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Erin Burnett Outfront
FBI Exploring Whether Suspected Trump Gunman Acted Alone; Springfield, Ohio Target of Threats As Trump Pushes False Claims; Rescues Underway In North Carolina Amid Once-In-1,000-Year Rainfall. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired September 16, 2024 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:38]
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:
The breaking news lying in wait. Investigators revealing the alleged Trump gunman was hiding near Trump's golf course for nearly 12 hours. The sheriff who arrested the suspect and has the body camera footage is OUTFRONT.
Plus, fierce backlash. Elon Musk now trying to spin a tweet wondering why no one is trying to assassinate Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Don Lemon, who worked for Musk, joins me OUTFRONT tonight live.
And the threats keep coming. Springfield, Ohio, schools closed, community festival canceled, Trump tripling down on false claims about migrants eating pets. The president of a university now forced to go remote responds tonight OUTFRONT.
Let's go OUTFRONT.
And good evening to all. I'm Erin Burnett.
And OUTFRONT tonight, we do begin with the breaking news. New questions about whether the suspected gunman acted alone. Investigators at this hour now racing to determine if the man accused of apparently trying to assassinate Trump had help. A gunman who authorities say was a sniper's nest for about 12 hours before readying his AK-47 style rifle to kill.
And tonight, we have the moment of his arrest on tape. In this brand new bodycam video, you see Routh there with his hands up, walking backwards towards police. They have their weapons drawn. You hear the officers yelling, keep walking, walk straight back. There he is, then they quickly handcuff him. As you're watching here, take him into custody.
Now, Florida sheriff who you're going to hear from him speak to in just a moment, says it, never asked why he got pulled over, said he was, quote, calm, as if he was going to dinner, speak to him in just a moment. But at this moment, authorities say they are pursuing warrants for Routh's phone, his car, electronics, the FBI is calling the apparent attempted assassination, quote, extremely serious. And at this hour, the acting director of the Secret Service telling
reporters that he has now spoken directly to the former president, Donald Trump.
We have a lot to get to tonight. I want to begin with Paula Reid. She is near Mar-a-Lago.
And, Paula, where do things stand right now?
PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, good evening, Erin.
At this point, we expect that investigators could file additional charges against Routh depending on what they uncover during those interviews, you mentioned and as well as from those search warrants, he currently faces two counts, one of possessing a firearm farm as a convicted felon, and a second of a possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
But as they gather more evidence, they will be able to determine what other charges because they could successfully bring against him. Now, he was in court earlier today in this federal courthouse behind me and he didn't say much during his hearing. He was asked a series of questions by the magistrate judge. She just nodded and said, yes, judge, a few times.
But there who want me back in court next Monday for a detention hearing and we expect the prosecutors are going to argue that he must remain being detained ahead of a likely trial. They will argue that not only is a flight risk, but they will say he is also a danger to the community, then he will be formally arraigned on September 30th -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Paula, thank you very much. And, you know, Routh, it turns out it has had many brushes with the law, a long list of charges against him.
So exactly what are those? Who is he?
Kyung Lah has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: To many who encountered Ryan Routh, it's not shocking that he is suspected of attempting to kill a former president.
Former Greensboro, North Carolina Police Sergeant Tracy Fulk, who once charged Routh, says he was well known to her department.
TRACY FULK, FORMER SERGEANT, GREENSBORO POLICE DEPARTMENT: We used to get what we call barometer reports, which are kind of like dangerous persons who had made threats either against elected officials, police officers, or community members, and we had gotten several alerts, barometer reports on Ryan Routh. So I knew who he was. LAH: Routh had a long list of charges against him in the early 2000s
including a serious incident that started as a traffic stop but ended with Routh barricaded in a business.
FULK: He reached over into the center seat and opened a black duffel bag and there was a gun laying in there. And he kind of held his hand over the bag for a second as I'm backing up an issuing commands and then he just put the car in gear and drove to businesses down and fold in his business and ran inside.
LAH: Routh would plead guilty to possession of a weapon of mass destruction. A source tells CNN it was for having an automatic weapon.
[19:05:04]
A father of three, Routh, moved from that troubled past in North Carolina to Hawaii, where he started something called Camp Box, working on tiny homes for homeless people and demonstrated how we built them on his website. In 2018, a local station interviewed him during a flood.
RYAN ROUTH, TRUMP SUSPECT: We are building materials onto the house, so all the lumber under the house started floating out into the yard.
