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Laura Coates Live

Biden, Trump Urge Unity as FBI Hunts for Gunman's Motive

Live from Milwaukee, the site of the Republican National Convention, Laura talks about the ongoing investigation into the assassination attempt on Donald Trump with Gordon Heddell, former Assistant Director of the Secret Service and Peter Strzok, former FBI Deputy Assistant Director. Plus, Trump's VP shortlist all react differently to the shooting and Trump says he is rewriting his convention speech to focus on unity. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Duration:
46m
Broadcast on:
15 Jul 2024
Audio Format:
mp3

Live from Milwaukee, the site of the Republican National Convention, Laura talks about the ongoing investigation into the assassination attempt on Donald Trump with Gordon Heddell, former Assistant Director of the Secret Service and Peter Strzok, former FBI Deputy Assistant Director. Plus, Trump's VP shortlist all react differently to the shooting and Trump says he is rewriting his convention speech to focus on unity.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's Sunday in Milwaukee on the eve of the Republican National Convention. Former President Donald Trump is here in the city tonight and it's been 24 hours since this country witnessed a former American president placed in grave danger. 24 hours since the bullet was close enough to grace his ear while he campaigned for reelection. The world, let alone the nation, was holding its collective breath wondering if this would be the day that so many of our parents and our grandparents and even ourselves once asked, where were you when? But he is here and ready to accept his party's nomination this very week. Just as in the seconds after he emerged from under the weight of secret service, shielding not only him, but our nation from a terrible and tragic repeat of history, he pumped his fists while exiting his plane just a few hours ago. His team, they say he is doing well and were told the CT scan he underwent, it came back clear. But the attempt on his life has cast a long and dark shadow over the convention, the campaign and frankly, the entire nation. President Biden appealed to the nation tonight imploring America to remember that while we may disagree, we cannot treat each other as enemies. There is no place in America of this kind of violence for any violence ever, period, no exceptions. We can't allow this violence to be normalized. You know the political record in this country has gotten very heated. It's time to cool it down. We all have a responsibility to do that. We stand for in America, not of extremism and fury, but of decency and grace. All of us now face the time of testing as the election approaches, and the higher the stakes, the more fervent the passions become. This place is an added burden on each of us to ensure that no matter how strong our convictions we must never descend into violence. Now Donald Trump's acceptance speech were told will now focus on unity, not Biden. He told a reporter today that he is rewriting the entire thing, quote, "honestly, it's going to be a whole different speech now." But first, there is an urgent investigation underway to try and figure out how the 20-year-old gunman was able to nearly assassinate Donald Trump. He had obtained this video, showing the shooter in position, ready to fire. But what happens in the moment right before he pulled the trigger is the question everyone's asking. We're getting a little bit closer to that answer. Listen to CNN's Brian Todd. Laura, we have new information on the shooter's movements during and just before the shooting occurred. We do know that the shooter was roughly 150 meters away. That's less than 500 feet away from the former president when the shooting started. We also were told by a former, by the sheriff of Butler County, Michael Sloop, that law enforcement officers did see the shooter on top of the building. We went to investigate one law enforcement officer hoisted himself up according to the sheriff to this ledge of the rooftop and was cleaned to the rooftop when he saw the shooter. According to the sheriff, the shooter saw him and pointed his weapon at the law enforcement officer. But at that point, the officer was not, he was holding onto the ledge and could not engage the shooter with his weapon. So the officer had to drop down for his own safety. At that point, the shooting started. Brian, thank you so much. It's pretty unbelievable to think this has happened. The FBI, they believe the gunman acted alone. You know, as of now, the FBI says no motive has emerged, no ideology. All we know is that he was a registered Republican, but once donated to a progressive group. Explosive materials were found in the gunman's car and at his home. The AR-15 he used was purchased legally by his father. How the gunman got it is still being looked into. I want to bring in former assistant director of Secret Service, Gordon Hiddell, and former deputy of the FBI's counterintelligence division, Peter Strzok, gentlemen. Thank you both for being here this evening. The world has so many questions and I want to begin with you here, Gordon. I wonder from your perspective, what is the most pressing question the Secret Service needs to answer at