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Sen. JD Vance Makes First Official Campaign Speech; Interview With Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-FL): House And Senate Briefings On Trump Assassination Attempt. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired July 17, 2024 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:00]

SEN. JD VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Because they know that he has their best interest at heart. He knows -- they know that when he was president for four years, groceries and gas and energy and housing were actually affordable to a normal person in this country and after four years of the Biden administration, the basic trappings of a good middle-class life have become less and less attainable.

In my home state of Ohio, the average Ohio family is about $10,000.00 poorer than they were four years ago.

And of course, Ronald Reagan famously asked in a great debate, I think it was Jimmy Carter, who he said, were you -- are you better off -- he asked the American people in a debate with Jimmy Carter, I should say, are you better off than you were four years ago? And I wasn't alive when he asked that question, but I know millions of Ohio families who would answer that question with a resounding no.

And if you asked the opposite question, were you better off in 2019, in 2020 than you were in 2016? Those same exact families would say absolutely yes.

It is time to go back to the leadership of Donald Trump. It is time to get rid of the corrupt Biden-Harris regime that has broken this country, that has ruined its reputation in the world and most importantly, has made a basic middle-class life less affordable for our citizens.

Let's get rid of them, and lets bring Donald Trump back to the White House.

So, I got a little bit of a taste of this over the last few days because it turns out, we have a Secret Service detail, you don't drive with them (ph), okay.

(LAUGHTER)

VANCE: And I thought about this a lot because I felt like, how does President Trump like yank (ph) instinctively this thing that is going on with Americans and electric vehicles, that probably hasn't been the problem in 20 years.

I know he hasn't driven a car in 20 years. I know he has driven a car in eight years because I will tell you, with the Secret Service --

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: We have been listening to the new Republican vice presidential nominee, JD Vance in his first public remarks, his first campaign appearance since being nominated to the vice presidency by president -- former President Donald Trump.

Of course, there was limited press access to that event. We were only allowed to listen to about the first 10 minutes of it. He said he would keep his remarks short because he has more to say later tonight. He said he is very excited about this evening to make what he says is the very easy case to reelect Donald Trump.

He also then went on to attack the media and its coverage of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump over the weekend then began talking about Biden's economic policy, what he described as rampant inflation and he cited statistics from his home state of Ohio as well.

Let's get the latest reporting now with CNN's Kristen Holmes and Alayna Treene, who has been tracking the latest from the RNC since before it even began.

Kristen Holmes is with us now.

What should we expect to hear from JD Vance later tonight -- Kristen.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I just want to touch on what we just heard right now because I think that this is really important.

This is exactly what JD Vance has been chosen to do, to go out there and build up the Big Guy, and one of the things he said here was he was going to keep his remarks short because he wanted to get out into the crowd and talk to people. He actually has to do that.

Remember, he has been on the national republican scene for a very short while. He has been a senator, he is the junior senator from Ohio since November of 2022. He has almost no exposure out there other than what we have seen and other than the years we saw of him trashing Donald Trump and there are a lot of people in the Republican Party who don't know anything about him and who really want to learn who this guy actually is.

All he has done right now is won over President Donald Trump, President Donald Trump's family, and really the kings of the MAGA movement, talking about Charlie Kirk, Donald Trump, Jr. et cetera, but not the rest of the Republican Party. They still don't know him, so that is one of the things that he really has to spend the next couple times doing.

What he has to do on stage tonight is tell the American people who he is. He has done a couple of interviews here and there. He has had a media presence, but not really explained his life story other than in his book, and a lot of America obviously hasn't read that book.

Now, what we are expecting tonight from him, he will be up on stage. He is obviously the keynote speaker. He will be introduced by Usha Vance, his wife. She herself is a fascinating human being.

She was a trial lawyer. She met him at Yale Law School. He credits her with all of his success, and the entire theme is Make America Strong Again, so what they're focused on is veterans. You're going to hear from Gold Star families. You're going to hear from a family of an Israeli hostage.

But the keynote speaker here is JD Vance.

SANCHEZ: And Kristen, thank you for that reporting. Let's get to Alayna Treene now, because Alayna, you have details from folks that are helping JD Vance craft this speech and he is going to lean into what Kristen described, that "Hillbilly Elegy," that origin story that he first published in that book a few years ago.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: That's right, Boris and Kristen was spot on. The goal of JD Vance's speech tonight is to really introduce himself properly to the American public.

[15:05:04]

Sure, I think a lot of people who are here right now in Milwaukee at this convention know JD Vance very well, but there are so many Americans out there who don't know his story, do not know what he stands for. And so, he will be expanding on that during his remarks.

Now people who are working on his speech, they've essentially told me he is going to go deeply into his own life story, from a childhood that was unstable with a family that struggled with addiction, from becoming a Marine, to going to Yale Law School, to serving in the Senate for just one and-a-half years before being picked as Donald Trump's running mate. That is what he is going to talk about tonight.