LAH: Routh claimed to have local political ambitions. He launched a website to run for mayor in his town, but never officially filed. Instead, he wrote on the website and across various sorts social media platforms about another passion, the war in Ukraine, tweeting the same message more than a dozen times in one day. But the keyboard wasn't enough.
Routh went to the region, arriving wearing a Hawaiian lay. Once in Kyiv, he spent weeks talking to reporters.
ROUTH: My initial goal was to come fight. I'm 56, so initially they're like -- well, I have no military experience, so they were like, you're not an ideal candidate.
LAH: Instead, Routh set up camp in a main square.
ROUTH: Putin as 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.
I think more emotional for me is also is just talking to the guys that have come here. You know, when you talk to 20-year-old guy that sold everything to come here and fight, that is heroism.
LAH: This singularly driven man is who journalists Michael Wasiura.
MICHAEL WASIURA, JOURNALIST, THE INSIDER: I don't find it difficult to believe that he would take it upon himself to attempt to assassinate Donald Trump.
LAH: Wasiura met Routh several times that year, describing him as eccentric and dedicated to big global causes. ROUTH: This is about a center to help people when they come from other countries around the world.
WASIURA: This is someone who was very committed to causes that he believed in, demonstrated a willingness to sacrifice personal comfort and convenience in order to further those causes.
LAH: How does all but this now weave into the profile of someone who might take a semiautomatic rifle onto a golf course?
WASIURA: Ryan was not a normal guy. There's something about the combination of the times and the person that makes something like this, not just possible, but not surprising.
LAH: Because looking back, Wasiura says there were so many clues.
ROUTH: I'm not sure that the world is as wonderful as I once thought it was. I thought everyone would respond very generously, and unselfishly. It seems like that would be a no brainer, but I increasingly get more disappointed in humanity.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAH (on camera): Many people CNN spoke with described Routh as erratic, manic, even delusional, especially when it came to the effort in Ukraine. He had this idea that you could bring in soldiers from Afghanistan to come into Ukraine to fight.
But his son obviously has a very different view, Erin. When we reached out to him, his son texted back, quote, it doesn't sound like the man I know to do anything crazy, much less violent -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Kyung, thank you very much.
And now, I want to go to Sheriff William Snyder of Martin County, Florida.
Sheriff, I know you were on the scene as your officers arrested the suspect. So, you know, as you were there watching all of this, I know you've commented that the suspect was calm but what else can you share about his demeanor and how he behaved in that moment?
SHERIFF WILLIAM SNYDER, MARTIN COUNTY, FLORIDA: Good evening, Erin.
I was -- first of all, you have to picture the scene was chaotic, traffic stop, northbound, southbound 15, 20 armed deputies, body armor, guns, helicopter overhead, K9. He was nonplussed would be the way I would describe it. His facial affect was relatively flat.
He was engaged. You could tell he was alert, knew what was going on. But yeah, he never asked, what is this about? What's going on? That the normal thing you would expect even from guilty people, oftentimes, try to put on a front.
But not him. He's just sat there as calm as if he was getting ready to go to a late night church service. BURNETT: I mean, it's really incredible to imagine. As you say, is
calm, as if he was getting ready to go to a late night church service. Just to contrast that with the moment, you talked about the chaos in that moment, what's going on with the traffic?
Let me just play again, the moment he was apprehended. This is, of course, off the body cam footage, Sheriff.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POLICE OFFICER: Two steps to your right! Take two steps to your right!
Walk straight back! Keep walking!
POLICE OFFICER: What's your name was? Ryan?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And, Sheriff, obviously, you're there watching that handcuffs go on, say your name, he says Ryan, that's a little bit hard to hear, but the officer repeats it.
Did the suspect say anything when he was taken into custody or in the police car afterwards, Sheriff?
SNYDER: No, the other odd thing he did. And he never even asked what is this about.
In the abundance of caution, you know, we knew this like this is as high a profile stop as we could ever have. So we kept the one of our body-worn cameras on him at all times. So we have recorded him not saying anything. We kept the door open.
You know, this is an FBI investigation. We certainly didn't want to start asking questions or do anything with the car. We stabilized the scene. The FBI and the Secret Service got there pretty quickly. And we turned Routh over to them.
BURNETT: Sheriff, I know there was a witness who is very central in this. He was the one who when the Secret Service shot at that protruding rifle caused Routh to flee and then he gets in his SUV and he drives right and then and then, you guys apprehend.
But this witness was crucial because he sees the guy get in the car. He takes a picture of the car with the license that ends up being so important for you to be able to locate the car. Do you know anything about this witness?
