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Justices Decision on Presidential Immunity; USA Men's Gymnastics Wins Medal; Rep. David Joyce (R-OH) is Interviewed about the Trump Assassination; Senate Votes on Bipartisan Kids Safety Bill. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired July 30, 2024 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:30:00]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: That could alter the makeup of the Senate.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:35:14]

SCIUTTO: We are learning more this morning about exactly how the Supreme Court came to its historic decision on broad presidential immunity. In a new exclusive CNN report, sources familiar with the deliberations tell Joan Biskupic, there was an immediate 6-3 conservative majority after oral arguments in favor largely of Donald Trump's immunity claims. Chief Justice John Roberts reportedly made no effort to sway the three liberal justices to the majority to try and come to a more unified decision.

CNN chief Supreme Court analyst Joan Biskupic writes, quote, "all told, Roberts appears to have reached a turning point. His vision for the high court became more aggressive, and he has perhaps shed the aura of ineffectualness that permeated some public commentary in recent years."

My panel is back.

I just wonder, let's set aside partisanship for a moment and I want to ask you, David and Kate, on this. Wouldn't it have been better for the court and the country had there been a more unified decision on this? Find some agreement so it wasn't seen as so purely partisan.

DAVID POLYANSKY, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well -

KATE BEDINGFIELD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I -

POLYANSKY: Yes, go ahead.

BEDINGFIELD: No, I -

POLYANSKY: I mean, yes.

BEDINGFIELD: I mean, I suspect we may be about to say the same thing.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

POLYANSKY: Yes.

BEDINGFIELD: But I - yes, I think, no question. I mean, look, the court has suffered a crisis of public confidence. I mean that's true for institutions across the board, not just the court. But I - that has contributed to a lack of faith in government, in elections, in the media. I mean these are really the - these are the threads of, when we start pulling at these threads, this is how authoritarianism creeps in. That sounds dramatic, but I think it's true.

So, you know, to see a decision like this come down across essentially such partisan, divided lines, I think only reenforced for people, you know, I'm - I'm right to be in my corner and, you know, I can chose to look at the court as, you know, an adversary or, you know, or not, depending on my political views. That is a - that's a scary place to be. And I think not good for the country writ large.

POLYANSKY: Yes.

SCIUTTO: I mean wherever you think of the decision on the merits -

POLYANSKY: Right.

SCIUTTO: Would the results have been better had it been more across the board?

POLYANSKY: Absolutely. I just don't know that you were ever going to get that there. You know, it would be interesting if you asked all the justices behind the scenes, if it were Donald Trump or Joe Biden, would you prefer to give them absolute immunity in terms of their core constitutional powers? I don't know how that would have played out. I suspect they probably would have come to a different resolution.

But the reality of this, on both sides, is, the Supreme Court has become an element of politics in American politics today. And I think the American people recognize that too.

I don't think the solving problem - the way to solve this problem is to go as far as President Biden is, which is term limits in expanding the court. I don't think that's the solution at all. I think people just have to recognize the importance of these elections because they have consequences. And one of the consequences is not just that court, but the appellate courts that lie under them, and even the federal bench across it country.

SCIUTTO: Well, David mentions the - President Biden's suggested, proposed reforms to the Supreme Court, which, as I understand it, does not include expanding the court, but he does talk about ethics and he does talk about term limits.

Listen, it's not going to happen today. It may not happen for months or for years. I mean the political hurdles are enormous. But was that the right message for the president at this time?

SALEHA MOHSIN, SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, "BLOOMBERG": Well, he needed a message to talk about some accomplishments that he could propose. He is attacking what has been going on the way rule of law has been starting to kind of sew some fishers (ph), some cracks. He's trying to address that without naming names, by talking broadly about presidential immunity, and that's how they're coming.

I think it's really interesting the point that you made, that if - if it was this president or that president, how would you view it? But I think I'm going to pick up on what Kate said, that this is really about American - the people's trust in the institutions that govern.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

MOHSIN: And it's at a historic low right now.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

MOHSIN: And this is not helping it at all. The only thing to get at is transparency, and that's where it seemed Biden was headed, was toward the transparency place (ph).

