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Trump Injured In Assassination Attempt At Rally; RNC To Go on As Planned After Trump Rally Shooting; Speaker Mike Johnson "Calls Out" Biden Remarks For Implying Violence. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired July 14, 2024 - 11:00   ET

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

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[11:00:22]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome to INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY. I'm Manu Raju.

Former President Donald Trump is responding this morning to the attempt at his life at his rally in Pennsylvania yesterday evening. Writing on social media, it was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening.

And just moments ago, the former First Lady, Melania Trump, reflected on how her family was on the brink of a, quote, devastating change, adding a monster who recognized my husband as an inhuman political machine attempted to ring out Donald's passion, his laughter, his ingenuity, love of music and inspiration."

As you can see from this new video overnight, Trump is OK as he arrived in New Jersey where he spent the night at his Bedminster Golf Club. He says a bullet pierced part of his ear as he was speaking to a crowd filled with thousands of supporters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You just said, take a look at what happened.

(GUNSHOTS)

Get down, get down, get down, get down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: As he was quickly rushed offstage and taken to the hospital, authorities said a person in the crowd was shot and killed. Two others critically injured and the shooter is dead.

Overnight, the FBI identified the suspect as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania.

Investigators say he fired multiple shots from an elevated position just outside of the rally and used an AR style weapon.

A law enforcement official familiar with the investigation tells CNN the shooter had explosive material inside his car and residence.

They are still investigating the motive. The big questions, how could this have happened? Why did this happen? And what does it mean for an already hugely consequential campaign?

Now President Biden is back at the White House after rushing back from Delaware. He addressed the nation and spoke with Trump last night.

A call described by sources as brief and respectful. Now Biden and Vice President Harris were briefed again this morning.

And this all comes right before the start of the Republican National Convention tomorrow where Trump is expected to announce his vice presidential pick.

Now let's start with CNN's Kristen Holmes. And, Kristen, you have some new reporting on that call between President Biden and former President Trump. What are you learning?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Manu. I mean, remember, the two of these men haven't spoken directly in years. Obviously, they communicated through moderators at CNN's debate last month.

But other than that, they have had nothing but a tense relationship. But I did talk to a source who was briefed on the call who, as you said, noted that it was good, said that it was short but respectful, but said that they were moving forward. This has been an often very bitter rivalry between these two men.

Now I also spoke to aides and advisors of the former presidents who appeared to be shaken, but defiant.

I heard people saying, they were very concerned about the teams that were on the ground. Many of these advisors and aides are with Donald Trump all the time asking questions that really all of us are asking, which is how did this happen? How is this able to actually happen?

And if they really believe that if he had been just centimeters in one way or another, that he could have been killed.

But yet, I also am hearing from them that they are feeling very defiant that the former president himself is in good spirits.

Here's what he posted this morning on Truth Social. He said, "Our love goes out to the other victims and their families. We pray for the recovery of those who are wounded and hold in our hearts the memory of the citizen who is so horribly killed. In this moment, it is more important than ever that we stand united and show our true character as Americans remaining strong and determined and not allowing evil to win."

Obviously, a statement there calling for unity. Now we do expect Donald Trump to go to Milwaukee later today, but I am told by a source that this is still fluid. These were the original plans. Obviously, anything could shift at any moment.

But as you noted, and this is a really critical time period because it's also the start of the RNC. He still hasn't named his vice president, he's -- who he's going to choose for that role. So all things that we're keeping an eye on in this really unprecedented time.

RAJU: Yes. Really, really is and a huge week ahead as well. Kristen Holmes from New York. Thanks for that.

And now let's bring Alayna Treene who was at that Trump rally yesterday. She is now live in Butler, Pennsylvania, of course, where the shooting happened.

Alayna, we're just learning some new details about the suspect. What can you tell us?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: All right. Well, we have learned, Manu, that the attempted assassin or the assassin who attempted to take out former President Donald Trump, his name is Thomas Matthew Crooks. He was 20 years old.

