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Trump & Vance Make First Appearance as Republican Ticket; Secret Service Head Says Buck Stops With Her; Biden Apologizes for Rhetoric Before Shooting; Severe Storms, Tornadoes Hit the Midwest. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired July 16, 2024 - 06:00   ET

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

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: It's Tuesday, July 16. Right now on CNN THIS MORNING --

[05:59:32]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- of the United States, Donald J. Trump.

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HUNT: Donald Trump makes his first public appearance at the RNC in the shadow of the aftermath of the assassination attempt against him.

Plus, the Secret Service and local police at odds over who's to blame for the deadly shooting at Trump's rally.

And --

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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Was it -- was it a mistake to use the word --

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HUNT: President Biden says it was a mistake to call for a bull's eye on Trump in his first primetime interview since the assassination attempt.

Then, Donald Trump's classified documents case tossed out, but facing an appeal from the special counsel.

Five a.m. here in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. We are actually sitting inside that building that you see on your screen right now, the Turner Center here outside the Fiserv Forum, where the Republican convention is unfolding.

Of course, it is 6 a.m. on the East Coast. Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.

We are joined this morning by some Georgetown Hoyas from the Institute of Politics to watch our show this morning. You may have seen a few more people here last night with Laura Coates live. But hey, these -- these students made it up early, and we're grateful to have them.

Donald Trump is now officially the Republican nominee for the third consecutive time. Triumphant, the former president received a hero's welcome. It was quite a moment as he entered the arena in Milwaukee last night.

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(MUSIC)

(CHEERING)

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HUNT: The crowd in the arena chanting, "Fight, fight, fight," the same words that the former president told the crowd in Pennsylvania in the moments after Saturday's assassination attempt.

That white bandage over Trump's right ear a constant reminder of just how close he came to death.

Trump appeared subdued, almost emotional at times, as he joined his newly announced pick for vice president, the Ohio senator, J.D. Vance.

On stage, speaker after speaker said it was God who saved President Trump from the bullet. Here was South Carolina Senator Tim Scott.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TIM SCOTT (R-SC): On Saturday, the devil came to Pennsylvania holding a rifle, but an American lion got back up on his feet, and he roared! Oh, yes. He roared!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Trump's opponent, President Joe Biden, in a different situation with a different tone on Monday. In an interview with NBC News, Biden walked back comments he had made earlier this month, when he told donors, quote, "It's time to put Trump in the bullseye," end quote.

And you could see he was defensive as he discussed his place atop the Democratic ticket.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: I'm going to beat him in September.

LESTER HOLT, NBC NEWS ANCHOR: But if -- if the opportunity came up to do, in between now and then? Is there a sense of wanting to get back on the horse?

BIDEN: I'm on the horse. Where have you been? I've done 22 major events with thousands of people, overwhelming crowds. A lot's happening. I'm on the horse. (END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: "I'm on the horse."

Joining me now, my panel: Mike Dubke, former Trump White House communications director; Mark Preston, CNN senior political analyst; Mo Elleithee, former communications director for the DNC; Matt Gorman, former senior adviser to Tim Scott's presidential campaign. Welcome to all of you.

You are laughing. Please. Who would like to go first?

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Did Tim Scott fall off the horse is what I want to know. I mean --

MO ELLEITHEE, FORMER COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR FOR THE DNC: Fall off the lion maybe.

PRESTON: I mean fall off the lion.

MATT GORMAN, FORMER SENIOR ADVISOR, TIM SCOTT'S 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: A lot of Democrats sitting here. I need to be on the horse. Again, early.

HUNT: Mo, I mean, as the Democrat sitting here, I mean, that moment in the hall -- I don't know if you were in the hall last night when this happened, but it was a remarkable moment that really crystallized the difference in this race since this assassination attempt.

And the president's interview following it only sort of served to underscore that.

ELLEITHEE: Yes, it was an emotional moment, I think, for a lot of people in the hall. Saturday was still -- was a very jarring moment for the nation.

And I think this was sort of the first assembly of Trump supporters after that moment where they could really sort of celebrate him and -- and reflect on that moment.

And so all of that felt right, felt appropriate. He came out looking, as you put it, subdued, looking a little bit more serious. And they keep saying that this is going to be the convention where they are going to preach unity.

I'm still waiting to hear that, though. They keep saying they're going to do that, but I keep waiting to hear that, because speaker after speaker, many of the people that you saw last night were people who aren't necessarily preaching unity. They're still sort of reverting back to the rhetoric that they used before the convention.

[06:05:00]

And so, I'll be very curious to see whether or not that tone is what President Trump himself carries in his speech on Thursday. HUNT: Well, apparently, we're going to -- we're going to discuss this

later in the show, but Ron Johnson blamed the teleprompter for his rhetoric.

