Testing confirms cocaine in White House, 2024 candidates campaign on July 4, more | America Decides

foreign [Music] a visitor from bringing in Anthrax or something that's not magnetic into the White House the United States fully fully fully supports membership you need people to stand up and fight back and that's exactly what for me it was vitally important to be here where the journey to the White House always begins hello everyone I'm Major Garrett in Washington welcome to America decides well it's official I can say the words cocaine inside the White House and not be accused of auditioning as a writer or performer in a late night comedy routine why because testing has confirmed that the powdery substance to phrase from the 80s I remember found at the White House on Sunday was in fact cocaine Secret Service agents founded on the ground floor of the West Wing in the area where visitors taking tours are directed to leave their phones President Biden was at Camp David at the time the cocaine was discovered authorities are still working to identify the person who left it there for more on this Ouija Jang and Nicole Killian join us now we just CBS News senior White House correspondent Nicole CBS News Congressional correspondent we must start with you at the White House Ouija catch us up on all that we have learned and what we still want to find out about the cocaine inside The West Wing so major the biggest question is who brought it inside the White House and so far the investigation has not answered that question but the White House assures us that the U.S Secret Service is leading this investigation and will use all of their resources to try to find out who it was how this unvoted and you know whether they need to update their security protocols in order to prevent this in the future but to be clear and you know both of you know this having come here to the White House when visitors come in even if it's during a tour there is a background check before they are permitted they do have to go through the mags but unlike TSA there are not canine units here that are targeting illegal drugs and so you know we did speak to an analyst before who said that perhaps that is one reason why this wasn't immediately detected because that is not what these teams are looking for they're looking for biohazardous wet weapons and you know any other hazardous materials that could cause harm still that's not to say this is acceptable in fact the press secretary today peppered with many questions about this said that the president thinks it is very important to get to the bottom of who brought this in and uh and how it happened but the leading theory according to three law enforcement officials tell CBS news that they do believe it was someone who was on a tour here of The West Wing who brought this in and you know perhaps dropped it on accident or on purpose depending on whether you know they realized after the fact that they had a dime sized bag of cocaine so a lot of questions remain but so far we don't know who it was and we just if you can help us on this on the question of Tours now there are Public tours that are stationed initially at the East wing of the White House and they go through sort of the most beautiful parts of the residence then as those of us who've covered the White House know people within the West Wing can conduct tours of their own which have a little bit specialized access do we know what kind of tour this was if there's any lights been shed on that not yet but we do know there were visitor tours Through The West Wing on Friday Saturday and Sunday when this bag was discovered but you're absolutely right the location of this tells us that it was in fact a tour of the working area that it would have been with a staff member or with a member of the press someone who works here at the white house because it was in the entryway of that driveway on the ground level of the White House where you go in there's a Lobby there and apparently there are Cubbies there where you leave your phones ahead of the tour and that's where this bag was discovered nearby somewhere there so we don't know again who was involved who was here remember this was a holiday weekend so there may have been more tours than usual it was a festive atmosphere here at the White House even though to be clear the president and his family were not here so you know I think that the Secret Service is looking at visitor logs they are also looking at possible surveillance video that might help them of course cameras are not targeted on one area one person at all times so it's difficult to tell whether that will come in handy but they can certainly narrow down exactly who was in this area in the past couple of days and certainly on Sunday when this was found and we just my understanding you brought this up as did other reporters that today's briefing anything you want to share with us about your interactions with the press secretary well I did ask her whether or not this is going to prompt the White House to ask the Secret Service to review their security protocols because the fact is this shines a light on uh the the fact that someone can bring in an illegal substance to the White House and uh Karine Jean-Pierre said it's way too soon to talk about any changes in protocol that the Secret Service is in the middle of their investigation so they want to wait for those answers before talking about how to proceed from here but to be clear this is illegal right so if it turns out that they are able to identify who brought this on campus there's a very high likelihood that it will be referred over to law enforcement so the person will likely face criminal charges major no doubt so Nicole uh you don't have anything that exciting on the political map I grant you a little a little but uh nevertheless catch us up on some interesting developments in New York and California over this long holiday weekend well a couple of things I mean with respect to this issue about cocaine being found at the White House I mean this is starting to raise concern among Congressional Republicans and today we saw that Tom Cotton actually sent a letter to the head of the secret