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Biden Defensive On Tense Call With Democrats Tonight; Veepstakes Ramp Up Ahead Of Republican Convention; Secret Service Rushes Trump Off Stage; Trump Injured In Incident At PA Rally; Trump Is "Fine" Per Spokesperson, Being Checked At Medical Facility. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired July 13, 2024 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[18:00:15]
JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. Hi, everyone. I am Jessica Dean in New York and we begin with breaking news involving conversations President Joe Biden has been having today with Democratic lawmakers.
CNN's Annie Grayer joins us now with new details.
Annie, I know you've been talking to sources. What are you hearing about these two calls that he held today?
ANNIE GRAYER, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER: Well, Jess, the call that the president just finished with this moderate group of Democrats, I am told, got pretty tense and sources even told me that the president was defensive at times. This was a private call, so I am hearing from sources on that call familiar with that call about exactly what happened.
The president only took three questions from lawmakers, one of them was from Democratic Congressman Jason Crow of Colorado, who apparently asked the president how the questions surrounding his mental fitness are going to affect our country's position on the world stage and our National Security.
This is where sources say Biden got pretty animated and defensive about his record on foreign policy, his role in NATO. And then the president also heard from Democratic Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, who apparently pressed Biden a lot about what his path to victory is in Pennsylvania, specifically a key battleground state for Biden, and this is what the Biden campaign was hoping that Biden could speak directly to concerns that Democratic lawmakers, especially the ones who are calling for him to step aside, are having, and it just doesn't sound like, specifically in this call, those concerns were really put to bed.
One member on the call, Congressman Adam Smith told our colleague, Priscilla Alvarez: "The message we've been getting from him and his team is shut up, fall in line, everything is fine." I mean, that is not a mending of fences just from one example.
So Biden also spoke with the Progressive Caucus earlier today, and that call seemed to have gone a lot more smoothly. Members asked his first plans on how he plans to move his campaign forward and his path to victory, but it is the call that just wrapped with these moderate group of members that seems like as the one that got pretty heated today.
DEAN: All right, some excellent reporting from Annie Grayer there. Thanks so much for following that.
Meantime, former President Donald Trump is back on the campaign trail as he gets ready for a big week ahead. Trump is preparing for the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, which is now less than 48 hours away. He will officially become the party's nominee for the third time in eight years.
He is also expected to announce his running mate. It is a highly anticipated decision that has been overshadowed by all the debate fallout surrounding the Biden campaign.
CNN's Alayna Treene is live at that trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania where the former president will address the crowd any minute now, Alayna, but before he does, how is the campaign feeling about this big week ahead?
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Well, actually, Jessica, you have impeccable timing because just as you were hitting, now, he is about to come out. He is walking out sign me right now, so he is just about to deliver his remarks -- a follow-up to your question.
They are really excited for next week. Donald Trump has been uncharacteristically quiet ever since the debate. He only has held -- this will be his third public events since that debate and so, they are ready to kind of return the attention back to him and his campaign with this convention next week.
Now, tonight at this rally, we are all waiting to see whether or not Donald Trump is going to announce who he is going to choose as his running mate.
When I talked to Trump's most senior advisers, they say that they still don't exactly know when it is going to come, but they view Monday evening, the kickoff to the convention as the deadline for when he has to announce.
Remember, next week, whoever his VP nominee is has a ton of events. They have closed-door fundraisers. They're going to be delivering a speech on Wednesday night. So they have a lot coming up.
So we know who it will be eventually by the end of next week or by end of Monday, I should say, but unclear if it is going to happen tonight.
But, some new reporting we have, Jessica, we've learned that over the past several days, Donald Trump has met with Senator Marco Rubio, JD Vance, and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum -- all three of those men have remained as the very top of Donald Trump's shortlist for VP and so those continue to be the three men that he is considering.
But again, we are waiting to see whether or not that really big announcement will come tonight -- Jess.
DEAN: All right, and Alayna, we are going to keep an eye on this and we well take Trump's remarks once they get underway. So standby, Alayna Treene there in Butler, Pennsylvania, again, we will take those remarks momentarily. Thank you so much for that reporting.
[18:05:02]
But first, joining us now, from a White House spokesperson for the George W. Bush administration and Indiana Republican Party, Pete Seat and Democratic strategist and former senior adviser for the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign's Chuck Rocha, and CNN senior political analyst, Ron Brownstein.
We've got all three of you here. Thank you so much for being here with us.
Ron, let's rewind back for a second to Annie Grayer's reporting there on these calls that Joe Biden has been having with congressional Democrats.
What do you make of this reporting that Biden appeared defensive in some of these calls with congressional Democrats. That was the reporting that Annie got as he tries this -- to continue his outreach to some of these people who are concerned.
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, the pattern you've got to see is that it is the members from the more competitive districts that are more worried.
I mean, the Progressive Caucus, most of them tend to be in safe seats and whether you're talking about the House or the Senate, it is the people who are in more competitive seats who are more concerned with good reason.
You know, if you look at the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, Jessica, exactly one senator out of 69 Senate races, one senate candidate out a 69 Senate races won in a state that voted the other way for president, and Democrats --
DEAN: Ron, I am sorry to do this to you, but we are going to have to interrupt you, and I am sorry to put you all on standby, but we are going to go to President Trump now who is speaking at a rally in Pennsylvania, we await his VP pick ahead of the convention.
Let's listen in --
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ... this beautiful Commonwealth with thousands of proud, hardworking American patriots and that's what you are and we've got to bring our country back to help because our country is going to hell, if you haven't noticed.
