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Donald Trump Attends First Day of Republican National Convention Just Days after Assassination Attempt; Donald Trump Picks J.D. Vance as His Vice Presidential Running Mate; President Biden Emphasizes in Recent Interview He is Remaining Democratic Party's Presidential Candidate; Day 2 of RNC After Trump Makes First Appearance Since Rally Shooting; New Details About Where Shooter Was Before Attack. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired July 16, 2024 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: So some of these conspiracy theories are so wild. They're quite easy to disprove, especially as information comes out. Do people know and accept that they're being manipulated?

DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN REPORTER: Look, and I would say, what was very honest with those women that we spoke to, and folks can go onto CNN.com to see the full interview, was that lady Mary Mann, she said, look, I know this is irrational. I have seen people on the other side of the aisle, Republicans engage in conspiracy theories about the election, about January 6th. I don't want to be that person. But yet, that is where her mind is going.

And I think it just says so much about where we are in this country when it comes to trust, when it comes to the information and misinformation ecosystems we live in. And for all this talk about coming together as a country, clearly, if people have two very different worlds and understandings of reality, how can you come together when you don't have a shared understanding?

BOLDUAN: A shared, a basic understanding of what is, is, what fact is, what reality is, that's the only thing, the only basis of unity. Yes, it's great so good to see you, Donie. Thank you so much for doing that, and great reporting, as always.

We have a new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL. It starts now.

Top of the hour. I'm Kate Bolduan here in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, sitting inside the RNC convention hall. This morning the room will soon be back in action, and one big moment to look out for today, Nikki Haley taking the stage. Haley ran hard against Donald Trump in the Republican primary, of course. And even after she dropped out of the race, she continued to win notable support and more than a dozen state primaries.

So what will her message be today to those voters, those ardent Trump supporters in the hall? What will her message be today to those Nikki Haley voters that both Trump and Biden want to win over so much? Today's theme, a focus on security. And that takes on, of course, new

meaning now less than 72 hours after the assassination attempt on the former president. We're showing you, you can see right there, the moment last night when he first entered the convention, his first appearance since he was shot. Moments ago, Republican Congressman Byron Donalds, he joined us. He spent the evening sitting right next to Donald Trump at his side. He spoke with us about the emotions that he says Trump had.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. BYRON DONALDS, (R-FL): He was emotional, and that's what I saw. And I think the whole world saw that. And he fully understands how close he was to death. He fully appreciated all the support, not just here in this convention, in this arena, but around the world. And knowing him, Donald Trump has hit obstacles. He's hit criticism. We all know this. That only strengthens his resolve off. But this is different. I think what it's really done for him is really that opportunity to reflect on everything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: CNN's Alayna Treene is leading us off this hour. Alayna, apart from Donald Trump appearing for part of the program last night, the other major moment yesterday was his announcement that Senator J.D. Vance is now his running mate. What is the campaign saying about all this morning?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Well, Kate, there's a number of reasons Donald Trump ultimately decided to tap J.D. Vance as his running mate. But I'll give you some of the top ones. One is that there has been a lot of people who are arguing that J.D. Vance may be too young for the ticket. He's only 39 years old. However, Donald Trump has been very impressed with the amount of experience and what J.D. has done, or J.D. Vance has done by the time that he has turned 39. I'm told that's actually something that Donald Trump really likes about him, as well as there has been questions of whether, Donald Trump, did he actually want someone who could be running beside him who would want to run in four years for president. I'm told that he actually does. He really is focused on having someone to carry on what they're calling the MAGA movement after Donald Trump finishes, if he were to win, finishes his next term.

And so that's part of the reasoning. Another two big reasons as well is that they think that Vance, someone who grew up in a poor Ohio town, will connect very well with rustbelt working class voters. Those are some of the voters that the Trump campaign believes are central to winning the election in November.

They also argue that J.D. Vance's wife, Usha Vance, as she is the daughter of Indian immigrants, they actually think that she could be very powerful throughout the campaign in the leadup for over the next several months.

[08:05:05] Now, we did hear Vance himself address in an interview with FOX News last night what he thinks a vice president should do. Take a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. J.D. VANCE, (R) VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You need to support the president in enacting the agenda, whether it's going and meeting with foreign leaders, whether it's working with the Senate and the House to get legislation passed, the president can't be everywhere. Even the Trump can't be everywhere. So you've got to be a person he can trust, he can rely on to actually advance the agenda. That's the most important job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now, going off of what Vance said, he kind of hinted that he's going to be very loyal to Donald Trump and let Trump be the one to dictate any future agenda. And that was another reason as well, people really see J.D. Vance as being the most loyal of the contenders that Donald Trump was considering.

