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Suspect In Apparent Assassination Attempt Faces Two Federal Gun Charges; Vance Repeats False Claims About Pet-Eating In Springfield, Ohio, Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired September 16, 2024 - 11:00   ET

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

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[11:00:31]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. And you're in the CNN Newsroom. And we start with more breaking news right now. The suspect in the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump in federal court right now, 58-year-old Ryan Routh was taken into custody yesterday after fleeing the scene at Trump's West Palm Beach, Florida golf club. Trump was playing golf when a Secret Service agent spotted a rifle barrel through a fence and opened fire before Routh fled by car.

Afterward, officials found an AK-style rifle with a scope and materials for a bulletproof vest. The FBI has launched an investigation, and the interim U.S. Secret Service Director is now on the ground in Florida, we're told indefinitely as they seek answers in an incident which has sent shock waves through the country for the second time in just two months. CNN's Chief Legal Affairs Correspondent, Paula Reid, is joining us now. She's live outside the federal court in West Palm Beach, Florida. Paula, so what's happening in court right now?

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, we have just learned the charges that Ryan Wesley Routh will face, and he's in -- at least initially, additional charges may be added. This hearing is just wrapped up, and during the hearing, it was revealed that he is facing two counts, including possession of a firearm, while -- while a former felon, and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.

So today's hearing, this was before a magistrate judge. This is not the judge that would oversee his case going forward. This is just so he understands the charges that have been filed against him, and the judge can assess the current terms of his detention, but a formal detention hearing is scheduled for next Monday, and then he will be arraigned on the 30th.

Now, our colleagues inside report that he was dressed in dark prison garb, and he was actually shackled, which isn't something you always see in these kinds of hearings. But the hearing has just wrapped up. But he will be back in court on Monday. It is notable, Wolf, that the Justice Department is handling this case. These are federal charges, and I would expect that additional counts will be added. This is just his first appearance in federal court in this likely historic case.

BLITZER: In a related development, maybe unrelated, but it's certainly very important. Elon Musk, Paula, is now facing lots and lots of backlash over his now deleted ex-post about Trump's apparent assassination attempt. What more have you learned?

REID: So the White House just weighing in on this, Wolf, calling this post, quote, irresponsible and said that violence should never be encouraged or joked about. In a statement, a White House spokesman said President Biden and Vice President Harris said, after yesterday's disturbing news, there is no place for political violence or for any violence ever in our country, and we must do our part to ensure that this incident does not lead to more violence. So here the White House condemning that post from Elon Musk and clearly trying to take the temperature down here. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right, Paula, thanks very much. Paula Reid, reporting for us from down in Florida.

Joining us now for more on all of this, former U.S. secret service special agent Cheryl Tyler and former Philadelphia Police Commissioner also, former D.C. police chief, Charles Ramsey. Chief Ramsey, this is that Elon Musk tweet. We were just mentioning X that posted, he put up there and since deleted. I want to get your reaction to it. And do you think Musk could face potential legal consequences when he said no one is even trying to assassinate Biden and Kamala.

CHARLES RAMSEY, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, I don't know if he'd face any legal consequences or not. But certainly it's irresponsible, and everyone needs to tone down the rhetoric. We're in very, very dangerous times. And it's not just threats to Donald Trump, it's -- it's threats to other candidates, it's threats to election workers. I mean, this is just something that has to stop. And people like musk and others just keep adding fuel to the fire. It's just got to stop.

BLITZER: Cheryl doesn't the Secret Service believe that if someone is threatening or trying to inspire or instigate some sort of threat against a sitting president and vice president of the United States, that potentially is a crime?

CHERYL TYLER, RETIRED SECRET SERVICE SPECIAL AGENT: Yes, pardon me, yes, you're correct. But that there are several steps with that. They have to be witnessed, and someone has to call in, someone has to say that, yes, this is what was said. But you are absolutely correct. It is against the law to make threats towards a protectee.