Millions and millions of people are pouring in from prisons and from mental institutions. We are going to stop it. We are going to get it stopped. We're going to bring them back as you said, were going to bring them back.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: We are going to deport -- deport -- with the help of everyone here tonight, were going to win Pennsylvania this November.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: We're going to defeat Crooked Joe Biden and Laffin' Kamala Harris and we are going to take back the White House and we are going to take back our country.
We are going to take it back.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Our country has been -- our country has been stolen from us. You see that.
It is the greatest -- one of the greatest crimes is what they have done over four years and hiding what the obvious facts are, isn't that a shame?
You run for -- you run for the president of the United States from a basement, from a basement, all very dishonest stuff. But you know, we are going to have the greatest election.
I'll tell you what, we did fantastically in 2016. We did much better in 2020, you know, we did much better and it was rigged. It was a rigged deal, but we did much better.
But it is nothing compared to the enthusiasm all over, not just in Pennsylvania, all over. It is nothing compared to the enthusiasm that we've seen over the last year, because I mean, a year, think of it -- a year-and-a-half ago it started -- it really started from immediately after the election if you want to know the truth.
But a year-and-a-half ago, we were seeing crowds of people desperate to have rallies, desperate to have anything to take back our country.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And we are going to take it back.
Next week, the Republican Party will hold its convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and five days from now, we will officially accept the Republican nomination for president of the United States.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Right? We are going to get a good senator and I will tell you, you have a real stiff right now in office. He is a stiff.
You know, your current senator, I never met him. I don't think I've ever met him. I was only there four years, but I don't think I have ever met him. I'll tell you. That's your senator. He votes with Biden or whoever happens to be furthest left.
(BOOING)
TRUMP: We've got to get him elected, McCormick. We've got to get McCormick -- press McCormick --
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: He is a good man, too. He is a valiant fighter. He is a great, great gentlemen. So we are going to bring him up for it.
Can we bring him up for a couple of minutes later? A little bit later.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: All right, you get ready, McCormick, you get ready. I will get you up here.
The world will see a vibrant Republican Party that is bigger, stronger, more confident, and more united than ever before and that's what we are. We are the most united party now.
You know, it is -- I am watching the fake news go crazy because they are saying the Republican Party has not been united since Ronald Reagan, like it is right now. It was united under Ronald Reagan the second time. It was very united and they said there has never been anything like it.
They've never seen a movement like this: Make America Great Again.
You know, Joe Biden talks about, we have to stop MAGA.
MAGA means Make America Great Again, Joe.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: It means Make America Great Again.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
[18:10:04]
TRUMP: That's all we want to do. If he was doing their job, I wouldn't even be doing this. I'd be at some beautiful place with a gorgeous ocean, the Mediterranean, the Atlantic, maybe the Pacific.
(PEOPLE chanting "Thank you, Trump.")
TRUMP: Thank you. Thank you.
(PEOPLE chanting "Thank you, Trump.")
TRUMP: Instead, I am here with you, fighting like hell to get a senator elected and to make sure we take back the White House because if we do, we are going to make America better than ever before. We are going to make it -- and it is not easy because we have millions and millions of people in our country that shouldn't be here, dangerous people, criminals -- we have criminals, we have drug dealers. We have people that should not be here and it is much tougher than if it happened the --
You know, we had the strongest border ever in recorded history. We had the best border. In fact, if they could ever put up a chart, I don't know if they can do. Do you guys have access to that chart that I love so much?
You don't mind if I go off teleprompter, do you?
(PEOPLE answering "No.")
TRUMP: Because these teleprompters are so boring. I try and explain that -- oh, there is -- wow, you guys are doing a -- they are getting better with time, my guys.
Take a look at that chart. Take a look at the arrow in the bottom, see the big red arrow, right? So that's what I left office. That was the lowest point and that comes right from the Government Services, it comes right out of Border Patrol. Take a look at that.
So that arrow is the lowest amount of illegal immigration ever in recorded history into our country, and then --
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And then the worst president in the history of our country took over and look what happened to our country?
(BOOING)
TRUMP: Probably 20 million people and you know, that's a little bit old, that chart. That chart is a couple of months old and if you want to really see something that said, take a look at what happened -- oh --
(POP-POP-POP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get down, get down, get down.
(PEOPLE screaming)
DEAN: Okay. We are watching live. We do not know what is happening. We see Secret Service agents there with former President Donald Trump. This is a live video from Butler, Pennsylvania where they are scrambling.
We heard we heard sounds and that is when they told the former president to get down.
We saw Secret Service agents rushing to the stage there. He was in the middle of that rally there in Butler, Pennsylvania. So let's zoom back out for a second.
President -- former President Trump, we are monitoring this situation. We have a team there. He was talking to a crowd. We heard noises. They told him to get down.
We are monitoring what is going on there right now. We know that Secret Service rushed the stage and got the former president down on the ground. We are waiting to hear more details.
The president was there in Butler, Pennsylvania, which is a rural part of Pennsylvania with a large crowd doing this rally before the Republican National Convention starts on Monday.
This was his first rally that he has done since that debate.
I want to bring in Ron Brownstein, who is our CNN political analyst and senior editor.
Ron, we do not know what just happened. We do not know what it is unfolding. We have a team there on the ground. We heard those noises and we saw them rush the former president to the ground.
It is hard in these moments to speculate. You don't want to do that. But that is a scary moment to watch unfold.
BROWNSTEIN: It is a tragically scary moment and you know, we have been moving toward a sort of political system in which threats of violence have become more common, really at every level of government from the local school boards and public officials --
DEAN: Ron, I want to -- hold on one second. I am getting some new information. We are being told me the former president is being let off stage and we are monitoring this. We are trying to get a better handle on exactly what is happening before we go back to those live pictures.
