:38]

COATES: Well, tonight, Donald Trump testing out a new nickname for his new presidential rival. Trump calling Vice President Kamala Harris different versions of Lion Kamala, apparently on Truth Social at least four times, and that's just since midnight. Trump also vows to debate her, but he wants to switch networks from ABC to Fox News.

[23:35:00]

It's quite clear the ticket shakeup is forcing the Trump campaign to maybe rethink their campaign strategy, instead of going after another white man of a similar age, he must campaign against a woman of color who was 20 years younger than him. History shows who the tax can be viewed as downright sexist and racist.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE: What we want to do is to replenish the Social Security Trust Fund.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND CURRENT PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (R): I purposely mix up a name like Birdbrain. You know who Birdbrain is, right, Nikki? With Nancy Pelosi. I put them in because they're interchangeable in my -- In the wings, they've got a local racist Democrat district attorney in Atlanta who is doing everything in her power to indict me over an absolutely perfect phone call.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: Well, joining me now, Anthony Scaramucci, former White House Communications Director under Trump. Anthony, good to see you tonight. A lot has changed since the last time you and I spoke. There's now somebody who is going to be the new Democratic nominee in Kamala Harris. And frankly, just playing those clips just now, we saw how Trump campaigned against Hillary Clinton. How do you think he'll handle campaigning against Kamala Harris?

ANTHONY SCARAMUCCI, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: So, I don't think he's figured it out yet. And I think when you look at the data, she's at the tail end of the baby boomer or a Gen Z person. And, you know, like it or not, we've lost about 20 million baby boomers since the 2016 election. At the same time, about 40 million Gen Z-ers have become eligible for voting.

And so, this mix has his team very upset because going up against an 81-year-old, you could do that type of behavior. But now you've got Gen Z interested in the game.

COATES: I think Gen X, yeah.

SCARAMUCCI: I'm sorry. I meant to say Gen X. But the point I'm making is that the demographics have now changed in terms of who is going to be voting in the election. And so, they have to redo their calculus. He's spinning a Rubik's cube of like word salads in his head right now. And he can't find the right buttons to push.

And he's got people like Susie Wiles saying you better pull it out on the racist and the sexist stuff, because you'll have legions of women, miles deep, voting, waiting eight to 12 hours to vote for Kamala Harris. So, he's not there yet, Laura. I don't think he's panicking. That's not his personality. I think he's more worried about J.D. Vance. COATES: Well, speaking of J.D. Vance, I mean, when she ascended to the

top of the ticket, it obviously changed that dynamic. And "The Atlantic" reports that Trump campaign officials acknowledge that choosing J.D. Vance was, quote, "-- meant to run up the margins with the base in a blowout rather than persuade swing voters in a nail biter." So, he is saying that he still would have chosen Vance. But do you think that he has any kind of sort of buyer's remorse on his selection?

SCARAMUCCI: Well, it's a hundred percent he does. I know his personality very well. And there's three quick things. He absolutely hated that acceptance speech at the convention. If you're going to work for Mr. Trump, it's one minute on you, 35 minutes on Mr. Trump. And that wasn't that speech. So, he hated that.

Number two, Trump sees himself as a casting director. And these are actors on a stage. And J.D. Vance doesn't look the part. He doesn't sound the part. You know, I mean, his nickname now is like just dull Vance. He's just very dull up there. And there's one thing that Donald Trump hates is dull.

You could be behind the scenes like Mike Pence and you can look like a senior statesman and get away with it with Donald Trump. But you can't be dull and you can't be ineffectual, which is J.D. Vance's display right now over the last 10 or so days.

COATES: I don't understand why that wasn't clear that that would have been his persona, as you describe, prior to now. This was a very lengthy V.P. veep stakes. Why is it just occurring to me that might be an issue?

SCARAMUCCI: So, it's a really good question. Do not underestimate the impact of that assassination attempt. And it was a very unfortunate thing. And I'm glad the, you know, Secret Service has, you know, admitted their faults and she's resigned over it. It's a disaster for the country. But don't underestimate what happened to him, the trauma of all that, and then how certain things could have probably fallen by the wayside.

At the same time, he was getting a power surge in the polls. And so, Vance was sort of that double down on the base mode as opposed to picking somebody like a Nikki Haley that would have spread him out and increase the likelihood of a victory.

So, he's in a box right now. And he is, again, remember, never forget this about Donald Trump. He is a television performer and he's an actor and he does not like his supporting actor right now. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out over the next couple of months.

[23:40:00]

COATES: You know, the transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg, and a possible V.P. pick. His name is on this, spoke to our own Kaitlan Collins earlier tonight about the debates. Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PETE BUTTIGIEG, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: That would be okay.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: So, you think he is scared to debate her?