Mark Preston, I mean, big picture here. This -- this did seem like one of -- one of those particularly striking moments in conventions. I mean, these -- the floor goes on for many, many hours. We are left with a few things that really stick out. And Trump's entry last night is going to be one of them.

PRESTON: Yes. I mean, no question. I mean, he staged it. I mean, he's a great stage-man. He knows how to -- you know, he understands stagecraft probably better than anyone.

What's interesting about these conventions, and we've been around for a few of them, a few of us here. Do you remember the president wouldn't come into town? Wouldn't come into town until maybe Wednesday night, you know, but definitely Thursday.

But Trump sees this as an opportunity really to use every one of these nights to try to get his message to folks who just don't know him.

HUNT: Mike.

MIKE DUBKE, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: No, absolutely. I mean, you have four nights of basic free advertising given to you by all of the -- all of the major networks. Why not take advantage of it?

And to your point about stagecraft, I mean, from -- from the -- from Butler, Pennsylvania to last night. I mean, this is definitely a gentleman who understands stagecraft.

Now, somebody -- the one thing I do want to emphasize and the thing that really struck me was his demeanor was very different. I think it was very different last night because of Saturday. And I don't know exactly why, but there is a change.

So, you can talk about unity, Mo, and all of that, though, I think from a Republican standpoint, there -- I mean, we really felt like we were reaching out.

But the president's [SIC] -- the way the president [SIC] presented himself, President Trump last night, I think, was very different. I noticed a marked difference.

HUNT: So did I. I mean, I feel like the way his face -- and this is, you know, he had a brush with death, and that changes a person sometimes.

GORMAN: Absolutely. And Mark's right. This was also the hallmark of the hallmark of the 2016 convention. Every night, or most nights, Trump would appear. And it wouldn't -- he wouldn't say anything, but he appeared in the hall, get a big ovation.

The first night in 2016, he did this very, very similar thing, different tone. The song back in 2016 was Queen's "We Will Rock You." This time, very different song, very different message.

HUNT: Yes, for sure.

One thing that was also different, too, that stuck out to me was the head of the Teamsters, Sean O'Brien, spoke on the stage. And I actually -- I started my political career covering labor politics, which let me tell you, is a really good way to get an education.

And the idea that I would see a labor leader on the -- on the -- on the floor at the Republican National Convention, basically in primetime -- let's listen to a little bit what O'Brien said.

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SEAN O'BRIEN, GENERAL PRESIDENT, INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS: It's an honor to be the first Teamster in our 121-year history to address the Republican National Convention.

Over the last 40 years, the Republican Party has really pursued strong relationships with organized labor. There are some in the party who stand in active opposition to labor unions. This, too, must change.

The Teamsters are not interested if you have a "D," "R," or an "I" next to your name. We want to know one thing. What are you doing to help American workers?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: I mean, Mark Preston, this is a guy that almost got in a fight with Markwayne Mullin, I believe in a hearing in Congress. That accent. There's so much here.

PRESTON: Yes, there's so much here. And look, a lot of his membership are Trump's.

GORMAN: Yes.

PRESTON: They're MAGA supporters, right?

But was this speech about him last night specifically? Was this about Sean, or was this about the Teamsters? Because it really seemed to be about Sean last night.

And he seemed to try to goad people on. He tried to give a shout out to Massachusetts. You know, he seems to have an accent. I don't.

But I don't know --

HUNT: I was -- I was going to ask you about that.

PRESTON: It was interesting. But Trump was happy. If you notice, and if you look at through line of the whole night, it was, you know, we reach out to Hispanics. We reach out to African Americans. We reach out to labor. They tried to have this through line through the whole night.

HUNT: Yes. At one -- Reuters is now reporting that the Teamsters are potentially not going to endorse in this election, which would be --

GORMAN: That's unheard of. I mean, that really isn't heard of. And in many ways, I think Sean O'Brien was trying to get to the front of the parade and calling -- calling himself the head of the parade. Because he knows where his membership is going.

PRESTON: Right.

GORMAN: And he needs to be able to lead them, so he's trying to kind of get in front of that.

HUNT: Yes. Labor leaders are often, quite frankly, politicians, too.

Mo, you're the Democrat here. This is a trend. This is -- this is a fundamental realignment.

ELLEITHEE: Look, I mean, first of all, the -- the Teamsters are the one union that has a history of flirting with Republicans, right? Going back to Richard Nixon.

HUNT: Sure.

ELLEITHEE: But I think it was great for him that he was there, because it was an opportunity for him to get the Teamsters' message out there. He wasn't there endorsing Donald Trump. He had a national audience to get a Teamster message out there.

[06:10:10]

And I do think that, you know, he called out Republicans as much as he applauded the invitation to be there. And he did call out -- we even heard a bit in that book.

