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00:30Good morning, North America. Good afternoon, Europe, and good evening to everyone watching
00:37and joining us from India. This is U.S. Election Watch. I'm Alistair D'Souza in Washington,
00:42D.C. The headlines.
00:44Trump is safe after a second assassination attempt. U.S. President Biden says the Secret
00:50Service needs more help.
00:57The FBI investigates anti-Hasian threats at Springfield, Ohio. The probe comes amid Trump's
01:04anti-Hasian rhetoric about Haitians eating pets.
01:11GOP Governor Mike DeWine defends Haitian immigrants. Ohio Governor DeWine says they came to Springfield
01:21to work.
01:30And an NDTV exclusive, an interview with Congressman Ami Berra. He says Indian-American voters
01:36are critical in this year's elections, which remains too close to calm.
01:48Our top story, a second potential assassination on Donald Trump's life. Later today, former
01:53President Trump is expected to meet with the acting director of the Secret Service after
01:58another shooting incident. Trump had been golfing on Sunday when shots were heard. The
02:03gunman was about 120 and 150 meters away from Trump. A Secret Service agent spotted an AK-47
02:12style weapon poking out of the bushes in the golf course, about a hole ahead of where Trump
02:18was playing. An agent fired and the gunman dropped the rifle and fled in an SUV. Leaving
02:24the weapon behind, he was apprehended in a nearby county. NDTV's Vishal Vivek has more.
03:48Alright, we're getting a better picture this morning on the suspect behind the Trump shooting.
04:06The suspect, Ryan Routh, has been identified as someone who has been quite vocal about
04:11his support for Ukraine and extremely critical of former President Donald Trump. Now, Routh
04:17reportedly supported Trump in 2016, but then changed his mind. NDTV's Prameshwar Bawa
04:23has those details.
04:27This 58-year-old former construction worker has reportedly been identified as the man
04:32arrested for allegedly pointing an AK-47 at former US President Donald Trump while he
04:38was golfing.
04:39In the bushes where this guy was is an AK-47 style rifle with a scope, two backpacks which
04:48were hung on the fence that had a ceramic tile in them, and a GoPro, which he was going
04:53to take pictures of. So, those are being processed right now. The Secret Service agent that was
05:00on the course did a fantastic job. What they do is they have an agent that jumps one hole
05:07ahead of time to where the President was at. And he was able to spot this rifle barrel
05:12sticking out of the fence and immediately engage that individual, at which time the
05:17individual took off.
05:19But his history with violence is not new. In 2002, he was arrested for barricading himself
05:25inside a building with an automatic weapon. The charges were severe, but the case's resolution
05:30remains murky. The New York Times reports that on signal, Ryan Routh declared in his
05:36profile bio, civilians must change this war and prevent future wars. His WhatsApp bio
05:42further stated, each one of us must do our part daily in the smallest steps to support
05:47human rights, freedom and democracy. We must aid the Chinese.
05:53In 2020, meanwhile, Ryan posted on X about his admiration for Tulsi Gabbard, who was
05:58a Democratic presidential candidate at the time, praising her ability to work tirelessly
06:03on peace deals in Syria, Afghanistan and other conflict areas. Also in a May 2020 post,
06:10he invited North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to Hawaii for a vacation and offered to be
06:15the ambassador to help settle conflicts between their countries.
06:20Ryan's commitment, though, extended beyond online rhetoric. In a 2023 interview with
06:25the New York Times, he revealed that he traveled to Ukraine to back the war effort and recruit
06:31Afghan soldiers. Republicans and Democrats alike responded to the incident by roundly
06:39condemning political violence. Experts argue that given the national epidemic of gun violence
06:44in the United States, these kind of attacks are perhaps another inevitable new normal.
06:50But for now, it is still shocking. Parmeshwar Bawa for NDTV World.
06:58Reacting to the incident, billionaire Elon Musk took to his social media platform X.