We do have some new breaking developments about the type of gun he used. I'm going to read some of them for you.

So our colleagues, Hannah Rabinowitz and Evan Perez. They have been told that the gun used in the shooting was an AR style weapon.

[11:05:59]

And according to law enforcement officials, the gun was actually traced to the shooter's father, which had helped them determine the identity of the attempted assassin.

Previously, we had reported here at CNN that he had not had ID on him at the time.

Now, so far investigators have not found any additional signs or posts on social media. They are still trying to learn what exactly his motive was.

But we're also being told, according to our colleague, Whitney Wild, that the shooter had explosive material inside his car and residence. That's according to a law enforcement official.

Now, more information on Thomas Matthew Crooks. As I said, he's 20 years old. He had lived in the Pittsburgh suburb area, about 35 miles south of Butler here where the rally took place.

And just to give you some on-the-ground insight into what I saw last night as this was all unfolding. Right behind me, Manu, you can see back there is the AGR building. That's not the exact building where we believe that the shooter was. But that is part of the complex where the shooter had been on the roof firing those bullets into the rally site. And I was at that site last night. I was standing outside shortly after the rally after we had left. We were standing outside of the building trying to get a sense of where the shooter was. And it was pretty remarkable, Manu, to see just how close that location was to where Donald Trump was on stage, even though Donald Trump, the venue or excuse me, the perimeter and the fence around the rally venue.

The building where the shooter is believed to have been, was not inside that. It was very close to where Donald Trump was.

And as we have reported extensively on, the shots came from Donald Trump's right shoulder exactly where that building was. And so as we learn more, we'll continue to bring you these updates, Manu.

RAJU: Yes. Amazing how close that everything was. And, of course, so many questions still ahead.

Alayna Treene, thank you for that on-the-ground reporting.

In the attempted assassination attempt of Donald Trump will no doubt have an impact on voters' minds. And the Republican National Convention, which begins in Milwaukee.

CNN's political director, David Chalian, is actually live for us now in Milwaukee.

So, David, tell us how this shooting and everything that happened over the last day. How will that change the convention plans?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, as you know, Manu, a national political convention like this one is usually one full of joy and celebration and fun.

I mean, Donald Trump rolling in here as the, you know, head of his party. Being nominated for the third consecutive presidential cycle.

This was a place where delegates are convening, ready to celebrate and that all turned on a dime last night.

Obviously, it has immediate impact into the context in which this convention will take place now, but also into the tenor and the tone at the launch of this convention. Now you're hearing delegates and others arriving here talking much more about, you know, strength and resilience and fortitude and calls for unity.

So we have learned, according to somebody familiar with convention planning that some of the program will be impacted, including a moment of silence that will be built into the program now for the one victim that lost their life at this horrific incident in Butler, Pennsylvania.

And we should stay on alert for other potential programming changes to be announced in the hours and days ahead here. It is impossible for this event not to impact this convention.

But as you know, the RNC Chairman, Michael Whatley, and the campaign advisors to Trump put out a statement saying the convention is moving forward and you heard from the former president himself. He is looking forward to addressing the country, the delegates here in Milwaukee later this week.

RAJU: Yes. Former president saying on that Truth Social post, he's speaking later this week, so we'll definitely hear from him then. We'll see if we hear from before that.

David Chalian from Milwaukee. Thank you so much.

This investigation, of course, into the shooting is just getting started. And to talk more about what we know, what comes next in all of this, I'm joined by Jonathan Wackrow. He's a CNN law enforcement analyst. He's also a former Secret Service agent. And Ed Davis, former Boston police commissioner, joining us as well. Thank you both for joining me.

I'm going to start with you, Jonathan, about just where this investigation is expected to go. And we know -- they don't know the motive yet. We know they're trying to piece that together.

How quickly, do you think, they're going to be able to come to some sort of conclusion about why the shooter attempted to do what he -- what he attempted to do, to try to kill a former president?

