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CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip

Biden Calls On Nation To Lower The Temperature In Politics; Secret Service Under Scrutiny Over Trump Event Footprint; Trump Gives First Interview Since Assassination Attempt; Trump Calls For Unity after Assassination. Rallygoer Doctor Who Tried Saving Shooting Victim Speaks Out. Aired 10-11p ET

Aired July 14, 2024 - 22:00   ET

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

[22:01:09]

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump's first interview since surviving an assassination attempt, that's tonight on NewsNight.

Good evening, I'm Abby Phillip in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In just a few moments, I'm going to speak with the reporter who just talked with the former president. But first, here is what we know at this hour.

President Biden using the backdrop of the Oval Office to deliver a prime time speech, calling for unity and calling on all Americans to abandon the escalating rhetoric that nearly ended with Donald Trump's assassination.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES: We debate and disagree, we compare and contrast the character of the candidates, the records, the issues, the agenda, the vision for America. But in America, we resolve our differences at the ballot box. That's how we do it, at the ballot box not with bullets.

The power to change America should always rest in the hands of the people, not in the hands of would-be assassin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: The FBI is now investigating the shooting at a Trump rally as a domestic terror attack. And they are scouring the social media for clues about the 20-year-old shooter's motive. In a campaign season that has been marked by twists and turns, this is the darkest one yet.

Not for the first time, we have descended toward violence and it could have ended with one of the two major party presumptive nominees dead. The investigation is all very much ongoing. Audio analysis has confirmed that the suspect, the gunman, was perched about 130 yards from the podium where Trump was speaking in Butler.

The other ongoing effort tonight is to assess just how the Secret Service failed to, so dramatically in this moment, to stop this threat. The President already says he's directed an independent review of what went wrong on Saturday's rally. But we're going to get to the latest on that investigation in just a few moments.

But first, just in to CNN tonight, we are learning that the former president has now given his very first interview since surviving this attempt on his life to Salena Zito of the Washington Examiner. She just spoke with Trump and she was at this event just feet away. Salena, thank you very much for joining us.

We're really glad and grateful that you're OK. Tell us about this interview. What did the former president tell you tonight?

SALENA ZITO, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, WASHINGTON EXAMINER: Well, it's really interesting. I was just a few feet away from him, along with my daughter who is a photo journalist. And he was aware of that because I was supposed to go to -- fly to Bedminster with him after the rally to do an interview with him.

And so, he called me this morning and -- or this afternoon and said, and wanted to know if myself and my daughter were OK. So that's how the conversation started. And then I asked him if I could interview him, just talked to him about those moments and about how this changed him.

And that's when he said, well, I was going to do a speech that was going to be a real humdinger. I think that's were his exact words. But, you know, everything changed in that moment. And, Abby, you have covered his events before.

When you watch him at a rally, he always looks forward, always looks forward. He never looks to his right or to his left. And he had put a screen up that showed a chart, also never does charts.

[22:05:13]

And he looked to his right, something he never does. And as he looked to his right, the bullet grazed right past his face. And I was standing right there when it happened.

And he said, in that moment, he understood that everything had changed for the country and for himself.

PHILLIP: What is the speech going to be about now? I imagine that the RNC was supposed to be both a celebratory event, but also a time to make the case against his opponent. What did he tell you he's going to focus on now?

ZITO: He said he was going to focus on bringing the country back together. He thought that it was very, very important. That in that moment when that happened to him, he understood this is what he was -- what he wants to do, what he's supposed to do.

And he talked a lot about when he stood up, and there's that sort of iconic moment when he puts his fist up. And he told me that he really wanted to project to people. It wasn't about him at that moment, he wanted to project it as people and he says, he loves these people and they are the backbone. This is a rust belt area. This is a blue collar, white -- working class mostly crowd, and he wanted to project to the -- he thought it was important to project to the country in that moment, that everything was OK. That he was OK and the country was OK.

And I thought that was really fascinating. And he was in a very good mood. He was -- he sounded incredibly upbeat. These moments have a way of changing people.

Just one centimeter difference and we would not -- we would have him be talking about a much, much different story today.

PHILLIP: What about what the last couple of hours, last 24 hours has been like for the former president? You get a sense of what's his life like. Who is he being surrounded by? What has he been doing? And how has he been coping with that life changing moment that you just described?

ZITO: Well, he said he has been taking phone calls and talking to people of all different political stripes, of all different stations in life. And people are talking to him and, of course, making sure that he's OK. So I think that he's feeding off of that positive sort of feedback from people.

