so joining us live now is doctor nolan higdon, professor of history and communication at cal state east bay. always a pleasure having you on, nolan. let's dive right in because the stakes are incredibly high. this interview will be broadcast in its entirety. no edits. this is going to be in prime time. what does the president need to do to achieve in this discussion? to win confidence from the american people? >> thank you so much for having me. yes. uh- the goal that president joe biden is setting for himself here is he needs to convince the american public, or at least a substantial portion of the american public, that he's indeed up for the job and that that debate performance was simply an outlier, a rarity, if you will. and so i think biden is probably going to try and come off very energetic, very quick. uh- those are some of the things he's probably going to be shooting for with this interview tonight. >> yeah. and the president also is not known for granting sit down interviews. i actually read he holds the record for the fewest interviews out of presidents in the past 40 years.

well, thank you so much to nolan higdon cal state, east bay communications.fessor, for your perspective this afternoon. well, still ahead, summer vacation is coming with a side of free lunches for children across the bay area. we tell you where after this. and the heat is on in the bay area as well kyla grogan tracking it all for us. but a live look now at those temperatures. 4 news at noon. we'll be right back. for your money this afternoon. children eat free in contra costa county this summer break the county office of education is offering free meals to kids and young adults up to up to 18 years old. >> breakfast lunch, dinner and snacks are offered the county also offering resources to help families with food assistance. school districts, including mount diablo, oakley, have a list of free meal sites on their website contra costa county libraries also offering free meals this summer. the oakland library is hosting free lunch for kids up to 18 years old. take a look at your screen here. these are the branches. you can get lunch at. this is available monday

nolan higdon, professor at cal state east bay. i appreciate your time. >> thank you.e good theater either way. you look at it. all right. well, thank you for that. an italian appeals court has upheld the conviction of two marin county men accused of killing an italian police officer in rome back in 2019. they were teens at the time of the killing. former schoolmates from the bay area had met up in rome to spend a couple of vacation days. the fatal confrontation took place after they arranged to meet a small time drug dealer, who turned out to have been a police informant, to recover money lost in a bad deal. new trial was ordered after italy's highest court threw out their original convictions. the court convicted lee elder finnegan and sentenced him to 15 years and two months in prison and gave a sentence of 11 years to gabrielle. natalie hauth and israel shows no signs of slowing down its military campaign in gaza. >> but now there's growing concern that a new northern front could open in the war with hezbollah in lebanon. and there is late word that israel has take

joining us now is doctor nolan higdon, a political analyst and professor of history at cal state eastay. it's good to see you this morning. so what did you make of the performance last night? >> you know, i thought joe biden came out a lot stronger than he had looked, obviously, at the debate and in my opinion, even stronger than he looked in the george stephanopoulos, interview that he did on, on friday. but, you know, i don't think it changed the right minds because, three representatives have now come from the democratic party, have now come out and asked him to step down. since that, press conference ended. so it at least seems, in the immediate hours afterward, he was did not convince people he was trying to convince. >> so what would it take for him to actually step down? do you believe at this point? >> you know, i think one of the major factors is going to be the donors, it's, you know, important to him that members of the democratic party are asking him to step down. that's clearly going to have some influence. but i think donors are going to have a mega influence because whe

. >> and, you know, they can correct errors and you just heard from nolan higdon, a professor of history and communication at cal state east bay. >> he cautions against politicizing politics. he or the entire secret service, i should say former secret service agent allen says the secret service costs taxpayer money, adding assets are assigned based on the threat risk of any given event. but he says sometimes the problem could be much more basic. i'm back in 30 minutes to elaborate. i'm in the studio this morning. amanda delcastillo abc seven news. >> thanks, amanda. we're learning new details about the 20 year old shooter, former classmates say he was constantly bullied. abc news reporter alison kosik has more on what investigators have found so far. >> 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. >> 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