Now, we also know that several influential people were in Donald Trump's ear over the past several months, but even more so over the last several days. I'm told that these allies had been calling Donald Trump up until Monday afternoon when he ultimately made his decision. That includes people like tech billionaire Elon Musk, he called Donald Trump, I'm told on Sunday, urged him to pick Vance. We also know that his -- Trump's son Donald Trump Jr. as well as Tucker Carlson and several other Republicans in Congress had been urging Trump to go with Vance as well. And so he has a lot of support here on the ground and among the Republican Party as they look ahead. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Alayna, thank you so much here in Milwaukee.

Now, today, President Biden is back on the campaign trail as well with one goal -- proving to voters that he can do the job for another four years. Joe Biden has a full slate of campaign stops today, starting in the battleground state of Nevada, where he is looking to focus in on policy, not personality, in his campaign against Donald Trump.

In the days since the attempted assassination of the former president, the calls for Biden to bow out have really gone totally silent. So does that stick? CNN's Arlette Saenz is that the White House for us? She's joining us now. Arlette, does this suggest that the clock has run out on this push to convince Biden to step aside?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, President Biden has been adamant that it has. He says that he is remaining in this race, and publicly, the calls for him to step aside have subsided in recent days. But behind the scenes, we're told there are still private efforts underway to try to press the president and his team that he needs to leave the Democratic ticket in order for Democrats to be successful in November.

Now, those private efforts include polling memos sent by a seasoned Democratic pollster, Stanley Greenberg, who did good polling for Bill Clinton back in his presidential runs. Additionally, there are Democratic lawmakers who are privately urging Biden's team that, and warning that Biden's legacy could be tarnished if he were not only to lose, but also if House and Senate Democrats were to lose in November's election if he remains at the top of the ticket.

Now the president has been defiant throughout this, insisting that he is staying in this race. Some allies privately have said that they had hoped that in the days since some of the president's performances last week, but also the assassination attempt against Donald Trump, that maybe the calls for him to step aside would subside as they believe that Democrats need to show a united front in this moment. But last night in an interview with NBC's Lester Holt, President Biden again said that he is remaining in this race and said that he has the received the votes from Democratic voters in the primary. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LESTER HOLT, NBC NEWS: Do you feel like you've weathered the storm on this issue of whether you should be on the ticket or not?

JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Look, 14 million people voted for me to be the nominee in the Democratic Party, OK? I'm listening to them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Now, for his part, President Biden is charging ahead with his campaign, having several events today in the battleground state of Nevada, specifically looking to court black voters as they are looking to get more support heading into November's election.

BOLDUAN: Arlette, thank you so much for that.

Now, back here in Milwaukee, former President Donald Trump, he received a standing ovation last night from loyal Republican Party members here at the convention. And it was an emotional first appearance since the assassination attempt on the former president. For those in the audience, emotional, and also, it appeared for the nominee himself. His son, Don Jr. said yesterday that his father has changed since the shooting.

Here with me now is Caroline Sunshine. She's the deputy communications director for the Trump campaign. Thank you for being and here. Very busy, busy moment for you. About last night, what was the former president's reaction to being here and amongst Republicans and loyal, loyal Republican Party members with that moment last night?

[08:10:06]

CAROLINE SUNSHINE: President Trump is grateful to be alive, and we are grateful that he is here. We really believed that there was divine intervention at play. I'm a woman of deep faith, and truly when you look at what President Trump survived, we really believe that they hand of God was with him. We're grateful that he's here. I think you can imagine anybody who survived what President Trump survived would feel the same way.

We've also been deeply moved by the support of the American people, both inside our party and outside our party. When you walk into a room like that and you feel that energy, it's almost the inverse of what President Trump was able to give that crowd in Pennsylvania.

Look, the only thing more remarkable than what President Trump survived in the assassination attempt on his life was, of course, his immediate reaction following it in the immediate moments after where he got to his feet with blood still on his face, very much still in grave and present danger. And he said, "Fight, fight, fight!" And if you watch the reaction of that crowd, the crowd understandably was panicked, fearful, ducking, and President Trump got up and spoke those words, "Fight, fight, fight," and let the crowd know that he was OK. It also let them know that he was OK. And I think when President Trump walked into this very same arena last night, the crowd was now giving that back.

BOLDUAN: Yes, we heard them chant "Fight, fight, fight" for him last night.

Looking ahead to today, many speakers will be taking the stage once again, Nikki Haley will be among them. What does the campaign want to hear from a former rival that Donald Trump ran hard against and who ran hard against Donald Trump?

SUNSHINE: Well, we want to hear more of what Nikki Haley has already said, which is that Nikki Haley has endorsed President Trump for president. She's encouraged her own delegates to vote for him. These are her words, not mine. She has said that Joe Biden is not fit to serve for a second term and that we know Kamala Harris would be a disaster. She's also said that we need a president who can hold our enemies accountable, secure our border, cut our debt, and get our economy back on track. Those are Nikki Haley's words, not mine. And we certainly look forward to hearing more of that, because President Trump he has unified this party behind him.

