right now on "ana cabrera reports," harris hits the trail, the vp heading to wisconsin this hour for her first rally as a presidential candidate. her growing momentum and new reporting on her three-week sprint to find a running mate. plus, trump's vp pick already pivoting to harris. jd vance's new attacks as

republicans recalibrate to take on a new opponent. also, beginning any moment now, another hearing into the attempted assassination of donald trump. what more we could learn about what went wrong as calls grow for the head of the secret service to resign, only getting more intense after her contentious testimony on capitol hill. good morning. it is 10:00 eastern. i'm ana cabrera reporting from new york. and today kamala harris heads out on the campaign trail. she is set to depart washington this hour for wisconsin heading to that swing state with some momentum as democrats line up behind her candidacy for presidency. now, nbc, yamiche alcindor is there in wisconsin. also with us symone sanders townsend, former chief spokesperson for vp harris, former republican congressman charlie dent of pennsylvania, and democratic strategist tara

dowdell is also with us. yamiche, give us a preview of the vice president's rally there later today. >> reporter: well, as you said, good morning from milwaukee, wisconsin, where vice president harris is set to hold her first campaign rally since launching the harris campaign. now, we got a preview of what her messaging is going to be yesterday because she went and visited wilmington, delaware, i was there with her, she was talking to campaign staffers and a couple of other supporters who made it into the room. she was talking about the fact she believes she will earn this nomination through the proper procedures with the democratic party. she also previewed her messaging against former president donald trump. i want you to take a listen to what she said. >> i took on perpetrators of all kinds. predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain, so hear me when i say i know donald trump's type.

>> reporter: and there you have it. i should also note that she began those remarks by praising president biden and he was on a call, he was not there in person because he still is isolating with his covid diagnosis, but he said i love you, kid, she said i'm proud to be here, proud to be on this ticket, proud to be what will be, she's going to be the likely nominee here, the favored nominee here. our reporting at nbc is that she clinched the majority of the delegates, but hasn't become the official presumptive nominee yet. that being said, the energy, you can feel it, the campaign is already said they raised more than $100 million since she launched her campaign and the number of supporters told me they really feel like now democrats can get back in this fight, talk about the fact she is someone who can really prosecute this case against donald trump, ana. >> you have new reporting on the ongoing veepstakes. what can you tell us about that? >> reporter: that's right. well, this is going to have to happen really quickly here. but what we can say is our -- my

sources, they're telling us there is a list that is already in some ways forming here. and that forces familiar tell us these are the people that have already been asked for vetting material to be a potential running mate for vice president harris here. we have a list here, governor roy cooper of north carolina, josh shapiro, governor of pennsylvania, senator mark kelly on that list of arizona, governor gretchen whitmer of michigan and tim walz, governor of minnesota. there are other possible names we're hearing here, governor pritzker of illinois and biden harris, now the harris campaign co-chair cedric richmond. it is very interesting to see that list coming together. we're told that it is going to possibly likely be someone chosen in this month in the next few weeks as you say in august, rather. so the idea here is that vice president harris is going to be looking for someone who can really echo her messaging, who can really be a partner in this fight is what i'm being told, but also someone who can in some ways really take the message and travel around the country, as, of course democrats are making

up for lost ground given she is likely going to become the nominee and have a really short period here before the november election, ana. >> yamiche, thank you. symone, based on your knowledge of harris, what will she be looking for in a running mate? >> i think what is going to be important to the vice president is having someone to fill the role that she herself filled for and currently still fills for president biden. i've heard her describe just her relationship with the president as someone that she respects, she gives him candid and honest feedback and that is something that she herself is also going to want. there is a campaign and political piece of this as well, but you do not pick a running mate just based on what you can -- what that person can potentially do for you in a general election. i mean, look at the trump campaign. ask donald trump how he's feeling about jd vance this morning. so the running mate pick is just -- is more so about the governing piece of this and what happens after election day if a

team is selected. even more so than it is about what happens for the next 100 or so days. so, i think that would definitely be top of mind for them. and somebody she wants to talk to and spend a lot of time with, that's, in fact, the role. >> congressman, there are a lot of potential names that are floating around out there, yamiche just walked us through some of them. we know attorney general, former attorney general eric holder will be leading the vetting process here of those who have been mentioned. who stands out most to you? >> i would say governor josh shapiro of pennsylvania, because democrats, kamala harris, she must win pennsylvania. all these swing states, that's number one. and shapiro would add a lot of heft to the tick net ticket in pennsylvania. she brought a lot of enthusiasm and money to the campaign since biden's campaign imploded, but she still needs him in pennsylvania and kamala doesn't have strong ties to the state, so i think shapiro is in the

