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Biden Faces More Calls to Exit Race Amid New COVID Diagnosis; Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) Accepts GOP Vice Presidential Nomination; GOP Senators Confront Secret Service Chief Over Trump Assassination Attempt. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired July 18, 2024 - 10:00   ET

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

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[10:00:00]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. You are live in the CNN Newsroom. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington.

We begin this morning with major developments unfolding on both sides of the presidential race. Pressure is mounting on President Biden this morning to exit the race for the White House in favor of a Democratic candidate who can beat Donald Trump in November. A senior Biden official told me things are looking, quote, bleak inside the campaign after reports surfaced that top Democratic lawmakers are leaning on the president to step aside. A separate source close to the president told me Biden is, quote, listening, but the source added the president feels like he is legally the nominee of the party after winning the primaries. Still, another top DNC official said it feels more and more like a change could happen on the ticket.

At this hour, the president is recovering at his Delaware Beach home after testing positive for COVID. This new health challenge forces the 81-year-old president off the campaign trail at a critical moment in the race as Republicans at their convention in Milwaukee are uniting behind a new ticket.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I pledged to every American, no matter your party, I will give you everything I have.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Donald Trump's running mate, Senator J.D. Vance, took center stage at the Republican National Convention four days after the assassination attempt on the former president. And angry Republican senators at the RNC demanded answers from the head of the Secret Service after last weekend's assassination attempt. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is exactly what we were doing today on the call, stonewalling. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This was an assassination attempt. You owe the people answers. You owe President Trump answers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: All right, things are moving fast. I want to go straight to CNN's Priscilla Alvarez. She's in Delaware where the president is recovering today. Priscilla, what can you tell us about the former House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, apparently telling the President that the polls show Mr. Biden cannot win? What's the latest?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Jim, look, this is another significant development with a high-profile Democrat, in this case, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, telling the president in a private conversation that the polling bears out that he cannot defeat former President Donald Trump. And if he does move forward with his campaign, it could destroy the chances of Democratic lawmakers who are running in House seats.

Now, the president, according to sources, was defensive in this, saying that his polling shows that he can still go up against former President Donald Trump, but at one point, the former House speaker asking to get one of his senior advisers, Mike Donilon, on the phone to talk through the data.

Now, when presented with this reporting, the White House maintained that the president is still the nominee and he intends to win. The former House Speaker's office saying that she has been in California since Friday, clearly capturing just the tension within the party here. Jim?

ACOSTA: And, Priscilla, what is the White House saying about the president's diagnosis? Is he doing okay?

ALVAREZ: The White House says that he has mild symptoms. I've checked in with the White House again this morning to get an update on his latest prognosis. But, certainly, the president also getting a dose of Paxlovid. He had a bout in COVID in 2022. He also had Paxlovid at that time.

Now, while he is self-isolating at his Delaware residence, he will likely be doing calls and virtual meetings. So, the president still carrying out his duties, but doing so behind closed doors as he recovers from a positive COVID diagnosis.

ACOSTA: All right. Priscilla Alvarez in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware for us, thanks so much.

Let's continue this discussion. I want to bring in Olivia Troye. She's a former advisor to Vice President Mike Pence. Olivia, you're a lifelong Republican. You're staunchly opposed to Donald Trump. I know you're out on the campaign trail with Vice President Kamala Harris yesterday. You're supporting the Democratic ticket. What do you make of some of this handwringing that's going on inside the Democratic Party right now? There you are on stage in Michigan yesterday. But what do you make of some of this handwringing going on inside the Democratic Party, I know you're not inside the Democratic Party, but about whether the President should stay on top of the ticket?

OLIVIA TROYE, FORMER ADVISER TO V.P. MIKE PENCE: Yes, look, obviously I'm a Republican and so I'm just kind of watching this play out on the Democratic side. I will say that I'm impressed at democracy in action with the Democratic Party, because this would never be allowed in the Republican Party. I think Trump would definitely be out there bullying, threatening people in a very serious way, and so would his allies.