SNYDER: I don't know anything about him personally, but I know this: it was -- it was heroic for him to do. He puts himself at some risk and takes a picture. We get the picture.
The Palm Beach County sheriff's office does a phenomenal job, immediately, where the county to the north gives us the picture. And within about 15 minutes, we're able to spot the vehicle, corroborates the tag and makes to stop, then they flew -- actually fly the witness to the scene using the Palm Beach County sheriff's office helicopter.
He makes a positive ID and really as far as were concerned, that's -- that's the best anything that could have happened.
BURNETT: So they literally helicopter him to your location so that he could put his actual eyes on Ryan Routh.
SNYDER: Sure. Yeah. We had to make sure the FBI had to make sure. We -- we did due diligence. This is a big case. You've been talking about to U.S. attorney general's -- the U.S. attorney's office, they don't want local law enforcement making a mistake.
And we did not. We get them a pristine case. We handed him off intact without harming their case anyway.
BURNETT: Now, I know that the license that the witness took the picture travel was so central to you. When did you first identify and how where that license was? I mean, in terms of cameras that you might have had on the route or how did you actually ascertain that's where this vehicle is with his license plate?
SNYDER: Yeah, it's fine with all the technology and the license plate readers and all the mystical things that law enforcement oftentimes have, we got that car because my road deputy sitting at the Palm City exit on I-95 saw the vehicle, didn't see the tags, saw the vehicle and calling in the radio. I was listening, of course, and advise, hey, I think I've got the vehicle.
We have a technique here. We don't just blow by the car and risk a chase. We actually have heavy-duty trucks with big front end bumpers. We positioned our vehicle east him off the interstate, gave him no opportunity to run. He gave us know opportunity to have to use any force and fortunately, we were able to shut it down and make it come out just right.
BURNETT: And did he do anything when -- after your officer at that exit sees him? Was the car I mean, it was a cartridge was a trial guarding extra fast. And did he try to do anything invasive or just driving normally and then just pulled over with nothing?
SNYDER: Now, I'll go back to, my church analogy. He not only acted like he was getting ready to go late night Sunday church service, he drove like. He was obeying the speed limit. It was able to let us get into position and get him and get him stopped.
I don't think he knew we were there. You know, the road patrol car were -- our techniques stay back, don't spoken into a chase because then you risk the citizens, you know, the motorists back away.
We get the unmarked in there, the big trucks I just pinch him off, get him off the interstate. We're known for that here, Erin, you can't go through Martin County and come out the other end. If your bag out without getting caught.
BURNETT: Did you get the sand sheriff from seeing him, from -- you know, and I know you talk about how he behaved so calmly, like he's on the way to a church service.
[19:15:04]
But when you actually saw him and you were there and you were there as this arrest happened, that he was alone or there was anyone else involved? I mean, I don't know. Was he on his phone? Or what was your feeling on this sense of whether he's a lone wolf or not?
SNYDER: Well, that's a big -- that's a tall order to extrapolate from what we saw when he was the lone wolf or not. He was alone, then when we caught him. But before that, after that, leading up to it, you know, I think, of course, I've been asked all day what's the first question I would want answered, think the question is, did you operate alone, Routh? Did you engage in some conspiracy? Did somebody send you down here? That would be the biggest deal.
That's not the case. We have the only person involved. Former President Trump can go back to his activities and no there's not a lone wolf out there kind of away from law enforcement.
BURNETT: Sheriff, I really appreciate your time. Thank you so much for sharing all of this with all of us. Thank you, Sheriff Snyder.
SNYDER: Sure, it's been a pleasure. Good night.
BURNETT: You, too, sir.
And, next, the blame game that's going on. Of course, Trump has been pointing the finger at Biden and Harris up for the attempted shooting. The White House slamming Elon Musk for questioning why no one is trying to assassinate Harris, a question Musk says was made in jest.
Plus, breaking news, highway patrol officers in Ohio are now stationed across Springfield school district. Is there reports of more bomb threats following Trump's attacks on migration in the town? My guest is the president of Wittenberg University, which is dealing with multiple threats that have forced the school to now go fully remote.
And Don Lemon -- Don is OUTFRONT live. Don't miss it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:21:15]
BURNETT: The breaking news, Senator J.D. Vance, just moments ago, warning that someone is going to get hurt if Democrats don't start toning down their rhetoric. This is a day after an apparent assassination attempt against former President Trump. Listen to Vance.