SCIUTTO: And, listen, the polling - to your point, the polling shows a massive drop in confidence in the Supreme Court. I think it's below 20 percent now. But also broad public support for reforms to the Supreme Court, including term limits, which you see - I mean it's like, as I remember, 80, 90 percent, which has to include Democrats and Republicans.

BEDINGFIELD: Yes, and I think - I mean you've - you've got - like, what Biden's put forward here is an effort to say, you know, the court is also not above the law. And I think that that - you know, that goes to - we've seen, obviously, Donald Trump has continued to make a political argument in his campaign the entire summer that he's above the law. You see Republicans kind of falling in line behind him to say he's above the law. The - obviously, the ethics issues that the Supreme Court has struggled with.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

[06:40:03]

BEDINGFIELD: Justice Thomas in particular, you know, is - is indicated - is giving people a sense that the court believes that it's above the law. And so I think what Biden's trying to do with these reforms is to say, no, in fact, the court is not above the law. No one is above the law. And that's a really important message. And I think the idea of I believe it's an 18 year term limit he's proposing would also remove the kind of - you know, the game of tennis between Republican presidents and Democratic presidents in terms of trying - you know, who gets to put their - their justices on the court, which in and of itself, I think, would also help restore a public sense of trust.

So, it's - you know, I think it's an important thing that he's trying to do it.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

BEDINGFIELD: It's - it's going to, you know, be challenging in Congress, but I think what he's proposing is important.

SCIUTTO: Well, and - and if the Senate allows a president to bring up their Supreme Court candidates -

BEDINGFIELD: Exactly.

SCIUTTO: I hate - you know, hate to bring up a sensitive point, but there is - there is that fact of the matter.

BEDINGFIELD: Very true.

SCIUTTO: Stay with us. Up next on CNN THIS MORNING, they call him Clark Kent, and he just won bronze in Paris. This is a great story. We're going to check in on Team USA at the Olympics in this morning's "Bleacher Report."

Plus, Ohio Congressman David Joyice is here to discuss the investigation of the assassination attempt on Donald Trump.

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[06:45:26]

SCIUTTO: So, some good news for Team USA. For the first time in 16 years, the U.S. men's gymnastics team has made the podium at the Olympics. And the medal was secured by a team - by Team USA's very own Clark Kent.

Andy Scholes has this morning's "Bleacher Report."

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes.

SCIUTTO: I mean this is - I mean the Olympics is always full of great stories about individual athletes.

SCHOLES: Yes.

SCIUTTO: This one is one of my favorites. (INAUDIBLE).

SCHOLES: It's so good. And, you know, Jim, the women's team is so good.

SCIUTTO: Yes, exactly.

SCHOLES: The men kind of always kind of live in the shadows of that - of that team.

SCIUTTO: Always second (INAUDIBLE), yes.

SCHOLES: But, you know, this year the men's team, they went to Paris on a mission to get back on that medal stand. And they're led by 20- year-old TikTok star Frederick Richard. And the Michigan Wolverines junior, he was just phenomenal yesterday, especially on the high bar. And his parents in the crowd. I'll tell you what, they were just loving it. They could not be more proud of their son. Just going nuts the whole time. Now, Brody Malone, Paul Juda, and Asher Hong, they were also stellar

for Team USA yesterday. So, that set the stage for Stephen Nedoroscik and the pommel horse specialist. If he could deliver a flawless routines, the U.S. would medal. And boy did he deliver. And he knew right off the dismount, the whole team mobbed Nedoroscik to celebrate.

Now, he's known as Clark Kent because he wears those thick-rimmed glasses and he certainly was Superman yesterday. It got the U.S. the bronze. It's the men's first team medal since 2008, and just there fourth since 1932.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN NEDOROSCIK, 2024 OLYMPIC BRONZE MEDALIST: Yes, I did my routine. And during that dismount, I was -

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: All right, I guess we lost that there.

