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Trump Safe As FBI Investigates Apparent Assassination Attempt; Politicians React To Apparent Trump Assassination Attempt; Source: FBI Investigation Into Apparent Trump Assassination Attempt Goes Global As Officials Look Into Man Detained; FBI Investigating Apparent Assassination Attempt On Trump. Aired 11p-12a ET

Aired September 15, 2024 - 23:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:00:34]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: Hello and welcome to all of our viewers watching here in the U.S. and around the world. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington.

CNN's Breaking News continues this hour. The FBI is investigating an apparent assassination attempt on Donald Trump two months after the former president was shot in the ear at a rally in Pennsylvania. Trump is safe, was not harmed in Sunday's incident at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida.

A 58-year-old man identified as Ryan Wesley Routh has been detained. He's pictured there. He had weighed in on politics on social media in the past and at times had criticized Donald Trump.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff says the Secret Service fired shots at a man who had a rifle in the bushes along the perimeter of the Trump International Golf Club. A source says that Trump had been playing golf at the time, moving between the fifth and sixth holes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RIC BRADSHAW, SHERIFF, PALM BEACH FLORIDA: The Secret Service agent that was on the course did a fantastic job. What they do is they have an agent that jumps one hole ahead of time to where the President was at. And he was able to spot this rifle barrel sticking out of the fence and immediately engage that individual, at which time the individual took off.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Very shortly after the incident, Trump put out a fundraising e-mail. In that e-mail, he said in part, my resolve is only stronger after another attempt on my life. I will never slow down. I will never give up. I will never surrender. So, let's circle back now on what exactly we know about the person now detained in connection with this incident. Law enforcement sources say he's 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh, a self-employed affordable housing builder in Hawaii. He has had run ins with law enforcement in the past. He also has a strong social media presence where at times he has criticized Donald Trump. He's also expressed support for the war in Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: He is an individual who has been living out loud on the social media platforms that that we all use. But most interestingly has been his continual postings about efforts to recruit fighters to go to the Ukraine. He has called out for people to send him their passport copies, their military experience, their resumes and what other battles they have fought in. He has provided a link for fighters to, you know, populate this information. He has indicated that he's been in theater in Ukraine.

So, as we kind of cast about for a motive, that doesn't mean that the motive is connected to Ukraine, but it is an issue where Donald Trump has been accused of dodging the question about whether he would support Ukraine or Zelenskyy.

So, it's -- it's something that they'll be curious about.

Also, the remarkable thing is all the way back in 2002 in North Carolina, he has an arrest, one of his eight arrests. But it stood out to me because the charge was possession of a weapon of mass destruction.

When you go back through that case, what you see is he was stopped by police. He took off in the car. He barricaded himself in an office building for three hours. But he was charged with possession of a concealed weapon, the pistol, and the weapon of mass destruction charge related to the other weapon, which wasn't a bomb. It was a machine gun that was fully automatic.

So, when you see him today with this, allegedly with this AK-47 and talking about having been in war zones, his familiarity and comfort with these weapons starts to emerge.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Also, how did he get those weapons? Routh's eldest son tells CNN his father is, in his experience, a loving, caring and hardworking man. And he, quote, hopes things have just been blown out of proportion because it's not like his father to, quote, do anything crazy, much less violent.

CNN's Randi Kaye joins us now from just outside the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach.

And I wonder, Randi, what the atmosphere is there now after this apparent attempt on the former president's life. RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on-camera): Yes. Good evening, Jim.

So, for several hours, the former president remained here behind the gates of the Trump International Golf Club. They wanted to make sure it was safe and secure to move him beyond the gates. And then they did eventually take him to Mar-a-Lago. We actually arrived here just as his motorcade was leaving.

[23:05:13]

By that time, Jim, we know that Ryan Wesley Routh had already been taken into custody. We understand from law enforcement that he was very calm. He wasn't displaying any emotion. But in terms of the scene here, the law enforcement scene, is still -- there is still quite a heavy presence of law enforcement, we're on Summit Boulevard, which is just in front of the gate of the Trump International Golf Club.

