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Assassination Attempt Investigation Continues; Interview With Ohio Senatorial Candidate Bernie Moreno; Republicans Celebrate Presidential Ticket. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired July 16, 2024 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:44]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: You are live in the scene of NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta.

We begin this hour with the Republican Party celebrating its new presidential ticket.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEE GREENWOOD, MUSICIAN: Ladies and gentlemen, the 45th president of the United States and soon to be the 47th president of the United States.

Please welcome Donald J. Trump.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Republicans have formally nominated Donald Trump and Ohio Senator J.D. Vance as his vice presidential running mate, emotions running high, as Trump with a bandaged ear made his first public appearance since Saturday, when he was nearly assassinated.

Vance was a very vocal Trump critic in 2016, but is now a trusted ally. In fact, some top Republicans now view Vance as possibly the future of the MAGA movement.

Let's begin this hour at the RNC in Milwaukee with CNN's Alayna Treene.

Alayna, walk us through your reporting, how J.D. Vance traveled from -- I mean, all the way back in 2016, he once described Trump as America's Hitler. He was very sharply critical of Donald Trump back in 2016. And now he's seen as the future of the MAGA movement and is on the GOP ticket.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: That's exactly right.

And it's interesting, Jim, because, actually, when Donald -- or -- excuse me -- when J.D. Vance was running for Senate, there was a meeting between the two of them in early January 2021, when Vance was going to meet with the former president.

And the criticism of Donald Trump had actually come up then. But over the time and over the years, Vance has really gone to one of -- a very sharp critic of Donald Trump's to, of course, a fierce defender and ally, a close friend of Donald Trump Jr., Trump's son, as well as a key ally for the former president.

And now, of course, he is his vice presidential nominee. But, look, I'm told that, really, Donald Trump was waffling on this decision even up until Monday morning. He didn't make his final decision until mid- morning, right before, really, he called the Ohio senator and told him, you're going to be my running mate.

Now, look, I think there's a couple reasons for why I'm hearing that Trump ultimately landed on J.D. Vance. One is that he thinks that Vance will be very loyal. We know that that was a key criteria for Trump in finding a running mate, especially after really the dissolving of the relationship between Trump and his former vice president, Mike Pence, after everything that had happened around January 6.

I'm also told, though, that many people close to the former president and those who had been pushing and lobbying for Vance to Donald Trump, they really argued that they think he could be very helpful in appealing to some of the working-class voters, particularly in the Rust Belt.

We know that Vance grew up in a very poor town in Ohio. He documented that journey in "Hillbilly Elegy," a very famous book, and it's something that really attracted Vance -- or the Trump team to Vance.

Now, Vance kind of touched on this in an interview last night with FOX News. Take a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now, Jim, I have also am told that another reason why Donald Trump ended up landing with Vance is that the two have a very good relationship.

They have chemistry. And it's something that Trump has even remarked privately that he didn't have with some of the other top contenders he was considering, people like Marco Rubio and Doug Burgum. Vance was really the one that he had the closest personal relationship with.

And just an interesting note from my reporting over the past couple of days. Even up until mid-morning yesterday, people were in Donald Trump's ear pushing Vance, including on Sunday. He got a call from Elon Musk, saying -- or urging him to pick Vance -- Jim.

ACOSTA: It has been a fascinating transformation. All right, Alayna Treene, thank you very much live for us in Milwaukee.

I want to bring in CNN's Abby Phillip. She's on site at the RNC.

Abby, I mean, there was there was a lot of talk that perhaps this discussion inside the Democratic Party as to whether or not Joe Biden was going to stay on top of the presidential ticket, that that would eclipse this Republican National Convention. That is not the case anymore. There's certainly a lot of eyeballs on what's taking place there in Milwaukee, where you are.

[11:05:11]

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN HOST: You know what, Jim? You and I both know it's bad business to be predicting what's going to happen in a political election cycle.

ACOSTA: That's right.

PHILLIP: And, certainly, no one could have predicted what happened over this past weekend.

But right here in Milwaukee, this convention is really unlike any convention that Donald Trump has been a part of as a political figure. And it's really a testament to the unpredictability of his time in public life, but also the fact that now this is Donald Trump's Republican Party.

And to that end, I want to bring in now Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bernie Moreno of Ohio. He's looking to unseat incumbent Democrat Sherrod Brown. And he lost to J.D. Vance in the 2022 primary.

Bernie, you have been endorsed by Donald Trump, so you are sort of living proof of Donald Trump's dominance over this Republican Party. When it comes to your friend J.D. Vance, who was just selected as the vice presidential pick, the Democrats are saying this is mega-MAGA. This is doubling down on MAGA, but they see that as an opening.