And when President Trump got up and said "Fight, fight, fight," he wasn't speaking to a specific type of voter. He wasn't speaking to a specific type of American. He was speaking for the country. Today, there are no Nikki Haley voters. There are no this type of voter or that voter. There is only one party unified behind President Donald J. Trump.

BOLDUAN: With the announcement of J.D. Vance as running mate, what set him apart from Doug Burgum and Marco Rubio?

SUNSHINE: I think J.D. Vance is a remarkable American who's deep love of country is evidence. This is a marine -- once a marine, always a marine. This is a man who, when the Twin Towers came down on 9/11, jumped up and answered the call in his own way and said fight, fight, fight, and enlisted in the Marine Corps, of course, serving overseas.

There's a kinship there. President Trump and J.D. Vance are from different generations, but I think they are made and cut from the same ilk, the same level of country, the same willingness to fight, the same willingness to sacrifice. You look at the remarkable life that J.D. Vance has had, certainly one of adversity, certainly one of pursuing the American dream. I think fighters respect fighters, strength respects strength.

As I said, President Trump is unequivocally the leader of this party. He likes fighters, and I think that's what you see in someone like J.D. Vance is someone who has proved they're capable of being an excellent partner in our great fight to make our country great again.

BOLDUAN: I want to ask you, Caroline, former President Trump, just I was just looking at this. Just two months ago he went after RFK Junior. He called them a Democratic plant and a radical left liberal is how he wrote about it. And he said that the country in a video, he said the country would collapse almost immediately if RFK would win. Obviously, there's no assumption that RFK would win the White House, but Trump just met with RFK yesterday, and according to RFK's campaign, they discussed national unity. Why would the former president want to meet with someone he calls a Democratic plant? Is it to try to win over his endorsement?

SUNSHINE: Because we are still one nation under God. And I think this moment that we have lived through, President Trump always has a way of of meeting the moment.

BOLDUAN: It's not like President Trump is looking to meet with Joe Biden and talk about national unity right now. I mean, what is going on with that meeting when he has very limited time here in Milwaukee and his schedule is really packed?

SUNSHINE: Well, first of all, I don't I think anybody is looking to Joe Biden or the Democrat party to unify the country. I think they're having a difficult enough time unifying their own party. But I'll say this, RFK being on the independent ticket, after the debate performance, the number one were the independents used to describe President Trump's debate performance was "hopeful." We are seeing more and more independents come over to vote for President Trump. President Trump like I said, has already unify the Republican Party behind him, but he intends to be a president for all Americans. Independents are very much included in that.

BOLDUAN: Part of the strategy in trying mean to kind of solidify the independent vote is potentially getting RFK on his side?

SUNSHINE: I think we are welcoming those voters to our party, certainly, and we intend to keep doing that. Why wouldn't we?

(LAUGHTER)

[08:15:00]

BOLDUAN: Good to see you, Caroline. Thanks so much for coming in.

SUNSHINE: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: Another day ahead for the Republican Convention. Coming up for us, new information in this morning about just how long

people in the crowd at that Pennsylvania rally saw and watched the gunman before he opened fire and tried to assassinate Donald Trump. New details and new reporting coming in on that.

And also after surviving that near-death experience, the very latest on what we know about the changes that Donald Trump says he is making to his Republican Convention speech.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:20:19]

BERMAN: All right, a new CNN analysis this morning, the crowd at the Trump rally noticed the gunman, at least one minute and 57 seconds before he opened fire. There is also new information about the shooter's movements before it all happened.

CNN's Danny Freeman is in Butler, Pennsylvania with the latest.

Danny, what are you learning this morning?

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, I want to talk directly to what you just mentioned, this time lapse between when it seems the crowd noticed Thomas Crooks, the 20-year-old from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, the suspected shooter here and when the shots actually rang out.

Listen, we've heard it from witnesses. We've seen it on a lot of these videos, but what CNN has now done is we've synced up some of these witness videos that we've been getting over the past more than 48 hours now, and it suggests that crowd members in multiple parts of this particular rally noticed that something was wrong, noticed that there may have been this gunman perched on top of this roof and like you said, John, nearly two minutes, a minute and 57 seconds from at least the video that we've gathered so far before -- from the time that the crowd notices Thomas Crooks on that roof to the time that former President Trump is ultimately shot and one other is killed in the crowd and two other injured as well.

So again, harrowing information just as we continue to piece together what really happened at that rally.

Meanwhile, we are also trying to piece together what happened with the shooter that led up to this particular rally and we have some more information from law enforcement sources. We know now that Thomas Crooks on Friday went to his sportsmen's club and he used the rifle range there.