I mean, I didn't ask him who he was with but, you know, he was -- as I was interviewing him, he was getting ready to leave Bedminster and go to Milwaukee. Something he wasn't initially going to do but decided, you know, I'm not going to let anything change me. I need to be there, I'm supposed to be there, I'm going there.

PHILLIP: You know, Salena, you've talked to Trump a lot, you've been around him, you've been to so many of these rallies. A Trump is, I think by its very nature, a pretty defiant personality. Do you get the sense that when he talks about unity, that that is a change for him?

Do you feel like it's something that he really means? Or is it something that could fade as the days goes on between now and when he's expected to give his speech?

ZITO: Well, you know, I think he would argue him that he does unify people, that he does bring together people in the way that he -- in particular in the way that he talks about people from the Great Lakes Midwest, who he feels how -- and he believes have been very disconnected from the process, sort of not really engaged, just sort of mechanically voted. But because of the way he talks about the dignity of work, the way he talks about the working class, and the way he tries to project this sort of part of something bigger than yourself, that that he has, has electrified them.

And so, he believes that is unity. I mean, I can't speak for what's inside his head, but based on conversations that I've had with him, I think that he believes that that's very important. And from his perspective, he has done a good job of unifying people. And his coalition is growing, we can't deny that that's happening.

PHILLIP: But I think what I'm asking really, I mean, this is the same person who often talks about retribution about his political enemies, about the other side of the aisle. Do you think he's going to drop that rhetoric? Is that the sense that you got from what he told you?

[22:10:12]

ZITO: I got the sense that he believed that he should unify. What that looks like, I obviously don't know. I think both sides be really great if we weren't so harsh with each other. And harsh is even a mild word to describe some of the ways that we speak to each other, and the way we talk to each other, and the way politicians talk.

But, you know, I can't get inside his head. But I in that moment, I believe that this is very important to him.

PHILLIP: All right, we'll see what he ends up doing. Salena Zito with the exclusive tonight, the very first interview with the former President Donald Trump after this assassination attempt. Thank you very much for joining us tonight, Salena.

ZITO: Thank you.

PHILLIP: And CNN's Whitney Wild is with us now with the latest on the investigation into the shooter's motive. Whitney, what are you learning tonight?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, Abby, the motivation here is still very much unclear. What the FBI has made very clear, though, is that they do believe this was an attempted assassination. They are investigating this as potential domestic terrorism.

But as they go through and they are trying to access the shooter's cell phone, because they really believe that that is going to be pretty critical, and understandably so into understanding the shooters mindset. So right now they have the device, they're working to try to get into it. But as far as a motive that captures the totality of why this person did this, that is still unclear.

What the FBI is saying is that, at this moment, they are working to determine the sequence of events and the shooter's movements prior to this incident. And they have again obtained the cell phone, they have searched the residence, they have searched his vehicle. Upon those searches, they found that there were suspicious devices.

We have previously reported that there was explosive material found at the shooter's home as well as in his vehicle. Those devices are now being analyzed at the FBI lab at Quantico. But all of this comes, Abby, as there are very serious questions for the Secret Service about how this happened.

And what we know is that the building where the shooter was able to get his shot was outside the security perimeter. It was around 150 yards from the former president's podium. And several law enforcement sources I have spoken with have expressed a real concern that a building that close was outside the hard perimeter. So the question here, Abby, becomes was a member of law enforcement supposed to be stationed at that building or did the Secret Service determine through a site assessment that that building didn't pose a risk? Either way, this was a major failure. And there are serious questions for the Secret Service.

We have not seen anybody go on camera to take those questions from the press so that we haven't gone back and forth with spokespeople from that agency, and we've gotten a little bit out of them. There are still major questions that they need to answer for, Abby.

PHILLIP: Absolutely, Whitney. Well, thank you very much for that reporting. And law enforcement officials are also piecing together the gunman's movements around the shooting. CNN's Brian Todd has more on that. Brian, tell us more.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Abby, we have new information on the shooter's movements during and just before the shooting. We do know that he was approximately 150 meters away from where Donald Trump was speaking when he opened fire. That's less than 500 feet away from the former president.

Also according to the sheriff of Butler County, Michael Slupe, law enforcement officers saw him on the roof shortly before the shooting. One law enforcement officer hoisted himself up to the ledge of the rooftop, saw the gunman. The gunman saw him, according to the sheriff, pointed his weapon at the officer.

And at that point, the officer had to a drop down here for his own safety. The shooter then started opening fire on those positions. Also we're told from a witness, according to witness Ben Macer, who talk to CNN affiliate KDKA, the shooter was seen moving -- he saw the shooter moving from roof to roof, to roof. It had to have been these roofs right here, these buildings all attached.

