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Biden Exits Race Amid Bad Polling, Pressure From Party Leaders; Top Lawmakers on Oversight Committee Call on Secret Service Director to Resign; Body Cam Video Released of Woman Killed by Police After Calling 911. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired July 22, 2024 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: Now that President Biden has ended his re- election bid and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, his focus now turns to his final months in office. We'll get more details when he addresses the nation later this week. But for now, we're joined by CNN Presidential Historian Tim Naftali.

Tim, this is a good time to have a presidential historian around. Let me tell you, we are living through some history right now. So first, let me just ask you to put into perspective the last really week, starting with the assassination attempt and then now this unprecedented and historic decision by President Biden to step aside.

TIM NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: You know, one thing we always hope to find are historical parallels to help us make sense of our current day. Well, we've just lived through a series of unprecedented experiences or events that will be remembered for decades to come. And people years from now will ask us what it was like to live in this period the way we ask people who lived through 1968 what it was like to be alive at that time.

Well, really, the period of traumatic, shocking events begins with the debate and the fact that the president challenged Donald Trump and yet really performed very poorly and not only performed poorly but did it in such a way that brought to the fore those concerns that had been talked about among Democrats, concerns about his age. So you have the president from that moment on wanting to show that the debate was an anomaly, was unusual, when in fact it really wasn't. So he was fighting for his political life.

And while he was fighting for his political life, his coalition of elected Democrats and Democratic leaders was fraying. And there was pressure building, mainly behind the scenes, but then, of course, more and more publicly for him to leave. And it was during that process that we witnessed the shocking assassination attempt on Donald Trump.

And that shocking assassination attempt on Donald Trump shook the Republican Party, but also the Democratic Party. And for a while, it was uncertain if Democrats would stop pushing President Biden to step aside, because they would seek unity at a traumatic moment for all Americans. But what happened was the pressure continued to build. There was a moment when we all paused and processed the fact that someone had tried to murder Donald Trump. And then politics continued. And the Democratic Party's push continued.

And the president made clear he didn't want to leave. The president did not want to leave. The president wanted to prove to everyone that not only was he the right standard bearer in 2024, but he could be a great president. He had what it took.

But like the drip, drip, drip that ultimately erodes the stone, in the end, the president had to come to terms with the fact that he had lost the authority that he had spent 50 years building in the Democratic Party. And it was because his own body had failed him.

And so we saw, for the very first time in our history, a president on the verge of being renominated stepping to one side. We'd had presidents decide not to run again when they had the opportunity to run again.

[15:35:00]

But those presidents had decided, in a manner of their own choosing, months before a nominating convention. In the case of Joe Biden, it was just weeks before a convention.

All of this had never happened before. So we Americans have now experienced a new series of cases that later generations will keep comparing what they experienced to. We're the first to have seen all of this.

DEAN: And you know, you make such a good point. We are living history. It is unprecedented times. Tim Naftali, thank you for that perspective. We really appreciate it.

NAFTALI: Thank you, Jessica.

DEAN: Still ahead, a contentious hearing on Capitol Hill. And now lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are calling on the Secret Service director to resign following the assassination attempt at former President Trump. We're going to bring you the latest on that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: We have some breaking news. In a rare show of bipartisanship, the Republican chairman and the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee signed a letter calling for the resignation of Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle.

And it reads in part: Today you failed to provide answers to basic questions regarding that stunning operational failure. We call on you to resign as director as a first step to allowing new leadership to swiftly address this crisis and rebuild the trust of a truly concerned Congress and the American people.

Lawmakers were grilling Cheatle for hours today. They were demanding answers about the security lapses that led to the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump. But lawmakers grew frustrated after she failed to provide specific answers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD), RANKING MEMBER, OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE: I don't want to add to the director's terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. But I will be joining the chairman in calling for the resignation of the director just because I think that this relationship is irretrievable at this point. And I think that the director has lost the confidence of Congress at a very urgent and tender moment in the history of the country. And we need to very quickly move beyond this.

REP. JIM JORDAN (R-OH): Were you guessing or lying when you said you didn't turn down requests from President Trump's detail?

KIM CHEATLE, DIRECTOR, SECRET SERVICE: Neither sir. And I appreciate the question.