JONATHAN WACKROW, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, Manu, first of all, I want to just say that there are multiple concurrent investigations that are probably being launched right now. I think the primary one is by the FBI that's really looking at the motivation and intent of the shooter, try to, you know, understand what -- why and how did this happen.

But there are other investigations that, you know, that are also ongoing, one being from local prosecutors, because remember there is an officer involved shooting. So that has to be addressed locally by the prosecution there.

[11:10:06]

Then you have to look at the Secret Service investigation, right? They're going to have to do some sort of mission assurance review to ensure that, you know, lapses, any lapses insecurity, insecurity planning are addressed and mitigated quickly, because we have a, you know, a sprint going on right now in this political environment leading up to the conventions and election day. So there's a lot going on right now.

What -- the primary thing that law enforcement is looking for though in terms of, you know, who this individual was, why are they doing it? Are they associated with other groups?

I mean, it was really concerning to me is that we're hearing that the shooter had explosive devices.

You know, what was the intent of having those devices? Was the shooting just a preliminary attack and then there was going to be some sort of secondary attack?

There's a lot of questions here around this individual and who he may be connected to. Are there other attacks in the works being planned currently?

That is what law enforcement is quickly trying to assess and then get that intelligence out to their law enforcement partners to mitigate any type of future attack.

RAJU: And, Ed, how do you see this investigation playing out? And is it possible this was a lone wolf situation? Or does that seem unlikely in this scenario?

ED DAVIS, FORMER BOSTON POLICE COMMISSIONER: Well, Manu, it's possible. But the fact that there are explosives there ups the ante on this, and I think requires a very deep look at exactly what he was doing before this assault.

As Jonathan said, what was the plan if he had got off that roof? What was he going to use the explosives for?

And buying a gun and sort of making a way to an event is not that difficult to do on your own. Building explosive devices that actually work is more complicated.

Usually it requires some type of expertise. So I think that they'll be looking heavily at that.

We're all hoping this is a lone wolf that he wasn't involved in any kind of conspiracy. But all of that stuff is on the table right now and requires a very intense review on the part of the FBI.

RAJU: And, Jonathan, you know, given your background as the U.S. Secret Service, working in the U.S. Secret Service, how do you think that this episode could impact the way that Secret Service goes about protecting politicians in the future, campaign events and the like?

Will there be significant changes? Or was it just simply a security lapse that they overlooked in this situation that doesn't require wholesale changes?

WACKROW: Well, Manu, what I always say is that, you know -- you know, policies of the Secret Service are born out of blood. And, you know, this could be a seminal moment for the Secret Service in changing their protective methodology.

I mean, we clearly have some sort of lapse in security protocols that were, you know, addressing, you know, or not addressing the long distance threat.

So I think that a mission assurance review, a detailed review by the Secret Service will yield a change in procedures. I mean, it has to.

I mean, we came millimeters away from losing the major Republican, you know, candidate for the office of the presidency and the former -- you know, who was also the former president of the United States. I mean, the Secret Service can never let that happen again. Never put a protectee in a situation where there's this type of vulnerability.

So I do think that this is a real seminal moment. And you will see some policy changes coming out of the agency soon.

RAJU: And I guess the people -- you know, people who want to know who are just tuning in and trying to understand the situation, how does this happen in this day and age with this level of security, this level of technology? How does this happen in this day and age?

DAVIS: Right. Well, I hate to speculate but, you know, when you see something -- I've worked with these guys very closely. And they are top shelf and always on their game.

Was the overwatch people, the counter sniper team, were they distracted by something?

The colonel from the state police in Pennsylvania said that they were investigating a number of incidents that were reported to them.

So was there attention taken away? Did the suspect make a phony call? Was there something else happening at the time that he was able to crest that roofline? I don't know, but it will come out.

But the military concept of overwatch and the use of UAS vehicles and artificial intelligence, I think has to be thought about now in these context stateside. We're in the past. It's only been used overseas.