primary position right now. >> there is pennsylvania and swing states in michigan as well, gretchen whitmer there, arizona, senator mark kelly is mentioned there. who do you think would help her most on the democratic ticket most? >> the great news is all of the people she's looking at and considering, based on the reporting are people who would help her. they're all in key states, they're all popular in key states, so i think every one of them brings something to the table. certainly josh shapiro, the point that symone sanders made earlier that you're looking for someone with whom you have some degree of chemistry, you want to talk to every day. i think he brings that to the table. i think he's a strong contender. i don't know if people have been watching him on the trail -- >> stand by, we have secretary of state antony blinken speaking right now and discussing biden exiting the race -- >> what he inherited when he took the office. maybe the worst health crisis in at least 100 years in this country. the worst economic crisis going

back to the great recession, the worst democratic crisis in as long as i can think. and we had countries around the world looking at all of this and circling like sharks to see if they could take advantage of the perceived weakness of the united states. and what he did, what's done, what he continues to do over these three and a half years and going forward through the remainder of this term has been to turn all of that around in a powerful way. the investments that we made here at home, in our future, in our competitiveness, whether it is through the infrastructure bill, whether it is through the chips and science act, whether it is through the inflation reduction act, countries around the world see that we're serious about investing in ourselves, and competing strongly. adversaries who thought we couldn't get our act together at home, he's demonstrated exactly the contrary to that. and, of course, the rebound we had under his leadership from

covid, from the economic crisis, has been extraordinary when you look at how our economy is performing compared to other major economies, other major democratic economies, we're leading the way. whether it is in getting inflation down, making sure that employment is up, we have the lowest unemployment in 60 years in this country. one of the great measures i see is we had historic years now of foreign direct investment in the united states. that is one of the greatest gauges of credibility for our country that you can find. and then for my perspective, on the instructions the president gave me from day one, rebuilding, re-energizing, reimagining all of our alliances and partnerships, our standing around the world is infinitely stronger than it was when he took office. in speaking to him, the other day, after he made his decision about not seeking re-election, what he's intensely focused on is the work that remains over

these next six months to continue the efforts, the work we have been doing, particularly trying to bring peace to the middle east and in the war in gaza, putting that region on a better trajectory. continuing to deal as effectively as he has been with the ongoing aggression by russia against ukraine and making sure we continue to do everything we can to strengthen ukraine. our engagement throughout the indo-pacific where we have been building relationships and partnerships that are stronger than they have ever been, whether with our allies, japan, korea, australia, or new zealand. whether it is with countries like the philippines and india or whether it is with emerging countries like vietnam, indonesia. in so many ways across the board, we are now stronger around the world than we have been. so, he's determined to continue that work. and i'm determined to continue it with him. when it comes to -- i'm sorry, you asked about the vice president. look, i don't -- as you all know, i don't engage in

politics, what i can tell you is this, i've known the vice president for more than a decade. these last three and a half years i've been able to observe her very closely in the situation room, in the oval office, around the world, as a leading voice for american foreign policy and for our diplomacy. we have been together at the munich security conference the last three years. i've seen her command the room full of world leaders from not only across europe, but across the world. i think she's made four trips to the indo-pacific, helping to lead our diplomacy there. deeply engaged in the middle east and trying to find a peaceful path forward. helping to drive investment in countries and in our own hemisphere so people have opportunity in the countries they come from, so they don't have to make the hazardous journey of the united states seeking a better life, because they can get it in their own countries. in each and every one of these areas, she's been a leading voice in our administration. and what i've observed is someone who asks time and again

the penetrating questions who cuts to the chase and is intensely focused on the interests of the american people and making sure our foreign policy is doing everything it can to advance those interests. and it really has been a privilege for me to see that up close these last three and a half years. thank you. >> you heard secretary blinken who is giving live remarks right now, commenting on president biden's legacy as he exits the 2024 race, discussing the accomplishments of the biden/harris administration and also praising the work of vice president harris throughout the last few years. symone, now the vice president heads out on the campaign trail, as a presidential candidate. what does she need to do that maybe she didn't do in her first run for the white house? obviously she's doing it this time, having served several years as vice president. >> right. i think this is a different campaign than 2020. i didn't work on her 2019-2020

campaign, but i did travel with her once she became the running mate to then candidate biden. and obviously worked for her in the white house. i think the difference is when you are the vice president, you are -- your name is number two on the door. your name is on the door, but it is number two and it is not about you, it is about the president. and you work in support of the president and the president's agenda. well, now that her name is at the top of this ticket, because of the president making the right and difficult decision that he made for himself, and endorsing her, standing beside her, having her back, she now has to do the work of reintroducing herself if you will to the american people. people aren't usually paying attention to all the things the vice president does every day, what second blinken just did in terms of detailing her extensive foreign policy engagements over the last three years specifically is key. folks might not know that the vice president, you know, was -- has been integral on united states/china policy. the work she's done in the