So one witness seeing him moving from roof to roof, to roof before we finally took a position right about there. Abby?

PHILLIP: Brian Todd, thank you very much for that. And joining me now is retired Secret Service agent who has been on the security detail for President Trump, President Obama, Paul Eckloff, and also with us, former CIA Counterterrorism Official and former FBI Intelligence Adviser Phil Mudd.

Paul, I want to start with you. You've worked on open air Trump rallies exactly like this one. This gunman was somehow able to get onto a roof, with a weapon just a few hundred feet from the stage. Who was responsible for the failure to secure that area?

PAUL ECKLOFF, RETIRED SECRET SERVICE AGENT: Well, campaign events are far different from presidential events. I was on both the Trump campaign and in the Trump presidency in the Secret Service. These events are chaotic, they're small, and we have a former president.

[22:15:09] This building outside the security perimeter was clearly it was advanced. This person on the roof was identified. The counter sniper, when they identified the threat, they neutralized it within a second. And the agents responded as they are trained and covered, and shielded the president to save his life.

The president is alive, the former president is alive today because of the actions of the Secret Service. I will not engage in questioning the agents, officers, technicians and other specialists who were on the ground. I was not there.

PHILLIP: Paul, we're learning that our local law enforcement officer did see the gunman on that roof just before the shots were fired. But he dropped back down from the roof after the gunman pointed his weapon at him. When you hear that and you see the videos that we've seen, what do you think should have happened in those critical moments perhaps before the gunman was able to fire his first shots toward President Trump?

ECKLOFF: It's an interesting point in a lot of the questions while legitimate come from a misunderstanding of law enforcement, and certainly the complexities of executive protection in a country like American small campaign event. Local law enforcement is trained to seek cover during gunfire. Secret Services agents are trained that they are the cover, which is why you saw the agents respond immediately to the stage and shield the former president's bodies with their own, behind the steel on the stage.

I believe that that officer's actions spurred the shooter potentially to move more quickly than he wished, which put him into the view of the counter snipers. And when he was identified as a threat by that technician, he was neutralized. There are questions as to why the Secret Service did not move the former president off the stage more quickly. And I would simply say that what you saw was a peaceful, even joyous event.

I've been in them. They're chaotic, they're loud. People are enjoying themselves. And it went to an active shooter situation, within milliseconds, within a second the gun was fired. But those agents have to assess the situation and they have to decide whether it is safe to evacuate the president into that environment.

One shooter is down but you don't want to be flushed from one dangerous situation into another. So further assessments were done, I've seen a transcript of the radio operations, and it appeared that it was a textbook response and brilliant work by those men and women of the Secret Service on the ground yesterday.

PHILLIP: Phil, what do you make of all of that?

PHIL MUDD, FORMER CIA COUNTERTERRORISM OFFICIAL: Well, I think the first question I have as -- I'm sorry, as someone who was investigated for a lot of what I did at the FBI and the CIA is, what were the protocols? So it's not just what happened, what are the rules of engagement for the locals and for the Secret Service? Were those protocols that hear toasts? If they weren't clearly you'd say, then why would you not have had that building under observation.

If they weren't adhere to, you'd say, well, who's responsible for that? But my first question isn't just what happened, it's what -- it's what were the rules of engagement when the Secret Service cleared the facility initially and were they adhered to. And we don't know. I don't know the answer to that.

PHILLIP: Paul, we still haven't heard from the Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle. Do you think we should hear directly from the United States Secret Service on camera at such a critical moment for the country?

ECKLOFF: I'd like to say that the Secret Service has a one voice policy, and it is not mine. I don't pretend to speak for them but I can speak from them. The Secret Service performed exemplary fashion yesterday, but they do have a national special security event beginning right now in Milwaukee.

They have protective events and they have thousands a year. I am sure that you'll hear from them when the time is right, but the rush to judgment and action quickly are speaking before the facts are known could be counterproductive. Because I think we're finding that every hour we're learning something new. I mean, what we've seen is changing by the minute, and I know that they will have an intelligent response when there's more information.

PHILLIP: Phil, a lot of people are also wondering. I mean, as this FBI investigation is ongoing, why there hasn't been an update on the gunman's motivation? I know that one of the key parts probably to figuring that out is going to be getting into that device that they've taken now to Quantico.

MUDD: Yes.

PHILLIP: What are law enforcement looking for in this moment to try to pinpoint what moved this individual to take the step and carry out this assassination attempt?