RAJU: All right. Jonathan Wackrow and Ed Davis, thank you two so much for coming on and sharing your expertise. Really appreciate it.

[11:15:02]

And coming up for us, as we continue to track the breaking news of the Trump rally attack, we'll be joined by a reporter who witnessed all of it. Stay with us.

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RAJU: Thousands of people were in attendance for Donald Trump's rally in Butler, Pennsylvania yesterday. But what they witnessed instead was an assassination attempt, which left one rally goer dead and two in critical condition. The former president injured, but safe.

Joining me now is one reporter who is on the scene that's "Washington Post," Isaac Arnsdorf, on the door of. Isaac, thank you so much for joining me this morning.

You have covered a lot of Trump rallies over the years. Take us through what yesterday was like. When you entered the arena, was it -- and did it feel any different? The security protocol there. And then take us through what you saw.

[11:20:13] ISAAC ARNSDORF, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, WASHINGTON POST: Yes. So the security was, you know, airport style security, very similar to what I'm used to at a -- at a Trump rally, standard, you know, walking through a metal detector, having your bags searched.

You know, the only things that stood out yesterday, until about six o'clock when Trump took the stage, it was a very large crowd. I mean, it was a miles long line of cars. It took me an hour just crawling in that line to get into the site.

And the fairgrounds were really full with thousands and thousands of people. This was really large, even by Trump rally standards.

And then the other thing was the heat. You know, it was 90 degrees. It was -- it was cloudless sky. There was no cover in the -- in the outdoor venue. There are a lot of people dealing with dehydration and heat exposure. And Trump was 45 minutes or an hour late. So there was quite a bit of impatience waiting for him to get there.

RAJU: And so then you were sitting where? How far away from Trump? And what did you notice when you heard those loud bangs that you initially note? Did you think it was a gunshot right away? And how did the crowd react?

ARNSDORF: Yes. So the press is in a fenced off area right in the middle of the crowd, opposite of the stage about 100 feet away. And we were -- the -- there's an elevated platform for the camera. So you get that camera shot.

And then us print reporters are like around there. And on a sunny day like that, we were kind of sitting under the platform just for shade.

And then when we -- when we heard the gunshots, that immediately became where we were taking cover.

And, you know, I remember thinking that -- I remember hearing from people who have been in shooting situations that it doesn't sound like, you know, that deep crack like in movies. It sounds much more like a high pitched pop or a snap, almost a click.

And so it did occur to me immediately that that's what was happening. And there were two bursts. And then finally one solitary shot, which was over pretty quickly. And then there was a period that felt like a long time of looking where we couldn't see Trump behind a lector in there, covered by Secret Service until he stood up with their assistance.

And, you know, no one -- no one ran, which was partially because of just how crowded it was impact, and particularly for the people on the bleachers, like there was nowhere to go, but also such intense focus on Trump and kind of everyone looking to see what happened to him.

And it was when he rose and lifted his fist that you can see that huge reaction from the crowd, which is something of an outpouring of relief, but also anger. RAJU: And you spoke to a lot of the rally-goers as well in the aftermath of all this. How were they processing it? What were you hearing from them?

ARNSDORF: I mean, a lot of shock. You know, people were very calm as they were leaving for the most part.

A lot of shock, a lot of, you know, just being stunned, you know, having trouble processing what was happening. And, you know, a lot of confusion. It was very chaotic. It went by very quickly, depending on where people were. They saw different things or couldn't see much of anything.

And so there was, you know, a lot of -- a lot of rumor that was spreading through as people were calling friends and relatives, telling them that they were OK, telling them what they had seen, hearing what those people had heard. And so it was kind of already becoming, just adding to the confusion.

RAJU: So I want to play a little bit about what the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, said this morning about the way rhetoric he believes has fed into this moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): The president by himself said in recent days, it's time to put a bull's-eye on Trump. I mean, I know that he didn't mean what is being implied there, but that kind of language on either side, should be called out. And we have to make clear that this is part of our system. We can have vigorous debate, but it needs to end there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: And Johnson is, of course, referring to a call that -- a comment Biden made to some donors on a call. But this -- we don't know the motive yet of the shooter, just to be clear here.

