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Trump Official Becomes GOP Nominee and Picks Vance as VP; Musk Urged Trump to Pick Vance; Gunman Noticed Before Shooting at Rally; Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) is Interviewed about Trump's Assassination Attempt. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired July 16, 2024 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

REP. MIKE LAWLER (R-NY): Let this investigation play out, but I don't think there's any question that there needs to be accountability, including some people, including potentially the director, losing their jobs, because this type of security failure never, ever should have happened. The fact is, 43 years ago was the last time someone was shot, President Reagan. You know, and we cannot allow this to be what determines the outcome of an election.

And I think there needs to be not only transparency in the investigation, but it needs to be independent. This can't be a cover your own ass moment. It needs to be a serious understanding of what went wrong, how, why, why the shooter did what he did, why the shooter was able to get on that roof, and there needs to be accountability for it.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: An investigation we're - really going to be kicking off. We know that the Secret Service director is potentially appearing next Monday for a hearing in the House, and now this push with you and Ritchie Torres together trying to get more - more security for these candidates.

It's good to see you, Congressman. Thank you so much for coming in.

LAWLER: Thank you. Thanks for being here.

BOLDUAN: Thank you.

So, a new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

Good morning once again from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I am Kate Bolduan, right now inside the room where Republicans will soon be getting the party started once again today.

Last night, they celebrated the return of Donald Trump and his newly minted running mate, the senator from Ohio, JD Vance. Vance will be giving his big speech tomorrow night.

Overnight, though, he posted a new reaction during one of his first appeals to voters as Trump's running mate. Vance sharing this. I'll read it for you. "What an honor it is to be running alongside Donald Trump. He delivered peace and prosperity once. With your help, he'll do it again." Ending it with, "onward to victory."

Emotions were high in this room as Trump walked into the hall last night. The moment marking his first appearance since he was nearly assassinated on Saturday. Today, the RNC's theme shifts to focus on security and crime.

CNN's Alayna Treene leads us off this hour.

You have some new reporting, Alayna, this morning on the decision behind selecting Vance - JD Vance as his running mate. What are you learning?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: While there's a number of reasons that Donald Trump ultimately went with JD Vance, I'm told one of the top reasons is that the two have chemistry. They get along very well. And many people close to both Vance and new Trump had said, out of all the top contenders that Donald Trump was considering, the two of them had the best personal relationships. So, that's part of it.

The other part is that Donald Trump and the Trump campaign itself actually believe that Vance will be - will appeal very well with some of the rust belt working class voters that they think they need to win over to win the election. Vance actually addressed this in an interview with Fox News where he was discussing a phone call or the phone - the phone call, I should say, he received when Donald Trump informed him that he was being chosen as his running mate.

Take a listen to what Vance said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JD VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He just said, look, I think we've got to go save this country. I think you're the guy who could help me in the - and in the best way. You can help me govern. You can help me win. You can help me in some of these midwestern states, like Pennsylvania, Michigan and so forth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now, Kate, also, even though JD Vance is only 39, I'm told that Donald Trump is actually very impressed by how much he has accomplished by the time he's turned 39. Even though he's very young, he thinks that JD Vance has done a lot with his career thus far.

I'm also told that he believes that JD Vance will be one of the more loyal vice presidential picks. And we know, especially after Donald Trump's treatment of his former vice president, Mike Pence, loyalty has been a top quality that he had been looking for.

Now, I also can tell you that Trump had been receiving a series of phone calls from top allies and influential conservatives up until Monday morning, right before he actually had finally made that decision to choose Vance. One person in particular, Elon Musk, Tesla billionaire, had called Donald Trump on Sunday, just hours before he ultimately made his pick. And Musk, I'm told, had urged Donald Trump to go with Vance. Other notable names include Donald Trump Junior, Tucker Carlson, Steve Bannon, a number of Republicans in Congress. All of them kind of lining up and in the final hours telling Trump that they think Vance - they thought Vance was the best choice.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Alayna, it's great to see you. Thank you so much.