07:03He questioned why is no one trying to assassinate President Joe Biden and Democratic presidential
07:09candidate Kamala Harris. He later deleted the post. Meanwhile, Biden and Harris were
07:13briefed on the shooting and each issued a statement condemning political violence. Kamala
07:19Harris said she was deeply disturbed by the day's events and, quote, said, we all must
07:25do our part to ensure that this incident does not lead to any more violence, unquote.
07:30Now, let's take a closer look at the apparent second assassination attempt on Donald Trump.
07:35We're joined by Tiffany Watkins and Tiffany, who has worked in the White House during the
07:41first term of President George W. Bush, along with being a part of the Bush-Cheney reelection
07:47campaign. Also with us this morning, Richard Painter, professor at the University of Minnesota
07:53Law School and former White House chief ethics lawyer. Tiffany, let me come to you first.
07:59You know, second time in a little over two months, second attempt on Donald Trump's life.
08:05What concerns you most about this repeat scenario?
08:10Well, what concerns me, what concerns me most is that, you know, the level of violence around
08:18this election and around President Trump, former President Trump's life is a bit unsettling.
08:28And also, you know, what also concerns me is, you know, how much the Secret Service
08:32is actually prepared to handle these types of scenarios and attempts. You know, look,
08:41they seem to be doing a great job, you know, as good a job as they can to make sure that
08:47the former president is protected. But I know this is a bit unprecedented and perhaps
08:54they need more resources.
08:57All right, Tiffany, Richard, it's really disturbing. We're seeing this again. I really want to
09:08know what needs to be done. The Palm Beach County Sheriff went on record saying that
09:13Trump does not receive the same level of protection that a sitting president does.
09:18So if this were Joe Biden, the security protocol would have been very different. The entire
09:22Gulf Coast hearing would have been covered. Given what we've seen twice now and that such
09:29we're in such a polarizing election cycle, what do you think should change with regards
09:34to Trump's security detail?
09:37I believe the security should be substantially increased for former President Trump and also
09:43for Vice President Harris. We simply cannot tolerate violence, political violence, in
09:50a democracy. The United States is the second largest democracy in the world after India.
09:56Both countries have experienced in their history political violence. The United States went
10:03through a period in the 1960s where President Kennedy and his brother Bobby Kennedy were
10:08killed. Bobby Kennedy was killed when he was a candidate about to win the Democratic nomination
10:13in 1968. We also had the assassination of Martin Luther King. We had attempts on the
10:17lives of Gerald Ford, President Ronald Reagan, and that former President Trump. This cannot
10:22be tolerated. We need to increase the security, the Secret Service protection of former President
10:28Trump, Vice President Harris. We have to have elections decided at the ballot box,
10:34not with an AK-47.
10:35Tiffany, what do you think? Is it as simple as getting the Secret Service to up the security
10:46detail because there are always complaints about how there's limited staffing and this
10:52is not as easy as it may sound?
10:57Yeah, I think for the Secret Service, there's a couple things that they, I know their request
11:04for upping staffing seems like a logical one, but they need some additional funding from
11:13Congress to make sure that that occurs. And I know there's a bipartisan task force kind
11:19of reviewing former President Trump's first assassination attempt. And this bipartisan
11:25task force can recommend, you know, recommend funds that can go towards the Secret Service
11:33to help them, you know, bolster their, their staff and to get more resources.
11:38All right, Richard, there was much anger over how the Secret Service handled the first shooting.
11:46We saw Director Kim Chiefly resign. She's been replaced by the acting director. Now,
11:52one Democratic senator has said that people will actually be shocked and appalled when
11:57lawmakers release that report that Tiffany was just talking about of the first attempted
12:02assassination. But are we likely going to see any heads roll this time around? It's
12:09kind of rather tricky because the top brass, so to speak, has already been axed, so to
12:13speak, or stepped aside.
12:16Well, I don't know what's going to happen politically here, but it's shocking to me
12:22that an assassin could get in the bushes right next to the Trump golf course. I live across
12:28the street from the golf course, and I can assure you that if the president of the United
12:33States, former president or a candidate for president were playing golf there, there would
12:37be someone on that road making sure that nobody's getting into the bushes near the golf course.