MUDD: Well, I understand that the media wants answers and there's 330 million Americans who want answers. If I were Christopher Wray, the experienced FBI director, I would never have spoken today. And I also, if I were the Secret Service director, I wouldn't have spoken today.

The reason is, that if you come out with information, it's incorrect. You will be vilified. If you delay for a day or two, people will forget that delay in a week. In that day or two, and I would expect you to see a statement, Abby, tomorrow or Tuesday.

[22:20:05]

In that day or two, you're going to continue the interviews of family and friends. You're going to look at, as you mentioned, devices that went to Quantico, things like phones and laptops. You would have done the review of what you got in the physical search of the home. You can do things like look at Google searches of the individual and see if he was searching Trump rallies. I'm going to tell you from the inside that they already, that is the FBI, the feds have a decent picture probably, not certainly, but probably of what motivation was. But another day or two will give them a lot more clarity so that they don't go out and speak and realize a day or two later that they were wrong.

PHILLIP: Yes. I mean, I think false information in this environment can be incredibly dangerous. Paul Eckloff --

ECKLOFF: Yes.

PHILLIP: -- and Phil Mudd, thank you both very much for joining us tonight.

MUDD: Thanks.

ECKLOFF: Thank you.

PHILLIP: And at a press conference in Milwaukee today, the Secret Service did say that there are no changes to the security plans for the Republican National Convention.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AUDREY GIBSON-CICCHINO, US SECRET SERVICE RNC COORDINATOR: This is a national special security event. That designation is the highest level of security designation that the federal government can determine. So we are confident in the security plans that are in place for this event, and we're ready to go. It's been an 18 month process. It's the -- we've worked together over that 18 months to develop operational security plans for any and all aspects of security related to this event.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: Joining me now is the Mayor of Milwaukee, Cavalier Johnson. Mayor, thank you very much for joining us on the show. Are you confident in this moment that the City of Milwaukee is secure and safe for this convention this week?

CAVALIER JOHNSON (R), MILWAUKEE MAYOR: Yes. Abby, thank you. And, yes, I am. I have confidence in the Secret Service. I have confidence, certainly, in the Milwaukee Police Department.

As was mentioned, we've worked at this for some 18 months, some 18 months, and Milwaukee is designated a national special safety or security event. So it's the highest designation, even higher so than what we saw in Pennsylvania just the other day.

PHILLIP: And so, people who are wondering, how can you not change security plans? How can you not escalate it even from there? What's your answer to that?

JOHNSON: Well, again, this is the highest level that you can possibly get in terms of the designation that we have for the Republican National Convention. I'll go on to say that many months before the incident happened in Pennsylvania, that by the way, was horrific. It should have never happened.

It shouldn't happen to kids going to schools, it shouldn't happen to churchgoers or folks going to the grocery store. And it shouldn't happen to somebody running for president of the United States. But many months ago, myself and several other partners work in a bipartisan fashion in order to bring additional resources to bear for this convention.

So they have been stuck at $50 million in years pass, and we work with Congress members in both the House and the Senate Republicans and Democrats to get $75 million for our public safety efforts here.

PHILLIP: So the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is reporting that Governor Evers, he wants the Secret Service to reconsider the decision to allow firearms in the soft perimeter, not the hard perimeter, the soft one, a little further out of the convention. That doesn't seem to be going anywhere. Do you think that's a mistake?

JOHNSON: I don't think that's a Secret Service issue. I think that's the State of Wisconsin issue. Even in the City of Milwaukee, we would have taken up the opportunity to have some more restrictions on the outside. In fact, our city council locally, and I signed off on this as mayor, outlawed certain hard objects from coming in to the outer perimeter or the soft perimeter.

Unfortunately, because of state law, we are not able to enact harsher, or I'm sorry, more restrictions for individuals who may decide to carry guns. That's a state law issue. Local ordinance does not supersede state law in the state of Wisconsin.

PHILLIP: And nothing can be done unless -- be done unless the legislator does it.

JOHNSON: Correct.

PHILLIP: All right. Mayor Cavalier Johnson, thank you very much for joining us. We appreciate it. And we all hope for the best for the city of Milwaukee.

JOHNSON: Thank you.

PHILLIP: Thank you very much. And up next, we have new reporting now on how the RNC speakers are right now changing their speeches. Plus, I'll speak live with a doctor who was at that rally and he tried to save the life of a man who died. Stay with us.

[22:24:22]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIP: A convention with a suddenly very different field. Donald Trump arrived just moments ago in Milwaukee for the Republican National Convention. The event as plan would have drawn a stark contrast with what Republicans advertised as Joe Biden's dystopian America. But now in a new interview, Trump is promising to change the tone and the tenor of the entire week, and focus on American unity, in light of this assassination attempt that nearly claimed his life.