How does J.D. Vance help Trump expand beyond his base, which he really would need to do if he's going to win this thing?

BERNIE MORENO (R), OHIO SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I think he appeals to young people. He's 39 years old, so he'd be one of the youngest people ever on a ticket. So that's great.

Also, look at his resume. This is a guy who lived in poverty from a broken home, a mom who suffered from addiction, went to the Marines, served this country, rebounded from all of that, wrote a book, was able to start a venture capital firm, and then ran for the United States Senate.

So his resume is one of resilience. It's the embodiment of the American dream. And, most importantly, J.D. is just fundamentally a very, very good person. And I think what people want in America is just good people in leadership positions, good-hearted people that are there to do the right thing.

PHILLIP: So, one of the things that you and J.D. Vance have in common is that you were not always fans of Donald Trump.

And he's talked in that clip about his about-turn on this, but you also in 2016 said that Trump's message is really about hatred and it stokes fears.

Explain to the American people that turnaround, because some people would say, politically expedient is what it sounds like.

MORENO: No, because you didn't have President Trump in a White House, right?

So, in 2015 and '16, we didn't know who President Trump was going to be as president. And, of course, there was a narrative that was built about what he was all about, which turned out to be completely false. I'm very happy I was wrong about that, because what we saw with President Trump for four years is prosperity, not just for certain groups, for all groups, for Hispanics, for women, for black Americans.

All did better under President Trump. We had peace and stability. We had energy independence. We had a safe and secure border.

PHILLIP: But it does strike me that the criticism that I heard in that paraphrase, what I paraphrased from what you said, what J.D. Vance has also said, was also about the tone, President Trump's tone, which, frankly, did not really change.

Is it just less important to you?

MORENO: No, he was attacked mercilessly. I mean, the stories that were made up about him were crazy, I mean, Russia, Russia, Russia, two impeachments, that they just relentlessly went after this man in a way that's never happened in modern political history.

So I think, when you look at what the tone is, I have seen his tone up close in person. President Trump in person is a great human being. He's a great man. I talked about that in my primary. I wish America could see the person that I know to be. He's a good human being with a great family. He's raised great kids, just a great human being.

And I think that's what fundamentally we need in Washington, D.C., is people there that have a commitment to save and love this country.

PHILLIP: Let me ask you about the issue of abortion, which is something that is going to be a big issue in this election.

You have at a time backed a national abortion ban. Do you still believe that there should be one?

MORENO: I have never used the term ban. That's a term that the Democrats and media like to use.

What I have said is...

PHILLIP: National abortion restrictions?

MORENO: What I have said is that we should look at ways to bring everybody together on this issue.

First of all, it's mostly a states' issue. And I think we did that with Roe v. Wade.

PHILLIP: When you say mostly, what does that mean?

MORENO: Well, that mostly the states are going to decide. But there's some things that we can do federally.

Let's make it less expensive to have kids. Let's make certain that women have good access to health care, good access to contraception, in the same way that men do, that we make adoption easier, that we make certain we fund pregnancy centers that take care of moms while they're having a baby and afterwards.

PHILLIP: On the question of abortion, do you think the federal government has a role in regulating abortion?

MORENO: I think what we can do is have a role in making certain that the things that I just talked about would reduce abortions.

I think those are things that we can come together as a party. The other side, Sherrod Brown and the extreme on the left, they want abortion right up to the moment of birth. And I don't think most Americans believe in that.

[11:10:01]

PHILLIP: I mean, I have to just push back on that. The idea that they want abortion up until the baby is born is just not true.

MORENO: So, where do they draw the line?

PHILLIP: I mean, it only happens in incredibly rare situations.

But I do want to ask you about...

MORENO: But where would the Democrats stop -- but where would they draw the line then?

PHILLIP: I do want to ask you about -- on J.D. Vance, I mean, he also has kind of had a number of different positions on this.

Is it a political liability for him that he has banned -- he has supported national abortion bans, and he's questioned whether there needs to be exceptions for rape and incest?

MORENO: No, I don't think that's true at all. I'd push back on that. That's a false narrative.

Again, ban is a term that Democrats and the media use. We don't use that term. What we're going to do is focus on making sure the economy is back in shape, we reduce the prices of the grocery store, at the gas station for Americans, that we secure our border, that we have energy dominance, most importantly, that we have peace and stability around the world.

That's what this party is all about. What you're going to see today and Wednesday and Thursday is a fully united Republican Party that paints a positive vision for this country and restores common sense.