And Summit Boulevard and Congress, where those two roads, Congress Avenue, where those two roads come together, Jim, is exactly where that fifth and sixth hole that you were talking about, where the former president was making the turn on those holes, that's where they come together.

So, there's an area there, which is there are a lot of bushes right off this main drag, where somebody could perhaps poke their way through those bushes and perhaps come across a fence that would have prevented them from actually entering onto the golf course. But there's no big, giant wall or anything that surrounds this golf club.

So, I just wanted to set the scene there for you. But this Summit Boulevard is still closed. More than nine hours after this incident happened, it is not open to traffic. There are other heavily trafficked areas -- heavily trafficked roads around the golf club that are also still closed. They are just trying to keep it safe here. And while they process the crime scene, there has been a regular stream of crime scene vans coming in and out of the gates here this evening as they continue to search for clues as to what happened here.

And I should note, as you mentioned, the former president did just release a couple of fundraising e-mails. But we haven't seen or heard from him since he went back to Mar-a-Lago. We do know that the House Speaker, Mike Johnson, did visit with him for several hours this afternoon at Mar-a-Lago. He posted a picture of him with the former president. But the former president has not been on social media.

Jim.

SCIUTTO: Randi Kaye, thanks so much.

Joining us now, CNN national security analyst -- senior national security analyst, Juliette Kayyem, former assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security, currently a professor at Harvard. We're also joined by CNN senior law enforcement analyst, Charles Ramsey. He led police forces in Philadelphia and here in Washington.

Good to have you both on this evening and a serious evening. I want to begin, if I can, Juliette, with the security around the president, the former president in a situation like this. It's a golf course, as Randi Kaye was saying there. There is no wall around it. They did have, as police described, agents ahead of him creating some sort of buffer zone or cordon around him. And yet you have a man who was able to get on the course and get within, as I understand it, 250, 300 yards.

I mean, short of shutting down a mile radius around Trump, wherever he goes. Was this a proper, a proper, properly sized cordon, as it were, around the former president?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, the proof is in the pudding. I mean, it obviously wasn't that the threats that are surrounding Donald Trump right now are persistent. They do not care if he's in a public forum at a rally, as we saw in Butler, Pennsylvania, or in a private event or private excursion on a Sunday.

And so, the thinking has got to be that this is a person who is going to be sort of a high likely target for the time being. He sits, as we've been saying, he sits in his sort of own lane. He's neither a former president who sort of goes off to their ranch or whatever else. And you hear from them occasionally. And he is also a presidential candidate.

And so, I think at some stage, security perimeters have to end. You can't close down all of -- all of -- all of a city or community. But obviously, in these instances, there has to be a greater assessment of the security perimeter, what is going on close to the security perimeter.

And then, of course, getting Trump, if this is the case in this assassination attempt, that his movement is well known simply because he's on public streets and he tends to play golf or whatever else, is to make sure that his routine is -- that he changes up his routine. And he may not like it, but it's definitely for his protection.

SCIUTTO: Charles, of course, a natural question is, how does someone in this country get an AK-47 style rifle or a weapon of war and particularly someone who was arrested, granted, it's -- it's 20 some odd years ago, but -- but is arrested and barricaded himself into a location with a fully automatic machine gun? As someone who's led police forces in Philadelphia and Washington, you face your share of gun violence. How is that possible?

[23:10:06]

CHARLES RAMSEY, CNNSENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, unfortunately, in this country, it's not hard to get your hands on a gun. Now, ATF, I'm sure, is already tracing that particular firearm. They can trace it back to the point of sale that took place.

And unfortunately, in Florida, there's no requirement if the original owner sells the gun to someone else to, you know, run a background check or otherwise record it. So, it's easy to get a gun in the United States. This is another example of some very dangerous weapons that are on our streets.

What's unusual about this is it is an AK-47. Normally, you would see an AR-15 or something like that. But him getting his hands on a gun like that is not anything that is unfortunately surprising.

SCIUTTO: Yes, even with that history.

Juliette, it is remarkable, is not a strong enough word. It's alarming. Twice in two months, someone has gotten within range, so close the first time around in Butler, Pennsylvania, as to skim his head, you know, quite close to killing the former president, and now this, coming within a couple hundred yards of at least the possibility of taking a shot. Not clear whether he was able to fire any shots in this case. That's an alarming situation, to say the least.

