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Quest Means Business
Officials to Update on Apparent Trump Assassination Attempt; FBI: Suspect Was At Golf Course For Up To 12 Hours Before Being Confronted By Secret Police; Officials Give Update On Apparent Assassination Attempt On Trump; Trump Accuses Biden And Harris Of Using Inflammatory Language. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired September 16, 2024 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:11]
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS": Good evening to you.
Breaking news to bring to your attention.
In the next few moments, anytime now, there is the podium. It is in Florida, West Palm Beach.
They are testing the microphones. They are getting ready. We are expecting officials to give us an update on what appears to be what we now know as
the second attempt on Donald Trump's life on the golf course. It all happened yesterday when a rifle was seen poking out of the tree line. A man
was -- an alleged suspect was then chased after he left the scene and drove away. A witnessed noted the car number.
All of these details, we expect to get to us as this press conference -- this news conference begins. It is scheduled to start now, and the way
these things work, I am guessing, it is going to be pretty much on time.
The significance of course would-be assassination attempt on President Trump, it is the second one in just about as many months.
One thing we did see today, let me show you while we wait for this to begin, the body camera footage. This is the arrest of the man alleged to
have been involved. There he is.
You can see him, he has got his shirt up over his head and he is taken away.
Now the way we are hearing details so far, Wesley Routh is his name. He is 58, from Hawaii where he as a construction business.
They say he was spotted with a rifle at a Florida golf course where Donald Trump -- the Florida golf course where Donald Trump was playing golf.
The former president was about four or 500 yards away at the time. The Secret Service saw the rifle poking out against -- from the tree line.
Shot, ran off, got into a car, drove off.
These other details we are looking forward to getting more of in the next moment.
Sources said, we have two gun charges laid so far. Routh has appeared in court and remains in jail.
Paula Reid is with me.
Paula, I apologize, I always, always do, if I have to interrupt you because the press conference is getting underway, so I shall be firm in directive
it happens, but you tell me the events of the day so far where you are.
PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: I would expect nothing less and I will heed any interruptions you need to make.
Several hours ago, the suspect appear here in this federal court behind me, in front of a federal judge for the first time. And during this appearance,
he was shackled. Both his hands and his legs. Remember here, there are no cameras inside federal court, so we are relying on the reporting from our
colleagues and Richard, they tell us, he was wearing dark prison scrubs and he only spoke a little during this hearing saying, "yes, judge," nodding
his head a few times as he was asked a series of questions.
And it was during this hearing that he first learned the charges that he is facing. He faces two counts, including possession of a firearm by a
convicted felon and receipt of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
Now, this investigation is still in its early stages. We are still gathering information and we fully expect based on what else they uncover
that they will add additional charges against Mr. Routh.
Now, there are questions about what those charges will be. Now, his next hearing is currently scheduled for September 23rd. That is what is called a
detention hearing and there, prosecutors are expected to argue why they believe he should continue to be detained ahead of a possible trial. They
will argue that not only is he a threat to society, they will also argue that he is flight risk.
QUEST: We are in such an early stage here of the whole proceedings. I mean, for instance, the Hawaii connection, the man is from Hawaii. When was he in
Florida?
We know he had food with him and things like that. We just don't know how long he had been waiting because apparently and do correct me, Paula
apparently, it was not widely known that Donald Trump was going to play golf yesterday afternoon at that course.
REID: That is correct. What is really surprising, one of the learned in the charging documents is prosecutors reveal that his cell phone data suggests
that he was in the vicinity of the golf club, the Trump International Golf Club for 12 hours. I mean, that is really significant, it raises a lot of
questions that investigators are going to get at this press conference about well, why was he allowed to be there for so long?
This is a spot a lot of times when we are trying to get photos of the former president when he was in office, but you know that that is a
potential vulnerability. How is somebody able to be in that area for such a long period of time? I think investigators are going to face a lot of
questions about that, also, unusual questions like you said, why was he there if it wasn't known that Trump was going to be on the golf course.
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There are so many questions right now, unanswered in this investigation. But Richard, the more information they can get, that will help inform what
additional charges they can file. Because one thing I think a lot of people expect is that there will be some sort of assassination attempt charge, but
state-level problem security say that that could be hard. It might be hard to charge him because of the distance between him and the former president.
So, they are still gathering a lot more information and then they're going to figure out what in the Federal Code they can charge him with.
QUEST: And that raises a whole set of new issues.
Paula, grateful. Thank you.
They are running a bit late on this. We are very glad that we were able to hear all from you.
Our senior law enforcement analyst is Charles Ramsey. He is with us. I will offer you, sir, the same apology, if I have to interrupt while we -- if
this news conference gets underway.
So these early charges are just holding charges. What would you expect would be the most serious?
CHARLES RAMSEY, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, they are both very serious, they are both felonies. The obliterated serial number
obviously, is a very serious charge, and he is a convicted felon from years ago when he was caught in possession of a machine gun, actually, and so
both those charges are very serious.
And I do suspect that there will be additional charges filed later. But as was mentioned earlier in your reporting, it may not be that easy to place
charges regarding the attempted assassination.