this very hour? Well, Laura, it's good to be with you tonight. Thank you. Well, in the wake of the recent attempted assassination of candidate president Trump, the Secret Service is facing some very pressing questions. Director Cheetell and her team face a critical week. If it were just the attempted assassination of former president Trump, the pressure on the Secret Service would be more than enough. However, tomorrow the Republican convention kicks off, followed a few weeks later by the Democratic convention. These are designated national security events. The Secret Service is the lead agency for the design and implementation of the operational security plans for both conventions. They've got a lot on their plate, but I can tell you that operating under these kinds of pressures is where the Secret Service traditionally excels. I've done conventions myself, and I can tell you they are not a piece of cake. But they're going to be under a lot of pressure not to have any more missteps. And I'm not saying that they've got another step before, but yes. Well, Gordon, I'm glad you spoke about this in the language you have because I think it's important for people to understand. And Peter, let me bring you into this conversation because the idea of being a designated national security event comes with its own set of requirements and heightened alert because they know that there is a risk and the presence of somebody like a former president just adds that exponentially. But the fact that the gunman was so close, Peter, I mean, we're talking roughly 150 yards away, a little more than a football field. I mean, that is shocking. Why was there no law enforcement on that roof given the proximity where our audience is seeing a diagram of that close proximity as we're sitting here now? Laura, the idea of questions, I'm sorry, are you talking to me, Laura? No, Peter, I'm going to come back to you when I want to get your insight in additionally, too. But Peter, why don't you take that one? Yeah, absolutely. No, I think that's one of the key questions. I mean, 150 meters is a very, very close shot for anybody with a shoulder weapon. You know, a Secret Service colleague here can speak to it much in more depth than I can, but they rely on protection and depth. So you'll have a layer of Secret Service agents around the Prutectee, you'll rely on state and local officials and other federal officials potentially in rings going further out. But I think that is absolutely one of the questions that is going to be asked. It is something that the Secret Service is excellent at doing and clearly did not occur this time. So I think that is a real, notified question and one that I think people are going to make sure things are put in place to ensure that doesn't happen again. We certainly hope not. Gordon, Peter, we're going to come back to you, but thank you so much where your insight is going to be invaluable as we get through all of the next several hours. And thank you. In just 24 hours, just 24 hours from now, Donald Trump could announce his pick for vice president. And now that choice is carrying an additional level of significance after the attempt on a former president's life. Now, the three VP candidates we know are on Trump's shortlist, all reacting to the attempted assassination. Yet, Senator Marco Rubio is saying, God protected President Trump. Governor Doug Bergam saying, we all know President Trump is stronger than his enemies. Today, he showed it. And Senator JD Vance, well, he's blaming the current president. I want to bring in Harry Anton, CNN's senior data reporter, sure, Michael Singleton, CNN public commentator and public strategist, and Ashley Allison's also here, a CNN political commentator. I don't know about you guys, but I have been, my stomach has been turning ever since it's all happened. And I know that people have very serious and visceral reactions, the idea that this is happening in the United States of America. We are under an umbrella of political division, but this is so stunning and so shocking, sure Michael, for so many reasons. And you saw that there were some measured responses from Bergam, from Marco Rubio. Now, JD Vance had a different take on all of this, and I'm wondering from your perspective, what you say, he is blaming Biden, and I wonder what impact that could have. I mean, look, I think people, Laura, should follow Trump's footsteps on this. I think Trump, in a very odd sort of existential way, at 78 years old, saw his life flash before his eyes. And all of the analysis, if it was just a few millimeters, this could have ended very differently. From the perspective of a lot of Republican voters, and I've had the chance to just talk and mingle with a few folks who are here for the convention. And I heard one recurring theme from people, he doesn't have to do this. He's wealthy, he could go and do anything else he wants to do, and yet he's choosing to live this very uncomfortable life where he's disliked by a whole lot of people. And he literally just put his life on the line as one lady told me earlier today for us. And so I think if you look at someone like JD Vance, I understand why people may say, those aren't the best statements during this time. But from the Republican voters that I have spoken with, they're