tv Americas Newsroom FOX News July 24, 2024 7:00am-8:00am PDT
7:00 am
government officials and researchers say it is not about beating china but bolstering taiwan's defense forces enough that any kind of invasion would seem too costly to beijing. today is day three of the military war drill exercises and taiwanese troops are using american javelin missiles opening fire on a mock invasion force. acquiring new submarines is critical to deter china. the united states is taiwan's largest arm supplier and the island needs more. >> we have a very long shopping list. so, you know, the only thing is whether the united states will sell taiwan the weaponry or not instead of we want to pay or not. we are always trying to. >> and bill as you can probably hear behind me there is a typhoon underway but not
7:01 am
stopping these war games from happening. >> bill: stay safe. nice to see you, alex hogan with a storm moving in. >> dana: she was calm. fox news alert. capitol hill police are on high alert bracing for massive anti-israel protests with the address of prime minister benjamin netanyahu before a joint meeting of congress. thousands of demonstrators are descending on washington with plans to surround the capitol, demand a cease-fire to end the war in gaza. police arrested about 200 anti-israel protestors yesterday after they invaded a congressional office building trying to force their way to lawmakers' offices. we'll keep an eye on this throughout the morning as we get another hour going because in just moments we will hear the most direct remarks yet on the investigation into the suspect who came millimeters from assassinating former president trump. f.b.i. director christopher wray is getting ready to testify before the house judiciary
7:02 am
committee and here we go. welcome to a new hour of "america's newsroom." i'm dana perino. >> bill: good morning. i'm bill hemmer. jim jordan is in his chair already. >> dana: he is very punk -- >> bill: fox news obtained new videos giving us a close view. the sound of eight shots and screaming from the crowd. it's dramatic and sometimes shocking and always powerful. here is part of that. [screaming and yelling]
7:03 am
>> bill: if you are shaking your head in disbelief still, you are not alone. the video leaving a lot of questions and very few answers from two days ago as we await wray's testimony. >> dana: trey gowdy joins us in a moment. >> director wray just walked in in anticipation of this big hearing today. i got to walk with him and ask him a few questions. i asked if he will be cooperative with the committee today, if he knows if there is a motive yet. frankly if the american people can trust the f.b.i. will get this right? he didn't answer a single one of my questions. now this is a big day. a lot of pressure on him because lawmakers are very frustrated that they are not getting any
7:04 am
answers. it comes one day after kim cheatle, the former secret service director, resigned from her post. she had a very, very bad hearing on monday and partisan outrage about her inability to answer some pretty basic questions. the pressure is on him to deliver today. lots of questions. here is what some of the congressmen want to know. >> i want to know what the plan is. i want to know what resignations are taking place. i want to know who is going to be held accountable. how this is not going to happen again. i don't want any secrets. the american people are tired of tragedies and incidents taking place where we have questions and conspiracy theories for many years to come. i don't expect it to be fiery but it potentially could be. >> bill and dana just a warning. this hearing could go a really long time today because we've got the netanyahu remarks about 2:00. so members might have to take a break from the hearing to listen to that and come back and resume. back to you.
7:05 am
>> dana: thank you so much. >> bill: before that gets rolling get if trey gowdy here. what do you want to hear, trey? >> how? i don't care about the why. there is no explanation for shooting a gun at someone's head other than self-defense. i want to know how. and as it relates to the f.b.i., bill, correct me if i'm wrong, that's the same entity that wasted years on russia, botched the usa gymnastics and botched parkland high school shooting. is that really the best group to investigate secret service is the f.b.i.? >> dana: on this particular issue i know that on the why. i feel like, trey, it feels like we know so little about the shooter and whether he had communications with other people. >> dana, you are one of the most rational, decent people i have ever met. you are incapable of thinking the way that irrational killers
7:06 am
think. i did it for 20 years. i sat there and labored over the why. there is no why for putting a cigarette out on a kid's face. there is no why for killing someone who did nothing to you. so if we get caught up in the why, then we will miss the how. what i want to know is do you have a helicopter? does your agency have a helicopter? could you have flown over and said hey, maybe there is a roof we ought to take a look at? >> dana: is that the f.b.i.'s responsibility? >> what is your security plan. absolutely not. it is secret service's responsibility. did you hear that question when she testified which raises another issue, we expect to do these investigations in five-minute increements. jimmy jordan is a great questioner. i would have a an average questioner for five hours than jordan for five minutes. congress, there is a role for them to play but they -- if you want a real investigation, you
7:07 am
better get an outside group to do it. >> bill: why was she so slippery on monday? what explains that? >> because she doesn't know and because she thought she could get away with it. there is no good answer for how you allowed someone to get on a roof with a ladder, with a range finder and a long gun. there is no good answer for that. so if she resigns. >> bill: she wouldn't answer questions on monday. she would have been to the site in butler, pennsylvania at a minimum and she did not do that. >> she would have turned over the documents. bill, you and i, if we were running this investigation, we want the documents before we talk to her. we want to talk to the people on the ground. she is the last person we want to talk to. we want to talk to everyone else first and then that way we know what to ask her. congress starts at the top and gets the headline.