[06:10:19]

HUNT: Look, as long as you don't attack Trump, I think you're fine with this crowd.

ELLEITHEE: Right. And I think that's right.

You also didn't feel as much love for him as -- within the hall as you did for a lot of the other speakers.

PRESTON: A lot of people had turned away from him and were looking up at Trump, you know, in the box as O'Brien was talking.

DUBKE: Well. OK. But they're also looking at a man who just survived an assassination attempt, as well. So, I think some of the turning around wasn't anything to do with O'Brien. It had everything to do with Trump.

But the bigger point -- and Mark you made this -- is that the Republicans are nibbling away at a coalition that elected Joe Biden. So, with -- with union members, with Latinos, with blacks.

If you can get the black vote down to 80 percent, there's no way -- you know, 80 percent for Biden, 20 percent for Trump. There's no way for Biden. There's no path to victory.

And when we look from state to state to state, that's important. Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania. I mean, that's where, you know, there's union support. And if we can nibble away at that -- and to your point on the Teamsters, if 40 percent of the Teamsters vote for Trump, where's the path to victory? Where's that blue wall?

PRESTON: I also wonder, too, with J.D. Vance, does he help increase Republicans' lead, Trump's lead with white men? I do wonder if he is going to make that appeal, that again --

HUNT: Certainly couldn't hurt.

PRESTON: -- you know, business-oriented.

GORMAN: It's the other gender gap, right? We talk a lot about Republicans struggling with women. Democrats and white men, it's -- it's the other side of that coin.

ELLEITHEE: But when you see people like Marjorie Taylor Greene up there, being very Marjorie Taylor Greene-like. When you see people like --

HUNT: Charlie Kirk.

ELLEITHEE: Charlie Kirk. People like Mark Robinson from North Carolina, that is not -- those are the people that they highlighted on the first night of the convention. Those are not people that are going to help win over, that are going to help chip away at the Democratic coalition.

And so, again, you can go out there and say we are united -- we're preaching unity and we're reaching out across the aisle. But if these are the people that you're putting forward on the first night to reflect the face of today's Republican Party, it's not -- those aren't the people that are going to help you.

HUNT: Well, and Charlie Kirk was in prime time. And I think it's worth noting that other Republicans, conservatives like Erick Erickson have called him out for intensely antisemitic --

ELLEITHEE: That's right.

HUNT: -- comments and actions. And that is -- I don't want to lose sight of that here.

All right. Still ahead here on CNN THIS MORNING, Donald Trump getting a big legal win as he returns to the top of the Republican ticket.

And this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: I'm on the horse. Who have you been?

(END VIDEO CLIP) HUNT: President Biden trying to leave no doubt about staying in the

race in his most recent interview.

Plus, we'll talk about what to expect on the floor of the Republican National Convention here in Milwaukee. These students from Georgetown getting their first taste of what it's like to cover -- to cover, be at a national convention. Thanks, guys.

CNN THIS MORNING is going to be right back.

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[06:17:49]

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

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, the buck stops with you?

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, responding to questions, finally, following the attempted assassination of former President Trump.

CNN reporting this morning that local law enforcement is at odds with the Secret Service over the incident. Agencies blaming one another for failing to secure the building where the gunman was located.

The source also telling CNN that a local sniper team was stationed inside the building where the gunman was located.

Now, Trump's pick for vice president, the Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, calling for a review of the massive security failure.

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J.D. VANCE (R), REPUBLICAN VICE-PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I think there needs to be a full-scale investigation. We need to understand what happened, because clearly mistakes were made.

I mean, look, the Secret Service ran up there. They put their bodies over. They reacted quickly. That's not what worries me.

What worries me is why was there a shooter 150 yards from the president [SIC] of the United States. It doesn't make an ounce of sense.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HUNT: Cheatle also said yesterday the Secret Service will cooperate with an independent review ordered by Biden and congressional oversight actions.

Plus, "Politico" now reporting on a joint intelligence bulletin that was put out by the FBI and the DHS, warning of possible retaliatory attacks.

Mark Preston, that interview -- the U.S. Secret Service. And again, J.D. Vance was actually right there. I've tried to make a point of saying this. The agents that swarmed President Trump are heroes. Clearly, there are so many good men and women who put their lives on the line every day.

But the top leadership here, I mean, she seemed almost reluctant to say that the buck stops with her. She hasn't attended the press conferences. There have been multiple opportunities.

And now they're pointing the fingers at local police, not in New York City or some other big place, but in a small town.

PRESTON: And how bizarre is that there were police officers, a county sniper team, that was inside that building while this guy climbed up?

And how crazy was it that people were yelling to police and saying, there is a guy up there with a gun, and that, you know, we see this on video. And then we almost see him -- you know, killed on live television.