looking at Trump to sort of lead and guide not only them, but hopefully bring the country together this week during the convention. Ashley, how do you see it? Because you know, this is something, we're at a convention, right? We know that this is political season for so many people. I mean, strategists and voters and delegates, we all know how this is rounding out in a normal sense. Policy positions, policy disagreements, all those things. When you are seeing the climate that we are presently in, what is going through your mind in particular? Well, I think it's been going through my mind for some time, even before Saturday, is that we need to take a beat and really have conversations about, so Michael and I talk about this all the time. Let's talk about policy. I'll go toe to toe with you and talk about immigration on this side versus that side. I don't actually need to use violence to get my point of pause. I have words and I have brains and I have emotions. And so I can use all of that to make a argument. That's not what's happening. Obviously, it didn't happen on Saturday. But I do think that JD Vance's comments, the senator from my home state, are not great. They are inappropriate and they should not have been said, not in the first 24 hours of the attempted assassination, and not ever, quite honestly. If we really want to use this moment to turn the page, we need to turn it. People need to acknowledge their role that they have played in it, but what we don't need is people saying, "I'm going to pick on you and I'm going to pick on you." It's somewhat how we got here. And so we do need to rise to the occasion. And the reason why we're even talking about JD Vance in this way is because he is on the short list to be vice president. And the question is, if he is selected, is that the type of person that you actually want to be second in command if Donald Trump were to win in November? Let me bring you in here, Harry, because the country, we talk, the word divided is used as common as maybe the word "the" these days. And we are divided in a lot of sense. Exactly, that's part of the beauty of democracy to have conversations that are productive with a common goal of advancing our society. But divided as we are today has a very different connotation, and we've seen just yesterday what's happened. But what does the latest polling tell us in terms of the divisions and the state of political extremism in this country? You know, I think there's a difference between division and hatred. Yes. And where we're ending up now is ending close to the hatred. One way you can see this is just by looking asking party members, do you have an extremely or very unfavorable view of the other party? You go back 20 years ago, we're talking less than a third of the electorate felt that way about the other party. You look at where we are today. We are talking nearly 70% of Americans who say that they have a very unfavorable view of the other party. The fact is hatred is now taken over as the main political feeling, negative partisanship has taken over as the main political feeling. That is what's driving people. It's not love of their own party necessarily. It's hatred of the other party. And I just would wish taking off my analyst hat for a second, putting on my American hat for a second. I wish that we could just lower the temperature, just lower it. This week is supposed to be a celebration of democracy. That is what conventions are. And instead what we're talking about is fortunately not an actual assassination but a failed assassination of a president. Frankly, this whole thing has been disgusting. And I am very hopeful that we can come together and not be divided as much anymore if even for just a month or two, just to lower the temperature. You know, can I say on that? I think that I agree, I might feel you lowering the temperature and I've been trying to think about and I've been really reflecting on this coming into the Republican National Convention as a Democrat. And I think about my dear friend, Alice Stewart, who we talked tragically lost a couple weeks ago. And I remember there being a moment where I could have been on the verge of going from division to hatred with Alice because we had a disagreement. But there's those moments of intervention where you have to be the adult. Yes. Alice was an adult and I was an adult. And we did not change our point of views on policy. But we actually had a conversation and we don't, we aren't modeling that as an adult. I was glad that the president called the former president to say, I hope you're okay. I'm glad the first lady called Melania to say, I hope you're okay. It's funny. I don't even know if they've ever talked before because they didn't happen at the inauguration. But at moments like this, we have to be the adult and that means we have to model behavior. So again, we can disagree on politics, but I have to see your humanity and then you have to see mine. You know what? You raised a good point. We've introduced the Congressman Melania Trump, the former first lady and she issued a statement. And I think it's worth revisiting for the reasons that we're articulating right now at this moment in time. And she responded by saying, a monster who recognized my husband as an inhuman political machine