Let's move on to some women's rugby, meanwhile. They're on the brink of history, trying to become the first American side to win an Olympic medal in rugby seven. The Eagles, as they're called, avenging their quarter finals loss at the Tokyo games, rallying from a 7-0 deficit to upset Great Britian. Sami Sullivan scoring to seal the 17-7 victory and advance to the semifinals. They're going to play the 2020 silver medalist New Zealand, 9:30 Eastern this morning.

All right, finally, one of the worst things that can happen in baseball happened to Orioles catcher James Mechan yesterday. He took a 95 mile per hour fastball right to the face in the first inning. His nose certainly likely broken. It was just gushing blood. But get this, Mechan stayed in the game. He swapped out, got a clean jersey. The crowd gave him a huge standing ovation when he came back up in the third inning.

And, Jim, he's a catcher. So, he had to stay. He even wore a catcher's mask. It caused -

SCIUTTO: With balls coming at you. Yes, like, 95 miles an hour.

SCHOLES: Yes, the rest of the game.

He's got a CT scan to see, you know, what's going on there.

SCIUTTO: Good Lord. Wow.

SCHOLES: But, I mean, the toughness. I take a 95 mile per hour fast ball to the face, I'm probably in a coma.

SCIUTTO: He's OK? I mean, no concussion? I mean -

SCHOLES: No, I mean, he played the rest of the game.

SCIUTTO: Wow. I would not go back to the game.

SCHOLES: Incredible.

SCIUTTO: Andy, well, great stories, as always.

SCHOLES: All right.

SCIUTTO: Thanks so much.

It is 47 minutes past the hour. Here's your morning roundup.

Primary day in Arizona. Former news anchor turned MAGA star, Kari Lake, seeking the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate. If Lake wins, she will face Congressman Ruben Gallego, who is running unopposed on the Democratic side.

And this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF JACK CAMPBELL, SANGAMON COUNTY: We failed Sonya. We failed Sonya's family and friends. We failed our community. And I stand here today before you with my arms wide open and I ask for your forgiveness.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: The Sangamon County sheriff in Illinois acknowledging the failures of his deputies in the shooting death of Sonya Massey. The 36-year-old black woman called for help on July 6th. Deputy Sean Grayson accused of murder after shooting and killing her in her own home. He's pleading not guilty.

Taylor Swift says she's completely in shock after two children were killed and nine others injured after a stabbing rampage during a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in northern England. Swift posting to her Instagram story, quote, "the loss of life and innocence and the horrendous trauma inflicted on everyone who was there, the families, the first responders. These were just little kids at a dance class."

Such a sad story.

Turning now to the latest developments in the investigation of the July 13th assassination attempt against former President Trump. Trump confirming last night that he will be meeting with the FBI on Thursday for what's known as a victim interview, in which he will tell the bureau exactly what he saw and experienced that day.

The news of the interview, which is standard, comes as the new acting director of the Secret Service is set to testify before Congress today. Ronald Rowe took charge after the resignation of the former director, Diane (ph) Cheatle, last week.

[06:50:00]

He is likely to respond. And newly released text messages showing that law enforcement was aware of the shooter for some 90 minutes before he opened fire on the former president. The officer who flagged the shooter to his colleagues is now speaking out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GREGORY NICHOL, BEAVER COUNTY SWAT TEAM: And he was looking up and down the building and just wondering around. And it just seemed out of place.

We had a text group between the local snipers that were on scene. I had sent those pictures out to that group and advised them of what I noticed and what I'd seen.

I assumed that there would be somebody coming out to, you know, speak with this individual or, you know, find out what's going on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Joining me now is Republican from Ohio, Representative David Joyce. He is one of the 13 members of a bipartisan taskforce now charged with investigating the Trump assassination attempt.

Congressman, thanks so much for joining us this morning.

REP. DAVID JOYCE (R-OH): Thanks for having me.

SCIUTTO: So, it's our understanding that the director is going to say today that he's ashamed of what he saw there that day. I wonder, what are you hoping to hear for him in terms of hard answers beyond remorse?