12:42It's such an obvious tactic that could be used by an assassin. And furthermore, there's
12:48a golf course owned by the former president of the United States. So I don't know why
12:53that road wasn't being washed and that man should have been arrested as soon as he tried
12:57to enter the bushes rather than be fired on when he's pointing a rifle through the fence.
13:04The United States spends $900 billion about on our defense budget, almost a trillion dollars
13:09I would think we could spend on our secret service enough money to protect our democracy
13:15from assassins. Once again, a democracy must choose its candidates at the ballot box, and
13:22we cannot allow this. And we need to spend whatever it takes to protect our presidential
13:27candidates as well as our presidents.
13:34Let's talk about the political fallout. Now, Tiffany, the first time this happened, we
13:37heard how Trump was supposedly a changed man. Many will argue he really did not change.
13:43But how much of what we've seen is going to play into voter sentiment is what I'm wondering,
13:49especially because early voters, early voter ballots are already out. Absentee ballots
13:55are now officially available in Alabama. September 19th and a few days from now are supposed
14:01to be available in Wisconsin.
14:02Yeah, it'd be interesting to see, actually, how the voter sentiment will be impacted by
14:14the second assassination attempt on former President Trump's life. It will remain to
14:21be seen. However, voters will be sympathetic to this second attempt. And whether that impacts
14:29the way they vote, that's probably a question that remains to be seen. But in general, when
14:37these types of attempts happen, voters tend to sympathize with the person that was actually
14:46attacked or attempted to be attacked. So I think there could be a bit of a sway toward
14:56President Trump. But again, you know, it remains to be seen if that is the case.
15:05Richard, Republicans are already blaming Democrats for the apparent second assassination attempt.
15:09For instance, they're saying Trump, you know, they're pointing to Republicans,
15:13Democrats saying that Trump will be the next dictator. They're saying that this really,
15:18this kind of rhetoric really has to stop. Now, they're saying that it's not surprising that we
15:24have this kind of shooting on Trump. So how do you think the Democrats have to play their cards?
15:31Because they really have to tiptoe carefully on this one.
15:36Well, in democracies, you do have vigorous political debate and rhetoric that is sometimes
15:43very aggressive. And Donald Trump himself has talked about putting Democrats in prison.
15:48If he is elected president of the United States,
15:51he's made up stories about Haitian people eating dogs and cats in the middle of Ohio. So yes,
15:56that's going to draw a strong response. And that has absolutely nothing to do with violence
16:02of crazy people who get a gun. Nobody would justify political violence. There's no excuse for
16:08it anywhere. And we absolutely need to spend more on the Secret Service. And there, yes, I'd fault
16:14the Biden administration for not requesting additional funds for the Secret Service.
16:19But the idea that, gee, you can't criticize Donald Trump for his conduct in office and for his words,
16:25because it might inspire some crazy person. I mean, that just makes absolutely no sense.
16:30We need to protect our candidates, protect our democracy. And one of the threats to our
16:36democracy is from assassins. And the other is from candidates who say that if they gain political
16:41office, they're going to put their enemies in prison and who engage in other inflammatory
16:46rhetoric. And that does need to be. OK, Tiffany, we have just a few minutes left,
16:51actually just about 30 seconds on the flip side. Tiffany, this is for you. How much of the onus
16:56is on the Republicans to tone down their divisive rallying cries like we just heard Richard there
17:03talking about, you know, immigrants eating dogs and other inflammatory remarks?
17:08I do think the Republicans should, you know, you know, choose their words carefully,
17:14you know, as they say, you know, having inflammatory rhetoric serves no good purpose
17:20when you're trying to, you know, you know, you know, regain control of Congress and
17:28and the presidency. I think it's really important and incumbent upon Republicans
17:34to talk about the issues that affect the American people every day.
17:38And those issues, that rhetoric is not helpful to that message.
17:46Thanks, Tiffany. Thanks, Richard. Appreciate your time this morning.
17:52In other news now, the FBI is investigating shooting threats sent to Wittenberg University
17:57in Springfield, Ohio. This follows baseless conspiracy theories about
18:02Haitian immigrants eating pets. We were just talking about that in our discussion there.
