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FBI Director Testifies Before Congress; President Biden Set to Address Nation; Republican House Speaker Holds News Conference With Benjamin Netanyahu. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired July 24, 2024 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:00]

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (D) AND U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Because, you see, I said, look, we need to extend Medicaid postpartum coverage from a measly two months to a full year.

And I'm proud to report, whereas, when I issued the challenge, only three states offered a full year of coverage, now 46 states do.

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: So, I say, as we work to build a brighter future and to move our nation forward, we must also recognize there are those who are trying to take us backward.

You may have seen their agenda. Part of it is called Project 2025.

(BOOING)

HARRIS: Now, can you believe they put that in writing, 900 pages of it?

(LAUGHTER)

HARRIS: Project 2025, a plan to return America to a dark past.

They intend to cut Medicare, to repeal our $35 cap on insulin, to eliminate the Department of Education, to end programs like Head Start, which would take away preschool for hundreds of thousands of children in our communities.

Let's be clear. This represents an outright attack on our children, our families, and our future. These extremists want to take us back. But we are not going back.

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: We are not going back.

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: Ours is a fight for the future, and ours is a fight for freedom.

Across our nation, we are witnessing a full-on assault on hard-fought, hard-won freedoms and rights, the freedom to vote, the freedom to be safe from gun violence, the freedom to live without fear of bigotry and hate, the freedom to love who you love openly and with pride, the freedom to learn and acknowledge our true and full history,and the freedom of a woman to make decisions about her own body...

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: ... and not have her government telling her what to do.

And in the face of these attacks, we must continue to stand together in defense of freedom, we who believe...

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: All right, we're going to continue to monitor the vice president of the United States speaking in Indianapolis. She's making an important speech.

But, right now, the House speaker, Mike Johnson, and the visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are speaking after meeting only moments ago up on Capitol Hill, setting the stage for the prime minister's address before a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress. That's coming up this hour very, very soon.

But let's listen in to Mike Johnson, the speaker.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): They're working to defeat Hamas following, of course, the horrific massacre on October 7.

They're having to ward off Hezbollah in the north. They're having to respond to Houthi attacks in Tel Aviv. And they fended off a historic watershed direct attack from Iran itself, a regime that is allied with Russia and China.

The threats Israel faces are not only kinetic. Jerusalem is also combating lawfare and information wars and double standards from the U.N. and the media. Today and every day, Americans must stand shoulder to shoulder with Israel in its great struggle.

In this struggle, nearly 300 days after October 7, our hearts remain with the 120 men and women, boys, and girls who are still in captivity in Gaza. Adon (ph), Iltay (ph), Sajji (ph), Hersh, Gadi (ph), Judy (ph), Omer (ph), Keith and so many others are being held deep in tunnels. We have not forgotten them or their families, who so desperately want them home. And we, of course, do as well.

Israel and the United States are united in our mission to bring them home. And I have full confidence that we will do just that.

I have to say it's providential that the prime minister is here today after the 17th of Tammuz. It was nearly 2,000 years ago that the most powerful nation in the ancient world laid siege to Israel and destroyed Solomon's temple.

But, today, the most powerful nation in the modern world is standing with our Jewish friends and the Israeli government. I'm certainly eager, as we all are, to hear from the prime minister, and as we hope that this 17th of Tammuz marks the last time the Jewish people lament destruction, so that they can live freely and securely in their ancestral homeland.

I would defer to the prime minister for any remarks.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

[13:05:00]

Speaker Johnson, you have shown great leadership, along with the leaders of the Senate and the minority leader in the House. I appreciate the fact that you have invited me to address this great assembly, the world's greatest democracy.

The Congress of the United States speaks for the American people, and the American people speak for the entire world. I very much value this opportunity to address this august forum. You said just now something that resonates throughout the ages.

Almost 2,000 years ago, the Romans breached the walls of Jerusalem on this day almost 2,000 years ago. Well, our enemies will not breach our walls today. And our wall is not made up only of our own soldiers, our brave heroes, but also the friendship and alliance with the great United States of America.

That is very much expressed here today, and I thank you for giving me this opportunity. And the people of Israel thank you for giving us this opportunity to express our common alliance.

JOHNSON: Thank you.