7:08 am
a real investigation starts at the bottom and get the truth. >> dana: we'll see what we get today. trey gowdy, thank you for joining us. jim jordan is speaking now with his opening statement. let's listen in. >> there are a lot of unanswered questions about the security failures that day. questions about decisions made before the rally, questions about actions during the rally, and questions about statements made after the event concluded. prior to the rally, why was the president' security detail denied requests for extra resources? why weren't all the buildings secured? there were a finite number of buildings that needed to be secured. why wasn't that done? why was the president allowed to walk on the stage when there was a suspicious person on the property? during the rally, what exactly happened between 6:09 and 6:14. the critical five minutes. briefings from the director and deputy director of the f.b.i. and other information we've
7:09 am
gathered at 6:09 the shooter was identified on the roof. at 6:ten the counter sniper was notified, counter sniper teams were notified about the shooter. 6:11 the shooter fired several shots injuring and killing one person and injuring others. at 6:12 the counter sniper took down the shooter and 6:14 president trump was escorted off the stage. we need to know what happened moment by moment and the communications that took place during that critical five minutes. then finally after the rally, why did both the secret service and secretary of homeland security mayorkas lie to the american people? july 14th. the day after the attack secret service spokesman said this quote, the assertion that a member of the former president's security team requested additional security resources, that the u.s. secret service or
7:10 am
the department of homeland security rebuffed is absolutely false. the next day secretary mayorkas said that is an unequivocally false assertion. we had not received any requests for additional security measures that were rebuffed. five days later, top officials repeatedly rejected requests from donald trump's security detail for more personnel and on the 21st of july "the new york times" confirming what the "washington post" said they acknowledged the secret service had turned down requests for additional federal security assets for mr. trump's detail. 180 degree change. why did they initially lie to us in the days after the attack in pennsylvania? finally we hope to learn more today from director wray about the shooter. use of the drone, explosives in his car, how he got on the roof and a host of other questions. it is our hope that director
7:11 am
wray's testimony can begin to give answers to the american people about all of these questions and concerns. the director we appreciate you being here. and we trust that you will be as transparent with the committee and the country as you possibly can. i am sure you understand a significant portion of the country has a healthy skepticism regarding the f.b.i.'s ability to conduct a fair, honest, open and transparent investigation. that skepticism is based on what they've witnessed over the past several years. the american people have seen a biden/harris justice department that can't tell us who planted the pipe bombs on january 6th, can't tell us who leaked the dobbs opinion, can't tell us who put cocaine at the white house. the justice department who raided president's trumps home. biden-harris justice department that worked with social media companies to censor americans and who let the country believe that the hunter biden laptop was misinformation when they knew at the time it was authentic and
7:12 am
maybe most importantly a biden harris justice department who retaliated against whistleblowers who came to this committee and spoke to us about these issues. last week we sent you 12 questions about what occurred on july 13th. we expect you to answer those questions and the others that i've just outlined. again we thank you for being here today and appreciate your willingness to answer the questions that the committee is going to have. with that i would yield to the ranking member for an opening statement. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. chairman, two weeks ago our country witnessed a shocking assassination attempt on a presidential candidate. i disagree with donald trump on almost every policy area imaginable and frequently shocked and outraged at the plans he has wore the country and fight his agenda. regardless of my strong feelings about donald trump's behavior, unequivocally condemn with every fiber of my being the attempt against his life. this was not just an attack on a
7:13 am
man but an attack on our democracy. political violence he roads the foundation of our nations and freedom of speech, peaceful transition of power, democratic government at its core these cannot exist if political violence is allowed to fester and go unchecked. if you think this one assassin's bullet was a bolt out of the blue and not a wave of violence that threatened the nation for years you missed the point of what we've been imploring you to hear for some time. election workers, many of them working for free, faced near constant threats of violence. one recent instance in indiana man pleaded guilty to threatening to kill an election worker who said there were no irregularities in the recent election. that man said quote, 10 million plus patriots will surd round you when you least expect it and will kill you, close quote. that is political violence.