attempted to wring out Donald's passion, his laughter and genuity, love of music and inspiration, the core facets of my husband's life, his human side were buried below the political machine. She went on to talk about as well of how her life could have changed and remind us all of her young son, Baron. Obviously is growing up in the public side, but you hear this in this notion of the political machine. The political machine sometimes is personified with the person, but oftentimes we all collectively think this is how the sausage is made, right? You bite your tongue every time. The political machine is supposed to foster the environment for that exchange of ideas. To have disparate perspectives, that's supposed to be okay, to be able to challenge each other that old aphorism, iron sharpens iron, iron sharpens iron. That's a great thing. But I think the problem here lowers at this disintegration, this disconnectedness that we have witnessed for about a decade or two now. It has caused individuals on the liberal side, on the conservative side, to see each other as being an existential threat to their existence. When you reach that point, then you get to the level where you do see violence. You do see the pillars that sort of form and hold our foundation slowly begin to crumble. And my concern here, if we don't tone down this rhetoric, as those threads rip apart, it's like a fabric, when it rips so much, you can't repair it. And so I hope the American people understand we're on the brink of going off a cliff and the parachute is not going to open if we don't stop. You know, I think we all have, we're going to come back to this point, it's so important and we're going to continue to talk about this because here we are about a hundred days away from a presidential election. And I know there are voters out there who want to cast their ballot in favor of who they think will be best supportive of democracy. And the conversation that will happen this week and in the weeks to come will entail just that ahead. Trump is saying in his first interview after the rally shooting that he has rewritten his RNC speech and I am so eager to hear what will entail. We're going to talk about with the former 2024 GOP presidential candidate, the former governor, Asa Hutchinson. 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Well, hours before the Republican National Convention, former President Donald Trump telling the Washington Examiner that he is rewriting the speech he planned to give, this time with the focus on unity, saying quote, "This is a chance to bring the whole country, even the whole world together." Well, joining me here in Milwaukee, former Republican presidential candidate and governor of Arkansas, Asa Hutchinson, thank you so much for being here. Not a time we are in, governor. You have been critical of former President Trump in the past. I am very curious to know what your opinion is of how both Trump and Biden have been handling this near tragedy in America. I think they've been handling it very well and see it as a moment to reduce harsh rhetoric and bring the country together, President Biden first made a very gracious statement, appropriate, supported. The fact that they suspended some campaign activities is consistent with that. And then I'm just thrilled with Donald Trump and the introspection that I think this serious event in his life has caused. He could have lost his life and while he showed determination and vigor at that moment, at the same time, I think it caused him to reflect and I hope so. And this is a moment that with President Biden's calmness and now with President Trump rewriting his speech, it's an opportunity to really showcase positive things about our country and to diminish the harsh rate and you think about it, Democrats are saying Donald Trump is an existential threat to our democracy. Republicans are saying re-electing Joe Biden will be the end of Western civilization. And so people interpret these words in different ways. And so I think we have to contend in this world of politics very vigorously and difference of ideas, but a harshness brings out the worst in people and I think this is an opportunity to bring out the best of America. You know what always struck me in just learning more about the person who is the shooter and the suspect that this would have been the first time they would have been able to vote in this country for a presidential election. That struck a core with me, Governor, for so many reasons because we know that a lot of the division and Reddit that we speak about, you know, for you and I who have been apart and seen it as adults, as voters, but there are people who are growing up to have been existing in that very world. matches struck a big core with me and you heard President Biden talking about lowering the temperature, resolving our differences at the ballot box. Now there may be introspection for Trump and maybe a statement from Biden, but what about the electorate? Will the vitriol subdue and subside? Well, I think that's a test of this convention. I hope that there's a whole lot of people rewriting speeches at this moment. And so it's President Trump, former President Trump, sets the tone of this convention and I think you'll see people following that tone. But the big question