Speaker 1: You can listen to the front on your smart sneaker
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Speaker 1: the news from the Australian. From the Australian, Here's what's
Speaker 1: on the front. I'm Claire Harvey. It's Monday, July fifteenth.
Speaker 2: The said, take a look at what happened.
Speaker 1: An unforgettable moment in American politics. A gunman shoots Donald
Speaker 1: Trump and kills the spectator at a rally in Pennsylvania.
Speaker 1: Trump's right ear was grazed by a bullet apparently fired
Speaker 1: by a twenty year old man who had climbed on
Speaker 1: top of a building, reportedly armed with a high powered
Speaker 1: automatic weapon. Secret Service shot the man dead as attendees
Speaker 1: rushed to help the spectator.
Speaker 3: Who'd been shot dead.
Speaker 1: Here, a witness in a blood drenched USA T shirt
Speaker 1: speaks to CBS News.
Speaker 2: I said, I'm an Emerging Department physician, Bobby help you.
Speaker 2: The guy had spun around, was jammed between the benches.
Speaker 2: We had a headshot. Here, there's lots of blood and
Speaker 2: here brainmatter.
Speaker 1: On Monday, Republicans gather to endorse Trump as their candidate
Speaker 1: at the National Convention in Milwaukee, as global condemnation of
Speaker 1: the attack is led by Joe Biden.
Speaker 2: It's sick. It's sick.
Speaker 4: It's one of the reason were to unite this country.
Speaker 4: You cannot allow for this to be happening.
Speaker 1: Week Live now at the Australian dot com dot au
Speaker 1: we have video, graphics, explainers and analysis and in just
Speaker 1: a moment I'm joined from the United States by our
Speaker 1: foreign editor Greg Sheridan, who says Trump's courage under fire
Speaker 1: changes everything. Shots ring out at a rally in Pennsylvania
Speaker 1: where Donald Trump is speaking to supporters. Secret Service agents.
Speaker 5: Pounced shoots down.
Speaker 1: The former president and presidential candidate is whisked from the podium,
Speaker 1: blood splashed across his face. He lifts his fist to
Speaker 1: the crowd, bold and defiant. There would be assassin Twenty
Speaker 1: year old Thomas Matthew Crooks laised dead on a rooftop
Speaker 1: more than two hundred and fifty meters away. One rally
Speaker 1: attendee killed, a couple more critically injured. I discussed that
Speaker 1: stunning scene with The Australian's Foreign editor Greg Sheridan. He's
Speaker 1: in the US ahead of the Republican National Convention happening
Speaker 1: in Wisconsin this week. I'm sure you haven't spent much
Speaker 1: time imagining what it would look like if Donald Trump
Speaker 1: was ever in mortal danger. But he responded in a
Speaker 1: very defiant and strong way, didn't he?
Speaker 2: He certainly did, And I think that will be the
Speaker 2: iconic out of all this. When Ronald Reagan was shot,
Speaker 2: he famously said to Nancy Reagan, Honey, I forgot to duck.
Speaker 2: You know, Roosevelt was my favorite president of all time,
Speaker 2: Teddy Roosevelt, when I want to ask.
Speaker 4: Is American who is destroyed for social and industrial justice?
Speaker 2: He was shot while he was delivering a speech when
Speaker 2: he was running as bull moose Independent after it left
Speaker 2: the presidency, and the bullet lodged in his breastplace. There
Speaker 2: was a book or something that prevented it from going
Speaker 2: through and killing him, but it did cause him pretty
Speaker 2: bad bleeding, and he told the audience he had been shot,
Speaker 2: but that wasn't enough to stop a bull mouse and
Speaker 2: even just speech, and then went to hospital.
Speaker 6: Secret Service personnel neutralized the shooter, who has now deceased.
Speaker 6: The Secret Service spokesperson goes on to say that one
Speaker 6: spectator was killed, two spectators two spectators were critically injured
Speaker 6: so badly hurt One.
