July 14, 2024, coverage of the Trump assassination attempt | CNN Politics (2024)

President Joe Biden delivers a televised address from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on July 15.

President Joe Biden was bracing for a week of political onslaught.

More Democratic lawmakers were expected to publicly call on him to drop out of the 2024 race, agrueling campaign schedule would put his stamina on display and a high-stakes TV interview was sure to once again spotlight questions about his age, health and fitness to serve a second term.

When gunshots rang out at aDonald Trump political rallyin Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, much of that appeared to change.

At least for a brief moment, politics largely came to a halt.As bipartisan calls condemning the horrific attack on Trump poured in from all corners of the country, the Biden campaign immediately paused TV ads and political communications, and the White House postponed the president’s trip to Texas, where he had planned to attend a fundraiser. He also addressed thenation,calling for a lowering of the political temperature.

Something else largely came to a halt: The calls from within Biden’s own party for him to abandon his campaign for a second term. Until that moment, those calls had been growing by the day since his disastrous debate performance against Trump last month.

Even as the Biden campaignis working to delicately navigate a momentof national shock, some allies of the president are privately hopeful that the assassination attempt on Trump may ultimately end up quelling the Democratic dissentasthe party recognizes the importance of standing as a united front.

Read the full story.

FBI investigators work at the scene of the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, the day after shots were fired during a campaign rally.

Forensic analysissuggeststhatasmanyasthreeweaponswerefiredatthe Trumprallyin Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday.

The FBI said Sunday thatthe shooter acted alone.

The firstthreeshots were consistent with alleged weapon A, the next five were consistent with alleged weapon B, and the final “acoustic impulse” wasemitted by a possible weapon C, peraudioanalysis by Catalin Grigoras, director of the National Center for MediaForensicsatthe University of Colorado in Denver, and Cole Whitecotton, Senior Professional ResearchAssociateatthe same institution.

Audio analysis has also confirmed that the gunman was about 360 to 393 feetfrom the podium, according to forensics expert Robert Maher.

This conclusion aligns withCNN’s analysisthat the gunman was on a rooftop 393 to 492 feet from the podium when shots rang out.

The shots exemplify a “crack-pop” sequence, typical when a supersonic bullet passes a microphone, before the “arrival of the corresponding muzzle blast sound,” Maher, who teaches audio forensics at Montana State University, told CNN.

The time between these markers places the shooter 110 to 120 meters from the microphone, Maher said, assuming the bullet is moving at an average speed of 800 to 1,000 meters per second, the equivalent of 2,600 to 3,280 feet per second.

CNN’s Hannah Rabinowitz, Evan Perez, and Ryan Young contributed reporting.

Bitcoin surged Monday after the assassination attempt on Donald Trump at the weekend, as investors saw a greater chance that the former president — a cryptocurrency skeptic-turned-supporter — will win the November election.

The price of bitcoin jumped 9.5% to $62,980 in morning trading in London, after a deadly shooting at a campaign rally Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania, left Trump wounded but defiant.

While Trump denounced cryptocurrencies during his presidency, saying their value was “based on thin air,” the presumptive Republican presidential nominee has since made a U-turn, with his campaign even accepting cryptocurrency payments.

The Republican party’s Trump-centered election platform promises to “end Democrats’ unlawful and un-American Crypto crackdown.”

Republicans have also pledged to defend the right to mine bitcoin and ensure every American can transact using digital assets “free from government surveillance and control.”

Former US President Donald Trump is whisked away by Secret Service after shots rang out at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13.

As dramatic images of thefailed assassination attempton former US President Donald Trump spread around the world Saturday, news of the attack also sparked immerse online interest – as well as pointed criticism of the US – onChina’sheavily censored internet.

Discussion of the assassination attempt dominated Chinese social media in the hours after the attack.

Related hashtags garnered hundreds of millions of views on China’s X-like social media platform Weibo, where Trump –who as president played an outsized role in reframing the US-China relationship into the more contentious one that exists today – has for years been a frequent subject of discussion, fascination and often ridicule.

Some social media users were quick to hail former president and presumptive Republican US presidential nominee as “lucky” that he didn’t sustain more serious injury and praised Trump’s “quick reflexes,” while many others made quips about how the situationwould boost his re-election bid.

One blogger with over a million followers noted that the incident made Trump look more like a “a traditional Hollywood president.”

There were also repeatedlinks madebetween the attack and recurring instances of gun violence in the United States, which are often highlighted by Chinese state media as an example of the country’s failings.

Read the full story.

US Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle looks on during a press conference at the Secret Service's Chicago Field Office on June 4.

CNN Senior National Security Analyst Juliette Kayyem said President Joe Biden should put US Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle “on leave” amid intense scrutiny over the agency’s handling of the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump Saturday.

“If this agency is going to move forward people need to pay the consequences for it.”

Kayyem, who served as Assistant Secretary for Intergovernmental Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security in the Obama administration, said there were a number of unanswered questions about the Secret Service’s preparation and response Saturday — including why the rooftop where the gunman was perched wasn’t secure, and whether or not the agents removed Trump swiftly enough.

Footage from the aftermath of the shooting shows a bloodied Trump urging agents to wait for him to put his shoes back on, before looking out over the crowd and punching his fist in the air in what has become a defining image from the rally.

Cheatle defended the Secret Service’s response in a memo reviewed by the New York Times.

“I am proud of those involved,” she wrote.

CNN has reached out to the Secret Service about the reported memo.

People attend a vigil for Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump at Zeidler Union Square on July 14, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Donald Trumpwill reemerge after anattempted assassinationas an even greater mythical hero of his MAGA movement with the Republican National Convention opening Monday after an extraordinary two weeks that have transformed the 2024 campaign.