7:14 am
another instance speaker nancy pelosi's husband was hit with a hammer in his home trying to capture pelosi and break her kneecaps because of her liberal views. that's political violence. the death threats surging against former president obama and wife machine and governor desantis as well as many others including videos of individuals holding guns making assassination threats is political violence. plot to kidnap whitner and over throw the government is violence. the deadly attack against this very building with rioters breaking through barriers running through the halls chanting kill nancy, hang mike pence. this rioters battering capitol police officers and forcing members of congress and their
7:15 am
staffs to go into hiding under desks and closets is political violence. this assassination attempt, as horrific as it is, should surprise no one. you would think a political party that almost lost their presidential candidate through an act of political violence would have something to say about the way their leaders keep talking about the next election. donald trump has warned there will be a bloodbath if he loses. republican ohio state senator said he is afraid civil war might be necessary if republicans lose the november election. president of the right wing think-tank project 2025 leader heritage foundation roberts said on a podcast quote, we are in the process of the second american revolution which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be, close quote. republican former alaska governor palin said in august of
7:16 am
last year of trump's indictment. you want us to be in civil war? that's what's going to happen. we won't keep putting up with this. we need to rise up and take our country back, close quote. i could go on but it is more and more of the same. i hear nothing from the other side of the aisle in this room about these statements. you support a bloodbath if you don't get the election outcome you want? you justify violence if the left does not agree with you? what exactly is preoccupy the majority while allies threaten violence to political enemies. we've chased down baseless conspiracy theories in favor of donald trump. spent millions of dollars, thousands of hours of staff time in more than 100 transcribed interviews chasing false accusations against president biden, supporting an impeachment effort that seemed designed to fail and hunting for smoking gun that simply does not exist. instead of admitting these
7:17 am
investigations found no corruption, coercion or unethical behavior for the biden administration republicans chose to dig deeper and spend more money. imagine what could have happened if we had spent these thousands of hours of staff time and those millions of taxpayer dollars addressing even one aspect of the political violence that now threatens our country? perhaps if this republican imagine ory to lift a finger with a nation awash in guns the weep -- director wray, your agency is responsible for addressing some of the most serious issues of our time. the bureau fights gun violence that claims the lives of 40,000 americans every year. it protects election security from growing threats from malign fern actors trying to influence our election and protects against domestic terrorists and violent extremists a growing
7:18 am
threat in recent years and carried out mass shootings and deadly events around the country and so much more. i apologize to you, director, that instead of supporting you in these missions in the 118th congress, some of my colleagues have hindered your work, maligned your agents and called to abolish and defund your agency. all for political gain. it's despicable especially from the party that claims to quote back the blue. i know that you and your many agents and employees have paid the price for these baseless attacks. i know you have faced a barrage of threats, vitriol from the public as a result of these wild politically driven conspiracies. it has become more dangerous and difficult for you to come to work each day. i may not agree with you on everything, but i sincerely thank you on every employee in your agency who continues to protect our country. the f.b.i. is vital to keeping
7:19 am
america safe and i pray that today we can focus on the real substantive work of the agency. it is the least we owe our country in these times. i yield back. >> bill: without objection all of the opening statements will be included in the record and now introduce today's witness christopher wray has been the director of the f.b.i. since 2017. previously served as assistant attorney general for the criminal division of the department of justice, principal associate deputy attorney general and as assistant u.s. attorney for the northern district of georgia. again director wray you have been here many times and appreciate you being here today. look forward to your testimony and answering our questions. we'll swear you in. rise and raise your right hand. do you swear or affirm under penalty of perjury the testimony you are about to give is true and correct to the best of your knowledge, information and belief so help you god. let the record reflect that the witness has answered in the
7:20 am
affir affirmative. we have votes coming in ten minutes but want to get through your opening statement as far as we can. an interesting day on capitol hill with the prime minister of israel here as well. you are recognized for your opening statement. >> good morning, chairman jordan, ranking member nadler, members of the committee. i want to begin by offering my condolences on the passing of representative jackson lee who served the people of texas and this body and on this committee for so long. thank you all for your support of our efforts to protect the american people and uphold the constitution. i am proud to be here today representing the 38,000 special agents, intelligence analysts and professional staff who make up the f.b.i. men and women who every day work relentlessly to counter the most complex threat environment i've seen in my tenure as f.b.i. director and maybe my entire