Speaker 1: Of the most moving parts of the video of Trump
Speaker 1: being shot, apparently in the ear on stage in the
Speaker 1: rally was the actions of the Secret Service agent Greg
Speaker 1: They rushed towards him and then they got him up
Speaker 1: once they understood that the shooter had been neutralized, and
Speaker 1: put their bodies around him and their heads around his
Speaker 1: head to shield him from a bullet.
Speaker 3: You know, we really saw the best of America there.
Speaker 2: Didn't We absolutely you could see under there that they're
Speaker 2: wearing best, thank god they are. But they fellanks around
Speaker 2: the person they're protecting, so that the next bullet that
Speaker 2: goes towards the person they're protecting them. And in fact,
Speaker 2: this happened in Ronald Reagan chip.
Speaker 3: A fu silat of shots fired a close range.
Speaker 4: The President has hit, then thrown into his car by
Speaker 4: an agent, a press secretary wounded in the head, a
Speaker 4: secret serviceman, and a policeman wounded, a gunman captured.
Speaker 2: One of the second agents rushed in front of the
Speaker 2: president and was shot. And now he recovered, but he
Speaker 2: was shot. He took a bullet for the president, and
Speaker 2: if Reagan in another bullet, I would think that Reagan
Speaker 2: would have been killed. So these folks. They rushed towards danger,
Speaker 2: and they make a shield out of their own bodies.
Speaker 3: Of course, the most famous presidential shootings are Abraham Lincoln
Speaker 3: and John F. Kennedy. Those two presidents did not survive
Speaker 3: their injuries.
Speaker 1: But every moment of in Lincoln's case, the description of
Speaker 1: that instance and in Kennedy's case, the video that we've
Speaker 1: all seen a billion times is seed into our memories,
Speaker 1: isn't it.
Speaker 4: This is the latest information we have from Dallas. I
Speaker 4: will repeat with the greatest regrets, two priests who are
Speaker 4: with rether than Kennedy saying he has died of bullet wars.
Speaker 2: That certainly is this is a and terrible situation. And
Speaker 2: you know, we can't yet completely apportioned blame or anything.
Speaker 2: But you know, people accuse Trump of in temperate language.
Speaker 2: But I've been here in the United States this last
Speaker 2: week or ten days, and every day the New York Times,
Speaker 2: the liberal media are full of the idea that Trump
Speaker 2: is the devil in Karnate, that he is an existential
Speaker 2: threat to democracy, that a Maria cannot survive a Trump victory,
Speaker 2: that this is the end of times and everything, and
Speaker 2: you can just about imagine some idiot getting the idea
Speaker 2: that well, wouldn't have been good if someone had assassinated
Speaker 2: Hitler the four he took power, And the truth is
Speaker 2: Trump's first term was a bit chaotic, but there was
Speaker 2: nothing undemocratic about and he lost the election. The courts
Speaker 2: overruled his objections to the election. Is perfectly entitled to
Speaker 2: make legal objections to the way the vote was counted.
Speaker 2: The courts ruled against him in all occasions, and no
Speaker 2: injury was done to American democracy, Whereas I think the
Speaker 2: Democrats now far outdone Trump in the way they've been
Speaker 2: willing to rip up American institutions and destroy American norms.
Speaker 2: You know, one of the view that these prosecutions of
Speaker 2: Trump are a great, tesque, abusive process. They're intensely politicized prosecutions.
Speaker 2: Now Trump engages in very intemperate rhetoric too, sure does.
Speaker 2: But the comby our liberal left of American politics has
Speaker 2: fostered an fear of hysteria and irrational alarmism about the
Speaker 2: idea of what might happen if Trump wins the election.
Speaker 1: The one rational part of the fear about Donald Trump is,
Speaker 1: of course, the January sixth disorder at the Capital. Greg
Speaker 1: we saw their Trump speak to a crowd, members of
Speaker 1: which crowd then subsequently went to the Capitol and stormed it.