We may more in this press conference, I hope so. They have some additional information, motive, things of that nature that might help them in finding
further charges.
QUEST: On the security aspect, at one level, this is a rampant success for the Secret Service. They spotted, they dealt with, law enforcement
apprehended. The man is going to be in court, the suspect is in court, but it raises the difficult issue of how much wider the perimeter of security -
- I do beg your pardon, it looks like they are assembling.
Charles, I will come back to you in just a moment, if I may, while I just give some commentary over here over what we are going to see in just a
second or two.
It does raise the question of the perimeter that is necessary for the former president within the resources that are currently being expended.
RAMSEY: Well, I mean, its success, but it is also a failure in some regards. I mean, a success in the fact that they were able to spot the
gunman and intervene early on before a chance he can do anything, but he never should have gotten that close and the failure is not protecting the
outer perimeter.
Now, Secret Service has limited resources, but they do have the direct state or local authorities to take that position so that, you know, there
is no chance that anybody could just sneak in there and lay in the bushes to take a shot. I mean, that just should not happen.
So they are going to have to review their security and make adjustments accordingly.
QUEST: Essentially for that to happen, you're talking about lockdown, you're essentially saying that there needs to be a full lockdown and I am
going to say thank you, Charles. Let's join the conference underway.
SHERIFF RIC BRADSHAW, PALM BEACH COUNTY FLORIDA: Okay. Just a couple a little of housekeeping things here, in case you haven't been with me at a
press conference.
We, meaning the gentlemen that are up here, which is the US Attorney, FBI, Secret Service, we are going to give you everything that we have. We are
going to give you the latest updates. They are going to tell you what's going on with the investigation, everything and then, we're going to do a
limited amount of questions.
So make them good, all right. Don't get into what if and all of this, give legitimate questions. You got it?
Okay, everybody ready? Okay.
We are here today to give an update on the investigation in regards to the incident at Trump International.
With me is the US Attorney, the FBI, and the Secret Service.
Just to give you a little information: As you well know, the road down there on Summit is still blocked off. It will be blocked off probably for
the remainder of today, and probably a good portion of tomorrow until some of the investigative things need to be done and finished.
But we are accommodating people in and out, getting them to the library, getting them to the Post Office so the public is not going to be that far
inconvenienced.
The security level at Mar-a-Lago is the highest it can possibly be now. The road closures are back in place and will remain there.
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The checkpoints are in place and my commitment to the Secret Service is to give them every possible resource from PBSO.
Once they determine the level of security that they need, they will get all the resources possible. So having said that, I will let you talk to the US
Attorney.
MARKENZY LAPOINTE, US ATTORNEY, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA: Thank you.
Good afternoon.
Thank you for joining us today. My name is Markenzy Lapointe. I am the United States attorney for the Southern District of Florida.
I want to start by expressing my deep gratitude to Sheriff Ric Bradshaw of Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office for hosting today's press conference and
for his department's assistance with this matter.
I am truly grateful for your leadership, sir.
I am also pleased to be joined by our partners in federal law enforcement from the FBI and the United States Secret Service, and also from ATF.
Joining us today for comments and announcements are special agent in charge, Jeffrey B. Veltri of the FBI Miami Field Office and acting director
of the US Secret Service, Ronald Rowe.
I want to also thank the men and women in law enforcement who have been working around the clock in the initial phase of this ongoing
investigation.
Our partners include federal and local authorities who effectuated the apprehension of the defendant and have aided in ensuring federal charges
were filed against him this morning.
We are here to announce that Ryan Wesley Routh, 58-years-old of Hawaii has been charged by a criminal complaint in the Southern District of Florida
with firearms offenses related to an incident, which occurred yesterday at Trump International Golf Course right here in West Palm Beach.
Routh was charged federally with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and possession and receipt of a firearm with an obliterated serial
number.
He had his initial appearance today before Magistrate Judge Ryon McCabe in the Federal Courthouse in West Palm Beach.
According to the allegations in the complaint, a US Secret Service agent walking the golf course perimeter saw what appeared to be a rifle poking
out of the tree line. After the agent fired his service weapon in the direction of the rifle, a witness saw a man later identified as Routh
fleeing the area in the tree line.
Routh was later apprehended by officers from the Martin County Sheriff's Office in coordination with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.
The complaint alleges that in the area of the tree line from which Routh fled, agents found a digital camera, a backpack, a loaded SKS-style rifle
with a scope, and a black plastic bag containing food. The serial number on the rifle was obliterated.
According to the complaint, Routh was convicted of felonies in North Carolina in December 2002 and March 2010; and therefore, was prohibited
from possessing a firearm.
The FBI is leading this investigation, this ongoing investigation. As the attorney general stated earlier today, the FBI is continuing its
investigation of this incident as an assassination attempt upon the former president.
The investigation remains at its early stages. The entire justice department, including the FBI, the United States Attorney's Office for the
Southern District of Florida and the National Security Division are coordinating closely with our law enforcement partners to fully investigate
and prosecute this matter.
