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FBI Investigating Apparent Second Assassination Attempt on Trump; Harris Deeply Disturbed by Apparent Assassination Attempt on Trump; Sources say, U.S. Intelligence Officials Warned of Iran Escalating Attacks on Trump and Those Around Him. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired September 16, 2024 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: The breaking news this morning, a second assassination attempt on Donald Trump's life. How the Secret Service stopped the attack, how they stopped the alleged shooter from escaping and what they're learning now about him.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Which made for a whirlwind day on the campaign trail, one that also saw new wild claims about Springfield, Ohio, and a Trump declaration of loathing against Taylor Swift.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: And a huge award haul for the show, Shogun, the samurai drama taking home an incredible 18 Emmy awards. Who else took home gold on television's biggest night?

I'm Sara Sidner with John Berman and Kate Bolduan. This is CNN News Central.

BOLDUAN: There's a flood of new details coming in overnight about the man now in custody accused of attempting to assassinate Donald Trump yesterday, the second attempt on Trump's life. This morning, a picture is beginning, just beginning to come into focus about the man's past, including what he recently said about Trump himself.

The FBI is working to piece this all together and figure out how and why he got a few hundred yards from Donald Trump with an assault-style rifle. The Secret Service spotting him, opening fire as Trump was golfing. The would-be shooter then fled taken into custody a short time later on a highway.

Charges and a first court appearance could come as soon as this morning. There is a lot to get to surrounding all of this.

Carlos Suarez is standing by for us in West Palm Beach near Donald Trump's golf club. What's the latest, Carlos? Good morning.

CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, okay. Good morning. So the federal and local investigation into what happened at this golf course here behind me is still in its infancy. Several streets around the golf property are still closed at this hour as authorities and investigators try to piece together what happened here yesterday. As you noted, we are getting a better picture of the 58-year-old man who has been detained in connection with this incident. He has been identified as Ryan Wesley Routh. He is a self-employed home builder in Hawaii.

Now, according to some of the social media posts, he has been a bit critical of the former president and he traveled to Ukraine back in 2022. In fact, Ukraine's Foreign Legion tells CNN that he reached out to them about volunteering in the war effort in Ukraine. He was also arrested back in 2002 for barricading himself inside of a house with a weapon in North Carolina.

Now, yesterday, CNN spoke to Ryan's son, Oran, who told us a little bit about his father and in a conversation that he's had with us off camera, Oran said, quote, that his father was loving and a caring father and an honest, hardworking man. He doesn't sound like the man I know to do anything crazy, much less violence. He said that his father is a good father and a great man.

Here now is some sound with Ryan back in 2022 at a rally for Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Putin is a terrorist and he needs to be ended. So, we need everybody from around the globe to stop what they're doing and come here now and support the Ukrainians to end this war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SUAREZ: All right. Kate, so Ryan was also a self-published author. He wrote a book about his volunteering efforts -- his efforts, rather, to volunteer in the war and Ukraine. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Carlos, what are you hearing as far as charges today? What could be happening in terms of that?

SUAREZ: Yes. So, there are plenty of unanswered questions, in particular, the one that you just mentioned there exactly what possible charges may be filed against the man who was detained in all of this. There are a couple of other things that we also expect to take place here in Florida throughout the day.

We know that the director of the U.S. Secret Service is expected to travel to Florida where he will meet with investigators here as well as the former president. The FBI is still trying to get information from the public on exactly what may have happened out here, exactly how this man was able to get within 400 to 500 yards of the former president.

[07:05:08]

And, of course, as you noted, we're still waiting to see what charges, if any, are going to be filed against Routh and exactly just when his first court appearance just might be, whether it's in local court or in federal court. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Carlos, thank you so much, Carlos Suarez in West Palm Beach for us. And it seems how much has been learned about this man already, but still so much to know.

SIDNER: There is so much information we don't know. And our investigative team is digging on it.

All right, later today, we will see Donald Trump for the first time since the apparent second attempt on his life. And his campaign is now trying to fundraise off of it. Trump in a campaign email saying, quote, nothing will slow me down. I will never surrender.

Steve Contorno has more on this. What else are you hearing from Donald Trump?