. >> and you just heard from nolan higdon, a professor of history and communication at cal state eastay. he cautions against politicizing the entire secret service. former agent allen says the secret service costs taxpayer money, adding assets are assigned based on threat risk of any given event. but he says sometimes the problem could be much more basic. and back in 30 minutes to elaborate, in the studio, i'm amanda delcastillo, abc seven news. >> thanks, amanda. we're learning new details about the 20 year old shooter, former classmates say he was constantly bullied. abc news reporter alison kosik has more on what investigators have found so far. >> 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. >> 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 t

we talked to cal state history and communications professor dr nolan higdon for some perspective on the impact of political violence, he said. a bump in support. is normal. >>>>usually approval numbers do increase after these type of events >>>america has seen this type of reaction before with other historical events like 911 and the last presidential assassination attempt in 1981 with ronald reagan. >>>>asked, but somewhere around 8 to 10 to 15 points in the polls is what he jumped after the shooting attempt. >>>but increased approval may not translate to the voting booth. especially not for young voters. >>>>see a lot of, um polling or focused on the apathy of young voters over the last year, so one thing that the american electorate seems to agree upon is that they really don't like either of these candidates. going into the election. young people in particular. >>>says it's up to the politicians to inspire the electorate show up at the >>>>booth. >>join me now live is presidential historian douglas brinkley. thank you so much for being with us. can you think of another time in our n

nolan higdon for some perspective on the impact of political violence. he said a bump in support is normal. >> usually, approval numbers do increase after these types of events. >> reporter: america has seen this type of reaction before, with other historical events like 9/11, and the last presidential assassination attempt, in 1981, with ronald reagan. >> depends on who you ask, but they to 10 points in the polls is where he jumped after the shooting attempt. >> reporter: increased approval may not translate to the voting booth, especially not for young voters. >> we did see a lot of polling focused on the apathy of young voters over the last year or so . one thing that the american electorate seems to agree upon is that they really don't like either of these candidates into the election, young people in particular. >> reporter: higdon says it is up to the politician to inspire the electorate to show up at the booth. >> we will have special coverage of night one of the rnc right after this newscast. norah o'donnell is in milwaukee focusing on a troublin

according to cal state east bay professor nolan higdon. >> theoretically, it depends on what the evidence is, what the story is around it. when it is introduced, i think there's a lot of factors, but absolutely, you could change enough minds to swing elections, especially as we see very close polling in a lot of these races. >> and experts say while our first instincts may be to post something on social media following a big development or event, it's important to just slow down before we reshare information online. sounds simple enough. >> it's really good advice and i actually the people that you talk to when they say they scroll through the comments, i find myself doing that too, because i'm like, this is not this is not right. and some people on the internet are actually quite fast about determining that, that we're looking at something that has been manipulated. that's right. >> check and recheck sources and then go to news sites. that's what a lot of folks reliable sources. >> all right, betty, thank you. >> still to come here at 11 tragedy in san diego as the democratic party repor

. >> all professor nolan higdon with the university of cal state east bay.hank you so much for your time this morning. all right. and you can stay with kron 4 for the very latest on this story. lots to come. lots more developments to come as well. you can head to the kron 4. our website kron 4 dot com where you can download the kron forecast. for more on that. all right. let's get a quick check of our weather with dave sphar. dave. >> okay, we come back. we'll take a look at these temperatures. a little bit more detail in the 4 zone forecast. we do see inland. we're getting into the lower 90's. that's an improvement back into kron. 4 morning news continues. >> all right. welcome back to the kron. 4 morning news 7.41. this morning and federal state and local law enforcement officials are on high alert ahead of monday's republican national convention. that's happening in milwaukee, former chairman of california's republican party, tom del beccaro shared what security measures can be expected here. >> look, i'd be surprised if there were any big rallies anytime