Republican senator from Arkansas correct asking for more information to kind of get to we just point how could this happen who may have brought this in so the the letter basically asked the secret service director to provide more information about how they screen people whether or not drugs have been discovered at the White House before and really walk through the mechanisms to try to get to why this happened now he is just one Republican who has pressed the Secret Service whether or not other Republicans come forward we've seen for instance Republicans like Marjorie Taylor green tweet out criticisms of the White House for allowing this to happen but uh will be interesting to see if Congressional Republicans continue to ramp up their line of questioning as more information comes out sure we can imagine a scenario where this might get politicized I think we can fairly safely imagine that's going to come what about California and New York well a couple of things I mean look as we look into the 2024 cycle we obviously are keeping an eye on key races both House and Senate and so today we got two big announcements one from Congressman former Congressman mondare Jones who will be running for the 17th congressional district in New York you'll remember there was a big brouhaha in New York for how they redrew their lines in that state in the last cycle and because of that monder Jones pretty much got squeezed out of his district had to run in another one and ended up losing and so now he will be mounting a bid against freshman lawmaker Mike Lawler who is a Republican and this is a district that Democrats are trying to flip of course New York is expected to be a pretty key Battleground because we saw a number of Republicans flip that stage Republicans are very proud of that back because they feel feel that helped deliver them the majority this past year however Democrats want those seats back and of course you have minority leader Hakeem Jeffries who is the top African-American leader in the house who really is playing a key role in trying to help Democrats win back some of those seeds so that's one race to watch then of course in California we learned that California congressman Adam Schiff pulled in a record more than 8.1 million dollars in this last quarter in the second fundraising quarter and that's significant because it's really the most we have seen from any major Senate candidate I think Rafael Warnock who had a very expensive Senate races I very uh much recall being in Georgia so many times but he even out pays Rafael Warnock from the second quarter of 2021. so from that standpoint I mean this kind of sets Adam Schiff out front in terms of some of the other candidates in the senate race of course who've got Katie Porter Barbara Lee who have both mounted challenges and two are all competing to replace retiring Senator Dianne Feinstein who is now back on the hill with that second quarter total Adam Schiff now has almost 30 million dollars in his campaign War chest formidable indeed and Nicole Killian we thank you we're learning more about the man arrested outside former President Obama's home last week but the January 6 defendant was allegedly threatening to do and who else he targeted all that coming up you're streaming America decides welcome back to America decides there are new revelations in the case against the man arrested dear former President Obama's home with weapons last week CBS news's Scott McFarland has the latest in court late Wednesday the Department of Justice issued a series of new allegations and warnings about Taylor Toronto a January 6 defendant who was arrested outside the D.C home of former president Obama last week the Department of Justice accuses Toronto of having in his van two guns 400 rounds of ammunition and a machete they also accuse him of menacing the Department of commerce's National Institute of Standards and technology in Maryland and live streaming a threat against that facility of menacing in elementary school in Tacoma Park Maryland just outside of D.C and right near the home of democratic Congressman Jamie Raskin of Maryland and of also making some form of live stream threat against U.S House speaker Kevin McCarthy again the Department of Justice wants Toronto jail pending trial on his four misdemeanors from January 6th it's also worth noting it's yet another example of the Department of Justice still still trying to find January 6 defendants and suspects they've been looking for him for quite some time and just now found him after the incident outside President Obama's home major Scott McFarland thank you the 2024 GOP candidates did what they would expect him to do over Independence this weekend they hit the campaign Trail in early voting States as they tried to close the gap with former president Trump Florida Governor Ron DeSantis powered through the rain as he marched maybe trudged through a parade in Merrimack New Hampshire DeSantis like all the rest of the Republican field not named Trump is far behind the former president but he's trying to catch up that essay DeSantis and so is Mike Pence and others who are either in Iowa or New Hampshire for more CBS News elect Chief election and campaign correspondent Robert Costa joins us now so uh former president Trump trashed DeSantis City at small crowds low energy really doing damage in 2028 did DeSantis trip and fall in New Hampshire or is this just part of the process of trying to get some momentum going in the hot summer days oh it's a hot summer day so you don't want to read too much into what happens in the summer ahead of a presidential campaign DeSantis needs to be in New Hampshire you better be because I was so crowded I mean former vice president Mike Pence and a slew of others are making Iowa their play with religious voters conservative voters a lot of them will be there later next week so if you're DeSantis who has a little bit of a Libertarian streak at least his libertarian appeal I've met with some of his supporters in New Hampshire they're very much of that school of the GOP he needs to make sure that they stay rallied around him that he stays engaged and he's he's shaking hands I want to ask you