The charges we are announcing a strong collaboration of the agencies represented here. The US Attorney's Office, the Department of Justice would
be unable to carry forth our mission without the invaluable assistance of our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners.
I'd like to thank the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. And we have Chris Robinson here, special agent in charge, and the Secret
Service for the invaluable assistance they are providing -- they have been providing.
I would also like to recognize the Palm Beach County and Martin County Sheriff's Offices for apprehending the defendant, again without the local
authorities to assist in those things, it would be literally impossible to accomplish the things we were able to accomplish on the federal side.
I want to personally thank -- I want to personally express my to the attorneys with the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of
Florida and the Counterterrorism Section of the Justice Department, the National Security Division for their non-stop work over the last 24 to 30
hours.
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Together, we will continue to work tirelessly to ensuring accountability and the pursuit of justice.
At this time, I will invite FBI special agent in charge, Jeff Veltri to the podium. After Special Agent-in-Charge Veltri completes his remark, acting
Director of the US Secret Service, Ronald Rowe will provide remarks before we open the floor for a few questions.
At our end, given that this is a pending matter before the court and the investigation is ongoing, all comments will be limited.
Thank you very much.
JEFFREY B. VELTRI, FBI SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, MIAMI FIELD OFFICE: Good afternoon.
For a quick introduction, my name is Jeffrey Veltri, FBI special agent in charge for the Miami Field Office.
The FBI immediately responded to the scene here in West Palm Beach, Florida and we are investigating this matter as an apparent assassination attempt
of former President Trump.
We view this as extremely serious and are determined to provide answers as to what led up to the events which took place.
I want to emphasize, we are just a little over 24 hours into this investigation, so we are going to provide as much as we can publicly while
our investigation is still ongoing.
We must also stress that the United States Attorney's Office is pursuing charges and that limits some of the details that we can discuss publicly.
Yesterday afternoon, Martin County Sheriff's Office took custody of Ryan Routh and he was transported back to Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.
Our FBI agents then attempted to interview him and he invoked his right to an attorney.
In the last 24 hours, the FBI and our partners have been dedicated to investigating the incident and utilizing all available resources. These
efforts have included our investigative team and the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida in conjunction with
DOJ's National Security Division are actively working hand in hand to pursue and subsequently execute search warrants.
Thus far, the warrants include a video recording device, subjects, cellular devices, a vehicle, and other electronic devices located at previous known
addresses.
We are coordinating with the United States Secret Service to complete numerous interviews of agents on-scene. We have also interviewed seven
civilian witnesses at the scene, and that is just the beginning.
Our FBI's Honolulu and Charlotte Field Offices have initiated interviews of several family members, friends, and former colleagues of the subject.
FBI has deployed several specialty teams and assets from headquarters and our lab division in Quantico to include evidence and critical incident
response personnel.
The evidence response team is collecting and processing multiple evidentiary items. These range from the rifle, which is an SKS model with a
scope and obliterated serial numbers to two bags, the subject's electronics and what appears to be ceramic tiles.
DNA has also been collected from those items, which are being sent to Quantico for testing. We will also process the subject's vehicle for
evidence.
The Cellular Analysis Survey Team, what we refer to as CAST conducted thorough analysis of the subject's cellular device locations. The CAST
analysis aligns with witnesses account of the subject's presence at the scene both before and around the time of the incident on September 15th.
More specifically, we are continuing to conduct analysis and will be compiling the subject's movements in the days and months leading up to
September 15th.
Cellular data shows that the subject was in the vicinity of the golf course roughly 12 hours before the engagement with the United States Secret
Service.
Our investigative teams conducted a neighborhood canvas in an effort to collect and obtain relevant video footage. The subject had an active online
presence and we are going through what he posted and any searches he conducted online.
In addition, we are going through media reports and public statements he made that he wanted to recruit Afghan soldiers and others to fight for
Ukraine.
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The FBI has sent multiple requests to companies for returns on the subject's phone and social media accounts.
We received several returns and are waiting on additional responses from other companies as well.
Our investigative team is completing analysis of the returns. An actioning needed and we anticipate continuing until the FBI knows the full totality
of the subject's social media presence.
By way of his background, in 2002 as the United States Attorney mentioned, the subject was charged and convicted in North Carolina for possession of a
weapon of mass destruction. Law enforcement checks also revealed that from 1997 to 2010, the subject had numerous felony charges for stolen goods.
I can also share with you that he was the subject of a previously closed 2019 tip to the FBI where it was alleged he was a felon in possession of a
firearm.
And following up on the tip, the alleged complainant was interviewed and did not verify, I repeat, did not verify providing the initial information.
The FBI passed that information to local law enforcement in Honolulu.
On behalf of the FBI, I would like to thank the Palm Beach Sheriff's Office and Martin County Sheriff's Office for their incredible work in actioning
the witnesses information and rapidly apprehending the subject.
I would also like to thank the United States Secret Service, the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida, the
Department Of Justice's National Security Division, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and our FBI field offices in both
Honolulu and Charlotte, who have been conducting additional law enforcement activity related to the subject.
Your continued partnerships have been invaluable.