NETANYAHU: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

JOHNSON: Thank you so much. Thank you.

QUESTION: Mr. Prime Minister, what's your message to Democrats who are not attending your speech today?

BLITZER: All right, not answering questions, the prime minister of Israel, the speaker of the House. They're getting ready for the prime minister's address before a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress. We're going to have live coverage of that.

We want to welcome our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer, alongside Dana Bash. We're both here in Washington. We are tracking a very consequential day here in Washington, D.C., the

Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, getting ready to deliver a major address to Congress in the next hour. But, as the Israeli leader seeks to shore up support for the war against Hamas in Gaza, he's facing a sharply divided Democratic Party here in the United States over his handling of the war.

Dozens of Democrats will not be attending today, with some progressives offering counterprogramming, Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN HOST: And as those lawmakers protest Netanyahu's speech, so too are scores of people gathered outside the Capitol right now.

His visit comes a day after President Joe Biden ended his reelection campaign. The two leaders are set to meet tomorrow. But, tonight, the president will give a prime-time speech delivering his first public remarks about his decision to pass the torch.

So let's go to Capitol Hill and start with Manu Raju.

Manu, what is happening inside the Capitol right now as lawmakers prepare for this big speech in about a little more than 50 minutes?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's a moment of high attention, particularly among Democrats. Many Democrats simply do not want Benjamin Netanyahu to be addressing Congress.

We do expect more than 50 Democrats that we know of, mostly House Democrats, but some senators too, to skip today's joint meeting of Congress. There are some prominent Democrats, too, who have decided not to attend, namely, the former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, saying today she would meet with hostage families instead.

Also, the number two Democrat in the Senate, Dick Durbin, not attending this speech. Patty Murray, who's the president pro tem of the Senate, someone in line of the presidential succession, also deciding not to attend.

And, of course, there is the decision by Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee, who's at a campaign event in Indianapolis, decided not to behind the -- Benjamin Netanyahu, which she -- normally, the vice president would do when a world leader addresses Congress. She decided not to do that instead.

And that has opened her up to some criticism from some Republican members going after the vice president for her decision not to attend this speech.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE LAWLER (R-NY): The fact that she's skipping tomorrow's joint session is outrageous. This is our closest ally in the aftermath of the terrorist attack on October 7. The prime minister is coming to visit here. Whether you agree or like the prime minister or not, he's duly elected by the Israeli people. SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA): Benjamin Netanyahu has led that region

into a complete humanitarian disaster. He has put his own personal interests ahead of the interests of the people of his country. And what he has done in Gaza is unspeakable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Elizabeth Warren one of those Democrats not attending this speech, but also who will not attend is J.D. Vance, the Republican vice presidential nominee, the senator from Ohio, who ordinarily would attend a speech like this, given that senators and House members will be in this audience.

The Trump campaign says he has vice presidential campaign duties to attend this speech. But, overall, the issue is mostly among some Democrats who simply do not want him to come here.

[13:10:03]

And now, Dana, also in just a matter of minutes, Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with the big four leaders of Congress, not just Mike Johnson, but also Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader, someone who just a couple months ago called for new elections in Israel.

But he's also the highest-ranking Jewish Democrat, ultimately agreed to invite him here to Congress here, just showing you the complicated position that Netanyahu's address is putting even some prominent members of the Democratic Party.

BASH: I'd love to be a fly on that wall. Wouldn't you? Thank you, Manu.

BLITZER: Yes. We will see how that meeting goes.

Right now, I want to go to CNN's Brian Todd, who's with a group of demonstrators here in Washington protesting today's speech, upcoming speech by the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

Set the scene where you are, Brian, and what are you hearing and seeing?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, we're at the foot of the Capitol. We're between Third and Fourth Streets Northwest on Pennsylvania Avenue.

And I heard you say a moment ago, Wolf, it's a very consequential day in the nation's capital. You get a real sense of that, being among this crowd. You get a sense that this is a momentous occasion. They don't obviously want Prime Minister Netanyahu to be here, but they are going to make their voices heard.