7:21 am
career in law enforcement. before i go any further i also want to acknowledge and offer my deepest condolences to the victims of the horrific assassination attempt in butler county. to the friends and family of corey comperatore, who by all accounts lost his life protecting others from danger, to the other victims, two of whom were critically wounded, and, of course, of course to president trump, former president trump and his family. as i've said from the beginning the attempted assassination of the former president was an attack on our democracy and our democratic process and we will not and do not tolerate political violence of any kind especially a dispickable account of this magnitude. i want to assure you and the american people that the men and women of the f.b.i. will continue to work tirelessly to get to the bottom of what
7:22 am
happened. we are bringing all the resources of the f.b.i. to bear both criminal and national security. that is a whole lot of work underway and still a lot of work to do in our understanding of what happened and why will continue to evolve but we'll leave no stone unturned. the shooter may be deceased, but the f.b.i.'s investigation is very much ongoing. to that point, i also want to acknowledge that i recognize both the congressional and public interest in this case and the importance of this investigation to the american people. and i understand there are a lot of open questions. so while the investigation is very much ongoing and our assessments of the shooter and his actions continue to evolve, i hope today to do my best to provide you with all the information i can given where we
7:23 am
are at this point. i have been saying for some time now that we are living in an elevated threat environment. tragically, the butler county assassination attempt is another example, a particularly heinous and very public one, of what i've been talking about. but it also reinforces our need at the f.b.i. and our ongoing commitment to stay focused on the threats, on the mission, and on the people we do the work with and the people we do the work for. every day all across this country and indeed around the world the men and women of the f.b.i. are doing just that, working around the clock to counter the threats we face. just in the last year, for example, in california the f.b.i. and our partners targeted an organized crime sin syndicate trafficking drugs. we charged the mexican-based
7:24 am
suppliers who brought the drugs into the united states, a network of canada-based truck drivers who delivered the drugs, and the distributors in the united states who spread the poison into our communities. staying on threats emanating from the border, i have warned for some time now about the threat that foreign terrorists may seek to exploit our southwest border or some other port of entry to advance a plot against americans. just last month, for instance, the bureau and our joint terrorism task forces worked with ice in multiple cities across the country as several individuals with suspected international terrorist ties were arrested using ice's immigration authorities. leading up to those arrests, hundreds of f.b.i. employees dedicated countless hours to understand the threat and identify additional individuals of concern.
7:25 am
now, the physical security of the border is, of course, not in the f.b.i.'s lane but as the threat has escalated we are ore working with our partners in law enforcement and the intelligence community to find and stop foreign terrorists who would harm americans and our interests. as concerning as the known or suspected terrorists encountered at the border are perhaps more concerning are those we do not yet know about because they provided fake documents or because we didn't have information connecting them to terrorism at the time they arrived in the united states. staying ahead of today's threats demands that we work together and for the f.b.i., that means doubling down on our partnerships especially with state and local law enforcement. whether it's working through our hundreds of joint terrorism task forces to build out source networks, to identify those who
7:26 am
slip through the cracks, or targeting the worst of the worst responsible for violence that plagues too many communities, safe streets task forces, we're taking the fight to the cartels responsible for trafficking the dangerous drugs like fentanyl pouring into our country and claiming countless american lives. staying ahead of the threat also means continuing to disrupt the cyber criminals ravaging businesses large and small. and confronting nation states like china targeting our innovation and our critical infrastructure. at the bureau we're proud to work side-by-side with our brothers and sisters in federal, state and local law enforcement, partners in the intelligence community and others around the world to fulfill our commitment to keep americans safe. on friday the f.b.i. will celebrate its 116 years of
7:27 am
protecting the american people and upholding the constitution. 116 years of working with our partners to safeguard the communities we serve. 116 years of innovating to stay ahead of the complex evolving and very real threats out there. i am proud of the legacy the men and women of the f.b.i. have built and all they have accomplished for the american people. so if i may, as we approach this week's anniversary i would like to say to all those part of the f.b.i. family, from our current employees to our formers and to our partners across law enforcement and the intelligence community, thank you. thank you for dedicating your lives, this country and to its people. it is both humbling and an honor to serve alongside you and i look forward to the work we'll continue to do together. with that thank you again for