But please continue your thought. We know that he is being let off stage.
BROWNSTEIN: I was going to say, you know, what we saw, what we've seen, you know everything from fights over school libraries to COVID restrictions to January 6th, a political environment in which violence, threats of violence have become much more common and more of -- not exclusively -- more of them have come from the right aimed at -- but if you look at that, we don't know.
DEAN: Yes, and Ron, we are just getting some pictures in, we are getting some live pictures and I want to tell people what they're looking at.
We are told President Trump is in this vehicle that is being led away. We saw men -- we are seeing people right now to your left that are in military garb. You see the Secret Service agents there that are running.
Again, we are watching Trump's vehicle being driven away from this rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. He had been on the stage for maybe five minutes when we heard noises.
[18:15:10] We don't know what they were. He was rushed to the ground. They have now taken him off stage. He is being driven away in his vehicle, which we are not seeing now. You're now looking at the crowd there in Butler, Pennsylvania.
This was the rally that former President Trump was having. We know that the Secret Service rushed him off stage, put him into that armored vehicle that you are now watching speed away from Butler, Pennsylvania. So they clearly felt the need to get him out of there.
He has now been taken away from that site in the Secret Service vehicles. He was rushed off the stage. You see that the crowd there also looks confused as to what is going on. You see members of the -- we saw what looked to be members of the military at one point. You see them there on the far right with camouflage on.
Again, if you're just tuning in, you are looking at live pictures from Butler, Pennsylvania where the former President Donald Trump has been brushed off the stage during his rally after he had been speaking for several minutes and we heard loud noises, Secret Service rushed him to the ground and have put him into the car.
He is now being rushed to an undisclosed --
We are going to show you that moment, so I am now going to show you the moment that just happened when the former president was speaking at his rally. Let's watch that video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Look what happened -- oh.
(POP-POP-POP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get down. Get down. Get down.
(PEOPLE screaming)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: Okay, so what you are watching is video from just a few moments ago when former President Donald Trump was onstage at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania and you see the Secret Service who are surrounding him.
You see how they got him to the ground and that they were waiting to move him after we heard those noises. We don't know what those noises worth at this point.
We do know that they get him off this stage and that the former president was in his armored vehicle. They have now left the site of that incident.
So the former President Donald Trump no longer there at that rally site in Butler, Pennsylvania.
I am going to let you watch more to see this full thing unfold. You see they move him off the stage.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, I got you.
TRUMP: Let me get my shoes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hold down your head.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, we've got to move --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: He is standing up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Watch out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Okay. His shoe is down. Come on. Get his shoe.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Watch out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: It is unclear what his status is, but you see him put his fist up and you see him doing a fist pump. It appears like he is saying "fight." It looks as if there might be blood on his ear.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(PEOPLE chanting "USA")
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: Again these are pictures we are just seeing for the first time right now as the former president is led off the stage in Butler, Pennsylvania after we heard loud noises and he was rushed to the ground and then you see the Secret Service around him, getting him into his vehicle.
Now, we do not know where he has gone. We just know that he was put into that car right there while you see his fist in the air? It does appear as if there is some blood on his ear, unclear how that happened.
Secret Service get him into the vehicle and rush him off that site and get him out of there. Again, we don't know where the former president is at this exact moment, only that he was taken away from the rally site there in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Again, if you are just tuning in, former President Donald Trump, was minutes into his rally there in Pennsylvania when we heard loud noises. He was thrown to the ground by Secret Service agents who then rushed him in as you're watching now, to that car and drove him off- site. Our reporter, Alayna Treene, witnessed this all unfold.
Alayna, I think you're here with us. I want to go out to Alayna so she can tell us more of what she saw from her vantage point -- Alayna.
TREENE: Hi, Jessica.
Yes, so it has been a very chaotic couple of minutes, a lot of tension right now out here.
So you mentioned, Donald Trump was on stage. It was just moments after he had walked onto the stage to deliver remarks. He was very briefly into that and so I am going to show you behind me.
So around this area, somewhere off on that field over there is where we heard a bunch of banging or cracking, loud cracking noises, at first I thought is that a -- is that fireworks? I had no idea what it was.
[18:20:03]
All of a sudden, everyone started screaming on the other side of the rally, on the other side of the stage. A lot of steam went off back here behind that tractor over there if you can see it.
And all of a sudden you heard Secret Service security guards on the ground, everyone telling everyone to get down, to move, to move.
I actually had to jump off this riser right here and went under the riser, so I didn't get to see everything that was happening as Donald Trump was being moved off this stage.
But clearly, right now, everybody is being evacuated from this rally venue. They are very angry.
You can hear people in the crowd are -- some people are crying, some people are screaming. People are very angry with what just happened.
They're angry at the media. They're screaming at the media behind me. Very unclear exactly what happened. We know that Donald Trump, of course, left the venue immediately. He was escorted off the stage by Secret Service.
We saw his motorcade quickly leave and drive off. We don't have many answers right now. Also my phones or jammed, I've been trying to see if I could contact some of Donald Trump's team, get any sort of update. There is no service or signal right now, so we are all just trying to see what exactly is happening, what is the state of the former president, how Donald Trump is doing, and what exactly happened here this evening.
DEAN: Alayna, can you hear me? Before we let you go?
TREENE: Yes.
DEAN: Can you hear me okay? TREENE: I can hear you.
DEAN: Okay. Before we let you go, is anyone else, do they appear to be injured and does -- it appears like whatever happened doesn't look like they think it is still a threat because people are still moving around.
TREENE : That's right. It's not a threat.
A couple of minutes, I don't even know how long, about a minute, I would say that we were all on the ground that they had us hiding, told people to get down. After that, we were given an all clear, I believe from Secret Service.