indo-pacific, how she has been instrumental in the work with just the middle east. her relationship with the president of israel, president herzog, they have known each other for years, prior to him becoming the president of israel and i believe in 2021. she's going to have a bilateral meeting i think with prime minister netanyahu this week. all of these things are critical because people will say, i don't know what the vice president does every day. well, you're about to find out. and that, coupled with, yes, what her vision will be for the future, but what she has done and how she has led and supported this biden/harris agenda is going to be critical to how voters make their decisions over the next coming weeks. >> she certainly has been in the national public eye for a few years now. but she is about to really be in the spotlight and congressman dent, i want to highlight some of the momentum we're seeing behind the harris campaign. more than $100 million raised between sunday afternoon and monday evening. 62% being first time donors.

she is picking up endorsements from hundreds of democrats, a lot of influential groups. last night a zoom call with the win with black men group had over 20,000 people on that call. what does all of that tell you and how much of this is a new race? >> i think the race changes dramatically because she's in it. look, the question before biden dropped out was his fitness. he was too old. he was diminished. that's all gone away. and now the democrats are going to be able to flip the script on trump. and question his fitness for his erratic and dangerous behavior and, oh, yeah, he's too old. they're going to be able to make that case. the challenge for the harris campaign is how is she going to play with crossover voters, swing voters, in those three states, pennsylvania, michigan and wisconsin. those are the states they have to focus on. but for now, i mean, harris is a much better polished candidate than she was four years ago. that speech yesterday helped

her. she's done that many times. she's so much better than she was. i think republicans realize they have a formidable opponent now which they did not have in joe biden. they wanted to run against joe biden, they thought he was so weak. so, this is their worst fear, but they're going to see if they can make sure they can paint harris, they're going to make her an extreme liberal, they're going to talk about her work on the border, being inadequate, they're going to pound away on inflation and all the other issues, but for the moment, the democrats have the energy and we'll see if the change -- >> somebody who not a big fan of donald trump, but a republican is harris somebody you can get behind? >> well, depends on her running mate, but i didn't support trump in 2016, in 2020, i publicly endorsed joe biden. i haven't made a decision at this time. but right now, if i were a -- i think that depending on her running mate, she might have the ability to pick off a lot of independents, and i'll say soft republicans who have been re unhappy with trump. because close to a third of

republicans i think want a different direction for this party because it is not principles-based. all based on loyalty to one man. there is a big movement to try to create an alternative narrative to maga within the republican party. >> tara, let's talk about some of the logistics in this short time frame we have for kamala harris to get this campaign really rocking and rolling. we know just yesterday she visited campaign headquarters and she is keeping on jen o'malley dillon as the person who is really running the campaign. she was the head of the biden campaign as well and president biden called into this event yesterday. listen. >> we love joe and jill. we really do. they truly are like family to us. >> so do we. >> it is mutual. >> i knew you were still there. you're not going anywhere, joe! >> i'm watching, kid! i'm watching you, kid. i love you. >> he talked about how he will be on the campaign trail, still,

even though he's bowed out of the race, he'll be there to help support her and whoever her running mate ends up being, when she officially becomes the nominee. what do you make of the continuity we're seeing between the biden campaign now, transitioning into the harris campaign? >> it was always the biden/harris campaign. that's one thing that is very important is to maintain that continuity. because of that, but also because of the short runway we're talking about. campaigns have to be agile, they have to be quick, and in this case they have to hit the ground running, which i think if this campaign continues, in the way that it started, this has been an -- i can say this as a former staffer, this has been an impeccable, impeccable opening start to a campaign. in order to keep that continuity and in order to keep that momentum, you really have to keep a lot of those same people. there is not a room to be interviewing people and checking with new people that, you know,

you just don't have that kind of runway. >> i was noting that they also have such a ground game that the biden campaign had established throughout the country in the key states like wisconsin where her campaign says they have 48 coordinated offices in 43 counties, every corner of the state, roughly 160 full time staffers on the ground doing door knocks and so forth. that cannot be overlooked or overstated, the importance of that ground game. former congressman charlie dent, tara dowdell, and symone, thank you. coming up, republicans adjusting to the up ending of the 2024 race. how trump's vice president pick jd vance is taking on kamala harris. another probe into the assassination attempt on donald trump taking place now. we'll talk to a congressman who has been part of these hearings.