Joining me now is Haley Barbour. He is the former Republican Governor of Mississippi and the former Chairman of the Republican National Committee. Governor, thank you for being here.

Donald Trump now says he's going to focus on unity in his speech this week as opposed to on Joe Biden. What do you make of that? I mean, I'm curious whether you think that the delegates in this room, that's what they want to hear, or do they want the red meat against Biden?

HALEY BARBOUR (R), FORMER MISSISSIPPI GOVERNOR: Abby, I think it's common sensical for him to want to focus on unity. I mean, we've been in a terrifically divisive state. Both parties talk bad about each other. I hope -- I'm not Trump, I'm a Presbyterian. I believe he survived by God's grace.

[22:30:06]

But what the boy did was unbelievable. But he survived, and that his attitude now is having survived, God haven't let me live to do this. I want to try to do it the right way.

And I do think the right way is to make the campaign about policy, about issues, about the border, about taxes, about national security, instead of, you know, talking bad about one another. I believe Trump when he says that, and I think it's the right thing for him to say, because this is incredibly, incredibly important election.

And the differences between the two parties on policy, on taxes and spending, and the border, and crime are so great that the American people need to hear that. They hear each party justify why this is our position.

PHILLIP: Yes. We also heard from President Biden tonight from the Oval Office, he also had the same message. Do you think he struck the right tone?

JOHNSON: Well, I didn't see it. But if he said that this -- we ought to make this about policy and about issues, and about differences between us, and not about disliking each other and saying so and so, is a crook and so on and so as the enemy of democracy, I think the American people would much, much, much rather have that be the campaign between the two parties. And so, both of them proved to be truthful.

PHILLIP: So down the line here, beyond the two candidates at the top, you got others. Senator JD Vance, he's rumored to be a vice presidential contender. He tweeted out the central premise of the Biden campaign is that Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs. That rhetoric led directly to President Trump's attempted assassination.

And then, you have Congressman Mike Collins tweeting, Joe Biden sent the orders. It seems like there is an appetite among some Republicans to actually blame Democrats, and blame the other side, even suggest falsely that this was ordered. BARBOUR: Well, I have no belief that it was ordered. But clearly the atmosphere in the country has become divisive. I mean, let's don't forget that it wasn't too many years ago that the number two guy in the Republican Party in the House of Representatives, man tried to murder him and about 10 other Republicans on a baseball field. You remember that, Steve Scalise?

PHILLIP: I certainly do.

BARBOUR: I mean, there are people that respond this way.

PHILLIP: I mean Speaker Pelosi even more recently, her husband was attacked --

BARBOUR: Yes, also indefensible.

PHILLIP: But the down the line among rank and file Republicans, Trump has been giving them a message of, you know, retribution. We're going to purge the government of our enemies. Are they going to accept from him this change of tone?

BARBOUR: I think most Republican voters who are for Trump and most Independents who are not necessarily Republicans already believe that Trump is going to try to make this about how we make America great again. And he doesn't say that lightly, because he looks at what we've done in foreign policy. Look at the Iranians, look at Iraq, I mean, Ukraine, look at the border.

More than 10 million people by almost every estimate have illegally entered the United States since Biden has been president. And he hadn't done anything to stop it. So the people that think that the election is going to be about issues locked down, I hope they're right. That's what they deserve so they can pick here the results we want on taxes --

PHILLIP: Yes.

BARBOUR: -- and so on.

PHILLIP: We'll see what they what we hear from all the speakers, including the former president. Former Governor Haley Barbour, thank you very much for joining us tonight. Thank you.

BARBOUR: Thank you, Abby.

PHILLIP: And we are getting some breaking news right now. Donald Trump underwent a precautionary CT scan after the attempt on his life this weekend. That scan did come back clear, we're learning. And also next, I'm going to speak with a doctor who was at that rally when the shooting happened. He sprang into action to try to save the victim. That's next.

[22:35:35]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIP: We are following the breaking news and learning more about the victims of the shooting at Donald Trump's rally this weekend. Firefighter Corey Comperatore attended the rally with his wife and his two daughters when the shots rang out. He dove on top of them to protect them from the gunfire. Tragically, he was struck and was fatally wounded.

My next guest is a retired emergency room doctor who immediately jumped into action and attempted to administer CPR until state troopers arrived. Dr. Jim Sweetland joins me now. Doctor, thank you very much for being here tonight. And thank you for your heroic actions on Saturday night.