With me right now is CNN political commentator and former Obama administration official Van Jones, and former strategic communications director for Donald Trump's 2020 campaign, Marc Lotter.

[09:05:06]

Gentlemen, thank you for being here.

Since Alayna was talking about Elon Musk, I am curious as to the Elon Musk, Marc, influence that is, I don't know, growing in the Republican Party. You have what Alayna was just reporting about he's - he was an advocate of JD Vance. He spoke with Donald Trump before.

And then also "The Wall Street Journal" reporting that Elon Musk has said he's going to be committing $45 million a month to a new pro- Trump super PAC. I mean, that is a you know what ton of money.

MARC LOTTER, FORMER STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, TRUMP 2020 CAMPAIGN: That's a lot of money.

BOLDUAN: But - are you cool with the Elon Musk impact on the - on the party and that kind of influence?

LOTTER: Well, he's one of the biggest innovators right now in so many areas, whether it's in electric vehicles with Tesla, SpaceX, owning X now, the former Twitter. Obviously, you know, we - what we saw was how Silicon Valley put their thumb on the scale in 2020 through their political donations, et cetera. It's nice to see someone stepping forward and doing it on the other side.

BOLDUAN: Van, what do you think of the - the Elon Musk-itization (ph) of this campaigns right now?

VAN JONES, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, you know, it's a sign of some of the just curdling that's happening in Silicon Valley as via kind of almost a radicalization of some of these billionaires. They're just so hurt and offended by some of what they call like woke ideology, people, you know, wanting more equality and fair treat when it comes to race and gender is just piss a bunch of them off.

Now, it's still two-to-one Democratic, by the way. People act like all of the tech guys have gone in one direction. It's still two-to-one for Democrats in Silicon Valley. But there is a little edge of folks who have just curdled. And they're now willing to throw massive amounts of money. It's some kind of like almost a - an anti-woke vendetta. And it's scary because what is Donald Trump going to do to reward someone like an Elon Musk? He's already given him a vice president. What's next? What - you know, is Twitter - I mean is X going to wind up buying Truth? Is that a part of the deal? You're looking at more like a Russian style oligarchy that's beginning to develop. And it's quite - it's quite disturbing.

BOLDUAN: Let me start on, OK, JD Vance. Van, I was listening intently to kind of your reaction to the - to the announcement yesterday. And the way you put it is that - that what - what JD Vance's pick means is that Trump does not want this to be a unifying kumbaya convention. What do you mean?

JONES: I just mean JD Vance is - he's a radical. He's hardcore. He's a - I thought, you know, Trump comes out of a near-death experience. There's a moment where maybe he thinks we need to bring this country together for real. So maybe he picks someone like a Burgum, or he picks someone like a Nikki Haley. Instead, he goes to the other side of the planet, the other side of the galaxy, and gets the most radical pick that he can find.

Trump, at least, is more of an instinctive kind of intuitive nationalists. This is an ideological nationalism. That's, I think, a much more dangerous form of the virus because he can go try and explain this stuff and recruit all these people and make it seem kind of polished and make it seem like it's great. I just think that JD Vance had the potential to be one of the great unifiers of this country. His first book, you know, the way that he was - showed up at first when he was on our air, trying to build bridges, trying to show how people could come together.

He then did a hard turn and he's gone from being a bridge builder to being a barn burner. His positions on women are so extreme. His statements about women are so extreme. And you just think, man, I thought we were going to get a little bit of - more of a kumbaya moment. And instead, 48 hours later we get one of the most radical picks for VP in the history of the country.

BOLDUAN: You know, Marc, I was thinking back as we were waiting to hear who was going to be picked, the number of conversations you and I have had leading up to this of the - kind of the job interview aspect of what any president needs in picking a VP. And I - and I've quoted it to several people when you said the running mate needs to bring something to the campaign demographically or geographically, I think you also had a couple other in there -

LOTTER: Yes.