Again, I was under the riser hiding after we had heard those whatever that sound was, whether it was fireworks or whatnot. I don't want to try to speculate on what that noise was.
It does not appear from what I can tell that anyone was injured, but honestly can't say that completely accurately right now. We really do not have a lot of information at this time.
But as I can see from my own vantage point here, looking at this stage as I've been scanning the crowd, I haven't seen any stretchers. I haven't seen them bring in any sort of trucks, but again, we really don't know. Everyone is being evacuated and I think we will get some more answer soon as we continue to hear from the people on the ground and the people running the show here tonight in Butler -- Jessica.
DEAN: Okay, Alayna, we want you all to be very careful. Please find a secure place.
TREENE: Thank you.
DEAN: We will check back in with you, but I am very glad you all and the team there are okay. Please be very careful.
In the meantime, let's go to chief national affairs correspondent, Jeff Zeleny, who is joining us.
Jeff, before we start talking, I just, for anyone that's just tuning in, I want to give them the headlines here.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Right.
DEAN: What they are looking at are live pictures coming out of Butler, Pennsylvania where some loud noises were heard. We don't know exactly what they were yet, all we know is that former President Donald Trump was speaking. We heard the loud noises. He was several minutes into his speech.
He dropped to the ground. Secret Service swarm the stage. They lifted him back up. He put a fist in the air. He did appear to have blood coming from his ear.
We now know that he was whisked away. He was put into one of those armored vehicles and whisked away. He has left that site. So that is the state of play.
There are a lot of questions right now, Jeff. It was a very -- it is a scary thing to watch unfold. There is a lot of unknown as Alayna was just laying out for us. Nobody quite knows exactly what happened yet.
But jeff, in a moment like this, it just kind of -- it scares everyone that was there and it is a hard thing to kind of take in and watch unfold, not knowing exactly what has happened yet.
ZELENY: Jessica, it absolutely is, and let's through what we do know.
We do know that former President Donald Trump, as you said, is in butler, Pennsylvania. It is about 30 minutes or so, a little bit more than that from Pittsburgh. Of course, Pennsylvania, a key swing-state.
So this rally was supposed to be really kind of a launching pad to the Republican Convention next week. It is very near Ohio where JD Vance, of course, is the senator. So there has been a lot of speculation he is one of the running mates.
But when you attend a Trump rally, as both you and I have many times, he is the former president, so he has as much security detail. The US Secret Service screens everyone going into these rallies, at least that is the protocol. Of course, we will learn much more once we -- once this develops, but you can't just arrive at a Trump rally and watch. You are screened as though you were going to any type of an official event.
So you can see there the crowd has cleared, as Alayna was reporting, it does not appear to still be an active incident. You can see the officers there putting the crime tape.
[18:25:06]
Those are local officers, but this will be under the control of the US Secret Service. They travel with the former president.
He has a protective detail just like a sitting president or a former president -- slightly smaller than a sitting president, so we do not know the details of the former president's injuries, the extent of them. We are reaching out to his team, but many of them are on the ground with him there, so you can imagine how chaotic this scene is.
You can see the officers there urging the crowd to leave, but this was supposed to be a marquee rally, sending him off into the Republican Convention. It is one of the really brighter spots of this Trump campaign. The Republican Convention was a celebratory moment here. This now will change that considerably.
So as we check more from our sources and colleagues on the ground there, this is an epic moment, a tragedy. We will hope it does not extend more than that here, but certainly, this goes beyond any political tensions in this country.
DEAN: Yes, it certainly does. And Jeff, I want to play the video for everyone to watch. ZELENY: Yes.
DEAN: The moment, so let's go ahead and cue that video. Let's show everyone --
(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)
DEAN: This was Donald Trump being led off the stage. You see he does appear to have some blood there on his right ear. He is being kind of held up by Secret Service officers there.
As Jeff mentioned, we don't know how injured he was or is. We do know that he was put into that vehicle and driven away.
And Jeff, again, Alayna was describing -- Alayna Treene, who is on the scene there in Butler who was covering this rally, was describing these loud popping sounds that came from one side and then kind of some steam or something else that came from the other side there.
But what was interesting is that nobody else in the crowd at this moment, again seemed to be under threat once they moved the former president out of there. They were kind of all escorted out by law enforcement.
ZELENY: Sure, and Jessica just looking at these pictures, you can see the Counter Assault and Terrorism Team. The CAT Team as its known, those are -- those are those men and women with large guns. They were in the scene there, but here they are coming rushing right now.
DEAN: That's them. Right.
ZELENY: That is the CAT team and they are going toward the crowd, obviously. The other officers who were there, the agent right there, the woman on screen as, she is part of the protective detail. So they're all armed. They have vests, but it is interesting to just watch this scene as it flees, there is no -- there would be an ambulance there. The former president has an ambulance everywhere he travels, certainly to these rallies there are clearly trying to get him out in his bulletproof replica Beast which, is what the president has. But the Secret Service is certainly in charge of that.
But looking at the movements of those officers and agents, you can certainly tell the terror of the scene.
DEAN: Yes, there is a real sense of urgency and as these things do, we are going to go back to the live pictures now. So now we are shifting again. Now, you're looking live, so that was on tape. Now, you're looking live.
As these things often do, Jeff, they happen very quickly and without context and look, we are just moments ago. This was minutes ago. It's now very empty there.
You see what appears to be local law enforcement there. I would imagine those are State Troopers, but you have to think that the investigation into what is actually -- what actually happened here has already begun and that they are trying to figure out what exactly happened.
And also in the meantime, we are working to figure out the status of former President Donald Trump and any injuries that he did sustain with all of this.