But what do we -- can we expect that to be the narrative, the argument and the argument that they're making this week at the Republican convention and for the weeks ahead?

ARNSDORF: Well, you certainly are seeing Republicans blaming Biden and blaming Democrats for this even before we know anything about the motive.

[11:25:03]

And, you know, what Speaker Johnson is saying, you know, does he mean that in terms of that's a call to take the temperature down and try to limit inflammatory rhetoric? Or does he mean that in terms of trying to assign blame and escalate things? And I think that's really the question at this moment. And, you know, that we're going to be looking to leaders in both parties to set that tone.

RAJU: Yes. And we'll see how they set that tone this week at the Republican Convention. Do they tamp it down? Do they ramp it back? Amp it back up? We will see a lot to process in the days ahead.

Isaac Arnsdorf, thank you for your reporting on the ground. Really appreciate that.

And up next, context on the magnitude of this moment and what it means for our country. I'm speaking with former presidential advisor, David Gergen after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:30:14]

RAJU: An assassination attempt of an American president is sadly not new territory for the leaders of our country. Donald Trump is the newest addition to a list of prominent elected officials who have had attempts made on their lives.

My next guest served in the administrations of two of these men. Former White House Advisor and CNN Senior Political Analyst David Gergen joins me now.

David, thank you so much for joining me this morning. This is the first assassination attempt of a president or a presidential candidate since President Reagan was shot in 1981.

You were a close advisor to President Reagan at the time. So what was this like, watching what happened to Trump yesterday? And how do you compare the two episodes?

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: It ignites so many memories from the past. And really, I think that what happens in the next few weeks is going to be whether Trump and his men will draw upon their lessons over the Reagan years or whether they, in fact, will go down a different way. And in my judgment, the better role is the one of being the unifier. That's what Reagan did when he came into office.

There were a lot of questions about him. There were a lot of division in the country. And after he was shot, you know, he became a father figure. And he used it to produce a sense of humor about things.

For example, as he was being wheeled into the operating room, surgery room, he looked up at all the doctors. He said, are all of you gentlemen Republicans or not? And when he was in the hospital room, people would go in. He would be sitting there with a Bible. And they would say, what are you doing with a Bible? You're a very secular person. He said, I'm looking for loopholes.

And that endeared him to the country. I think that Trump has an opportunity now, as he becomes the nominee and becomes more of a national leader as opposed to the sectional leader or conservative leader, he's got an opportunity to do something that he hasn't done so far in this whole campaign, and that is to bring us all together. And to bring us all together in a high plane.

RAJU: So in this --

GERGEN: If he does that, I think it will help a lot for the long term.

RAJU: So in the situation involving Ronald Reagan, how did the nation respond to that moment and in the aftermath of his shooting?

GERGEN: So the supporting levels were just extraordinarily high. But what Reagan did was he waited. He was out of sight when he was recovered in the hospital. But he made his first reappearance in public at a joint session of the Congress, which he called. And he was able to stand up there in front of all these Americans from different backgrounds. Who cheered and cheered and cheered because the leader was back.

And it transcended some of the smaller issues. And it made it possible for Reagan to go on to be one of our more successful presidents as in his -- in his genre. You know, so I think that the past is clear that this country will produce a wave of support and sympathy if Trump now reaches out and says, ladies and gentlemen, we have to work together.

To bring the changes, we have to work it again. We have to do this in ways that we haven't done yet before. We have to do it often in conjunction with and a lot of conservatives will come around to that. A lot of conservatives will rally on that.

RAJU: Obviously, a shooting on one's life has to be a harrowing impact on you. For in your experience in watching Reagan, how he responded to that, how what was his frame of mind like after that attempt on his life? Was he shaking at all? Did it take him some time to rebound?