is whether how long it lasts, whether this is just a moment in time to say we need to come together and whether it changes down the road. As governor, excuse me, that would be almost a complete 180 from a lot of messaging we have seen up till now. That would be to have that to be a sustained change would be remarkable. Yes, we'd be going from calling the enemy scumbags to saying we need to get along. And it's an important change. And words mean something. And so I applaud President Trump for his initiative and saying we're going to use this convention for something good to bring America together and then you're going to have the Democratic convention. And it's a time for defining differences. But once again, I've been a federal prosecutor and people respond to harsh rhetoric in different ways. It could just blow off our back and we say, well, that's just what a heated campaign's about. But to others, it's marching orders. And so we want to know more about the FBI and the Secret Service investigation of the perpetrator of this assassination attempt. But we know that people respond in different ways. You reduce the harshness of the rhetoric and it brings a more calming spirit to America. It puts a greater emphasis as well on who the running mate would be for the former president because if it's about lowering the temperature, it's about trying to reinforce a statement in ideology about unifying and beyond. It's that much more important. Do you have any insight on who that type of candidate could be to run alongside a more introspective Donald Trump? Well, you know, of course, we've got to see how this develops over the coming weeks. But I've thought about whether this changes the dynamics of who he needs as a VP. It probably doesn't, I think the criteria is still there for someone who is loyal, who can be president at a moment's notice that reflects his philosophy. But you've got some of the candidates that for VP that are more harsh and they're rhetoric than others. And we'll see if that makes a difference. But I'm confident that whoever he selects as VP will follow Donald Trump's lead. If he becomes harsh in September, that's exactly what the party will become. And so it's really up to his leadership to define the differences, the reason this election is important and what he offers, but to do it with a tone that does not further divide our country. And Governor, we'll of course look into more of the investigation and what went wrong and how to prevent anything like this from happening. Thank you for joining us. Thank you, Laura. Well, there are the images that are now seared into our collective minds and the minds of millions of Americans. And dare I say the entire world, the instant a bullet grays Donald Trump's ear and the moments immediately after, one of the photographers who captured this chaos joins me next. What people heard and saw when Donald Trump was nearly assassinated will stay with them likely for the rest of their entire lives. And the images they will most certainly go down in the history books. New York Times photographer Doug Mills capturing these shocking images when Trump realized something whizzed past his ear. Then Trump removing his right hand only to see blood on his fingers. In this close up photo taken by Getty Images, you can see blood slowly oozing down the face after Secret Service agents took Trump to the ground for his own protection. And the seminal image from yesterday, Trump emerging from the chaos, raising his fist in the air and American flag waving in the background, the ultimate symbol of defiance in the face of the violence that had occurred against him. Joining me now, the man who took that photo, Associated Press photographer Evan Hucci and Mark McAvoy, a Trump supporter who attended the rally yesterday. Let me begin with you here, Evan, and thank you both for being here and helping to be our own eyes on the ground as of yesterday. How did you, Evan, get that photograph and what was going through your mind during that extraordinary moment? Well, I mean, what was going through my mind was I just wanted to do the job that I needed to do. The minute I heard. This is an important moment, so I just sort of went into work mode and started doing my job photographing, trying to get the whole scene, thinking about what might have been, making sure that my composition was good. That's all really I was thinking about, you know, I didn't realize, you know, the impact that the photo would have until much later. I mean, first of all, you're a constant professional, you're thinking about all those things and then to document this moment in history that will live on. I mean, there has been, as you mentioned, quite a visual reaction to your photo. The Atlantic called it legendary. The New Yorker said, quote, "It carries echoes of the Marines at Iwo Jima in the former presence, bloody defiance, and even evokes Rocky Malboa." Now, when you were looking at this 24 hours later, I wonder what it is you see given that distance of time, knowing what you captured? Well, I mean, I wasn't seeing any of those things. What I was seeing was my job as a photojournalist is to bring you the viewer into my eyes and give you an idea of what's in front of my lens. And that's all I could think about was just doing the