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Well, Trump addressed this apparent assassination attempt last night in a social media post, as he often does. He wrote to his supporters and followers, quote, I would like to thank everyone for their concern and well wishes. It was certainly an interesting day. He went on to thank Secret Service and local law enforcement for their response, saying, the job done was absolutely outstanding. I am very proud to be an American.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump's campaign leaders for the second time in as many months being forced to talk to their staff about these security risks of working for the former president and this dangerous attempt on his life and their boss in a memo that was released from Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles, his co-campaign managers.

They wrote, this is not a matter that we take lightly. Your safety is always our top priority. They went on to say that the staff should, quote, remain vigilant and be observant and maintain a constant level of situational awareness. Just sort of a sobering and realistic portrayal of what it's like to work for a presidential campaign in this moment in time, Sara.

SIDNER: Yes, it's a sad commentary on the way that people act in this country. I do want to ask you about what you're learning about what his campaign is planning ahead, and if they've made any changes, considering what happened over the weekend.

CONTORNO: So far, it does not seem that they are making any changes to the schedule. It's sort of one of the things that Donald Trump, after the first assassination attempt, wanted to display his resilience and willingness to continue on, and that is certainly sort of the posture they are taking so far. He has no events scheduled for during the day today, but he was scheduled to hold a cryptocurrency event, where he was going to unveil this sort of new venture coming from his family tonight from Mar-a-Lago at 8:00 P.M. That will be a virtual event. And then he has campaign events scheduled throughout the week. He has a town hall tomorrow in Michigan. He has a rally planned Wednesday in New York. And then he has a weekend event in North Carolina.

And so far, as far as we know, those events will continue as scheduled. And we'll see what J.D. Vance is up to on the campaign trail as well. He's been very active and we expect that to continue as well, Sara.

SIDNER: All right. Steve Contorno, thank you so much. John?

BERMAN: All right. New reaction from the Harris campaign to all of this and what it means for every candidate on the campaign trail.

J.D. Vance openly admits he is willing to, quote, create stories for media attention when pressed by Dana Bash on his campaign's false claims that migrants are eating pets. And we are standing by for never before heard details about what happened inside the Titan submersible moments before it imploded, killing five people. In just moments, the first public hearing set to begin.

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[07:10:00]

BERMAN: All right. This morning, Vice President Kamala Harris says she is relieved to know Donald Trump is safe.

Let's get right to CNN's Priscilla Alvarez for the latest from the Harris team. What are you hearing, Priscilla?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, the vice president was in Washington, D.C. This weekend, and she was briefed in the immediate aftermath of this incident while she was here by her team.

Now, she did release a statement overnight saying that she was deeply disturbed by the incident, but also saying the following, quote, as we gather the facts, I will be clear, I condemn political violence. We all must do our part to ensure that this incident does not lead to more violence.

Now, Governor Tim Walz, who is your vice presidential nominee, also responding on X saying, Gwen and I are glad to hear that Donald Trump is safe. Violence has no place in our country. It's not who we are as a nation.

Now, John, of course, this is not the first time that the vice president, though she was not the Democratic nominee at the time, has had to weigh in on an attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. And it has been a challenge for the campaign on decrying political violence against any candidate, including former President Donald Trump, while also making the argument that he's unfit to be president. And at her rallies, the vice president has talked about the divisions in the country, but simultaneously called for unity.

Now, this is a message that's going to carry on into the week, and we'll see how, if at all, she acknowledges this latest attempt in her remarks, but today the vice president is going to meet with the Teamsters, a critical meeting to try to garner that union support that buoyed President Biden in 2020.

The Teamsters, of course, has not endorsed either candidate yet. They typically wait until after the party's conventions, but they have more than a million members. So, it is key for any candidate to try to notch their endorsement in hopes of persuading other union supporters across the country. Now, the vice president, after that on Tuesday, is going to be interviewed by the National Association of Black Journalists. Recall that they previously interviewed former President Donald Trump. They will now be doing that with her tomorrow. And later, she heads to Michigan and Wisconsin. So, yet another crucial week for the vice president to continue to garner that support heading into November. John?

BERMAN: A big week. Not many weeks left. That meeting with the Teamsters will be fascinating. Priscilla Alvarez, thank you so much for that. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Yes, what we hear from her coming out, what we hear from the Teamster's president coming out of that will be totally, very fascinating.

Coming up still for us, new reporting today, Trump's campaign was recently briefed on new indications Iran is planning, was planning to escalate attacks on the former president and those around him. We have this new CNN reporting coming in. That's next.