I want to -- Jeff, stay with us --
ZELENY: Sure.
DEAN: I want to go now to Priscilla Alvarez, who I believe is at the White House at this point.
Priscilla, are you learning any -- what new information are you learning?
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jessica, the president, of course, is not at the White House. He is at Rehoboth, his Delaware home. He was at church when this incident happened at the Trump rally. When he departed church only moments ago, he was asked by reporters whether he had been briefed on what had occurred and his response was no.
Of course, we can imagine that in the moments to come, he will be briefed on the matter. The president's team often who moves very quickly in these situations and trying to understand what occurred on the ground here.
Now I have also reached out to Secret Service to see if they have any additional information they can provide about the incident, but also about what is happening here at the White House.
When I arrived just a few moments ago, the security posture here at the White House had changed. The crowds that are usually in front of the White House were moved away from the White House.
I asked the Secret Service as I was walking in whether this was related, we don't have the answer to that.
[18:30:10]
But there has been a posture change here. Of course, the President is not here. He's in Rehoboth. We are working to try to get answers from Secret Service as to why anything changed here. And if they have information on the Trump rally, and we anticipate the White House will be briefing, if not already, the President about what has occurred here.
So we have lines out to try to get more information. But, again, the President saying he was not briefed yet. And then here at the White House where the posture has changed and we're trying to get more clarity on that.
DEAN: Okay. All right. Priscilla Alvarez, thank you so much.
I want to go to Ron Brownstein, who's also standing by. And, Ron, we are getting some - what's known as a pool report. So reporters travel with the President and they report out for all of us. So one - just one person can be doing that job.
This is what the pool report said, "Pool heard a series of loud explosions or loud bangs that the Secret Service went and immediately covered President Trump," which is what we saw on our screen. "Pool heard residual bangs afterward. That's when the crowd started to duck for cover. Agents grabbed Trump, who was seen waving his fist in the air." We saw that on the video as well. "They left the stage to the car and appear to have left the premises."
Again, we do know that he has indeed left the premises at this point. We saw him hustled into that car by Secret Service agents.
Ron, this is an - this is a very critical moment, as Jeff Zeleny was alluding to.
RONALD BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes.
DEAN: This changes a lot just in terms of having this sort of incident happen.
BROWNSTEIN: It almost feels that, you know, we have been driving toward a place like this in American politics. As I said, we have had increasing threats of political violence from the grassroots all the way to the top. I mean, this is a horrific, you know, occurrence that kind of reflects the dangers of the road that we are on, you know and where American politics is taking us.
The share of voters who say that violence is justified is above a trace limits, you know? And we've certainly seen in January 6th and some of the other, as I was saying, attacks that have come from the right, but we've also seen threats from the left. And the general direction of American politics is toward a kind of level of antipathy that I don't think we have seen at this level since the years before the Civil War, when violence was common and even, you know, in Congress itself, when Charles Sumner was king (ph).
So this is a moment that just - like January 6th itself, this is a moment that shows the danger of the road that we are on and kind of causes us all to - should cause us all to ask, is this the country we want to live in, where threats of violence, even at up to this level, you know, at a presidential candidate, former president, presumptive nominee, is something that is becoming more common.
I remember talking to some of the counterterrorism experts in the Trump administration after January 6th, who worried that we were on a road towards something like The Troubles in Northern Ireland, where you had a steady backbeat of threats of political violence that become interwoven into our political life.
And again, this shows the danger of the road that we are on. And, you know, it's not clear that it's easy to get off of this road. But this is a reminder of just how ominous our political future could look if we continue going down the path that we're on.
DEAN: All right. Ron Brownstein, thank you for being with us. I'm going to hand this special coverage now over to my colleague Wolf Blitzer, who will carry on. Wolf?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Major breaking news we're following right now. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.
If you're just joining us, the former president of the United States, Donald Trump, just moments ago was evacuated from a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, just north of Pittsburgh. The former president was several minutes into his remarks when loud noises were heard. This is the moment you can see it right now. As it happened, the U.S. Secret Service agents rushed the stage and got Mr. Trump down, covering him physically, blocking him from view. When he got up, he did appear to have blood on the side of his face near his ear and was pumping his fist. He appeared to be shouting fight as agents led him off the stage.
Let's watch this once again.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Take a look at what happened ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get down, get down, get down.
[18:35:00]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) hold, hold, are you ready? On you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ready (INAUDIBLE) ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Move. Move. Go.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Clear the (INAUDIBLE) ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you ready? Are we good?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shooter's down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shooter's down. Are we good to move?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're clear.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's move.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Very, very scary. Look at that. You can see him raising his right hand towards his ear. It looks like something was going on over there.
Our Alayna Treene is on the scene for us right now. I want to bring her in.
Give our viewers a sense of what you saw and what you heard, Alayna.
TREENE: Well, Wolf, and I apologize, Secret Service has just come up behind us to say that they're trying to remove us because this is now an active crime scene. But look, when I was standing here on the stage, I was watching, you know, Donald Trump was just a few minutes into his speech. To the right, where I'm pointing behind me - to the right of the stage, we could hear very loud bangs from - we're not really sure from where, but from far away. I have - did not know what it was when it happened.
Donald Trump immediately dropped to the ground. You could hear the screams. You could hear the chaos. I ended up going underneath the riser, so I didn't get to see everything as it was playing out. And I apologize, Wolf, we are having Secret Service now trying to escort us out. So I'm going to change gears and just give you a sense of what they've done in here. They've immediately cleared people out around the stage. They have put caution tape. They are telling us that this is now an active crime scene. They're making us move.