Oftentimes in law enforcement, we tell citizens to be vigilant and aware of their surroundings. Yesterday, a citizen provided remarkable assistance,
which led to the arrest of this subject.
We appreciate the public's diligence in passing potential tips and information regarding the subject in this incident to the FBI.
If you have any information, please call 1-800-CALL-FBI, or go online to TIPS, that's T-I-P-S dot fbi dot gov.
With that, let me turn it over to the United States Secret Service acting Director Ronald Rowe.
RONALD ROWE, ACTING UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE DIRECTOR: Good afternoon, everybody.
Yesterday afternoon, this country was reminded of the heightened and dynamic threat environment the United States Secret Service and its
protectees face on a daily basis.
Merely following the assassination attempt of former President Donald J. Trump on July 13th, the Secret Service moved to increase assets to an
already enhanced security posture for the former president.
In the days that followed, President Biden made it clear that he wanted the highest levels of protection for former President Trump and for Vice
President Harris.
The Secret Service moved to sustain increases in assets and the level of protections sought and those things were in place yesterday.
At approximately 1:30 PM, former President Trump was playing golf during an off the record movement through the Trump International Golf Course. A
Secret Service advance agent supporting the front edge of the agency's layered approach to protection encountered an individual attempting to
secrete himself in the wood line. This happened -- the alleged gunman was on the public side of the fence near the sixth green.
A layered approach of security is integral to the Secret Service's protective methodologies and it is also the key to our success.
As former President Trump was moving through the fifth fairway across the course and out of sight of the sixth green, the agent who is visually
sweeping the area of the sixth green saw the subject armed with what he perceived to be a rifle and immediately discharged his firearm.
The subject who did not have line of sight to the former president, fled the scene. He did not fire or get off any shots at our agent.
With reports of gunfire, the former president's close protection detail immediately evacuated the president to a safe location.
The protective methodologies of the Secret Service were effective yesterday. The former president's protective apparatus allowed for the
early identification of the threat and led to a safe evacuation.
The increased assets by the president -- by President Biden were in place yesterday. These included the counter sniper team elements, counter
surveillance placed -- counter surveillance agents on the exterior, counter assault teams partnered with local tactical assets from the Palm Beach
County Sheriff's Office and counter unmanned aerial system elements.
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All of these entities were present yesterday.
And while all of these assets were in place, as I've said publicly, we must satisfy the basic requirements of the Secret Services protective
methodologies.
In partnership with local enforcement, we did just that, and the agents' hyper vigilance and the detail's swift action was textbook. And I commend
them and our partners for an exemplary response in keeping former President Trump safe.
And I will tell you, having served in local law enforcement in Palm Beach County, I can state that I am tremendously impressed and appreciative for
all the efforts of the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office and Sheriff Snyder with the Martin County Sheriff's Office.
But what was critical to this was the quick reaction, the response, the hypervigilance of the men and women of the United States Secret Service who
since July 13th have been rising to meet in unprecedented and hydrodynamic threat environment and they are rising to this moment and I could not be
more proud of them in the way they have executed not only yesterday, but what they're doing today, and what they are doing tomorrow and what they
will always do because it is their duty.
Thank you.
BRADSHAW: Okay, all right. Slow here, folks. All right, don't everybody do it once.
Ask who you want to answer question, and then give the question.
REPORTER: Director, is there any evidence to suggest that the suspect knew that Donald Trump would be on the golf course at that time? And was the
golf course searched thoroughly before the former president's arrival?
ROWE: So at this time, it was an off the record movement, meaning it was not on the former president's official schedule and what I go back to is
the layered approach.
The elements and the methodologies of the Secret Service. There was a front element, it did its job in sweeping ahead of the president. That's what
identified this individual who was in that wood line and the swift action of that agent doing his job, pushing out ahead, sweeping while the
president was behind him several hundred yards and several holes away out of sight from the gunman, did his job and that was what alerted the detail
and the swift action is what triggered that.
REPORTER: -- question, was there any evidence to suggest that the suspect knew that Donald Trump was going to be on that golf course at that time?
ROWE: Based on what I know now and it is an active investigation, I don't have any information on that.
BRADSHAW: Harriette Parker (ph).
REPORTER: How many times did your agents go around the perimeter and scope out the golf course during the 12 hours that this guy was holed up in the
tree line?
ROWE: So we -- this was an off the record movement. It wasn't a site that was on his scheduled -- it wasn't part of his schedule.
So there was no posting up of it because he wasn't supposed to have gone there in the first place.
Garrett Haake.
GARRETT HAAKE, REPORTER: Have you briefed former President Trump on your findings so far and has his campaign asked for any changes in his security
going forward after yesterday?
ROWE: So, sorry. Sorry.
So I've had a conversation with the former president. You know, we've explained and we've worked with the campaign. The president is aware that
he has highest levels of protection that the Secret Service is providing him.
REPORTER: -- reaction that we saw yesterday?
ROWE: We constantly evaluate based on threat and yesterday, what we show is that our agents and our protective methodologies, and there is a lot of
tactical assets in place, things that have been put in place as a result of what happened 60 days ago. Those elements are working and that demonstrates
the redundancies that we have.