[10:05:00]

But I'll say this. I really think it's challenging right now, when you're really focused on defeating Trump and the danger that he is to have this discussion continue to play out repeatedly for this long. So, I'm in the camp of whatever decision is going to be made, I hope that it gets done immediately, as soon as possible, so that we can go on and start rowing together so we can defeat what this movement is on the right.

ACOSTA: Yes. And what Priscilla Alvarez was just talking about a few moments ago, apparently Nancy Pelosi, that former House speaker, who is beloved among progressives inside the Democratic Party, apparently also showing the president polls that indicate he is going to lose in November to Donald Trump. Apparently, Biden was defensive about it, shrugged her off. Apparently, he's not as defiant though. He is listening. I was talking to a source close to the president last night who said that the president is listening to all of this. Do you think there should be some scenario where he steps aside and Kamala Harris becomes the top of the ticket? What are your thoughts on that?

TROYE: You know, look, I think President Biden truly cares about the country and the direction that we're going in. I think I've watched him govern. I think he's done an amazing job in his presidency. I don't agree with everything that he's done because obviously I have, you know, conservative views on different things. But I'll say that he's had an effective presidency.

And so I hope that he, when he's looking forward, weighs the decision on what is the best move to make for the greater good of the country right now.

I'll tell you this. I was with the vice president yesterday. She was incredible on stage. She's incredible when she connects with people, and I think it was amazing that she extended a hand to me and other Republicans to come forward with her and talk about health care rights, women's rights. And I saw a lot of Republican and women in the audience who were open to that conversation, and I think she's leading the way in setting that example.

So, I think --

ACOSTA: Do you think she could be Donald Trump?

TROYE: I do. I really do, actually. She is incredibly smart. I think that she is incredibly thoughtful and impactful on policies. And I think the more that people are watching her, the more that she's out on the campaign trail, I think she's connecting with the voters. And I think, you know, bringing conservatives in the fold, traveling to conservative states to really talk about what's at stake, I think, is important, I'm glad that she's doing it. And I think she would be an excellent candidate. But right now, as far as I know, the candidate is the Biden-Harris ticket, and that's what I'm going to support.

ACOSTA: And I do want to ask you about the RNC, because, typically, in this time of year, you would be in Milwaukee supporting the Republican ticket. You're not doing that anymore. You work for Mike Pence. There's a new vice presidential running mate. It's J.D Vance.

But at the separate event in Milwaukee last night, I guess Trump told a crowd that God was with him during the assassination attempt last week weekend. Let's listen to some of that, if we can.

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DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: But I got lucky. God was with me, I tell you.

In many ways, it changes your attitude, your viewpoint toward life. And, honestly, I think you appreciate God even more. I really do. Because something happened that -- something happened, not that it was pleasant. It wasn't like it was a complete mess.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Yes. Olivia, what do you think of - I mean, a couple of things. One is how the party has really rallied around Donald Trump at this convention, how it's been a pretty unified convention, also, I mean, what Trump has been saying lately that he's changed and so on. I mean, do you, you know, Donald Trump, you worked in his administration. Do you think he can rise above this and be a different kind of unifying leader? Is that in his character?

TROYE: Yes. Look, I think Donald Trump is sort of the used car salesman, right? I mean, he will say whatever is convenient at the time, and then he'll flip the switch on it. I don't expect him to stay the course on this. I think they're not behaving in a unity ticket for the country. They may be unified as a Republican Party right now, under the candidate that they want to win, regardless of their -- the sacrificing of their own integrity and morals, and I'm talking about people like Nikki Haley.

But, look, his policies are his policies. Project 2025, those are his policies. Those are the things that he is going to push so he can sit here and say he's a changed man, but he said a lot of things where he's actually flipped off on it. So, until we get the polls and we get this man out of here, he'll be continuing to spin this and he'll use it to his benefit. And I think he's painting himself as a messiah right now. And I think that's absolutely ridiculous with the lack of morals that he has.

ACOSTA: All right. Olivia Troye, great to see you. Thanks so much. I really appreciate it. Tonight, Donald Trump will deliver his first major address since a would-be assassin attempted to take his life last night. He once again walked onto the convention floor to thundering applause and an unusual choice of entrance music that it's a man's world. It was that was a song by James Brown that was playing last night.