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member bennie thompson giving some opening statements. also new today, house speaker johnson and minority leader jeffries have announced they're creating a bipartisan task force to investigate the assassination attempt. that, one day after secret service director kimberly cheatle appeared before the oversight committee and both top republican and the top democrat on that committee say she should resign. joining us now, nbc news capitol hill correspondent ryan nobles. ryan, walk us through what is happening so far in today's hearing. >> reporter: well, this is an interesting development, ana, because the house homeland security committee just got back from a site visit to butler, pennsylvania, where they were actually on the scene of that rally venue where the former president was almost assassinated. and many of these members actually got up on the roof of that building, where the shooter was perched and learned a lot about the dynamics of the situation there, and just how close the shooter was to the

former president himself. and this committee also wanted to hear from the secret service director, the secretary of homeland security, and the director of the fbi, they were turned down on all fronts by all three of those leaders, that's why they are instead hearing from the local law enforcement on the ground and connected to what happened on that day. so, this is one of many different investigations by different congressional committees, house and senate, looking into what went wrong that day, with the goal of trying to prevent it from ever happening again. >> and, ryan, where do things stand on calls for cheatle to resign? >> reporter: she seems to be ignoring them, ana. that's pretty remarkable given how those calls for her resignation are only increasing, she had the opportunity yesterday in this hearing by the oversight committee to try and change some minds, it went exactly the opposite as you saw some democrats that were holding out on calling for her resignation decide after that

hearing that she needed to step down. there is even now a push by republicans to try and impeach her. whether or not that will actually take place remains to be seen. but, there is no doubt that many members of congress believe that it is time for her to go, and at this point she's just not getting that message. ana? >> ryan nobles, thank you, keep us posted. up next, how donald trump's campaign is already escalating attacks on kamala harris. and as the trump campaign recalibrates to the democrats' reshuffled ticket, is the campaign regretting its choice of jd vance as trump's running mate? nce as trump's running mate of pain with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medicine directly at the source. voltaren, the joy of movement. (vo) you've had thyroid eye disease for a long time. and you've lived with the damage it caused. but even after all these years, restoration is still possible. learn how at tedhelp.com.

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jd vance going on the attack, going after the current vp turned presidential candidate. donald trump's running mate hit the campaign trail for his first solo rallies as his number two. we haven't seen trump since biden left the race, it was the trump campaign's strongest rebuke yet of kamala harris'

run. vance saying he regrets he won't get his moment on the debate stage with harris. >> to the democrats who are watching, please find some way to make kamala vice president. i was promised a debate with kamala harris and that's what i planned. history will remember joe biden as not just a quitter, which he is, but one of the worst presidents of the united states of america, but my friends, kamala harris is a million times worse and everybody knows it. >> we have some breaking news right now. separate from that. we just got word that the secret service director kimberly cheatle has resigned. i want to go back to ryan nobles on capitol hill. we were just discussing the questions lawmakers have of the law enforcement actions that day. what do we know about cheatle's resignation? >> reporter: we're just getting this information in right now. our colleague julia ainsley has two law enforcement sources that

tell nbc news that director cheatle has tendered her resignation. it is expected that an official announcement will come in the very near future. this, of course, not really a surprise given the fallout that has occurred since the assassination attempt on former president trump and her response to that fallout. she's been defiant at times. she was evasive in the many questions that she was asked during this hearing on monday. and also when you take a step back, ana, and look at the way everything progressed to that hearing on monday, initially she was offered an invitation. the oversight committee offered her the opportunity to come voluntarily to that hearing on monday. she initially rejected that through the department of homeland security, sent a letter offering up a number of alternative dates for her to appear. >> i'm sorry to interrupt you, we have the speaker of the house, mike johnson, speaking about this resignation right now. let's listen. >> -- be very sober minded about

the responsibility and take into account the very dangerous times in which we live. we'll do everything we can in the house to ensure that that's true. and i think our task force work just got even more important. we'll give you further comment as this develops. thank you. >> thanks, guys. >> okay, so we didn't catch much of what speaker mike johnson said he was one of many who had called for the resignation and called for accountability with the u.s. secret service, with kimberly cheatle, the head of that agency going before lawmakers just yesterday on the house oversight committee to answer their questions about the failures she herself called it a failure on the day that this assassination attempt happened, just about a week and a half ago, in butler, pennsylvania, where ultimately donald trump was shot in the ear, but managed to have nonlife threatening injuries, one man was killed, two others at that rally were also injured. and, ryan, let me come back to you, because the bottom line here is it was a bipartisan call

for her resignation, after the hearing yesterday, because of the lack of answers that they felt they received from her, the lack of transparency, and ultimately the lack of confidence in her leadership over this agency going forward. >> reporter: yeah, and i think it is important to point out, ana, there were a series of questions in the aftermath of this shooting that members of congress wanted answered immediately. like, for instance, how was it that a building could be less than 150 yards away from the -- from where the president was going to be and that the roof of that building be unsecured, not guarded. that was a simple question to a simple -- or a simple answer to a simple question. members of congress viewed it as such. they wanted to know why it was outside the security perimeter, why it wasn't secret service responsible for that building and if it were secret service who were responsible for that building, then who could it