Can you walk us through what happened? What you were thinking when you first heard those gunshots?

DR. JIM SWEETLAND, ER DOCTOR HELPED INJURED AT TRUMP RALLY: I was in the band stand behind President Trump on the left side if you're looking at the stage. I heard the shots. He was actually facing the -- looking up at the jumbotron.

[22:40:00]

And I heard the shots ring out. There were three pop-pop-pop. At first I thought they were firecrackers. And then it was followed three to four seconds pause, and another four pops, pop-pop-pop. And I liked the audience turn to the right where I could hear the shots being fired.

The -- I then turned back to the stage to see the Secret Service forming a human pyramid on President Trump. They had so rapidly, he was entirely covered by the time I turn back, which is matter of seconds. I then heard a woman's voice cry, he's been shot. He's down.

And I went into muscle memory of emergency physician and that's what we do. And all I remember is going to where he was down. Fortunately, everybody was sheltering. And so, I could get to him fairly quickly.

I was there within 45 seconds of the shots ringing out. And already an individual was applying pressure to his wound. Unfortunately, I found out the firefighters named Corey and he was struck behind his right ear. And the wound is quite severe.

I did what I always do when I come on the scene, I'm a doctor. I got the response, which was really okay. And as an EP doctor, this man is without pulse and he's not breathing, helped me get him up onto the bench. His body, unfortunately, was wedged between the fourth and fifth benches on that stand.

And two individuals who were scared when there was blood, and there was brain matter at the scene. And these people were courageous enough to get up and help me get Corey back on the bench so that I could perform CPR on him. And all the while someone assisted me by putting pressure on that wound,

I performed CPR by giving him rescue respirations. I did chest compressions for about two minutes until I was tapped on the shoulder by a Pennsylvania State Trooper. And he -- and another trooper, the biggest troopers I've ever seen, pick Corey up like a rag doll and got them off that stand as quickly as I've ever seen anybody be moved (inaudible).

They were brave and he moved him as quickly as he could. And he got them onto a stretcher and off he (inaudible). I looked up to see Corey's wife and daughter, look me -- looking at me. And the look on their face is something I'll never forget.

It was been looking at someone that they loved, who's extremely sick, near death. And they had a look that they wanted something to be said what was going on. And this was all communicated just by their looking.

And I blurt out to them, always going to go place where you can get help. And I'm afraid that's all the comfort I could give them. I have not talked to that family. I hope and pray that their wounds can be healed. I know Corey left behind daughters, and I know he will be sorely missed.

I do wish to say to them if they're listening tonight, your father died a hero.

PHILLIP: Yes. You have seen so much as an emergency room physician. But this is different. And you were standing just feet away from a man's family, a man who did not make it.

How are you handling all of that? How has it changed you?

SWEETLAND: I'll never forget the look on my band mates face. The thing I want to say as I exited, and I walked away. Somebody from CBS said, there's blood on you, what happened? Are you hurt?

And I said no, I was assisting resuscitation. I didn't know that the individual was Corey. I didn't know that he was a firefighter.

And they looked at me and I did the interview. And when I was done with the interview, and if you look at it, my wife's wearing a cowboy hat. She's on the right side of the screen. And then there's all combat veteran to the left side, outside of the view of the screen.

[22:45:08]

And as soon as my interview was finished, he came to me and said, brother, there's blood on your face. Here's some water, you can wash your face off with it. Wash my face, along with what was on my shirt best I could. I handed the water bottle back to him and he leaned into me and said, brother, are you okay?

I looked at both the brim of his hat and it said, retired Army combat veteran. And I said, brother, I'm okay. And you've seen this (inaudible). And he said, yes, I have. And we hug each other. That was a very --

PHILLIP: What a moment, I'm so very sorry. Yes. SWEETLAND: I could just say that was an another American, reaching out to help me after I tried to help Corey. And to me, that's what America is all about.

PHILLIP: It really is. You and that man represent the best of us. Dr. Jim Sweetland, thank you very much for your heroism in that moment. And thank you for joining us tonight.

SWEETLAND: Thank you.

PHILLIP: We'll be back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[22:50:01]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: There's no place in America this kind of violence, for any violence ever, period. No exceptions. We can't allow this violence to be normalized. You know, the political record in this country has gotten very heated. It's time to cool down. We all have responsibility to do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: That was President Biden during his Oval Office address earlier tonight, urging cooler heads to prevail in American politics after Saturday's assassination attempt on former President Trump. For more, I want to bring in my panel here in Milwaukee.