KAYYEM: Yes, it's consistent with the threat environment we've all been warning about, that the FBI director has been essentially screaming about, is that, you know, the violence sort of sits over our politics, our democracy, and our election right now.

And I want to say something about that this is number two. As anyone who studies radical, as I look at radicalization, in particular, political violence, not, be very focused here, it's not politics, it's the political violence aspect of it.

What we need to learn is what was his pathway to violence. There's lots of people who don't like Trump, right? I mean, that's not a surprise. Lots of people who love him. But what is that path?

And what I want to focus on, and what I think the FBI will be focusing on, is where has he been since Butler, Pennsylvania? He has commented on it in social media. He seems angry at Trump for it, rather than the assassin. And he -- and then he all of a sudden shows up in Florida.

And so, if I were investigating this, what I want to know is where was he? What was he staking out? What did he purchase in terms of weaponry? How many times had he been in Florida? How many times had he been in that area? You know, this is luck in some ways that Trump happened to be on the golf course. I find that less likely than he became familiar with Donald Trump's routines, knew when streets were closed, knew that he liked this golf course, and was then able to set up.

And so, I really do look at the connectivity between, very different between Butler and what happened.

SCIUTTO: Charles, one of the next questions, right, for law enforcement is motive. And sometimes it's difficult to establish a clear one. I think it's not quite clear looking back to the Butler assassination, but the path to radicalization for that assassin, though there are some indications there.

Tell us what the -- what officers, law enforcement will be doing now to answer that question, beyond looking at social media postings.

RAMSEY: Well, first of all, if he is cooperating and actually talking to investigators, that's the best way of finding out what a motive is. If he is not communicating, and earlier today he was not, I don't know if he is now or not, then obviously you have to rely on interviews with families, with friends, with social, reviewing social media.

They're executing, probably have already executed search warrants at a home, at a business. They've seized cell phones and things of that nature. Trying to do anything they can to give them a clue as to what a motive might be.

It is not unusual though, in a lot of cases where you never really wind up with a clear motive. That may be the case here. We just don't know yet.

But there are all kinds of avenues that they'll explore to see if they can identify a motive. He does apparently, according to social media, he claims he's been to Ukraine. He was recruiting fighters to go to Ukraine. I mean, that may be an area that certainly would pique a lot of interest to see whether or not that's a motive. But we just have a toxic environment right now and so much violence. And it's really difficult to pinpoint exactly, you know, what may be driving it.

And I would argue very strongly that right now we're focused on Mr. Trump, but security needs to be reviewed for every single candidate. Mr. Vance, the Vice President, Governor Walz, I mean, everyone, because unfortunately, we're in that kind of environment right now. It's very dangerous times.

[23:15:17]

SCIUTTO: Yes, we are. And to Juliette's point earlier domestic, extremist violence, political violence, the FBI has said for years, That's the primary terror threat in this country, sadly.

Juliette, Charles, good to have you both on. Sorry, we have to be discussing this topic yet again, so close to an election, but I appreciate your expertise.

Still ahead this hour, reaction from both sides of the political aisle to the apparent second attempt on Donald Trump's life in this election cycle.

Please do stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: The latest now on our breaking news. Authorities in Florida have detained a 58-year-old man Ryan Wesley Routh, pictured there. In connection with an apparent assassination attempt as described by the FBI on Donald Trump. This the second such incident this year.

In two months, in fact, it happened as a Republican presidential nominee was playing golf at his course in West Palm Beach on Sunday, Secret Service agents opened fire after agents spotted a man pointing a rifle through the fence along the perimeter of the golf course.

One official says the man was about 300 to 500 yards away from Trump at the time, the former president was not injured and is safe. Not clear at this point, whether the apparent gunman fired any shots.

U.S. President Joe Biden says he is relieved that Donald Trump was unharmed in this incident. In a statement, he says. As I have said many times, there is no place for political violence or for any violence ever in our country. And I've directed my team to continue to ensure that the Secret Service has every resource, capability, and protective measure necessary to ensure the former president's continued safety.

Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris also released a statement saying, I am deeply disturbed by the possible assassination attempt of former President Trump today. As we gather the facts, I will be clear. I condemn political violence. We all must do our part to ensure that this incident does not lead to more violence.

More reaction as well from politicians on both sides of the aisle. Donald Trump's running mate, JD Vance, said on X, I'm glad President Trump is safe. I spoke to him before the news was public and he was amazingly in good spirits. Still much we don't know, but I'll be hugging my kids extra tight tonight and saying a prayer of gratitude.

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson posted this after he and his wife met with Donald Trump. Kelly and I are departing Mar-a-Lago where we spent a few hours with President Trump and are thanking God for protecting him today once again. No leader in American history has endured more attacks and remained so strong and resilient. He is unstoppable.

[23:20:06]

And Democratic vice-presidential nominee Tim Walz condemned the violence. He wrote, quote, Gwen and I are glad to hear Donald Trump is safe. Violence has no place in our country. It is not who we are as a nation.

Joining me now from Los Angeles, political analyst Michael Genovese, President of the Global Policy Institute at Loyola Marymount University.

Donald (ph), to see two events like this, two months apart, targeting the former president is quite a measure of the state of our political conversation, but just the nature of politically related violence in this country today, which is, well, it's alarming and concerning to witness.

MICHAEL GENOVESE, POLITICAL ANALYST: You know, Jim, we should be, of course, thankful that Donald Trump was unharmed. But we should not be sanguine about what happened. We should be outraged -- outraged at the level of violence and the level of political violence. That's part of the United States in our recent history.

Why do we accept it from school shootings to January 6th to assassination attempts? Of all the industrialized nations, we're the one that has the most violence and the most political violence. It's disturbing. It's alarming. And we don't need to sit back and take it. Elections matter, and there's an election coming up. We need to reorder our priorities to focus on violence and insisting that candidates for office, Democrats and Republicans place a high priority on doing something about gun violence in America.

SCIUTTO: Yes. I mean, listen, one measure of the political division, right, is in the wake of shootings like this, the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, an AR-15 weapon, this one, an AK-47, both assault style rifles that you had.

Democrats in the wake of that raise the prospect of laws to ban such weapons or further restrict access to such weapons, but no such statements from Republicans, even Republicans, of course, who are outraged by the attempt on the life of the Republican nominee. That's just one measure of that division, right?

You know, there is certainly no meeting of the mind on addressing the role of guns in such violence.

GENOVESE: And if past is prelude, we should expect the Congress to do nothing that people will say, well, it's not a time for politics. It's a time for prayer. Well, yes, it's a time for prayer, but it's also a time for action. And we need to move very quickly on this because it's just choking our lifeblood.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

GENOVESE: The National Rifle Association has a stranglehold on the Republican Party. And they have a number of resources that they focus on to try to control veto points in Congress to make sure that even if there is momentum building up, they can block it.

And so, there's a major role for voters here, as I mentioned, that elections matter, and we need to make sure that that votes matter this November. We have a chance to do something.

SCIUTTO: You know, and it wasn't always that way after the attempt on President Reagan's life. There was, it took years, but there was there was bipartisan legislation to address. As I remember it, it's a number of years ago, specifically the kind of gun involved in that attempt on -- on Reagan's life lasted for a time those waiting periods the, the Brady Law but no such bipartisan move.

At this point, given how highly charged the political rhetoric is at this moment in time, how important is it for the words that we heard from both Biden and Harris in the wake of this to say unequivocally they condemn all such political violence.

GENOVESE: We know political violence is part of our history, but not necessarily a part of our destiny. And I think what you need is people on both sides of the aisle to come together. Instead of the usual snipe to work it out after the Reagan assassination, it passed the Brady bill and there was some cooperation between Democrats and Republicans and make major progress was made.

So, it's possible. We need to simply recreate the circumstances that allow us to really talk and have a dialogue and say, this is such an important issue that it's going to transcend politics, transcends partisanship. We've not done that.