BUTTIGIEG: Yeah.

COLLINS: Why do you think so?

BUTTIGIEG: Because I think she is going to be so effective and she's going to lay bare his inability to talk about anything but himself and his past.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: Do you agree?

SCARAMUCCI: I do. And he has to debate her and it's not going to be on Fox and maybe on another network other than ABC. But he has no choice but to debate her. It'll demolish him if he doesn't do that. And it's also his egos in it, Laura. So, he's definitely going to debate her.

COATES: Well, we'll see. He is vowing to do so, at least on Truth Social. We'll see what that debate looks like. She's not playing any punches expecting that split screen. Anthony Scaramucci, thank you so much.

SCARAMUCCI: Good to be here.

PHILLIP: Well, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking to Congress tomorrow, already in Washington, D.C., tonight. But some key people will be skipping out on that particular speech, including Vice President Harris. So, what does her absence signal, if anything? We'll talk about it after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:45:36]

COATES: Well, Vice President Kamala Harris will not preside over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address to Congress tomorrow, though she will meet with him separately later this week. A Harris aide saying the V.P. will be traveling to Indianapolis for a previously scheduled event.

Joining me now is CNN political and national security analyst David Sanger. He's the author of "New Cold Wars: China's Rise, Russia's Invasion and America's Struggle to Save the West". David, good to have you here.

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Great to be here.

COATES: We've got House Republican leader is saying that her absence is akin to a boycott. Do you read anything into her absence?

SANGER: Well, first of all, she does have this other campaign event to go to, but I read a little bit into it. I mean, if she wanted to be there and hear this message, she would. There's been no more divisive figure with the administration than Benjamin Netanyahu, not only over the war in Gaza.

She's been on the phone with many of these conversations that the president has engaged with them, so she understands the degree of tension. But she's also got to meet him at the White House because she's got to begin to do things that look presidential, as if she is separated from the president's presence here. And so, she's meeting him separately, and then he's going to Mar-a-Lago to meet Donald Trump.

COATES: Is there daylight between Kamala Harris' viewpoints and stance on the Israel-Hamas war, or Gaza specifically, from President Biden?

SANGER: We don't know yet, and I suspect that in the campaign, in the interviews, we're going to begin to flesh that out. She gave a speech that was very sympathetic to the Palestinians who had been under attack by the Israelis, saying many innocents died in the effort to go root out Hamas. She gave it a little more forcefully and powerfully than the president did, but that doesn't mean that there's a big difference in their view.

The problem that she has and the president has is they're in precisely the difficult spot in the middle, which is to say that by canceling just one order of weaponry from Israel that they did not want used against civilians -- 2000-pound bombs, the administration enraged the pro-Israel crowd.

But in general, the pro-Palestinian crowd thinks that the United States shouldn't be providing Netanyahu with weapons at all to conduct the war in Gaza. So, they're in a tough spot, and she's going to have to define where on that spectrum she fits.

COATES: Not only will the American voters want to have that definition clear and quickly, world leaders are looking at, obviously, the distinction between what a Harris administration would look like and a Trump administration. How do you think the world would see those distinctions?

SANGER: Well, it depends who in the world you're talking about. If you're Vladimir Putin, your interest here is pretty clear. You want President Trump to return to office. The president has said he would solve the Ukraine war in 24 hours. I'm not entirely sure how you do that, Laura.

COATES: No one's clear, and I don't think that Trump knows either.

SANGER: Well, I suspect he's got a pretty good idea, which is that you go to the Ukrainians and say you're going to let the Russians take the part of the country they already have, which is roughly 20 percent.

And if you don't do that, we're going to cut off your aid, right? But if you do, do that, you'll get continued aid. So, my guess is he'll try to do something very different than what President Biden and Vice President Harris has done, which is to say nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine. But there are other areas.

Is Vice President Harris going to be as tough on cutting off semi- conductors and advanced equipment to China, the China containment effort? Is she going to be as vocal as President Biden was in saying that if China invades Taiwan, the U.S. will send troops?

Is she going to work as hard on the Japan-South Korea relationship? Or is she going to promote NATO as much as he did? Remember, for Joe Biden, this came out of his soul. This is what he trained on for decades in the Senate. She's just had a different experience. And the question is, can she step into that?

COATES: Well, these are outstanding questions and I mean them in both sense of the word.

[23:50:03]

They are yet to be answered and great questions to have asked. Thank you so much, David.

SANGER: Thank you.