about some information that you gathered over the long holiday weekend relevant to Hunter Biden and Denver riggleman a name that people in our audience might remember having been associated with the January 6 Committee in the house what can you tell us well he was also on 60 Minutes yes he was he's in other places he's had a wandering medical career he was a member of the House for one term from the Charlottesville area Virginia Republican then he became a member of the January 6 committee it's a senior technical advisor he has become a fierce critic of former president Trump and now he's working with Hunter Biden as a data analyst why is why does this matter to anyone right because it's the next incarnation of the hunter Biden story Hunter Biden's now had a plea agreement that's still being finalized with the federal investigation of him and his handling of a firearm and other misdemeanor issues that's moving toward being settled what's not settled is the Congressional side of the hunter Biden story Congress House Republicans in particular still looking into Hunter Biden the Biden family their finances and they're using this laptop that was found in a Delaware repair shop in 2019 as the onus is so much of what they're doing in the House GOP and so riggleman's role in a very roundabout way I know that's a lot there is to look at this laptop material and assess it for the hunter Biden team to not just take the House Republicans word for everything right and if there's any way through the information found there Pierce any holes if possible in the narrative Republicans are trying to present about what the laptop says about Hunter bite and his conduct wriggleman's looking to see if there's any Distortion of information fabrication really looking at the data to see if it's all accurate so I want to get your thoughts on the cocaine in the White House story in the sense that in the sense of what major this afternoon this afternoon I don't know how much the two leading Republican candidates for the nomination in 2024. Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis have weighed in Trump on Truth social with what I think might be more fairly described as an episode not a post suggested that Jack Smith is a crackhead the special prosecutor and that this is absolutely cocaine the only reason it's there is for Hunter and for Joe Biden and Ron DeSantis said the bite administration's been blowing it on a lot of fronts so they're not shy about jumping in on this and try to politicize it immediately your general thoughts on that yeah July has come in like a lamb in terms of the news cycle the fact that Denver wriggleman joining the hunter team now cocaine found at the White House these are dominating our conversations I don't think this will have any effect on the presidential campaign Republicans are always going to look for any kind of fodder to go after President Biden or ask questions about the security of the White House doubts phrase doubts and insinuate different things I've seen conservative personalities on Twitter having a bit of a feast with this but at the look I'm just a reporter I've seen you see these issues come up all the time in presidential campaigns kind of the thing of the day but it has no until we see more evidence of reporting on it no connection to President Biden and so it will fade quickly that's is my expectation unless something changes on that front and that will require reporting and verification as always Robert real quickly before we let you go we're about a month out of the first scheduled Republican presidential debate and late last week into the weekend there were some questions of whether Trump would even show I still don't believe he's going to show based on my conversations with his friends and Associates his advisors they don't see the upside if he shows up he's a Target if he doesn't show up he remains the front runner maybe he doesn't take strong a lot of the air out of the room if he's not there no no in Trump he loves the element of surprise he could decide last minute if the political wins are blowing in a certain way to show up real quickly secondarily if Trump doesn't show this to Santos I I think I want to see how you don't show up right at this point if you're not named Trump you need the political oxygen I don't care if you don't love the the dynamic Robert Costa as always we thank you thank you we just looked at Republican candidates who hit the campaign Trail over the weekend and a lot of other subjects with Robert as always next we look at President Biden's reelection bid and ask this question will a message of unity be the way for him to go in 2024 that answer and more you're streaming America decides democracy is never never never guaranteed I hope we all rededicate ourselves to the essential work of our democracy which is to unify to unify unify this nation to see each other not as adversaries but his fellow Americans welcome back to America decides that was of course President Biden at the White House's Fourth of July festivities sharing the event with active duty military families where he stayed the president did away from presidential politics at least for the time being Laura Gillespie and Christiane Ramos join us now Marv is founder of bluestack strategies and previously served as an advisor to former house Speaker John bainer Boehner forgive me and former congressman Adam kinzinger Republicans both Christian is a democratic strategist and Senior advisor at way to win Christian let me start with you what would you say does the state currently of the Biden reelection campaign is it Full Tilt or still warming up I think we're in a warming up stage at this moment as I understand it we're really going to be going full in after the summer around September is what folks close to the campaign are telling me is when they're really going to begin their uh launch of campaigns going up on air and telling the story of the last two and a half years which has went up in a prosperity and uh lifting up the American people look we've seen record job creation we've seen record small business creation inflation is actually down nearly to two percent in America this