GERGEN: No, he was shaking. Yeah, he was shaking. And I'm sure Donald Trump is going to be shaking up about this. But one of the things that Trump did, he did talk about the importance of -- he said, in the time that I have left on this earth, God has given me the opportunity to do some good things for people. And that's what I intend to do. Really wise sort of sense of approach to something which is going to be extremely controversial in the months ahead.

And I think if he can bring himself to be a somewhat different president, he'll be surprised at how many people really would like to see him get -- you know, if he can get past some of this. You would like to see him change and possibly better for the better for all the entire country.

RAJU: And you've served in so many presidential administrations over the years.

GERGEN: Yeah.

RAJU: Now, you alluded to this about what about this moment for Trump as he gives this speech, as he says he's going to plan to still deliver this speech. It's expected on Thursday from Milwaukee at the site of the Republican Convention. So, David, what would you tell Trump ahead of this speech this week?

[11:35:11]

GERGEN: Don't give up your principles, but change the temper and the way you present them and the way you try to bring people along. So stop riding on other people's coattails. We're slamming the left one day after another.

And there are an awful lot of people in that crowd in Pennsylvania who would like to see Trump succeed. And you could just feel it in the air and the conversations that CNN reporters had with various people there. This is -- this is a very, very big test for the United States. But also for the Trump administration.

RAJU: Yeah, no question about it. And we'll see the kind of message that we hear from Republicans this week at the convention from the president himself. How will that change the message? So much to look into in the days ahead.

David Gergen, we really appreciate your insight, your analysis, your expertise. Thanks for joining me this morning.

GERGEN: It's always good to see you, Raju. Take care.

RAJU: Thanks, David.

Now, next, I'm joined by a panel of political experts to talk about what the coming days could bring as we watch the broader fallout from the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:40:54]

RAJU: We'll soon see what the political impact could be from the shooting at Donald Trump's rally yesterday. The assassination attempt came at a critical juncture for Trump's race for another term in the White House where he's holding a slight edge over President Biden in many polls.

And while there's four months to go until Election Day, this week Donald Trump will appear in Milwaukee for the Republican National Convention to formally accept his party's nomination.

To dive more into all of this, I'm joined by two great CNN reporters. CNN's Phil Mattingly, the Chief Domestic Correspondent, and Kayla Tausche, CNN's Senior White House Correspondent.

Good morning. Good to see you guys. So just on the convention first. I mean, because typically, as we know, conventions are incredibly partisan affairs to say the very least.

Now this happens. How does that impact the messaging, the Republican messaging on this? Do they tap it down? Do they get right back into it? How do they -- how do they navigate this?

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CHIEF DOMESTIC CORRESPONDENT: The reason I'm pausing is because I'm thinking about what David Chalian just said about, you know, how's this going to affect the politics of the campaign. And the humility that David just reflected there, if we don't know, I think is an important moment that everybody should kind of take some time to consider here. We have no idea how this is going to play out over the course of the next three or four months.

One thing I do think we can be sure of, and I know this, I was talking to some folks who are speaking at the convention, and everyone I spoke to who is, is planning to note this or make a point of what happened and what transpired over the course of the last 24 hours in their remarks.

One person told me, they should put the photos, photos by AP's Evan Vucci, Anna Moneymaker, Doug Mills, photographers we all know quite well from the White House press corps, just put them on a loop throughout the convention.

And the reason why is because, yes, they have a defiant view right now of this moment in time, but they also think that it shows such a critical component of Donald Trump's campaign, which is strength, the contrast of what they view as strength versus weakness of the current administration, what they view as a president who consistently shows strength against a president that they don't believe does. And so that will be a key component of all this.

I think the idea that this is going to be some moment where the country comes together and unifies, to David's point, that seems to be undercut by politics we've all been through over the course of the last seven, eight, nine years.

I think the real question right now, coming out of this moment as everybody tries to get their heads around it is, does this escalate? Does this get into even more dangerous territory than it already has to the extent that's possible?

RAJU: Yeah.

