Speaker 1: Kielda. I'm Chelsea Daniels and this is a breaking news
Speaker 1: episode of The Front Page, a daily podcast presented by
Speaker 1: the New Zealand TERRALD. Former US President and Republican presidential
Speaker 1: candidate Donald Trump appears to have been shot at a
Speaker 1: rally in Pennsylvania. The rally was filmed at the time.
Speaker 1: Here's a clip of the moment as it happened.
Speaker 2: If you want to really see something that said, take
Speaker 2: a look at what happened.
Speaker 1: As you can hear from that clip, gunshots rang out
Speaker 1: in the middle of Trump's speech. The former president then
Speaker 1: touched his ear before being pulled to the ground by
Speaker 1: US Secret Service agents. For more on this, we'll turn
Speaker 1: now to Newstalk ZB reporter Blake. Bennie Blake, what more
Speaker 1: can you tell us about what happened next on that stage?
Speaker 2: Well, as you can imagine, in those initial moments as
Speaker 2: the shots were being fired, there was almost a mass
Speaker 2: confusion among rally attendees as to what was actually happening.
Speaker 2: Immediately as President Trump was pulled down, screams began to
Speaker 2: echo from inside the event. Secret Service agents piling themselves
Speaker 2: on top of Trump in an effort to keep him safe.
Speaker 2: They stayed down for about thirty seconds, when some additional
Speaker 2: shots were heard. They then got Trump on his feet,
Speaker 2: surrounded him, and began rushing him off the stage, although
Speaker 2: not without Trump first giving multiple fist bumps and appearing
Speaker 2: to shout fight the audience, who responded with cheers and
Speaker 2: repeated shouts of USA. Now. There was also clear sightings
Speaker 2: of blood from his right ear, which had dripped across
Speaker 2: his face as he was whisked into an unmarked vehicle
Speaker 2: and taken off site.
Speaker 1: Was this an active shooter scenario? Are we aware of
Speaker 1: any further injuries or deaths?
Speaker 2: Well? As you can imagine, Chelsea, There is still some
Speaker 2: confusion around those details, but I can confirm the Butley
Speaker 2: County District Attorney has stated a member of the audience
Speaker 2: has been killed, as well as the alleged gunman responsible.
Speaker 2: CBS News spoke with a man who was an emergency
Speaker 2: physician at the rally and treated the audience member. He
Speaker 2: said a man was shot in the head and was
Speaker 2: jammed between the benches. At this stage, we still don't
Speaker 2: quite know those finer details on the alleged shooter and
Speaker 2: where those shots came from, but that is expected to
Speaker 2: be known in the near future as authorities begin a
Speaker 2: full investigation, with the Pennsylvania site now officially dubbed a
Speaker 2: crime scene.
Speaker 1: What's the current state of Trump? Given he walked off
Speaker 1: stage with his fests raised, it doesn't appear that he's
Speaker 1: severely injured, right.
Speaker 2: That's correct. The Secret Service has confirmed President Trump is
Speaker 2: safe and receiving medical attention under protective measures. A spokesperson
Speaker 2: has called this a heinous act, while Trump has thanked
Speaker 2: law enforcement and first responders for their quick action.
Speaker 1: What have the US network's been saying about this attack
Speaker 1: so far?
Speaker 2: All have been covering the incident and updates with back
Speaker 2: to back coverage. What's been really interesting is the immediate
Speaker 2: reflection on how this will impact the presidential campaign election
Speaker 2: between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. One international correspondent, Gary
Speaker 2: o'donald was outside the rally when the shots were fired
Speaker 2: and has remained at the scene, and since he's already
Speaker 2: witnessed firsthand how incredibly divisive this incident is and will
Speaker 2: continue to be. He's spoken on Trump supporters leaving the
Speaker 2: rallies screaming today's actions have started a war and he
Speaker 2: believes it will up end the election in ways that
Speaker 2: we cannot even imagine right now.
Speaker 1: Will there have been a lot of calls to put
Speaker 1: political divisions aside. I guess that doesn't really seem likely now,
Speaker 1: given what you've just told me. A lot of people
Speaker 1: on social media seem to be dismissing this as a
Speaker 1: stunt already as well. Hey, yeah, I.
Speaker 2: Think regarding political division, that's something that only time will
Speaker 2: be able to tell to a degree. What's been really clear, though,
Speaker 2: is the wide ranges and responses to the shooting on
Speaker 2: social media, ranging from thoughts and prayers for the president
Speaker 2: to conspiracy theories and what has already been labeled an
Speaker 2: assassination attempt. Some, as you say, outright dismissing the event
Speaker 2: as a stunt to drum up support for Trump, Will
Speaker 2: some of his supporters calling it a fail attempt at
Speaker 2: insuring he can't become president once more. In terms of
Speaker 2: political response, that's been swift, with both sides of the
Speaker 2: spectrum immediately condemning violence against any presidential candidates, Republican Nippi
Speaker 2: Haley saying it's an act that should horrify every freedom
Speaker 2: loving American. Now, President Joe Biden says he's grateful to
Speaker 2: hear his political opponent is safe and doing well. He says.
Speaker 2: He and his wife Jill are praying for him and
Speaker 2: his family and for all of those who are at
Speaker 2: the rally as they await further information. We're back here
Speaker 2: at DEM Prime Minister David Seymour says New Zealand's thoughts
Speaker 2: with Trump and the American people condemning political violence in
Speaker 2: all its forms.
Speaker 1: Thanks for joining us, Blake. That said, for this episode
Speaker 1: of the Front Page. You can read more about today's
Speaker 1: stories and extensive news coverage at enzadherld dot co dot zed.
Speaker 1: The Front Page is produced by Ethan Sells with sound
Speaker 1: engineer Patty Fox. I'm Chelsea Daniel. Subscribe to The Front
Speaker 1: Page on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts, and
Speaker 1: tune in tomorrow for another look behind the headlines.