professor nolan higdon. yeah, that's true. that's the whole basis of the american system of checks. and balances. no particular branch is able to get too much power and all are held accountable to each other, today's rulings certainly complicated that perspective that we've held for centuries in this country. now, shortly after the decision was announced, trump wrote on social media, big win for constitution, big win for democracy. i will point out presidential immunity is not itself in the constitution and nobody voted on this. so not a democratic decision either. yeah, interesting to see. okay. thank you very much. we'll see how it all plays out. president biden is also reacting to the court's ruling. a senior biden campaign adviser issued a statement in part, saying donald trump snapped after he lost the 2020 election and encouraged a mob to overthrow the results of a free and fair election. trump is already running for president as a convicted felon for the very same reason he sat idly by while the mob violently attacked the capitol. one person is dead after an early morning fir

. >> joining us now is doctor nolan higdon. he's a professor of communications and history at cal state east bay. professor, good to have you with us. thanks thank you for having me. good morning to you. well let's just start with the obvious question. what does this assassination attempt do to an already heightened political climate that we're in, not only this year, but for the last several years here in the united states? >> you know, the united states is a very deeply polarized nation at this point in time. you know, we've seen some polling that about half of americans think it's likely they'll see a civil war in their lifetime, just a handful of years ago, one poll found that americans number one fear is other americans. and when you start to see data like that, it's indicative of the fact that a, you know, a hyper polarized nation is kind of like a tinderbox. and sometimes violence like this can go one of two ways, it can deepen that polarization, deepen that sense of fear and concern and confusion for the other side. or

i talked to nolan higdon at csu east bay, who is a political science lecturer, about the impact of seeingt. >> i think i have the reaction that a lot of folks have in the united states right now, which is a mix of fear and confusion and concern and i think it's really critically important to mention in these very hyper polarized times in which we liv, that the party of the victim or the shooter at this point is irrelevant. it's always a big problem for your democracy when people decide to determine electoral politics through the use of violence, it's against the concepts of democracy. and so i think for those who care about democracy, regardless of which party you identify with or if you don't have a party, it's really important to remember this type of behavior is just not something that a democracy can withstand, nor should it tolerate. >> the tension out there just seems so high. even, you know, after this incident happened today and after we see those images with uh- donald trump seemingly having blood on his ear, you know, you read some of the comments online and it's just it's vicio

investigators say the family is cooperating and we spoke to nolan higdon, a cal state east bay professorwhat the assassination attempt does to an already heightened political climate. >> a hyper polarized nation is kind of like a tinderbox, and sometimes violence like this can go one of two ways, it can deepen that polarization, deepen that sense of fear and concern and confusion for the other side, or it can be a reminder, a reminder to us of where this rhetoric goes. >> former president trump put out a statement on his social media platform, truth social, thanking everyone for their thoughts and prayers, saying, quote, it was god alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening. >> happening today, the republican national convention begins in milwaukee, two days after that assassination attempt on the presumptive gop nominee. >> ktvu amanda quintana joins us live in studio with how things are changing because of saturday's shooting at the trump rally. well, of course, there's a large police presence there in milwaukee already, as the party prepares to formally nominate donald trump f

opportunity for anybody to do so >> political analyst and cal state east bay history professor doctor nolan higdonsibility of president biden dropping out of the race. he says if that happens, there may not be enough time to raise enough money and get the new candidates message out there. >> it would really set up whoever's going out there for failure. so i think if he is going to drop out, this is something that needs to be done immediately, and similarly, the questions of whether or not he needs to drop out need to be solved immediately as well, because i think just the discussion is also hurting democrats in the polls. >> we see doctor higdon also says he thinks president biden last night came out a lot stronger compared to the debate two weeks ago. but he says he doesn't think it changed the right minds because more democrats have asked the president to step down since then. and a new poll shows the race is still incredibly close. the marist national poll survey found 50% of voters say if the election happened today, they would vote for president biden, the same percentage also said they would