BOLDUAN: But that's my summary. What - is it really - is it really geographically - what is it that you see in JD Vance that he really can bring to this campaign, because it is the Donald Trump campaign. Do you really think he can move the needle?

LOTTER: I do. And I think it's a little demographic and geographic.

BOLDUAN: OK.

LOTTER: So, from a demographic standpoint, I think he has a genuine, authentic story to say, folks, I wasn't there. I was critical of this man in 2015 and 2016. But then when we compare the records of Joe Biden versus Donald Trump, he can speak to the -

BOLDUAN: Well, like, speaking to the - speaking to the Nikki Haley voters almost.

LOTTER: He can speak to an undecided voters still on the fence and going, I was one of you. I had concerns. But then when I looked at the records, I looked at the policies, I looked at the future, I came over. The water's fine.

[09:10:00]

You can do the same. And then being from the Midwest, he can campaign in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin. He's one of them, I think. So, there's a geographic and a demographic benefit.

BOLDUAN: What's the deal with the RFK meeting? I'm fixating on this a little bit. Maybe people are going to tell me, Kate, you're fixating on this a little too much. Donald Trump meeting with RFK Jr. yesterday. And RFK Junior's campaign saying that the focus of this - the focus of the meeting was national unity. And had - so the Trump campaign, Marc, was on with me earlier and they say, well, we're always looking to reach out to independent voters. But Donald Trump had called RFK Junior a Democratic plant and saying that he would like ruin the country immediately if he'd become president just two months ago. What - is their strategy here? Is there like an end-round - like, end your campaign? What is this?

LOTTER: Well, I think when you're - when you're in a primary process, you get a lot of that. You get a lot of statements that are made on both sides from people who are campaigning against each other. Why is this person running? What are they doing?

BOLDUAN: Oh, welcome Nikki Haley hitting the stage tonight.

LOTTER: And Governor DeSantis.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

LOTTER: And so you bet once you move into the conventions, move into the general election, you are struck (ph), you're trying to do that. So, I think the outreach.

And also I think it's good to touch base, obviously given the events over the weekend. Obviously, the president - the president and the former president spoke. RFK now. Just to say, guys, let's be all on the same page. We're going to have our disagreements, we're going to have our policy disagreements, but if we can at least try to be on the same page when it comes to the overall threats and some of the rhetoric, I think it's a good touch base for all three of them to.

BOLDUAN: I think you actually are putting it in the most honest way that anyone can, which is, if we can just all be on the same page, maybe on these three areas. One, we - our security, as we are running these campaigns. And maybe on some of the most heated rhetoric. Because you've been in this game a long time. There is no way that they're going to be kumbaya-ing and unifying message for the rest of this campaign.

LOTTER: It's going to be a policy contrast. BOLDUAN: Said another way. This is ending soon.

It's good to see you, Marc. Thank you so much.

LOTTER: Good to see you.

BOLDUAN: Van, thank you so much. It's great to see you.

John, Sara, back to you.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you very much.

So, we've got new details this morning about the gunman who attempted to kill Donald Trump. What he was doing just hours before the attack.

And new questions this morning about who is to blame for the security failure that led to a clear shot being taken at Donald Trump. Why Secret Service and local police are now pointing the finger at each other.

And the new CNN fact check of all that was said, all that has been said so far at the Republican Convention.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:16:59]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: New CNN analysis this morning. The crowd at the Trump rally noticed the gunman at least one minute and 57 seconds before the assassination attempt. Almost two minutes. There are also new details on where the shooter was before he opened fire as agents still work to determine why he opened fire on Donald Trump and the crowd.

CNN's Danny Freeman is in Butler, Pennsylvania.

You've been following this for us for some time. What can you tell us this morning?