Saturday’s shootingis only beginning to distill into a new national trauma. But both the former president and President Joe Biden are gaming out how to navigate the political aftershocks.

An assassination attempt against a presidential candidate, with all the historical allusions it evokes, raises fears that bloodshed will beget more bloodshed as the toxic politics of the last decade threaten to take an even more ominous turn.

In hisfirst interviewsince the attempt on his life, the former president pledged that his RNC keynote address on Thursday — which had been expected to be an update on his “American carnage” inaugural address in 2017 — would be a “lot different.”

Read the full analysis.

When former President Donald Trump took cover during an assassination attempt at a rally on Saturday, he lost his shoes in the commotion.

In the audio of Trump talking with Secret Service members following the shooting, Trump was heard twice saying he needed to get his shoes on as agents started to move him off stage.

Reflecting on surviving the shooting, Trump said in an interview with theNew York Post that when the Secret Service came to protect him on stage, they knocked off his shoes.

In the interview, the former president praised the Secret Service agents protecting him on Saturday.

“They took him out with one shot right between the eyes,” he said, referring to the shooter.

“They did a fantastic job,” he added. “It’s surreal for all of us.”

Former President Donald Trump has reflected on surviving his assassination attempt, saying in a new interview with theNew York Post: “I’m supposed to be dead.”

Trump showed the reporter a large bruise on his right forearm that he said he received when agents rushed on stage like “linebackers” to protect him.

The former president had a “loose, large white bandage that covered his right ear” during the interview and his staff said the outlet could not take any photos of him, according to the Post.

Trump addressed the photos of him raising his fist and saying “Fight!” as he had blood on his face.

Trumptold the paper he wanted to keep speaking following the shooting but Secret Service insisted he go to the hospital.

Trump also said he appreciated the call he received from President Joe Biden, according to the Post, calling it “fine” and “very nice.” The paper reported that Trump suggested the campaign between them could be more civil from now on.

The top US general said he has no reason to doubt President Joe Biden’s ability to lead.

Concerns over Biden’s age and health have been mounting following the president’s disastrous performance at the CNN presidential debate late last month.

Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Charles Q Brown, Jr. said Biden has been “well engaged” during their meetings.

Brown also condemned the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump.

A top political adviser to Democratic billionaire Reid Hoffman has apologized for floating the conspiracy theory that the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump could have been a false-flag operation.

In his memo, which was first reported bySemafor, Mehlhorn wrote that one “possibility – which feels horrific and alien and absurd in America, but is quite common globally – is that this ‘shooting’ was encouraged and maybe even staged so Trump could get the photos and benefit from the backlash.”

Mehlhorn is a longtime adviser to Hoffman, the LinkedIn co-founder and prominent Democratic donor. Hoffman is an outspoken Trump critic and has funded several anti-Trump causes.

Hoffman condemned the assassination attempt in a social media post on Sunday.

Rally shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks was a member of theClairton Sportsmen’s Club in Pennsylvania, which has a rifle range of 200 yards, according to the club’sattorney.

Attorney Robert Bootay confirmed Crooks was a member but said the club “is unable to make any additionalcommentary in relation to this matter in light of pending law enforcement investigations.”

Bootay did not provide any further information about the last time that Crooks visited the club or whether he used the rifle range.

Clairton is 11 miles east of Bethel Park, where Crooks lived.

CNN has reached out to officers of the club for further comment.

A retired emergency room doctor said he attempted to administer CPR on firefighter Corey Comperatore, whowasfatally wounded while trying to protect his familyfrom gunfire during a rally for former President Donald Trump.

Dr. Jim Sweetland told CNN’s Abby Phillip on “NewsNight” on Sunday that he heard shots ring out and then “a woman’s voice cry out, ‘He’s been shot! He’s down!’”

Sweetland said he tapped into his training as an emergency physician and arrived at Comperatore’s side. With the help of other bystanders, Sweetland performed CPR until state troopers arrived.

The look on the faces of Comperatore’s family “is something I’ll never forget,” Sweetland said.

Sweetland said he hasn’t spoken to the family but wants to tell them: “Your father died a hero.”

As he was leaving the rally, Sweetland said someone stopped him and said, “Brother, there’s blood on your face. Here’s some water; you can wash your face off with it.”

MSNBC will not air “Morning Joe,” its celebrated politics roundtable program, on Monday, opting to instead air breaking news coverage of the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.

The progressive news network confirmed that it had decided to preempt its influential and top-rated morning show after a CNN inquiry. The network said the show would resume airing on Tuesday.

The decision by MSNBC to leave one of its most recognizable programs on the sidelines amid a seismic politics-driven news cycle, with the Republican National Convention getting underway in the wake of the Saturday shooting at Trump’s campaign rally, is expected to raise eyebrows.

A person familiar with the matter told CNN that the decision was made to avoid a scenario in which one of the show’s stable of two dozen-plus guests might make an inappropriate comment on live television that could be used to assail the program and network as a whole.

Given the fast-paced nature of the story, the person said, it made more sense to continue airing rolling breaking news coverage in the fraught political moment.

In the wake of the attempt on Trump’s life, some of the former president’s supporters have vehemently criticized the press and liberal media commentators for their hard-knuckled reporting, which has sounded the alarm on what four more years under the former president would look like.

Read the full story.

The Fiserv Forum ahead of the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 14.

The security plan for the Republican National Convention, which kicks off Monday in Milwaukee, isn’t changing after Saturday’s fatal shooting at a rally for former President Donald Trump.