so we're going to bring in the communications professor from cal state east bay, nolan higdon, thankus here this afternoon. at noon. thank you, bremen. all right. did you heard this breaking news about senator jd vance of ohio being former president trump's vp pick? wanted to get your reaction. >> yeah, i think it's a it's a really interesting got some popularity around 2016 with the dog book. the time he was critic of of donald trump. but clearly a younger candidates. and if the republican party wants to continue trump's message in the maga agenda this seems to be a younger person who would be willing to do and i had talked with our other political analyst michael yaki at the top of the hours. this announcement just came out about. >> he's 39 years old. a jd vance's. 39 and he doesn't have a lot of political experience, but that doesn't seem to be a negative in his case for trump selecting him. >> the republican in particular and just conservatives in general are are pretty skeptical government and lifelong politician. so i actually think for conservative voters, t he doesn't have m

. >> nolan higdon says since the debate, many things have gone trump's way, including in the courtroom, and this shooting could garner even more support, even though a shooting is horrendous and i don't mean to talk about it in political terms, but from a political advantageous point of view, a lot of people tend to rally around a victim in moments like that. he expects republicans to use this boost to push their agenda, even further. >> a lot of politicians from the republican side of the aisle are indicting the democrats and their rhetoric for being responsible for what happened to trump. i imagine the speakers the rnc will extrapolate from that, that this divisive rhetoric and hate against conservatives is what voters can expect if the democrats are elected. take a look at what happened after facing criticism for the way security was handled at the rally, the secret service says they're confident in their planning for the rnc, and they aren't making any changes. >> this event has been designated as a national special security event, which is the highest level of security for an even

. >> nolan higdon is a professor of history and communication at cal state east bay.e says there needs to be a thorough investigation into what went wrong. but he cautions against politicizing the entire secret service. >> it tends to just end up engendering a lot of cynicism about these individuals and these organizations that, despite their faults, are critical to our democracy. so i think it's irresponsible to, sort of blame the entire organization for whatever faults may have occurred. >> anser hassan abc seven news. >> thanks, unser. friends and family are heralding the acts of the man killed at the rally, corey cooper, a comparator, was the former fire chief at a volunteer fire department. a little more than ten miles away from where the shooting happene. he spent his final moments shielding his family from the bullets. his fellow firefighters remembered his commitment to protecting his community and his love for his family. >> it's just one of them guys in the morning greeting at church would be the guy he went from one side of the church to the other greeting

attempts themselves do as well, joining us now to go over the significance of this latest attempt is nolan higdon, thank you for being here with us this morning, we appreciate your time. so, first and foremost, talk significance, want -- what went through your head when you learned there was an attempted assassination of former president donald trump? >> it was a mix of fear and concern and confusion. but very quickly, i just thought about the nation as a whole, you know, we are deeply polarized at this moment in time and events like this can be really dangerous. they can be an opportunity to further that division, but they can be productive and a good reminder that a lot of us talk about hitting the other side, it is really problematic. in a democracy, we cannot tolerate it. so i was hoping and continue to hope that this event will bring us closer together and remind us we are americans. >> if we can talk history on assassination attempts on both presidents and presidential candidates, we have seen this happen historically, can you speak to the significance of this happening on the campaign trai

. >> joining us now, doctor nolan higdon.ucation at cal state east bay. good morning to you. good morning. so my first question to you is what do you think is the most likely outcome this morning? >> yeah, i think i agree with a lot of the legal scholars that that trump won't get total immunity, but i imagine the court will give us something, perhaps like an immunity test some way to determine what is official duties and what is non-official duties. and the court has done this before. a lot of the audience may have heard have the so-called free speech tests, that we have free speech, unless it presents a clear and present danger. that's a test. the supreme court came up with. so i imagine we'll see something like that in terms of immunity for the president. >> so that would mean that this kicks it back down right to another court to decide whether or not these particular charges are upheld. this test that you're talking about. and this means that just means more time. >> exactly. and i think, you know, a lot of us are aware t