[11:05:03]

BLITZER: Yes. And presumably his lawyers told him you better delete that -- that post on X, formerly known as Twitter. Cheryl, let me follow up on what's going on now. What specific challenges does securing a site like a huge golf course present for the Secret Service?

TYLER: Personally, I have worked on several golf courses with different presidents. They are very challenging. And it depends on the total topography of the land, because it could be on a cliff, it could be in a group -- in an area, such as the one in Florida. It could be on an island. They're all challenging. It's the time of day. It's the day of the week. It's are there other people on the course? Is it, you know, you have all these factors to put into play. That being said, that protectee has the right to go play golf, swim, ski, do any sport activity. It is challenging for the Secret Service, because we have to figure out the best way to make sure the protectee stays safe at all times. There's no one -- one stop solution for that.

BLITZER: Chief Ramsey, we just learned about the actual charges that he's now facing, two firearms charges. What do you think about the number and severity of those charges?

RAMSEY: Well, they're very severe, I mean, and you may get additional charges when all is said and done. This investigation is ongoing. It's continuing. Right now, they want to have enough in place to be able to hold him in custody, and so the firearms charges they're ready to go with. But that doesn't mean that there won't be additional charges in the future.

BLITZER: One of those charges a convicted felon can't possess a weapon and possession of a firearm. And there's also that obliterated serial number that was on that weapon. Clearly, the serial number had been destroyed. Both of those are very serious charges, Chief Ramsey.

RAMSEY: Well, they are very serious charges, again, and there will be additional charges, more than likely, when all is said and done. But they certainly have enough right now to be able to charge him with felonies and to be able to keep him in custody. And that's the main thing right now. This investigation is ongoing, more information will surface as time goes on. And we have to be just patient and wait for additional information as it comes out. But there are still an awful lot of unanswered questions. We don't know motive yet.

We don't know how he knew that the President was even going to be on the golf course. I mean, it just goes on and on and on in terms of open questions. But at least he's in custody and they'll be able to question him hopefully, in the future.

BLITZER: And we'll see if he retains a lawyer, I assume, presumably, he will. We'll find out fairly soon. I want to bring back Cheryl Tyler, retired Secret Service agent. I want to play for you, Cheryl, some of what the sheriff in Martin County, just north of Palm Beach County, who stopped the suspect driving on Interstate 95 said about his demeanor at the moment he was stopped. Listen to this.

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SHERIFF WILLIAM SNYDER, MARTIN COUNTY, FLORIDA: His facial affect was so flat. His demeanor was relaxed. I honestly thought it looked like somebody that just left the church picnic and was on his way home. And -- and the interstate was crawling with law enforcement. We had, you know, SWAT team had gotten out there, rifles, helicopter, I-95 shut down, a bomb dog. Everything was there. And he was as calm as it really is, if he was going for dinner. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Cheryl, what do you make of that?

TYLER: I'm not surprised. And I say I'm not surprised because I have seen and have interviewed people who have been incarcerated before, who have made attempts on presidents in the past. There is again, no one stop shop. There's no check box. You can't tell who or what type of person is capable of making a threat and even going to the next level of trying to carry that threat out.

BLITZER: You know, it's interesting Chief Ramsey, because someone who is totally innocent and sees police with weapons approach them would not be calm, as if that person was going to some sort of Sunday picnic or something like that, that person would be angry and nervous and upset and worried. What's your -- what's your reaction to what we just heard from that police chief?

[11:09:56]

RAMSEY: Yes. I mean, you know the average person, if you're stopped by police just for a traffic stop, you're going to be nervous, let alone stop, and then have guns pointed at you, so this is not what a normal person would -- would do. But again, this is a person who, from what information we have so far, this was planned out. This wasn't just a random act. He was very cold and calculating. And he may not have expected to get stopped and get caught that soon, but certainly once he was he wasn't surprised. He remained calm. And that is just not typically what you would find in anybody who was stopped by police and had guns pointed out.