JOYCE: Well, you know, I'm sorry, but he should be ashamed. This is a dramatic failure in a presidential protection detail. And it goes to the heart of what we do each and every day. This is a group that cannot afford to make a mistake. They - obviously, a lot of mistakes were made that day (ph). And that does not befall (ph) on President Trump. I mean they're obviously guarding President Trump and now Vice President Harris, as well as RFK and there are four other living ex- presidents. So, they've got a lot on their plate, but they need to be at the top of their game all the time.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

JOYCE: And I think we've got to work together with - look at the FBI investigation and things that are being done there, get the facts, and then be able to deliver to the American people an informative package that shows them what went wrong and what we're doing in places and after-action to make sure it doesn't happen again.

SCIUTTO: "The Wall Street Journal" is reporting that Trump's would-be assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks, that he made 25 different gun-related buys online, this between the spring of 2023 and the first half of this year. Sometimes purchasing materials with an online alias.

I wonder, is your committee going to investigate how he was able to make so many gun purchases online, and should that be a focus of this investigation? JOYCE: I think the focus is going to be on the - again, when the laps in security was that allowed this guy to get within a perimeter. There's two things that happen at any one of these events. One, when you have a counter-sniper agency, you have people on the ground, also an intelligence group for the Secret Service. On Friday they should have had a complete walk through with all the local agents that they had involved and know where everybody is supposed to be to a tee. And the only thing that can really explain that 80 plus second delay in the sniper taking action was the fact that he didn't know if that was friend or foe on another roof. That - that cannot happen. And so it'll be interesting to see what happened on Friday, who was there, how it was laid out, and why this occurred on Saturday.

As to how the suspect got the gun. It is apparent that he got it from - in a legal weapon that he received from his father. So, you know, the gun aspect of it, while sickening, is also an important part of the investigation. I think more is complete in after action to figure out what happened and why it - how it should never happen again. And that's going to concern what kind of training these folks got.

Cheatle was in my office, because I used to be the director for the Homeland Security Appropriations Committee. She had agents. She had the money. There had to be some dropping the ball as far as the training of these young men and women.

SCIUTTO: The shooter, as you know, used an AR-15, which has so often been used in mass shootings in this country. It's an enormously powerful, high-velocity weapon.

As you look at this, does it make you reconsider whether - whether this is a weapon that should be available, broadly available, for purchase in this country?

JOYCE: Well, look, you know, I believe in the Second Amendment, and I believe people have the right to own arms. You know, unfortunately, every now and then you have a kook like this who does something that creates suspicion as to whether it was the weapon. You know, and people - I know a lot of good people who are gun collectors. Some never even fire the gun. They just like collecting them.

You know, I don't necessarily fault the weapon, I fault the suspect, and I fault the lack of follow through on behalf of the agency.

SCIUTTO: But why wouldn't a gun also be part of the - of the potential response? Because listen, some guns like this, they have a greater range. They have greater power. I mean the ease with which he was able to buy gun - make gun-related purchases online, it makes it easier for someone to take a shot at the president. And in the wake of previous assassination attempts, you go back to Reagan's assassination attempt, the Brady Bill that eventually followed, or - or gun rights or gun control legislation that followed the assassinations in 1968.

[06:55:10]

Why wouldn't that be a natural part of the response to this assassination attempt? JOYCE: Well, we only have five months. And so, you know, we want to

focus this - our energy and our time to what happened in Butler, Pennsylvania, and what we can do to make sure that never occurs again.

I mean people have been killing people since biblical times with rocks. It - people can also by all the things necessary to make a bomb online. I mean we can't continue to chase down things that aren't really germane to our purview, which is to make sure that we oversee this investigation into what occurred on Butler - in Butler, Pennsylvania, on the July day and make sure it never happens again.

SCIUTTO: Before we go, political question here. Back in 2022, when you were asked about the Republican presidential field, you mentioned there would be a lot of people in the primary, as there was. Of course, Donald Trump emerged from that primary. You said there - there were a lot of other good quality candidates out there. And I wonder, do you believe that - here we are, 98 days from the election, that Donald Trump is the strongest candidate, the best candidate for the Republican Party in this election?