short time ago we talked with cal state east bay professor nolan higdon who breaks it all down for us the first timein as we've seen this coming for for a handful of days now. there's been a lot of top democrats on the record, some off the record questioning whether or not biden should we've seen biden do a fundraising blitz. these are usually signs of the campaign knows it's in trouble. so i'm not surprised that biden and the rest of his campaign around some very difficult conversations about whether or not they should proceed in this election. >> let's talk about the president and what he potentially has to do to turn this around. >> yes, sounds like an instant to change the public perception and change the so on the first friends he needs to inspire some confidence in his ability to do the job. i think some a solid interviews, some solid speech would do it. well, i think he's also hoping you know, potentially other big news stories might distract attention from this question. whether or not he should be running in 2024. >> what we know we had a campaign rally in i think was the nex

morning we spoke with cal state east bay, professor of history, media studies and education doctor nolan higdond here's what he had to say. >> we want to know what this means for the upcoming election that so it's the question on miles this morning. professor higdon. >> you politically speaking, i think this is a huge blow to the democratic party. i think one of the factors they were lying on to a game or favor for themselves less for where the outcome of these trials and most legal scholars i've spoke to since the supreme court ruling said that it's going to be near impossible for a special prosecutor, jack smith to make a case because so much of the evidence he was relying on would probably be considered official business. now. >> yeah, i have wonder how this is going to play because the mid the battle is for those in the middle. right. among voters come november. do you feel like this is going to influence anybody or most people already made up their minds even if this case had, you know, not been delayed beyond november. you feel like folks are already made up their minds. >> know, it's tou

and joining us now is cal state east bay professor nolan higdon to walk us through how we should be reacting. good morning, professor you saw the headlines. what's the first thought in your mind? >> the first timein as we've seen this coming for for a handful of days now. there's been a lot of top democrats on the record, some off the record questioning whether or not biden should we've seen biden do a fundraising blitz. these are usually signs of the campaign knows it's in trouble. so i'm not surprised that biden and the rest of his campaign around some very difficult conversations about whether or not they should proceed in this election. >> let's talk about the president and what he potentially has to do to turn this around. >> yes, sounds like an instant to change the public perception and change the so on the first friends he needs to inspire some confidence in his ability to do the job. i think some a solid interviews, some solid speech would do it. well, i think he's also hoping you know, potentially other big news stories might distract attention from this question. whether or not he

media studies and education doctor nolan higdon, good morning.nk you so much for joining us this morning are jump right into it. we want to know what this means for the upcoming election that so it's the question on miles this morning. professor higdon. >> you politically speaking, i think this is a huge blow to the democratic party. i think one of the factors they were lying on to a game or favor for themselves less for where the outcome of these trials and most legal scholars i've spoke to since the supreme court ruling said that it's going to be near impossible for special prosecutor jack smith to make a case because so much of the evidence he was relying on would probably be considered official business. now. >> yeah, i have wonder how this is going to play because the mid the battle is for those in the middle. right. among voters come november. do you feel like this is going to influence anybody or most people already made up their minds even if this case had, you know, not been delayed beyond november. you feel like folks are already made u

and we spoke to nolan higdon, a cal state east bay professor, about what this assassination attempt does to an already heightened political climate. >> a hyper polarized nation is kind of like a tinderbox. and sometimes violence like this can go one of two ways, it can deepen that polarization, deepen that sense of fear, and concern and confusion for the other sid. or it can be a reminder, a reminder to us of where this rhetoric goes. >> early this morning, former president trump put out a statement on his social media platform, truth social, thanking everyone for their thoughts and prayers, saying, quote, it was god alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening tonight, president biden addressed the nation from the oval office live oval office addresses are considered a solemn setting for historic times. >> this was president biden's third oval office address. the second was on the israel-hamas war and russia's invasion of ukraine. the other was after congress approved the fiscal responsibility act. president trump addressed the nation twice from the oval office, once at the start