Speaker 3: Several people have gone to jail over their conduct on
Speaker 3: that day.
Speaker 1: If there was going to be sort of armed disorder
Speaker 1: in this campaign, Americans might have thought it would come
Speaker 1: from those kinds of people, from proud boys or Maga
Speaker 1: Trump fans. It hasn't, as far as we know, come
Speaker 1: from that side of politics. What does that say about
Speaker 1: the atmosphere that we're in.
Speaker 2: Well, January sixth was not only spaceful, and I thought
Speaker 2: Trump sections on the day were at disgraceful. But even
Speaker 2: here you've got to try to keep in touch with
Speaker 2: the facts. Trump, in his speech, which was emotionally inciting,
Speaker 2: actually say march peacefully. He did use the word peacefully.
Speaker 2: I heard it, I reported it, I saw it. I
Speaker 2: know that everyone here will soon be marching over to
Speaker 2: the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices
Speaker 2: heard today. So you can't just kind of say that
Speaker 2: that didn't happen. The Capitol police were wildly understaffed. These
Speaker 2: vandals who stormed into the Capitol buildings. That was grotesque,
Speaker 2: thoroughly deserves to be condemned. It was not a civil war.
Speaker 2: It was a demonstration which became violent, And of course
Speaker 2: there were hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of demonstrations that
Speaker 2: became violent over the next few months in the Black
Speaker 2: Lives and defund the Police demonstrations. Now, none of those
Speaker 2: rendered Joe Biden morally responsible for the people who lost
Speaker 2: their lives. And there is just a grotesque double standard
Speaker 2: in which the absolutely condemnable and horrible things that Trump
Speaker 2: says are presented as though they were a statement at
Speaker 2: Dolf Hitler, which they.
Speaker 1: Weren't coming up what an attempted assassination means for gun
Speaker 1: control in America and for the presidential race. Today is
Speaker 1: The Australian's sixtieth birthday. We're celebrating by doing what we
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Speaker 1: analysis and deep reporting. Join us at the Australian dot
Speaker 1: com dot ayu and we'll be.
Speaker 3: Back after the break.
Speaker 1: Greg The reports that the shooter was using an AR
Speaker 1: fifteen semi automatic weapon, which is the gun of choice
Speaker 1: for mass shootings in the United States. Donald Trump has
Speaker 1: said in recent months that mass shootings are not a
Speaker 1: gun problem, that they're more of a mental health problem.
Speaker 2: These people are mentally ill, and we have to study
Speaker 2: that also, because you know it's them.
Speaker 3: They pull the trigger.
Speaker 4: The gun doesn't pull the trigger, They pull the trigger.
Speaker 1: He's promised the National Rifle Association that if elected, no
Speaker 1: one will lay a finger on their firearms. He's also
Speaker 1: promised to undo some Biden gun restrictions if he's re elected.
Speaker 4: If the Biden regime gets four more years, they are
Speaker 4: coming for your guns, one hundred percent certain.
Speaker 3: Crooked Joe has a forty year record.
Speaker 4: Of trying to rip firearms out of the hands of
Speaker 4: law abiding citizens. He's always wanted.
Speaker 3: To do that.
Speaker 1: Do you have the feeling, Greg that this very hot
Speaker 1: issue of gun control in America, will the conversation be
Speaker 1: touched by this incident or not?
Speaker 2: No? I wouldn't think so, not at all. I think
Speaker 2: overall the incident will probably would be very very helpful
Speaker 2: to Trump electorally and politically. The iconic give intell but
Speaker 2: Trump defiant taking a bullet for America. Sometimes people don't
Speaker 2: even think of Trump really as a human being. But
Speaker 2: the truth is, if this bullet had been a quarter
Speaker 2: of an inch closer to him, he would now be dead,
Speaker 2: and the sheer shock of that would render most people paralyzed.