And also more coming out this morning about the man now in police custody in connection with the apparent assassination attempt on Donald Trump, his background, and his rap sheet as the state attorney in Palm Beach revealed.

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[07:20:00]

SIDNER: This morning, sources telling CNN that U.S. intelligence officials warned the Trump campaign about new signs Iran was planning to escalate attacks on former President Trump and those around him long before yesterday's apparent assassination attempt. We previously reported that U.S. officials revealed they had intelligence on an Iranian plot to assassinate Trump even before the attempt on his life at that Pennsylvania rally, but they said that attempt was not linked to Iran.

CNN's Zach Cohen is joining us now. You're reporting that there doesn't seem to be any apparent indication at this point that the Iranian threat relates in any way to what happened yesterday. What more can you tell us?

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, Sarah, this certainly adds to our broader understanding of the elevated threat level that Trump faces at this particular moment, and it raises more questions about the security concerns around Donald Trump, and particularly concerns about how now on two separate instances in two months, somebody was able to get that close to the former president with the apparent intention of assassinating him.

And, look, like you mentioned, there is no indication at this point that the intelligence briefing related to an escalation in Iran's intentions to threaten the former president is related to what took place yesterday, but, again, it does come after we previously reported that Trump and his campaign were briefed previously on a similar Iranian threat. And an arrest was made in a plot to target Donald Trump in an assassination attempt effort.

So, look, this taken together, this does add to our bigger picture understanding of the kind of threats, both foreign and domestic, that Donald Trump is facing. And for the Secret Service, it's really going to, again, make them go back to the drawing board and take stock of how they can protect Donald Trump from these various threats.

I think, frankly, too, it's also adding to the picture of Iran and what Iran wants to see in this 50-day window leading up to the 2024 election. We previously reported that U.S. officials have said that Iran was behind a hack and leak operation also targeting the former president's campaign. Their intention is to undermine his efforts to get into the White House.

So, Iran really has Donald Trump in their sights and they really want to do everything they can to prevent him from retaking the White House as we lead up to 2024.

I want to go back to this briefing that happened within the last roughly a week or so ago. And the briefing was both about physical threats against Donald Trump as well as cyber threats. So, a range of possible concerns, both related to Trump's personal security and this election interference effort targeting Donald Trump at this moment in time, which is a critical moment in time as he's on the campaign trail trying to win the White House once again.

SIDNER: Zach Cohen, thank you so much for all of that reporting for us this morning. John?

BERMAN: I hate Taylor Swift. The new and arguably most controversial message from Donald Trump after Taylor Swift endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris.

And J.D. Vance admits he is willing to, quote, create stories in order to get media attention. That was in a new interview with our very own Dana Bash.

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[07:25:00]

BOLDUAN: This morning, as we're following the new reporting coming in on the assassination attempt against Donald Trump, we're also waiting to hear what charges the man in custody could face and when he'll be in court. We're also hearing a flood of reaction from Republicans and Democrats alike, shocked, concerned, and angry that this close call could happen again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JARED MOSKOWITZ (D-FL): I've talked to members of both parties and people just don't get it. They don't understand how we're in this situation for a second time. It is shaking the confidence, quite frankly, in our institutions. SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): I'm just very grateful that the worst didn't happen, and I'm pissed that this could happen again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Joining us right now is Republican Congressman from Minnesota, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer. Congressman, thank you for being here. It's nice to have you in the studio.

Have you spoken with Donald Trump? What are you hearing?

REP. TOM EMMER (R-MN): I've actually I've communicated with him. I won't say that I've spoken with him. I'm hearing that actually a very healthy discussion coming from both sides of the aisle. I think your introduction, the report is correct. Both Republicans and Democrats, frankly, Americans are very concerned that this is happening.

I'm very proud of President Trump. He -- the sad part is, Kate, we're not going to be talking about the assassination tempt. We're going to be talking about which one. I mean, that should not happen. This guy, in my mind, is the patriot of the 21st century. He's not going to quit. He's going to continue to fight for what he believes in. And we've got to do something. All Americans have to do something to curb this type of violence.

BOLDUAN: Do you -- from what you've seen and heard so far about how it played out, do you see this as a Secret Service failure?

[07:30:04]

Because we know that there are new questions being raised.

EMMER: That's jumping way too far ahead, in my mind. It's --