7:28 am
having me and i look forward to our discussion. >> thank you, director wray. the gentleman from north carolina is recognized for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i'm way down here, i appreciate the chairman giving me this because i have to leave. let me ask this question. why doesn't the f.b.i. disclose to the american people all of the investigative detail and evidence that you are gathering as it is gathered? >> well, we have tried to be transparent with both congress and the american people as we are going along in the investigation, unusually so for an ongoing investigation given the sheer nature of it. we have provided a lot of information. i expect to continue providing information. i expect to be able to provide additional information here today in response to your questions and your colleagues. but part of the issue is that as like in any investigation, as we
7:29 am
proceed, facts evolve, our understanding of what somebody said turns out to be more context that we didn't have before. we have additional leads out there. part of our goal is not just to respect the ongoing investigation process but to make sure we don't prematurely provide information that two days later turns out to be different than what we told people. that's very much a natural part of any investigation. >> did crooks fire eight shots? >> we have recovered eight cartridges on the roof. >> why was crooks allowed to get off eight shots? >> well, that i think is something we're still digging into. again maybe this is a good place for me to make clear the different investigations that are going on. certainly i understand the -- >> given that i've only got three minutes left. i'm really interested. i appreciate your invitation
7:30 am
prepared to disclose things as questions are asked. i don't want to waste time. i want to get to the questions that might -- as many members as can ask questions you'll answer. i would be glad for you and tell us what you know. why was president trump not kept off the stage? >> we don't know the answer to that. i want to be clear, this is important because i think it goes to questions that i can and cannot answer. our investigation, f.b.i.'s mandate is focused on the shooter and all things related to his attack. obviously i understand very much the intense interest and focus on the secret service's performance, actions, decision making, etc. there are two separate after-action reviews that the dhs inspector general and the outside independent panel are focused on that. our investigation overlaps with
7:31 am
that. >> we're out 13 days and we've been disclosing. we had the director -- the colonel from the pennsylvania state police if front of homeland yesterday quite candid. he disclosed that butler emergency services unit personnel were posted into the second floor of the agr buildings. they left to pursue the person that they spotted x crooks. they texted a photo of crooks to the psp representative in the command center and relayed to the united states secret service and ask it be texted to someone else. many minutes before president trump took the stand. why were they not keeping him off the stand? to the extent i know we always hear when there is a criminal investigation you have to wait for it to develop. do you have any reason -- do you have any other target of the criminal investigation other than crooks who is dead? >> we're investigating the shooter both to determine his motive and his preparations and activities before the shooting
7:32 am
but also to make sure whether or not there are any co-conspirators, accomplices. >> have you developed any evidence to so suggest there are accomplices or assistors. >> not at this time. >> while we wait maybe for months -- i hate to say this i'm not trying to take a pot shot. the country went for years with the understanding that the hunter biden laptop was russian disinformation as offered by respected former intel officials and the whole time the f.b.i. had the laptop and let that happen in public until finally offering testimony in a case. to the degree we wait to hear as a country and as a congress what has happened in this event because the f.b.i. is conducting an investigation, it provides fodder for the u.s. secret service not perhaps to wreckon with the problems obvious to everyone. a couple in. i have 13 more seconds.
7:33 am
one more question. senator grassley says the records of the day show that there was a counter unmanned aerial surveillance operator on site. was there? why did that person not prevent crooks from being able to use a drone? >> again questions about the secret service's performance are better directed to those other reviews. what it comes to drones, crooks himself had a drone and i'm prepared to answer questions here today about the shooter and his use of the drone, for example. >> my time is expired. >> thank you, mr. chairman. as i said in my opening statement political violence is a scourge and entirely unacceptable no matter the source or the target. last october far right theorists broke into nancy pelosi's home and hit her husband. prominent republicans mocked the attack and promoted conspiracy
7:34 am