And so we constantly evaluate. We will, of course, look at this and see what lessons learned from it, but as of right now, we are constantly
evaluating that threat.
And if we need to ratchet up, additionally, we will.
Yes, sir.
REPORTER: Do we know when Routh arrived in Florida in general, when he arrived in Palm Beach area.
ROWE: That's a question probably for the FBI.
REPORTER -- been at the golf course prior to the scoping it out.
VELTRI: We are in the process of collecting a lot of evidence and that will be part of that investigation to determine his whereabouts going back quite
some time.
REPORTER: Did he say where he might have gotten that --
VELTRI: That's part of the investigation as well, again, that's going to be a little bit challenged until we are able to determine the serial number on
that gun.
So we are hopeful to be able to do that.
REPORTER: Do you know if he has a history of mental illness?
VELTRI: We are still looking into that.
REPORTER: -- the highest level of protection that they would lock down the golf course? Was that a miscommunication then being that President Biden
ordered the highest level of protection?
ROWE: Okay, so here's the deal, when it comes to Secret Service protection, we provide the highest level. So, for example, yesterday, counter assault
team elements. I'm not going to go into the number of personnel that we have out there, but we have the highest levels from Secret Service. When we
work with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, like, for example, yesterday, during that emergency action response, we had their local
tactical team assets partner with our local tactic tactical team assets.
We had their helicopter up in the air providing us 360 and situational awareness of the overhead for any, if there were, any potential threats
coming to add us. So, what we did yesterday was exercise our emergency plan based on the number of tactical assets and the highest level of protection
that we are providing. The sheriff and I have talked. Now clearly, when you go down southern Boulevard right now and you try to get over to Palm Beach,
and you see the robust presence that's existing outside of Mar-a-Lago, the heavy uniform presence, the additional assets of the Secret Service.
And for those of you that were here in 20 -- in 2017 when the President was in office, when you look at that footprint now, and you look at it today, I
-- there's not much difference there. There is heavy uniform presence out there. And again, what I go back to is yesterday was an off-the-record
movement. Off the record, and the President wasn't even really supposed to go there. It was not on his official schedule.
And so, we put together a security plan, and that security plan worked.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- in the vicinity. Special Agent Veltri, in terms of him being in the vicinity based on his phone records, is there any evidence
to show that Routh was in this -- in the vicinity, in the area before Sunday? And when you say in the vicinity, does that mean right there, at
that spot, in those bushes or could it have been, you know, down the street at a restaurant?
JEFFREY B. VELTRI, SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, FBI MIAMI FIELD OFFICE: It was in very close proximity to where he was spotted by the Secret Service. In
terms of your first question, whether he was there earlier, our investigation is still looking to determine that.
BRADSHAW: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. We're going to do two more. You get one.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.
BRADSHAW: All right? Only two more. You get one.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. We understand that the Secret Service has asked Congress for additional resources, says the (INAUDIBLE) Butler have you
received those resources?
ROWE: So, thank you for that question. So, we are working. Look, the Secret Service operates under a paradox of zero fail mission but also that we have
done more with less for decades, and this goes back many, many, many, many decades, right? What I can tell you is that we have immediate needs right
now and we have great support, not only from President Biden and you saw his public statement today where he said that, you know, he's going to
direct his staff to make sure that the Secret Service has the resources its needs.
We're having fantastic conversations with members of Congress. I've been up to the Hill last week. We are continuing to have those conversations, but
the long and short of it is this, coming out of Butler, I have ordered a paradigm shift. The Secret Service's protective methodologies work and they
are sound and we saw that yesterday. But the way we are positioned right now in this dynamic threat environment, it has given me guidance to say,
you know what? We need to look at what our protective methodology is.
We need to get out of a reactive model and get to a readiness model. There could be another geopolitical event that could put the United States into a
kinetic conflict or some other -- some other issue that may result in additional responsibilities and protectees of the United States Secret
Service. And so, we are working, we are making information available to all of our partners.
And I just want to say that the commitment of Congress to the Secret Service throughout the years has been tremendous, and we will continue to
work with them and Secretary Mayorkas, whose support in making sure that we're getting what we need has been phenomenal. He is one of our biggest
champions in our advocate. And so we're having these conversations, and I feel confident that we will get what we need, we have immediate needs.
We have future needs too. I need to make sure that our counter snipers are the best trained counter snipers in the world, that they are exactly doing
what we need them to do, and that they match counterparts in the military, in tier one forces. And right now, we are working with Congress to make
sure that we get those for our training facility. We also have a necessary need for to make sure that we're getting the personnel that we have.
And that requires us to be able to have the funding, to be able to hire more people. You can't just give me money and say, hey, we're going to make
sure that everybody gets overtime. Because the men and women of the Secret Service right now, we are redlining them, and they are rising to this
moment, and they are meeting the challenges right now. And if you look back at their body of work over the last 60 days, the Republican National
Convention in Milwaukee, the Republican National Convention in Chicago.