possibly be? there weren't direct answers to those questions. and so, you know, that was viewed by many members of congress as an outright failure. that decision to lead that particular building unguarded. and so what they were looking for in this hearing yesterday was an explanation. well, the reason that we were unable to leave this unguarded or why that roof was not protected is because of x, y and z, this protocol we use, we didn't have enough resources, we had extended that responsibility to local law enforcement, they didn't follow through on that execution. director cheatle couldn't answer any of those questions. now, in her defense, this is not very long after the investigation, she said the fbi was handling much of the criminal investigation into this and that it could take as much as 60 days to get the answers to some of those questions. but one of the reasons that members of congress were so frustrated is that these are problems that need to be fixed immediately. we are now at the heat of a campaign, you have a former president who is running for the office again, he now has a

running mate, a vice presidential candidate who needs protection, you now have a current president who is no longer running for office, but now a current vice president who will more than likely become the nominee of the party. that is going to require a tremendous amount of effort by the secret service to make sure that every single event that these particular candidate are involved in are secure. waiting 60 days to get answers to what went wrong is not nearly enough in the minds of many of these members of congress because these changes need to be made immediately. and there was a sense talking to the members of congress afterwards that they didn't have confidence that director cheatle understood that urgency, that she was ready to implement reforms right away to fix this process. and so, i think that's part of the reason that you saw both republicans and democrats come out so quickly and do it in a bipartisan way. they're trying not to make this a political issue, even though politics are involved in the

people that are being protected. and it seems as though it just became too much for the director to handle and at this point she made the decision that it is time to step down. ana? >> ryan, thank you. we know you need to go do some additional reporting on this. but joining us now is democratic congressman from california robert garcia, and, thank you so much for joining us, congressman. you are on the house oversight committee as well as the homeland security committees, which are investigating this assassination attempt on donald trump. give me your reaction to this news that secret service director kimberly cheatle is resigning. >> i mean, look, i think this is the right move actually. you heard from democrats that they believe that what happened was a complete failure. no gunman should have been allowed to be that close within range to almost assassinate a candidate for president, a former president, and so this was the right decision. i thought that she was unable to answer questions in the committee yesterday. i think the fact that we're going to have a bipartisan task

force is going to actually still look at what actually happened and how we can make serious improvements in the future, in the secret service agency is also really, really important. but i would also just caution that with the work to do and this issue is not settled. this was an incredibly serious breach of security. we know that the president was almost assassinated. and moving forward, presidents, vice presidents, candidates, need to be protected. i'll add that today, in -- within the next few hours, the homeland security committee is also meeting, we're goinging to talking to local law enforcement including those in the state to ensure that these folks are given the resources they need and we have all the information to find out what happened. >> at this point, who would fill the leadership role she would be exiting? do you have any sense of how that will work? >> look, i think we're going to

hear in the next few days how that is going to be administered. i think obviously the various departments, all the partner agencies will be involved and we know the fbi is already involved and leading this investigation. we -- congress is going to be involved and engaged, a lot of opinions here about how to handle this. what i want to make clear to the public is that this is bipartisan. both republicans and democrats have united, very clear about the security breaches, support the task force and the work continues, homeland security meeting today, what were the local agencies, what was their responsibility, what were he this doing or not doing and how did they work with the secret service to protect that rally, which was incredibly tragic. these are important questions. i would caution just she resigned, that does not solve the serious problems we have in the secret service. >> we got reaction from donald trump on truth social posting

this, the biden/harris administration did not properly protect me, he says. and i was forced to take a bullet for democracy. it was my great honor to do so. those words from donald trump following the resignation or the news of the resignation of secret service director kimberly cheatle. what is your response to what donald trump is saying about this? blaming it on the biden/harris administration? >> i mean, honestly that's shameful. i think it is incredibly irresponsible to blame president biden for this security failure and, of course, he has now done this on multiple occasions. came out and immediately him and his allies blaming the president and democrats for this, that is not helpful, that is below anyone running for office to say. and it is quite shameful and disgusting to say at this moment. what is important is to focus in a partisan way to ensure this does not happen again. the director did the right thing. she has resigned.