work for the viewers and our members and just trying to do the job the best I could. I never thought about any of those things. You know, Mark, we're talking to Evan who captured the moments on lens. You were there, your eyes, your ears, your senses. You were there and you were the press pin, I guess, when the shooting happened. Can you just walk us through that moment? What that was like? It was actually, there was a lot of feelings going on simultaneously. I heard the pop pop pop, there was three shots that rang out and they, I could tell they were a smaller caliber and I knew it was a 22, sounded like a 22 and then louder caliber shots followed, which I assume was our snipers firing back, louder shots like pop pop pop pop like sounded like five more shots return fire me and panic ensued, people were ducking. But for some reason, I didn't feel fear, like I just knew what they weren't aimed at me and I kind of maintained my composure, right? I saw Trump go down, you know, the first few shots and I was scared. But then when I saw him come back up with the Secret Service and he raised his hands, he raised his fist and all of a sudden the crowd just went crazy, like USA, USA, USA. It was just, just a static, like everybody was just, I just, in unison just felt incredible I think, but there was still some people just could not be consoled at the same time, you know, they would just got to the point where they were just sobbing and weeping and could not be brought out of that. So I would say the emotions ran from zero to 10, you know, and just, I think that was a moment that just was almost indescribable to me, you know, and that was the sense that I got from that moment and really it was just all in a matter of 10 or 12 seconds tops. The way you have both described it in these different vantage points and just the reaction from what that emotional spectrum must have been like for people who were present, let alone the nation, watching it and feeling a lot of the domino effect, Evan, Mark, thank you both so much for being here. Well, thank you for having me. Well, President Biden, warning against political violence after the assassination attempt against Trump, but anger has slowly been boiling over in America for quite some time. Former Capitol police officer Harry Dunn, who experienced political violence on January 6 joins me next. From politics to pop culture and everything in between, CNN's Five Things brings you the five essential stories to get you up to speed and on with your day five times a day. Hello from CNN, I'm Jo Beck, with the Five Things You Need to Know for Tuesday. So CNN Five Things on Spotify enable push notifications so you don't miss an update. The attempted assassination of Donald Trump's spurring new concerns about political violence. Speaking tonight, Biden says there's no place for violence in politics, but a handful of Republicans blame the shooting on Trump's critics, Ohio Senator and Trump vice presidential hopeful JD Vance went a step further than that, saying that Biden's rhetoric calling Trump a threat to democracy led to the attempted assassination. Georgia congressman Mike Collins, suggesting Biden ordered the shooting and calling for local prosecutors to indict Biden for, quote, "insiting in assassination." Now there is zero evidence that President Biden was involved, but it is an example of the heated discourse, once again, infecting our body politic, even after an assassination attempt. What's joining me now is someone who is all too familiar with political violence, who are a Capitol officer, Capitol Hill officer Harry Dunn, who protected the Capitol on January 6. He's also been a Biden campaign surrogate. Harry, my friend, good to see you this evening, but my goodness, just having to resuscitate or recite, excuse me, what was just said in different camps about the conspiracy theories and beyond. I mean, you're somebody who is no stranger to this. You have survived the assault on the Capitol on January 6. And so a lot of this must be quite triggering to hear politicized reactions to something that maybe would have had a universalizing effect. What is your reaction when you heard the news of a shooting attempt and assassination of the former president? Sure. Well, thank you. It's always good to be with you. But first and foremost, you, there's like the president said, and so many people have said, there's no room anywhere in the United States for political violence. It should be condemned by any and everybody, no matter who it is against, whether that be Gretchen Whitmer, President Trump, Paul Pelosi, Steve Scalise, anybody, it needs to be condemned. I'm glad that the former president is safe, and that's where everybody's focus should be right now. There is an individual right now who is not with his family right now, forgive me, forgetting his name or blanking on his name right now, Corey, but he died. He was killed at the hands of a lunatic. And that's what we need to be focusing on and that should never, never, ever be acceptable. You, I mean, just in hearing you say, and remind the world about the various instances of people who have been victims of attacks, attacks on politicians, attacks on their families. You remind us about Steve Scalise surviving a shooting, the husband of Nancy Pelosi