That's important because that rifle range at this particular club is about 200 yards. So not too much farther than the about 150 yards or so distance between where the gunman was perched and where former president trump was speaking at that rally.

We know that on Saturday morning, he then went to a Home Depot to purchase a ladder. Then later went to a gun store also in and around his neighborhood and purchased 50 rounds of ammunition. Then law enforcement sources tell us that he drove up to Butler and he was spotted at one point by local law enforcement around the perimeter of the particular rally near the metal detectors, but then it seems went undetected for a little while until ultimately later on when he was perched on top of that roof.

But john, the biggest question that we still all have been waiting for an answer is what was the motivation behind this attack? And frankly, the FBI still does not have an answer that they've been able to release to the public.

They've done a hundred interviews of witnesses and law enforcement folks on the ground here. They've interviewed friends and family of Crooks, search through his phone. Still at this point, no signs of any ideological reasons or other motivations that would have led him to that roof behind me back on Saturday -- John.

Danny Freeman in Butler, it is great to have you there digging. Keep us posted throughout the morning. Thanks so much -- Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, thank you, John.

Joining us now, a former adviser to the Department of Homeland Security and a former Secret Service supervisory special agent, Charles Marino.

Thank you so much, sir for coming in this morning.

One minute, 57 seconds -- we've looked at the video and made that assessment. That's how long this attempted assassin sitting there on that roof, people are screaming saying there is a guy on the roof.

What was the biggest mistake here from the Secret Service?

CHARLES MARINO, FORMER SECRET SERVICE SUPERVISORY SPECIAL AGENT: Yes, I think the biggest failure was here in the overall operational security planning that was done and staffing.

Look, the Secret Service can't do their job without the support of state and local law enforcement. The Secret Service owns this. However, they have the statutory responsibility to protect the former president. As I said, that required not only for the creation of the overall security plan, but also the effective implementation of that plan, including assignments of supporting state and local law enforcement officers and narrow the agency that makes the initial request of state and local law enforcement to provide resources to help secure these areas.

So you're talking about over a minute of being on the roof, which the shooter was. You're also talking about the additional prior reporting from attendees and other people reporting this suspicious behavior. So typically what happens when you see a significant failure like this, it is going to expose other failures and I think one of the other areas that we are going to see failures in is communication.

Did it not happen at all? Or did it not happen broadly enough?

SIDNER: I'm curious about what is the norm here? This building was about a little more than a football field away.

[08:25:01]

It was in the line of sight, the top of that building. Would it be normal for the Secret Service, for example, to have someone station there, as so many times, we have seen in the past where you have snipers on many of the sort of rooms, anything that looks down upon and has access to where the president is.

Was that unusual to you?

MARINO: Well, this is certainly a structure that would make the hair on the back of your neck stand up as you're doing the advance prior to the event taking place because of everything that you just mentioned -- the elevated threat, the direct line of sight to the stage, so it is something that one, you would want to control access to, to make sure somebody doesn't get on the roof of, for example.

It is something that you would want to highlight to your special operations teams like the counter sniper unit, the counter assault team, and it is something that you would specifically want to coordinate with state and local law enforcement on that outer perimeter to make sure that they are paying very close attention to it.

Again, it is not just the creation of the plan, it is the clear communication of expectations of what you want those resources to do at the state and local hello level. And also, checking up to make sure that that's actually being done.

This evidently fell clearly through the cracks.

SIDNER: I do want to ask you about some of the things that are being said online because it is just so pervasive. There is a lot of conspiracy theories that somehow the Secret Service allowed this to happen for a myriad of reasons.

How do they deal with that with the public in some ways, turning on them because a former president was almost killed?

MARINO: Well, look, we saw some very, very good things that the Secret Service did that day in the way that they ran and protected the former president on that stage, putting their bodies between the threat and the former president and then evacuating him out safely to go to a hospital to get checked out. So that worked very well.

But when you see the inner workings of that protection bubble have to work the way it did, the counter sniper team, the protective detail assigned to the former president, that usually tells you there has been a catastrophic failure at the operational plan.

And as far as the conspiracies go, the best thing that could happen here is all the investigations that are being done get wrapped up quickly. There is no reason for this to be bogged down in politics and the bureaucratic process, this was one site, this was one Secret Service operation, it should be very easy to look at and see what went wrong here.

The motive aside of the shooter, that doesn't come into play to the overall operations because this plan should deter all threats, all hazards.

SIDNER: The Secret Service director did say the buck stops with her. We will see what happens with these investigations.

Charles Marino, thank you so much for coming on and sharing your expertise with us this morning.

MARINO: Thank you.

BERMAN: So how long will the new message of unity last? We've got new reporting on what we can expect to hear when Donald Trump takes the stage at the convention.

And the Biden campaign in a tough position this morning, can they prove the president has the energy to win while toning down attacks on Donald Trump?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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