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CNN This Morning
Rhetoric Blamed for 2nd Assassination Attempt; 'Diddy' Charged with Sex Trafficking, Racketeering; Phoenix Has First Sub-100 Day Since May. Aired 6-6:30a ET
Aired September 18, 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 Wednesday, September 18. Right now on CNN THIS MORNING.
[06:00:01]
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REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): The clear sign from incitement to action is coming from the rhetoric of J.D. Vance and Donald Trump.
SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE-PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: They haven't learned a damn thing, and they're going to get somebody killed. They've got to stop this. They've got to stop it.
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HUNT: Pointing the finger. Both sides blaming the other for a rise in political division.
And --
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DAMIAN WILLIAMS, U.S. ATTORNEY FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK: Combs abused, threatened, and coerced victims to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct.
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HUNT: Bail denied. Sean "Diddy" Combs still behind bars, facing charges of sex trafficking and racketeering.
A shocking attack. Israel hits Hezbollah with a wave of exploding pagers. It's furthering fears of a wider regional war.
The big announcement: the Federal Reserve expected to cut interest rates for the first time since 2020, just weeks from election day.
Six a.m. on the East Coast. A live look at New York City on this Wednesday morning. Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.
There are just 48 days until election day. Donald Trump holding his first campaign event since Sunday's apparent second assassination attempt.
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(MUSIC: LEE GREENWOOD, "GOD BLESS THE USA")
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HUNT: The former president getting up close with his supporters, greeting them, shaking hands as he took the stage in Michigan. The proximity, a projection of confidence just days after the Secret Service engaged a gunman who was lying in wait for Trump as he golfed.
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DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: A few days ago, we had an incident. I have to say, Secret Service did a hell of a job.
But this guy was all set. He was all set to do his number, and there was no talk. He didn't say, Hello. What are you doing here, please? And he ends up getting shot himself.
He took his gun, started shooting them. And this guy ran.
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HUNT: Sunday's events reignited debate in Washington over Secret Service shortcomings and over the relationship between heated rhetoric and political violence.
Trump's opponent, Kamala Harris, called him yesterday to check on him. Here's what she told the National Association of Black Journalists about their conversation.
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KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I told him what I have said publicly, that there's no place for political violence in our country.
We can and should have healthy debates, and discussion, and disagreements, but not resort to violence to -- to resolve those issues.
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HUNT: Harris's running mate echoed her message yesterday.
J.D. Vance, Trump's running mate, told a crowd in Michigan that calls to lower the temperature on the trail could actually lead to violence.
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GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We don't solve our differences in this country with violence. We condemn it in all its forms. We solve our differences at the ballot box. VANCE: Don't lecture Donald Trump about softening his rhetoric after two people tried to kill him. It's ridiculous. Don't try to censor your political opponents, because censorship will eventually lead to political violence. We've seen that now twice in the last couple of months. And I hope Democrats learn the lesson.
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HUNT: All right, joining us now, our panel's here: Annie Linskey; she's a reporter for "The Wall Street Journal"; Elliot Williams, CNN legal analyst, former federal prosecutor; Meghan Hays, former Biden White House director of message planning; and Brad Todd, Republican strategist and a partner at the strategy firm On Message.
Welcome to all of you. Thank you so much for being here.
This, Annie, is one of these -- the public partisan finger-pointing exploded right out of the gate in the wake of what we saw Sunday with Donald Trump. And as you could see, J.D. Vance was going there and saying that it's -- blaming Democrats for rhetoric that he says is escalating this.
But it does seem to me that it is impossible to pull apart what we have seen from Donald Trump, the level of the rhetoric that he has injected into this campaign, and the actual events we have seen in terms of how the -- the levels of violence in our political system have risen in recent years.
ANNIE LINSKEY, REPORTER, "THE WALL STREET JOURNAL": Yes, I mean, I one thing to sort of -- to be clear here with the two incidents. And thank God, the Secret Service reacted as they did, and the former president was unharmed.
We don't know the motive of the -- of either one of these shooters, right? I mean, we just don't.