she has stepped away. we have a lot of questions still, demanding answers to make sure this does not happen again, but at this moment, certainly donald trump, nor his allies should not be politicizing and trying to put blame on the president or vice president, really unfortunate, but honestly not a surprise that he would say that. >> one thing we heard from director cheatle yesterday during the hearing was that this was a manpower issue, that the secret service needs more resources, more money, more people. in fact, we do know the budget somewhere in the realm of $3 billion, that's up since 2014 about a billion or more since then. but they have seen a decrease in the number of staff members who serve in the secret service. we also know that according to the director yesterday, they had 7500 events just this year that required secret service protection, that they also

currently protect 36 people on a daily basis, plus you have world leaders who come and visit, which requires resources as well. what is congress' role in making sure they have enough resources to adequately protect those who they're tasked with providing security for? >> well, that's exactly what both the oversight committee and the homeland security committee both of which i'm a member of are doing right now. the recommendations out of the task force and the committees are going to have funding as a piece of this. secret service and many of our law enforcement federal agencies need more support. that's why many of us, particularly as democrats, have supported increases to ensure that our federal employees, that are law enforcement officials, that our agents are getting the support they need. i'm hopeful that republicans and democrats can come together and actually support these hard working workers and get them the resources and technology that

they need. we are short staffed in the secret service. we are short staffed in the fbi and many of our agencies. and so i'm really hopeful this is a moment we can come together and get the agencies the support and the reforms, by the way, because there are serious challenges and reforms that need to be made happening at our agencies. >> congressman robert garcia from california, thank you so much for joining us. now i want to bring in nbc's ken dilanian. ken, what more are we learning about her resignation? >> well, we expect that an official announcement will come later, two law enforcement officials telling our colleague julia ainsley she has resigned. and when you look at what has transpired over the past couple of weeks, since the assassination attempt, there were some people who thought that an assassination attempt on a president should precipitate the immediate resignation of the secret service director, full stop, on day one. but even if you didn't believe that, the way the secret service handled the aftermath just raised so many profound

questions and culminated in that awful hearing yesterday. remember in the initial days after the shooting, the secret service director attempted to blame local law enforcement for failing to secure that building and even said that because of the slope of the roof it was deemed too dangerous to put officers on top of the building, which was immediately belied by the video of fbi agent and others going on top of the roof. they had to issue a statement, remember, under pressure from the fraternal order of police, saying that they are in fact not blaming local law enforcement. and then fast-forward a few weeks later, you had this situation where initially they were saying they never denied the trump campaign any resources and had to acknowledge that in fact they did. they couldn't get their stories straight and then the director comes before congress and is unable to answer fundamental basic questions. some of which has already been answered by our own reporting about what happened when, what was the sequence of events, when did the police first discover the shooter, when did they take a photo of the shooter, she

wasn't able to provide a coherent timeline and the frustration among lawmakers on a bipartisan basis just boiled over. >> ken, it has been well over a week now since this assassination attempt. there has been time for at least some preliminary investigation and as the lead agency in all of this, the u.s. secret service, i think lawmakers and the american people expect her to have some answers. if you're to take a step back, what are the key questions she should be able to answer by now that we still don't have answers to? >> well, fundamentally, she needs to be able to say exactly when the secret service knew that there was a man with a gun. because, remember, she distinguished between a suspicious person and a threat at that hearing yesterday. she said if we had known there was a threat, we would not have let him take the stage. but it is still not clear exactly when they knew, because there were people in the crowd screaming, there is a guy with a rifle on the roof, we have seen that on video. it is unclear, though, from

yesterday's hearing when that was first radioed to the secret service. and then who knew what when about the fact that he had a range finder, and the fact that there was a photo sent and people were searching for him, and then, of course, just -- she didn't really answer any questions about the fundamental security question, why that building wasn't secured, whose responsibility was it and even if it was the local police's responsibility, why nobody at secret service went and checked? they know the answers, the preliminary answers to these questions. she just wasn't willing to reveal them publicly in the hearing and that just wasn't acceptable to both republican and democratic lawmakers. >> ken, stand by. i want to bring in on the phone with us former secret service agent evi poporus. we watched that hearing or portions of it yesterday together where she was being grilled by both sides. what is your reaction to now learning she has resigned? >> it is interesting.

in one of her earlier interviews, she said i'm not going anywhere, i'm staying and now you see a really significant change here. and it is probably a lot of pressure, maybe internal and external that is coming in. i do think that when they are doing this switch, or whoever is going to take the helm, i would -- there needs to be change, i think, within the u.s. secret service. and the main reason for that is the -- if you're doing too much with less, and you're short on manpower, if you're testifying before congress and saying, i'm, you know, we have done 7500 sites since the 1st, we have 36 protectees full time and your resources are thin, you need to make that change. and i can say for my own experience, this isn't uncommon. it was something that i dealt with many a time as an agent. i would do advances and i remember one in particular where i had done my advance and somebody else had done it before me and they said, this person did it before you, they did it