BLITZER: Yes. Good point. Cheryl, the Congressional task force that's been put together investigating the first attempted assassination of Trump in Pennsylvania in July, has requested a briefing from the U.S. Secret Service. What do you think that could look like?

TYLER: Well, I'd like to say one more thing on the -- the -- the person and the individual. You have to understand also, and I agree with Chief Ramsey, that is for a normal person would feel that way. When you come from the world that I came from, when you're talking about people who are going after a -- a -- a president and wanting to make a threat and -- and trying to take it to the next step of trying to assassinate them, we're looking at a different type of person.

So when I say that the person, it didn't surprise me, when you're getting involved in situations where people want to make threats against the president, that's a different type of individual. They can be calm. They can be cool and collective. But they're very calculating in their thought process. So I'm not surprised at that. What they're facing on the Hill, the questions could come from any angle whatsoever.

BLITZER: Yes. We'll see what happens on that front. Cheryl Tyler, Chief Ramsey, to both of you, thank you very, very much.

Coming up, Republican vice presidential candidate, J.D. Vance, defending his false claims about Haitian immigrants in an interview with our Dana Bash. Dana, standing by live. She'll join us right here. We'll have that conversation, that's next.

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SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: The American media totally ignored this stuff until Donald Trump and I start talking about cat memes.

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[11:17:06]

BLITZER: All right, this was the scene only a few moments ago outside the Trump International Golf Course. You can see multiple FBI agents near bushes outside the course. They're investigating the apparent assassination attempt of former President Trump. We will continue, of course, to monitor this bring you all the very latest developments that's coming up this hour as well.

In the meantime, other important news we're following. J.D. Vance is doubling down on his totally baseless claims about Haitian immigrants to the United States eating the pets of citizens in Springfield, Ohio, the state that J.D. Vance represents this time on air with my colleague, Dana Bash. Watch this.

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VANCE: The American media totally ignored this stuff until Donald Trump and I start talking about cat memes. If I have to -- if I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that's what I'm going to do, Dana, because you guys are completely letting Kamala Harris coast. You had one interview with her. You talk about pushing back against me, Dana. You didn't push back against the fact that she cast the deciding vote on the Inflation Reduction Act, which is why a lot of Americans can't afford food and housing.

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR, INSIDE POLITICS AND STATE OF THE UNION: You just said that you're creating a story.

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BLITZER: And Dana is joining us right now, right here, Dana, we heard you call J.D. Vance, admitting that he created this story about Haitian immigrants. And -- and you went after him, understandably, did an excellent interview. Why is he still digging in his heels on this issue?

BASH: It's just the classic Trump. And if you go back even to where Donald Trump and this sort of line or this strategy came from, it was Roy Cohn, back in the day that you -- if you say something or do something, you have to stick with it. Never apologize for it. And, you know, the other thing is, and he was very clear, Wolf. He said that the reason he continues to talk about it is to get immigration back on the front pages.

My -- my job and hope I was successful in doing it or not, was to not kind of let him change the subject to that but -- but go to the original fact that he did not tell the truth, or at least, he took something that was just a rumor without any substantiation, that had very, very real racist undertones, even more than undertones, and talked about it. And the fact that he even admitted that his -- he created a story.

And one thing I will tell you is, you know, he kind of got in my face, if you will, virtually about the idea that there have been bomb threats, that the schools have been closed, hospitals had to shut down temporarily, and he said, well, you're blaming me for that, and that's irresponsible. Well, this is something that I didn't say. It's something that came from the mayor of the town of Springfield saying federal officials, i.e., J.D. Vance and the -- the person who wants to be a federal official again, Donald Trump, are creating a -- a situation where there is danger in their town.

[11:20:19]

And there's just another example of that today. There is something called culture fest, which is an annual celebration that happens in Springfield, was supposed to happen at the end of September. The mayor told me just a short while ago that they had to cancel it this year because they're worried about the safety of their citizens. This is not because of the migrants who have come in. This is because of the unsubstantiated comments about these migrants that are -- that is causing the real safety concerns for J.D. Vance's own constituents.