[16:35:06]
A visit of Prime Minister Netanyahu to Washington, D.C. and to West Palm Beach, which Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office supported. And then we go
into the presidential debate in Philadelphia last week. And for those in the media that have been to a national special security event, if you saw
the National Constitution Center last week, what you saw was pretty much a mini national special security event with the number of assets that we're
all in that perimeter.
And so, our folks are rising to this moment, but it requires all of us to be able to have good conversations and make sure that we're getting the
Secret Service where it needs to be. And I'm confident that we will achieve that because we don't have an alternative success. We have to have it every
day. We cannot have failures. And in order to do that, we're going to have some hard conversations with Congress, and we're going to achieve that.
BRADSHAW: Last question, one more.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) FBI.
VELTRI: Yes, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did he act alone? Did he have some kind of help?
VELTRI: At this point, we're still exploring that investigating that. Our investigation will determine that. We do not have information that he's
been acting with anyone else at present.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do we know how long he's been in Florida when he arrived?
BRADSHAW: Oh, you snuck one at that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At this point --
VELTRI: Our investigation is still determining that. Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did any one see him --
BRADSHAW: Anyhow. Oh, that's it. We're not going to -- we're not going to do anymore. All right. You got a lot of information there. The last thing I
will tell you is like the director of the Secret Service says, you know, the President called me last night, President Trump, he thanked me for
everything that we did along with the Secret Service. He knows we work great together, and he feels safe.
That's important because he is. And what we did yesterday proves that the system can work, because the suspect didn't even get close to getting a
round off, and we apprehended him and brought him to justice. So, we're very, very proud of that. Thank you, folks for being here. I appreciate it.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, there we are. That was a briefing and a half, an extremely impressive performance. Extremely
impressive performance there by Ronald Rowe, the acting director of the Secret Service. We had the FBI, the Sheriff Rick Bradshaw, no messing
around with him when it came to extra questions. And we have with us our senior Law Enforcement Analyst Charles Ramsey and Josh Campbell who is in
Los Angeles.
Now, an enormous amount of information in some shape or form. So, I'm just going to pass it out bit by bit. Essentially, the facts are as we know
them, he was there at the tree line, several 100 yards away. Donald Trump is on the fifth fairway. This guy, Routh, is on the sixth green. Secret
Service agents and the advance sector at the front line sees the -- sees the rifle, fires off a shot. Routh escapes witness. Pick gets the number
and the rest of this (INAUDIBLE) in custody charge now with two holding charges.
In addition to this, what was interesting is the way in which the Acting Director of the FBI framed the whole action. He talked about it as
textbook, exemplary, hyper vigilance, hyper dynamic. He said that as a result of the Butler assassination attempt on Donald Trump back in July
that President Biden had ordered the highest level of security for Donald Trump, that meant more counter snipers, counter surveillance, counter
assault and counter drone activity or unmanned vehicle.
Put that into place, he says, that was in place yesterday, which is why he describes Butler as having created a paradigm shift in the way the Secret
Service adopts the highest level. So, with all that on your plate, Charles Ramsey's with me, Josh Campbell is with me. To Josh first, what stood out
for you from what he said?
JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we're seeing here, Richard is the full weight of the federal government and local police,
state police, essentially flooding this crime scene with resources now. And chief among those resources involved technology, and we know in this day
and age, Chief Charles Ramsey, when he was running investigations, knows the value of tracking someone's cell phone. And that is what is giving them
insight into what was transpiring in the run up to this incident.
[16:40:04]
They say that the suspect, based on an analysis of his cell phone data, the FBI can get a warrant in order to see what cell phone towers your cell
phone is registering to, that he was there 12 hours before this incident. So, a lot of questions here, was this someone who was essentially just
lying and wait? How did he actually know that Donald Trump might be there at that time? The Secret Service Director described Trump's arrival there
as an OTR, an off-the-record event, which means it's something that's not on the former President's public schedule.
And so, you know, Donald Trump is a creature of habit. He often goes to play golf there. So, was this just a coincidence that this shooter
officially get lucky with the timing? We don't yet know, but we did learn a lot there about what was transpiring running up to this event, and then
just the background we've been reporting. The suspect has a true, troubling social media presence that they're looking into as well.
QUEST: We'll get at all time in a minute. Charles, I want to come to you. This -- what Josh was just about, the off-the-record movement. Now this is
where, basically, if you don't know somebody is going to turn up, you don't necessarily flood the place with police or whatever, and you can't lock it
down. The spur of the moment, if you will. But the way the director, the acting director was talking about it, everything worked well with this
layered approach for such OTRMS.
CHARLES RAMSEY, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, I mean, it worked well in the sense that the Secret Service agent was able to spot this
individual's rifle and take immediate action. But there are still some holes in that, because the outer perimeter was not secured. Granted, it was
a off-the-record type of movement. I would imagine he plays golf there quite a bit, so they probably have a security package that they've used in
the past. They had no reason to believe that there was going to be an incident yesterday.