Okay. I'll read it to you because we're just getting the sound bite in. Here's what he says. J.D. Vance says: The big difference between conservatives and liberals is that no one has tried to kill Kamala Harris in the last couple of months and two people now tried to kill Donald Trump in the last couple of months. I'd say that's pretty strong evidence that the left needs to tone down the rhetoric, needs to cut this crap out. Somebody is going to get hurt and it's going to destroy this country.
Well, it comes as Trump himself has blamed Vice President Harris for the attempted shooting.
Kristen Holmes is OUTFRONT. She's in West Palm Beach tonight.
And, Kristen, you know, I know you had said Trump's schedule was that he would be in Flint, Michigan, tomorrow. We thought maybe he would come out in public today in light of this, but he has not come out in public since all this news broke.
But you have learned more about what he's saying to people, what he's thinking tonight, what have you learned?
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Erin. So just to be clear, he does have an event tonight around 8:00 p.m. It's going to be on Twitter Spaces and we are waiting to see if he addresses it then. But I have talked to a number of people who we've spoken to him in the last 24, 36 hours since that second assassination attempt said that he was in good spirits.
At one point, one source told me who's spoke to him that he was joking around saying happened in the middle of a wonderful game of golf where he was two under-par. Another source telling me that he was asking about the media coverage. A third source who was briefed on a conversation with the former president saying that he -- being Donald Trump was talking about winning in November.
But one thing is very clear the way that he is reacting to what happened yesterday in Florida is very different than the way that he reacted to that first assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania. As you noted, Donald Trump himself has been blaming the Biden administration particularly looping in Kamala Harris because she's the vice president, but also because she is at the top of the Democratic ticket.
Remember what happened after that first assassination attempt in Butler. We heard from all of his senior advisors saying that he was calling for unity, saying that he wanted to bring the country together, that he was changed, man. We heard from Donald Trump himself saying that he was calling for unity.
It took several weeks before we really started hearing Donald Trump blaming the Biden administration.
Here in this its case has gone right to politics, again, attacking the Biden administration, attacking Kamala Harris. He did put out those kind words about the call that he had with President Biden, saying it was all about his Secret Service protection. It was a nice call.
But overall, you've seen a much more immediate political reaction from Donald Trump after this that than we saw just weeks ago.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Kristen. Kristen is in West Palm Beach.
Democratic strategist Aisha Mills is with me, along with the former Republican governor of Minnesota, Tim Pawlenty. Governor Pawlenty.
Thank you both very much.
So, Aisha, let me just play again because now we have the sound bite, I had read it, but let's hear J.D. Vance and his own words make his argument. Here's the senator.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know the big difference between conservatives and liberals is that we -- no one has tried to kill Kamala Harris in the last couple of months and two people now have tried to kill Donald Trump in the last couple of months. I'd say that's pretty strong evidence that the left needs to tone down the rhetoric and needs to cut this crap out. Somebody is going to get hurt by it. And it's going to destroy this country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: What are you saying?
AISHA MILLS, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: First of all, there is nothing causal about what we have seen in terms of someone trying to harm Trump and anything that the Democrats have said and done. And the fact that Donald Trump and J.D. Vance want to create a looky-loo and somehow make this the Democrats' fault is absolutely literally ridiculous.
[19:25:02]
And the thing that is most insulting is that when you think about the nasty rhetoric of the last 15 years or so, the far right has really turned politics into one of the most vile and disgusting institutions in America, many would say, because they are the ones who are stoking fear, they are stoking racism, they are stoking hostility. Literally yesterday, the same guy, J.D. Vance, just said that he's going to continue to tell lies like he did on the Asian -- the Haitians and make up stories as long as it suits them. And so, kind of make the American public feel as if we don't really know what's going on is if we can't believe what we see in front of us and suggests that just pointing the finger at the other people is going to work, isn't going to help them get votes.
BURNETT: Governor Pawlenty?
TIM PAWLENTY (R), FORMER MINNESOTA GOVERNOR: Well, a few things. First of all, I think, Erin, if anyone in this interview, me, you, were somebody tried to kill one of us twice in the last few months, you might be pretty sensitive. You might be pretty agitated. You might be pretty worried. So I think that's understandable.
Also, when you look at the circumstance, we don't know yet what the motives or mindset of the shooter at the golf course was, or frankly even fully what happened in Pennsylvania. So let's not rush to judgment about what the mindset or motives or conclusions were regarding the shooters. And then lastly, all of us can do better, including the people on this
interview about name-calling, labeling, inciting, inflaming. You know, with enough resources and repetition and money and any understanding of algorithms and biochemistry, you can convince a lot of people have a lot of things.