Donald Trump immediately was escorted off the stage, as I said, as soon as they figured out what was going on and got into his motorcade and then they've taken him to another location. I'm texting many of Donald Trump's most senior advisers trying to figure out what his condition is like, where he is going. I've not been able to hear back from them. Some of his advisers are on the ground in Milwaukee. Those of them have said that they're trying to get answers as well, so I'll bring you more when we can. We have to move now, unfortunately, Wolf. We're being pushed out by Secret Service.
BLITZER: You've got to listen to the Secret Service right now. This is obviously a very, very delicate, very sensitive moment in American history right now. We're watching the former president of the United States, Donald Trump, at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, just a little while ago, you can see he raised his right hand towards the side of his face, and then you can see some blood near his ear. We're watching all of this very, very closely indeed.
Let's show that video one more time from the beginning so everyone can get a sense of what unfolded. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Take a look at what happened ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get down, get down, get down.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) hold, hold, are you ready? On you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ready (INAUDIBLE) ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Move. Move. Go.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Clear the (INAUDIBLE) ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you ready? Are we good?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shooter's down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shooter's down. Are we good to move?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're clear.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's move.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: All right. You can hear people screaming. You can hear people saying, get down, get down, get down. Obviously a very, very dangerous, very sensitive moment indeed. The former U.S. Secret Service agent, Jonathan Wackrow, is joining us right now.
Jonathan, you've watched the video. You saw the Secret Service agents rush to the podium there, rush up, tell everybody to get down. What's your sense? What unfolded?
I'm not hearing Jonathan Wackrow. Let's see if we can get that connection up as quickly as possible. You see law enforcement on the scene there. This is Butler, Pennsylvania, just north of Pittsburgh, where just moments ago the former president of the United States was speaking at a campaign rally when all of a sudden you could hear what sounded like shots. You could hear him raise his right hand, see him raise his right-hand and he goes to the ground.
Secret Service comes up, and they begin to escort him out of there as quickly as possible. But they're all deep on their knees, deep on the ground, watching all of this unfold. I think we might have the former FBI deputy director, Andrew McCabe, joining us right now. Andrew, are you there?
ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: I am, Wolf. Yes, I'm right here.
BLITZER: Tell us your sense of what unfolded right now.
[18:40:02] It looked, I don't know if this is exactly what happened, it looked like something was hitting Trump on the side of his face. I don't know if it was bullets or what. And all of a sudden he went down, and then we could see some blood near his ear. But what's your sense?
MCCABE: Yes. Obviously, very tough situation to kind of parse through at this early moment with very little information. But from what you see on the video, it's interesting to me that he is looking to his right, and then he raises his right hand to his right ear, which we know from other photographs that are appearing quickly online, we later see bleeding as they're taking him away.
So from that series of events, it appears as if something, possibly a gunshot, who knows what else, hit him from some area to his right. It almost seems like it would have to have come almost from behind or very, you know, kind of at a hard angle to his right because you couldn't actually see what he was reacting to as it was - that was the side of his face that was turned away from the camera. He clearly stands up, raises his fist, as you're seeing now on the video, as they're taking him away.
So it appears, thank God, he seems to be okay and walking of his own power as he raises his fist in the air again there. Obviously, he's probably, you know, incredibly - it's an unbelievably intense critical incident. He's reacting in the moment pretty strongly there. Secret Service appears to have reacted exactly the way they're supposed to. They immediately take the principal, in this case, of course, the former president, put them on the ground and cover him with their own bodies, with whatever they have to protect him.
Most of that podium and the area around it are specifically built up to resist this kind of attack, so it provides a place of cover and protection for the President if he has to be taken to the ground immediately, as you saw here. So those things that were clearly already in place seem to have - those procedures seem to have worked as they are supposed to.
Now you can see those men in the dark uniforms with the long guns, the rifles. Those are undoubtedly part of the Secret Service counter- assault team. That is their role. When there's ever any sort of an attack on the President, they immediately look for the attacker. They are looking to engage someone who might have a weapon, someone who might have a gun. So that's what you probably see them doing as they walk across in front of the protected area.
They're out there at great risk to themselves, but that's their goal is to look for the shooter or the attacker in that moment.
BLITZER: It sounded, like, when I heard - I was watching it live on television, Andrew, and it sounded like a gunshot or two. You could hear a bang. You could hear something that sounded like a gunshot. At an event like this, an outdoor rally like this, where thousands of people gather, under normal circumstances, wouldn't there be magnetometers that would allow people to get through? Magnetometers that could detect a weapon, a rifle or a gun? MCCABE: Yes, sure. You know, it's hard for me to imagine. Again, we don't know what the procedures were in place for this specific event yet. I'm sure we will learn all those details as this story develops. But it's really hard for me to imagine that they would have a former president in front of a large crowd, a crowd of people who don't have to be identified ahead of time and don't submit to any sort of security clearance.
So it's really hard for me to imagine that you would let that sort of a crowd assemble that close to a former president without having to pass through a magnetometer first. Because that's, of course, how you prevent guns from coming into these events. So, again, many, many questions to be asked here. There will be a thorough investigation to understand exactly how, if in fact somebody got in there with a weapon, how did they get in?
And I think appropriately, the Secret Service is treating this as a crime scene. They are going to go over every inch of this space to try to reconstruct exactly what happened. But right now, obviously, the priority is to protect the former president, get him the medical treatment that he needs, get him to a place of safety.
BLITZER: Yes, that's priority number one is to make sure he's going to be okay following this really scary incident in Butler, Pennsylvania at this Trump campaign rally that was just beginning as we saw what was unfolding.
The former Secret Service agent, Jonathan Wackrow, is with us. I hope we've connected with you, Jonathan. But I'm anxious to get your analysis of what you think happened based on the video that we've been showing our viewers.