COATES: Well, we're getting a first look at the immediate aftermath of the Trump rally shooting, this time from the roof where the shooter was taken down. We'll walk you through the video and the new timeline, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:54:46]

COATES: The Pennsylvania state police commissioner revealing stunning details about Trump's assassination attempt, like how much time the would-be assassin was in position on the roof before he fired at Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTOPHER PARIS, PENNSYLVANIA STATE POLICE COMMISSIONER: I would say, at most, two and a half to three minutes before that first shot rung out.

[23:55:03]

UNKNOWN: And when he --

PARIS: When they were notified in the interim, still remains under investigation.

UNKNOWN: Right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: There's also new body cam video released tonight by Senator Chuck Grassley, and it shows the immediate aftermath of the shooting. You can see local officers and Secret Service personnel discussing the tragic incident while standing on the roof where the shooter was shot dead.

I want to bring in retired FBI supervisory special agent Daniel Brunner. Thank you for joining us this evening. I mean, we're hearing the would-be assassin was on the roof for roughly three minutes before he began firing his weapon. I mean, bystanders saw him and hollered. What should have happened, and why wasn't Trump removed from the stage?

DANIEL BRUNNER, RETIRED FBI SUPERVISORY SPECIAL AGENT: Well, that's an excellent question. There's -- I think, a clear failure of communication, in my opinion, in what happened here between the civilians seeing the shooter on the roof and they obviously, clearly communicated that to local law enforcement. And according to the Pennsylvania State Police, that communication was then relayed to the Secret Service Command Post.

What happened after that, that is really the question and what the investigation is going to reveal, why wasn't this something acted upon and where the failure of communication and the failure to act really indicated.

COATES: I think of that communication umbrella as quite large at this point in time. Let me ask you, because the Secret Service director, Cheatle, has now resigned. It's been 10 days since that assassination attempt, and you say that the culture needs to change at the Secret Service. What do you mean?

BRUNNER: Well, clearly, that there is indications from their own people that the Secret Service isn't a place that is really desirable. It's ranked very low on the locations of federal employees on their yearly climate survey.

So, clearly something is wrong there. If there is a failure -- a communication failure, these many failures which occurred at the incident at the site in Pennsylvania, clearly something needs to change, and the director clearly had a very poor outing in front of Congress, and her resignation was definitely needed and was absolutely called for.

COATES: One of the few instances of true bipartisanship and unity, both sides calling for that to happen. Also, "The Washington Post" reporting tonight, the Secret Service is encouraging the Trump campaign to stop holding outdoor rallies. Is that enough of a course correction? Will that ultimately lead to safer results? Is that the only criteria?

BRUNNER: Only time will really tell if moving indoors is the right correction. I believe that, you know, with the looming threat or the threat from foreign governments such as Iran against former President Trump, I think it's only prudent to move it indoors until a new idea of what occurred in Pennsylvania is resolved.

That investigation is completed -- to find out what failures occurred and correct the course of action, so that everything is done correctly from here on out. Eventually, I think we will get back to outdoor rallies, but I think an indoor move is the right choice. COATES: I wonder if that will extend to not only his candidacy and campaign, but others who are having rallies, including now, the presumptive Democratic nominee. Donald Trump, tonight, is saying that his team, they had been requesting more manpower for security at events. Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP (on the phone): I know that our people have been asking for more people consistently and not getting them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: Well, Cheatle has testified that manpower is not the only resource, but will this fuel conspiracies after he said apparently that he had been requesting that manpower and had essentially been denied?

BRUNNER: So, people who I'm close with, who have information from the Secret Service, I've heard that, too, according to obviously from news sources like yourself, that there was a request. And my understanding is, obviously the hard area, which is where the stage is located, that was protected by Secret Service.

And the secondary area, where the roof is located, would have been the secondary area. That was not covered by magnetometers. But normally, counter-surveillance units by U.S. Secret Service, who are trained to look for such suspicious activity, such as this individual, and would know how to act, were not present, as the director stated.

Resources were provided, which indicates to me that they resourced that out to local and state law enforcement, which are extremely capable officers, and I've worked with many of them. But, why wasn't there counter-surveillance by U.S. Secret Service, which would have eased the communication flow back from the command post, that is my question.

[00:00:00]

COATES: It appears to be some kind of a perfect storm. One of the things he said was, "I know that our people have been asking for more people consistently and not getting them. I do wonder whether there will be a course correction from here."

Daniel Brunner, it's so important to hear your perspective, as we're all wondering what the communications failures were and how to prevent this from ever happening again. Thank you for your time.

BRUNNER: My pleasure.

COATES: And I want to thank you all for watching, as well. "Anderson Cooper 360" starts right now.