surviving a hammer attack. I mean, you are a former Capitol police officer. You have been in the rooms where it happens in terms of the policy disputes and beyond, but it's one thing to have division and statements that show that there is a distinction between how one person feels or the other. This level of political violence we're in right now, what does it do to you to hear about it? It sucks to be frank because, like I said, what we went through on January 6 with the nation witnessed was a result. It was political violence. It's exactly what it was they were there with, they were chanting, you know, hang Mike Pence and they were going to kill Nancy Pelosi. They were there violent with violent intentions at the behest of, you know, the president, the former president. So anybody right now, like it's so frustrating to hear the rhetoric that's going on. Anybody from any party attempting to score political points in a moment like this, but we need to, yes, we do need to take the temperature down as so many people have said that temperature needs to come weighed down because, you know, sure, people have talked about just the grace of God that the former president is still with us, you know, what if it's not so lucky next time? Or not even just the former president. Like I said, we lost a dedicated public servant to this country. So people's lives are being changed and, you know, I've always fought for accountability since January 6 and, you know, with the Supreme Court, you know, issuing their ruling, it's clear that we have to do it at the ballot box and not on, you know, on a battlefield like President Biden said earlier tonight. I mean, the idea of being able to articulate your grievances by voting, that is what democracy really is. And I wonder about the bringing down the temperature in the room. I hear this being said, I honestly wonder how does President Biden move forward the campaign against Trump? How does Trump move forward the campaign against Biden knowing that the rhetoric has been heated. It has been a heightened temperature, so I'm not expecting what has happened this past weekend. But how do you, of course, correct area grievances about both believing to the other is legitimate threat to democracy and then not inviting voters or people who are taking it somehow as a message subliminally to do something different with that word? Well, you have to be 100% honest, first and foremost, if we want to take the temperature down, sure, which we need to do, we all as American people need to take this much down. The first thing you need to do is be honest about the things that happen. Somebody attempted to assassinate the former president. That happened. Also, the president summoned a mob to attack the Capitol on January 6th on his behalf. Until you have people acknowledging on both sides that those two things happen, then you can't really be, how realistic and honest are you being with yourself that you want to take the political, the temperature down, so to speak, because you're not even being honest about what happened that day until this day, even now, that's referring to January 6th as a peaceful protest that maybe got out of hand. That's not what happened that day. Until we're being honest about what happened, I am all forward bringing the temperature down, but until we're being honest about what really happened. Like I said, yesterday was a failed assassination attempt by a lunatic that has no place, there's no place in this world for that type of behavior. Harry Dunn, thank you so much for joining us this evening. It's always important to hear your perspective particularly. Back with us now. Harry Anton, thank you, Chair Michael Singleton, and also Ashley Allison. Let me begin with you Ashley. I want to hear a little bit more from what Biden had to say in the Oval Office tonight. Listen, one of the things he said was, and we'll talk about this. I'll be traveling this week, making the case for our record and my vision to the country, our vision. I'll continue to speak out strongly for our democracy, stand up for our Constitution, the rule of law, to call for action at the ballot box. No violence on our streets. That's how democracy should work. It's how it should work Ashley, but is there a way to engage in the type of heated campaign that they have both been in and avoid this? So I really appreciate what what Officer Dunn said about having to be honest. You know, I feel like there are people in this country, a lot of people who are hurting and who have different experiences through a historical lens and in this very moment. There are people who are still struggling from what happened on January 6 and then there are people who are denying what happened on January 6. There are people who are heartbroken that Donald Trump was there was an attempted assassination and there are people who have conversations that are not very helpful right now. I think I want to know why these folks are behaving in that way and why we aren't able to have a conversation about facts and about honesty because I think Joe Biden's point is like we don't want to go down that road, but we're not even going down the same road right now. People are on one side of the street and someone's on a whole different road going down another side of the