[18:45:03]
JONATHAN WACKROW, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Yes. Well, Wolf, you know, for the viewer, this is extremely shocking, right? Like, we don't see this level of attack towards any of our political leaders, or in this case, the former president.
But for the Secret Service, you have to understand that this is something that they practiced thousands and thousands of hours for, this exact moment. As we saw, everything was textbook in the way that they reacted. They actioned off of the sound of a threat. In this case, what they perceived was, you know, some sort of gunfire, you know, coming from what is believed to be the right of the former president.
If you looked at the moment that you heard that - the instant sound of what was believed to be gunfire, those Secret Service agents rushed in and did exactly what they are trained to do, which is to put maximum attention to the protectee and minimum attention to the problem, right?
That working shift that's around the president or the former president, they need to react very quickly, make him safe. And the way that they're doing it is exactly what we saw. They put their bodies in between the former president and the perceived threat, so they would actually absorb any secondary type of rounds that may come into the president.
They do a rapid assessment. The president's on the ground. He has agents that are on top of him. They're quickly trying to assess his current state. Was he hit? What is going on? All the while, they are getting information from agents that are outside of that inner circle around what is going on. Where is the perceived threat coming from? What is the next course of action?
We actually can hear some of the audio. They obviously got some indication that they can move the President, that it's safe to move the President or the risk is minimized somehow. You heard them call out some of the audio - the commands out loud to each other, so they work in unison. Removing the protectee, in this case the former president, off the X, off of that attack location, into a safer location, which in this case was the armored vehicle.
From there, the detail leader and other members of the Secret Service do another assessment of the President's health, making sure that there's no immediate concern. Again, was he shot or is there any secondary wounds? Anything that they do not see visibly at that moment.
They are going through that rapid assessment immediately while the motorcade is departing. And again, Wolf, I cannot stress this enough, all of the actions that you see by the Secret Service are coordinated. They think about this type of attack all the time. They know how to react. They have primary and secondary modes of transportation out of that site. There's calls being made around whether or not they need medical attention or they're going to go to a safe house or back to an aircraft to depart the area.
So all of the - what you're seeing is very dynamic, but this is what the Secret Service does the best, and we just saw that happen live on television.
BLITZER: You know, Jonathan, and we're showing our viewers once again the video. And you could - and if we get back, I want to just get back to the beginning when we - the president, the former president is still speaking, and all of a sudden we hear some bangs. I want you to listen closely, Jonathan. Tell me if those were gunshots or something, potentially something else.
Let me go back to the top of this video. We'll hear the president - the former president speaking, and then we'll hear some noise, and then all of a sudden he raises his right hand to his ear, and it looks like he's been shot, but we don't know that for sure. I just want to point out that the Secret Service is now saying that he's been - saying he's removed, he's in a vehicle, he's going somewhere, he is safe, and that's good news that he is safe right now.
But let's go back to the top of this. We'll hear the former president speaking, and then we'll hear some banging noise, and you tell me, Jonathan, if these are gunshots.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: You know, that's a little bit old, that chart. That chart's a couple of months old and if you want to really see something that said take a look at what happened ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get down, get down, get down.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) ...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: You can hear people screaming and people shouting, get down, get down, get down. What was your assessment of that - the noise, the banging noise that we heard just before the former president raised his right hand to his face, and you could then see some blood near his ear. Go ahead.
WACKROW: So, Wolf, I mean, it certainly sounds like a gunfire, but let me put this in the perspective of a Secret Service agent.
Myself, I have stood on that stage. I know exactly what is going on through the minds of those agents that are there. They don't have the time to make that 100 percent determination, is this gunfire, where is it coming from.
[18:50:01]
What they know is that there's some sort of threat. They may not know exactly what it is, but they know that they, you know, need to react extremely quickly in fractions of a second count. You saw that the Secret Service agents came in, they pulled him down, and they dove on top of him. That is the right call, right?
We don't know what that primary sound was. That could have been gunfire, but it could have also been something else. The moment that they perceive a threat, a threat to the life of the former president, they are going to react. In this case, you know, their reaction time and what they did could have potentially, you know, saved the President's life.
This is an extremely dynamic situation. It's unpredictable. That's why you always see Secret Service agents very close by, within arm's reach of the former president or the president or any type of protectee to be able to have this, you know, fraction of a second reaction time.
One other note, Wolf, I want to say is some of the members of this detail specifically, some of the people that were watching on the screen react. I trained with them. I worked with them on the President's detail. I know them extremely well. They are the most competent agents that the Secret Service has. They reacted perfectly. I trained with them. This is exactly what I trained with them on. These types of events and they reacted near flawlessly.
BLITZER: And they got him into that vehicle and they're taking him away right now. The Secret Service saying that he is safe right now and let's hope that his condition is good as well. We're watching this - this is historic. This is dramatic developments unfolding right now.
A very quick question, Andrew. A huge crowd like that, won't these people who are going to be especially getting close to the former president of the United States who is under constant Secret Service protection, won't they have to go through magnetometers first so that they can determine if there are any weapons being brought in?
MCCABE: Yes, Wolf. You would expect that that would be required of anyone who would attend a rally of this size, certainly anyone that would be in that kind of the inner ring, the closest seats, either in front of or behind the president. Now, I can't say what the actual rules were in place for this rally. We'll find that out later, but the magnetometers are the only way to ensure that this large group of people who you do not know, people who have not been subjected to any sort of background screening or anything like that, this magnetometer is the only way to ensure that they don't have weapons, that they don't bring dangerous implements into that rally.