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sara, I really want to highlight some of the work that our CNN digital video teams have done specifically when it comes to that timeline that you just addressed. Listen, we've seen it ourselves with a lot of videos that have been coming out since Saturday evening. We've also heard it from eyewitnesses. But our teams sync up all of that witness video and detailed, as you said, that there was at least a minute and 57 second gap between when people in the crowd, and from different parts of the crowd, I should say, at that Trump rally realized that someone was on top of that roof. And then that distance between when he actually opened fire. So, I encourage viewers to take a look at that online because it really does paint a picture of not only how quickly this happened, but also how many people were noticing something was wrong before, of course, this tragedy struck.

But, Sara, I want to detail also what you were talking about that we are learning new information about some of the movements of this shooter prior to that ultimate shooting. We're talking, of course, about Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania.

We now know that on Friday evening he went to his sportsman club that he belonged to. He went to the rifle range there to practice.

Then we also know on Saturday morning he went to a Home Depot and he purchased a ladder. Then shortly thereafter he went to a local gun store and purchased, as we understand it from law enforcement sources, 50 rounds of ammunition. He then drove to Butler. And once he was on site here at the rally, we do understand that local law enforcement did note him. They noted that he was acting suspicious around the metal detector area. But then, far as we understand, he was not noticed again until he ultimately was perched on that roof and opened fire at former President Donald Trump.

But against, Sara, the big question that we still don't have an answer to right now is that question of motive. The FBI saying yesterday they still have not found a motive. And that's after interviewing witnesses, law enforcement agents, friends, family, and even being able to crack into his phone. Still, no evidence that there was any strong ideological motivation that would have led him up to that roof on Saturday evening.

Sara.

SIDNER: Danny Freeman, those are extraordinary pictures and an extraordinary long amount of time for that gunman to have been sitting there with people noticing, except for the Secret Service.

Thank you so much for your reporting there.

John.

BERMAN: All right, with us now is Florida Congressman Jared Moskowitz.

Congressman, thank you so much for being with us.

You know, you ran the Florida Emergency Management direct - you were the director for a number of years. You have supported the idea of a bipartisan investigation into the assassination attempt of Donald Trump.

Based on what you've seen so far, where do you think the areas of biggest failure may be?

[09:20:03]

REP. JARED MOSKOWITZ (D-FL): Well, thanks, John. Thanks for having me.

No, look, I was the former director of emergency management in Florida. And after we would have a hurricane and certain things wouldn't go well in our response, we would do an after-action review, right, to determine where the breakdowns were and how we fix them in the future. It's standard protocol. And so, I support the call for an investigation. And I look forward to

being at the hearing a week from yesterday. So, it will be Monday of next week. Unfortunately, Chairman Comer sent the letter out with that request. He only allowed the Republicans of the committee to sign on to that letter. I would have signed it to make this bipartisan in the calls for unity, of course.

But, look, if we determine through the investigation that there were either breakdowns in procedure, the procedures don't cover this, or there were breakdowns in protocol, meaning they didn't follow their protocol, then - then, obviously, there needs to be accountability. And at that time I would call for the head of the Secret Service to either resign or be removed.

John, I'm also from Parkland. My house right now is about a mile from where the shooting was at my high school. And when we determined, after we established the commission, the breakdowns in law enforcement's response and in their training, the sheriff, who was in charge of that, was removed from office.

BERMAN: Parland is where I first met you, the day after that shooting all those years ago, Congressman.

I am curious what you just said, that James Comer, the chairman of the Oversight Committee, did not put any of your names, the Democrats, on that list because you said now is the time to lower the temperature.

So, based on what you're seeing so far in the last 72 hours, how's that going?

MOSKOWITZ: Well, look, there are a number of people I serve with. We're doing joint letters. We're trying to bring some unity. But, obviously, look, we're not going to bat 1,000. There are some people there that aren't interested in that. And it's just - this was an opportunity for Comer to reach across the aisle to the Democrats that serve with him on the committee and show that we're interested in getting to the bottom of this.