theories about it. last august and armed utah man who threatened to kill president biden was killed at f.b.i. agents attempted to serve a warrant on him hours before president biden landed in his state. some at the right claimed the man was a second amendment ent enthuse yacht. they've called for civil war and saying if they lose the election it will take a civil war to save the country and it will be saved. heritage foundation said we're in the process of the second american revolution which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be, close quote. director wray, it is important that we respect first amendment protections but there is clearly a point at which some violent rhetoric crosses to threats of violence or leads to actions of violence. describe how the f.b.i. looks at this relationship between rhetoric and action and what you are seeing around the country? >> i appreciate the question and this is an issue i've been
7:35 am
talking about for some time. in our view, there is a right way and a wrong way under the first amendment to express your views no matter how passionate or even angry you are. violence and threats of violence is not the right way and we don't care what you are upset about or what you are upset with. when it turns to violence and threats of violence when we have to draw the line and get engaged and there is an alarming phenomenon we've seen over the last several years of that kind of passion and heated rhetoric turning into actual violence and threats of violence. we've seen it against public officials of all sorts. we've seen it against law enforcement. the number of officers shot and killed in the line of duty in this country is frankly
7:36 am
outrageous and alarming. and i know that because every time an officer is shot and killed anywhere in this country since the day i started as f.b.i. director, i personally call the chief or the sheriff to express my condolences and to talk to them about the victims' family and the number of those shootings that are ambush related. somebody is targeting law enforcement because they are law enforcement is particularly alarming. i have made around 400 of those phone calls. it is almost every five days that a law enforcement officer is killed in the line of duty. and that is an example of the kind of ways in which passions and heated rhetoric can bubble over into violence. >> members of congress, families and staffs are witnessed a rise in threats against them. appreciate how your agency -- what is the f.b.i. doing the
7:37 am
insure that members of congress, families and staffs are safe? >> we have a very close relationship with the capitol police and we have members of the capitol police who are on some of our tasks forces. we share intelligence information about things that we're seeing, trends we're seeing with capitol police and others in law enforcement. if we have specific information about an effort to target a member of congress, then we are getting with capitol police in a more specific way. those are some of the things we're doing. >> your office is leading the investigation into the attempted assassination of donald trump. republicans in congress, including members of this committee, have repeatedly called for defunding the f.b.i. what impact what defunding or limiting the funding have on the f.b.i.'s ability to conduct this and other investigations? >> so i understand that there are heated views and opinions about us like there are about every institution in today's
7:38 am
america. but cutting our funding is incredibly short sighted and the people it really hurts are state and local law enforcement and the american people we're sworn to protect. >> i want to turn to a different matter. in recent days republican members of congress have attacked presidential nominee kamala harris as a dei candidate. it's not a new theme for them. in may jordan claimed because of the dei initiative the f.b.i. is not hiring the best and brightest candidates to fill the position of special agent. with the remaining time can you please answer the following questions. is it true that hiring women and people of color means that f.b.i. is no longer hiring the best and brightest to serve as law enforcement officers? any evidence that women and people of color are less effective in law enforcement rolls and what message does it send to applicants when they are
7:39 am
-- >> witness may respond. >> any notion we have lowered our hiring standards is just not accurate. the standards are as competitive and selective as ever. tens of thousands of people apply. our selection rate is 3.1 percent more selective than any university in the country. and most of our applicants something like 50% are coming from military or law enforcement backgrounds. about 50% have advanced degrees. the average age is around 31, which means they are bringing a wealth of personal and professional experience when they arrive. to suggest that those people, because of efforts related to diversity or anything like that are less qualified frankly is not at all consistent with what i see having visited all of our field offices and seen these young people in action i think is an insult to those hard working men and women who signed up to dedicate their lives for this country. >> thank you, director.
7:40 am
i yield back. >> bill: director let me go back to mr. bishop. tell me about the drone. you act like you wanted to fill us in on that. fill us in. >> we have recovered a drone that the shooter appears to have used. it is being exploited and analyzed by the f.b.i. lab. the drone was recovered in his vehicle so at the time of the shooting the drone was in his vehicle. with the controller. in addition our investigation has uncovered -- >> you know what time of day he flew it? >> in addition, it appears that around 3:50 p.m., 4:00 in that window on the day of the shooting that the shooter was flying the drone around the area. when i say the area, not over the stage and that part of the area itself.