JORDAN: But what were you doing? Because those statements don't, don't jive.

CHEATLE: So what I can tell you is that for the event in Butler, there were no requests that were denied as far as requests.

JORDAN: Well, maybe they got tired of asking. Maybe you turned them down so darn much they said not worth asking.

REP. NANCY MACE (R-SC): Both sides of the aisle today have asked for your resignation. Would you like to use my five minutes to draft your resignation letter? Yes or no?

CHEATLE: No, thank you.

MACE: You're full of (BLEEP) today. You're just being completely dishonest.

REP. RO KHANNA (D-CA): Would you agree that this is the most serious security lapse since President Reagan was shot in 1981 of the Secret Service?

CHEATLE: Yes, sir, I would.

KHANNA: And, you know, do you know what Stuart Knight did when he was in charge at the time of the Secret Service? You know what he did afterwards?

CHEATLE: He remained on duty.

KHANNA: He resigned. I just don't think this is partisan. If you have an assassination attempt on a president, a former president or a candidate, you need to resign.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: We have Jonathan Wackrow, CNN law enforcement analyst and former Secret Service agent here with us. I'm so curious about what you thought watching this. But just first, I want to ask if you think she can withstand these calls to resign when you have Comer and Raskin calling jointly for it?

JONATHAN WACKROW, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: No, listen, when you have a bipartisan consensus on the resignation, I mean, it's hard to navigate the political environment of Washington, D.C. with that as a backdrop, right? I think what we saw today was not the finest moment for the United States Secret Service in a long time. And this testimony caused more harm than good.

Obviously, we heard that, you know, from members of Congress that the director failed to answer, you know, particular questions resulting not only from the event, but also, you know, any type of precipitating actions that were made by the leadership of the Secret Service that could have caused, you know, some sort of systemic issue within the agency that caused this security lapse to occur.

But more importantly, it also, you know, highlighted the fact that she's losing the confidence of the women and men of the United States Secret Service as we speak. These individuals go to work every single day, putting their life on the line. And to have the agency represented in such a way is demoralizing. And, you know, I concur that, you know, the director does need to step down.

KEILAR: She revealed during the hearing, Jonathan, that she had not been to the site. And I wonder, that stood out to me, but I obviously do not have the background that matters for this. Is that something that you think she should have done in the wake of this assassination attempt?

WACKROW: When you are a leader, anywhere, you need to lead from the front. You need to go to where the problem is and be part of the solution. What we saw was a complete collapse of the post-incident management by the United States Secret Service, starting with the director.

[15:45:00]

She should have been on site that evening. She should have been at the press conference or been available to answer questions by the media. Again, full transparency.

You know, she says she wants, you know, she is accountable, that the Secret Service is accountable for the events that occurred that day. Then start acting that way. You know, what we saw was just silence. Or actually saw, so we heard silence from the director for days. That came out today. And it was mounting frustration by members of Congress, but also mounting frustrations by the American public who want answers.

Are our political leaders safe? Yes or no. Start there. But you needed to be on site immediately to start leading from the front.

KEILAR: She testified today that five minutes before the shooting, it was relayed that there was an issue, quote, being worked on at the three o'clock of the former president, but it was not phrased as a threat. She said it changed to a threat, quote, seconds before the gunfire started. What questions does that raise for you? I mean, even if something wasn't phrased as a threat, just something being worked on, should Secret Service have kept Trump off the stage?

WACKROW: Yes, listen, a lot of this, this is what we wanted to hear today is what constituted that type of, you know, incident from occurring? Like what type of information was being passed? And I think what we're going to see here is that information was not passed efficiently or with the clarity that it needed to be in the moment.

The former president, if there was an incident off stage, especially that close, even though it was beyond the attendee perimeter, it was still within the threat envelope. And with that type of, you know, question, there's no reason why they shouldn't have, you know, taken a tactical pause, not allowed the president to come out to the stage, just delayed it even for a minute until that matter was adjudicated and that the entire environment was safe.

So, again, we need to get to the answer of who made that decision to allow the president to go -- the former president to go on stage while there was this issue that close.

KEILAR: It was quite the hearing today. Jonathan, thanks for talking to us about it. We appreciate it.

WACKROW: Thanks, Brianna.