He is really going to delve deep into his personal story and try to connect with voters on that deeper level, and specifically voters in the middle class in the Rust Belt area where he grew up. It is these key states that really, Trump's campaign believes he can appeal to these voters and also the voters they see as being essential to winning in the election.

Now, I do want to share with you as well a different part of this is that Donald Trump's team really does believe that someone like JD Vance, he is only 39 years old, is the standard bearer of the party and specifically the MAGA movement.

There were some questions during Donald Trump's VP stakes process when he was considering his top candidates and some of the critics of JD Vance had argued, I think he is too young. He is maybe too inexperienced, and also he could potentially draw attention away from the former president in the White House because he is someone who is very young and has a long political career ahead of him.

However, am told by Donald Trump senior advisers that that's a pro and I want to read this to you, this one quote from a senior adviser, he told me: "The president has been very clear about the primary focus of his choice, being a person that he believes would have a great eight years of service after his next four-year term."

So that's clearly showing that they want someone who can carry on the MAGA movement even after Donald Trump -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Alayna Treene, we look forward to that speech later tonight. Thank you so much.

Let's discuss with Republican Congressman Carlos Gimenez of Florida.

Congressman, great to see you, as always.

You were supportive of Marco Rubio, Florida senator for the vice presidential nomination. I am wondering if you think it is a missed opportunity for Donald Trump to not have selected Rubio.

REP. CARLOS GIMENEZ (R-FL): Look, I think that President Trump has every right to choose who he wanted. He feels that Senator Vance is somebody who is better suited. I mean, he did a lot of talking to different people. He vetted a lot of people, and he took this is a very deliberate process.

And I think that the last statement was true. He knows that whoever it was that he chose to be his vice president and once he got elected, that that individual will be the presumptive nominee in 2028, and somebody that will carry on the tradition or his policies, past his four years and I think that was very important to him.

And so, he felt that Senator Vance was the best person to do that, and so the entire party will be behind Senator Vance as we are behind President Trump.

SANCHEZ: I do want to ask you about those policies in part because I think there is some disagreement between your view of America's place in the world, specifically when it comes to Ukraine and the senator from Ohio.

He has said things like, I don't really care what happens to Ukraine one way or the other. How do you see that difference?

GIMENEZ: Yes, well, we certainly disagree on certain -- look, the Republican -- we don't agree with everything that every Republican says, no, so I may have some disagreements on that.

I do believe that Ukraine -- it is important that Ukraine remains free, that Ukraine continues to fight Russia. I mean, I have a different background, I come from Cuba obviously, right, and the Russians were there for 60 years. They have been part of the oppressors of the Cuban people.

And so my experiences with Russia are somewhat different from Senator Vance, hopefully Vice President Vance, but also part of this experience will be a learning experience as he is vice president, learning from a great president and views change.

I mean, even his views have moderated, changed over time, and so we are human beings and we need to grow. And I am not saying that hit if he grows, he is going to change his view, but I think that that disagreement is not necessarily bad.

SANCHEZ: So you hope that he adjusts his view of Ukraine and doesn't allow it to wind up in Russian hands.

GIMENEZ: Yes, I mean, that's mine and, I am sure that he wants me to change my view, right? So, you know, it is -- I have my own personal view on the issue, he has his and there will be a lot of discussion about it, but all in all, I think that Senator Vance really is in line with what President Trump wants to do and not only now, but carry that on for the next eight years after.

Because, you know, one of the discussions I did have with President Trump with that is, I believe this is a pivotal election. We need to change the direction of the country. This country is going in the wrong direction.

[15:10:08]

And I don't think we can change that direction simply in four years, we need additional time. And so, it was very important who he chose to be his vice president to carry on what he is going to start in the next four years.

SANCHEZ: Congressman, you mentioned Russia's involvement in Cuba, a story that we both know well. China has also expanded its reach into Cuba.

GIMENEZ: Yes.

SANCHEZ: And there are questions about what American policy will be toward Taiwan specifically in the future.

Now, earlier today, you had President Trump essentially saying that this arrangement with Taiwan, the security arrangement that the United States has had for decades, is effectively an insurance policy.

I don't think you see it in that sort of transaction away. What do you think the policy toward the United States would be toward China if it were to invade Taiwan under a future potential second Trump administration?

GIMENEZ: Well, I think that President Trump was -- his administration was the one who said, hey, China is an existential threat to the United States and it started with him, and he certainly was right. He was way ahead of the curve on that.

He understands the threat that China is, not only to the United States, but I think also to the rest of the world.

Look, China is getting alliances now with Russia, North Korea, Iran, making this axis of evil, right, a new axis of evil that wants to establish a new world order, and guess what? The United States isn't part of that new world order.