7:41 am
i would say 200 yards give or take away from that. we think. we do not know -- this is one of these things that's qualified because of the ongoing review, that he was livestreaming and viewing the footage for about 11 minutes around the 3:50, 4:00 range. >> two hours before he is flying a drone. >> 200 yards away. >> what about the bombs we've heard about in the shooter's car? >> again, the f.b.i. lab is exploiting those explosive devices. there were -- we've recovered three devices, two in his vehicle and one back in his residence. >> are these what you would call sophisticated operations or -- that's what i've been told by people who have some understanding in this area. >> i think it's -- we've seen more sophisticated and less. these are relatively -- key word
7:42 am
relatively crude devices themselves but they did have the ability to be detonated remotely and so to that point, in addition to the two devices that we recovered out of his vehicle, there were receivers for those two explosive devices with the devices and on the shooter himself when he was killed by law enforcement, he had a transmitter with him. now i do want to add one important point here is at the moment it looks to us -- again ongoing review. i can't say that too many times. at the moment it looks like because of the on/off position on the receivers, that if he had tried to detonate those devices from the roof, it would not have worked but that doesn't mean the explosives weren't dangerous. >> bill: we'll get into all these subjects later as well. tell us what you can about the encrypted platforms we've heard
7:43 am
about. >> so one of the things that we're drilling into hard with the shooter in an effort to try to learn more about his state of mind and motive and ideology and contacts everything else is to look at all his devices, any social media accounts he had, etc. and one of the things we've learned in finally getting into his phone, which was also a significant technical challenge, once we got on the phone he was using encrypted messaging applications. >> bill: the same questions relative to the bombs. was it pretty sophisticated or the norm? >> on this subject i would say this is unfortunately now become very common place and a real challenge for state and local law enforcement. >> tell me the scope -- does the scope of your investigation include what i call that critical five minutes from when
7:44 am
the 6:09 based on information you have given to congress when the shooter is identified on the roof and 6:14 and all that happens in between there. do you have access to the communications that were going on at the time in that critical five minutes? >> so our investigation when you say scope. our investigation includes that time frame. although focused again on the shooter himself. >> he is involved in that time frame. >> as part of that and our focus and investigation of the shooter and the attack, of course we are interviewing law enforcement from the scene because those are some of the most significant witnesses and we are getting access to their materials and that kind of thing. >> you are getting access -- you have access to the communication that exist there? >> as i sit her at the moment i don't know the exact answer to that question. the secret service has been cooperative with us. >> congress would like access to those communications as well.
7:45 am
not just five minutes. lots of communications we would love to have access as well. they have called votes on the floor. six minutes left. committee will stand in recess until approximately ten minutes after votes conclude on the house floor. >> bill: that was interesting. >> dana: great. >> bill: especially toward the end there had a drone and apparently was livestreaming it 200 yards away from the stage. what he was livestreaming it to is not clear. was it to himself, to others, who was watching on the other end? those questions not asked yet. >> dana: two hours before the president took the stage. >> bill: 3:50 to 4:00 eastern time. three devices, two in the car. one at home. not operational. difficult thing here about the encrypted apps that he was using on his phone to send message. that has yet to be cracked. tim miller is with us, former
7:46 am
secret service agent. tim, thank you for standing by and you are watching it as well. what do you take away from the first 45 minutes? >> well, i found it kind of refreshing that we're getting some factual information. it is important to delineate the f.b.i. questions are being asked about why trump wouldn't taken off the platform. those are all going to be secret service protocol investigations. the f.b.i. is focused right now on the criminal aspect of how did this guy, you know, begin? what ideology does he have? more importantly, who is he connected to? internationally and domestically. that's the biggest question that needs to be answered. but i found director wray very forthright, number of shots, those kinds of things. but a lot of the why secret service didn't do this or that, that's likely not going to come out in his testimony. >> dana: it was alarming and happened a moment ago when
7:47 am
director wray was asked by jim jordan about the encryption and he said on a scale of sophistication where was this and director wray said it has become quite common place and not hard. what is interesting to me so if young people or anybody bad actors, young people, whoever, good people, can all use these encrypted apps and message but law enforcement has 11 days now unable to actually get in and look at those and he says it is a huge challenge for state and local law enforcement let alone the f.b.i. to me it was alarming and i feel like it is something we have to do something about sooner rather than later. >> you are exactly right. let me tell you that makes things that are very important to identify infinitely more difficult. if you think about this case, this guy could very easily be connected with others like-minded people planning attacks. what is even more concerning is
7:48 am
it's not just encrypted devices on phones. many folks are using, especially international organizations, they are communicating on game devices, peer-to-peer type communications and you bring out a great point. law enforcement is not able to get the information as quickly as we need to especially for a presidential plot like we've seen. >> bill: reminds you of the terrorist attack in southern california when they were trying to get inside the phones. i think the director would have been better served to come in with his story and i think it was jordan who said we would like to hear a soliloquy on this. he needs to say here is everything we know, not about that why, but about the how. >> i totally agree. i think that's what we're all hungry for. the f.b.i. has really important information right now, which it was even discussed. the conspiracy theories that are