And leaders have to be responsible about how they use their power and their platform hopefully for good. I know we're beyond a lot of that in modern politics. But it's not too late for decent, thoughtful people to say somebody has to take the lead to bring this back to a better place.
MILLS: And who is going to take that lead becomes the question, right? Because you've got person that's running for president who is hanging out on his own golf course, playing golf, not talking to the American people, not trying to solve problems. We literally in the last month have had two assassination attempts on a former sitting president and a horrible school shooting in which people were killed.
And yet none of the conversation coming from the presidential candidate on the Republican side is really speaking to the issues that Americans are facing, talking about how were feeling about all these incidents. And then certainly dealing with gun control why is it that so many people are running around with these assault weapons? What is happening here, right?
None of this is being discussed from a policy perspective, from a humanitarian perspective. And that is the problem. So, when you are fundraising off of it, Donald Trump has sent out several fundraising emails to fundraise off of this, making light of it, then how is anyone supposed to take him seriously?
BURNETT: Governor Pawlenty on the fundraising side, the former president is fundraising off of it. He sent out a message of fundraising saying, "Fight, fight, fight," and a donation link. I mean, do you think that's what he should be doing in this moment?
PAWLENTY: Well, I'll answer that but let me, just step back. When you want to get on the issues about what's causing violence and crime in our country, we could get into a whole discussion about illegal immigration and the crime that comes from that. We could get into social policies and the crime that the defund the police movement, the anti-police movement, the going light on law enforcement that we see from the left.
So if you want to go there, I can go there, I can go there fully.
(CROSSTALK)
MILLS: This middle-age white man was trying to assassinate a former president. This has nothing to do with immigration.
PAWLENTY: This interview -- excuse me, I think this interview -- this interview is about political rhetoric, and its contribution to potential violence.
BURNETT: Well --
PAWLENTY: And I don't think President Trump should be fundraising off a near tragedy. But sadly, all politicians send out all kinds of wild claims in their fundraising. It's unfortunate, but I think we can at least draw the line at fundraising off tragedies or near tragedies.
BURNETT: Right. And, of course, fight, fight, fight in all caps and exclamation points, I mean, if we're going to say that these things lead to rhetoric and people wanting to do violent things, that obviously is not going to be helpful.
Governor, Elon Musk is under fire. He posted -- he did end up deleting this, but he posted a tweet that said, no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala, along with the thinking face emoji because if, you know, like, hmm, you know, what's going on here?
Now, everybody was outrage on that, he pulled it down. White House said it was responsible. Musk said it was -- he was trying to be funny.
I want to ask you, though, Governor, because obviously Musk is a supporter of Trump. He's made that clear, right? He's out -- he's open. Trump said he put him in his administration. Is Elon Musk a problem for the Republican Party right now, or at the very least, you wish that he would be more thoughtful given what is very clearly an incredible intellect?
PAWLENTY: I think people look to Elon Musk. He has a huge following. He is not always most careful with his words, obviously. I'm glad to hear that he did say this was a joke and pulled it down because it could be misinterpreted and lead to other things. So I'm glad for that.
But I don't think he's a, quote/unquote, problem in the sense that he's got a right to free speech.
[19:30:04]
He's got a right to political association, and he's got a right to say what he wants, and the voters and people have a right to decide whether that's part of what they want to hear and what they want to support or not. And I'm glad he pulled this one back.
BURNETT: Quick final word.
MILLS: As the governor said, these people are jokes and they are joking not only with their own lives, but with the American people and the future of our democracy. And there's absolutely nothing funny about that.
BURNET: All right. We'll leave it there, and thank you very much. Both of you, I appreciate your time.
And we have some breaking news out of Ohio. Governor Mike DeWine, Republican, deploying highway patrol troopers to schools now across Springfield because there have been more bomb threats. Two universities now are also closed. This is as Trump has been pushing false claims about Haitian migrants eating pets. The president of Wittenberg University is next.
And Don Lemon will be OUTFRONT live tonight. He has a lot to say.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:35:18]
BURNETT: Breaking news, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine just a moment ago announcing that the state highway patrol troopers and Ohio will now be positioned at every school building in the town of Springfield. This comes after two more elementary schools were evacuated just today about over bomb threats. There have been 33 bomb threats since late last week. Six schools in the area have now been targeted since Trump on the debate stage mentioned the false story about migrants eating pets in Springfield.
Now, Wittenberg University is a small college in Springfield, also shut down tonight, remote classes now scheduled through Friday, at least. Campus there, they have received four separate threats, two of them coming today. The schools president telling us the threats are now escalating in number and I'm going to speak to him in just a moment.