I think Americans are sick and tired of being at each other. Let's restore American unity around a common set of principles. And I think the Republican platform does that.

PHILLIP: President Trump has said he's starting from scratch on his speech this week, that he wants to focus on national unity.

There are a lot of people incredibly skeptical of that. Do you think that that is a message that will stick beyond this week, that he will abandon this idea of retribution, that he will abandon this idea of calling fellow Americans the enemy of other Americans? Will that stuff go away? Should it go away?

MORENO: Well, again, President Trump is supporting a platform of the Republican national party. It has 20 points. Your viewers should go out and read it. It's fantastic. It's common sense, safe and secure border, energy dominance, peace and stability around the world, low prices, safe communities, good schools, parental rights.

Those are the things that all Americans should aspire to. So we're going to bring -- we have already brought the entirety of the Republican Party together. When I launched my campaign last April, we were very divided. We're fully united today.

The Democrats are in a full-scale civil war because they have no identity. They stand for nothing, other than Donald Trump is bad.

PHILLIP: But, again, message of unity, do you believe that that needs to be the tone of the rest of this campaign from the top of the ticket?

MORENO: Well, I think it's going to be about unifying vision around the points that we have laid out in the party platform.

I think those are the things that we're going to fight for every day. I think there's a lot of Democrats out there that would like to support the platform, but they're held hostage by the extremists in their party, the AOCs and the Ilhan Omars of the world that think that America should become more like Europe and South America, where I came from, that that's the vision for the United States.

That's not why people come here. People like me and my family came here because we want to live the American dream. We want to have a government that stays out of our lives and allows us the opportunity to do anything that we set our minds to. That's what America is for.

That's why, again, people like me come here.

PHILLIP: U.S. Senate candidate Bernie Moreno, thank you very much for joining us today here in Milwaukee, Wisconsin -- Jim, back to you in Washington.

ACOSTA: All right, Abby, thank you very much.

Still ahead this hour: major developments, as investigators look deeper into the attempt on Donald Trump's life, a source telling CNN there were indeed snipers inside the building where the gunman launched his attack.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:18:05]

ACOSTA: The Secret Service and local police are pointing fingers over who's to blame for the security failure at Saturday's Donald Trump rally.

Both claim it was the other's job to secure the building where the gunman was positioned on the roof. And a source tells CNN that a local sniper team was actually stationed inside that building during the event. We have also learned that nearly two minutes passed between the time that some of the crowd spotted the shooter and when the shots were fired.

The Secret Service director told ABC News she takes responsibility for what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIMBERLY CHEATLE, U.S. SECRET SERVICE DIRECTOR: The Secret Service is responsible for the protection of the former president.

QUESTION: So the buck stops with you?

CHEATLE: The buck stops with me. I am the director of the Secret Service. It was unacceptable, and it's something that shouldn't happen again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Let's bring in CNN's Danny Freeman live in Butler, Pennsylvania, where all of this went down.

Where does the investigation stand at this moment? And we're still trying to figure out what the motive was for the shooter.

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Jim.

Law enforcement agents who are investigating what happened here still trying to find the motive that may have caused this shooting incident Saturday evening.

But I want to talk about what you laid out earlier, this back-and- forth between Secret Service and between local law enforcement agencies. So let's start with the first thing that you said. We learned just earlier today that snipers were stationed inside the complex where ultimately the gunman was perched on top of the roof. Now, according to Secret Service, they were on the -- rather, I should say, these were local snipers, not Secret Service snipers.

And these people were stationed inside on the second floor of one of the buildings in this complex, and they were looking out on the campaign site from there. Now, this, of course, comes as Secret Service tells CNN that they were not responsible for clearing that particular building, because it was outside of the perimeter that they were carrying after, again, the primary place where the Trump rally was occurring.

But we have not heard a ton on the record just yet from some of the local law enforcement agencies that were part of that particular group, even though Secret Service says it was local law enforcement that was responsible for that particular building.

[11:20:10]

Now, we did hear from Pennsylvania State Police. They told us on the record they were not responsible for that area. And not only that. They gave Secret Service every resource that they had requested. And, furthermore, State Police said that, in these situations, of which they have participated in many, Secret Service is the lead organization.

And, Jim, that's how we get to last night that interview with ABC News where the director of the Secret Service said: "The buck stops with me."

But there's one other thing about this back-and-forth, Jim, that I will add, is, the Secret Service then came out with an additional statement overnight specifically addressing this tit for tat that we have seen, essentially saying, in short: "Any news suggesting the Secret Service is blaming local law enforcement for Saturday's incident is simply not true," reiterating they have great respect for the local counterparts that they need to partner with in order to make large events like this possible -- Jim.