7:49 am
out there are horrifying and it is important, the american people are able to get accurate information from the very agencies that are investigating this. so i totally agree with you. i would like to see him pause and say here is ten minutes, give us the high points of what we know so that we don't have to wonder. >> dana: all right. so we, tim, are in a situation where we're waiting to just find out where this is going to go from here. a big day today. netanyahu is giving a speech, a memorial service for the late senator joe lieberman, which was certainly a great honor for the lieberman family and his many friends. that speech is happening at 2:00. there is a lot of swirling news right now. but one of the things our adversaries can pick up on is that we still don't have so much information about how our former president and the candidate for the republican nomination was
7:50 am
left so exposed. we don't know about whether there was encrypted messages that were talking to other people. don't know if there were other people on the ground. so many things we don't know and it feels like a very difficult and maybe even scary situation for america right now. it does not feel stable. >> dana, you are exactly right. we are as vulnerable as we've ever been probably in our lifetime right now. we are not projecting strength internationally. a lot of division internally and why these types of investigations, they are not the traditional. they have to move forward at record speed so that we can get the answers. now we do know that the secret service has taken significant steps to enhance former president trump's detail, which should have occurred maybe arguably much sooner. but that's not the end of the problem. i agree with you, dana, i think we are in a position now where all government agencies,
7:51 am
especially dealing with what we've heard targeted efforts by the iranians, we have unknown folks coming across the southwest border. we know we have bad people here. and you are exactly right. this is a time we ought to be exceptionally vigilant and not distracted by a lot of the things, especially in politics, that are going on. >> bill: a couple of things, eight cartridges found on the roof. i would have brought pictures of those. he didn't apparently. not yet. a picture of the gun that we haven't found, either. two other things. we're investigating his motive and don't believe he had accomplices. the investigation continues on that. i would have been a little more forthcoming with that as well. we'll see whether in the end, tim, if this was a lone actor on his own who is maybe looking for attention and if that was not it, and it runs much deeper than that, we have a much bigger
7:52 am
story out of butler, pennsylvania. tim, thank you for your time. we'll get back in the hearing momentarily. thank you. >> dana: f.b.i. director christopher wray will be back on the stand fielding questions on the trump investigation and there is this. [shouting and chanting] >> dana: anti-israel protests in d.c. ahead of netanyahu's speech to congress. what we expect to hear and how it will be received. >> israel is a growing democracy. the strongest democracy, the only democracy in the middle east. they have respect for human rights. what i hope and i believe we'll hear from prime minister netanyahu is how we'll eradicate the terrorists who slaughtered civilians in israel. a. and they can show off clearer skin and less itch with dupixent, the #1 prescribed biologic by dermatologists and allergists, that helps heal your child's skin from within. serious allergic reactions can occur that can be severe.
7:53 am
7:54 am
7:55 am
7:57 am
7:58 am
indiana. she offered to give a speech at a sorority and skip the prime minister's address before the joint meeting of congress. you saw protests on the hill, more today. that's the decision she has made along with half a dozen other democratic senators and by my count 80 democratic house members. >> dana: you heard mark penn thinking it is a terrible first decision. if you want to be commander-in-chief one of the first tests to pass all right they'll meet but it will be behind closed doors. you think about how biden was bending over backwards to make sure the votes in michigan came his way. you have to wonder if kamala harris is already thinking about that as well. >> bill: okay. >> dana: chad pergram live on capitol hill with this. how is it going there, chad? >> good morning. the middle east is deeply divisive for democrats. gop hopes to exploit those fissures ahead of the election with harris not showing up. some liberals say netanyahu
7:59 am
should not appear. >> people in gaza are now starving to death. remember, when people stand up and applaud children, women, innocent people in gaza are now starving to death. >> some on the left call netanyahu a war criminal. scores of democrats will sit this one out in protest. but some pro-israel democrats believe their colleagues should be respectful and at least show up to hear from a foreign dign dignitary. >> i think any time a leader of one of our allies is speaking we should be there. i think it will be a good turnout. >> the vice president also serves as president of the senate. that means they customarily co-preside over joint meetings alongside the speaker of the house. vice president harris is campaigning in indiana. senate president patty murray
8:00 am
will ditch the speech. ben cardin is standing in. >> senator schumer asked me. i'm honored to do it. it is an opportunity -- [inaudible] >> the gop is blasting harris for not attending saying it was a chance for her to demonstrate she is ready to lead on the world stage. >> dana: chad pergram, what a day it is here. busy day for chad. we found out at the end of this week congress goes into recess and not be back until september 9th. no more hearings. they get a lot of work done this week. >> bill: 2:00 netanyahu, 6:00 trump and 8:00 biden. >> dana: i'll see you on the five as well. "the faulkner focus" is next. >> harris: and we come in with breaking news. anti-israel protestors are
82 Views
Uploaded by TV Archive on