18:07The unfounded claims that spread on social media have led to security threats and prompted
18:13multiple school evacuations in the city after they were amplified by former President
18:18Donald Trump and his 2024 running mate, J.D. Vance, despite local officials saying
18:24there are no credible reports of migrants eating pets.
18:30Let's now turn to an exclusive interview with Democratic Congressman Ami Berra. NDTV spoke to
18:37Berra earlier before Sunday's potential assassination on Donald Trump. We asked
18:42Berra about the role of Indian Americans in this year's election. Berra also told us about
18:48what Indian food he'd like to cook for Kamala Harris. Here's
18:52more on that and other things we talked about.
18:58Now, in the recent debate, Congressman Berra with the recent debate with Vice President Harris,
19:06Trump said that she is Biden. That's a view held by many voters who see Kamala Harris as
19:13just an extension of the Biden administration. There are those who say that for nearly
19:19four long years, she had a chance to reach out to the middle class, fix higher prices,
19:23tackle the economy, manage illegal border crossings. So that didn't happen. They just
19:29don't buy this. You know, so I think we can be proud of what the Biden administration has been
19:35able to accomplish, getting us out of the pandemic, you know, rebuilding America's
19:41infrastructure, some of the legislation that we passed. But at the end of the day, the president
19:46is the president and the vice president is the vice president. So it really is the Biden
19:51administration. Kamala Harris, and I've known her for a long time, you know, as district attorney
19:58in San Francisco, as attorney general in California, as a senator from California.
20:03She also has her own priorities and agendas. And again, I think she's starting to lay some
20:09of that out. So it also is a new generation. You know, it's a new generation of leadership.
20:16So I do expect she'll continue some of the Biden administration's policies. But I also
20:22think just like any new president, she will have her own agenda as well.
20:27But Congressman Barrett, people complain that she should be heard more, doing more media
20:33interviews. Many want to hear about her policies unscripted and not just at rallies.
20:39You know, again, this is a campaign that was just set up a few weeks ago. So, yes, I would imagine
20:47over the next four to six weeks, she'll be doing more interviews, she'll be laying out
20:53more policy objectives and so forth. But I think, again, people forget how quickly this campaign
20:59was set up. Okay, let's talk about Gaza. It's somewhat unimaginable, unimaginable to think that
21:08we are coming up to a year next month, October 7th, since the horrific hostage taking by Hamas.
21:1440,000 people have died in the Israel-Gaza war since. You have been closely monitoring it as
21:20a senior Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. People still continue to die.
21:26How is having Harris in the White House really going to change anything?
21:31I think if you listen to how Vice President Harris has talked about the tragedy on October 7th,
21:38but also the tragic loss of innocent civilian life after October 7th, I think she, along with
21:45President Biden, very much understand the importance of getting a ceasefire, getting the hostages home.
21:52I think she'll articulate that maybe slightly differently than President Biden has.
21:58But I think from a policy perspective, we want to get that ceasefire and get the hostages returned.
22:04But then we want to, as she said, create a context where the Jewish people in Israel can
22:11live safely, but also a context where the Palestinian people can live freely with
22:16dignity and peace as well. That's not going to be easy. But again, I think she will
22:21work overtime to get us to that ceasefire.
22:26But how frustrated are you with the whole process? It's been so very, very long.
22:35I mean, I'm frustrated as well. And I'd answer that you need both Hamas to come to the table
22:41and Prime Minister Netanyahu. And I'm frustrated, frankly, with Prime Minister Netanyahu.
22:46He should accept the ceasefire deal. We should get a ceasefire. We should get the hostages released.
22:51And the fact that Saudi Arabia, other Arab countries are still at the table,
22:57willing to change relations with Israel, recognize Israel, is remarkable.
23:05But it starts with the ceasefire and starts with starting to discuss what a two-state solution
23:10looks like. And Prime Minister Netanyahu is the one standing in the way of that.
23:15Now, Kamala Harris did not meet the Prime Minister of Israel when he visited the US in July.