But there are a lot of vulnerabilities on that particular course because of his proximity, in a couple places to that roadway. So, the question still
remains, he's in the area for at least 12 hours. We don't know if he was actually in the bushes for that time. Was he somewhere nearby? He had that
GoPro camera that they recovered. Did he have that someplace where he was able to remotely watch what was going on on the golf course?
We don't know the answer to that. FBI may know, but we don't know at this point in time. So there still a lot of work that needs to be done, but it
sounds like they're making some decent progress.
QUEST: This idea of this paradigm shift, Josh, that the director talked about. I mean, he was extremely impressive in the way he put his argument
forward, hyper, dynamic, layered approach, front sweeping. Do you get the impression? I mean, on the one hand, this was able to happen, therefore, or
go it's a failure. On the other hand, it didn't succeed or go it's a success. Is the Secret Service getting on top of this?
CAMPBELL: Well, they're certainly working at it. And as you know, the past director was actually -- she resigned after that first assassination
attempt, the Secret Service obviously came under tremendous criticism that incident was essentially a wakeup call. You know, talking with law
enforcement sources, there's this idea that perhaps the Secret Service had gotten complacent over the years.
You know, the more you go without some type of serious incident, do you start to, you know, lose some of your, you know, being on you're a-game all
the time? And so that was certainly a wakeup call. But your point here, Richard, you know, which is so interesting, you know, I've been talking
with law enforcement sources over -- throughout the night and what they describe is that they're -- as good as they are as that first agent to
actually spot the barrel of that weapon, this comes down to a little bit of luck as well.
You can imagine that if that shooter had not presented the muzzle of that firearm outside of that fence, and then he was never seen by this advance
agent from the Secret Service. We might be in a very different world right now. And so, you know, to your point, it's successful in the sense that
they spotted him. But a lot of questions about, you know, how do you secure a perimeter for someone who was so high profile.
QUEST: And Charles, I mean, looking at demands, obviously we'll get to the social media aspect. But, you know, looking at his previous convictions and
law, it's a bit of a rag bag of, you know, stolen goods, bit of fellow, bit of firearms. There's nothing in that rag bag of charges and convictions
that would lead one to assume, except, arguably, the Ukraine business and the social media that he's about to become an attempted assassin of a
former president.
RAMSEY: Well, he did have a charge of being in possession of a weapon of mass destruction in short of machine gun, is what he was in possession of.
The other charges were pretty much, you know, theft-related phony theft, but theft nonetheless. So, if you couple that with the social media
information that they're getting now about Ukraine, he was over there, he's recruiting people to go to Ukraine and so forth.
[16:45:09]
When you combine those two things together, it does start to paint a picture of an individual who obviously is pretty dangerous, someone who has
a good feel for high-powered type of weapons and not pleased with the former president's position as it relates to the war in Ukraine. Now, that
doesn't mean that's a motive. They don't know that. We don't know that, but it would be certainly something you'd want to dig a little deeper into to
see whether or not that's possibly why he did what he did.
QUEST: OK. This is the hardest question, arguably to you, Charles. The sheriff says that Donald Trump called him and said, thank you, obviously,
and he feels safe. Trump says (INAUDIBLE) he is. He feels safe. Is that a justifiable feeling? Should he feel safe? Bearing in mind what you've told
me, that the element of luck in turn both -- I'll take -- I'll take a short answer from both of you on this.
Bearing in mind the element of luck that if that layered approach of the first officer had not seen this thing, Trump's only 500 yards away on the
fifth fairway, and the sixth screen is next. Give me your thoughts, Charles.
RAMSEY: Well, I mean, that's an individual feeling, whether or not you feel safe or not. But here's the reality. We are in a very dangerous environment
right now, heightened threats, not only to the former president and candidates, but election workers and so forth. I mean, this is a very
dangerous time and people need to realize that and really take steps to work with law enforcement to really do all we can to try to, you know,
protect them.
QUEST: Josh, I'll let you have (INAUDIBLE) that one as well before I take a break.
CAMPBELL: Yes. I would just point out this is also a nation that is awash in firearms, which you can imagine someone like the former president who's
surrounded by the most highly trained, best bodyguards in the world, is still in danger, and because of this type of weaponry that we've seen time
and again in the shootings and attempted shootings. And so, as we talk about security and perimeters and all of that, there's also this larger
debate that continues in this country about what to do with these high- power assault style rifles.
QUEST: A debate that will last for another day, week, month and year. Thank you, sir. Thank you, both of you. This is our coverage of the ongoing
events, very detailed news conference. We'll have more analysis in just a moment. You're watching CNN. I'm glad you're with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:50:16]
QUEST: President. Biden has decried all political violence and praise the Secret Service for their handling on the attempt on Donald Trump's life.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Let me just say there is no and I mean this in the bottom of -- those of you know me, many of you do, no
place in political violence for political violence in America, none. Zero. In America, we resolve our difference peacefully the ballot box, not at the
end of a gun.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: So, Donald Trump has already blaming the rhetoric of President Biden and Vice President Harris for causing the assassination attempt. Adam
Kinzinger is with me now. CNN senior political commentator, former House Republican, I -- look, Adam, he didn't waste much time, did he? I mean,
you'll have listened to what the Secret Service said, but basically Donald Trump is saying, well, if Harris and Biden hadn't raised the political
temperature, none of this would have happened.