SCIUTTO: Trump, prior to this apparent attempt on his life, has hinted in some of his public rhetoric that perhaps Biden and Harris were somehow responsible, right? Whether by lack of action, et cetera.

And I just wonder how important it would be to hear from him that he's not making such an allegation.

[23:25:04]

GENOVESE: This is a chance for Harris and Trump to actually come together on an issue.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

GENOVESE: To both sit down or make a public service announcement or share a platform in which they both talk about how unacceptable this is, that their side has to make sure that they are not engaged in it, and that both sides have to come together.

This crosses a line and both parties need to get together and do something and the two candidates --

SCIUTTO: Yes.

GENOVESE: -- you know, they snipe at each other. We're in an election season, but they should be able to come together on this.

SCIUTTO: Yes, it'd be it would have value right, to see a rare moment such as that.

Michael Genovese, thanks so much for joining us.

GENOVESE: Thank you. Jim.

SCIUTTO: Our breaking news coverage continues right after a short break. We're going to take a closer look at where the investigation now stands.

Please do stay with us.

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[23:30:32]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: Right now, to our breaking news coverage as we are learning that the FBI's investigation into a second apparent assassination attempt on Donald Trump has now gone global.

The Secret Service found a man with a rifle, an AK-47 rifle in fact, hiding in the bushes while the former president was playing golf at his club in West Palm Beach on Sunday afternoon.

Authorities say Trump was walking between the fifth and sixth holes when Secret Service agents open fire, the man fled in the car, was later detained by law enforcement, officials say at the time that they noticed him, he was 300 to 500 yards away from Trump. We should note Trump was not harmed at the scene.

Investigators recovered an AK-47 style rifle with a scope. Two backpacks and a GoPro camera. Three law enforcement sources tell CNN the person in custody now is 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh. He is a self-employed, affordable housing builder in Hawaii. He has a criminal history. He has also publicly criticized Trump on social media.

A source says authorities are working to obtain search warrants for various online accounts associated with Routh. And some are on platforms headquartered outside the U.S. The FBI is also aware of suspected online claims about travel overseas.

Routh's son tells CNN his father, in his view, is a loving, caring, and hardworking man. And it is not like him to, quote, do anything crazy, much less violent.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff noted that Donald Trump's U.S. Secret Service detail is limited because he is not a sitting president. Former U.S. presidents have Secret Service protection for the rest of their lives after their time in office. The local sheriff praise those Secret Service and other law enforcement responses to the situation.

Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RIC BRADSHAW, SHERIFF, PALM BEACH FLORIDA: One thirty this afternoon, call came out, shots fired that was called in by the Secret Service. Because we're in constant contact with them all the time. We were notified of that and we had units here that immediately sealed off the area. Fortunately, we were able to locate a witness that came to us and said, hey, I saw the guy running out of the bushes. He jumped into a black Nissan and I took a picture of the vehicle. and the tank, which was great.

So, we had that information. Our real time crime center put it out to the license plate readers, and we were able to get a hit on that vehicle on I-95 as it was headed into Martin County. We got a hold of Martin County Sheriff's Office, alerted them, and they spotted the vehicle and pulled it over and detained the guy.

After that, we took the victim. I'm sorry. The witness that witnessed the incident, took flew him up there and he identified as the person that he saw running out of the bushes that jumped into the car.

Now, in the bushes where this guy was is an AK-47 style rifle with a scope, two backpacks which were hung on the fence that had ceramic tile in him and a GoPro, which he was going to take pictures of. So those are being processed right now.

The Secret Service Agent that was on the course did a fantastic job. What they do is they have an agent that jumps one hole ahead of time to where the President was at, and he was able to spot this rifle barrel sticking out of the fence and immediately engaged that individual, at which time the individual took off.

The golf course is surrounded by shrubbery. So, when somebody gets into the shrubbery, they're pretty much out of sight. All right. And at this level that he is at right now, he's not the sitting president. If he was, we would have had this higher golf course around. But because he's not, the security is limited to the areas that the Secret Service dims (ph) possible.

So, I would imagine that the next time he comes at a golf course, there'll probably be a little bit more people around the perimeter, but the Secret Service did exactly what they should have done. They provided exactly what the protection should have been, and their agent did a fantastic job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[23:35:03]

SCIUTTO: Joining me now is CNN law enforcement contributor, Steve Moore. Steve, good to have you.