But the big event of the night was J.D. Vance introducing himself to the country for the first time as Trump's running mate and accepting his place on the ticket.

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VANCE: I'm overwhelmed with gratitude to say I officially accept your nomination to be vice president of the United States of America.

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ACOSTA: Vance spent much of the speech detailing his humble beginnings, the rags to riches story documented in his bestselling memoir. But in telling the story of an impoverished America, he cast the blame on undocumented immigrants while the crowd waved signs calling for mass deportation now. Take a look.

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VANCE: The absurd cost of housing is the result of so many failures, and it reveals so much about what's broken in Washington.

The Democrats flooded this country with millions of illegal aliens. So, citizens had to compete with people who shouldn't even be here for precious housing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Apparently, one of the speeches tonight ahead of the former president's address to the convention will come from professional wrestler Hulk Hogan.

Let's go out to CNN's Manu Raju inside the convention hall in Milwaukee. Manu, we're going to see you jumping off the top rope tonight. Is that going to be left to Hulk Hogan? What's going on?

MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I think I will not do that tonight, although that would go viral if I did.

ACOSTA: It would. It definitely would.

RAJU: It really would. It's going to be a very interesting night. And just a bit more about last night, J.D. Vance there, he leaned into his Rust Belt roots. He reached out to what he called the, quote, forgotten communities hit hard by factory closings and drug addiction. He also took a moment to say how proud he was of his mother, who is ten years sober and offered a celebration at the White House if they win in November.

CNN's Kristen Holmes, she joins me now. She covers all things Trump campaign.

Okay. So, they obviously felt the Vance speech went well. He talked repeatedly about the Rust Belt states that they absolutely need to win, like Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Called for unity.

RAJU: Called for unity. It really hit with the core that the Trump campaign wanted. Tonight's going to be a different night. This is Trump's night. And it's going to really encapsulate the full on transformation of the Republican Party.

HOLMES: Yes, this is really Donald Trump's first convention. Obviously, it's his third. But if you look at 2016, there were still people, including Senator Ted Cruz, who got up on the stage and told people to vote their conscience. There were so many Republican lawmakers who just didn't show up. He was still trying to win over the party.

2020 was very dark. I re-listened to that speech. It was a time where we were in COVID. It was a much smaller convention, and he was still just trying to hold on to the presidency, and it did not look as good. We are in a completely different moment now. This is Donald Trump's party. It started when Donald Trump's team took over the RNC. Then they took over the party platform. That platform looks nothing like what we have seen for decades in the past of the Republican Party, watered down on abortion, really taking out the part about traditional marriage, being between a man and a woman, really taking out fiscal responsibility almost completely.

This is Donald Trump's party. And Donald Trump, he loves the show. So, as you heard, Hulk Hogan is going to be there. Dana White is actually the one who's going to speak before Donald Trump. There's going to be a performance at some point.

RAJU: And what is the reason for Hulk Hogan and Dana White? Is there actually a reason for this?

HOLMES: Well, Dana White is a good friend of his. So, he has been one of his biggest supporters. I also think Donald Trump loves when he walks out onto UFC and everybody's cheering and he does -- if you've noticed, what he's doing every night is almost exactly what it looks like when you walk onto the floor in UFC.

That's intentional. They know what they're doing there with this kind of like rollout of Donald Trump. He likes to show. These are some performers here.

RAJU: Yes. We'll see what they actually --

HOLMES: What they actually say, yes, exactly.

RAJU: Sometimes, you know, you remember Republicans have bad memories of Clint Eastwood when, in Republican convention taking this spotlight away.

HOLMES: Exactly. They can't control, exactly. They can't control. They can't tell Hulk Hogan exactly what to say. That's a guy who's going to go rogue.

RAJU: Right. And this is, you know, obviously Trump can control what he says tonight. And he's been saying how he may modify his speech in some ways in the aftermath of his assassination attempt on this past Saturday.