Johnson’s comments come after the Secret Service said earlier Sunday that there are no plans to tighten security. “The plans that we have in place will continue as is, and we’re confident in those plans,” Audrey Gibson-Cicchino, the Secret Service’s convention coordinator, said at a news conference in Milwaukee.

Johnson said that the city had been working for 18 months to prepare for the convention in Milwaukee and that it has a higher level of security designation than the Butler, Pennsylvania, rally.

When asked about reports that Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers wanted the Secret Service to reconsider its decision to allow firearms in the “soft perimeter” surrounding the convention, Johnson said state law prevents the enforcement of strict gun restrictions on a local level.

Former President Donald Trump underwent a precautionary CT scan after the assassination attempt that came back clear, according to a source familiar with the matter.

It’s unclear whether he had any other tests performed.

Moments after he was shot at Saturday at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania,on Saturday, the former president was seen with blood on his ear and cheek as he was rushed off the stage. He later said he was shot in the ear.

Trump is rushed off stage by Secret Service agents.

Former President Donald Trump in a new interview described his thinking when he stood up and raised his fist as he was bleeding from the ear and surrounded by Secret Service agents after his assassination attempt at his campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.

Trump said his speech at the Republican National Convention — where he is expected to speak Thursday after being formally nominated — would be completely different after what happened Saturday.Trump said on Truth Social that he is going to Milwaukee on Sunday for the conference as scheduled after initially considering delaying his trip following theassassination attempt.

“Honestly, it’s going to be a whole different speech now,” Trump said.

He added, “This is a chance to bring the whole country, even the whole world, together. The speech will be a lot different, a lot different than it would’ve been two days ago.”

Pesident Joe Biden gave an Oval Office address Sunday — a rare form of presidential remarks reserved for the most solemn times — and urged Americans to unite and take the temperature down on politics following an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

Here’s what else to know:

Biden’s speech: The president condemned political violence and said “disagreement is inevitable andAmerican democracy is part ofhuman nature, but politics mustnever be a literal battlefieldor, God forbid, a killing field.” He warned against the normalization of this violence and urged Americans to step out of their political silos “where we only listen to those with whom we agree, and where disinformation is rampant, where foreign actors fanthe flames of our division toshape the outcomes consistentwith their interests, not ours.”

Trump’s movements: The former president said on Truth Social that he is going to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Sunday for the Republican National Convention after initially considering delaying his trip. After the assassination attempt at the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, Trump flew to Newark, New Jersey, and spent timewith his daughter Ivankaat his golf club in Bedminster, sources told CNN. The Secret Service said Sunday that there are no plans to tighten security plans for theRNC, saying it is confident in the plans that are in place.

What happened at the rally on Saturday: Trump’s rally speech in Butler, Pennsylvania, Saturday evening began just as it had at dozens of rallies previously – his attendees chanted “USA! USA!” and the former president clapped and pointed to faces in the crowd before taking the lectern. About 150 yards to the north, a gunman was climbing onto the roof of a buildingoutside the rally security perimeter. He had an AR-style weapon with him. Six minutes into the former president’s speech, the gunman took aim at Trump and squeezed the trigger. Here’s a timeline.

Gunman was spotted: A local police officer saw the gunman on a rooftop during campaign rally but was unable to engage him, Butler County Sheriff Michael Slupe told CNN on Sunday. Slupe said that Butler Township officers received calls about a suspicious person outside the perimeter of the rally and went looking to find that person. He said the initial calls that came in did not indicate the suspicious person had a gun.

New investigation details: The shooter, 20-year-oldThomas Matthew Crooks, had no prior contacts with the FBI and had not been previously on its radar or databases. Investigators are struggling to understand his motives. Crooks used an AR-style 556 rifle purchased legally by his father, FBI officials said, and one of the things that investigators are still looking to understand is how Crooks gained access to his father’s firearm. He also had “rudimentary” explosive devices in his car, an official said.

About the shooter: A former classmate and co-worker told CNN they remember Crooks as “the sweetest guy.”The colleague said Crooks was “not a radical” and never expressed any political views at work. “It’s hard seeing everything that’s going on online because he was a really, really good person that did a really bad thing.And I just wish I knew why,” the colleague said.

Congress: House Speaker Mike Johnson on Sunday called for the country “to get back to civility” and said he hasn’t gotten a “satisfactory answer” yet from US Secret Service on the “security lapse” at Trump’s Pennsylvania rally.

Former President Donald Trump speaks onstage as gunshots are fired at his campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday.

Doug Mills, a photographer for the New York Times who was feet away from Donald Trump when gunshots erupted at Saturday’s rally, detailed the chaotic scene as he captured photos of the attempted assassination.

Mills told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins that he was lining up his camera to get a photo of the former president on stage when he “heard the pops.”

New York Times photographer Doug Mills speaks with CNN's Kaitlan Collins on Sunday.

He added that his“first reaction was to runaround to the side and try andget a picture of him down onthe ground. And by that time Igot there, he was completelycovered by the Secret Serviceagents that are on his detail.”

Mills, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner who has photographed multiple presidents, said he never thought he’d see an attempted assassination, especially at a campaign rally.

“There’s so much securitypresence. There’s policeeverywhere, whether they’re onthe roofs are on the ground — youhave local police, you havestate police, you have policefrom out of town, SecretService — so I never, never once,thought it would be, happenedright in front of me.”

First lady Jill Biden spoke with former first lady Melania Trump Sunday afternoon, a White House official told CNN.