with x amount of assets, you should be able to do it the same. and when i did my due diligence and redid it and said, you know, i don't think they did the right job, there is some holes here or some things are missing, i need more manpower, and it was a big push and pull for me to get the manpower that i needed, because somebody was able to do it with less manpower. and so the goal of the secret service should be give me the resources i need, so that there is no question, so that we're using law enforcement in times when we need to use law enforcement. it is not that they're inept or incompetent, it is a different function. i think the other thing also, they need more training and i will tell you unequivocally, even myself as an agent, training is so important, because training is a perishable skill. shooting is a perishable skill. the tactical responses, because, look, assassination attempts don't happen often. we see them every couple of decades. you're not exercising those

skills on a daily basis. but when you do training, real strong training, like, real life scenario training on a consistent basis, you need that. but if you're working around the clock, are you going to be getting all that training you need? you're not. i think a fundamental change has to happen here where the higher ups are really focused on their people, what they need, and perhaps learning to say no. i've said it before, ana, you and i have spoken, one of the things that i thought was really important was that -- that stood out to me as an agent is we didn't tell our protectees no. i understand that it is important to be a can do agency, we can do it, but it goes to a point, right, because after that, now i'm doing too much and i should be able to guarantee the safety of the people i protect. now, going back to this specific site, overall, it is a responsibility of the u.s. secret service and you brought this up before, let's say law

enforcement was assigned and to my understanding and from my source law enforcement, local law enforcement was assigned to that building. it still is the u.s. secret service's responsibility on game day to go check, are your resources there? and are they there in the way that you communicated? it is your job. i would do it all the time. part of, like, doing that job is you're -- your feet are in pain because you are walking up and down and all over the place to make sure all your assets and manpower are where they should be. and to be frank, at this point, because i've done these assessments, nine days in, you do have all the information. you should know pretty much who did what and what went wrong at this point. >> just quickly, if you will, given your inside knowledge of this organization and your assessment of the failure that happened with this assassination

attempt, what is to blame? is it poor leadership? lack of leadership or something else? >> there needs to be a change in the psyche, perhaps, of the leadership. there needs to be a shift in we're doing all of this, look at us, and i want to say the secret service is one of the most elite agencies out there. it is hard to get into the secret service than any other agency. i want to be transparent about what a privilege it is to be there. but you require the necessary -- you need the necessary assets and manpower to do it and i think you need a strong leader to push back, to push back when you get the budget and say, no, i need more, to push back and say, no, my men and women need more training, to push back and say, no, you know, president, vice president, foreign head of state, whoever you're protecting, we cannot do that because that's not within our means. you need a really strong person,

quite frankly, who does not care about their political climb or position or how they are perceived and really, like, i'm going to say no because i'm going to do what the agency needs. you really need somebody strong and sturdy for that. and maybe it means not hiring from within. or maybe it means having somebody who has already left. i don't know. i think you really need a person who is just going to say, i'm going to do what is right and not get pulled into the minutia of budgeting and politics and all of that. >> she is somebody who did come up from the inner ranks as she mentioned at that hearing yesterday. thank you, evy. also with us now is former fbi assistant director frank figliuzzi who is joining us on the phone as well. frank, is this any surprise to you to see the u.s. secret service director resign at a time when the agency is under scrutiny and under a stark spotlight for a failure, an assassination attempt for a former president, a presidential

candidate, something that hasn't happened in this country in decades? >> so, yesterday i did publicly call for director to step down or to be terminated. i think if anything surprises me it is that she did it this early and that there was bipartisan calls for this to happen. we don't see any kind of bipartisanship happening on the hill, for sure. look, i think it is important for people to understand as evy laid out quite exceptionally that the men and women of this secret service are exceptional people, and incredibly dedicated. but the mission demands more from and there will be answers and the responses i saw the director give on the hill to some pretty basic questions, you know, what happened, this or that, these are not questions that got into

sensitive areas that had to be pushed off or that are classified. nine days into the inves investigation, you can answer. what i saw even, disturbingly, the impression that she may not have known any of those answers, not because she was putting them off because of the investigation or sensitivity, but wbecause sh was not sure that struck me most that the administrator of the agency did not have the facts that's troubling >> let me read part of the letter to the men and women of the secret service from cheatle. on july 13th, we fell short of that mission the scrutiny over the last week

has been intense and will continue to remain as our operational tempo increases. as your director i take full responsibility for the security lapse. however, this incident, she says, does not define us. we remain an organization based on integrity and staff of individuals, and as i stated the secret service will move forward with our investigation. we do not retreat from challenge, however, i do not want myi calls for resignationo be a distraction from the great work each and d every one of yo do towards our mission. in light of recent events, it's with the heavy heart i made the difficult decision to step down as your director. frank, where does the secret service go from here especially given the very intense time where their protection and service is needed more than ever? >> yeah, indeed. this is an agency that cannot afford a minute without strong

leadership. i do know people at and near the top of the agency.to i hope they will remain in plac to guide the agency in this interim time, but i also hope that the white house will consider and the dhs secretary will consider somebody from outside the agency, and certainly somebody who really understands washington and can take that outsider's look and say, look, these things are broken. they should be bringing in consultants. i know people cringe when they hear the word consultant, and the callnt back to 9/11, where b was the brand-new director and he wantedor somebody else's opinion for the fbi and he broughtan in mackenzie. did we like that? did we like having consultants come in and look over --

