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FBI Investigating Apparent Assassination Attempt on Trump. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired September 16, 2024 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, a warm welcome to our viewers joining us from around the world. I'm Max Foster. It is Monday, September the 16th, 9 a.m. here in London, 4 a.m. in Palm Beach, Florida, where federal authorities are investigating an apparent assassination attempt on Donald Trump about two months after the former president was shot and injured on the ear at a rally in Pennsylvania.

Here's what we know so far this hour. A 58 year old man identified as Ryan Wesley Routh has been detained. A source says the FBI investigation has now gone global as officials look into his background.

Sunday's incident unfolded whilst Trump was golfing at his West Palm Beach club. The plan, a last minute addition to his schedule, we understand. Authorities say the Secret Service fired shots at a man with a rifle in the bushes along the perimeter of the Trump International Golf Club. He was later tracked down in Martin County. The sheriff described the man's reaction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF WILLIAM D. SNYDER, MARTIN COUNTY, FLORIDA: The suspect's demeanor, I would describe as having a relatively calm, flat, affected, was not displaying a lot of emotion, never asked what is this about. Obviously, law enforcement with long rifles, blue lights, a lot going on, never questioned it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Well, the Palm Beach County Sheriff explained what led up to the man being detained.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF RIC BRADSHAW, PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLORIDA: 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 tag, 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, flew him up there and he identified as the person that he saw running out of the bushes and jumped into the car.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Officials say several items were found at the scene, including an AK-47 style rifle with a scope, two backpacks and a GoPro camera. Trump took to social media to thank the U.S. Secret Service and other law enforcement officials for their actions. He said, quote, the job done was absolutely outstanding.

Foreign leaders have been reacting to the apparent assassination attempt. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posting: Sara and I were shocked by the second assassination attempt against President Trump and were relieved to hear that it too failed. But we shouldn't rely on luck.

And this from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who shares a close relationship with Trump, quote: It's clear that President Trump's life is in danger until his victory. We are praying for you, Mr. President.

CNN'S Kyung Lah is following this story from Los Angeles and has more detail on the person being detained.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The investigation now is a global one as investigators try to figure out who exactly is Ryan Wesley Routh. What CNN has been able to compile per our investigative team is that he is a 58 year old man and he has an extensive social media history, according to various posts and pictures that we have been able to gather across the Web. We found a GoFundMe page that he was asking people to help donate to help fund his stay in Ukraine.

He traveled to Kyiv and you can see these pictures posted here. He was there. He was asking friends to help fund his visit and encouraging others to join him in Ukraine.

And it appears that this travel was extremely unofficial. He claims in this GoFundMe post that he was traveling there to support the people of Ukraine, that he planned to stay at a hostel with a military unit and that he was donating tactical gear to soldiers fighting on the front lines. None of this, though, does appear to be something that we can prove at this point. This is what he had been posting on that GoFundMe page.

We have been able to determine, according to public records, that he was splitting his time between Hawaii and North Carolina. In Hawaii, he was a self-employed affordable housing builder.

[04:05:00] He started in 2018 a company called Camp Box Honolulu. It's a company that builds storage units and tiny houses. He, according to a local paper there that had interviewed him, that he had been donating one of these to homeless people in Hawaii.

In North Carolina, he has an extensive history there, dating back many years. According to federal campaign finance records, he had registered as an unaffiliated voter without a party in 2012.

He did vote this year in the state's Democratic primary in March, according to the North Carolina State Board of Elections, and he had contributed more than $100 to ActBlue. It is a site that funds Democratic campaigns. And North Carolina public records does show that he had various brushes with the law.

He had barricaded himself with a weapon in 2002, after being pulled over by police, and he had barricaded himself for a number of hours in that standoff. Public records also show that he has a number of court cases dating back to the 1990s, where state and federal authorities repeatedly accused him of failing to pay his taxes, and that he was ordered by various judges to pay thousands of dollars to plaintiffs in various civil suits. And one thing that the FBI, according to my colleague Josh Campbell, would be focusing on is trying to cull that social media profile.