The persistent threats, though, in Springfield are now closing down city and county buildings, derailing an annual festival in the town. Law enforcement says it's just too dangerous to hold the annual event this year. And alt-right groups, including the Proud Boys, are now showing up in Springfield. We're showing them here as they've been carrying flags through town as Donald Trump continues to use debunked claims about migrants in Springfield to talk about immigration problems across the country.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't know what happened with the bomb threats. I know that it's been taken over by illegal migrants and that's a terrible thing that happened.
Recording of 911 calls even show residents are reporting that the migrants are walking off with the town's geese. They're taking the geese and even walking off with their pets.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Now, that is information that the states Republican Governor Mike DeWine, who as I mentioned, just put those extra troopers in Springfield, is calling, quote, garbage.
Wittenberg University president Michael Frandsen is with me and he joins me now from the university campus where I know you are tonight, President Frandsen.
So, Governor Mike DeWine has just announced those troopers from the Ohio state -- I'm sorry, Ohio State Highway Patrol Force will now be providing added security at schools at schools in your district. Four threats made against the students at your university alone. Have you also been offered any sort of extra security?
MICHAEL FRANDSEN, PRESIDENT, WITTENBERG UNIVERSITY OF SPRINGFIELD, OHIO: So we haven't specifically been offered any personnel stationed on our campus. We received our first threat on Saturday.
We're now up to five threats. One came just a short time ago. The Ohio state highway patrol has been doing increasing patrols through and around our campus, along with the Clark County sheriff's department, Springfield Police Department and our own Wittenberg Police Department.
So we've got an increased presence from law enforcement at lots of different levels. But not the same kind of human presence stationed at the schools that Governor DeWine has offered to the public schools.
BURNETT: President Frandsen, you mentioned -- I had mentioned four threats, you said just in the past minutes, you're now up to five -- five threats against her universal.
FRANDSEN: Correct.
BURNETT: Can you tell me anything more about the nature of these threats?
FRANDSEN: Yeah. You know, four of the five have come from the same source. They have threatened different types of violence against our community, the people in our community and our facilities in the university. Some of them, the police working with, again, the city police, county sheriff, state highway patrol, and the FBI, a couple of them they have been able to resolve and give us an all-clear but that's not the case with all of the threats and not the case with this most recent one.
BURNETT: Look, it's terrifying. You now also have you've got closures of city buildings, county buildings, what's going on at the public schools, your university, groups like the Proud Boys now obviously have been in Springfield and I'll show again the video of them marching with their flags, about 20 of them in this particular video.
They as a group have been part of some violent political confrontations in recent years. That was the group Trump infamously said to stand back and standby before the 2020 election. They're now in Springfield.
How worried are you, President Frandsen, about the threats right now in the context of another apparent assassination attempt against the former president?
FRANDSEN: Yeah. You know, we have to take any threat seriously and we're certainly concerned about it. We're about six blocks from city hall here on campus and, you know, the Proud Boys demonstration has not reached our campus.
[19:40:03]
There were fliers placed around downtown, again, just six blocks from campus, but not on our campus.
So until we received that first thread on Saturday, we were a little bit removed from it, certainly as a citizen, an institutional citizen in Springfield, we stand with the citizens and the institutions here in town where were proud to be part of this community. But until we received the threat on Saturday, you know, it was a little bit removed from Wittenberg's activities.
BURNETT: Well, President Frandsen, I appreciate your taking the time to join us, and I know obviously your classes are remote. You did join us off from your campus where you are, as you mentioned, just a few blocks from city hall. Sorry for what you're going through and for all of your students are going through your faculty, but thank you very much for sharing it with us.
FRANDSEN: Thank you, Erin. Just want everyone to know, Springfield is a strong community, close-knit community, and we're proud of all of our citizens and appreciate the chance to share that with the public.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, President Frandsen.
And next, Don Lemon joins me live and he has a lot to say about Trump, what happened yesterday, about Elon Musk and much more.
And breaking news, once in a thousand-year rainfall in North Carolina, leaving parts of the state under water. There are reports of rescues taking place, as I speak. We'll have the very latest for you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:45:55]
BURNETT: Breaking news, the secret service defending its security protocols around Trump right now saying the suspect to appear to be planning to assassinate the former president at his Florida golf club, quote, did not have line of sight on him. Many tonight calling for an end to violent threats and divisive rhetoric in the country, including my former CNN colleague Don Lemon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DON LEMON, FORMER CNN ANCHOR: We want everyone to be safe, including Donald Trump, if you don't like him, including Kamala Harris, if you don't like her.