23:20Given that chill, how would she be able to negotiate if she wins, given that she had,
23:27she gave Netanyahu this cold shoulder, not a good place to really be in?
23:34Well, again, that is Vice President Harris standing up to our desire to find a ceasefire
23:43and a peaceful resolution to the crisis in Gaza. If she does have the privilege to be
23:49President of the United States, I think she will continue to stand up. And again,
23:53as a member of Congress, I think we've done a remarkable job putting a potential ceasefire
23:59deal at the table. I've met with the families of hostages. We need to get those hostages released.
24:06But we also need to make sure that the senseless violence, the
24:10innocent loss of life comes to an end. And we come up with a longer term solution.
24:15I don't expect Hamas to necessarily be a credible player here. But I do think Prime
24:21Minister Netanyahu, for the sake of the Israeli people, needs to understand that it's time for a
24:26ceasefire. Congressman Barrow, lots to cover here. So let's look at Ukraine in a bit to
24:34end the conflict and looking at peace talks. Trump's running mate, J.D. Vance, has talked
24:39about a heavily fortified demilitarized zone at the country's borders. What do you make of that
24:45idea? Well, I think in the debate, Trump was shameful when he was asked directly if he
24:53wanted to see Ukraine win this war. We all want to see Ukraine win this war because this was an
24:59illegal invasion by Russia of a peaceful country that posed no threat to Russia. So if Vladimir
25:06Putin chose to invade a peaceful country in Ukraine, we have to do everything we can to
25:12get this conflict to an end on terms that are readily acceptable to the people of Ukraine.
25:19Let's talk about a possible government shutdown where parks may be closed and hundreds and
25:24thousands of workers may be furloughed. A large number of Republicans are refusing to allow
25:31government funding unless the bill includes the requirement that people registering to vote must
25:37provide proof of citizenship. How valid an argument is that? That already is the law. It's
25:46illegal for undocumented people to cast votes and there's no evidence that undocumented people are
25:52casting votes. You have to be an American citizen to vote and again, this is just President Trump
25:59doing what he always does is trying to stir up the water, trying to suppress people from voting.
26:05Again, there's no evidence in 2020 that there was an illegal vote and there's no evidence in 2022
26:12and there's no suggestion that that's going to happen in this election. That's just Donald
26:16Trump being Donald Trump. Congressman Ami Bera there joining us here for that exclusive interview
26:24on NDTV. That's it for now on U.S. Election Watch. I'm Alistair D'Souza in Washington DC.
26:46you
27:16you
27:46you
28:16you
28:46you
29:16you
29:46you
29:58Good evening and welcome to Left Right and Center. I'm Vishnu Shom on the program tonight.
30:02The protesting junior doctors of Kolkata after two failed attempts at talks with Chief Minister
30:07Mamata Banerjee are now in her Calicut residence for a third round of talks. They've dropped their
30:12demand for a live telecast of the meeting agreeing instead to a signed transcript of all the
30:17proceedings. The timing of the meeting is key. It comes just a day before the Supreme Court reviews
30:22the CBI's progress in investigations into the rape and murder of a Kolkata doctor at the RG Corp
30:28hospital which triggered these protests in the first place. Next up on the program, less than 24
30:33hours to go before Arvind Kejriwal, the Delhi Chief Minister meets the Lieutenant Governor
30:38and resigns. So the Aam Aadmi Party quite clearly set for a churn. Will Kejriwal's gamble pay or
30:45will it be a boomerang? Remember he does this just days after he left jail after being granted
30:51bail by the Supreme Court in the liquor scam. We'll be looking at Kejriwal's decision to quit.
30:56Is it a political masterstroke or did he really have no choice at all? Also who's going to be the
31:01new Chief Minister of Delhi till the elections take place whenever they do? And finally a 58-year-old
31:07man has been arrested by the police in the United States after he reportedly attempted to shoot
31:12Donald Trump. Apparently this man said in a 2023 interview that he planned to recruit soldiers
31:18from Afghanistan through Pakistan who would fight in Ukraine against Russian forces. The man's name