Administration has an incredible story to tell and they're going to tell it whether you're Latino whether you're black whether you're a white you're working you're creating small businesses you're creating opportunity if we get out there and tell that story I think we're going to be looking pretty good in November of 2024. Christian as you well know the president in Chicago recently embraced fully the term Biden economics interestingly Republicans do as well but for different reasons they want the country to debate from their terms by Dynamics because they say the stories mostly negative is that where the centerpiece of the 2024 campaign will be fought listen I think it's going to be fun on two levels biodynamics is one of them and again we have a record number of jobs small business creation inflation coming down Americans feeling prosperous right now but the other piece has to be extremism and Maga and if Donald Trump or Ronda santis is the nominee that's going to be hard to avoid what if the Republican Party done in the last three and a half years nothing literally nothing they voted against infrastructure by and large they voted against the chip sack they voted against a lot of these very popular programs are struck down uh Roe v Wade they struck down the student loan forgiveness program they have taken things away from the American people and as long as we're having that conversation about the president and all the things that he's done and how he's helped the American people and all the extremism of the Republican party again we will be in very good shape in November are you nervous for Republicans generally when Democrats like Christians say we're going to fight over bidenomics and extremism not necessarily I think with things like the student loan forgiveness program that it was also brought up during the debtcla debate and I believe the American people learned that that would have saved it by cutting that program 460 billion dollars according to the CBO uh Congressional budget office so there are plenty of things that the Republican party and the GOP 2024 not candidates can be a touting to highlight that they bought an economics is actually a negative because then they go to the grocery store they're paying astronomical prices for what they you know for their weekly or monthly uh haul and that's going to impact them directly and I think there's going to be a real concern over that bringing them to The Ballot Box and would you say Laura the essence of the Republican argument against bidenomics is inflation means whatever your wage increases are they haven't kept up with that inflation therefore and I've seen this in a few tweets from members of Congress you've had a pay cut for month upon month upon month is that the centerpiece a lot of it is is inflation obviously and I think a big part of it like you had talked about the student loan issue I mean erasing that student debt you can't erase that debt it goes somewhere and I think the American people are pretty smart to realize that it goes the taxpayer they're still paying for it so it's not in a race situation it's still these costs that things aren't free and to pretend like they are is a disservice to the people who are paying for it Christian as you look at this race on the Republican side and in your conversations with those on the Biden campaign do they assume as many reporters looking at this do that Trump is in a better position now than he was in 2016 is likely to be the Republican nominee and this race isn't as fluid as a lot of the other Republican Challengers want to suggest when I talk to folks close to the Biden campaign one thing is very clear they're not taking anything for granted whether it's Ron DeSantis or Donald Trump the issue is Maga and extremism and again I go back to this narrative and this story that we have to tell about the last three years under Democrats the lowest wage earners in this country saw their wages increase the most under Donald Trump under Republicans they gave tax cuts to billionaires to millionaires to the wealthiest people and corporations and they didn't help workers at all on top of that they created chaos whether it's Donald Trump or Ron DeSantis they are Banning books they are burning books they are outlawing words they do not want women to have autonomy over their body I don't know anyone in this country who thinks burning books is a good idea I don't think most Americans support getting rid of Roe v Wade so when you tell that story with the story of what we've seen over the last two and a half three years oh creation of jobs small businesses and the lowering of inflation again we're nearly back to two percent inflation which is what it was when Joe Biden took office we will be in great shape in 2024. Mara is the Republican Presidential nomination battle fluid or do you think not only obviously former president Trump is the front-runner but in all likelihood the Republican nominee in 2024. it's not surprising that the income a former president uh is ahead in the polls but there's a lot of time between now and election day and I remain hopeful that that will change I think pointing out a lot of the issues where it's self-serving for for president Trump to focus solely on his own issues and himself and his vendettas uh people will eventually get sick of that because there are real issues as we're discussing that people are going to be impacted by that don't necessarily involve his uh recklessness and class side documents and his legal woes so Irene helpful we have great candidates in the GOP 2424 lineup you just showed them there on the screen and I believe they deserve real consideration by the Republican Party Laura Gillespie and Christian Ramos we thank you for your time that does it for today as you well know you can stream America decides Monday to Thursday at 5 PM Eastern you also know this but a quick reminder you are streaming CBS News

Channel: CBS News

Views: 9,110

Keywords: America Decides, CBS News, video, live streaming, Politics, cocaine, drugs, substance, voting, states, holiday

Id: xR-ZwYz8h6Y

Length: 24min 15sec (1455 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 05 2023