street and it's not like we're even going to find a way to read, to have an intersection, to have a crossroads because we're going in such opposite directions. And so the only way that I think this intervention can happen even with the truth-telling of like I don't like your policy, I don't like your policy is that someone has to say, stop and say, hey, I think we're going in the wrong direction. Let me tell you why and let's have this conversation and we get back to it, but right now it's like we're talking past each other and people don't understand how other people are feeling in this moment. And I wonder if that is, if this is that moment potentially, right? I mean, at the end of the day, this country will be no more, no less than what we make it, no more, no less than our willingness to speak up and speak out to your point for what is just, what is right, but also to speak against what's just playing wrong. And if we don't have enough people who are willing to have that courage of magnanimity, if you will, then it does beg the question if we are traveling on two roads so disparate and far apart from one another, will we ever meet at that intersection? And if we don't ever meet at that intersection, then again, you can only see this prevalence of political violence only getting worse. And that's not what I don't think any one of us would like to see. You know, I would just maybe add a little positivity. I do think we shall overcome, we will overcome, because we have been through tumultuous times of four. I mean, you think back to the 1960s, there were four major assassinations, JFK, Megarevers, Martin Luther King Jr., Robert F. Kennedy Jr., RFK, and MLK happened within two months of each other in 1968. The fact is, I do believe looking at the numbers, yes, there's about a fifth of the country who believes that political violence may be acceptable, but the vast majority of Americans will not stand for this garbage. I certainly hope that is the case in thinking about the woes of history even remotely repeating itself, sends shivers down our spines. Thank you all of you for all of your words. And up next, a tribute to the man who died protecting his family during the shooting at Trump's rally. The assassination attempt against former President Trump is tragically a moment that will come to define an entire generation. The scars will run especially deep for the thousands of people who were at that rally, most of all, for the family of the man who was killed. His name is Corey Compertor. He was 50 years old. He was a firefighter, a husband, and a father of two daughters. He was at the rally with his family, and he died protecting them. And I want to read for you now what his daughter, Allison, shared on Facebook, "He was the best dad a girl could ever ask for. My sister and I never needed for anything. You call, he would answer, and he would do whatever it is you need it." And if he didn't know how he would figure it out how, he could talk and make friends with anyone which he was doing all day yesterday and loved every minute of it. He was a man of God, loved Jesus fiercely, and also looked after our church and our members as family. The media will not tell you that he died a real-life superhero. They are not going to tell you how quickly he threw my mom and I to the ground. They are not going to tell you if he shielded my body from the bullet that came at us. He loved his family. He truly loved us enough to take a real bullet for us. And I want nothing more than to cry on him and tell him, "Thank you. I want nothing more than to wake up and for this to not be reality for me and my family." We lost a selfless, loving husband, father, brother, uncle, son, and friend, and I will never stop thinking about him and mourning over him until the day that I die too. July 13th will forever be a day that changed my life. I will never be the same person I was less than 24 hours ago. There are a lot of children out there that say, "Their dad is their hero, but my dad really is mine. I don't think I would be here today without him. Dad, I love you so much that there aren't enough words to express how deep that love goes. I know you'll give heaven some hell. I know that God is proud of the man that came to his gates yesterday. That's our show for this evening. I will see you back here tomorrow night, right here in Milwaukee. CNN's coverage continues with Anderson 3 Cooper 360. They say opposites attract. That's why the sleep number smartbed is the best bed for couples. You can each choose what's right for you whenever you like. You like a bed that feels firm but they want soft, sleep number does that. You want to sleep cooler. While they like to feel warm, sleep number does that too. You have to feel it to believe it. Find the bed that's for both of you, only at a sleep number store. Sleep better together. JD Power ranks sleep number number one in customer satisfaction with mattresses purchased in store. And now sleep number smartbeds starting at $999, prices higher in Alaska and Hawaii. For JD Power 2023 award information, visit jdpower.com/awards only at a sleep number store. Sleep number dot com. I'm Oprah Winfrey and I am delighted to introduce you to my podcast, Super Soul Conversations. 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