Let's be clear, this was an assassination attempt on a former president. I don't care what party they're associated with. We're part of the legislative branch. It's our job to investigate what happened here. This could easily have happened to a Democratic president or a Democratic congressman, or a senator. We've seen that in the past, by the way, with both Gabby Giffords and Steve Scalise. And so, Democrats have an interest to figure out also why there was such a breakdown in either procedure or protocol, and fix it.

BERMAN: Yes.

MOSKOWITZ: And I look forward to working with the Republicans on the committee. But, obviously, it was a missed opportunity by the chairman. He should have allowed the Democrats to sign that letter.

BERMAN: Congressman, you're colorful. You're one of the more colorful members of Congress, Democrat or Republican. So, when you say lower the temperature, I kind of want to know what you think that includes, because it was, what, like two months ago, not even, where you signed on to a proposal to name the federal prison in Florida after Donald Trump. You said everyone knows President Trump loves to write his name in goal letters on all his buildings, but he's never had his name on a federal building before as a public servant. I just want to help the former president help us make that dream a reality.

Is that the type of thing that you would do today if you're trying to lower the temperature? Where does that fit?

MOSKOWITZ: Well, look, I don't think there's anything wrong with a little sarcasm and humor in the political process. We were responding to the fact that they were trying to name Dulles Airport after Donald Trump. That has nothing to do with any threats against the president, of course, right?

BERMAN: Sure.

MOSKOWITZ: Lowering the temperature is lowering the specific language, right? And it is a both sides, all sides issue. I hate doing that, but it is, right? Politics right now, right, it's about, you know, defining your party in the most extreme way, as a way to market and sell, because, let's be honest, anger sells, right? There's a - there's a whole grifting empire, there's a whole anger empire, you see it on social media, you see it in podcasts, you know, unity and kumbaya doesn't really get people to vote. And - but anger does.

But - but it's incumbent upon us in congress who are part of that problem, right, because, you know, we - we're a part of this whole system. And so, you know, I've talked to a number of members, many of which I don't agree with ideologically, whether that's Matt Gaetz or Anna Paulina Luna, about trying to figure out how we can bring the temperature down. Because look, a lot of us are parents. We've got kids, right? Whether you're on the left, you're on the right. And if this - if we continue down this path, right, it's going to be our colleagues next. We've already seen that in the past.

BERMAN: Congressman -

MOSKOWITZ: And so we have a - we have a responsibility to disagree, but not dehumanize each other.

BERMAN: Do you think President Biden is on a path to re-election right now? A sustainable path?

MOSKOWITZ: Well, look, you know, hashtag math, right? I mean the polls don't look great at the moment, but it's a snapshot at this time. I mean I - there's no doubt I think we're - the president is at his floor. I mean he's laying on it, quite frankly. And so, you know, we'll have to see.

Right now this election has become a referendum on Joe Biden since the debate.

[09:25:02]

That's what's been going on. And we've got to turn this back to a referendum on Donald Trump coming back and the policies that he wants to bring, right? We're talking about unity. But the pick last night of JD Vance shows how confident the former president is because he's doubling down on MAGA. He is doubling down on Project 2025. But because the former president is a marketing genius, he's now going to repackage that in unity.

And so, again, we should watch the language we use, but we should absolutely describe the policy differences, right? And with the pick of JD Vance, like, women's rights are definitely on the ballot.

BERMAN: Congressman Jared Moskowitz, thanks so much for being with us this morning. Appreciate your time, sir.

MOSKOWITZ: Thanks, John.

BERMAN: Sara.

SIDNER: All right, coming up, former President Donald Trump made his first appearance since the assassination attempt, arriving at the RNC as the crowds chanted, "fight, fight, fight," mimicking what the former president did immediately after he was shot. We will show you some pictures there.

Plus, he was once a hugely vocal critic of Donald Trump, saying he was a never Trump kind of guy and he couldn't stomach Trump. Now he's on the ticket with Donald Trump. We will look at JD Vance, the life in times. That's coming up next.

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