I sit on the China Select Committee. I see the threat that China is. I know that the president sees the threat that China is. If China were allowed to take over, invade, and actually conquer Taiwan, they would now control 90 percent of the world's chips and guess what? The world kind of runs on chips right now. And so China would control commerce, all kinds of things and to the detriment of America, to the detriment of the free world, because look, China, without a doubt, is a communist regime, a brutal communist regime.

It has been accused of genocide, been accused of all kinds of things and so, yes, I don't -- I don't want to see China be the dominant world power, especially for my children and my grandchildren, and I don't think that President Trump -- I think he sees it the same way.

SANCHEZ: Congressman Carlos Gimenez, always great to get your perspective. Thanks so much for being with us.

GIMENEZ: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Still plenty more news to come on NEWS CENTRAL, including a leading Democrat on Capitol Hill adding his name to the list of lawmakers urging President Biden to drop out of the race.

Also ahead, the about-face from some of Donald Trump's onetime rivals from Nikki Haley to Ron DeSantis, how his former critics are now falling in line.

And minutes from now, members of Congress are going to get more details on the Trump assassination attempt.

Those stories still ahead on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:17:06]

SANCHEZ: We now have the first presidential race poll taken after the assassination attempt on Donald Trump and it shows just how close the race remains. The Reuters-IPSOS poll was conducted just yesterday and we have CNN senior data reporter, Harry Enten to break down the new numbers alongside CNN senior political analyst, Mark Preston to give us some analysis.

So Harry, walk us through the numbers.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Yes, yes. No, you mentioned it was conducted over the last few days and what basically we have seen in this race is it is still a race that's very, very tight and one in which we just haven't seen much movement.

So you can look at the trend line, right? We can look pre-debate, we can look post-debate, and then we can look post the events of Saturday, and what we see is really there is just not any real movement there.

Trump was ahead by two, then you get a tie, then you have Trump ahead by two. So look, this is a race that has no clear leader. It is within the margin of error. I should note that the Reuters-IPSOS poll has tended to be one of Biden's better polls.

So the fact that Trump is even ahead there, even though it is within the margin of error is a good sign for him, but in terms of movement, which is what I am talking about here, there just hasn't been significant movement, which isn't such a surprise given how stagnant things have been so far.

SANCHEZ: Mark, obviously with the caveat that this is one poll.

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Right.

SANCHEZ: Historically, I think the sort of common expectation would be that after an event like Saturday, former President Trump's numbers would go up. We are not actually seeing that in this.

PRESTON: We would -- we would think there would be a seismic shift. We would think that the whole world now is behind Donald Trump.

When you think that way, you forget that the country is so evenly divided, literally half the country hates Donald Trump, the other country loves Donald Trump, and it is really that middle, Harry, right?

ENTEN: Yes.

PRESTON: That you're always looking at when you're looking at Pennsylvania or Michigan --

ENTEN: Wisconsin.

PRESTON: -- or Wisconsin where we are. You know, Nevada, Georgia, so it is really -- that's the numbers, right, that you're really going to be looking for, I think as we go down and see if some of those people are peeling off and going straight to Trump because they don't think that Biden has the vigor and the energy to do it.

SANCHEZ: Harry, you were looking into a comment that was made by President Biden during a BET interview.

ENTEN: Yes.

SANCHEZ: What was the comment? What did you find?

ENTEN: Yes. So essentially, well, the comment was, was it was essentially saying there are people like me, if you look back over the last seven or eight campaigns, someone who is losing at this particular point can go on and win the election. That was essentially what the comment was.

And so I decided to go back and look because Joe Biden is make a number of comments about the polls and that's my wheelhouse. That's my wheelhouse. And if you're going to come into my wheelhouse, you better have your facts straight.

So I looked at the last eight elections, I said, okay, did the polling leader at this particular point go on to win the election or in the case of Joe Biden, which is what Joe Biden is hoping for, was in fact the person who is trailing go on to win the election? And what we found is in fact the poll leader at this point, six out of eight times, six out of eight times, that's 75 percent of the time has gone on to win the election.

So it turns out that Joe Biden's statement that he made in that interview with BET simply put, does not hold water.

[15:20:06]

He is not -- I don't want to say he is not being honest because he just may in fact not understand what the polling data shows, but the fact is Joe Biden has been making a number of statements, he made one in his press conference, I believe last week, in which he essentially said you know, presidents at this point, you know, a lot of them have been down, have worse numbers then I have either at this point or later on in the campaign, and then he kind of closed off.

What he didn't tell you was presidents who have poll numbers like he does, they go on to lose. There is no president in modern American politics polling in which you had an approval rating south of 40 percent like Joe Biden and a disapproval rating north of 50 percent like Joe Biden, who has gone on to win.