As far as his recent mindset, in a separate post on X, the former Twitter, he had been tagging President Joe Biden, as well as Vice President Kamala Harris, encouraging them to visit people who were injured at the rally at the first assassination attempt of the former President Trump. He wrote in a post directed to Harris to please come and visit the people who are injured. And then in an April post, he tagged President Biden's presidential account, and he was making suggestions about what the tagline for the campaign should be.

We were also, the investigative unit was also able to reach the eldest son of the man who has been detained. And that son via text told CNN that he saw his father despite all the records that we've been able to pull on him. He described him as a loving and caring father.

And this doesn't sound like the man I know to do anything crazy, much less violent.

Kyung Lah, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: The FBI is looking for any information the public has about the incident and they're asking locals to stay away from the scene. You can call the FBI tip line at 1-800-CALL-FBI with information you think may be helpful to the investigation.

Palm Beach County's sheriff is offering an explanation as to why Donald Trump's Secret Service protection was so quote, limited.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRADSHAW: 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 city president. If he was, we would have had this entire golf course surrounded. But because he's not, the security is limited to the areas that the Secret Service deems possible.

So I would imagine that the next time he comes at a golf course, there'll probably be a little more people around the perimeter. But the Secret Service did exactly what they should have done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: For some people, the Secret Service has a lot to answer for. Here's Democratic Congressman Jared Moskowitz of Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JARED MOSKOWITZ (D-FL): I'm deeply concerned about what's going on right now. I'm deeply concerned, quite frankly, for the former president's safety. You know, the Secret Service has a lot to explain how an individual was able to get again this close to the former president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Joining me now, Cheryl Tyler, former Secret Service special agent, and you've been on golf courses, haven't you, working with sitting presidents. Is it right to say that the whole area would have been locked down if he was a sitting president, as opposed to a prospective one?

CHERYL TYLER, FORMER SECRET SERVICE SPECIAL AGENT: Thank you for having me.

Not necessarily. It depends on the golf course. It depends on where it's located. There are times where, yes, the entire golf course is locked off for a president. And I've been there where there's times where there are people pretty far back from the president to be able to play golf.

So it depends. And we're in different times. So everything is not going to stay the same.

FOSTER: What went well and what went badly with this? Because no one's doubting the agent who spotted this suspect and the way that he reacted. No one's really doubting the very quick follow up after that eyewitness report.

[04:10:00]

But what about the bit before the fact that this person was able to hide in the bushes with a gun so close to the president? TYLER: Two things. One, yes, they did a great job. The agent who saw the gun, fantastic. That's what they're supposed to do, is to look out for any and everything possible that could cause a problem.

The fact that the entire golf course was not secured by personnel or cars or fencing or whatever, I can't personally give a comment because I don't know the size of the golf course. The challenges are there.

So if you want shoulder to shoulder people, then that's kind of unrealistic. But if that's what they deem is appropriate, then that may happen.

FOSTER: Yes, they are bound to ask for more resource, aren't they? Just explain the challenge the Secret Service has in providing that.

TYLER: The challenge is that, number one, we don't have the staffing, I should say, they don't have that type of staffing available to them. Secondly, to get that kind of equipment, vehicles, cars, you're going to have to rely on every source that you have available to you within that town, that state and city.

FOSTER: In terms of what we know, it's limited, obviously, it's only just happened. We still don't know that much, do we, about the original assassination attempt in terms of motive, and there's some suggestion that that's so as not to stoke the political debate, because there are different conspiracies on the left and the right and they don't want to feed that. Do you understand that?

TYLER: Yes, totally. And I totally agree. Everybody has their assumptions and yes, the statements are coming out now and what's posted on social media, everybody has their own twist and turn to it.

But until you have the facts and the investigation is just beginning, until you have the true information, unfortunately, that's all we're going to hear. And people would like to have the facts well before the conspiracy theories or the ideas and the thoughts are out there, but that's virtually impossible. You have to let law enforcement do their job to gather the facts, because as we see, information is coming from all over.