You know, this is a situation -- and look it, I think these guys can all -- you guys have all worked at the White House or -- or in levels of government.

[06:20:06]

There is a real shortage of qualified police officers.

HUNT: Yes.

PRESTON: There's a shortage of qualified U.S. Capitol Police officers, of United States Secret Service agents. These folks are working incredible hours, but that wasn't -- that --

HUNT: Well, and they also, we should note, were incredibly stretched thin, because they were focused here, right? So many resources at the convention. There's the Democratic National Convention coming up, as well. And at the end of the day, the Secret Service is a relatively small law enforcement organization, considering the scope of their mission.

Mo, I also want to kind of expand this a little bit to talk about some of the language that we are, you know, using collectively. President Biden was asked about -- you know, Republicans have criticized him for saying he was going to put Trump in the bullseye during a fundraiser. And he was asked by Lester Holt to respond about that.

Let's watch what the president had to say yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: It was -- it was a mistake to use the word. I didn't -- I didn't say "crosshairs." I said, "bullseye." I meant focus on him. Focus on what he's doing. Focus on -- on his policies. Focus on the number of lies he told in the debate. Focus -- I mean, there's -- there's a whole range of things.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: So, he did acknowledge it was a mistake, but he's also kind of trying to explain it. And, you know, I think one of the challenges here that Democrats are grappling with is that what the president showed in the debate, and perhaps there, as well, is that he struggles to articulate some of the things that Democrats would like him to, which is to immediately pivot and point out that President Trump -- former President Trump ridiculed Paul Pelosi after he was attacked. Same with Gretchen Whitmer, the governor of Michigan, after an attempted kidnapping plot against her was foiled, right?

There are things and places where the president could easily say, Look, I made a mistake. This is -- there's all these instances of rhetoric coming from other people. He sort of got there in the interview, but it really seemed to underscore all of the challenges that he is facing.

ELLEITHEE: Well, no, look, he was right to say it was a mistake. He -- and I do think the rhetoric needs to be toned down across the board. Remember Gabby Giffords when she was -- when she was shot a decade ago or so.

HUNT: I covered the funeral for the person that was killed in that attack. Yes.

ELLEITHEE: Democrats pointed out that Republican fundraising had talked about her being in the crosshairs.

So, the rhetoric needs to be toned down across the board. And this is sort of what I was alluding to about some of the speakers at the convention yesterday.

A lot of those people did ridicule Paul Pelosi. A lot of those people did ridicule or are actively talking about political violence. Someone like Mark Robinson from North Carolina said that there are times when it's OK to use political violence, recently, paraphrasing.

And so, I hope that the assassination attempt on President Trump is a wake-up call to people in both parties that a cavalier attitude right now towards political rhetoric is really bad.

We are at a point in our politics where we are completely polarized, where people just are overly amped up. And so, rhetoric that, you know, we used to use when Mark and I had less gray hair today doesn't -- you know, it -- it takes things a little too far.

And I hope this is a wake-up call for people in both parties.

HUNT: Right. We're in a very different political moment. And I think it also underscores the fact that we have this intelligence bulletin this morning saying, hey, there might be retaliatory attacks. Underscores why this is more important than ever.

All right. Coming up next, we're going to get the Democratic perspective on the RNC from Congressman Greg Landsman. He'll join us.

Plus, severe weather in the Midwest leaves some stranded at Chicago's O'Hare Airport.

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[06:28:10]

HUNT: All right. Welcome back.

The Midwest cleaning up after severe weather caused more than 400 storm reports stretching from Iowa to Illinois. Some of them right here in Wisconsin.

Downed trees took out power lines in Des Moines, Iowa, and at least two tornadoes were spotted in the Hawkeye State.

Let's get to our meteorologist, Elisa Raffa. with more on this. Elisa, good morning to you.

ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning.

We had an intense line of storms roll through parts of Iowa, Illinois, triggering multiple tornado warnings for the city of Chicago and more than 400 storm reports, a lot of them damaging winds.

Because we had wind gusts up to 105 miles per hour in this line for Camp Grove, Illinois; 97-mile-per-hour winds in Holy Cross, Iowa; even 75-mile-per-hour wind gusts reported at O'Hare Airport.

We are looking at more than 500,000 customers without power from the damaging winds that have rolled through.

The severe risk continues today. We do have the continued threat for damaging winds, isolated tornadoes, and large hail stretching across the Ohio Valley and then getting into the Northeast. So, something that we'll have to watch out for again -- Kasie.

HUNT: All right. Elisa Raffa for us this morning. Elisa, thanks very much.

Coming up next here: inside the ongoing private efforts inside Democratic circles to push President Biden to step aside. Ohio Congressman Greg Landsman joins us with what direction he thinks his party should go in.

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