MATTINGLY: Or can folks figure out a way to wrangle a message that makes the points that they want to make and doesn't allow it to kind of continue to devolve down a path that I think everybody, regardless of your political views, is very unsettled by in this moment.

RAJU: Yeah. I mean, absolutely. And look, as you guys were saying, and as everyone's saying, this could be a moment for unity as there is. I think Trump himself has said that this could unify the nation. But these conventions are not necessarily meant to unify. They're meant to --

MATTINGLY: Unify the party.

RUHLE: Yeah, unify the party. They don't necessarily --

MATTINGLY: Against everybody else.

RAJU: Exactly. So that's going to be in a -- something that they'll have to straddle this week.

KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: They will have to straddle that. And if Democrats thought that the chaos going on within their own party would potentially divert some eyeballs away from the Republican convention, then this absolutely changed that calculus. I think that is very safe to say.

But you also have to look to history about how this is going to impact the candidate, too, because the last time that something like this happened was 1981, President Ronald Reagan, and his approval rating skyrocketed in the wake of that and his grace under fire, which, to your point, it really depends on how Trump reacts to this and channels this into his message in the next few days.

Already, there are many Republicans suggesting that this is essentially the linchpin for his victory. Dan Crenshaw, the congressman from Texas, tweeting last night.

Just mere moments after that Evan Vucci photo came out. Donald Trump's chances of losing just went to zero. And there were several high- profile endorsements that came out right after the fact.

Bill Ackman, who's an influential money manager in New York circles, longtime Democrat, came out on "X" and said that he was supporting Trump, laid out a very lengthy manifesto as to why. And then Elon Musk said, I fully endorsed Donald Trump, and I'm wishing him a speedy recovery.

So there are many influential figures in media, politics, donor circles who are suggesting that this perhaps is the beginning of the rise toward the end for Donald Trump, and they want to be on that train with him.

[11:45:08]

RAJU: And this is what Congressman Derrick Van Orden told "Politico" about the impact that he believes will happen in November. He's, of course, a Republican from Wisconsin. He said Trump just won the election.

He said, "Congressional Republicans already believed Donald Trump was headed back to the White House. Some of them think the Saturday night rally has made that path even easier." That's according to the "Politico" report.

What's your reaction to that?

MATTINGLY: I think in the moment, you could probably see where he's coming from on that. I think, again, not to constantly caveat everything, which is we have no idea what's going to happen.

RAJU: Yeah, exactly.

(CROSSTALK)

RAJU: We don't know over the course of the next -- the next three and a half months.

MATTINGLY: Yeah, and I think there's a responsibility that's incumbent on Trump and the Trump campaign for how they play this and how their messaging kind of proceeds in the wake of this, whether or not they're able to take advantage of it And get -- again, this is never about the people who were always going to vote for Donald Trump. This is never about the people who are always going to vote either against Trump or for President Biden. This is about those people in the middle.

They're -- it's a very small slice of the population of the electorate, but where they decide to go and how this influences them. And I don't think you can take one night in one moment to define what that's going to be. It's going to be how the campaigns play this out going forward.

But what you saw from the congressman there and what you saw from Congressman Crenshaw is something I heard a lot from Republicans last night of this locks it in.

RAJU: Yeah.

MATTINGLY: This solidifies it. Maybe that's true. I just don't think we can say definitively at this moment.

RAJU: Yeah, I mean, you covered the Biden campaign. We're talking a little bit more about how Biden handled it in the next segment. But how did they? I mean, obviously, it's hard to gauge the politics of something so serious and tragic, a shooting and the like. But we're in the middle of a presidential campaign. Republican convention is about to take off and we're inside politics. So we talk about the political fallout. How do -- what are you hearing from the Biden campaign?

TAUSCHE: Well, certainly the president's own ethos, the reason why he ran in 2020 was to be a unifier. He truly believed that and he truly believes now that he is the only one who can unite the country in this moment of political fraughtness.