STEVE MOORE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CONTRIBUTOR: Thanks, Jim.

SCIUTTO: I wonder what your -- I want to ask you about security prior to this attempt. But before I get there about the Secret Service response here, tell us your impression of it. I mean, he said it was a fantastic job. Do you agree?

MOORE: Yes, I do. Because I mean, what -- what -- everybody's going to say this is a Secret Service failure. No, it wasn't. What's your -- what you're trying to do is interdict attempts on his life. What did this -- what did this Secret Service do? They interdicted an attempt on the president's life. They can't prevent attempts.

Now, you know, bookending that, I also want to say that there was -- there was obviously whether it was a failure or a decision not to, but there was a failure to protect the outside of those treaty lines. And so, if you -- if you're not protecting the outside of the tree lines and he becomes invisible when he gets inside the tree lines, then you haven't looked forward far enough to the potential.

SCIUTTO: Yes, I mean, that raises a question about the size of the buffer zone security cordon. If he gets within this alleged shooter, 300 to 500 yards, that sounds pretty close to me. And I imagine, and I don't know his skill with an AK-47 style rifle, which I'll get to because it's quite amazing he got such a rifle in this country.

But that would be within the range of that rifle. So even though, yes, the agent spotted the barrel of that weapon sticking through the fence, if he was within 300 to 500 yards and got a clear shot of it, it strikes me that cordon may not have been broad enough.

MOORE: Well, it might not have been, but you know, a lot of things go into this. I was a counter sniper in the FBI. And if you're going to take what we would consider a guaranteed headshot, which would be an assassination type shot, you're really going to avoid shots over 200 yards. And where he was positioned, I believe that he -- you also have to know where your target's going to be.

And so, he -- the only place he can guarantee that a golfer is going to be is on the green and on the very next tee. So, I -- I believe that he probably had zeroed his rifle, had -- had a sighted in for probably less than 200 yards for a target on the green or the T.

SCIUTTO: Goodness. I mean, look at those pictures of the set up there. I believe I heard, if I heard correctly from the law enforcement, law enforcement and the press conference there, he described ceramics in those backpacks. Does that look like a firing position to you that then would have some protection to take fire?

MOORE: You know, I don't know if he had hung it up there for -- for protection, but that would -- it wasn't in line with where he had propped up the rifle. And those ceramics are what we used to call trauma plates. When I was on SWAT --

SCIUTTO: Yes.

MOORE: -- you would wear them over the center part of your chest. And those are designed to protect you from sniper type rounds, large 30 caliber rounds.

So, I would -- I would say that that was probably a full vest under there.

SCIUTTO: Yes, I -- I've worn ceramic plates too in -- in war zones, et cetera.

MOORE: I'll bet you have.

SCIUTTO: Let me ask you then about, here we are, two attempts in two months, both with assault style rifles. One an AR platform, this an AK-47. It raises the question again, why can you get these weapons in this country?

And by the way, we should note that Routh, he was arrested, granted it's 20 years ago, but for barricading himself into a business during a standoff with police and was later charged for carrying a fully automatic machine gun.

So why would someone who had an arrest record like that for carrying a fully automatic machine gun, which by the way is one of the few things that is illegal in this country, be able to buy an AK-47. And why is anybody able to buy an AK-47?

MOORE: Well, let me get the first question first. He shouldn't have been. I mean, simply, he is not allowed to under -- under our laws.

So, it's fallen through the -- fallen through the cracks. And the first thing we have to do as a nation, even as we are trying to eliminate the possession of these type of weapons from people like this guy, the first thing we have to do is start finding ways to rigorously enforce the laws we had. If we had enforced the laws that that apply on this case, he wouldn't have had that rifle. He wouldn't have had any weapons. So, we have to start while concurrently, while we are working to reduce the type of weapons and the amount of weapons that are available to people who -- who shouldn't have them, we have to also start rigorously enforcing what -- what happens to people who violate the laws. I think a good first step was the school shooting where the father was immediately charged with a second-degree murder.