But I think the underlying point is right. And I think you see that the most clearly, quite frankly, in Ohio, where the rhetoric about -- the false rhetoric, rhetoric about immigrants there has caused bomb threats in schools. And so, you -- there's a relationship there that's very clear.
When you look at, you know, political violence and our leaders being targeted, unfortunately, this -- these incidents often happen in clusters. And it's terrifying, and it's very scary. And I think that the responsible thing to do for leaders is to tamp it down.
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You have -- you did see, after the first assassination attempt of Donald Trump, Democrats, Joe Biden pulled his campaign ads down.
The reaction here was a little bit different. The incident was a little bit different. You know, all the campaigns plowed forward. So, you know, I was really struck by that, that there was a little bit less of a big pause, but the incident was a little different. HUNT: Yes. Brad Todd, when you hear J.D. Vance say these things, is he
-- is he right? Where do you -- how do you view what our leaders should be doing in these moments?
BRAD TODD, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: You know, I've been struck by, in the wake of this attack, there's just been no reflection from Democrats.
You know, after the first attempt, as Annie points out, Democrats immediately reacted and sort of checked -- checked the campaign. This time, none at all.
Since Donald Trump came on the scene --
HUNT: Well, both Biden and Harris have put out calls saying there's no place for political violence. They did -- even Trump spoke relatively graciously about --
TODD: About the conversations.
HUNTS: -- entirely about his conversations with Harris.
TODD: That's not my point.
My point is that, since Donald Trump came on the scene, Democrats have basically said that democracy will end if he's elected, and which is -- eventually, some people with a screw loose are going to hear that and go, wow, maybe it's justified if I do anything.
Hakeem Jeffries' favorite phrase on him is "clear and present danger," which Elliot will tell us, that's the Supreme Court's code for when you can -- the government can suppress speech.
And so, I think we have to pull way back. And, like, this election is going to happen, and someone's going to be sworn in; and government will be -- go on.
And it would be a little bit better if Democrats, I think, pulled way back with their apocalyptic rhetoric about Donald Trump being the absolute end of the republic. Criticize him on his policies, but don't act like the country ends.
MEGHAN HAYS, FORMER BIDEN WHITE HOUSE DIRECTOR OF MESSAGE PLANNING: He also -- Trump didn't reflect either. He instantly blamed the Democrats for their rhetoric. And he is putting out a press release with people's names, saying what they have said about him.
You don't think that people -- that targets people who do -- you know, not everyone -- we don't know everyone's mental state. Ans so, those names being out there, that also makes people a target.
And what's going on in Springfield? It's just -- I disagree that it's only Democrats. I think everyone needs to take a look at this, and everyone needs to be reflective. Because something is going to happen, like something -- it's going to get worse if we don't control the narrative. TODD: I've said on this network plenty times, Donald Trump needs to
rein in his -- his rhetoric. But I think we have to back off. Democrats have to back off the whole consequences and just let everybody know, look, hey, guess what happens. We'll have lower tax rates if he wins. We disagree with that. Let's run the campaign on that.
ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: What I'm struck by on the defense of this, or I guess on the attack on Democrats on this threat to democracy stuff, is that, for instance, Trump has not committed to accepting the results of the election, right?
That sounds to me like a threat to democracy. And I don't think it's that unfair to question someone's commitment to democracy if they're saying that they, you know, can't commit to the results of election.
Another one is a lot of defenders of the former president have latched on this dictator concept, that Kamala Harris said that Trump might be a dict -- He said those words himself. He's -- now, he might have been joking, but he said, "I will be a dictator on day one."
And I guess I'm struggling with this idea that echoing those points is somehow putting chum in the water to drive up violence against the former president.
LINSKEY: And I would say, though, that, you know, that rhetoric has changed. And Vice President Harris isn't really talking about democracy as much. And it's not -- you know, the reason may not be -- be related to political violence. It's related to the ballot box and the fact that this democracy message wasn't actually working very well for Joe Biden. And she's shifted to something else.
And the sort of ancillary consequences to that may be, at least on the Democratic side, just notching it back a little bit.
HUNT: All right. We're going to continue this conversation, ongoing throughout the morning up here on CNN THIS MORNING.