A lot of very powerful imagery here as well. Take a look at these signs. We showed these a little bit earlier. These are signs and pictures of Palestinian and Israeli children who have been killed during the Gaza war. This gentleman and some of his compatriots have come from New Jersey to display these images. And as we take a walk this way, our photojournalist Jonathan O'Beirne

and I are going to give you a sense of the crowd here. It's been very energetic and very peaceful, aside from one minor scuffle earlier today in a location that's not here, but close to here, where some pro-Palestinian protesters clashed briefly with some pro-Israeli protesters.

But that clash was broken up quickly by police.

I want to talk to Rabbi Linda Holtzman. She has come here from Philadelphia.

RABBI LINDA HOLTZMAN, JEWISH VOICE FOR PEACE: Yes.

TODD: She's been part of other protests in the past.

You were in the Capitol Rotunda yesterday afternoon, got yourself arrested. What is motivating you, Rabbi, to be here and not only to risk getting -- arrest, but to bring your message here right now?

HOLTZMAN: Well, it's really clear.

And it comes out most clearly, I think, in the story of the arrest, where I was leading a prayer, and it's called the Shabbat. It's like a central Jewish prayer that is really the essence of saying that God is one, which means that all humanity is one, and that we need to treat each other as if we are all one.

If that's the case, how can we not stand up when there's an attempted genocide? How can we not stand up when we see Palestinians being treated the way they are treated?

TODD: The prime minister is here to talk about a possible cease-fire. Israeli and U.S. officials believe they're very close. It's within reach.

First of all, do you believe that? Do you believe that they are within reach? Is that -- does that affect your message? And what do you feel about that?

HOLTZMAN: Yes, I don't believe it, and I don't believe it because I don't believe that the Israeli government actually wants a cease-fire. I don't believe that Netanyahu actually wants a cease-fire.

But that doesn't affect my message, because my message is more than just about cease-fire. Cease-fire would be step one. Step two would be a government that would honor and keep safe all Israelis and all Palestinians.

And once the cease-fire happens and it ends, the war ends, even if some of the torture ends, we're still living within a system that is unconscionable, that destroys Palestinian lives every single day.

TODD: Well, thank you very much for talking to us, Rabbi. It was good to meet you, and good luck with the rest of the event here today. Thank you very much. We appreciate it. All right, guys, well, one thing Rabbi Holtzman wanted to tell me

earlier was that she was very much OK with me giving her age. She's 72 years old. She wanted to put across the point that this is not just a young person's game out here. They're people of all ages, all persuasions, and many different faiths out here as well, as you can see, guys -- back to you.

BLITZER: All right, Brian, thank you very much. Let's hope these demonstrations stay peaceful here in Washington.

But there's another major speech we're all anticipating later tonight, this one from the Oval Office.

CNN's Kayla Tausche is over at the White House for us.

Kayla, what are you learning about President Biden's highly anticipated prime-time address?

KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, President Biden has been working on this address since the moment he announced publicly that he would be stepping aside in the 2024 race.

And officials expect him to talk about what exactly led him to that very painful decision for him, as well as what he hopes to complete for his final six months in office.

And while there is some expectation that he will touch upon his legacy, both in his three-and-a-half years in office so far, as well as his decades of public service, officials also say that the discussion over how to shape Biden's legacy is just beginning.

Now, we know that he's been working with Mike Donilon, who is one of his closest longtime aides, on this speech, Donilon having been a very senior hand with him at the campaign, at the White House, and for the last several decades.

[13:15:05]

And Donilon is also a former pollster who helped present some of the information to inform Biden's decision over the weekend. He's been with Biden for so many of these consequential moments, this one, of course, no exclusion.

But it's no secret that this is going to be a consequential address for the president. You have to look just no further than the backdrop where he's going to be making it. It's just the fourth Oval Office address of his presidency. The last one he gave was just 10 days ago, where he talked about the attempted assassination his Republican opponent.

He delivered an address from the Oval Office in the wake of the October 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel and in June 2023, when the U.S. narrowly avoided a catastrophic default on the national debt. Now, this is a speech that is going to go down in the annals of history.

It is the first time that Biden is speaking to the American people since deciding to be a one-term president, a decision that he did not take lightly. And officials have suggested that, because of its consequence, he's going to be working on it right up until delivery, as he does with most of his speeches, as he tries to gauge the pitch of this moment for the race, for his party, and for the country write large -- Wolf and Dana.