It's coming from overseas, it's coming from the West Coast, the East Coast, the South. So you have to put all those pieces together and filter them out to see what's true, what's not true. You're trying to connect the dots on his history, on family, on relationships, on everything.

So to do the job right, you have to let them have the time to do the investigation and do it thoroughly.

FOSTER: OK, Cheryl Tyler, thank you so much again.

TYLER: Thank you.

FOSTER: U.S. President Joe Biden says he is relieved that Donald Trump was unharmed in Sunday's apparent assassination attempt. In a statement he says: As I've 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 Secret Service has every resource capability and protective measure necessary to ensure the former president's continued safety.

Our breaking news coverage continues.

Still ahead, why the Secret Service says it's hard to keep people safe on golf courses.

Plus congressional leaders from both sides of the aisle are reacting to the apparent assassination attempt. Details after the break.

[04:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Lawmakers have been reacting to the apparent assassination attempt on Donald Trump in Florida.

House Speaker Mike Johnson posted on X saying, in part: No leader in American history has endured more attacks and remained so strong and resilient. He is unstoppable.

Senator Lindsey Graham said: Trump was in good spirits and he's more resolved than ever to save our country.

And Donald Trump's running mate J.D. 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.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris says she is glad that Donald Trump was unharmed on Sunday. And in a statement, the Democratic presidential nominee condemned violence and deeply disturbed by the possible assassination attempt of former President Donald 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.

Meanwhile, her running mate Tim Walls echoed her sentiment. He wrote: Gwen and I are glad to hear that Donald Trump is safe. Violence has no place in our country. It's not who we are as a nation.

Shortly after Sunday's incident, Trump sent out two fundraising emails, saying in the second one: 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.

Trump took to social media on Sunday. Trump also took to social media after the incident, praising the U.S. Secret Service and other law enforcement officials after the apparent attempt on his life.

Saying in part, quote: The job done was absolutely outstanding.

Marc Caputo, a national political reporter for The Bulwark, a conservative news outlet, told CNN that the Trump campaign will likely capitalize on the latest apparent assassination attempt.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARC CAPUTO, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, THE BULWARK: Certainly he's going to raise money off of this. And yes, you know, you could say you're being crass or say I'm being crass. But these are political actors. They're political creatures in a political environment. And politics is the reality.

And the other reality is that this is going to change some of the messaging from the Trump campaign going forward. They have been taking a number of shots. There have been a few critical reports on the nightly news about the Trump campaign rhetoric.

[04:20:00]

Well, in the Trump campaign's eyes, and in Trump supporters' eyes, and in Trump's eyes, the Democrats have something to answer for because they've been calling him a threat to democracy. And they've been saying that democracy is on the ballot.

This alleged assassin, if you go through his Twitter feed, has an actual line in there about how he's critical of Trump and how he believes that democracy is on the ballot. So expect them to go on offense messaging-wise about this and say, we're not the ones inciting people to violence. It's these other people who are trying to kill the former president.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Joining me now, Natasha Lindstaedt, Professor of Government at the University of Essex in Colchester, England. Thank you so much for joining us.

Obviously, it's early days. This is breaking news. We're trying to get the facts, but it's in that absence of facts at the moment that conspiracy theories obviously bubble up. They've been happening overnight.

And there's actually two distinct conversations going on here, isn't there, on the left and the right. They've both got conspiracy theories coming in from different directions. It came after the last assassination attempt, and it's happening yet again.

NATASHA LINDSTAEDT, PROFESSOR OF GOVERNMENT, UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX: Yes, and that's incredibly dangerous for democracy when we are engaging in conspiracy theories and not trying to understand the truth, not trying to share credible and accurate information with one another.

Conspiracy theories, of course, leads to greater levels of polarization. And this comes at a time when the U.S. is already incredibly polarized. The rhetoric is very divisive, and the elections appear to be very emotional, high-stakes affair, where apparently there are people that are so aggrieved and concerned that they're resorting to political violence.