>>d well, sometimes it needs tt outside look, right, to really identify what is wrong. youid can't see it sometimes on you are in it, in the middle of it. frank figliussi, i think we were losing your signal so i apologize for interrupting there. let's listen to more from the speaker of them house, mike johnson, this morning, talking about the resignation of the secret service director, kimberly cheatle. >> cheatle is stepping down? >> she just resigned. >> can you say -- >> she must have been watching our press conference. i am glad she did the right thing. our reaction to her resignation is it's overdue and she should have done this a week ago. i am glad she has heeded the

call to republicans and democrats. now we have to pick up the pieces and regain the faith and trust of americans in the agency, and we have got a lot of work to do. the task force we are putting together will be very important. as i ilsaid, they have three responsibilities. to investigate what happened, the debacle that happened two saturdays ago, to hold those accountable. it certainly was the director t cheatle, but there could be others b in the line of authori that areli also culpable in wha happened and the areas of mistakes there, and finally to ensure that those mistakes do not happen t again. the stakes are too high. it's a very dangerous time. we need the secret service to be acting -- to be performing at the top of their game, and we will ensure that happens.th i hope the interim director or whoever is appointed to replace

director cheatle will be very sober-minded about the responsibility and take into account the dangerous times in which we live. we will do everything we can in the house to ensure that is true. we will give you further comment as this develops. >> let'sas go from the hill to e white house, and our monica alba is standing by. i am remembering, the white house said they had confidence in cheatle. this morning president trump is blaming the biden and harris administration for what happened. >> i am told we can expect most likely an official statement from the white house in the next couple of minutes on director cheatle's resignation. of course, the process that usually takes place here when somebody like this is going to step down is they would offer their resignation to the president and the president would have topr accept it and release a statement based on that. you are right, in the days following the assassination

attempt on donald trump's life, the white houseum and press secretary said that president biden still did have confidence in his secret service director. in the immediate hours after that shooting in butler, pennsylvania, we know, for instance, director cheatle was among some of the aides that were briefing president biden that saturday evening into sunday and then later in the week as theyhe were getting allf those different updates. it was in that timeframe, the initial reaction, that the white house and the biden administration was stille sayi they had w expressed confidencen her, but as we know then there were so many more details that were learned about the security failure, about how this all could possibly happen, that that has led us to this moment. we should point out in the context of president biden's first term here, when he usually talks about personnel, he's not somebody who is quick to dismis or fire people, necessarily. in fact,le we have examples of

other senior leaders or cabinet members who sometimes when they have been embattled or embroiled in controversy has offered a resignation and he would not accept, and this situation is different for all the reasons and you your guests just laid out. >> monica, stand by and keep us posted if we hear more from the white house. h in the meantime, vaughn hillyard, you have been to trump rallies, and we know trump met with cheatle or had a conversation with her since the assassination attempt. >> at these rallies there's always a heightened awareness of the security, and that's why i think there was bipartisan dumbfoundedness at how this individual, thes shooter, coul have gotten so close here. that's where you saw on capitol hill the backlash, and the lack of responsend immediately from e secret service about exactly what wentut down and the unwillingness to provide any

sort much details. that's where director cheatle made her way to milwaukee, to the republican convention briefly briefly meeting with donald trump, and was chased down by republican senators who were outraged and asking her questions and holding her accountable before she agreed ta come to capitol hill and testify this week. in the aftermath of the resignation here, trump made a statement, quote, i was forced to take a bullet for democracy, and it was a honor to do so. >> you have new information for us, monica. >> i did get a statement from the president acknowledging director cheatle resigned. he says in a statement, jill and i are grateful to her, and he

does detail that, of course, in the days after the shooting, he did direct an independent review to get to the bottom of what happened on o july 13th. he says, of course he will continuef to oversee and manag that. he says, quote, we all know what happened that day can never happen again. as wer move forward i wish kim all the best. he ends the statement by saying, president biden does, that he plans to appoint a new director soon.ir that's where this conversation will alsohi go, ana, in terms o whether there will be an interim director or who may take up that space. as weth know, this investigatio is still active and there's plenty to do on that. that's the news on the secret service director stepping down. i can tell you a little bit much other news from our own mike memoli who is reporting that tomorrow evening is when we expect president biden will give his more detailed speech about why he has decided to leave the