The Fed widely expected to announce an interest rate cut later today. We're going to discuss what that decision says about the economy, what it could mean in the election.
Plus, beepers. Remember them? They explode across Lebanon in Israel's latest target of militants, broadening concerns of an all-out war in the Middle East.
And Sean "Diddy" Combs denied bail as more details emerge in his jarring sex trafficking indictment.
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MARC AGNIFILO, DIDDY'S ATTORNEY: I do not see it happening. He -- he's -- he's innocent. I believe he's innocent. I believe he's innocent of the charges. And he is going to go to trial. And I believe he's going to win.
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D. WILLIAMS: Combs allegedly planned and controlled the sex performances, which he called freak-offs. And he often electronically recorded them.
The freak-offs sometimes lasted days at a time, involved multiple commercial sex workers, and often involved a variety of narcotics such as Ketamine, Ecstasy, and GHB, which Combs distributed to the victims to keep them obedient and compliant.
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HUNT: Shocking, graphic allegations against Sean "Diddy" Combs, waking up this morning in a special housing unit at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York.
The rapper denied bail after pleading not guilty to charges of racketeering, conspiracy, and sex trafficking. He'll be back in court today, making an appeal to be released.
Prosecutors allege that, since 2008, Combs has participated in a criminal organization that engaged in sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice.
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D. WILLIAMS: Sean Combs led and participated in a racketeering conspiracy that used the business empire he controlled to carry out criminal activity.
Combs abused and exploited women and other people for years and in a variety of ways. As alleged, Combs used force, threats of force, and coercion to cause victims to engage in extended sexual performances.
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[06:15:03]
HUNT: Law enforcement seized guns and drugs in raids of Combs' home in -- homes in Miami and Los Angeles in March, along with more than 1,000 bottles of personal lubricant.
The indictment alleges that Combs held freak-offs, or elaborate coerced sex performances.
Diddy's attorney want [SIC] his client released pending trial, insisting that he did nothing wrong.
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AGNIFILO: We're going to fight this case with everything we have, as is he. And eventually, he's going to be shown to be innocent.
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HUNT: CNN legal analyst, of course, and former federal prosecutor Elliot Williams has been with us.
Elliot, he's been denied bail.
E. WILLIAMS: Yes.
HUNT: Is there any chance that he ends up out of prison here? And what's next for him?
E. WILLIAMS: It's up to the judge to decide. Now, it would be pretty remarkable to release him here for a number of reasons.
Any time in federal court, someone is charged with a crime of violence or a drug crime, they're presumed to be locked up prior to trial, unless the defendant can establish that he's not a risk of flight and not a danger of -- to the community.
Prosecutors are going to walk into court and say, No. 1, this guy committed, or is accused of, serious sexual assaults and has the private jets and the planes and the apartments. He's both a risk of flight; a danger to the community. He may never get out, even after trial.
HUNT: Can I ask you, Elliot? We were talking a little bit on the show yesterday about -- he went to New York in anticipation of this arrest --
E. WILLIAMS: Yes.
HUNT: -- is our understanding. He was staying at a hotel where he was taken into custody.
The person I was talking to you about this yesterday said, well, a -- our Joey Jackson, who's our CNN legal analyst. He said, well, he was trying to demonstrate that he has nothing to hide, right? That, like, here I am.
I question, like, if he has all these private planes --
E. WILLIAMS: Yes.
HUNT: -- you know, why didn't he flee? What's going on?
E. WILLIAMS: Well, that's why -- that's why the indictment was sealed up until it became public, and he was arrested, because of the risk of flight.
Often, what prosecutors will do, will get -- secure an indictment, put it away, lock it up, arrest the person, then make it available to the public.
Because of that risk of flight. HUNT: Because if he knew what was in the indictment, he would be more likely to flee?
E. WILLIAMS: It's not just fleeing. It's tampering with evidence. Those thousand bottles of Vaseline or whatever, or baby oil. Someone could dump them down the toilet. Someone could -- could set a house on fire. You know, I know that's all doomsday. But certainly, the risk of destroying evidence is really a big one when you're talking about this volume of it and how serious the crimes are.