[23:40:27]

SCIUTTO: Yes, before we go, I mean, because every question is politically charged in this country, as you know, particularly when it involves guns and access to guns. But from a purely -- your former FBI agent, from -- from -- from purely a perspective of securing high profile individuals in this country, presidents, presidential candidates, et cetera. Would it be safer if it was harder to get weapons, long barreled rifles with long ranges and then the ability to fire multiple rounds? The basic question.

MOORE: It might be a little bit, but then you would also have to then the sniper rifle I fired In the FBI was good for hundreds of yards, and it was a bolt action weapon. So, you can't eliminate one and think you've solved the problem.

SCIUTTO: Right. Steve Moore, thanks so much for sharing your background and expertise.

MOORE: Thanks.

SCIUTTO: When we do come back, what this apparent assassination attempt against Trump means for this election? CNN presidential historian Tim Naftali, he'll join me live with a historical perspective as well.

Do stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:46:19]

SCIUTTO: An update now on our breaking news. We're learning more about the man detained in connection with what the FBI is calling an apparent assassination attempt of former president Donald Trump. The second attempt in just two months.

Officials say 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh is a self-employed, affordable housing builder in Hawaii. He has made media -- social media posts critical of Trump in the past, records show that Routh has had previous run ins with law enforcement, including an arrest in 2002, including for having a fully automatic machine gun at the time. There are also several court cases dating back to the 1990s.

Officials say Sunday's incident happened while Trump was playing golf at his course in Palm Beach, Florida. A Secret Service agent spotted a man pointing a rifle from the bushes along the course. The agent then open fired. There are no reports of anyone hit by gunfire. It's also not clear if the alleged gunman was able to fire any shots. The FBI is investigating.

CNN's Kristen Holmes is following all the developments. Has more now from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I've spoken to a number of campaign advisors who say there are still a lot of questions as to what exactly happened the details there and how exactly this happened, in particular how the suspect knew where Donald Trump was going to be and win today.

Just a reminder, he is a former president. He is not a current sitting president which means he doesn't have to put out a schedule. There is no pool of press pool following him around.

And so instead this was a private event with a close friend. He was with ally and donor Steve Witkoff golfing at his property there. So, there are a lot of questions as to how exactly this unfolded.

Now, one thing that I've spoken to a number of campaign advisors about is that they are pleased with the Secret Service response. One thing that I will note is that after that assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, there were a lot of questions as to why exactly the U.S. Secret Service did not respond or engage in the shooter quickly. That is not or at least does not seem to be the case here.

As we know, Donald Trump seemed to be traveling with at least two sets of Secret Service agents, ones that were behind him and then another set that was in front of him. He himself the fifth and six hole we are told, there was an entire other Secret Service group ahead of him, advancing him. That is the group that saw the rifle and engaged with the suspect on the golf course. Shots were fired.

And then a second group of Secret Service agents took Donald Trump away. They went back to the club, which was on lockdown for several hours. Then we were told Donald Trump was brought back to Mar-a-Lago again several hours later, which is not completely unreasonable. Something we saw in Butler, Pennsylvania, as well.

Secret Service taking their time to secure the location, as well as make sure there's no secondary location or secondary potential gunman waiting. So that is unsurprising.

Now we also are told that the campaign managers have now reached out to the entire staff, to the campaign to discuss what happened today with them in an e-mail, this is what they wrote. And this came from co-managers, Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles. Partly they say, today for the second time in two months an evil monster attempted to take the life of President Trump. Thankfully no one was injured at the golf course. This is not a matter that we take lightly. Your safety is always top priority. We ask that you remain vigilant in your daily comings and goings, be observant, maintain a constant level of situational awareness.

We are also told that for at least some time period after this assassination attempt, they did close down the West Palm Beach, or at least locked down the West Palm Beach campaign offices. They had done the same thing after the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania. They're clearly trying to make sure that everyone around Donald Trump is safe. But also, you hear them they're encouraging and urging people to remain vigilant, to keep their eyes open. They believe there is potentially an ongoing security threat.