The conversation came one day after the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.President Joe Biden spoke by phone with Donald Trump on Saturday evening after the shooting in what a source described as a “good” and“short and respectful” call.

The former first lady released a statement Sunday calling on the country to “ascend above the hate” in this moment.

Trump can be seen under Secret Service agents covering him onstage at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday.

Former PresidentDonald Trump’s rally speech in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday evening began just as it had at dozens of rallies previously – his attendees chanted “USA! USA!” and Trump clapped and pointed to faces in the crowd before taking the lectern.

About 150 yards to the north of the former president, a gunman was climbing onto the roof of a buildingoutside the rally security perimeter. He had an AR-style rifle with him. Six minutes into the former president’s speech, the gunman took aim at Trump and squeezed the trigger.

What happened next was as miraculous as it was historic. The gunman, later identified by the FBI as 20-year-oldThomas Matthew Crooks, fired multiple shots, including one that Trump said skimmed his ear. Trump ducked to the ground. Five Secret Service agents rushed to the stage and covered the former president, as the “pop-pop” from another two additional bursts of gunfire rang out across the Butler Farm Show grounds.

Forty-three seconds after the first shot was fired, a Secret Service agent said the shooter was down. Trump, his ear and face bloodied, was brought to his feet. He raised his fist in a defiant pose to his supporters to let them know he was OK before agents took him off the stage and into his SUV.

At least three rally attendees were shot, one of whom was killed.

Read more from CNN’s comprehensive breakdown of Saturday’s events here.

Two eyewitnesses who captured cellphone video of a gunman firing atformer President Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday said that they attempted to warn authorities of the shooter’s position but that things “got very hectic, very fast.”

Mike and Amber DiFrischia told CNN’s Erin Burnett on “OutFront” Sunday that they first realized something had gone wrong at the eventwhen there was running in the crowd and they were able to spota man on the roof of a building near them.

“And then shortly after that, a guy behind me said that he had seen him. He had a gun,” Mike DiFrischia said of the shooter. “And then when he said that, I moved over a couple of feet, and I was able to … see him perfectly.”

Then he began to record.

Law enforcement officials, the DiFrischias told Burnett, asked them, “Where’s he at?” and they pointed toward the shooter’s location.

Shortly after attempting to alert authorities to the shooter’s position, Amber DiFrischia said people began to run. And then they began to hear gunshots.

“And it was just chaotic. It was so fast. First thing is find coverage. And it was just the scariest thing, you know, there’s not a lot of places you can hide there,” she said.

Read more about the DiFrischias’ account here.

House Speaker Mike Johnson on Sunday called for the country “to get back to civility” following the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.

When asked about how the US Secret Service failed to protect Trump, Johnson said he hasn’t gotten a “satisfactory answer” from them yet.

“I think pretty clearly, there was a security lapse, at least,” the speaker said. “For example, why were drones not used in the area? I have not gotten a satisfactory answer on that yet.”

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer delivers remarks at a summit in National Harbor, Maryland, on May 4.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued a lengthy statement on Sunday, condemning the attack on former President Donald Trump.

“The shooting of former President Trump was a disgusting act of violence that caps off an alarming, years-long trend in our politics,” she said.

Whitmer, who was the subject of athwarted kidnapping plot, decried political violence, also citing other incidents, including the 2017 congressional baseball shooting and attack on Paul Pelosi.

She urged unity and an emphasis on how people communicate on politics.

“We can argue but we must center our common humanity. We must. We cannot forget the values that make us strong. We are a shining beacon of democracy and freedom in the world because we settle our stark differences at the ballot box. That’s what we do,” she said.

President Joe Biden, in his Oval Office address Sunday night, said that while some Americans have a different view about what direction the country should take, “politics must never be a battlefield.”

Biden said as the election approaches, there is an “added burden on each of us toensure that no matter howstrong our convictions, we mustnever descend into violence.”

He added that with the Republican National Convention coming this week, “I have no doubtthey’ll criticize my recordand offer their own vision forthis country. I’ll be travelingthis week, making the case forour record and vision.”

“The power to changeAmerica should always rest inthe hands of the people, not inthe hands of a would-be assassin,” he said.

President Joe Biden on Sunday said unity is America’s “most elusive goal,” and added that nothing is more important to the country “than standing together.”

“We can do this,” Biden said from the Oval Office.

Biden cited the Founding Fathers’ vision of democracy in his speech, laying out what has become a central tenet of his reelection campaign.

President Joe Biden addresses the nation from the Oval Office of the White House on Sunday.

President Joe Biden in his Oval Office address Sunday made a plea for Americans to get out of their silos where they only hear opinions with which they agree.

Listing a serious of previous attacks on public figures across the country, President Joe Biden on Sunday said the country cannot allow political violence to become normalized after the shooting of Donald Trump.

Among the previous attacks he cited the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and the beating of Nancy Pelosi’s husband.

President Joe Biden gives an address from the Oval Office at the White House on Sunday evening.

President Joe Biden began his Oval Office address Sunday evening emphasizing the need “to lower the temperature” in politics.

“I want to speak to youtonight about the need for us tolower the temperature in ourpolitics and to remember, whenwe disagree, we are not enemies,we are neighbors, we arefriends, co-workers, citizens and,most importantly, we are fellowAmericans.We must stand together,” he said.

President Joe Biden is addressing the nation from the Oval Office following the attack on former President Donald Trump.

An Oval Office address is rare. It’s only the third time he has chosen to do this. The last time he spoke from the Oval Office was on October 19, 2023, following Hamas’ attack on Israel.