You have to go all the way back, all the way back since 1948 to find an incumbent who is as down as much as Joe Biden is right now and actually went on to win the election in November.

SANCHEZ: Those are not great, Mark and Harry.

ENTEN: No.

SANCHEZ: And they come, as you have, perhaps the most prominent Democrat in the House thus far, Adam Schiff coming out saying that Biden should drop out of the race.

I mean, if you're Joe Biden, what are you thinking now?

PRESTON: You're thinking, boy, I really hope the Democratic National Committee gets this virtual Roll Call going really fast and then it is over.

The shifting is really interesting because Donald Trump, obviously, this awful assassination attempt on his life clearly has sucked all the oxygen out of the room, probably gave some padding for Joe Biden because there is so much pressure on him, but I do think after tonight, going until tomorrow and certainly going into the weekend, you may see more Democrats come back out because, just because what happened with Donald Trump on this weekend doesn't mean that Joe Biden, as Harry has noted, doesn't have the same problems that he had this time last week.

SANCHEZ: Mark, Harry, always great to get your analysis and perspective.

ENTEN: Sorry, the band didn't play in the background, I know you wanted that.

SANCHEZ: I was hoping they would, around this time every day --

ENTEN: Yes.

SANCHEZ: -- they've been playing, so I was hoping we might get some "Hotel California."

ENTEN: Oh, that's very nice. I will tell --

SANCHEZ: "All Star," Smash Mouth.

ENTEN: I was hoping for a little Neil Sedaka myself, but whatever. We will have "Laughter in the Rain" together one day.

SANCHEZ: Okay. Mark, any thoughts on what you want to see the band play tonight?

PRESTON: Ah.

SANCHEZ: He just wants the band to wrap up. Here we go. I appreciate you fellows. Thanks so much.

Still ahead, CNN's new reporting about what the man who tried to assassinate Donald Trump was doing in the hours and minutes before he pulled the trigger as the secret service is now taking sole responsibility for the failures that led to the shooting.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:27:05]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Happening now, the FBI, Homeland Security, and DOJ officials are briefing the House and the Senate on their shooting investigation at this hour. The head of the Secret Service has just been subpoenaed by Congress and the speaker of the House is calling for her resignation.

Also, new details are emerging about what the gunman was doing in the hours before he tried to assassinate former President Trump.

CNN's Danny Freeman is outside the gunman's Bethel Park home with more on the investigation.

Danny, tell us about a police photo that captured the shooter just about 30 minutes before shots rang out.

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Brianna. I want to really take our viewers through each of these new photos that were able to obtain from our CNN affiliate, WPXI here in the Pittsburgh area just to give an understanding of like you said, what may have been leading up to this shooting.

So the first photo is of Thomas Matthew Crooks. That's our suspect here and it was taken by local law enforcement, according to WPXI before the shooting happened, like you said, potentially about at least 30 minutes or so before.

Now, this photo was taken specifically in reaction to something that we've been discussing that local law enforcement spotted Crooks being a little bit suspicious near the metal detectors, and specifically because he had one of these rangefinder devices, kind of looks like a pair of binoculars and it is used to tell the distance between two points, often used by hunters or other marksmen.

Then we have another photo, and it looks like a backpack next to a bicycle. And the reason that WPXI was able to obtain this photo is because they are reporting that the last time that local law enforcement saw Crooks before the altercations on top of the roof, he had this backpack on his person.

And then we have these two other photos that really are stunning to see, these photos shot basically what was found on Crooks' person after Secret Service killed him. You can see there is that cellphone, which we know we've reported for the past few days, the FBI worked very, very hard to crack. They did access, but were unable to find anything that pointed to motive.

And then there is that transmitter device, which we understand from law enforcement sources is used to detonate things like fireworks.

So again, as we are learning bit by bit more about what happened leading up to the moment of the shooting, these pictures are really filling in some of the gaps so far in this investigation -- Brianna.

KEILAR: All right, certainly are, Danny. Thank you for that, Danny Freeman.

Let's discuss further now with CNN law enforcement contributor and retired FBI supervisory special agent Steve Moore.

Steve, law enforcement still has not publicly identified a motive. Investigators still have not found anything on the shooter's phone or laptop that pointed to a motive according to our reporting as of relatively late yesterday. How unusual is that?

STEVE MOORE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CONTRIBUTOR: Well, it is fairly unusual because it means somebody took some great pains not to let their feelings, thoughts, or plans be found. I would suspect that this person soon probably looked at previous shootings like this, maybe the one in Las Vegas and saw all the ways that the FBI and the other agencies tried to find out motives and insights into their person.

And so he likely, if I were to guess, probably just did everything he could to keep all of his thoughts and impressions to himself, which means, you've got to look for other devices he might have used and discarded.