But Trump has long been a base politician. He's very partisan. He attacks his opponents relentlessly. Do you expect that same level of anti-Biden rhetoric to come out of his speech tonight?

HOLMES: It really depends on how much he stays on script. He has told people, and it's not just what he has said publicly, it's not just what Don Jr. said about how he rewrote the speech, and now it's all about unity. He's also privately told people that he wants to lean into what happened on Saturday, that he wants to lean into the divine intervention part of that, that he wants to talk about unity.

But Donald Trump, in a crowd like this, with people cheering for him, that's where he becomes the most basic Donald Trump and whether or not he can get through a speech that is focused on unity when he has people screaming, cheering for him, Hulk Hogan up earlier in the day, that's where it's really going to test him on this kind of case of unity.

RAJU: Yes. I mean, look, the Republicans have said that this is going to be a unity convention. It really has not been a unity convention.

HOLMES: Eventually, (INAUDIBLE) before they edited them to make more unified.

RAJU: No kidding. This has been a typical convention, a political convention, what you'd expect, trying to fire a rifle at your base, attack your opponent.

[10:15:04]

And we'll see how Trump deals with it tonight. It'll be a very, very fascinating night.

Kristen Holmes, thank you for joining me this morning. Appreciate that. All right, Jim, back to you in Washington.

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

Coming up, a would-be assassin's cryptic post, what he said on a popular gaming platform as investigators search for a motive behind Saturday's deadly shooting. We have new reporting after the break.

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ACOSTA: Now to the chilling online post by Trump's would-be assassin with the ominous message, quote, July 13th will be my premiere, watch as it unfolds, end quote. Law enforcement officials say Thomas Crooks shared the warning on the gaming platform Steam.

We're also learning more about his movements that day. Officials tell CNN that Crooks visited the rally location twice after the Butler event was announced, including the day of the shooting, and stayed there for 70 minutes. His phone, by the way, according to officials, had images of Trump, President Biden and other congressional leaders.

[10:20:02]

Plus, his search history included dates of both party conventions and upcoming Trump events, we're told.

In a briefing yesterday, officials told lawmakers Crooks looked up major depression disorder and treatment online.

Plus, new video obtained by CNN affiliate WTAE shows a person wearing clothes resembling Crooks before the shooting and for 19 minutes. We could also note Crooks evaded law enforcement until he's spotted by the crowd on the roof that he fired from.

For now, demands for accountability from the Secret Service are growing louder even at the RNC.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARSHA BLACKBURN (R-TN): Can you give us an explanation why would anyone allow the president to go on stage when you know you've got a potential threat and you've got snipers that are trained on him?

KIMBERLY CHEATLE, SECRET SERVICE DIRECTOR: I don't think that this is the forum to have this discussion.

SEN. JOHN BARRASSO (R-WY): Well, you hung up on us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: As investigators work to uncover a motive behind all of this, many who knew the shooter are speaking out about the Thomas Crooks they knew. One of them is Jim Knapp. He's a former Bethel Park guidance counselor who counseled Crooks during high school. Mr. Knapp, thank you very much for joining us. We appreciate it. And, of course, our hearts go out to your community, everybody I know out there is still grappling with all of this. But what can you tell us about Crooks as a student? What did you observe?

JIM KNAPP, FORMER BETHEL PARK GUIDANCE COUNSELOR: Well, thank you, Jim. I have known Thomas since he was a sophomore in high school, and Thomas was a quiet young man, intelligent, stayed to himself. However, he was very, very intelligent, and his schoolwork was his top priority.

In his senior year alone, he only missed one day of school, and I must say that's very unique for seniors because they always have a couple skip days in there and so on and so forth. So, I can tell you that Thomas was a very intelligent, quiet, bright young man. But I do want to say, Jim, before I go on any further, I want to have to say that my deepest sympathies to the family up in Butler where the father had passed away from the shooting. I feel horrible for that. I feel horrible for the people who have been shot. And I feel for Thomas' parents too also and the community of Bethel Park, because Bethel Park is a great community.