ADAM KINZINGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. I mean, look, it's good to be with you and look, we know, look at Donald Trump's rhetoric. I
mean, if we want to do a rhetoric comparison, I don't think there's anybody with a straight face that would pretend like Donald Trump has stayed above
board on rhetoric. You know, the reality is politics kind of like Hollywood, kind of pulls out the craziest in people and sometimes the most
mentally unstable people.
That's what you have here. The idea of saying that Donald Trump is a threat to democracy is like somehow a dog whistle for come and try to do violence
is insane. And let's make it clear, as everybody should know, that's done politics for any amount of time. Political discourse is just that. It's
political discourse. In politics, by the way, was invented to prevent violence. It's the whole reason we have politics.
QUEST: But Adam, just humor me. Is there -- is there an argument that says that Donald Trump has raised the political heat to such an extent. He's put
so much pressure in the pressure cooker that these sort of events, it become the inevitable result. If you spew hate long enough, as some would
say, if you sell everybody, they are nasty. You know, let me give you one example. I hate Taylor Swift.
If you use the word hate often enough, the inevitable consequence is eventually something like this. Do you accept?
KINZINGER: Well, I agree. I fully agree with you. I mean, look, you know, we used -- I was just actually, while I was waiting to come on, I was
thinking like I kind of missed the political elections where it was just like bumper stickers, yard signs and commercials. And now everything is so
existential, an existential crisis. Yes, when you enter, you know, former American presidents or even candidates for president would never say things
like hate, unless it's, I hate poverty or I hate inequality, or, you know, they wouldn't even say they hated the Soviet Union when we were fighting,
you know, had a Cold War and Soviet Union.
So, yes, when you create deep division, fear and mistrust, and you put that in the ether, it just creates a really toxic soup, and that's where we're
at right now.
QUEST: How does the Secret Service protect Donald Trump, other than as would seem to be, what President Biden is now insisting upon, you give him
the same level of security as if you were a sitting president?
KINIZINGER: I mean, I guess that's the only option right now. And, you know, again, we don't want any attempted assassinations on anybody.
Obviously, there have been two now, and so you have to give him the security. He needs to be safe. I just hope that everybody, and this is just
my opinion, and everybody takes this moment to say, we don't want this anymore, like we don't want these threats of violence.
We don't want a former president to have to have the same amount of security as a current president. And hopefully we can learn from it, but
it's going to be a toxic 45 days ahead of us, I'm afraid.
QUEST: Put your politician hat back on, please, sir. Assuming you ever took it off. But, you know. Yes. I'm already hearing the way in which Donald
Trump makes political capital out of this. And some would say, you know, fair enough, if you have had an assassination attempt or two, then you're
entitled to. Is there a political angle for the President in this?
KINZINGER: Well, there is. I mean, look, he can and probably has raised a lot of money off the -- off the last one. And this one, I actually saw that
he didn't waste any time in putting out a fundraising appeal based on the second attempt. So rawly political. Yes, there's a way to do it. You're not
going to necessarily swing Kamala Harris voters to your side because of this, but you're going to gin up the anger of your base, it's effective in
making sure they vote.
[16:55:05]
And -- but unfortunately, again, eventually it just creates a toxic soup. So yes, I think this can be to his advantage. When you gin up the anger of
your base, it's effective in making sure they vote. And -- but unfortunately, again, eventually it just creates a toxic soup. So yes, I
think this can be to his advantage on fundraising and on turnout, but it's not necessarily going to shift the polls in any way.
QUEST: Adam, I'm grateful for you. Just the chat we needed tonight. Thank you very much, sir. Thank you.
We will take a profitable moment. It comes to you after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Tonight's profitable moment, there is a TikTok or Instagram during the rounds at the moment that shows various presidential candidates
disagreeing with each other but praising their opponent. I respect my opponent is a good American. We disagree on policies, not on principles. My
opponent is a good man. He has his heart of America, et cetera, et cetera. You get the idea. This is where you can disagree without being
disagreeable.
And indeed, the tradition in politics has always been, I respect your right to have those views. They're just wrong and that's the big difference now.
Now we no longer respect people's rights to have different views. If you have a different view, it's not only wrong, it must be excoriated, and you
must be admonished and driven. And then you go one stage further, and I hate Taylor Swift.
Why? Well, I don't, but Donald Trump tweeted that because she has endorsed Kamala Harris. Instead of doing a clever Taylor Swift has no choice. Taylor
has no good values. Taylor has no this, not the other, instead of doing anything else, you went for the low vote I hate. The moment you start using
the word I hate, we hate. It's hateful. It's hated. Then you are starting to raise the pressure in the pressure cooker that eventually leads to
events that you just don't want to control because eventually hate will lead to violence.
[17:00:06]
It's not nice to say but it's a simple fact of life which is why we say on this program, that's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS for tonight. I'm Richard Quest in
New York. Whatever you're up to in the hours ahead, I hope it's profitable. I'll be with you tomorrow.
END