Speaker 2: So Trump often seems like he's full of bluster and
Speaker 2: where's the substance? But Trump was in possession of he
Speaker 2: knew what he was doing, and he wanted to make
Speaker 2: a gesture of defiance. I think this would be tremendously
Speaker 2: beneficial to politically. Now, my own view of gun control
Speaker 2: is the Americans of bananas on gun control. But you know,
Speaker 2: you might say the Democrats are in favorite gun control,
Speaker 2: the Republicans aren't, but the Democrats never make a serious
Speaker 2: effort at it. You know, Urbata was president for eight
Speaker 2: years and for a number of those years he controlled
Speaker 2: the Senate and the House of Representatives, and nothing of
Speaker 2: any consequence happened on gun control.
Speaker 1: So how do we think this will change the calculus,
Speaker 1: if at all, for the Democrats? Greg We now have
Speaker 1: Trump in a moment of mortal danger, presenting himself bravely
Speaker 1: a contrast to Joe Biden's image of frailty and confusion.
Speaker 1: Does this make it more urgent for the Democrats to
Speaker 1: persuade Joe Biden to step aside?
Speaker 2: I think it does, Claire. So look, I only give
Speaker 2: away a recorded quote here which will come to haunt
Speaker 2: me of what I'm suggesting doesn't take place. But I
Speaker 2: find it very hard to see how Joe Biden can
Speaker 2: continue in a long run as a Democratic candidate. The
Speaker 2: American system is very powerful, and it kind of runs
Speaker 2: itself to some extent, but you do need a presidential leadership,
Speaker 2: and Audrow Wilson famously in about nineteen nineteen had a
Speaker 2: stroke and at another two years of its term to
Speaker 2: run and his white friend things while he was more
Speaker 2: or less incapacitated. America can do that, but it's not
Speaker 2: the right way to run, and if you do do that,
Speaker 2: you don't furnt up the sick reelection. I just don't
Speaker 2: see how Biden can possibly continue on as the Democratic candidate,
Speaker 2: although you know, we live in an age of infinite impossibilities.
Speaker 2: The other thing is, I don't know if the New
Speaker 2: York Times and CNN and we'll be able to talk
Speaker 2: about Trump in exactly the same way as they have
Speaker 2: been doing the last couple of years, when we could
Speaker 2: go through a litany of things. Hillary Clinton paid for Dossia,
Speaker 2: which was completely alleging collusion between Russian intelligence agencies and Trump,
Speaker 2: absolute hoax, complete belooning Hunt. Biden's laptop turned up before
Speaker 2: the last election, full of incriminating evidence about him, including
Speaker 2: a lot of evidence of criminal activity and very embarrassing
Speaker 2: stuff about his dad. Biden and his son both denied
Speaker 2: that the tape was real, and the Biden campaign got
Speaker 2: fifty one former intelligence chiefs to say it looked like
Speaker 2: Russian disinformation, which turned out to be completely untrue. It
Speaker 2: was one hundred percent of authentic laptop of Hunter Biden.
Speaker 2: So those fifty one intelligence chiefs just trashed the reputation
Speaker 2: of the which they had been involved in leading. And
Speaker 2: then now Biden is asking the whole of the world
Speaker 2: not to believe what it saw with its own eyes
Speaker 2: in the debate when I'm.
Speaker 4: In a fix the Texas, for example, we had one
Speaker 4: thousand tillionaires in an.
Speaker 2: Antic and in fact, I think the Democrats have been
Speaker 2: much better serve to have little mini primary and select
Speaker 2: one of their good state governors and a red hot
Speaker 2: new vice president, something like that.
Speaker 1: Greg Sheridan is The Australian's Foreign editor. We'll have live
Speaker 1: updates from the Republican National Convention and all the other
Speaker 1: flashpoints in American politics as today unfolds. Live at the
Speaker 1: Australian dot com dot Au