Typically, remarks from the Oval Office are reserved for the most solemn and heavy moments in the country, according to CNN’s MJ Lee.

The address tonight will be a “forceful” update on the attack and Biden will emphasize the “need for every American to come together to not just condemn, but put an end to political violence in this country once and for all,” a campaign official previewing the remarks told CNN.

Supporters of former President DonaldTrumpattend a prayer vigil near the venue for the Republican National Convention inMilwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 14.

At a small park in downtown Milwaukee — ahead of the Republican National Convention set to take place in the city this week — a small group of Donald Trump’s supporters turned up on Sunday to write on a “Get well soon” sign and pray for the former president at a vigil hosted by the right-wing group Turning Point Action.

Jennifer Shoemake told CNN she wrote “I will never surrender and united we stand” on behalf of her whole family on the sign.

Christine B., however, does think both Trump and President Joe Biden can tone down the inflammatory language. “Both of them have to cool their jets, but especially now,” she said.

Multiple attendees told CNN that they believe God spared Trump from being killed on Saturday— when he was wounded from an assassination attempt at a campaign rally —and the man who led the group in prayer said as much.

“We thank you that you had mercy on our nation by sparing the life of President Trump,” he said.

CNN reporter Alayna Treene, who coversDonald Trump,attended his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, whenshots rang out on Saturday in an assassination attempt.

Treene described how she mainly felt a sense of surprise, given the intense security that typically surrounds rallies.

“I often feel like being in a rally is one of the safest places, because there’s always so much Secret Service,” Treene said. “With CNN, we get security for ourselves as well, just given the divisive nature of the politics right now. So it was remarkable to me to see what had happened.”

The Secret Service is currently facing scrutiny about whether it took proper security measures during the rally, with widespread concerns and questions about how a sniper was able to obtain rooftop access roughly 400 feet from the former president’s position at the podium.

Read the full story on CNN.

US President Joe Biden addresses the nation from the Oval Office of the White House on October 19, 2023.

President Joe Biden has delivered an address to the nation from the Oval Office only twice since becoming president.

He will do so again at 8 p.m. ET following the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.

Oval Office addresses are rare, especially in recent history with Biden and former Presidents Barack Obama and Trump only using the medium a handful of times.

Full list of Oval Addresses since 2008:

Biden:

Trump:

Obama:

Before Obama, the Oval address — while rare — was a far more frequent staple with George W. Bush addressing the nation that way six times during his presidency and Bill Clinton doing so 15 times. Reagan holds the record with 29 addresses during his two terms.

Correction: The post was updated with the correct date of Biden’s last Oval Office speech, which was October 19, 2023.

The son ofslaincivil rightsleader the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on Sunday called for the country to rise above division in wake of the assassination attempt onformer President Donald Trump.

A civil rights advocate in his own right, Martin Luther King III told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, “This is another dark period that our nation is facing, and we have to intentionally decide that we are going to do differently and better.”

“The nation must find a way to rise above division, fear and hatred, and yet we’ve not identified that. But this gives us an opportunity – a unique opportunity – to say we’re going to rise above this. We’re so much better than the behavior we’re exhibiting,” he continued.

“I know humankind is far better than the way we’re exhibiting ourselves today,” King added. “We’ve got to find out how do we turn to each other and stop turning on each other.”

Former President Donald Trump wasinjured in a shooting during his rallyin Butler, Pennsylvania, in what the FBI says was an assassination attempt on Saturday night. One rally attendeewas killedand two others were seriously injured.

The rally marked Trump’s last public appearance before the scheduled start of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where the Republican Party is set to formally select him as its presidential nominee.

Through videos, maps and photos, CNN pieced together what occurred from the start of the rally to the chaotic moments when gunshots erupted to, ultimately, when Trump landed in Newark, New Jersey, early Sunday morning.

View CNN’s timeline here.

Former President Donald Trump's plane is seen on the ground in Milwaukee on Sunday evening.

Donald Trump’s plane was seen landing moments ago in Milwaukee, the site of the Republican National Convention.

The visit comes only a day after an assassination attempt against Trump at a Pennsylvania rally. Despite the attack, the Secret Service said Sunday that there are no plans to tighten its security plans for theRNC, which begins Monday.

Trump will be joined by his wife, Melania Trump, in one of her rare appearances on the campaign trail, two sources familiar with the plans told CNN.

After the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, Trump flew to Newark, New Jersey, and spent time with his daughter Ivanka at his golf club in Beminster, sources told CNN.

US Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle speaks a news conference on June 6 in Milwaukee.

House Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green held a call with US Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle on Sunday afternoon with pressing questions on what led to Saturday’s historic security failures,a committee source familiar with the call told CNN.

Green, a Tennessee Republican, also detailed the information requests that he has out with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, which include Secret Service communications and documents surrounding the rally, the source added.

Cheatle committed to providing requested documents to the committee promptly as able, per the source.

The committee majority now plans to hold a virtual briefing with Cheatle on Monday for members to voice their concerns and ask questions, according to the source.

President Joe Biden said earlier Sunday that “I’ve directed an independent review of the national security at yesterday’s rally to assess exactly what happened. And I’ll share the results of that independent review with the American people.”

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke with former President Donald Trump on Sunday afternoon, according to a statement from the prime minister’s office.

US stock futures barely budged after an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump on Saturday, signaling calm in the markets as Trump survived the incident.

Markets crave stability, and an assassination attempt against the presumptive GOP nominee might havethrown that into chaos. But Trump appears to have escaped with mostly superficial injuries, and the market’s thesis of the race hasn’t changed.