But to just blame this on rhetoric, I think there's -- there's some credence to that and you have to look at where that rhetoric is coming from, again no excuse, but it almost every day, quite honestly, Donald Trump says something incendiary, but to have Republicans saying that, oh, they're blaming Kamala Harris, so they're blaming Barack Obama, or they're blaming -- blaming Tim Walz. Really?
(END VIDEO CLIP) BURNETT: Don is OUTFRONT now. He is the host of "The Don Lemon Show" on YouTube, and, of course, former CNN anchor as everyone watching here would know us as well. He has a new book out.
It is an amazing book, Don, as I was saying. It is -- it is profound and the stories about you growing that you just captured me there.
LEMON: It's so good to see you, by the way.
BURNETT: It is wonderful to see.
So, okay, you have the situation going on right now with Trump, shooting after shooting, its thoughts and prayers until the next one, and then it's thoughts and prayers again. And you write in your book, the shame should bring us all to our knees, all of us as a nation to our f-ing knees.
You got that, and then you have another assassination attempt.
LEMON: Yeah. So the question is, why did I write it? One of the -- I think the hardest story that I ever covered it was Newtown and seeing all those -- in Connecticut, with all those little coffins that I write in the book that look like the biggest about the size of the biggest nicest present under the Christmas tree.
So that was the toughest story that I covered in my entire time at CNN. And I thought in many of us did at that point, at that time that something was going to happen because you can't have 22 children dying and then nothing happened. But nothing happens every single time.
BURNETT: Yeah.
LEMON: Nothing happens. You had the Georgia school shooting last week? Nothing happened. You had an attempt on the former president's life in Pennsylvania by someone who should not have a gun, nothing happened.
You had this person -- is anything going to happen? And I think that we have to be honest about what's going on because it is quite frankly Republicans who are killing sensible gun legislation. So perhaps if Republicans or Democrats want to get something done they should come up with a bill because he likes to have his name on it and they should name it the Donald -- protect Donald Trump gun and safety act. And perhaps it might get past some folks in Congress in the Senate. And he will sign it.
BURNETT: Yeah, just hours after that parents house nation attempt yesterday, Elon Musk one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala and then he has a thinking face, emoji, right? So this is the context of the rhetoric that you just referred to in your post. That was up for several hours. Finally, he takes it down because there's outrage. And so he does remove the post.
You worked for him. He ended the deal abruptly on X after you interviewed him. And you pressed him on free speech, I know you're in a lawsuit against him right now, but you know it. LEMON: Yeah.
BURNETT: And I'm curious what you're able to say about what you thought when you saw that tweet with that thinking emoji.
LEMON: Well, listen, again, I'm in litigation with him set to be very careful about what I can say. I'm very disappointed in the way he reacted to me, but let me just say I'm glad that he took it down. How about that? Because we should all be trying to lower the temperature and I actually agree it's going to -- I'm sure some people will be surprised by this, by at least the effort. I think its right to sort of lower the temperature.
But for Donald Trump and his folks to say and J.D. Vance to say that it's Democrats who are causing this.
BURNETT: Right, you just heard J.D. Vance say.
LEMON: That's an issue. I wrote down some notes when I saw. Do you mind if I read this? Let me read this.
BURNETT: No, because, you know what, actually, everyone to know, you were sitting just off set when we play the J.D. Vance.
[19:50:05]
LEMON: But I will just get through some of it.
So, he's called -- everyone who works in this building, the enemy of the people.
BURNETT: Yep.
LEMON: Right? We had pipe bomb sent because he kept calling us the enemy of the people, and that CNN was fake news. Crooked Joe, crooked Hillary, crooked Kamala, comrade Kamala, deranged Jack Smith, birdbrain Nikki Haley, bloodbath if he's not elected, there won't be another election if he's not elected, bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists, poisoning the blood of our country, destroying the blood of our country, which is something that was Hitlerist.
Communists, Marxists, fascist, left-leaning that live like vermin, sons of bitches to NBA players, shithole countries. Haiti was one and now he's blaming Haitian immigrants for things. Blood coming out of her, wherever as he talked about Megyn Kelly.
And so, if Donald Trump wants people -- wants Kamala Harris and others to say, to stop saying that he is a threat to democracy then he should stop threatening democracy. Perhaps he shouldn't be overturning -- trying to overturn elections, overthrow the government, and inciting insurrection if he doesn't want people to be honest about what he is, who he is and what he's doing.