BASH: Thanks, Kayla. I appreciate that reporting.

And we do have brand-new CNN national polling numbers taken after President Biden bowed out of the race. And it shows no clear leader in the likely race between the former president and Kamala Harris; 46 percent of the registered voters polled say Harris is their choice for president, 49 percent say Donald Trump. That is well within the poll's margin of error.

Let's bring in CNN political commentators Karen Finney and Maria Cardona, two very experienced Democratic strategists who can really parse these numbers.

And talk about really what you all are seeing, because I know each of you is in touch with and part of grassroots organizations that are going to either propel likely Kamala Harris into the White House or not. Talk about that enthusiasm.

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: So I think that this enthusiasm right now is going to just grow.

And you're right, I have been in touch with Latino leaders, Latina leaders all across the country, younger voters as well, groups that focus on reproductive rights. Tonight, there's going to be a massive call of Latina leaders, similar to the call that she had, the campaign had with black women leaders.

And the enthusiasm is just palpable. And I think it's only just beginning. I had a younger voter who focuses on getting out the Gen Z vote. And she said: "Look, Maria just the stats." She said: "I know this is going to sound a little dour, but in the last four years, we have had 20 million older voters die, and 41 million Gen Z voters are coming now into the voting group."

And Latino voters the same. There are six million new Latino voters since the last election. And all of those voters are focused on looking to see who's going to give them the tools to live a better life for themselves and their families. And, right now, what Kamala Harris has done with Joe Biden at her side is given these families the tools to do just that.

KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, I mean, look, so the call actually we did with African-American women, that was not a campaign call, 44,000 women.

There was the next night African-American men for -- black men for Kamala Harris, 20,000. There's another -- so there's the Latina call. There's a call that -- Shannon Watts with Moms Demand Action is organizing a call. So, just the enthusiasm and the excitement just at the organic level

has been really exciting to see. We have seen the fund-raising numbers. We have talked about the numbers of people signing up to register to vote. And I think one of the things that's really important -- and this was talked about in the memo that Jen O'Malley Dillon put out this morning from the campaign -- part of what we're looking at right now is what voters in different states are going to be available, will be sort of the Kamala electorate.

We talked about, what's the Biden electorate? What's the Kamala electorate look like, and how do we -- so these voters who are coming in who are -- maybe weren't planning to vote, who haven't been registered yet that we can actually register and mobilize to vote?

In terms of the poll, I'm not surprised. And I think the polling that we see in these early days, I'm a little skeptical of, because it's a little bit of a sugar high. Let's be honest. I want to see where we are in a couple of weeks, when we have really seen she and Trump on the trail back to back, and she's been able to really get out there and make the case for herself up against -- we know we have got former President Trump doing a rally tonight.

Let's see what he's saying now that the situation has changed. I think that will tell us a little more about where things really stand.

[13:20:01]

BLITZER: In this new poll, Maria, I want to look take a closer look at the numbers as they're broken down by party.

Harris and Trump have overwhelming support within their respective parties, but here, again, there is no clear leader among registered independents. It's 43 percent for Harris, 46 percent for Trump.

Given all the excitement and the huge amount of money raised by the Democrats over the past few days alone, does that surprise you?

CARDONA: It doesn't surprise me because I think there's still a lot of unknowns within the electorate. To Karen's point, I think we need to wait a little bit to see exactly where these numbers are going to finally fall.

But I do think, because Donald Trump is a known entity, I think this is actually his ceiling, and I think that this is the floor for somebody like Kamala Harris.

And, granted, she has been dinged and dinged and dinged from the moment that she was chosen as Biden's V.P. and even before that. So she's used to that. There's a lot of stuff that is baked in for her, but there is a lot that is not known about her.

That is, when people saw her, when people started focusing on her, I got calls and texts: "Oh, my God, she's so good. I had no idea. I'm so surprised."

Well, the people who have been seeing her for years and years and years are not surprised. So I think this is actually a floor for her and the fact -- the other number I think is really important, the number of voters who are voting for her, as opposed to just against Donald Trump.

I think that that is actually a really important thing to continue to take a look at.

BASH: Which is different from the numbers we saw when Joe Biden was at the top of the ticket.

CARDONA: Exactly.