A Trump win in November likely means thepreservation or expansion of tax cutsand increased tariffs. During last month’s presidential debate hosted by CNN, he reiterated his desire to impose a 10% tariff on all imports, which would likely increase inflation and cast doubt on interest rate cuts.

Morgan Stanley research estimates that an expansion of the 2017 tax cuts would boost deficits sharply, sending the US dollar, which is already trading high, even higher. But it could also exacerbate America’s inflation crisis, which has begun to show signs that it is ending.

Audio analysis confirms that the gunman who fired shots Saturday at former President Trump was situated approximately 110 to 120 meters (360 to 393 feet)from the podium, according to forensics expert Robert Maher.

This conclusion aligns with CNN’s analysisthat the suspected gunman was situated on a rooftop 120 to 150 meters (393 to 492 feet) from the podium when shots rang out.

The shots exemplify a “crack-pop” sequence, typical when a supersonic bullet passes a microphone, before the “arrival of the corresponding muzzle blast sound,” Maher, who teaches audio forensics at Montana State University, told CNN.

The time between these markers places the shooter 110 to 120 meters from the microphone, Maher said, assuming the bullet is moving at an average speed of 800 to 1,000 meters per second, the equivalent of 2,600 to 3,280 feet per second.

Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia, whose staff was attacked last year in his district office, said political violence can’t just be the “cost of doing business” following the attempted assassination on former President Donald Trump.

Last May, two staffers were injured by a man wielding a bat who came into Connolly’s district office in Fairfax. The assailant entered his office and attacked two of his aides, striking one senior aide in the head with the metal bat, he said. The attacker also hit an intern – on her first day on the job – in the side with the bat.

“My hope is that we’llsee an opportunity at theRepublican Convention to tonedown that rhetoric and that all of us will bemore conscious of theimplications of heightenedrhetoric and the impact thatcan have on unstableindividuals and that we bearresponsibility as electedofficials and candidates totone down the temperature andhave rational conversationsabout the future of the country,” he said.

A former classmate and co-worker of Thomas Matthew Crooks, the gunman at Donald Trump’s Saturday rally, told CNN they remember Crooks as “the sweetest guy.”

The person, who worked with Crooks at Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, added that in high school, Crooks “had a good friend group, and from what I saw, he seemed happy.”

Earlier this week, Crooks and his colleague worked together to figure out an easier way for the nursing home residents to open packets of ranch dressing, anact the colleague said was indicative of how helpful and caring Crooks was.

The colleague said they didn’t recognize the picture painted of Crooks after his actions.

“He’s not a radical,” they said, noting that he never expressed any political views at work. “It’s hard seeing everything that’s going on online because he was a really, really good person that did a really bad thing.And I just wish I knew why.”

CNN’s Alli Gordon contributed to this report.

President Joe Biden’s address tonight will be a “forceful” update on the “horrifying” attack on former President Donald Trump, a campaign official says.

Biden’s rare Oval Office address to the nation tonight will be a “forceful and needed address to update the nation on the horrifying attack on Donald Trump and the need for every American to come together to not just condemn, but put an end to political violence in this country once and for all,” a campaign official previewing the remarks tells CNN.

The official said that Biden will use his interview with NBC News’ Lester Holt tomorrow – now set to take place at the White House instead of Texas – to “expand” on this evening’s speech.

As for the rest of the week, both the Biden campaign and the Democratic National Committee will “continue drawing the contrast between our positive vision for the future and Trump’s and Republicans’ backwards-looking agenda over the course of the week,” the official said.

That comment marks a notable first acknowledgement from the Biden campaign that its brief hold on the politics in the immediate aftermath of the assassination attempt on Trump will — at least in part — resume in the coming days.

The official did not say when the Biden campaign will resume running TV ads, which were immediately put on hold following Saturday’s attack on Trump.

Former President Donald Trump is helped off the stage during the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Sunday.

Moments afterDonald Trumpwas rushed to safety following a failed assassination attempt at a Saturday rally, some of his supporters turned toward the press pen with obscenities as they fingered reporters for blame.

AxiosreporterSophiaCai, who quoted some in the crowd warning the press, “you’re next” and that their “time is coming,”even reported thata few rallygoers tried to breach the barriers establishing the press pen, but that they were stopped by security personnel.

In the immediate wake of the horrific shooting, the news media has quickly emerged among some Trump supporters as a body to assign blame.

While the Trump campaign urged its staff to “condemn all forms of violence” and said it “will not tolerate dangerous rhetoric on social media,” some of the former president’s supporters inMAGA mediavehemently assailed the press for its hard-knuckled reporting on Trump, which has sounded the alarm on what four more years under the former president would look like.

Over the course of the campaign cycle, news organizations have, among other things, reported at length on Trump’s plans to warp the federal government for his own ends, including to seek vengeance against his political opponents. That reporting is now facing scrutiny, with some Trump supporters blaming it for producing a charged atmosphere that gave way to the assassination attempt, while mostly looking past the incendiary rhetoric of the former president himself.

President Joe Biden and his campaign arefacing an abrupt pivot point: After spending the last two weeks trying tosalvage the president’s reelection bid, they are nowgrappling with a delicate national momentfollowing the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.

The Biden campaign and Democrats across the party scrambled Sunday to determine how to adjust their plans to counter messaging at the Republican National Convention, which had been in the works for some time.

The Biden campaign has yet to decide when to resume its advertising campaign against Trump after pulling the ads Saturday. But that, a separate Democratic strategist said, was the easy decision. A harder question is how and when to resume, with 114 days until the election.