Kate, this assassination attempt, no question about it, it has up ended this presidential cycle. That we've been talking about the horror that we witnessed, but we are in the middle of a campaign. Everybody is talking about this quote in Axios tonight, from someone that they are describing as a senior house, Democrat.

He told Axios, we've all resigned ourselves to a second Trump presidency. I cannot imagine that is going over well, at the White House or in Delaware?

KATE BEDINGFIELD, FORMER WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR FOR PRESIDENT BIDEN: Well, I would imagine it's not. But it also doesn't reflect how the majority of Democrats are thinking about this moment in the race. So if this person believes that there's no point in waging the next three months of the campaign, then I don't know what to say to them.

Maybe they should step down, maybe they should resign, maybe they should put their name on it if they feel that strongly. But, look, that doesn't reflect where most Democrats are, as they're thinking about what has to happen over the next three and a half months of this campaign. I think, look, you saw President Biden tonight deliver a speech that I think really met the moment in terms of urging Americans to take the temperature down, but also laying out that, of course, we have policy differences. Of course, we can discuss those differences in a way that doesn't lead to personal attacks or violence. And I think, you know, hearing that message from him tonight, I think was a good thing for people all across this country, people who maybe haven't even really tuned into the race, except for the horrific event that happened over the weekend that has people looking around and saying where are we as a country right now.

And I think, you know, his leadership was really on display tonight in a way that, you know, that I think was important in this moment.

PHILLIP: This is our third time hearing from President Biden in the last couple of days since Saturday. The country is looking at him, too. I mean, this is a major leadership moment for any American president, but especially an American president who's had the last two weeks that he's had.

ASTEAD HERNDON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. I think this was important for Biden as a reset. We don't want to think about these moments as like a strictly political, but I do think President Biden is comfortable in his role as kind of uniter-in-chief. This is what the premise of his campaign was. This is his core belief about kind of appealing to better angels in American politics.

And I think you'd see that reflected here. But I don't think it quells necessarily the political questions that were open going forward for him. But it definitely takes the temperature down that we saw on Capitol Hill, I think it adds a sense of stakes and realness to this race that may cause Democrats to go in the kind of different direction and the dam breaking that we saw over the last week and a half.

But the core problem that Biden was facing going into this weekend is still there, but I definitely think it's not top of mind anymore. And so, you know, it's tough because I don't think that they should be saying to that political lens, but it is a reality of a campaign where has been up ended by the tragic event.

PHILLIP: Yes. I mean, look, the Democrats, the Biden campaign, they've already said they've paused ads. They're taking this day by day. But, Marc, you've been reporting about what's going to go on behind us here at the RNC. What are they going to do?

I mean, Salena told us Trump wants to have a message of unity. I'm wondering about everybody else on that stage?

MARC CAPUTO, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, THE BULWARK: Well, that's a good question. Number one, we have to see if the leopard is going to change his spots because Donald Trump is not known as a uniter. But he is now portraying himself as that, he's about to pick his running mate tomorrow, the guy that's favored most in MAGAville is JD Vance, and he's done nothing but sounds sort of divisive about this.

And that might be kind of a classic idea that a presidential candidate and a running mate have, which is you have the attack dog, who is the running mate, and then you have the uniter, which is Donald Trump. I'm not sure it's going to work, but that's what he's going to try to do. And if you think about what's bad for Biden here, is that the best news for him in two weeks is that his opponent almost got assassinated, like it wiped that off of the mat for a while. And that's how tough of a position Biden is in.

PHILLIP: And he put it that way. I mean, it is, first of all, for the country, that's just a really horrible set of facts that you just laid out there. But, David, look, do you think the leopard can change his spots here? Does he have to, to have credibility as a uniter? And does it have to last longer than, you know, an hour on the stage --

DAVID POLYANSKY, CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICER, AXADVOCACY: I think it's incumbent upon all, not just the presidents but the entire political class, frankly the press, pundants included. And the public at large, we all have to do better in bringing the tone down on this thing. But when he talks about the fundamentals of this race, I do want to go back to that a little bit, not to be crass.

[22:55:04]

But going into the debate, this was a race that was Donald Trump to lose. After the debate, he had essentially won it. And I think as we enter, you know, the stage here this week, and Republicans come in a united fashion that nobody expected even three days ago, he comes in here, leaving every metric that you'd want in the closing stretch of a campaign. Every battleground state, leading nationally, leading financially, and now he's leading in a position of strength.

And I think you're going to see a tone and tenor of all Republicans coming in here that expresses confidence, strength, and hopefully a unifying message about their vision going forward. And if we do that, we're going to win, not just the White House, we're going to win control Congress.

