captioned by los angeles distribution and broadcasting, inc. >> right now on america this morning, the investigation into the assassination attempt against former president trump

how the shooter got on to that roof, and why officers failed to stop him just before he opened fire. what police are now learning about the suspect also this morning calling for calm politics must never be a literal battlefield. >> and god forbid, a killing field. >> president biden condemning the shooter and overnight, former president trump, in his first interview since the attac, saying i'm not supposed to be here. what trump says saved his life, and how this close call is changing his plans for this week's republican convention, plus new details on the other victims of the shooting, including a man killed while protecting his family, the doctor who fought to save his life describes the chaos from abc news. >> this is america, this morning. >> good monday morning, everyone. i'm andrew dymburt. >> good morning to you. i'm rhiannon ally. we want to begin this morning with new information about the assassination attempt against former president trump. >> the fbi is working to

determine a motive for the attack. and overnight, former president trump, in his first interview since the shooting, said, quote, i'm not supposed to be here. >> president biden, addressing the nation, calling for americans to stand together, saying while we may disagree, we are not enemies. we have several reports this morning. team coverage. abc's perry russom is in milwaukee, where the republican national convention will begin today. alison kosik is also here with details on the suspected shooter's past. >> but we begin with those new comments from president biden and former president trump. >> but politics must never be a literal battlefield. and god forbid, a killing field. >> president biden addressed the nation last night, pleading for unity and calmer political discourse. >> a former president was shot. an american citizen killed while simply exercising his freedom to support the candidate of his choosing. we cannot we must not go down this road in america, former president trump, in his first interview since being shot, tells the washington examiner that he was saved from death in this moment because he

had turned away from the crowd to look at a screen that featured data he was using in his speech. >> this photo captured the split second after a bullet hit trump's ear. trump saying, quote, i rarely look away from the crowd. had i not done that in that moment, well, we would not be talking today, would we? and overnight, trump telling the new york post, i'm not supposed to be here. i'm supposed to be dead. adding by luck or by god. many people are saying it's by god. i'm still here. it comes as we learn that a butler county police officer was on that roof with the shooter just seconds before the shots were fired. officials say local and state police were alerted to a man matching the shooter, thomas matthew crook's description behaving suspiciously just outside the security perimeter before trump took the stage, the guy beside me all of a sudden says, this guy got a gun and points. >> i look over at the aggr building and there is a guy going prone, laying down on the on the agr roof. at that point, i look over the guy, starts taking shots at the president.

>> the butler county sheriff says local authorities spotted the shooter on top of a building and an officer was vaulted up to the roof where the shooter was perched. but the suspect quickly turned and aimed his gun at that local officer, forcing him to retreat and fall down the shooter turned around with the firearm. >> the officer let go. and fell on the ground. i'll be honest, i think the officer or officers acted appropriately. you know, you're not going to get killed. how do you report that? the. there's somebody that has a gun if you're dead. seconds later, the gunman opening fire on trum. >> the big question now, how could this have happened? this map shows the distance between the shooter's body and where trump was standing. fewer than 400ft away. many now question how the shooter was able to get so close. >> there's an entirely different stance for sitting presidents versus campaign stops. the secret service would love nothing more than if the

president stayed in the white house and stayed behind a secure perimeter. that's simply not the reality of politics or the american democracy. the people demand and should expect access to the people that represent them. i think it's important for people to understand when you see that counter sniper technician take out the threat that until he identified it as a threat, it was an individual from 200 yards moving on a rooftop. if he had neutralized that threat or shot an innocent civilian that just happened to be trying to get a view of former president trump, we'd be having a very different conversation. >> secret service snipers reacting quickly, firing at the shooter and killing him. but not before he was able to fire several shots, including the one that hit the former president. authorities say the ar style rifle used in the shooting was purchased legally by the suspect's father. sources also say what appeared to be explosives were found in the suspect's car, one source saying they looked like grenades. the fbi is working to determine if they're viable. a bomb squad was

on the scene as the fbi searched the suspected shooter's home, and a source says the suspect is increasingly looking like a lone wolf with no ties to extremist organizations found so far. >> meanwhile, we are learning more about the life of 20 year old thomas matthew crooks. here's abc's alison kosik. >> this morning. authorities are piecing together a profile of the man suspected of taking aim at former president trump, 20 year old thomas matthew crooks, as they try to find the motive. >> you know, my sense is of this case is it's probably not going to be complicated. obviously, something triggered this lad and he committed this horrible act, and he may or may not have talked to anybody. >> crooks is from bethel park, pennsylvania, a suburb of pittsburgh. he was a registered republican who would have been eligible to vote for the first time this year. he had no known history of mental illness. crooks worked in a nursing home