Biden is rescheduling his trip to Texas on Monday, the White House said Sunday afternoon. He was set to deliver remarks at the LBJ Library in Austin as part of an event celebrating the 60th anniversary of theCivilRightsAct.

Read more on how the Biden campaign ishandling this moment.

BlackRock is pulling an ad that hadincluded Thomas Crooks in it, the gunman that shotat former President Donald Trump, injuring the former president and killing an attendee at a rally near Pittsburgh on Saturday.

The 30-second video focused on a teacher at the high school, with Crooks sitting in class. The video went viral on X and other social media platforms Sunday.

BlackRock said the “assassination attempt on former President Trump is abhorrent.”

“We’re thankful former President Trump wasn’t seriously injured, and thinking about all the innocent bystanders and victims of this awful act, especially the person who was killed. As our leadership team communicated to colleagues last night,BlackRock strongly condemns political violence of any kind and will do our part to promote civility and unity in the country.”

People walk outside the Fiserv Forum ahead of the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on Saturday.

The Secret Service said Sunday that there are no plans to tighten its security plans for the Republican National Convention, which begins Monday in Milwaukee.

It was the first on-camera appearance of a Secret Service representative since the assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump on Saturday. The agency has issued a series of statements following the shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, but did not appear during a law enforcement news conference there late Saturday.

Audrey Gibson-Cicchino, the convention coordinator for the Secret Service, speaks at a news conference in Milwaukee on Sunday

The Sunday afternoon news conference on preparations for the RNC did not address the assassination attempt, but federal officials said there were no signs of increased danger at the convention following the shooting.

“Currently there are no known articulated threats against the RNC or anyone visiting the RNC,” said Michael Hensle, the special agent in charge of the FBI field office in Milwaukee.

Firearms will be permitted in a “soft perimeter” around the Fiserv Forum, the venue where the convention will take place, and local officials said state law does not permit them to change those plans.

“Wisconsin is an open-carry state, and therefore Milwaukee and no other jurisdiction in this state can supersede state law,” said Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson.

“Our state law allows for the particular right to carry a firearm,” said Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman. “We as a city cannot legislate out of that.”

Former President Donald Trump is on his way to Milwaukee for the Republican National Convention, Trump aide Dan Scavino said in a post on X, adding a video of Trump’smotorcade at the airport.

Trump faced an assassination attempt on Saturday at a rally in Pennsylvania and said he was shot in the ear. Advisers to Trump say he is “doing well” and “looks forward” to the GOP conference in Milwaukee.

A local police officer saw the gunman on a rooftop during Saturday’s rally but was unable to engage him, Butler County Sheriff Michael Slupe told CNN on Sunday.

Slupe said that Butler Township officers received calls about a suspicious person outside the perimeter of the rally and went looking to find that person. He said the initial calls that came in did not indicate the suspicious person had a gun.

During the search for the suspicious person, officers with township police discovered that the gunman was on the roof and one local officer hoisted another to get up to the ledge. The shooter turned around, saw the officer peering over and pointed his gun at him. The officer let go of the ledge to “take cover” and save his life. The gunman then started firing from the rooftop and hitting Trump.

When asked if the overall security lapse of a gunman having a direct line of sight to Trump was a failure, Slupe said it “obviously” was.

He went on to say the agencies were not made aware of intel or red flags ahead of the rally in Butler, which the Trump campaign announced on July 3.

About a week before the rally, Slupe said there was a meeting where the Secret Service, state police, local police, bomb squads and other law enforcement divisions discussed roles and responsibilities.

“Everyone who had a potential role was in that meeting,” Slupe told CNN.

There were other meetings for security preparations, but this was the only one Slupe was aware of that involved all law enforcement divisions.

Slupe, who was positioned inside the perimeter near the firing line during the rally, said he didn’t think actual gunfire was going on when he first heard the popping noises. He described turning around to see where the noise was coming from and seeing that a rally attendee had been shot.

He said had he known there were any threats of a gunman, he would have done “everything to stop him (Trump) from coming out.”

Law enforcement block a street near the residence of Thomas Matthew Crooks in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, on Sunday.

FBI officials repeatedly emphasized Sunday that their investigation into Saturday’s shooting at former President Donald Trump’s rally is in its preliminary stages and agents are still working to understand what happened.

The shooter, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, had no prior contacts with the FBI and had not been previously on its radar or databases. Investigators are struggling to understand Crooks’ motives.

FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate told reporters during a call on Sunday that law enforcement officers are sifting through Crooks’ background, his day-to-day activities and social media presence, though have so far not “seen anything threatening.”

Abbate said that they had “some limited insights into recent communications that he’s made, text and phone call detail information.” That information has thus far not “revealed anything with regard to motive or the involvement or knowledge of anyone else” in the shooting, Abbate said.

Crooks used an AR-style 556 rifle purchased legally by his father, FBI officials said, and one of the things that investigators are still looking to understand is how Crooks gained access to his father’s firearm. He also had “rudimentary” explosive devices in his car, Abbate said, which are being investigated at Quantico.

An undated yearbook photo of Thomas Matthew Crooks.

Authorities identified 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks as the gunman who allegedly tried to assassinate former President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally on Saturday.

So far, investigators haven’t found any evidence on social media or other writings of Crooks that might help identify his motive for the attempted assassination. The FBI is working to gain access to his phone, the agency said Sunday.

As investigations into the shooting continue, here’s what we know so far about the gunman:

The FBI said Sunday that the shooter at Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania acted alone and that it is still actively investigating the shooter’s background – including working to gain access to his phone.

“We are working to get access to the phone,” Kevin Rojek, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office, said Sunday. “We have shipped the phone to our lab at Quantico.”