JOYCE: Well, I think our party's filled with great candidates. And, obviously, Donald Trump is the top of the pyramid because he got there through the primary process as, you know, and Republicans (INAUDIBLE) who did run and all were defeated by him. So, he's the winner of the primaries. That's our system. And he's going to be our nominee. He is our nominee. And he's going to be running for president, as you said, this year.

SCIUTTO: Representative David Joyce, from Ohio, thanks so much for joining us this morning. We appreciate you taking the time.

JOYCE: Thanks for having me.

SCIUTTO: Well, just a few hours, the Senate is taking up a vote on a set of bills aimed at protecting children online. The bills are expected to pass on a sweeping bipartisan vote. A rarity as you know these days in a divided Washington. Senators Richard Blumenthal and Marsha Blackburn lead the push from both parties to get the bill across the finish line.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): I am hopeful because of the big bipartisan majority that we have today for this bill.

It is really just about empowering young people and parents to take back control over their lives online, to make choices that will enable them to disconnect from the evil that has been driven at them by social media.

SEN. MARSHA BLACKBURN (R-TN): Once the Senate formally passes KOSA, our work is not done. We must ensure that the House quickly passes this bill and sends it to the president's desk.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SCIUTTO: Democrats and Republicans united on this. I mean this is, back to the panel here now, a bipartisan issue. It's become quite a vocal one.

BEDINGFIELD: Yes, and there aren't many, unfortunately right now. But, you know, I think there's no question, for those of us who have children -

SCIUTTO: Yes.

BEDINGFIELD: You see how your kids interact with social media. It is pervasive. It is dangerous. Often dangerous, I should say. You know, and they - and so seeing Congress actually function as it's supposed to and work across party lines to do something that protects children. You know, that's really the bare minimum that we should expect from our Congress -

SCIUTTO: Yes. Yes.

BEDINGFIELD: But it is - it is nice to see it.

SCIUTTO: It's something.

I mean does this bill have teeth, in your view?

POLYANSKY: Absolutely it does. And look, Senator Cruz, my old boss, was a leading champion of this as well. And I think to see that broad, diverse coalition in the numbers that the Senate's going to come out puts a lot of pressure on the House to move and move pretty quickly. And, you know, as parents with, you know, small kids as well.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

POLYANSKY: I love not just to see more power and protections, but to make sure that the data that our kids, you know, is not sold and used for untoward means.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

POLYANSKY: And so I'm super excited about this.

SCIUTTO: To the point, the bill creates a duty of care for social media companies to protect kids online. Also gives - it has a number of other protections contained.

I wonder if this could be a model for other attempts to regulate - here you go, it gives minors options to protect information limits, features which drive engagement, and the FTC will enforce these new rules.

Could this be a model for, before we go, other attempts to regulate the tech industry because there's - there's a whole bunch of - there's a whole bunch of things under discussion.

MOHSIN: Absolutely. And those probably should have come a little bit sooner. 1998 being the last. That was before Facebook and before we had iPhone.

SCIUTTO: It's been a while. Yes.

MOHSIN: So, it's great that Congress has done this now. But hopefully the spurs more action,

I think one important takeaway is that it's a big hit to the economic landscape, the finances here. $1 billion of ad revenue was at stake with this bill because people want to sell products to kids, right?

SCIUTTO: Yes.

MOHSIN: And that's not there. And I think that shows how big of a hurdle it was and that it is huge that they were able to overcome that.

SCIUTTO: Yes, it's amazing we're still operating under a 26-year-old law, particularly in the tech world where things move so quickly.

[07:00:03]

I mean that's just like so outdated, the idea that you have a law going before social media was present (ph).

MOHSIN: Yes.

SCIUTTO: Anyway, kind of wonder, maybe we'd be better without social media to some degree.

David, Kate, Saleha, thanks so much for joining me this morning. So much news to digest.

I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington, in for Kasie Hunt today. "CNN NEWS CENTRAL" starts right now.