BLITZER: These Haitian immigrants have legal status --

BASH: Legal status.

BLITZER: -- to be in Springfield, Ohio.

BASH: Legal status and Mike DeWine, who's the state's governor, was on another network, saying that he very much supports the program that allows for these Haitian migrants -- immigrants to be there, that they are filling jobs that are necessary. There are employers there who are trying to grow businesses in Springfield after Springfield was one of the many towns in that area that was really hurt when factories closed. They -- they want to rebuild. And the Haitian workers are helping with that effort.

They do have issues with help -- helping to assimilate with language, helping to find housing, helping to integrate into the schools. But the governor and the mayor I talked to said they're working on that and unsubstantiated claims of eating dogs and cats, it doesn't help. It hurt.

BLITZER: Certainly doesn't indeed. I want to get to the apparent assassination attempt the second time against President Trump. He just weighed in, in an interview with "Fox News Digital," blaming both President Biden and vice president Kamala Harris for the second attempt on his life. BASH: Well, everything is political right now. Look, they have each separately. President Biden today, when he came out and spoke to reporters on his way out to the helicopter, said that he is very glad that the Secret Service was able to do at their job that he's very glad that former President Trump wasn't hurt. And Kamala Harris said the same thing. Everything is politicized in this environment. So it's not surprising that that is what he said.

There's absolutely, again, no basis in fact that they were behind this at all. We don't know much about this guy yet at all, other than he was somebody who was trying to find a way at in his mid to late 50s, go and -- and serve on the front lines of Ukraine, and he obviously had some anti-Trump posts. But that has nothing to do with -- with Kamala Harris and Joe Biden. It has to do with the fact that this is his political belief. And obviously this is a very disturbed individual, this alleged suspect.

BLITZER: We're going to have a lot more on Ryan Routh, 58 years old, that's coming up this hour as well. Dana, thank you very much.

BASH: Thanks Wolf.

[11:23:17]

BLITZER: And to our viewers, be sure to tune into Inside Politics with Dana Bash right at the top of the hour. She'll have a lot more news right then. And we'll be right back.

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BLITZER: Returning now to our breaking news, we just learned what the suspect in the apparent Trump assassination attempt in Florida was charged with specifically possession of a firearm while a convicted felon. He has been a convicted felon. And possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number, apparently, that serial number on the firearm had been destroyed.

Sources tell CNN that additional charges could be coming. This was outside -- this was at the scene outside Trump's International Golf Course just moments ago. You can see FBI agents outside the golf course. The former president was golfing at the club on Sunday, when a U.S. Secret Service agent actually noticed a man with a rifle about 500 yards or so away from Trump. Fifty-eight-year-old Ryan Routh was taken into custody in connection with the incident.

Joining us now is former FBI Special Agent in Charge, Frank Montoya. Frank, thanks so much for joining us. What do you make of the Secret Service's response to this incident, at least so far?

FRANK MONTOYA, FORMER FBI SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE: So far it, I mean, it went off as far as protecting the former president. It went off just like it was supposed to. They did exactly how their tactics are laid out to do. I mean, it was 500 yards away. The guy was -- they were out patrolling the -- the perimeter. They saw this individual. They were able to react to it. And -- and save the former president's life. So they did exactly what they were supposed to do. I mean, when you look at that -- that location, a golf course like that, very, very hard to secure. But it went as planned. It went as they -- as they practiced to do these kinds of things.

BLITZER: Trump was on the fifth hole. He was moving, apparently, to the sixth hole. He was a few 100 yards away from this suspect. Should there have been, with hindsight, should there have been more F -- Secret Service agents in that perimeter area?

[11:29:54]

MONTOYA: That's always going to be a question that you have to take a look at in the aftermath of something like this. But I also think that, according to their plan, it worked as it was supposed to work. It -- the other only option that you have is to close off the entire area.