BURNETT: So you talk in your book a lot about his support and you do it through the lens -- obviously, you talk about religion and faith and a very personal way, but also through the lens of religion in America in which it is so central and so important in our history. And you -- and you note a new poll by ABC and you just, you just sent this to me, so I want to share with everyone so you can say why you found it so important.
Eighty percent of evangelical protestant support Trump, 17 percent for Harris, 80-17. You texted me and said this number, this number is why I wrote this book. Tell me more.
LEMON: It's indicative of why I wrote the book, because I saw -- I noticed over the past years -- listen, I'm, you know, I'm an old head. I remember when sort of the Heritage Foundation and all of those folks are came up through the '80s when Ronald Reagan and so on, the moral majority.
Then I saw, I was at CNN for the Tea Party. Then MAGA came along, and I see that evangelicals are trying to inject theocracy into our system. They're trying to have -- to make us have at the theocracy.
BURNETT: Theocracy, religious lead, driven --
LEMON: Rather than -- rather than, rather than democracy. And that is pushing us further away from democracy and further away from whatever concept whoever you think is Jesus or whatever, whoever, whatever faith that you follow.
And I think that there is a reason that we have a separation of church and state. We should not be creating laws in America because of religion.
BURNETT: So --
LEMON: But it's shocking to me that all of those folks are voting for him, 81 percent, when you look at the kind of person that he is and what comes out of his mouth and what he's done. It is shocking, hypocrisy.
BURENTT: I was going to ask Lindsay, who's controlling this interview whether we had enough time for me to ask as much as I wanted to ask, but the answer is we don't because of course we can sit here for 40 minutes, but the reason I say that is because you went -- you are doing something different now. And you went through a sudden transformation here at CNN.
You know, a lot of us here every day, we miss working with you, and it's a loss for us. But when you left, it was incredible loss for you, right? Its just all sudden you're ripped out.
LEMON: Yeah.
BURNETT: You get fired. You have depression which you struggled to admit to yourself that you had. And then you find yourself in a different way.
LEMON: Yeah.
BURNETT: "The New York Times", when I read the profile about your book, because the first thing I saw when someone wrote it up, their headline is Don Lemon in his prime? And I loved that headline because I'm wondering how you feel about it. How do you feel, do you feel that now suddenly, that you are in your prime?
LEMON: Yes and no, I was in my prime when I could physically, when I could run ten miles and not die, I can't do that anymore. I'm a 58- year-old man, but am I in my prime as far as career-wise and being happy? Absolutely. So I think you get to choose that.
And I do write about what happened with that in the book. And I explained what happened and I'm glad that this was an opportunity for me to be able to defend myself, but it could -- because I couldn't do it contractually when I was here, but now I have an opportunity to do it somewhat.
But I protect my colleagues. I love you guys. You're the best in the business. You have dealt with a lot. You're in the press a lot. I did not want to have --
BURNETT: Well, you were incredibly graceful that. I do mean that -- I when I say I miss working with you every day, I mean that.
I do think you're book, it's a beautiful book. I hope people read it. There's so many and just such now, here we go --
LEMON: You got to go, eight minutes, we got to go.
BURNETT: I got 50 things I wanted to do, I wanted to talk about the Brunello Cuccinelli hoodie incident on Park Avenue. It's incredible story. I'm just saying it because we can't, but I hope that you will buy Don's book and you will read it because that along with many other aspects make it a really great read.
LEMON: Thank you, Erin. Thank you for being supportive. Thank you for coming to my wedding and thank you. I love you.
BURNETT: A beautiful wedding, which is also part of this, and I wanted to talk about that. They view the wedding.
Okay, next, breaking news, it's being called a once in a thousand-year rainfall.
[19:55:03]
Nearly 20 inches of rain drowning parts of North Carolina, leaving people stranded in their homes and cars. And we have a live update after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Tonight, parts of North Carolina underwater, a once in a thousand-year rainfall event is now ravaging the state. New images into CNN showing people being rescued from their cars, being trapped as floodwaters rose so rapidly, fire crews also evacuating people and pets from their homes as water is rushing inside, and parts of the state, the roads are already submerged under three feet of water. I'll show you one road completely washed away already. It's a tropical
depression slowly, slowly moving across the state. More than a foot and a half of rain has already fallen, and officials are warning of life-threatening flash floods ahead as it just continues to downpour. Those pictures out of Carolina Beach, North Carolina.
As we continue to monitor that, thanks so much to all of you for being with us.
"AC360" starts now.