as a dietary aide and graduated high school in 2022, where students say he was smart, liked computers and was a loner. investigators confirming they believe this image shows him in high school in april 2022. >> he was always bullied, every day he was just an outcast. he was just made fun of, i guess, for the way he dressed or his appearance. how do you dress, like they were just saying jeans. he'd wear hunting outfits sometimes. i he would always wear a mask. even after covid, he he wore a mask. like, you could look at him and you would be like, something's a little off. >> he is starting to appear like he fits a pretty common pattern here of individuals that, apparently he was bullied when he was younger. that that's a pretty common thread that we see in attackers, particularly ones that are are fairly young, young adults and, and those types of

humiliation experiences, those grievances, when you combine it with an online environment that's going to feed the grievance and suggest that violence might solve the problem. often results in these mass attacks. >> while in high school, crooks was rejected from the rifle team, in part for being a bad shot, but did become a member of a local shooting club. records show he had no military experience. his neighbors, stunned that the suspected would be assassin, lived among them. >> how sad for his parents. >> i was stunned, i mean, where is america going to now? you just never really know somebody at all anymore. >> and it's kind of shocking. >> investigators are now trying to search crook's phone, looking for any misinformation he may have been consuming, and whether it played any role. the fbi says it's confident crooks acted alone, but they don't know why he acted at all. he wasn't on their radar. he has no criminal

record and what they've seen so far of his digital history offers no useful clues as to why he would do this. andrew. rhiannon. >> all right. alison kosik, thank you for that. three other people were shot at that trump rally, including corey comparator, a firefighter who was killed trying to shield his family from the bullets. doctor james sweetland was nearby, and he tried to save his life. >> i heard a woman screaming ou, he's been shot. he's down. i heard his voice in my head saying, go, go, go. what's taking you so long? get to that person. go. and then when i got to the scene, my training kicked in. >> the two others who were shot are both in stable condition. >> and we want to get to abc's perry russom in milwaukee, where the republican convention kicks off today with some changes. perry. good morning. what can you tell us about the expected shift in tone. >> yeah andrew, good morning to you. overnight former president trump making some changes to the convention here in milwaukee. he is already in town saying he

would not let a shooter change his plans. this morning, republicans ramping up for their convention in milwaukee days after the assassination attempt on former president trump. >> the delegates and the people that are here already, they are determined and galvanized and super glued together in our support for the president. >> trump arriving in wisconsin yesterday, refusing to delay his trip, he's now telling the washington examiner he's revamped his entire convention speech, saying the convention is a chance to bring the country together. i was given that chance. in a new interview with the new york post, trump says, i want to try to unite our country, but i don't know if that's possible. people are very divided right now. the secret service says there are no known credible threats against the convention. >> this is a national special security event that designation is the highest level of security designation that that the federal government can determine. so we are confident they in these security plans that are in place for this

event. and we're ready to go. >> wisconsin is an open carry state. >> we as a city cannot legislate out of that. >> state law specifically prevents the city from banning guns outside the convention's designated security perimeter, meaning people are allowed to openly carry guns inside what's called the soft perimeter, the area bordering the convention. as republicans focus on the convention, the biden campaign for now has pulled trump attack ads after the shooting. at the rally, we are told that that's not going to last long, that that the that we are in the middle of an election cycle, the president and the biden campaign are still planning to make this point that they believe trump is still a threat to democracy. and then another major focus heading into the convention, who will trump pick to be his running mate? insiders say he is narrowing down his search to either senator jd vance or senator marco rubio, with a decision possibly being announced later today. andrew. >> perry. thank you. our coverage continues in just a few moments with a closer look at political violence. can we turn

down the political temperature in this country, that story ahead. >> up next, some other news we are following, including the extreme heat back today for millions of people, plus chaos in south florida as unruly soccer fans climb through stadium