ACOSTA: Yes.

I mean, Dan, I have been to a ton of these outdoor rallies. I mean, they -- Secret Service really relies on local law enforcement. They work together at all of these events. And you can't imagine a situation where they're going to start going at one another over who's to blame.

Let's get back to the motive question, Danny. We're still looking for a motive.

FREEMAN: Still looking for a motive, Jim.

ACOSTA: Yes. FREEMAN: And this has been something that has really perplexed

investigators as they have been working through, combing through as much evidence as they can get their hands on.

The FBI has done over 100 interviews with witnesses who were at the scene and law enforcement officials. They have interviewed family and friends of the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks. They have also searched his Internet history. They searched his car, his home, and they even were able to access his phone, which they were hoping would provide some clues.

But, at this point, the latest that we're hearing from law enforcement sources, Jim, is they still just don't have anything that is pointing to an ideology or anything that would suggest a reason for why he would have perched on that roof and started firing at former President Donald Trump on Saturday evening -- Jim.

ACOSTA: Yes, it's really unusual for investigators not to have a motive at this point.

But, as Andrew McCabe was telling us earlier on in this program, there are instances from time to time where it just takes time for investigators to get to a motive.

Danny Freeman, thank you so much. Really appreciate it.

Just ahead, we will hear from some Trump protesters at the RNC. They will tell us why they're listening to some of the wild conspiracy theories about Saturday's attack.

We will go back to the RNC next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:27:19]

PHILLIP: And welcome back to CNN's special coverage of the Republican National Convention. I'm Abby Phillip in Milwaukee.

And in just a few hours, we're expecting to hear from a host of big names as they take the stage for night two of this convention, including some former Trump rivals.

Here with me now, CNN political director David Chalian and CNN's national correspondent, Kristen Holmes.

David, Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis -- we actually had Ron DeSantis doing a sound check just a few moments ago. What are you expecting to hear from them? I mean, both of them ran hard against Donald Trump. But it wasn't until just a couple of days ago that they were actually confirmed to even be here, which was a big change.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes, I'm sure Ron DeSantis was hoping his sound check would be on Thursday, and he'd be...

(LAUGHTER) (CROSSTALK)

CHALIAN: ... speech at this convention, and that's not how it worked out.

But, listen, DeSantis got on board pretty quickly and understood that he wanted to figure out very quickly after he dropped from the race his path into maintaining his stature in the party.

Nikki Haley obviously ran a more competitive race against Trump and actually took quite some time here. And we spent so much time, Abby, discussing the Haley voters for months and months and months. And what you see now in like a totally unified Republican Party in this moment right now is that I think Donald Trump and his team was a little less concerned about the Haley voters...

PHILLIP: Yes.

CHALIAN: ... and that their path back into the fold may have been a little easier.

So extending the invitation to somebody who already released their delegates, said she's voting for him seemed like a play, politically wise play, to maybe try and have her help broaden the appeal.

PHILLIP: For all the talk of where are the Haley voters going to go, it seems like they're coming right back home to the Republican Party.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It certainly does.

And one thing I do want to note is that there was a lot of outrage at the fact that, one, Haley wasn't invited. DeSantis had been invited, but, as you said, part of that was because he immediately wanted to get on board to help Donald Trump. He said that he would help him with donors -- DeSantis has a lot of high-profile and high-dollar donors -- which he did immediately.

Haley was different case. They had a very hard time with her. They wanted her to drop out weeks before they did, and they held it against her. Donald Trump and his team are known for holding a grudge. But when we reported that neither of them had been given a speaking slot and that Nikki Haley wasn't even invited, they faced an enormous amount of backlash, because that is not what these conventions are all about.

PHILLIP: But, Kristen, help me understand this. How is it that the Trump team, they hold a grudge against a Nikki Haley, but the Trump running mate is someone who likened him to Hitler? How did that happen?

HOLMES: I have asked this question a hundred times of everyone, because, just remember, it's not just Donald Trump liking him. It is that the MAGA universe has embraced J.D. Vance...

PHILLIP: Yes.

HOLMES: ... in a way that we have not seen with other people.

In fact, Don Jr. is one of his closest friends. And on Tuesday of two weeks ago, I believe, or one week ago, when he was doing that rally in Miami, and Marco Rubio was going to be there, Don Jr. did an entire show about how Marco Rubio shouldn't be the pick for V.P. because he was too establishment.