I mean, I think that's what the most concerning thing actually is, beyond the misinformation issues, is that we had an attempt on Trump's life two months ago, and already there's another attempt that this political violence is begetting more political violence.

Now, the only thing that's cooling temperatures, I think, just even a little bit, is understanding that in both cases, the attempted assassin was either a registered Republican or, in this case, voted for Trump in 2016.

But part of the issue is that Trump himself has said that he's not going to accept the election results unless he wins. That gives people that are very aggrieved. The only alternative, in their view, is that they have to resort to violence, and that's incredibly concerning.

FOSTER: But the issue a lot of people are pointing to is the fact that the Secret Service, or the authorities generally, haven't given us the motive for the first attack. So we don't exactly know what motivated that, and we're not going to find out on this one, are we, for a while either. So, you know, it's open to interpretation how you want to use this in your political argument.

LINDSTAEDT: That's true. I mean, the only information we have with, let's just say, this second attempt is that this individual was someone who was an activist for Ukraine, that had travelled to Ukraine, and that feels so strongly about that conflict. And then we would be speculating as to why he felt he needed to assassinate Donald Trump, whether it be Donald Trump's views on that particular conflict.

But there's still a lot of information that has to come out here. Was he working alone? Was he working with others?

And these are things that the law enforcement community will have to communicate clearly to the public. So to your first point, that we don't get lost in these conspiracy theories that polarizes the country even further.

FOSTER: For President Trump to have gone through this twice is absolutely horrific. And everyone, of every political color, is praising the fact that he's safe and trying to ensure that, you know, no politician suffers for their political views in any sort of context. But in terms of going on from here, it's going to hijack a lot of the political debate, isn't it?

Just explain how you think that'll be.

LINDSTAEDT: I think the piece beforehand already mentioned this, that there are going to be pointing sides, particularly the Republicans have already gone on offense, pointing sides -- pointing fingers -- excuse me -- at the Democrats and the rhetoric that they've been using, and that this was to blame after the first assassination attempt. J.D. Vance basically blamed Biden's hostile rhetoric as one of the inspirations for the attempted assassination. And so we're hoping at the moment that cooler heads can prevail and

the rhetoric can get toned down immediately after the first attempt. Donald Trump said that he was going to be nicer, but that went out the window pretty quickly once he got up at the Republican National Convention and gave his 90-minute speech.

[04:25:00]

So I don't see any hopes of things cooling down and the attacks calming down, because it is just one of the most -- on of the tightest presidential elections in a generation. And so you'll see the Republicans try to capitalize on this, try to gain campaign funds, particularly because after Harris's debate, she gained $47 million in campaign funds.

I think that's what you're mostly going to see the Republicans trying to do, is find ways to galvanize the base and to use this in their favor.

FOSTER: OK, Natasha Lindstaedt, thank you so much.

LINDSTAEDT: Thanks for having me.

FOSTER: Still ahead, what we know about the man detained in the apparent assassination attempt on Donald Trump.

Plus, the question is being asked yet again, how could someone armed with an assault rifle get so close to a former president?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: More now on the breaking news. We've been telling you about Donald Trump safe after being targeted in what the FBI says was an apparent assassination attempt at a Palm Beach Florida Golf Club on Sunday. Trump was playing golf when a Secret Service agent spotted a rifle barrel sticking through a fence on the course.

Police say the agent opened fire but apparently did not hit anyone. One man was later detained and could soon go through a court-ordered mental health assessment before facing any possible criminal charges. The man detained in the investigation has expressed support for Ukraine in dozens of posts on X.

In a newly surfaced video from 2022, he said he was willing to die in the war there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN WESLEY ROUTH, MAN DETAINED IN APPARENT ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT ON TRUMP: Putin is a terrorist and he needs to be ended. So we need everybody from around the globe to stop what they're doing and come here now and support the Ukrainians to end this war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Last October, Routh began trying to enlist Afghan conscripts to fight in the war using social media, presenting himself as an off- the-books liaison for the U.S.