. >> we spoke to nolan higdon, a cal state east bay professor, about what this assassination attemptready heightened political climate. >> a hyper polarized nation is kind of like a tinderbox. and sometimes violence like this can go one of two ways, it can deepen that polarization, deepen that sense of fear, and concern and confusion for the other sid. or it can be a reminder, a reminder to us of where this rhetoric goes. >> former president trump put out a statement on his social media platform, truth social, thanking everyone for their thoughts and prayers, saying, quote, it was god alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening. >> the republican national convention kicks off today, just two days after that attempted assassination was made on former president trump. fox's connor hanson has the latest from milwaukee. >> now, after a would be assassin attempted to take his life over the weekend, former president donald trump says he now plans to focus on unity this week at the republican national convention. the former president saying he ripped up his planned speech and will no

according to cal state east bay professor nolan higdon. >> theoretically, it depends on what the evidenceis, what the story is around it. when it is introduced. i think there's a lot of factors, but absolutely, you could change enough minds to swing elections, especially as we see very close polling in a lot of these races. >> experts say while our first instincts may be to post something on social media following a big development or event, it's important to take a moment before we reshare information and potentially further spin things out of control or context. mike. >> betty, you live tonight here in studio. betty. thank you. members of congress are calling on google now to answer questions about its ai. overviews feature after reports of misleading and incorrect ai generated responses. the tool summarizes search results so users don't have to click through multiple links to get quick answers to their question. but the feature has come under fire for providing false information. several users posted on social media reporting that it said that former president obama is a muslim. repres

we're joined now by doctor nolan higdon, a professor of history and media studies at cal state east baybig of a question, because who would have thought that the past seven days would have happened? but here we are. so i want to ask you first about who has not come out yet for the vice president to be the top of the ticket. former president obama, he's left open door. it seems to have perhaps someone else run and then we haven't heard an endorsement from nancy pelosi either. what do you make of that? is there beef? is there tea or is it just too soon? >> you know, i think there's a debate within the party, even if you support harris about whether or not it's best for the party in harris to go through some sort of process, there are some folks who believe that if, she has to compete for the nomination, then that will strengthen her candidacy. will demonstrate that she can fight and win. but there are others in the party that are concerned that if you don't, if you have that process, it may look like the party is divided. it may create some wounds that that can't heal by november. from so

perspective on how this latest news could shape the messaging around both presidential campaigns is nolan higdonte east bay communications. professor, good afternoon to you. good afternoon. all right. so to start off your campaign, success can often hinge on the rhetoric and the public's perception of the candidate. so before we get into the impact of pelosi statements today, could you walk us through your observations on president biden's response to his debate performance and how his team work to walk back concerns about his ability to serve. >>yeah, i think biden's response has been to try and make it clear that he's he's not going to drop out and he's not considering it. but there are reasons to believe that he's not even sure about that he's put countless blass fundraising blast done a lot more interviews and he's been doing previously. so biden seems like someone who recognizes the fact that public perception has turned against him. and he is trying to change that public perception. but again, i i think he's well aware that he's fighting quite an uphill battle because it's it's not just fr

investigators say the family is cooperating, and we spoke to nolan higdon, a cal state east bay professor attempt does to an already heightened political climate, a hyper polarized nation is kind of like a tinderbox, and sometimes violence like this can go one of two ways, >> it can deepen that polarization, deepen that sense of fear and concern and confusion for the other side. or it can be a reminder, a reminder to us of where this rhetoric goes. >> former president trump put out a statement on his social media platform, truth social, thanking everyone for their thoughts and prayers, saying, quote, it was god alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening. >> donald trump has arrived in milwaukee for the 2024 republican national convention, which gets underway in just a few hours. federal agents say security for this week's convention is now increased to its highest level since nine over 11, following saturday's assassination attempt. reporter connor hanson joins us now with this live report from milwaukee. good morning jen. >> good morning. and i can tell you just from getting here