Rojek also said the FBI has “notidentified an ideology associated with the subject,” but cautioned that “we’re still very early in this investigation.”

Rojek said the FBI doesn’t “have any kind of fidelity right now on the shooter’s actions immediately prior to him engaging the former president.”

He added that the shooter’s family has been cooperative in the investigation.

Rojek confirmed the gun used in the shooting was an AR-style rifle that was purchased legally. He also said law enforcement located a“suspicious device” in the suspect’s car and the device was “rendered safe and is being analyzed.”

Bobby Wells, assistant director of the Counterterrorism Division at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C, said the FBI is investigating this as an assassination attempt, but also looking into it as a potential domestic terrorist attack.

Rojeksaid that “at this time we have no indication of any mental health issues.” He urged the public to call in any information they may have on the shooting, saying that the FBI has already receivedover 2,000 tips.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said he spent the morning in briefings with DOJ personnel and “briefed President Biden in the Situation Room” on the investigation.

“The violence we saw yesterday is an attack on democracy itself,” Garland said. “This must stop.”

Two people who were shot during Saturday’s Donald Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and who are now stable were identified Sunday by state police.

Pennsylvania State Police identified David Dutch, 57, of New Kensington, Pennsylvania, and 74-year-old James Copenhaver from Moon Township, Pennsylvania, in a Sunday press release.

The state police also confirmed the name of Corey Comperatore, 50, as the victim who was killed in the assassination attempt. His identity was announced earlier in the day by Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.

The Marine Corps League of Pennsylvania, Inc., identified Dutch as a commandant in its organization in Westmoreland County. MCL Vice Commandant Matt Popovichsaid on Facebookthat Dutch underwent two surgeries after being “shot in the liver and chest.”

“These victims and their families are certainly in our thoughts today,” said Col. Christopher Paris, the state police commissioner. “The Pennsylvania State Police continue to work tirelessly alongside our federal, state and local partners as this investigation continues.”

CNN’s Sara Smart contributed to this report.

A view of the convention floor and stage ahead of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on Sunday.

A law enforcement source familiar with the Republican National Convention planning tells CNN there are discussions underway about adding more federal law enforcement agents to post positions in light of the recent shooting.

However, the perimeter is unlikely to change, the source said, noting preparations for the RNC have been underway for a year and a half.

The source said that there have been discussions about adding additional security for high-profile GOP members as well.

The source said another major concern for law enforcement are events — such as dinners — outside the perimeter that are associated with the RNC but do not have the same level of security and are considered “soft targets.”

The source noted this concern had also been discussed before Saturday’s shooting.

President Joe Biden will move forward with a planned interview with NBC News on Monday afternoon, following another briefing that morning from law enforcement officials in the Situation Room.

The White House announced earlier today that Biden’s trip to Texas – where the interview was originally set to take place – is being rescheduled. The interview will now take place at the White House, per an official.

Before the events of Saturday roiled the 2024 presidential race, Biden’s sit-down with the network’s Lester Holt was viewed as the latest key test of the president’s capabilities, following his poor showing in the CNN debate and ensuing defections from some members of his party.

On Tuesday, Biden will participate in another national interview before delivering remarks at the NAACP National Convention in Las Vegas, followed by an economic summit. Nevada is a key swing state that the president has frequented this campaign cycle.

On Wednesday, Biden will deliver remarks at the UnidosUS Annual Conference and then a campaign community event.

This post has been updated with the new location of the interview and additional details about the president’s schedule.

Marcie Grimm, the administrator of Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, confirmed to CNN that Thomas Matthew Crooks, the man identified as the shooter at the Donald Trump rally, was a dietary aide at the facility.

Grimm added that the facility is cooperating with law enforcement and that “Our thoughts and prayers go out to Former President Trump and the victims impacted by this terrible tragedy.”

President Joe Biden delivers remarks alongside Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House on Sunday.

President Joe Biden will deliver a rare address to the nation from the Oval Office on Sunday at 8 p.m. ET in the aftermath of the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump, the White House said.

Biden last addressed the nation on October 20, 2023, following the Hamas’ October 7 attacks on Israel.

Former President Donald Trump said on Truth Social that he is going to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Sunday as scheduled after initially considering delaying his trip following the assassination attempt.

Here’s what Trump wrote on Truth Social:

Trump’s post comes after Wisconsin Republican Party Chairman Brian Schimming said that there are no major changes being made to the Republican National Convention schedule.

CNN’s Alayna Treene and Alison Main contributed to this report.

Corey Comperatore, who was killed after a gunman targeted former President Donald Trump at a rally on Saturday.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro confirmed the man who was killed at Saturday’s rally is Corey Comperatore and that he dove on his family to protect them as shots were fired at former President Donald Trump.

“I just spoke to Corey’s wife and Corey’s two daughters,” Shapiro said. “Corey was a girl dad. Corey was a firefighter. Corey went to church every Sunday. Corey loved his community. Most especially, Corey loved his family.”

Shapiro described Comperatore as an “avid supporter of the former president” and said he was excited to be at the rally.

“I asked Corey’s wife if it would be okay for me to share that we spoke. She said yes. She also asked that I share with all of you that Corey died a hero,” Shapiro continued. “Corey dove on his family to protect them last night at this rally,” he said.

Shapiro said that “all leaders need to take down the temperature and rise above the hateful rhetoric that exists and search for a better brighter future for this nation.”

The governor ordered that flags across the state be flown at half-staff in Comperatore’s memory.

Shapiro also said he has “not spoken directly” to Trump but he did speak with President Joe Biden over the phone.