And so when that happened, there was no question that he was going to address it in some way to take the high road and to deliver the -- the, you know, the written statement and then the statement on camera that -- that he did.

And the question now is, what does this look like for the Biden campaign? And how do they distill this into where President Biden can continue to have those moments, wishing his predecessor and his now opponent well, while also trying to reestablish and deepen the contrast between the two of them? You know, it's going to be very difficult for him to strike that balance.

RAJU: Yeah. And look, you already heard, even as they're all just talking about unity and tapping down the rhetoric and stuff, not so much in some of the quarters, some allies pretty close to Trump, including potentially his vice-presidential pick, which we could know maybe today, maybe tomorrow. We'll see maybe earlier in the week. We don't exactly know when Donald Trump will announce his vice- presidential pick, but it could be imminent.

J.D. Vance is on the top of that list, the Ohio Republican senator. He tweeted in the immediate aftermath of the shooting. Today is not just some isolated incident. The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs. That rhetoric led directly to President Trump's attempted assassination.

Now, again, we don't know the motivation of this suspect. They're still investigating that. That is a key aspect of it here. But you're already hearing some Trump allies seizing on this and trying to turn it into something that is a wedge issue of sorts, including someone who could be the number two on the ticket.

MATTINGLY: Yeah, which I think is something you should know when you listen or read what he's actually saying here. There's -- there's a couple of audiences that perhaps Senator Vance is looking towards.

I think there's two pieces of this. The first piece is, look, Republicans are really angry. And that should be like an obvious statement, of course, in this moment in time. But the number of people I heard from last night, people who aren't like diehard Trump supporters who are just have had a visceral response to this and their belief that this was driven by things that have occurred that Democrats have said or Democrats have acted upon over the course of the last year.

It's very real whether or not you believe the evidence behind it. The other thing I would say here is, look, every speech that Donald Trump gives, he talks about if Joe Biden wins, the country dies. If Joe Biden wins, everything is over. The Constitution falls apart. So let's be real here. Like, this isn't because this Joe Biden says Donald Trump is an existential threat. Both sides are saying the exact same thing here.

RAJU: Right.

MATTINGLY: So let's be a little self-aware about what we're talking about here. But Republicans are mad. That's absolutely true. And I think this goes to the point we've been talking about here, which is how people react going forward to this, what their message is and how they're able to push forward on that message.

It's not a sure thing one way or the other. There are a lot of decisions that need to be made by campaigns, by messages. But also by surrogates about how they treat this, because this is a very, very unsettling moment for the country and in history. And a lot's going to play out in the months ahead.

TAUSCHE: And we were just talking about the two groups of voters that the Trump campaign is going to need to speak with right now. There's on one hand the base, which certainly the message that was in J.D. Vance's tweet would seem directly aimed at that -- that base.

[11:50:15]

But the independent voters, the would-be Haley voters, the undecideds, the 500,000 people in swing states who are still on the fence about who they're going to vote for, they don't necessarily want to see the temperature being taken up on this.

RAJU: Yeah.

TAUSCHE: They want the temperature to be taken down.

RAJU: Yeah.

TAUSCHE: And so that's the challenge for both camps.

RAJU: Yeah. All right, we'll see how they play it out.

Kayla and Phil, thank you.

Up next, we'll stay across the unfolding developments following the assassination attempt of former President Trump, as we await a news conference from Pennsylvania's governor. Stay with us.

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[11:55:26]

RAJU: Just in, we're learning President Biden is currently in the Situation Room, getting briefed by law enforcement agencies following yesterday's assassination attempt on Donald Trump.

Now, that is according to a senior White House official. We'll keep across developments on this rapidly changing story all throughout the course of the day.

And up next, "State of the Union" with Jake Tapper and Dana Bass. Jake's live in Milwaukee, head of the Republican National Convention. His guests include Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey and the man running against him, David McCormick, who was there during the shooting at Donald Trump's rally last night.

Thanks for joining us. We'll see you here, back here next week. Thanks for joining.

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