PHILLIP: I wonder what you think about that.

KRISTEN SOLTIS ANDERSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think that Republicans would be wise to take the opportunity of the next few days and realize that this convention cannot just be about firing up your base. The Republican base is fired up. The Republican base is unified behind Donald Trump, loves him and wants to see him win. That's not what you need to do at this convention.

Sometimes it is. Sometimes you need to use the convention to bring everyone together. That's not what's needed now. What's needed now is to speak to those voters who don't love Donald Trump. They don't love the options in front of them. But they're going to have to make a choice in November. They're paying attention and they want to see can Donald Trump be someone who I can credibly see back in the White House, who will bring some form of stability to my life.

In 2016, Donald Trump was elected because people wanted a wrecking ball. And then they got some taste of it and they said, maybe there was a little too much wrecking ball. And he ran against Joe Biden, who ran on a campaign of I'm going to be a unifier, you're not going to have to worry about me as president. The trouble Biden is running into is that as president, people do not feel like things have stabilized. They do not feel like we have unified. They do not feel like they got those things that they were sold. And that is what has made this enormous opening for Donald Trump to come back on the scene.

PHILLIP: Yes. I mean, does an assassination attempt against a political opponent, exactly as she said, it doesn't reinforce to voters that the country is not unified. The country has not been brought together. And President Biden is the president when this was happening.

BEDINGFIELD: Well, no. I mean, look, I think that's -- we don't know the motive of this shooter. We don't know, you know, his background. We don't know that he was politically connected. I think most Americans look at this situation and see, rightly, a horrific act of political violence.

I don't think that they immediately take that to this is somehow Joe Biden's fault. And I think, in fact, what you saw tonight from President Biden was a, you know, a discussion, a sense of leadership in a space that is a strength for him.

Now, Kristen is right, obviously, you know, I don't think anybody would dispute that he has work to do between now and November, if you look at the publicly available polling. But you know, if the race is a question of who can lead on this issue of bringing us together, who can put forward a message that appeals to people across political divides, that's a space that Joe Biden is quite comfortable in, and where I think his leadership can really can really shine.

So, you know, I would never -- I'm hesitant to talk about this. I know, we all are. I'm hesitant to talk about what happened over the weekend in a political lens. But I think that that's a space where people will hear the best of Joe Biden. And so, it will be interesting to see what Donald Trump and the Republicans do as a contrast there.

HERNDON: Joe Biden would take an election that's about the terms of unification, that's where he feels this is most comfortable. And I also say I don't think that we should see this as an isolated event. Violence has already become normalized in our politics, we think about Tree of Life, El Paso shooting, Paul shooting, the attack on Paul Pelosi. We think all of those --

PHILLIP: Likely motivated --

HERNDON: -- there are have been consistent over the last four or five years. I do think we have an American public that does not see this in isolation, but sees this as a reflection of a growing partisan and polarization divide in our politics. Now, how is that expressed in this election? I don't know, right?

That doesn't necessarily mean that they leads them to one candidate or the other. But I do think there is a growing sense that the political rhetoric and the political system is not serving the best interests of people. And I do think these moments of division violence, that type of heated rhetoric reinforces that for a lot of people.

PHILLIP: And, Marc, you mentioned JD Vance but, I mean, he really kind of, you know, he threw a match into the tinderbox here of this whole situation immediately after it happened. I mean, but that to me was just a signifier that there are a lot of people. I mean, I see it on the right happening right now.

They do not want to hear unity. They want to say this is the other side's fault.

CAPUTO: Well, that's what Trump is trying to argue here, is that he can kind of do both. I'm not again sure he's going to be able to do it, but what Vance was expressing was this like deep seated anger point that Republicans have.

However, anyone who spent any time on social media and try to comment at all or say anything about the shooting that happened on Saturday, learn that also on the left. There's a strong belief that this thing was a hoax, which is insane.

I don't understand how any candidate can bridge that was two divides. But what Biden has now to, I wouldn't say his credit, is no one's calling in his own party anymore for him to really step down. That has quelled and now the debate is between these two men, whether they can unify the country or not. I don't know if anyone can.

ABBY: Last word to you, Kristen, is there room for Trump to grow, and as always the question with him, or is he just gonna solidify his base?

SOLTIS ANDERSON: I think that there is room for him to grow insofar as there in the last 24 hours he has behaved in a way that is probably different than his detractors would have expected. We'll see what the next couple of days hold.

PHILLIP: All right. My panel here in Milwaukee, thank you all very much. And thank you for watching NewsNight. Laura Coates Live starts right now.