But again, a big -- a huge notable event here. We are now talking about the second assassination attempt in roughly two months. But on top of that lots of questions still as to how exactly and why exactly this happened again.

Kristen Holmes, CNN, Washington.

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SCIUTTO: House Speaker Mike Johnson, who met with Trump today, posted on X quote, no leader in American history has endured more attacks and remains so strong and resilient.

We've heard that claim before. How does that statement stand up to the historical record? I'm joined now by CNN presidential historian Tim Naftali.

Tim, listen, political violence, you know better than me, has sadly been part of this country's history too often and going back centuries, really, and you could -- you could list the presidents Reagan, Ford attempt, Kennedy, sadly successful, Truman, McKinley, Lincoln, it's -- it's -- it's a sad litany. But two attempts on the former president, current nominee in two months is remarkable. Is it not? Is there any precedent for that?

TIM NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Well, sadly, there is precedent. there were two assassination attempts on Gerald Ford 17 days apart in September of 1975. So, it is -- it is -- it is unfortunately true that that unstable minds seek to destroy our government through violence.

It's not -- it doesn't happen all the time, thank God. But it does happen within a very disquieting regularity. So, this is not the first time that someone has the two different people have tried to hurt a president or a former president in a short period of time.

SCIUTTO: There have been divisive times in this country, of course, and that's an understatement. There's a civil war, still the deadliest war in our country's history. There's the violence of the 1960s and division, and the year 1968 when we had so many assassinations. There were bombings in the '70s, weather underground. I mean, you know, we've had periods.

But I wonder, from a historical standpoint, is there something particular about this one, right, in terms of how visceral these divisions are and sadly how sometimes violence arises from those visceral divisions.

NAFTALI: Well, I've been thinking a lot about that today after the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy in 1968 and the attempted assassination of George Wallace, another Democratic candidate in '72, Congress passed some gun control legislation --

SCIUTTO: Yes.

NAFTALI: -- outlawed the domestic production of the small snub-nosed revolvers called satin night specials.

So, in the past there, there has been there's some coming together of our leaders in recognition of the fact that there are unstable minds out there. There are people who are self-radicalized. We didn't use the term then, but we do now. And when -- when it is easier for them to acquire weapons, the possibility of political violence increases.

I'm not suggesting that gun control is the answer. It isn't. But it's a sign of an understanding that there is a problem. And -- and so the challenge now is how do people -- how do the leaders respond? In particular, how does the Trump fans campaign respond? After the first assassination attempt, there wasn't a -- there, there was an easing of tension.

Both campaigns, in that case it was the Biden campaign, talked about missing the level of rhetoric. One hopes that will happen again. What I worry about is conspiracy theories that would suggest to some that there was a concentrated political motive behind this attempt as opposed to one unstable person acting alone, regardless of their political views.

[23:55:03]

SCIUTTO: I mean, you mentioned the gun control legislation that followed 1968, and of course you had after the Reagan attempt, the Brady Bill, took a while, took years, but again, in reaction to that, and that was bipartisan. Two, you don't have any discussion of that in the wake of --

NAFTALI: No.

SCIUTTO: -- the weapon. Well, if you're speaking specifically about some have targeting assault weapons, like we saw the AR weapon used in Butler, Pennsylvania, now an AK-47 style rifle, or indeed after the many school shootings. In fact, you have to some degree, the opposite, right? I mean, you had folks, members of Congress wearing AR-15 lapel pins, right? To sort of say, we're sticking with this, right? Even in the face of gun violence in other -- in other areas.

It sounds like that hope -- well, there's not a lot of basis to imagine a bipartisan response to this when it comes to guns.

NAFTALI: No. And in fact, the test is, was not really the first assassination attempt. It was January 6th. The fact that our country couldn't rally around the simple proposition that the use of violence to overturn elections is wrong. That simple fact --

SCIUTTO: Yes. NAFTALI: -- was a sign that our country at the moment does not have the capacity of finding unity in opposing violence for political purposes.

And so, I am not optimistic about what comes next.

SCIUTTO: A sad statement. Tim Naftali, thanks so much.

Thanks so much to all of you for joining us. I'm Jim Sciutto.

Our breaking news coverage continues right after a short break.

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