BLITZER: And I can speak with my own personal history. I spent seven years as a White House correspondent, and I know that any time I or any other journalist or any members of the public would get close to the President of the United States or a former president of the United States, they would be checked to make sure there were no - they would have to go through metal detectors to make sure that there were no weapons or anything like that. The Secret Service job is to protect a president or a former president for that matter as well.
Andrew McCabe, thank you very much. Jonathan Wackrow, both of you, please stand by. We're going to continue our special coverage right now. Once again, the Secret Service saying the President, former president, is safe. You saw him removed quickly by Secret Service agents. There you see video of that.
Once again, they lifted him up. He had gone down on the ground. They lifted him up. And as they're taking him away and they're surrounding him, as they are right now, you see the former president raising his fist, trying to send a signal that he's okay, and moving on. But this is a really, really serious moment right now that we're watching unfold. And they take him carefully, slowly, surround him, as they always do, Secret Service agents, surrounding the former president as they take him to a vehicle and he'll be driven away someplace that is safe and removed from this scene.
But that entire scene is a crime scene right now, potentially at least. And that's why people are behaving the way they are. And the Secret Service is behaving the way they are as well, including the journalists who are there are being told to move away because this is a crime scene that is about to be investigated. Even as the former president is getting into that vehicle, he's raising his fist, trying to send a signal to his supporters there and to others that he's okay. We're watching all of this very, very closely.
Our senior political commentator, David Urban, is joining us right now. David, I understand you actually spoke with someone at this rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, just north of Pittsburgh.
DAVID URBAN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, Wolf.
BLITZER: And he was in the front row when all of this was unfolding. What did you learn?
URBAN: Yes. Wolf, so Dave McCormick, my good friend who's running for the Senate, was there with the President. I'm in Milwaukee, Wolf. I was on the floor of the convention center. We're getting ready to clear for a Secret Service sweep here, interestingly, when the news came out. But Dave McCormick was in the front row. President Trump said to Dave McCormick, come up here on stage. We'll get you up here in a minute.
And McCormick said at that point in time - right after he said that, he heard a few pops off to his - Dave was sitting in the front row, so off to his left, president's right.
[18:55:07]
Heard a few pops, sound like a small caliber weapon or firecrackers almost. He saw Trump drop down. McCormick says he believes that the gentleman was shot in the head behind him in the second row. He believed there were some other people who may have been injured. He dropped to the ground.
And when he got up, the Secret Service were on everybody and they were scattering. And so, you know, he was as close as you can get and was completely shocked by it and obviously praying for the President and praying for our country at this point in time.
BLITZER: Yes, really scary stuff indeed, watching all of this live on television. And there you see the video of the former president being taken, removed by Secret Service agents from the stage over there in Butler, Pennsylvania, and taken to a vehicle to be escorted someplace. We don't know where, but the Secret Service is saying the former president is safe and that is good news. We're watching all of this very, very closely.
Anything else you were told, David Urban, by this person who was there in the front row?
URBAN: No, not that I can (INAUDIBLE) you know, Wolf, nothing other than that from Dave. But I could tell you from having run probably close to 50 of those rallies myself in '16 and in '20, right, during the campaign in Pennsylvania, there are magnetometers all over the place, right? So the notion that somehow somebody was able to get a firearm in there just is beyond me because there is as much security there as there is going in the - any event where the president or former president is.
And so it'll be interesting to see what comes out of that. But again, everyone's praying for those others that may be injured, not just former President Trump. BLITZER: Yes. This is really scary stuff indeed as we're watching all of this unfold. And we'll see what happens. The former president is fine, according to a spokesperson. He's being checked at a local nearby medical facility right now to make sure everything is good. You could see he raised his right hand to his face as we heard what sounded like gunshots, but we don't know that for sure, sounded like gunshots in the area. And then we saw some blood near his ear on the side of his face where he had raised his hand, so it's pretty scary stuff indeed.
Jonathan Wackrow, anything else you want to add to what we're learning?
WACKROW: Yes. Wolf, right now, I mean, this is a - this is - as you said, this is a crime scene. And the next phases of this crime scene management is that the Secret Service, which was the primary law enforcement entity in the coordination of the site security plan, they will maintain the site security and maintain items of evidentiary value, again, because this is a crime scene, until the FBI comes in to take over the investigation.
So the Secret Service right now is acting as the interim federal presence until the criminal investigation process begins by the FBI. So the Secret Service takes on multiple roles in these dynamic situations. As I said before, their primary role, the working shift around the former president, their job is maximum to the protectee, minimum to the problem. Again, get the protectee safe and away from this threat.
Concurrently, other agents that are at the site, there's a plan in place to ensure the scene safety, first of all, the public that has been invited, and then also to maintain, you know, items of evidentiary value because it is a crime scene where the FBI will then take over and they'll start processing the site and starting their investigation.
Third point I want to make, Wolf, is the conversation around the magnetometers. A site like this, especially for not just a former president, but a current leading candidate for the Republican nomination in - for the presidency, they would absolutely have magnetometers and a whole security apparatus established to prevent firearms from coming into the site.
But the challenge with some of these open-air sites is you are still susceptible for - from long-range threats, from potentially a rifle. So I believe, you know, that we'll hear from the Secret Service shortly that, you know, any type of incident that happened was not within the security perimeter, but most likely occurred outside. This does seem like it was some sort of long-range, you know, incident that came from the right of the president, and, you know, we'll see more when the Secret Service, you know, starts, you know, briefing the public.
BLITZER: And they - presumably they will be making a statement soon about what their assessment is right now, what happened, if there were in fact gunshots that hit the former president on the right side of his face near his ear right now.
[19:00:06]
It's a very, very serious situation that we're watching.