HUNT: All right. Well, I'm sure we'll have much more on this going forward.
Elliot, thank you.
Straight ahead here on CNN THIS MORNING, a robbery scene straight out of a movie.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And they went through the ceiling?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's crazy.
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HUNT: Thieves breaking into a check-cashing business through the ceiling. It is one of the five things you have to see this morning.
Plus, Republicans in Congress blocking a bill that would have guaranteed access to IVF, breaking with their presidential nominee.
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HUNT: All right, 21 minutes past the hour, five things you have to see this morning.
A daring robbery in Atlanta. Thieves breaking into a check-cashing business through the ceiling. They knocked an employee to the ground, and they made off $150,000.
Police are asking for the public's help to identify these suspects.
A natural gas pipeline fire near Houston, Texas. It's still burning. An SUV crashed into the pipeline's valves, sparking the fire on Monday.
Crews now waiting for the fuel left in the line to burn off. Surrounding neighborhoods have been evacuated.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It looks like a kid.
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HUNT: An 8-year-old Ohio girl took her mom's car for a spin.
She drove it roughly 13 miles to go shopping at Target and for a Starbucks frappuccino.
Police said that once they found the child safe and unharmed, they let her at least finish her drink.
But she's OK.
All right.
Terrifying moments in a New Jersey Little League game. A tree crashing down on top of kids in a dugout. Coaches and parents scrambling to help several children who were trapped.
Thankfully, no one was seriously hurt.
Wildfires raging in Portugal. At least seven people, including three firefighters, have died since Sunday.
More than two dozen fires igniting across the country this week.
All right. Time now for weather. The rain from that potential tropical storm moving out along the mid-Atlantic.
After 113 days, meanwhile, Phoenix finally sees temperatures below 100 degrees. Those cooler temperatures spreading across the West.
Let's get straight to our meteorologist, the weatherman, Derek van Dam. Derek, good morning.
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Talk about an arctic outbreak. I mean, first time in 113 days without the temperature rising above 100 degrees. They're having a party in Phoenix.
And skiers and snowboarders like me are having a party, too, because we had the first flakes of the season fall. Some of the local ski resorts -- this is coming out of California near Mammoth Lakes. I don't know who's more excited: me or the puppy that was in this video.
That is what we call white gold for people who like to ski on those ski hills.
Yes, Phoenix, you had quite the day yesterday. Temperature only reaching 93 for the past 113 days, you've had that temperature above 100 degrees.
So, it'll stay below 100 for the next several days. The cool weather continues over the West. Severe weather chances over the nation's midsection.
Do you remember what happened two days ago along the coastline of North Carolina from a non-named tropical storm? Tropical system, I should say?
Well, the flooding waters are receding, but we're still feeling the impacts from the system as it moves across the mid-Atlantic. Rain showers from D.C. to Philadelphia, as well as New York, eventually Boston by Thursday afternoon. Locally, one to two inches of rainfall could fall from the sky.
And I'm going to leave you with this. Did you step outside last night and see the partial lunar eclipse, coinciding with the harvest super moon?
[06:25:08]
Kasie, I -- I don't know if you did. I certainly didn't, because I was sleeping. We've got to get up too early in the mornings.
HUNT: Yes. We were discussing this an hour ago, because we were both here, also here an hour ago. And it was, indeed, too late. I am sorry that I missed it.
VAN DAM: Yes.
HUNT: But I am glad that I got --
VAN DAM: Quite a sight.
HUNT: -- a couple extra hours of sleep.
VAN DAM: Here you are.
HUNT: Derek van Dam for us this morning.
VAN DAM: This is what it looked like.
HUNT: It's beautiful. Thank you so much, Derek. See you tomorrow.
VAN DAM: You're welcome.
HUNT: All right. Still ahead here on CNN THIS MORNING, exploding pagers across Lebanon. How a coordinated attack targeted suspected Hezbollah members.
Plus, on the campaign trail, Donald Trump vowing to have IVF covered by insurance for all Americans. But in the Senate, his own party not playing along.
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