ACOSTA: Yes, I would echo all of that. And tell us, Jim, about the moment you found out that a former student was behind this assassination attempt. That must have been a huge shock.

KNAPP: It sure was. And it's almost like a movie. It's almost like a book. that, you know, you hear of all this. I've always seen on T.V. different scenarios like this, but I actually was part of it now. And I got the text Sunday morning and my former principal texted me and told me what happened.

And my stomach just went to the ground. The pit of my stomach ached. And it was very a very deep time to discern, a very deep time to bring my faith into this because I really rely on God. And I think that's where we need to go with this because I believe evil is what overcame Thomas. And I believe evil is in the world. And I believe if we go back to a society where we have prayer not just in schools, but prayer and society, we get more civilized.

You know, I look at the role modeling and I say people need to role model for these young people in school. And if we have two gentlemen who are heading the country at this time who can't be civil to each other, you know, that's a problem. And I can only hope that I heard President Trump saying he is going to reverse his character and become a more civil type individual, and I hope that happens.

ACOSTA: Yes. And, Jim, I do want to ask you about this. A former classmate of Thomas apparently told The New York Times that other students would tease him and even call him a, quote, school shooter. Do you recall was he bullied in high school?

KNAPP: Great question, Jim. And that question has been brought up to me before. I can adamantly say he was not.

ACOSTA: Really?

KNAPP: And I say that really deeply because I've thought of this question. When anytime we get a tip on bullying, the administration at Bethel Park takes great pride in stopping it. As guidance counselors, all four of us were out and about amongst the school and we made sure that if it was going on, we would stop it. But I can honestly tell you there are no records even that Thomas was bullied. And if he was, I would be notified, then I would call the parents and then I would get his teachers involved too. But that did not happen. And I can say with speaking the truth, I was not aware of any bullying in that case.

[10:25:00]

ACOSTA: And, Jim, we also learned about a post that he made on some gaming platform called Steam that said, July 13th will be my premiere, watch as it unfolds. According to this briefing that the lawmakers up on Capitol Hill got yesterday from law enforcement officials, he was also interested in finding out about depression and treatment for depression. Does any of that ring a bell? Was he into gaming? Did he exhibit signs of depression? Did he ever talk to the school officials like yourself about being depressed?

KNAPP: He did not. And I can tell you that when I meet with kids once a year to go over their schedules for the upcoming year, I always emphasize to the kids at that time, come back and see me if you need help.

I'll give you an example, Jim. He would sit in the cafeteria and he would be by himself and he would look at his phone. Now, what was he watching? I don't know. I'm hoping he's watching you. But I don't honestly know. And if he was gaming, he probably -- he was into computers. He was in -- he went to our votech (ph), which we call our career technical center. He went there for two years into computers. So, yes, he was into computers.

However, I was not aware of any depression. And if there would have been something, I'm not a mental health therapist, but I sure would have got our school social worker and I would have got our mental health therapist involved also.

ACOSTA: All right. Well, it sounds like one of those situations where this was just flying under the radar. Folks just didn't pick up on it. If there were disturbing signs, it sounds like folks just didn't know about it. Is that the case? I mean, you've been talking to other folks around the community. Yes.

KNAPP: Absolutely, Jim. And what I want to say to that is when he was in school two years ago, this young man was not -- I mean, all of the traits that I'm hearing, he did not show those traits. Yes, he was quiet. The kids were saying he was bullied. I did not see that. Our school officials, I can honestly say, they probably did not see it either, or that would be coming out.

I know the school right now is not allowed to say anything other than what our director of communications, Mr. Jim Cromie, had put out. But, basically, I can tell you, I am not aware of any bullying that went on. I'm aware of a young man who was quiet, who walked the halls, went to class, only missed one day of the senior year, and he really was not, in my opinion, picked on.

ACOSTA: All right. Jim Knapp, thank you for your time. We appreciate it.

KNAPP: Thank you, Jim. Take care.

ACOSTA: All right, you too.

All right, coming up growing pressure on President Biden to drop out of the race, is this a new moment for the campaign that could be a turning point? The changing tone that we're picking up on behind the scenes, that's next.

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