all the breaking new details live in real time. >> back now with soccer fans trying to force their way into miami's hard rock stadium for last night's argentina colombia match, the chaos delayed the start of the game, some without tickets. those fans were seen climbing into what appeared to be the stadium's air ducts, raising security questions because the stadium will host world cup games in 2026. meanwhile, argentina's lionel messi left the game with an ankle injury, but his team went on to win one. nothing. >> texas governor greg abbott has ordered an investigation

into houston's largest utility, 270,000 homes and businesses remain without power one week after hurricane beryl. the investigation will look into centerpoint energy's storm preparations, and thousands of power outages were reported around chicago after this tornado warnings flood watches in the region. more storms are expected from iowa to indiana today, and dangerous heat is moving into the northeast. it will feel like triple digits along the i-95 corridor. more than 100 million americans are under heat alerts. >> at&t reportedly paid a hacker nearly $400,000 to delete stolen customer data. the company revealed the massive breach last week, saying it involved call and text logs from nearly all of its wireless customers. the ransom payment was allegedly made with bitcoin coming up. >> the shots heard around the world. >> how can we lower the political temperature after the assassination attempt against former president trump? a closer former president trump? a closer look next

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or a violent mob attacking the capitol on january 6th, president biden last night called on americans to turn down the political temperature, the president referencing several frightening incidents since the january 6th attack on the capitol, including the plot to kidnap michigan governor gretchen whitmer and the attack on former house speaker nancy pelosi's husband. >> over the past ten years, we've seen nearly a doubling in threats to public officials at all levels of government. >> elizabeth newman worked in the homeland security department. she says inflammatory rhetoric is helping fuel the violence. >> we really need to get back to reasserting norms that embrace peaceful dialog, respectful dialog and also not be afraid to disagree. >> since saturday's attack, disturbing examples of divisive political speech quickly surfaced online. mississippi congressman bennie thompson terminated a staffer after she posted on facebook that the

gunman at the trump rally needed some shooting lessons. earlier this year, thompson introduced a bill that would have terminated secret service protections for felons. it did not pass. >> we are an angry, divided nation, and that anger and division has become intertwined in our political discourse. >> there are indications saturday's tragedy could be a turning point. former first lady melania trump thanking those who have reached out beyond the political divide to send their family support. others are looking to the past as they hope for a better future. it's going to take strong leadership to turn this this ship of vitriol around. >> i remember back when i was in high school, america was in a very bad state, and then along came ronald reagan, and everyone thought he was going to start world war three, and he turned out to be a great leader for all americans. and we need that again, right now. >> experts say one problem today is not enough. people get out into their communities and engage with people face to face,

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>> do you have changed sex for america? >> i do, you have changed sex. >> starting in 1980 with her radio program and then eventual syndicated tv show doctor ruth, westheimer started a dialog about the bedroom that usually was too uncomfortable to have, but she had nothing to lose. >> let her guide you how she needs to be touched. >> a child of orthodox jewish parents in germany, doctor ruth escaped the holocaust with a group of children in a swiss orphanage and never saw her family again. >> since i survived, i have an obligation to do something to repair this world. i didn't know that that was talking about sex. >> from morning to night, her children announced that she passed away peacefully at her home in new york city, just a month after celebrating her 96th birthday. >> they can do some nice exercise, then they can have some good sex. >> i think that, and while doctor ruth made it okay to talk about certain physical activities, richard simmons was there to help you try many more. and in sequence now you're back in the 1980s. the image of this louisiana native's curly red hair, short shorts and endless energy helped millions of people strive for healthier lives. just

a day after his 76th birthday, simmons died at his los angeles home on saturday. a spokesperson for the local police department said it appeared to be from natural causes, transitioning now from one advocate to an actress who became known as one later in life. shannen doherty was 53 years old after having iconic roles in heathers, beverly hills, 921 and charmed. i'm sorry. doherty's health struggles began in 2015. she was diagnosed with breast cancer that had spread to her lymph nodes, eventually then spreading to her brain and her bones in the coming years. and guys, as of this broadcast, doherty's final podcast episode posted was last monday, catching up with last monday, catching up with her former charmed cos camilla tried the new scent of gain relax flings and it changed everything. (♪) (silence) (♪) (♪) hey dave, don't knock it till you smell it.

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at milwaukee, wisconsin former president donald trump waking up there this morning, the republican national convention set to go ahead as planned. trump urging unity after an assassination attempt during a rally in pennsylvania. >> downright scary. so it's, it's tough to take. you know, it's hard to think that