FINNEY: Right.

BASH: Karen, you have experienced running, helping run another female candidate's campaign. Her name is Hillary Clinton.

FINNEY: Yes.

BASH: What are some of the lessons learned from that campaign that, if the vice president called you today, you would give her?

FINNEY: Some of them, I might not say publicly.

(LAUGHTER)

FINNEY: Because I would also -- I would also add some of the lessons I learned working with Stacey Abrams in her gubernatorial race.

Because we know that, when women are running for executive office, in particular, it's different than when you're running for a legislative body, because voters tend to see women as being more collaborative. So, in collaborative spaces, they think, oh, a woman's going to be able to bring people together.

Look, I think a couple of things. Number one, I want her to be talking about the economy and I want her to be talking about security, both in the sense -- we have heard her talk about the rule of law. That's important. Obviously, she's a former prosecutor. I think that line about -- against Donald Trump is going to be a great one.

But this is also someone who I wanted to be reminding people she was a district attorney. She was an attorney general. She was -- as well as being elected to the Senate and then vice president.

And in each of those roles -- I mean, she's probably the only president running -- person running for president who has served at the local, state, and federal levels and so -- and has -- and so talk about that. Talk about what that has -- at each level, what did that tell you about the American people?

And also, I would tell her to, as she is talking about each of those roles, talk about her values. People want -- because, as Maria said, people are getting to know her right now. But part of what they want to know is -- like, when she talks about her mother or talking about that experience when they bought their first home, because that's something many of us can relate to.

So bring people into your core values, so that they understand that you understand them. One of the stories about her that I love is, she goes to the grocery store, the Safeway on Wisconsin Avenue and shops for groceries to cook dinner on Sunday nights when she can.

That means she has a very clear sense what things are costing when she's going to that grocery store. So she knows what we're going through. And, trust me, in D.C., as we all know, it's a lot higher than in other places.

CARDONA: Yes.

FINNEY: So talk about those things that have kept her connected in the same way we hear about Scranton Joe, right? What's her version of that?

BASH: Karen, Maria, thank you so much.

CARDONA: Thanks.

BASH: And still ahead: FBI Director Christopher Wray is giving new details on the gunman behind the Trump administration -- excuse me -- the Trump assassination attempt.

What he told lawmakers about a drone used by the shooter and the rifle used in the attack, that and so many unbelievable details coming out of this hearing. We're going to bring them to you after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:27:51]

BLITZER: The FBI director, Christopher Wray, testifying on Capitol Hill today, saying the shooter who tried to assassinate former President Trump may have bought the gun he used from his own father.

Wray testified before House lawmakers today about the investigation into the shooting, and there were lots of developments, Dana.

BASH: A lot of developments.

He said, while the shooter may be deceased -- quote -- "We are living in an elevated threat environment, and it is a dangerous time to be a public official."

CNN national security reporter Zachary Cohen is following this for us.

Zach, I mean, just that alone, to hear that from the FBI director, is maybe not surprising, but still stunning.

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Absolutely.

I mean, Director Wray is being very forthcoming with lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee, which can tend to be a little bit abrasive in these hearings, especially when it's somebody from the FBI or the Justice Department is testifying before them.

But Director Wray revealing some new details about the state of this investigation into the assassination attempt of Donald Trump, including what they're finding on the shooter's laptop. And among the new details that he provided today was that they found on the laptop that the shooter researched details about John F. Kennedy's assassination, specifically how far away Lee Harvey Oswald was from JFK when he took that shot.

Take a listen to what Wray told lawmakers today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTOPHER WRAY, FBI DIRECTOR: An analysis of a laptop that the investigation ties to the shooter reveals that, on July 6, he did a Google search for -- quote -- "How far away was Oswald from Kennedy?"

And so that's a search that obviously is significant in terms of his state of mind. And we -- that is the same day that it appears that he registered for the Butler rally.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: So, the FBI has been trying to build a profile of who this shooter is, because he didn't leave behind a manifesto or really any clear evidence about motive or political ideology.

And the Web history and the search history and these devices and cell phones are really what investigators are leaning on to try to understand why the shooter took those shots on July 13.

BLITZER: And, Zach, we also learned more about the drone that the shooter actually flew the day of the shooting.