KEILAR: Still ahead, stunning new body camera footage just released, and it shows the moment that a 36-year-old Black woman was shot and killed in her own home by an Illinois sheriff's deputy. And it all happened after she called 911 to report an intruder. We'll have more when we come back.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: Happening now, body cam footage just released of the killing of an Illinois woman who was shot by police after she called 911 for help. Now, the sheriff's deputy responsible for shooting Sonya Massey has been indicted on multiple charges including three counts of first- degree murder. Let's get right to CNN's Lucy Kafanov.

Lucy, what more can you tell us about this?

LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jessica, this footage is incredibly difficult to watch. We have 36-year-old Sonya Massey, a mother, a Black woman, shot in the face inside her own home. An Illinois sheriff's deputy who responded to her 911 call now charged with her murder.

And I want to set up the incident. On July 6, Sonya called 911 because she thought there was an intruder inside her home. Sangamon County Sheriff's Deputy Sean Grayson and another deputy responded to that call. This was after midnight. They entered the home to investigate. Inside, Grayson noticed a pot of boiling water on the stove. And he allows Sonya Massey to go to the kitchen to remove it. And that is when this dispute escalated very quickly. Grayson goes from speaking calmly with her to drawing his gun, firing three times, hitting her in the face.

Now, CNN is still reviewing the 36-minute disturbing body camera footage. But here's what we can show you. And it is disturbing. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEAN GRAYSON, SANGAMON COUNTY DEPUTY: A stake right there maybe.

SONYA MASSEY: One second.

GRAYSON: OK, I can't come through, you know.

MASSEY: I'll move this.

GRAYSON: We don't need a fire out of here.

MASSEY: All right. OK

GRAYSON: OK.

MASSEY: I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.

GRAYSON: Huh?

MASSEY: I rebuke you in the name of Jesus,

GRAYSON: You better (BEEP) not or I swear to God I ll (BEEP) shoot you in the (BEEP) face,

MASSEY: OK --

GRAYSON: It's hot. It's (BEEP) hot. Drop the (BEEP) pot!.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAFANOV: It's so difficult to watch, Jessica. Now, Sonya was pronounced dead at the hospital. Grayson has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm, as well as official misconduct. And he is being held without bond. Now, we have reached out to his attorney, but have not heard back at the moment. And a pretrial hearing is set for August.

I should also note that he was fired from his job.

The sheriff's office saying quote: It is clear that the deputy did not act as trained or in accordance with our standards.

Massey's funeral was held last Friday. And in about an hour, we are expecting to get reaction from the family. They'll be speaking to the public, along with their attorney -- Jessica. DEAN: Just horrifying video. It really just takes your breath away. Lucy Kafanov, thank you for that difficult reporting. We appreciate it. And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: He is a four time NBA champion. He has won multiple NBA MVP awards, two Olympic gold medals. And now Lakers superstar LeBron James can add one more honor to his long list of achievements. Olympic flag bearer. It's a pretty good one.

Here's the moment that LeBron found out he'll be the first men's basketball player to carry the American flag at the Paris Olympics opening ceremony.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On behalf of the entire men's Olympic basketball team, we would like to nominate LeBron James to be the flag bearer for all of Team USA. He got that honor, so you get to wave the flag in Paris, my man.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: LeBron was chosen to be the male flag bearer after a vote by his fellow U.S. Olympians, all of them, which is very cool.

KEILAR: Very cool.

DEAN: The female flag bearer will be announced tomorrow. James called it an incredible honor, saying sports have the power to bring us all together, and I'm proud to be a part of this important moment.

KEILAR: Would you like to do that?

[16:00:00]

DEAN: It's a lot of pressure.

KEILAR: It is, right?

DEAN: It is probably very, I mean, that is like a once in a lifetime.

KEILAR: But like, that's the one time I would be running and I would trip. I know, or something.

DEAN: Everything's in place.

KEILAR: Or the flags on the ground. And it's just a horrible nightmare, right?

DEAN: Let's hope that doesn't happen to poor LeBron.

KEILAR: Yes, he's going to be amazing.

DEAN: (INAUDIBLE) The flag going to be in his hand. KEILAR: He's coordinated --

DEAN: That's right.

KEILAR: -- it's helped him throughout his career a bit. "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now.

END